Is Rickie Fowler turning the corner at the PGA Championship? He thinks so.

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PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO At first glance of the top 10 in ownership percentages for the Travelers Championship, you’d wonder if Jordan Spieth withdrew. (Relax, he didn’t pull out. On the contrary. He converted birdies on his first two holes to open his debut at TPC River Highlands and is well on his way to making noise this week.) Even if you don’t visit this recap often, that Spieth would slot outside the top 10 in anything should surprise you. Of course, the explanation is obvious, well, as obvious as it gets in the context of reviewing gamer dedication. The Travelers is the last of 11 tournaments in Segment 3, seven of which Spieth has played. Plain and simple, we’ve run dry as a group on starts. In fact, that 19.1 percent of you still had one start remaining is the surprise. Another shocker is who doesn’t appear below. Defending champions usually get some benefit of the doubt with gamers, but not Russell Knox. He slots a distant 27th at just 4.4 percent. The last time Jim Furyk signed a card at TPC River Highlands, it added up to 58. Yet, he’s just 23rd in ownership percentage at 5.3 percent. Other notables off the radar include Zach Johnson (16th, 14.4 percent), Keegan Bradley (19th, 8.1 percent), Chez Reavie (26th, 4.9 percent) and Bud Cauley (32nd, 2.7 percent). NOTE: Rob’s Rating refers to where our Fantasy Insider slotted a golfer in his Power Rankings. Golfers in the Power Rankings and outside the top 10 in most owned PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO No shortage of talent at TPC River Highlands this week, but curious gamers will immediately notice the absence of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day among the top 10 most-owned at the Travelers Championship. Of course, this takes nothing away from the golfers listed below because this is entirely about fantasy strategy and not some sort of popularity contest, but it’s still pretty incredible that not even one of the three heavyweights cracked the top 10. McIlroy is 11th at 1.5 percent, Spieth slots 12th at 1.4 percent and Day checks in 14th at 1.3 percent. If one of those guys takes the title, it would be a coup for gamers invested. And that’s precisely the point in an event when their opponents shopped elsewhere. It doesn’t get any better than surprising your competition with 500 FedExCup points when they expect it least. However, the last laugh may await in the Playoffs when a solo fourth-place finish rewards 540 points. From that perspective, McIlroy, Spieth or Day would need to win this week to validate the pick. But, and obviously, only one can. Other notables outside the top 10 include Webb Simpson (15th, 1.3 percent), Tony Finau (16th, 1.1 percent), Jim Furyk (18th, 1.0 percent) and Graham DeLaet (T20, 0.7 percent). Defending champion Russell Knox is 19th at 0.7 percent. Johnson Wagner and Brett Stegmaier paced the morning wave in the opening round with 6-under 64s, but only Wagner was selected as a One & Done and by only one gamer.

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Ryan Palmer … There are some guys for whom the inviting fairways and greens of Nine Bridges would neutralize strengths, and then there are others for whom it reinforces the same skill set because they’ve learned how to capitalize. Forever known as a talent whose success is fortified by his game off the tee, the 43-year-old falls into the latter category. A closing 62 in his debut here last year not only established the competitive course record, it also lifted him into a share of third place. He scored progressively lower in every round. This is just his second start of 2019-20 after he dusted off a little rust with a T37 at TPC Summerlin where he nonetheless ranked 10th in total driving and landed three-quarters of the greens in regulation. Joel Dahmen … A repeat performance throughout his bag that yielded a T9 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open two weeks ago will do, thank you. He was inside the top 10 in total driving, greens in regulation, proximity to the hole, Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and par-4 scoring. He also ranked 19th in putting: birdies-or-better. Placed T29 in his debut at Nine Bridges last year. Brian Stuard … He’s played well on islands and in the tropics throughout his career, so the veteran always pinged the radar in an event like THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Now he arrives for his second appearance (T52, 2018) with the experience of the course piggybacking terrific current form. Finished T17 at Silverado and T4 at TPC Summerlin in his last two starts. Wrapped the 2018-19 season inside the top 15 on the PGA TOUR in fairways hit, proximity to the hole and scrambling, and he’s opened the new season sustaining those strengths while hitting more greens in regulation relative to most of the competition. Adam Schenk … The 27-year-old continues to piece together imbalanced efforts despite long-range analytics that suggest otherwise. His latest at the Shriners resulted in a T18 during which he scored in the 60s throughout and did everything well on the surface. Digging a little deeper, and despite ranking T8 in scoring opportunities and fifth in conversion percentage inside 10 feet, he was 68th in connecting for par breakers with the putter. This was due primarily to him finishing 63rd in proximity on approach. As it concerns this week, the large greens will allow him to be aggressive as he works on improving his precision. Kyongjun Moon … He’s 37 years of age, he has one win on his native KPGA and he’s a career-best 356th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He’s also never competed in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event, but he’s in the field as one of five designated golfers representing his circuit. Fresh off a T2 at the Genesis Championship (where Sungjae Im prevailed by two strokes) – one of seven top 10s on the season – he’s seventh on the KPGA in earnings, third in greens in regulation and No. 1 in scoring average. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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