Jason Day and Marc Leishman extend lead at QBE Shootout

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Ryo Ishikawa … Life inside and outside the ropes grew complicated in 2016 for the former wunderkind. Right around the time he got married, he was dealing with lumbar discopathy, so he shut it down for a few months. Still fully exempt on the PGA TOUR at the time, he then prevailed in his second start post-injury. The victory occurred in his native Japan in late August of that year. A T2 and a solo third followed immediately. After returning to the TOUR early in the 2016-17 season, his form didn’t translate and he lost his status despite 20 starts on a medical extension. The veteran of 145 TOUR starts hasn’t played on the circuit since until The ZOZO Championship. Now 28 years of age, he’s third on the Japan Golf Tour’s money list with two wins among eight top 20s this season. He’s also second in putts per GIR and third in scoring. Nate Lashley … It’s been a remarkable year for the 36-year-old who started last season on a Minor Medical Extension. After securing conditional status with strong play early, he was outside the top 125 in the FedExCup when he broke through at the Rocket Mortgage Classic where he got in as the last man in the 156-man field. He did OK the rest of the way but he’s back to his noise-making ways. He opened this season with a T3 at Greenbrier and just finished T20 at Nine Bridges where he co-led the field in par-5 scoring. Vaughn Taylor … It’s possible that he’s still pinching himself for how the value of one victory, and an unlikely one at that, continues to pay it forward. It was in February of 2016 when he gained entry as the sixth-to-last man in the field of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, via Past Champion status no less, and prevailed for his first PGA TOUR title in 11 years. That not only regained him fully exempt status for the first time since 2012, it’s also granted him time and space to stretch his career. In his age-43 season of 2018-19, he finished 49th in the FedExCup with four top 10s among 20 cuts made. That’s yielded appearances in his first two events in Asia. Although he placed T60 at Nine Bridges last week, he’s a better fit for cozier Narashino CC this week. Kevin Streelman … He’s hung up seven top 15s since February, but with a T4 at the Sanderson Farms Championship and a T12 at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES as his only cuts made in his last seven starts, he’s been a tease of late. It’s also possible that his early success this season reflects but a spike with his putter. The flat stick usually is his nemesis, but he ranked third in putts per GIR at Nine Bridges and sits 24th in Strokes Gained: Putting with 10 measured rounds contributing. The 40-year-old also co-led the field in South Korea in par-5 scoring. Shaun Norris … The South African was a long-time regular on his native Sunshine Tour before joining the Japan Golf Tour in 2016. Since, he’s won exactly once in each of the last four seasons on the JGTO, most recently in the first weekend of this month. He also placed T2 in last week’s Japan Open to give him five top 10s in his last six starts. He finished seventh on the circuit’s money list in 2017, second in 2018 and sits fifth in this season’s chase. The 37-year-old also ranks eighth in greens in regulation and seventh in putts per GIR. 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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The PGA TOUR travels to Las Vegas for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin. The course will play as a par 71, measuring 7,255 yards, and move to bentgrass greens this week. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $400K Resurgence [$100K to 1st] STRATEGY Kevin Na ($8,600) gained an enormous amount of strokes on the greens last season, and while rolling it well on these fast, bentgrass greens is great, TPC Summerlin is still a second-shot course. Golfers like Patton Kizzire ($6,300), Jordan Spieth and defending champion Kevin Na have stated how vital the approach shot is at TPC Summerlin, and the data proves it. The top five finishers have gained over two times the strokes with approach against off-the-tee and around-the-greens. Spieth went further and said, "it's more of a second-shot golf course where it requires a lot of precision from the short irons. Maybe pitching wedge to short irons." TPC Summerlin should give way to an excess of birdies, as long as the wind doesn't pick up. Last season, scores averaged -3.25 RTP on Saturday and -1.763 RTP on Sunday. The cut lines over the last two years averaged three-under-par, so birdies or better should be high on our key statistic models. Roster construction doesn't need to fit a particular type of ‘build' this week. In 2019, there were only two golfers under $7,000 who finished inside the top 12 in DraftKings scoring. Last season, that number more than doubled with five golfers under $7,000 finishing inside the top 12. We should be leaning towards rostering the expensive golfers with cheap players this week, with a smaller amount of value in the mid-range than previous weeks. GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Hideki Matsuyama – $9,900 ‘Deki's two appearances at the Shriners read 10th in 2014 and 16th in 2019, gaining an average of 7.05 strokes tee-to-green. The putting woes hurt him at Winged Foot recently, but Matsuyama still finished at a very respectable 17th place, again gaining a ton of strokes tee-to-green (+12.6). Hideki's made six straight cuts, and with other golfers like Bryson DeChambeau ($11,800), Webb Simpson ($11,000) and Matthew Wolff ($9,600) in the field, Hideki might go more under the radar than he should. Collin Morikawa – $9,800 Second-shot golf courses mean we should consider one of the best iron-players on the PGA TOUR. Morikawa should fare well on some of the more challenging holes, ranking 37th in par-4 efficiency on holes 450 to 500 yards over the last few months. He should contend when this becomes a birdie fest, ranking fifth in birdies or better gained, third in eagles and top three in approach since the restart. The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open could become a putting match, and Morikawa has gained strokes on bentgrass while struggling on poa annua and bermuda this season. Byeong Hun An – $7,100 Missing the cut three times in his last five starts is not an example of consistency, and while we shouldn't be overlooking his recent struggles, we shouldn't be reading into it too much at this price tag. An showed us his upside with a top 12 at the BMW Championship and a 22nd at the PGA Championship not too long ago. He's gained with his irons in five of his last six starts and getting him on bentgrass should hopefully help his putting woes, where he's lost 10.5 strokes on the greens total over his last two starts. Sergio Garcia ($9,100) showed us that losing strokes in nine straight doesn't mean you can't gain (and win) in your next tournament. Our collective eyes should be open to rostering An, even if it means we'll have to look away when we click the ‘roster player' button. Other golfers to consider in this range are Joel Dahmen ($7,100) and Keith Mitchell ($6,100) if you need someone cheap. Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is reidtfowler) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.

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