Johnson runs away with The Northern Trust trophy

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If you’re a veteran of PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live and you live in the United States, then this might be your first experience watching windows open in between rounds. As Rob and Glass have shared for months, results may vary depending on your lifestyle. Rob has witnessed Top 20 bets unlock at 2 and 3 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday and Saturday nights. Glass also has been up early enough in Eastern Time on a Sunday to modify his Top 20. While it’s not unprecedented, it’s also not reliable, and even if it were, the window is short-lived and at a time of day when the majority of Americans are not holding or staring at glowing rectangles. Set aside that roll of the dice for the Genesis Scottish Open. The Renaissance Club is five hours ahead of Eastern Time and eight hours clear of Pacific Time. It begins on Thursday at 7:15 a.m. local time. That’s 2:15 a.m. at Casa de Glass and 11:15 p.m. on Wednesday at Rob’s desert abode. Wind it back even further, that’s 10:15 p.m. on Wednesday in most of Alaska, and 8:15 p.m. in Hawaii. How convenient. So, include additional peeks at the interface in your evening plans. No promises, of course, but it might make that difference you’ve wanted – and needed – all along. Register for PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live here and monitor Rob’s and Glass’ progress as Influencers. For a broader explanation of the format and FAQs, click here. TOURNAMENT TO WIN Glass … Lucas Herbert (+6000) The Aussie has something brewing at The Renaissance Club as he’s cashed T4 the last two editions. Golf on the water doesn’t bother him as he won in Bermuda last fall and picked up an Irish Open last July. Toss in he was T9 in his Irish Open defense last week and I’ll gladly start here. With the lumber in the field, I’ll be able to have a backup selection waiting and at decent value as the weekend progresses if I’ve screwed this up. Rob … Aaron Rai (+6600) One of the three winners of this tournament at The Renaissance Club – the last two of whom are in the field (Min Woo Lee, 2021, +10000), the Englishman obviously knows what it takes to get the job done. He’s also properly prepared with a T9 over in Ireland last week. He’s rapidly reacclimated to his home circuit. TOP 10 Rob … Joohyung (Tom) Kim (+2000) Let’s gamble! After swinging and missing on the “Top USA Player” curveball for the John Deere Classic, I’m elated to have this bet back. I’m also going to trust – I know, silly me – that, unlike last week’s experience, the window for this familiar target will reopen after every round. (That’s written with anecdotal experience contributing. If you’re new here, for the record, there are no guarantees that any bets will unlock, much less when. That’s the gamble.) The Tank Engine is making his first start as a 20 something. He’s 61st in the Official World Golf Ranking, immediately ahead of the likes of last week’s winner, Adrian Meronk (64th) and last year’s Scottish Open champion, Min Woo Lee (69th). My thinking here is simple and selfish. He’s a force abroad and he’s not going to be shut out of picking off a top 10 on the PGA TOUR on which he’s connected for top 25s in two of his last three starts, including a 23rd-place finish just before his birthday at the U.S. Open. Glass … Victor Perez (+850) I’m not sure how or when the window is going to be opened/closed this week, so I’m heading in a more conservative direction with the Frenchman. He’s never missed in three tries here, so he’s familiar enough. He ran off a streak of five from six before the U.S. Open, which included a win, T3 and T8 plus nothing worse than T33. No transatlantic travel this week or last should help. TOP 20 Glass … Jorge Campillo (+900) The Spaniard rolls in with solo seventh last week in Ireland backing up his T15 in Munich the week prior. Of his last five starts, four have gone for T21 or better, so we’re not breaking any new recent ground here. Based on my weeklongs here, obviously my preference is for guys who play or who have played on this side of the pond and who have been in some form. If my angles are poor, my sleep schedule will follow! If it’s usually 6am on weekends, I’m hoping the time change is more around midnight ET this time around! Rob … Joohyung Kim (+900) You and me both, partner, although ya gotta try out my West Coast time zone one of these seasons. It’s brilliant. As for my philosophy here, obviously if I like Kim for a top 10, this is a no-brainer. Hoping that this unlocks during awake hours always is a nailbiter, but the time travel should benefit those of us in the U.S. If it does unlock, then we should be able to apply the process to next week’s Open Championship as well. ROUND 1 LEADER Glass … IS RORY McILROY PLAYING??? I can’t believe I overthought that two weeks ago in Canada. It will not happen again! Since he’s out – HE’S NOT PLAYING, OK??? – I’m going to ride Scottie Scheffler at +2500. En route to a T12 in his first visit last year, the tall Texan posted 63 in Round 2. When he’s in the mood, he has no problem going low. A fast start is needed and no better time to do it starting at 8:05 in the morning. I’ll be rolling out of bed when the second wave is teeing off so I’ll have time for adjustments. Rob … Jon Rahm (+2500) Here’s where living in Arizona costs me; well, other than the unrelenting heat in the rare moments when I refamiliarize myself with the outdoors. By the time I’m alert and wired in on Thursday morning, there’s a decent chance that this bet will be locked for the day. So, my range of focus is the entire field. Who knows, maybe that’s exactly what I need to turn my luck. As it turns out, and as it often does, the morning wave will have the better of the wind. In these climes and at this latitude, that’s a big deal, so I’ll take one of Scheffler’s playing partners on the 10th tee. Rahm placed seventh in his debut at The Renaissance Club last year. He opened with 66 and carded no higher than 69 in the third round. NOTE: While Glass and Rob typically stick with their selections as detailed in Pick ‘Em Preview, they are allowed the right to make changes at any time.

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Two-time PGA TOUR winner Steven Bowditch will undergo spinal fusion surgery similar to that undertaken by Tiger Woods after doctors finally uncovered the source of two years of back pain the Australian had been struggling with.   Bowditch – who won the 2014 Valero Texas Open and 2015 AT&T Byron Nelson – had tried to battle through the mystery pain for two years.   The result was missing 25 of 27 cuts in 2016-17 and then missing the weekend in all eight tournaments he played in 2017-18.   Multiple MRIs had failed to pick up any problems until Bowditch was recently recommended to undergo a moving X-ray and the results picked up two stress fractures and spinal slippage.   “I have been diagnosed with Pars Defect and Spondylolysis. After meeting with several surgeons, who all arrived at the same conclusion, treatment is a surgical fusion of the L5 and S1, which I will undergo next month,� Bowditch said in a statement on social media.   “I spent much of the last two years dealing with lower back pain, leg numbness, sciatic pain, loss of control of my right side and tingling in my toes.   “I had exhausted everything I could think of to diagnose the source of my pain … several MRIs, multiple injections, chiropractic adjustments, physical therapy and massage. It would appear to calm down and then flair right back up as soon as I resumed golf activity.�   With the pain affecting his day-to-day life with his wife and young daughter, the 35-year-old is just grateful to have found the cause.   “I haven’t slept in my own bed for eight months. I need to sleep on a couch with my legs in the air to keep my back straight,� he told PGATOUR.COM.   “It is just such a relief to know what’s going on and hopefully this will ensure a pain-free future and a return to golf.�   While no timetable for a competitive return is set, Bowditch is hopeful he can be fit by late 2019.

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