Leaderboard: Lingmerth maintains top spot

NAPA, Calif. — Brendan Steele rallied to successfully defend his Safeway Open title, closing with a 3-under 69 on Sunday for a two-stroke victory over Tony Finau in the season opener. Phil Mickelson and Chesson Hadley finished three shots behind. Two strokes behind surprising leader Tyler Duncan entering the day at Silverado Resort and Spa, Steele birdied the par-5 16th and 18th holes — holing a 3-footer on 18. The 34-year-old Steele, from the Southern California mountain town of Idyllwild, finished at 14-under 273 for his third PGA TOUR title. He also won the 2011 Valero Texas Open. Finau, whose lone PGA TOUR victory came in the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, moved into a tie for the lead with Steele at 14 under with a birdie on the par-4 13th. But he double-bogeyed the par-4 14th. After pars on 16 and 17, Finau had a 40-foot eagle putt on the 18th and settled for birdie and a 69. Mickelson, who began the round four shots off the lead, birdied the 16th from 10 feet to move within one shot of Steele. But Mickelson, winless since The Open in 2013, bogeyed the 17th before birdieing the 18th for a 70. It was Mickelson’s 27th third-place finish in 27 PGA TOUR seasons. Hadley finished with a 73. He had a course-record 61 in the second round. Duncan, a PGA TOUR rookie who began the round with a one-stroke lead over Hadley, had five bogeys on the front nine and finished with a 75 to tie for fifth with Graham DeLaet at 11 under. DeLaet had a 72. John Daly, the two-time major winner who won on his first PGA TOUR Champions title in May, closed with a 79 to tie for 72nd at 5 over.

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The 18th of 24 contributing events for PGA TOUR Champions One & Done presented by SERVPRO is this week’s DICK’S Sporting Goods Open. It begins on Friday. Scroll for tournament notes, 17 notables and five wild cards from the field of 78 in Endicott, New York. Unlike the RBC Heritage, the Travelers Championship and the RBC Canadian Open – the first three stops following majors this season – this week’s Wyndham Championship isn’t as much of a soft landing as it’s a potential launching pad into the FedExCup Playoffs. As some of my fellow little leaguers note, it’s easy to get caught up in the motivation to succeed right now. Certainly, some guys perform best under pressure, but Sergio Garcia, to name one, is chasing both a berth in the Playoffs (he’s 131st in points) and a spot on Europe’s Ryder Cup team. Both are enormous achievements given the absence of current form and positions in both races. It’s not the kind of situation that front-running One & Doners covet despite his cachet because the Wyndham also happens to be his 15th start of the 2017-18 season. It eliminates both the concern over losing voting rights as a member and the need for the Ryder Cup to count as his 15th to retain those rights and, therefore, membership. Put it all together and it’s not the conversation we expected to have just 16 months after he broke through at the Masters. Instead, as Sedgefield Country Club hosts the final stop before the Playoffs, the smartest angle is to invest in a golfer who wants to be here but doesn’t have to be. Course history establishes reasoning for tiebreakers in a field with only a handful of strong alternatives. For most intents and purposes, Webb Simpson should have been holstered for this tournament. He’s a former winner (2011) and sits second in all-time earnings. At 12th in the FedExCup standings, he’s the only representative of the top 25 in the field. Ryan Moore (59th in the FedExCup) and Brandt Snedeker (80th) also have solid history at Sedgefield. Moore prevailed in 2009 while Sneds has four top 10s. (His victory in the Wyndham occurred at Forest Oaks Country Club in 2007.) They are the easy 1a’s to Simpson. Defending champion Henrik Stenson was in my Power Rankings, but barely at No. 15. That was a nod to the doubt of the severity of the discomfort in his elbow, but it’s fair to wonder if he’d even appear if he wasn’t defending. He’s 50th in the FedExCup in 13 starts, so there’s no concern about him falling short of the membership minimum. Still, he’s advisable only if you’re trailing by a wide margin. The doubt is your friend when you have nothing to lose. Hideki Matsuyama’s middling season slots him just 88th in the FedExCup standings (in 16 starts). The encouraging news is that he was a late entry into the Wyndham, meaning he didn’t commit until after the original deadline on Friday and before the secondary deadline 30 minutes after the conclusion of play that same day. He also has good feels at Sedgefield, most recently with a T3 in 2016. Given that he hasn’t exactly lit up in the Playoffs, consider the stars aligned to plug him in now if available. Elsewhere, both Rafa Cabrera Bello and Shane Lowry present as saviors with the finish line in view. The concern of Lowry at 139th in the FedExCup is secondary since his home circuit is the European Tour and the Playoffs could be construed as a bonus in one context. Two-man gamers who have options should align either as the tail of your tandem. From the macro point of view, if you play PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO, the Wyndham Championship is the last tournament before FedExCup points are quadrupled. If that introduces pause, fuhgeddaboudit. There isn’t anyone in the field who you are going to miss during the final four events. With total prize money of $6 million, the Wyndham also is the least lucrative of the last five. Each of the Playoffs events will distribute $9 million. So, the approach for earnings-based gamers is the same. In a recent preview, I tossed out the possibility that Patrick Reed could line up well at Sedgefield, but he didn’t commit. It’s not surprising given that the PGA Championship marked his fifth consecutive road trip. So, looking ahead, he’s now on my short list for THE NORTHERN TRUST. I have Jason Day penciled in for the Dell Technologies Championship where I suspect Ben also will burn his fellow Aussie. I’m the only Expert who hasn’t played Justin Rose, so he’s locked in for the TOUR Championship. Similarly, only I can play Tommy Fleetwood, so he might be my choice at THE NORTHERN TRUST. That would shift Reed to the BMW Championship where he’d compete with Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and others. Of course, nothing is set in stone until the week of, but it’s always important to remain fluid while constructing the grand plan. 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 2017-18. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Jason Dufner … Wyndham (6); TOUR Championship (7) Sergio Garcia … TOUR Championship (4) Bill Haas … Wyndham (2) Billy Horschel … TOUR Championship (4) Ryan Moore … TOUR Championship (6) Webb Simpson … Wyndham (1) Brandt Snedeker … Wyndham (4) Henrik Stenson … Wyndham (8; defending); Dell Technologies (9); TOUR Championship (2) CHAMPIONS ONE & DONE DICK’S Sporting Goods Open This is the 12th edition of the tournament. All have been contested at En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott, New York. The course hosted the B.C. Open on the PGA TOUR from 1971-2005, although the official inaugural was in 1973. En-Joie tips at a tournament-record 6,994 yards. It’s a stock par 72, but three of the par 5s are on the front side, so the respective pars are 37 and 35. There have been 11 different champions. Amazingly, Scott McCarron is attempting to become the first to record a top 10 in his title defense. Each of the last seven winners is committed to play, as are eight of the winners of the B.C. Open. None of the winners of the DICK’S also won the B.C. Bernhard Langer, the 2014 champ, is the all-time earnings leader of the DICK’S with $485K, but Joey Sindelar is only $4K behind without a victory. He’s finished T3 twice and fourth twice. Total prize money is up $50K this year to $2.05 million. The winner will receive $307,500. 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 2018. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Stephen Ames … Boeing (2); Shaw (7) Joe Durant … DICK’S (12); Boeing (10); Shaw (11); PURE (3); SAS (13) David Frost … Boeing (5); Shaw (8); PURE (1) Fred Funk … Boeing (6); PURE (5) Doug Garwood … SAS (1) Paul Goydos … 3M (1; defending); DICK’S (3); SAS (5) Miguel Angel Jiménez … Shaw (7); SAS (12) Bernhard Langer … Usable everywhere. Defending five titles. Jeff Maggert … Shaw (5) Billy Mayfair … Boeing (2); PURE (1) Scott McCarron … DICK’S (4; defending); Shaw (5; defending); PURE (8) Colin Montgomerie … Shaw (4); PURE (7); SAS (3; defending) Kenny Perry … DICK’S (11); SAS (2) Gene Sauers … Boeing (1) Kevin Sutherland … Usable everywhere. David Toms … Boeing (2); SAS (4) Duffy Waldorf … Shaw (5) WILD CARDS (short list of golfers not included above but on the rise or still building portfolios after recently turning 50): Paul Broadhurst; Bob Estes; Steve Flesch; Scott Parel; Wes Short, Jr.

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Gary Woodland entered The Honda Classic this week riding a PGA TOUR-leading streak of 20 consecutive made cuts. With two holes left in Friday’s second round, that streak was in serious danger of ending. But Woodland took an aggressive line with his tee shot over the water at the par-3 17th, setting up his successful birdie putt from 4-1/2 feet. He followed with two great swings at the par-4 18th, then drained another birdie putt, this one from 15 feet, 10 inches, to keep his cuts streak alive at 21 straight. “I knew what I had to do those last two holes,â€� Woodland said. “That frees you up a little bit … knowing I had to make birdies, so I had to play more aggressive.â€� MUST READS: Round 2, The Honda Classic Keith Mitchell shares lead in return to Bermudagrass Justin Thomas struggles with ‘dead arm’, makes cut on the number Freddie Jacobson finds form after three hand surgeries In shooting an even-par 70, Woodland made the cut on the number at 2 over and will have an early start time for Saturday’s third round. He’s not in contention right now, but with fresh morning greens, a tough course and potentially windy conditions for the leaders, he’s not counting himself out just yet. If nothing else, drilling that final putt when he needed it might serve him well at some future point. “Knowing you have to make a putt and making it – whether it’s for anything – gives you confidence going forward,â€� he said. “It’s nice to be under the pressure. I’ll remember that putt when it means something a little more.â€� A total of 83 players made the cut, which means a secondary cut looms after the third round to the top 70s and ties.

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