Leaderboard: AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

When it was decided that THE PLAYERS Championship would be canceled after one round last year, it guaranteed that THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass wouldn't prevail for once. Indeed, Pete Dye's menacing track at the PGA TOUR's headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, cannot be defeated. Regardless of score, it is survived. Although professional golf is an individual sport, success at TPC Sawgrass must be measured solely in relation to the competition, for the pursuit for perfection is more futile here than anywhere else. As of Monday, an expanded gathering of 154 golfers is poised to demonstrate how Dye's design does not discriminate. For detail on the special construct of the field, what TPC Sawgrass has in store and more, scroll past the extended ranking of projected contenders. RELATED: The First Look | Inside the Field POWER RANKINGS: THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP Max Homa, Patrick Reed, Tyrrell Hatton, Patrick Cantlay and Joaquin Niemann will be among the notable reviewed in Tuesday's Fantasy Insider. The traditional build of 144 golfers for THE PLAYERS is heavier by 10 since it recently was decided by membership to include the top 125 in the 2019-20 FedExCup standings. It's an annual criterion for entry, but it had been replaced by a special points list that ran from the beginning of the 2019-20 season through the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession and the Puerto Rico Open on Feb. 28. Both criteria have been used to grant access, but the 10 who qualified only via the top 125 in the 2019-20 FedExCup are considered add-ons, so if any withdraws, he will not be replaced. (They are listed under "Top 125 on the 2019-2020 FedExCup Points List in Inside the Field.) As the 2019 champion, Rory McIlroy is the most recent winner of the tournament. As such, he's next up to attempt to become the first to successfully defend at TPC Sawgrass. This is the 39th edition of THE PLAYERS on the course. While he's winless since the WGC-HSBC Champions 16 months ago, his form is sufficiently encouraging that he'll have a reasonable go at consecutive titles; that is, if you subscribe to conventional thinking. Consider that of the last 10 defending champions, 2018 winner Webb Simpson is the only to finish with as strong as a top 55. He placed T16 in 2019. That there hasn't been a golfer to go back-to-back at TPC Sawgrass helps legitimize the fairness of the test. It's a stock par 72 and all 7,189 yards have been overseeded. The primary rough is lush and trimmed to two-and-a-half inches, while the TifEagle bermuda greens should reach 13 feet on the Stimpmeter. In its return to March after a dozen years in May, it averaged 71.513 in 2019. McIlroy's pace of 16-under 272 was consistent with history. Because of the omnipresence of the risk-reward component, experience defines most champions of this tournament. McIlroy contributed to that narrative as having appeared nine times before capturing the title. Since Tiger Woods won for the second time in 2013 - he first won it in 2001, so he's the only winner in both March and May - Martin Kaymer, Rickie Fowler and Jason Day each needed exactly five trips before connecting. Si Woo Kim surprised in his second appearance in 2017, but Simpson had eight starts under his belt before his victory. Ball-striking is the other weapon that most winners possess. On cue, McIlroy ranked second in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, T3 in greens in regulation, 11th in proximity to the hole and first in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green en route to the title. He also led the field in par-3 scoring. In contradiction to so many editions of THE PLAYERS in March, outstanding weather is forecast all week. Passing clouds won't prevent daytime highs from climbing into the low 70s throughout. The primary challenge will be a persistent easterly breeze, but only gusts scare golfers of this field's caliber, most sincerely at the famous penultimate target. Fair conditions in general can influence an urgency to score, so the likelihood of taking risk rises, and that makes for a more compelling viewing experience. Speaking of which, Every Shot Live has returned for the TOUR's flagship event. As its name implies, every stroke by every golfer will be on camera and with visual enhancement such as tracing of tee balls. As a reminder, if a winner isn't determined in regulation, a three-hole playoff consisting of aggregate scores on holes 16, 17 and 18 will be used to settle the score. If still knotted after that, a traditional hole-by-hole playoff beginning at the 17th and alternating with the 18th will be used. Last and very much not least, the prize fund is a record $15 million of which $2.7 million is reserved for the champion. He also will receive 600 FedExCup points and a five-year membership exemption. ROB BOLTON'S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM's Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Watch * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM's Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – For the second consecutive year, Daniel Berger is in contention at a major on Long Island. He overcame a wrist injury and changed coaches in the interim. Berger shot 4-under 66 on Friday to post a 36-hole total of 136. He was in third place, three shots behind Brooks Koepka, when the morning wave finished play. Koepka was scheduled to start his second round at 1:49 p.m ET. Berger, who teed off on the 10th hole Friday, birdied his first two holes. The 10th hole has been the second-hardest hole this week. His only bogey came on No. 12, but he responded with nine consecutive pars before birdies on three of his final six holes. “It’s a major championship, and you have to perform, and you have to play 72 great holes of golf. And halfway through, I’ve done that,â€� Berger said. “So the challenge is going to be the next 36 holes, and it’s not going to get any easier. So I’ve just got to stay patient and do the things that I did the last couple of days.â€� Berger’s game has travelled well on Long Island, from the tony Shinnecock Hills in the Hamptons to this municipal masterpiece about 60 miles to the west. Shinnecock, one of the oldest clubs in the country, hosted last year’s U.S. Open. Berger and Tony Finau played in Sunday’s final group at Shinnecock after making the cut with a shot to spare. They shot 66 early Saturday and continued to rise up the leaderboard as the field struggled with a dry layout and windy day. Berger finished sixth after shooting 73 on Sunday. It was his only top-10 of the season. He has just one top-10 since, a runner-up at the Puerto Rico Open earlier this year. He said he finally feels fully healed after injuring his wrist last summer. He hopes that now he can continue on the promising trajectory he showed earlier in his career Berger was the 2015 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year and qualified for the TOUR Championship in his first three seasons on TOUR. He won the FedEx St. Jude Invitational in both 2016 and 2017 and played in the Presidents Cup two years ago. He is 119th in this season’s FedExCup after finishing a career-worst 70th in the standings last season. Berger sat out the remainder of the year after withdrawing from last year’s BMW Championship in September. He said it was only about six weeks ago that his wrist finally felt back to normal, allowing him to practice and play as much as he’d like. It was around that time that he started working with a new coach, Cameron McCormick. He also teaches Berger’s fellow member of the Class of 2011, Jordan Spieth. McCormick has helped Berger develop new short-game shots. That came in handy Friday, when Berger hit just half his greens.  “Around the greens, it’s just been learning some different shots and some different variety of shots that I didn’t have,â€� Berger said. “I never knew that I had some the ability that I had around the greens that I feel like I was able to bring out in the last couple of weeks.â€�

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