Is Day’s unique balloon therapy finally paying off?

Here are nine tidbits from the first round of the World Golf Championships – Dell Technologies Match Play that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. The Austin Country Club plays 7,108 yards (par 71). Know Thy Enemy These were the top-selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. Tomorrow, we’ll look at who gamers selected to win the bracket challenge and Friday, as usual, we’ll reveal the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO selections. Inside the Numbers Of the 16 seeded favorites from Pot 1, gamers selected 12 of them to win their respective pools and move on. Obviously we know who the MOST-selected player was but I’ll let you know that Bernd Wiesberger (52) was the least-selected player in the field. It won’t surprise the sharper gamers that he was the lowest-ranked player in Johnson’s group. More on that pairing in a minute. The most surprising margin was Patrick Reed (19) was selected in almost 20 percent more of the brackets than Jordan Spieth (4). They both won their opening matches. Seeded Dark-Horses Bubba Watson (35) was the highest-ranked player selected to advance as he was selected out of Pot 3. … There were two groups, Nos. 2 and 7, where the top two were separated by less than five percent. The most interesting part of the tight race in Group 2 is that No. 54 Zach Johnson was the second choice… In Group 6, Charley Hoffman (22) had the biggest separation of any “underdog” as he was selected in over 24 percent more of the brackets than “favorite” Tyrrell Hatton (12). Hoffman lost his match 1-down while the Englishman cruised 3 and 2 over Alexander Levy (55), People’s Choice: Dustin Johnson (1) For 95.25 percent of us, we couldn’t be happier this format changed to pool play in 2015. In the old days, Johnson would be packing his bags and heading home after falling 3 and 1 to Wiesberger and PLENTY of brackets would be busted. The defending champion gets a reprieve, but no guarantee of advancing. That guarantee belongs to the least-selected player from Austria. If he wins his final two matches, he advances regardless of what No. 1 does as he’s beaten him heads-up. This format > the old format! Living Up to the Hype Johnson and Kuchar made gamers look smart in Round 1 as they battled to the final hole. Kuchar led 4-up with four to play before Johnson closed with four birdies to halve the match. Yuta Ikeda (47) defeated Ross Fisher (27) in the other match to lead the group with three points. … The tight Group 7 has Tony Finau (29) breathing down the neck of Alex Noren (13). Both players lived up to the hype as well as the Swede handled Kevin Na (61) 4 and 2 while the big-hitting Finau out-slugged Thomas Pieters (39) 2 and 1. Steamroller: Biggest Win Gamers knew what they were talking about, at least in the opening match, when they supported Watson. The winner at Riviera last month was seven-under-par on the front nine and was 6-up at the turn. His victim was Branden Grace (23) who played those same nine holes one-under. Watson went on to win 5 and 3 and shares the lead in the group. Bracket Disrupters: Biggest Upsets Using the numbers above, there’s no doubt that Johnson qualifies but he’s not alone. McIlroy (6) tried to rescue his match against Peter Uihlein (57) with a late birdie barrage but lost 2 and 1. … Rahm (3) needed to win the final hole against Keegan Bradley (63) to halve their match. Each player claims a point … The last player in the field, Julian Suri (64), defeated Marc Leishman (11) 3 and 2. He shares the group lead with Watson in Group 14. I debated whether to put Suri in the Steamroller section or Bracket Disrupters. The answer was yes on both! Worry? Who Me? Fantasy guru and all-around great dude Rob Bolton has let me know that this edition of Match Play is similar to this year’s NCAA Basketball Tournament madness. The eventual pool winners over the last three years had 13 first day wins in 2015, 12 in 2016 and 12 in 2017. I’m terrible at math but I can decipher winning on the first day seems to be quite important but isn’t a death sentence. Of those eight players know Johnson was the only player in 2016 to escape pool play after losing the first round. Study Hall For those of you who enjoy numbers, Paul Casey (10) picked up his 24th win in this format defeating Russell Henley (51), 1-up. His only lead was the final margin. … Jason Day (8) grabbed his 22nd victory 4 and 2 over James Hahn (56). … Luke List (60) is one of the newbies this week and he got off to an auspicious start. His putter didn’t see the end of the round after getting bent after eight holes. His wedge filled in but he couldn’t catch Justin Thomas (2) on the final hole. Thomas, who won 2-up, is battling strep throat while List will get a new putter tomorrow.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The season’s strongest field will face a new-look course in this year’s edition of THE PLAYERS Championship. THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass was renovated after last year’s tournament. The changes include a new drivable par-4 12th hole, a new hazard between Nos. 6 and 7 and subtle changes to several holes, including expanded greens and the removal of rough to promote creative recovery shots. The new 12th hole, where eagles are possible but a water hazard lurks left of the green, offers players another opportunity to be bold on the back nine. There are now three holes on that side where eagles are a real possibility (Nos. 11, 12 and 16). And then, of course, players must face the Island Green before tackling the challenging 18th hole. You can watch golf’s best players take on the new Stadium Course during PGA TOUR LIVE’s Featured Groups coverage on Thursday and Friday. This week’s Featured Groups include the top three players in the FedExCup standings, seven past winners of THE PLAYERS Championship and three former FedExCup champs. Featured Groups coverage will run from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Two morning Featured Groups are available to PGA TOUR LIVE subscribers, while a single afternoon Featured Group will be shown free of charge. Featured Groups also can be watched on Twitter from 7:30 a.m. to approximately 8:45 a.m. on Thursday and Friday. Featured Holes will run from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. with coverage of the drivable par-4 12th and the island-green 17th. On Tuesday, PGA TOUR LIVE will show THE PLAYERS Championship’s Military Appreciation Concert with Sam Hunt from 6-8 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday. A PLAYERS preview show will be featured on Wednesday from 12-2 p.m. MORE: Tee times (Note: All times Eastern; FedExCup rankings in parentheses) THURSDAY MORNING Rickie Fowler (8), Henrik Stenson (79), Jason Day (104): Three past champions of THE PLAYERS are in this group, including the past two winners. Day won by four shots last year after shooting a course-record 63 in the first round, while Fowler won a dramatic playoff two years ago. Stenson, winner of the 2009 PLAYERS and the 2013 FedExCup, also is the reigning Open champion, shooting a final-round 63 last year at Royal Troon to win a memorable duel with Phil Mickelson. Fowler has finished no worse than 16th in his past six starts, including a win at The Honda Classic. Tee time: 8:16 a.m. off No. 10. Jordan Spieth (7), Hideki Matsuyama (3), Phil Mickelson (36): A former winner of THE PLAYERS, a former FedExCup champion and the No. 3 player in this season’s standings are part of this threesome. This is the 10-year anniversary of Mickelson’s win at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course. He has more missed cuts (8) than top-10s (3) at this event. Spieth, the 2015 FedExCup champion, won this season’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am; he finished T4 in his PLAYERS debut (2014), but has missed the cut in his past two appearances. Matsuyama, a two-time winner this season, played in the final group of last year’s PLAYERS, finishing seventh. This group also could serve as a Presidents Cup preview. Spieth and Mickelson rank third and 14th in the U.S. Team standings, while Matsuyama is second in the International Team standings. Tee time: 8:27 a.m. off No. 10. THURSDAY AFTERNOON Dustin Johnson (1), Justin Thomas (2), Rory McIlroy (48): This group features last year’s FedExCup champion and the top two players in this year’s standings. McIlroy won the FedExCup after a dramatic playoff with Ryan Moore at last year’s TOUR Championship. Johnson and Thomas each have three wins this season, but Johnson has a 296-point lead thanks to five top-three finishes in eight starts this season. He was runner-up on Sunday at the Wells Fargo Championship after winning his prior three starts. Johnson and Thomas also are the top two players in the U.S. Presidents Cup standings. McIlroy is making his first start since finishing seventh at the Masters. He got married during that hiatus. He has finished no worse than 12th in his past four PLAYERS starts after missing the cut in his first three tours around TPC Sawgrass. Tee time: 1:52 p.m. off No. 1 FRIDAY MORNING Sergio Garcia (13), Adam Scott (77), Matt Kuchar (47): Three former winners of THE PLAYERS Championship are in this group. Garcia, the 2008 winner at TPC Sawgrass, is making his first start since his emotional victory at the Masters Tournament. All three members of this group finished in the top 10 at the Masters. Kuchar, who made a hole-in-one on the 16th hole Sunday, finished fourth. He won the 2012 PLAYERS and was third at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course last year. Adam Scott, winner of the 2004 PLAYERS, finished ninth at Augusta National this year. He has missed just three cuts in 15 appearances at THE PLAYERS. Tee time: 8:16 a.m. off No. 10. Dustin Johnson (1), Justin Thomas (2), Rory McIlroy (48): McIlroy, the reigning FedExCup champion, plays alongside the top two players in the FedExCup standings. Both Johnson and Thomas have won three times this season. Johnson leads the FedExCup after posting three wins and a runner-up in his past four starts. Tee time: 8:27 a.m. off No. 10. FRIDAY AFTERNOON Jordan Spieth (7), Hideki Matsuyama (3), Phil Mickelson (36): A former winner of THE PLAYERS, a former FedExCup champion and the No. 3 player in this season’s standings are part of this threesome. Mickelson is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of his PLAYERS win. Spieth, who finished fourth in his PLAYERS debut in 2014, won the 2015 FedExCup. Matsuyama is a two-time winner this season. Tee time: 1:52 p.m. off No. 1.

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