Kim maintains lead of LPGA event in China

Henrik Stenson made three big par saves at the turn to give him a share of the lead Friday with Bryson DeChambeau after two rounds in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.

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PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Three weeks ago, Darren Clarke was asked by The R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers to hit the opening tee shot early Thursday morning at The Open Championship. There was no hesitation in the Northern Irishman’s response. “A definite yes,â€� Clarke said. It won’t be a ceremonial tee shot – after all, Clarke is in the 156-man field thanks to his Open win in 2011. His shot off the 421-yard par-4 first at 6:35 a.m. local time will count. But there is no more fitting player in the field to start play in the first Open held in Northern Ireland since 1951, when Royal Portrush last played host. Clarke is a resident of Portrush and his win in 2011 was the first for a Northern Irishman since Portrush native Fred Daly won the Claret Jug in 1947. He calls Royal Portrush the “best golf course in the world.â€� RELATED: Tee times | Featured Groups | Experts roundtable | Five things to know: Royal Portrush Clarke’s Open win, which came on the heels of consecutive U.S. Open wins by Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell (2010) and Rory McIlroy (2011), were instrumental in helping to convince The R&A to return the Open to Royal Portrush. McIlroy, in fact, won all four of his majors before the official announcement was made by The R&A in October 2015. Clark also credited Irishman Padraig Harrington’s three major wins – including back-to-back Open wins in 2007-08 – as key to the resurgence of Irish golf. “It was Padraig started it before that, when he won all his majors,â€� said the 50-year-old Clarke, the oldest of the six players in the field born on the island of Ireland. Harrington, McDowell, McIlroy, Shane Lowry and amateur James Sugrue – who joins Clarke in the opening threesome with American Charley Hoffman – are the others. Of course, the political climate also has improved since the Good Friday agreement in 1998 led to an end of the Troubles that had plagued Northern Ireland since the late 1960s (although small-scale violence still flares up). Clarke recalled the time in 1986 – he was still in his late teens – when he worked at a club. He was filling up small bottles with mixers when the club received a bomb scare. Clarke and all the others in the club hurriedly left the building. Thirty minutes later, the bomb went off. “The place was flattened,â€� Clarke said. “That was life in Northern Ireland,â€� he added. “Bombs were going off quite frequently. And a lot of people, unfortunately, paid a heavy penalty for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But that was our life back there at that stage.â€� Thirty-three years later, he’s now the unofficial ambassador of this Open Championship. Many players getting their first look at Royal Portrush have sought his advice. Adam Scott, still seeking his first Open win after so many near-misses, played three practice rounds with Clarke. “He’s gone out of his way to spend way too much time with me,” Scott told Sports Betting News. ”I love watching how he plays the links he grew up on, to see what he thinks and how he navigates. He’s been incredibly helpful. It’s nice to have a good level of comfort to go play the tournament.” Clarke was asked about all the advice he’s been dispensing. “Probably told them too much, really,â€� he smiled. But just like the invitation to hit the first tee shot, Clarke doesn’t hesitate when asked how to navigate Royal Portrush. He noted the importance of finding the right angles and being committed to shots, pointing out the areas from which to attack. He keeps stressing the need to hit fairways. “If you’re not in the fairways,â€� he said, “you’re going to struggle to get around.â€� And if the winds don’t kick up as much as they usually do, he warned players to expect more challenging pin placements. “The thing about Royal Portrush, it’s a fair golf course,â€� he said. “If you play well around Portrush, you should have the opportunity to score well. If you’re missing too many shots, you’re not going to get around Portrush. That’s the way it is.â€� On Thursday at 6:35 a.m. – the sun will have already been up for approximately 90 minutes – Clarke will get things started in earnest. The gallery, even at that early time, should be substantial. The Open was sold out 11 months ago. Golf fans in Northern Ireland have waited 68 years for this championship. Clarke, so proud that his country is once again the host, will be emotional. But he won’t be misty-eyed. After all, he has a job to do. “I just hope I manage to get one going straight down the fairway,â€� he said.

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Altogether now, “Thank you.” That’s a message of appreciation from season-long fantasy commissioners and gamers to the powerbrokers of the PGA TOUR for eliminating the wraparound component following the 2022-23 season. Bemoan no more! The tight squeeze of the official offseason will be no more.. FULL-MEMBERSHIP RANKINGS: Intro | 1-50 | 51-100 | 101-150 | 151-200 | 201-214 | Cheat sheet No, easing our lives wasn’t among the influences, but who cares. We still can and will capitalize on the return to the calendar-year season in 2024. It was among a cavalcade of changes announced in June. Those that affect our business are included in this opening page to my annual full-membership fantasy ranking. With the biggest news in 10 years out of the way, welcome! To many, welcome back! It’s states “ranking” throughout these pages, but it’s also a guide, so bookmark or save it. It’s designed to be evergreen – I will not be updating it – and as your resource for things big and small. Read through this page before diving into the golfers. The through line is the context, and it’s all connected. When you get to the golfers, be advised that those included are eligible for PGA TOUR competition and are positioned somewhere in the Priority Ranking through the Non-exempt Medical Extension category. Overall ranking is based on projected value for the entirety of the 2022-23 season. As always, adjust accordingly for your format, opposition and everything else contributing to how your league measures your performance over time. For draft leaguers who prefer to see everything on one page, the Cheat Sheet lists all golfers by ranking, name and age. It’s also printable, so you can glance at a physical copy while scrolling or swiping on your PC, tablet or mobile device. The 2022-23 PGA TOUR season essentially is identical to the season that just concluded. There are 47 tournaments, the last three of which comprising the FedExCup Playoffs. Also familiarly, the top 125 at the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship will be fully exempt for the 2024 season, but for the first time in the 17-year history of the Playoffs, only the top 70 will qualify. The top 50 after the first leg will advance to the second. Then, per tradition, the top 30 after that will qualify for the season-ending TOUR Championship. Most impactful on us, and particularly salary gamers, is the introduction of Elevated Events. As of the publish date of this ranking, eight of the 12 are determined. Of them, purses currently range from $15 million at the Sentry Tournament of Champions through $25 million at THE PLAYERS Championship. Top players are committed to competing against each other in all Elevated Events, and they also will total at least 20 starts for the season. A minimum schedule of the other eight would consist of THE PLAYERS, all four majors and three events of the players’ choosing. All of the golfers ranked include ages, 2021-22 earnings (i.e. salary) and levels of status on the PGA TOUR. An asterisk beside a salary value indicates that a golfer is a bargain. With prize money escalating, there are more than usual this season. Regardless of status, if a golfer earned $0 last season, he’s annotated with “–“ and no asterisk. Salaries for golfers who were non-members in 2021-22 are determined by the total of official money and earnings at the WGC-Match Play. For all golfers not included in this ranking, refer to the “TOTAL MONEY” column in “NON-MEMBER OFF+WGC EARNINGS” as your reference to determine salary. (They are separated on the page in the event that a non-member wins a WGC, so that provisional disclaimer is irrelevant for your objective.) Because of the introduction of the Elevated Events, qualification into those tournaments may be modified, but for our purposes, use the following traditional breakdown to project entry. STATUS … BERTHS • Top 125 in 2021-22 FedExCup Eligibility Points = Entry into every open and the following invitationals: The American Express, The Genesis Invitational, THE PLAYERS, RBC Heritage. • Top 80 = Top 125 exemptions plus entry into the Charles Schwab Challenge. • Top 70 = Top 80 exemptions plus entry into the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard and Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. • Top 60 = Top 70 exemptions plus entry into the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP and THE CJ CUP in South Carolina (both of which have made room for the top 60 available). • Top 30 = Exemptions into every tournament before the Playoffs except the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play and the PGA Championship. (These golfers now are exempt into the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Their membership exemptions also are extended through the 2024 season if they aren’t already.) Other levels of status are as follows: • Multi-year = Winners prior to 2021-22 who didn’t qualify for the 2022 Playoffs but still have fully exempt status. • Medical Extensions = Terms to fulfill are noted. (Golfers on Major Medicals would retain status in the Priority Ranking for the remainder of the season. Golfers with other medicals would be promoted to the Major Medical category for the remainder.). • Conditional = Nos. 126-150 in 2021-22 FedExCup Eligibility Points. • KFT = Korn Ferry Tour graduates – regular season (25 golfers). • KFT Finals = KFT Finals graduates (25 golfers). • OWGR Top 50 = Thomas Pieters and Ryan Fox (only two non-members inside the top 50 of the most recent Official World Golf Ranking who are eligible for PGA TOUR competition). There are 28 rookies to open the season. They are noted accordingly. Justin Suh and MJ Daffue also are first-time PGA TOUR members (via the KFT regular season), but each exhausted his rookie eligibility in a prior season. Life Members over the age of 50 are not included. Also excluded is 2022 PGA Professional Championship winner Jesse Mueller, who is allowed six somewhat restricted starts. For non-members eligible for PGA TOUR competition in 2022-23, the target to achieve Special Temporary Membership is 175.228 FedExCup points. That equals what Dylan Wu totaled as the 150th-ranked golfer via FedExCup Eligibility Points in 2021-22. It’s the lowest threshold in memory, so it stands to reason that it will be threatened if not crossed multiple times. Once it is, gaining access to the PGA TOUR in 2024 eases. (For a detailed explanation of STM, click here.) In addition, the top 10, not otherwise fully exempt on the PGA TOUR in 2024, at the season-ending DP World Tour ranking in 2023 will be extended PGA TOUR membership in 2024. Altogether, leagues that allow drop-adds and/or keepers will have a stockpile of additional talent lined up for the future. Now, changes are not limited only to the PGA TOUR, membership and everything else broken down above. There are two significant enhancements to PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf as well. First, pars now will reward one point instead of zero. Therefore, cuts made returns as an influencer in building rosters and managing starts across Segments. Second, the dedicated fantasy app has been discontinued. Access to PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf via your mobile device has been simplified to the PGA TOUR app and via mobile browsing. The desktop version, FantasyGolf.PGATOUR.com, also remains unchanged. PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live will continue as well. Mike Glasscott and I will continue to collaborate for Pick ‘Em Preview every Wednesday. If you ever have any questions and comments, please connect with me on Twitter. My handle is beside my byline at the top. Glass also makes himself available on the platform. Have fun, listen and learn, and remain fluid. In fantasy, in reality.

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