Koepka off to strong start in three-peat quest

Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship that gamers can use next week, next year or down the road. Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte has been the host since the creation of the event in 2003 and plays 7,544 yards to a Par-71. The 2017 WFC was played at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, NC. Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte has been the host since the creation of the event in 2003 and plays 7,544 yards to a Par-71. The 2017 WFC was played at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, NC.  Beautiful Day Australian Jason Day became the fourth multiple winner on TOUR this season as he posted 12-under 272 to win the Wells Fargo Championship for the first time. His final-round 69 saw him hold off Aaron Wise and Nick Watney by two shots to collect his 12th PGA TOUR title. Day’s day was anything but easy, but he tends to make it look that way when he’s in the hunt. His two-shot lead was three at the turn before bogeys at Nos. 13 and 14 made for an interesting finish. Day cranked up the class and blasted a 380-yard drive on No. 16 that he turned into a birdie. If that wasn’t enough, he almost broke the flag on No. 17 at the base. His tee shot on the par-3 smashed into the flag and stopped three feet from the hole. His birdie sealed the tournament, as he played “The Green Mile” in 3 under for the week. Entering the week without a finish inside the top 20 since February, gamers had to trust his T9 experience at the 2017 PGA Championship would be enough. Day hasn’t played this event since 2012 when he finished T9. His wins at Torrey Pines and Quail Hollow Club shouldn’t be too much of a surprise as he hits it a mile and has a fantastic short game. He checked all of those boxes this week even though he admitted he had less than his best on Sunday. He led the field in putts per GIR and SG: Around-the-Green while checking in second in SG: Putting, scrambling and sand saves. He joins Lucas Glover as the only winner to place all four rounds in the 60’s. Gamers will only have to go back to 2016 to see how badly Day destroyed TPC Sawgrass. The changes after his victory slowed him to T60 last year but no player has ever defended that event. Ever. Those with regret can patiently wait until the PGA Championship or The TOUR Championship (among others) for a chance to use him. PGA TOUR Fantasy Game presented by SERVPRO top selections: What a difference a Day makes! Plenty of the names above feasted on the easier conditions on Saturday but regressed in the final round. The breeze was up and the sunshine was out so scores followed suit. Finau had the round of the day with a bogey-free 66, the only bogey-free round on Sunday. PGA TOUR One & Done presented by SERVPRO top selections: It’s a win-win for the Day supporters as their man won and the three horses-for-courses at Quail Hollow Club did not. I was waving my DeChambeau pompoms a bit more vigorously after he holed that 18-footer for birdie on the last to take solo fourth. One of the cheers was for DeChambeau and the other was hoping to catch McIlroy down the road when he turns it on again. Play All 72 Regular readers of this column will know that Nick Watney has now cashed in 11 consecutive events. His best result of that stretch of 10 straight was T20 the last time he played his own ball at the Valero Texas Open. He played in the final twosome and collected his best finish, T2, since he was solo second at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2015. He beat Day by two shots that day. This week he needed a 58-foot putt on the last to drop to chop the runner-up cash. This was Watney’s third top-10 finish at QHC in the last five years so make a note for next year! Close Encounters Rookie Aaron Wise was tied with Day as he teed it up on No. 16. There’s no shame in making three pars to close on “The Green Mile” and that’s exactly what he did. He played his final 16 holes on Sunday in 4 under after bogeying the second hole. The former NCAA champion from Oregon picks up his best finish as a pro and sits inside the top 50 in the FedExCup standings at No. 49.  Bank on Lefty His worst 36-hole total (+2) in 14 appearances probably scared most of his investors to death. His 64-69 weekend saw Phil Mickelson claim another top 10 in Charlotte, the 10th of his illustrious career. Don’t fall into the trap of following him on to TPC Sawgrass, though. His recent record there is dire and his last top 10 was his win in 2007. The Landlord The only two-time champion at this event struggled to find anything in his game this week. Rory McIlroy’s T16 payday is his worst check he’s collected here in eight tries. Even his “bad” is good but he’s forced gamers to set the bar ridiculously high and I understand the frustration. I don’t think next week is time to break him out if he’s struggling across the board. Sunday Silence I don’t think many expected Peter Uihlein to back up his 62 with something tasty on Sunday. He didn’t, but his 71 only dropped him three spots to T5 to match his best finish of the season. … There have been two players over the years that cause gamers to bite their nails on Sunday: Paul Casey and Rickie Fowler. Casey bogeyed the last to fall into a share of T5 while Fowler finished double bogey-bogey to drop all the way to T21. … Peter Malnati held the 36-hole lead alone before 75-74 on the weekend saw him eventually land at T34. … Tiger Woods didn’t make a birdie on Sunday and ended up T55. Study Hall Sunday’s scoring average jumped to 71.973 from 70.368 as QHC played almost 100 yards longer than Saturday. The scoring average for the week was 72.132. … Wise and fellow top-10 finishers Charl Schwartzel (T9) and Sam Saunders (T9) led the field with 19 birdies for the week. … Emiliano Grillo bogeyed his last two holes to collect T9 money. That’s 13 straight paychecks this season when playing his own ball. 

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Built as a hybrid between a roster and one-and-done formats, PGA TOUR Captain’s Pick is a stand-alone fantasy game for the Presidents Cup, the four-day competition at Liberty National on Sept. 28-Oct. 1. It’s open for registration now – just click here. If you were already signed up to play any of the incumbent games, simply toggle over to the page dedicated to the newest offering. The rules (found in the upper right) spell out everything you need to know, but this primer will assist you in making decisions for the Captain’s Pick, which is unique. It requires an approach at game play not experienced in the other platforms. FORMAT & SETUP The beauty of the game is in its simplicity, but just as staying on top of your team is critical, timing and luck are also inherent to success. This means that even if you have just basic knowledge of how the Presidents Cup is organized, you’ll have just as much of a puncher’s chance to prevail as hardcore gamers. You’ll start by selecting the team you expect to win. “Scoring and Prizes” below addresses this value, but it’s important to understand that you’ll be selecting golfers only from the team you select. After deciding on the squad, it’s time to build the daily order in which you want your charges to count. Start by selecting three players for Day 1, and then save that lineup. Repeat the process for Days 2, 3 and 4 until all 12 are selected. Finally, you’ll set your tiebreaker. Select a value from zero to 30 for how many of the matches you think will go exactly 18 holes. Once your tiebreaker is saved, you can begin rearranging your team. Daily deadlines fall with the first tee time of the session (or the first session on Day 3). Once it does, the three golfers you’ve selected for that day will be locked in and unavailable to you for the remainder of the competition, even if they don’t play on the day you’ve chosen for them. SCORING & PRIZES Gamers who pick the winning team are awarded five points. Golfers collect points per match, including those who play in both on Day 3. Those who win their match yield one point plus the equivalent of the holes up at the conclusion of the match. This applies to both golfers on the winning side of Four-ball and Foursomes. Halves are worth one-half of one point for all golfers in a match. In 11 editions of the Presidents Cup, there’s never been a conceded match due to injury or illness, but Captain’s Pick is prepared for the contingency. In addition to one point for winning a qualifying conceded match, the winner will receive one point for every hole not played, with a maximum bonus of five points for the holes up when the match is conceded. At the conclusion of the tournament, the gamer with the most points wins. First prize is a set of Titleist 716 AP1 irons. The runner-up will receive a Titleist 917 driver. Third place nets a Scotty Cameron putter. TIEBREAKER If there is more than one fantasy team that totals the most points, a tiebreaker will determine final position. You can modify your tiebreaker until the deadline on Day 1 falls. Going back four editions, 11 of 34 matches in both 2009 and 2011 went exactly 18 holes. In 2013, 15 of 34 matches went the distance. The U.S. won each competition overall by five, four and three points, respectively. The Presidents Cup’s format was reduced to 30 matches in 2015 and half of them went exactly 18 holes. The U.S. squeaked out the victory, 15-1/2 to 14-1/2. STRATEGY There are three components to building a competitive team, and it helps to think of the format of the Presidents Cup in reverse order of the sessions. Since all 12 golfers on both teams will compete in singles on Sunday, all gamers are guaranteed a full lineup. And because it’s the last session, your team will be comprised of your last three available, naturally. Consider this as insurance at the beginning of the competition, but just as you took a fluid approach in PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO during the FedExCup Playoffs, remain flexible throughout the Presidents Cup.   Day 3 will pose the greatest challenge because there are two sessions of four matches each. Because the deadline for the day will fall with the first tee time of the first session and the matches for the second session aren’t announced until the first session is underway, it’s possible that one of your selections will not play at all on Day 3. See, after you’ve burned three golfers each in Days 1 and 2, it’s possible that all of your first six will be scheduled to play in the first session on Day 3, which means that you’re guaranteed just two of the eight actively participating.   In 2015, all 12 members on the U.S. squad competed at least once on Day 3, but just nine of the Internationals were in play. Captain Nick Price has returned this year, so it’s feasible he’ll take the same course of action even though he’ll be reacting to the competition in real time. However, if you’re going to choose the International squad, your objective should be to save three of the strongest members for Day 3. The following seven Internationals laced it up in both sessions on Day 3 two years ago: Hideki Matsuyama, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace and Sangmoon Bae. Only Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, J.B. Holmes and Bubba Watson represented the U.S. in both sessions on the same day. Your decision to select the Internationals to win should hinge on what you’re going to do on Day 3. Even if the U.S. wins the Presidents Cup and shuts you out of five points, bonus points for holes up at the conclusion of matches will cover for it and then some in some cases. Having two cracks at it in one day increases potential player impact from 25 percent (one of four days) to 40 percent (two of five sessions). Just like any golf tournament, you can’t win early, but you can lose it with misguided and anxious thinking. While a 6-and-5 victory in Four-ball on Days 1 or 2 would be more valuable than, say, a pair of 1-up wins on Day 3, you’d need that unlikely scenario to play out to validate the decision not to hope for golfers who will get two starts on Day 3. In preparation for this, consider rostering one or two of your weakest options at some point on Days 1 and/or 2. This will keep you in the game for a potentially game-changing Day 3. And who knows, you just might catch lightning in a bottle in the meantime.   PHILOSOPHIES Qualifying for team competitions requires long stretches of terrific form and usually a PGA TOUR victory along the way. This is to say that discerning between the best and next-best options in your lineup is as relative as it gets in fantasy golf. It’s akin to debating which golfer you want to take in a first round of a draft. Yet, the embarrassment of riches is most definitely affected by the captain’s thirst for team victory. Thus Price’s beefed-up lineups on Day 3 in 2015. Another element that can go overshadowed by the host country’s domination throughout the history of the competition is that it’s still match play. Toss in the variable that 60 percent of the matches involve two-man teams and you can slide into overthinking quicker than you can say, “Pick it up.” These unpredictable realities are constants, but it doesn’t mean that we are entirely at their mercy when constructing lineups. Do it smartly to put yourself in position to get lucky. RECAPS & PREVIEWS This primer is just the beginning. I will be writing daily reports based on the results, golfers’ form, matches for the following day and everything else that matters in your quest to win The Captain’s Pick. So, if you haven’t already bookmarked PGATOUR.COM/Fantasy, please do so.  

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FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Lucas Glover smiled wryly when he was told he and Tiger Woods are the only two players in the PGA Championship field this week who have won majors at Bethpage Black. “That’s probably about it,â€� he joked when asked what else they might have in common. “That and we’ll have 14 clubs in the bag this week, I guess. “That’s pretty cool to have that (in common). That might be the only thing that anybody will ever use he and I’s name in the same breath. And any time you’re lumped in with him. It’s a pretty big honor.â€� But the now 39-year-old three-time PGA TOUR winner hopes he might have something else in common with Woods … the ability to recapture some old glory. Woods has famously returned from injury in the last year, winning the TOUR Championship and the Masters to pull within one of Sam Snead’s record 82 PGA TOUR wins. At East Lake it was Woods’ first TOUR win in five years and at Augusta it was his first major win in nearly 11 years. Glover, who won the 2009 U.S. Open, has faced similar lengthy win droughts. He has also battled some minor injuries, including most recently his knee. The last of his three TOUR titles came at the 2011 Wells Fargo Championship. But this season … well you could say he’s trending. Glover sits 31st in the FedExCup this season thanks to the fact he has four top-10s and 11 top-20s from 15 starts. Last season he managed just one top-10, back in October of 2017, so it is a welcome return to form. Related: Featured groups, tee times | Rethinking Tiger Woods | Spieth ‘flying under the radar’ in latest career Grand Slam bid | Nine things to know about Bethpage Black | The First Look Especially considering his FedExCup positioning since his last winning season reads 219th, 114th, 185th, 147th, 106th, 43rd and 135th. “I don’t think there’s been anybody to play this game that hasn’t been fried at one point or another,â€� Glover said. “It was pretty up and down and some lean times, but again, I don’t know of anybody that’s played this game for a long time that hasn’t gone through some ups and downs.â€� “Like (former NFL player) Brian Dawkins said in his Hall of Fame speech, you’re going through something so you’re going to come out on the other end, so that’s the way I’m looking at the last few years is I’ve come out the other side. “I haven’t won, I haven’t accomplished any of my goals, but I’ve come through it.â€� Glover’s victory in 2009 came in extremely wet conditions. The rain is again falling at Bethpage in the early part of this week. Back then he held off the likes of Woods, and Phil Mickelson as they charged towards him. He might have to do so again should he find himself in contention. “Any experience you have, good or bad, you can make it a positive, and that’s what I’m trying to do … I’m in every way a different person than 10 years ago, but I can still lean on all of that,â€� he adds. “My golf swing is different, my putting stroke is different, my brain is different, everything is different. But at the same time, I still get comfortable when I walk into the clubhouse or drive through the gate. “It’s just that calming feeling. It’s almost like how I imagine some guys feel driving down Magnolia Lane at Augusta that have had success there. It’s just like an automatic deep breath, like I’ve done it here, let’s see what we can do again.â€�

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