Ko leads by 1 at Kapolei entering final round

The PGA TOUR heads to Las Vegas for the first of two events on a mini-Vegas swing. This week's Shriners Hospitals for Children Open will be followed by THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK, which was relocated to Las Vegas due to COVID-19. The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open marks Bryson DeChambeau's first start after his U.S. Open win, Francesco Molinari's first start since the season stopped for COVID-19 and defending champion Kevin Na. FIELD NOTES: Molinari makes his first start on TOUR since the WGC-Mexico Championship in February. He moved his family to California this year and took some time away from golf... DeChambeau tees it up for the first time as a major champion... Will Zalatoris is in the field as one of the sponsor exemptions. Zalatoris is tops on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List and is looking to increase his nonmember FedExCup points. He currently is 95 points short of special temporary membership... Smylie Kaufman returns to the tournament where he notched his first TOUR victory. The 2015 Shriners winner will make his first start on TOUR since the Puerto Rico Open in February... PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa is back in action on the PGA TOUR along with fellow young star Matthew Wolff, who has finished in the top four in the past two majors... Justin Suh, a college star in his own right alongside Morikawa and Wolff, is looking to build off his momentum from the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, where he finished T14... After starting the final day of the Southern Highlands Collegiate seven shots back, the University of Texas' Parker Coody won medalist honors and a spot in the Shriners. Coody is the grandson of former Masters champion Charles Coody. Parker's twin, Pierceson, won this year's Western Amateur. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: TPC Summerlin, par 71, 7,255 yards (yardage subject to change). Carved out of rugged desert terrain, TPC Summerlin - designed by Bobby Weed with Fuzzy Zoeller serving as a consultant - has hosted the Shriners since 1992. STORYLINES: DeChambeau captured the Shriners in 2018... How much does Patrick Cantlay love TPC Summerlin? The 2017 Shriners winner also has a runner-up (2018) and a playoff loss (2019) to his credit. He is certainly one to watch again... Other than defending champion Kevin Na, many TOUR pros playing the Shriners call the Vegas area home including Ryan Moore, Scott Piercy, and Maverick McNealy. 72-HOLE RECORD: 260, Ryan Moore (2012), Webb Simpson (2013). 18-HOLE RECORD: 59, Chip Beck (3rd round, 1991 at Sunrise GC). TPC Summerlin record: 60, J.J. Henry (1st round, 2013), Rod Pampling (1st round, 2016). LAST TIME: Kevin Na nailed a 4-foot tester on the second playoff hole with Patrick Cantlay to claim his fourth PGA TOUR title - and second at TPC Summerlin. Cantlay three-putted the second sudden-death hole which opened the door for Na. Na's efforts on the greens a year ago were record-setting, as he set the record for feet of putts made in a 72-hole event (more than 558 feet in all). Na had a three-shot lead through nine holes in the final round but made a triple bogey on No. 10 to allow Cantlay and others to challenge. Pat Perez finished third while Adam Hadwin, Brian Stuard, and Bryson DeChambeau rounded out the top five. It was Na's third TOUR win in 15 months after going seven years between TOUR victories. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 4 p.m.-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 5 p.m.-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-8 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 3 p.m.-8 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

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There have been numerous instances this year when I’ve been classified as, for lack of a better description, a defendant of FedExCup points as the preferred measurement in a One & Done. In fact, I’m a proponent of either points or earnings as long as you trust your platform and commissioner. But obviously, since PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO uses only FedExCup points to measure performance, it’s the game at PGATOUR.COM and I’m the fantasy columnist for the website, well, all one needs to do is connect the dots to understand my primary position. However, what may have been overlooked in my full-membership fantasy ranking before the season or simply gone unknown to anyone resisting shifting to FedExCup points is that earnings will no longer be used to determine PGA TOUR status beginning in 2017-18. Of course, prize money will be tracked and distributed despite the elimination of its influence, but the evolution away from it should generate philosophical conversation in your private league about why you’d continue to use it as your measurement. Purists will acknowledge that earnings was used in the first place because it once was the only statistic that determined PGA TOUR status. So, if you continue to use earnings, you’ll be using a measurement that no longer has relevance in reality. All of that may come across as propaganda from a soapbox, but I assure you that it is not, for this is the week when I’d love to be banking earnings instead of FedExCup points. The U.S. Open at Erin Hills boasts a record purse of $12 million. The winner will received $2.16 million (the usual cut of 18 percent). If you’re in an earnings-based league, it likely has a couple of bottom-feeders gone dormant who haven’t even totaled what the 117th champion of the season’s second major will be depositing into his account. Money leagues have three monsters from which to choose. In this order, defending champion Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day present the strongest offense in the context of your objective. They are the most dynamic fits for Erin Hills who are already proven. If none is available to you, you should have planned better for the potential windfall, but given how the first five months of 2017 unraveled for both McIlroy and Day, the odds are pretty good that at least one is at your disposal. If you play PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO, then you understand that its selection process requires finesse. Since the Playoffs essentially quadruple FedExCup points earned, anchoring your season as I am – McIlroy-Day-DJ, in that order – is a strategy rich in insurance all the while you position yourself to accumulate what you can along the way. This is why I’m pushing Rickie Fowler out there at the U.S. Open. The winner will receive 600 FedExCup points. By comparison, a three-way T3 in a Playoffs event is worth 580 points, which means there’s a margin of error for the big boys in that series. Fowler will resonate as a short-lister again only at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, but with no cut and another deep field at our fingertips in that event, he’s worth the plunge now. I wouldn’t pretend to steer you away from the trio for whom the case is open-and-shut for money leaguers, but have a plan for the Playoffs regardless of your decision. The next tier for PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO gamers includes, in no particular order this time, Justin Thomas, Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Adam Scott. You could get away in abstaining from Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm, Hideki Matsuyama, Kevin Kisner and Jason Dufner, but I’d still circle Rahm or Dufner if either is available and you’re in a pinch. Jordan Spieth is the really interesting piece on the board. A top 10 is all but a given, but we expect a top five from him with the opportunity to pick off a win. As a scorer on a par 72 with room to spray it a bit off the tee, there’s really nothing not to love about his fit. That’s multiplied since he’s regained form since going back to his old putter. If I didn’t burn him at the Masters (with similar thinking, not to mention his phenomenal record at Augusta National), he’d be my guy at Erin Hills. While the field is sprinkled with value all over the place, two-man gamers should focus on an international non-member as the tail of your tandem. Consider Thomas Pieters, Lee Westwood or Ross Fisher. Shane Lowry is a PGA TOUR member, but go ahead and toss him into the mix. Then again, Steve Stricker is likely available. You’d be the envy of every one-man gamer who won’t have the temerity to pull the trigger or tug on the heartstrings. NOTE: Since it’s possible that Phil Mickelson will withdraw before his tee time in the opening round, the timing has never been better to remind you that if any golfer you’ve rostered in any of the fantasy games WDs before his tee time in an opening round and you don’t replace him, he will remain available to you in either One & Done and you won’t be charged a start in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2016-17. All are pending golfer commitment. Keegan Bradley … WGC-Bridgestone; Dell Technologies Paul Casey … Travelers; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Kevin Chappell … Dell Technologies Jason Day … U.S. Open; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Jason Dufner … U.S. Open; TOUR Championship Rickie Fowler … WGC-Bridgestone Jim Furyk … U.S. Open; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Sergio Garcia … Open Championship; TOUR Championship Branden Grace … U.S. Open; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship Bill Haas … Wyndham Charley Hoffman … Travelers; Canadian Billy Horschel … TOUR Championship Dustin Johnson … U.S. Open (defending); Canadian; TOUR Championship Zach Johnson … John Deere; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Kevin Kisner … Wyndham Russell Knox … Travelers (defending); Dell Technologies Brooks Koepka … U.S. Open; PGA Championship Matt Kuchar … Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone Martin Laird … Barracuda Marc Leishman … Travelers; Open Championship Hideki Matsuyama … PGA Championship; BMW Graeme McDowell … Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; Wyndham William McGirt … Wyndham Rory McIlroy … WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies (defending); TOUR Championship (defending) Kevin Na … John Deere; Wyndham Louis Oosthuizen … Dell Technologies Scott Piercy … John Deere; BMW Patrick Reed … Wyndham; Dell Technologies Justin Rose … Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; TOUR Championship Charl Schwartzel … U.S. Open; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone Adam Scott … U.S. Open; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Webb Simpson … Greenbrier; Wyndham Brandt Snedeker … U.S. Open; Travelers; Canadian; Wyndham Jordan Spieth … John Deere; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; TOUR Championship Brendan Steele … Travelers; Barracuda (already eligible for concurrent WGC-Bridgestone) Henrik Stenson … Open Championship (defending); WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Jimmy Walker … Greenbrier; PGA Championship (defending); Dell Technologies Bubba Watson … Travelers; Greenbrier; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Gary Woodland … Barracuda; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship

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 AUGUSTA, Georgia – The famous Masters scoreboard halfway down the first hole at Augusta National has the flags of 20 nations proudly flying above it. It is a nod to the global reach of the tournament that began with just four international players in the inaugural 1934 tournament (a Canadian and three Englishmen) and will this week see 23 different countries represented. That’s right, they now don’t have enough flag poles to even fit the 23 countries whose players will vie for the coveted green jacket, such is the global boon. The Masters has been very active in reaching corners of the globe not traditionally enamored with golf – pushing their amateur championships through Asia and Latin America. Of the 87 players in the field this year, 47 of them are from outside the USA. Of the 23 countries, 12 of them have never won the Masters. Nine of those have never won a major championship. Six of them have never won a PGA TOUR event. It wasn’t until the 25th playing of the Masters that Gary Player broke the American stranglehold on the event. In 1980 at the 44th Masters Seve Ballesteros pushed the winning countries to three and by the turn of the millennium Germany, Scotland, England, Wales and Fiji had joined the party. Mike Weir broke the drought for Canada 15 years ago and Angel Cabrera gave Argentina a thrill in 2009. And it was five years ago that Adam Scott smashed an Australian curse at Augusta National. With eight previous runner-up results by Australians – Greg Norman personally having three heartbreaking losses – the weight of a nation was bearing down on the Aussies every year. When Scott made his famous birdie on the 72nd hole, he instinctively yelled “C’mon Aussieâ€� in celebration – a cry born in years of frustrations for his nation. “It got annoying and frustrating knowing the same questions were going to come every year,â€� Scott once said. “Without fail all of us would be asked when it would happen, how would it happen, what needed to be done. “So to be the guy to finally do it was pretty special.â€� The history for the 12 nations chasing a first green jacket certainly shape the level of pressure. Australia felt it through past failures and a strong history in golf. It is getting to that point for the Irish who will only be represented by Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy this year. McIlroy has single-handedly ensured Northern Ireland is just a Masters away from a career slam. With the personal pressure dwarfing that coming from his nation, he doesn’t yet see it as the Australians did. McIlroy winning would be huge, but it might not shift the global landscape of golf like some other potential winners. And to this point, given their freshness to golf at the highest level, expectations are not yet high. But as every year passes… the want grows. Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama most certainly does feel the intensity from outside. Barely a tournament goes by without him being asked about being the first player from his nation to break through. He smiles when asked and tries to deflect the so-called pressure. But relief will certainly factor in his emotions if and when he does claim major glory. Joining Matsuyama are Yuta Ikeda, Satoshi Kodaira and Yusaka Miyazato all hoping to create history for Japan. But perhaps an even bigger dent would come if Haotong Li, Yuxin Lin or Shubhankar Sharma could prevail. “China or India – that’s almost three billion people combined. That would be massive,â€� Marc Leishman mused. “That could be insane for the future of golf.â€� Lin, the winner of the Asia-Pacific amateur, is just 17. But he has already seen a marked difference in how golf is in his home country. Olympic participation kick-started things, and now there are two players (Zecheng Dou and Xinjun Zhang) playing on the PGA TOUR. A major winner could push things into overdrive and produce an avalanche of talent. “Back when I started, the facilities and stuff were kind of bad. We were hitting like off mats, and it’s really hard to find a property where you can actually hit off grass, so it’s going to be like really expensive,â€� Lin explained. “But nowadays, the China Golf Association, they’re starting to build some practice bases. Wonderful facilities, it’s just easier for the kids right now to practice. “To win would definitely have a major impact on the sport back in my country.â€� For Sharma, who was given a special invite thanks to his impressive form so far in 2018, becoming India’s first major champion would be epic. But he doesn’t see it as a burden – rather an opportunity. “There’s no pressure at all. I think everyone back home is happy I’m competing at this level, and hopefully I’ll keep coming back here for many years to come,â€� Sharma said. “I’m actually very happy that I’m getting a lot of attention. A lot of people back home are following me, and if I can get a good finish this weekend, maybe even win a green jacket, it will be great for the game.â€� COUNTRIES FIGHTING FOR FIRST MASTERS Thailand – Kiradech Aphibarnrat Japan – Yuta Ikeda, Satoshi Kodaira, Hideki Matsuyama, Yusaka Miyazato Korea – Si Woo Kim China – Haotong Li, Yuxin Lin Northern Ireland – Rory McIlroy Italy – Francesco Molinari Sweden – Alex Noren, Henrik Stenson Chile – Joaquin Niemann Belgium – Thomas Pieters India – Shubhankar Sharma Venezuela – Jhonattan Vegas Austria – Bernd Wiesberger

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