Leaderboard: What’s happening at the Honda Classic

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Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. TPC Southwind, located just outside Memphis, has been the host since 1990 and plays 7,244 yards to a Par-70. No. 1 Again Dustin Johnson sent his message loud and clear to the prospective contenders at the U.S. Open next week that the path to the trophy will have to go through him. Johnson closed up the proceedings as he holed his final shot of the day from 169 yards to post 19-under-par 261 to defeat Andrew Putnam by six shots. Johnson’s winning total is the new tournament record (post-2004 renovation) and his victory moves him to No. 1 in the OWGR. The big-hitting 2016 U.S. Open champ squared only four bogeys and a double this week as led the field in SG: tee to green, driving distance and birdies (21). He was second in SG: approach the green, Proximity, Bogey Avoidance and Putts per GIR. His 18th victory on TOUR since his rookie year of 2008 ties Tiger Woods for the most on TOUR during that timeframe. Johnson picks up his second victory at TPC Southwind and will lower his ridiculously low stroke average here with his record-setting performance. In six trips he’s now posted two wins and four total top-10 paydays. Next season the strength of field will increase as this event will replace Firestone as the last WGC event on the TOUR schedule. I don’t think he’ll care or be bothered next year or next week. He also won’t care that the winner the week prior to the U.S. Open has never claimed the second major. He’s too good to worry about any of that. I hope you saved a start for next week! Know Thy Enemy These were the top-10 selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game presented by SERVPRO.   Tough week for the chalk in a game where playing the chalk is paramount. The only player inside the top 10 was the winner so those who strategically played DJ this week will be handsomely rewarded. PAIN OR GAIN These were the top-10 selected golfers (plus one) in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: I added one more this week because I thought it was interesting where the eventual winner fell. Fantasy gaming is about taking chances and getting lucky and those who backed Johnson for his first win since January get the last laugh. Close Encounters Andrew Putnam (2nd) began the final round all-square but was two-down after one and three-down after three and it was all over but the shouting. Putnam picks up his best paycheck in 44 events on TOUR and his third top-10 accolade of the year. It shouldn’t be lost that his first 54 holes were AWESOME as he was 15-under with exactly ONE dropped shot. His final round 72 had one bogey and one double but it was the 14 pars that did him in. He’s no longer a nice “cuts-made” story. Holmes Honing In J.B. Holmes carried the momentum of his best finish in five months from the Memorial (T11) last week to his biggest payday in five tries in Memphis. His checked in the top five in SG: off the tee (3rd), tee to green (5th) and approach the green (8th). He painted 54 of 72 GIR (T3) and isn’t exactly short of the tee either. T6 Six Pack Arkansas native Austin Cook continues his home-court advantage at TPC Southwind as he collected his third top-25 finish and first top-10 check in three tries. His bogey-free 65 moved him up 33 spots but along with Phil Mickelson, were on my bench in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game presented by SERVPRO. #FireMe. … Retief Goosen, two-time U.S. Open champ, including the last winner at Shinnecock, was NOT given a special exemption for next week by the USGA. I’m not sure if that was used as motivation but his bogey-free 66 vaulted him up 23 places. … Trey Mullinax picked up his second top-10 finish of the year. … Chris Kirk, like Mullinax, hit the top 10 for the first time since the Valero Texas Open. … Brandt Snedeker’s 62 in Round 2 was the reason he’s in the top 10 this week. His three other rounds were played in one-over. #FalsePositive. … Chez Reavie didn’t continue his trend (T27, T12 and T4 his last three appearances) but those who rode his course form were rewarded with T6. It’s his first top-10 appearance since Pebble Beach. #Play72 I suggested yesterday that after 73 in Round 3 Phil Mickelson would be mentally preparing for Shinnecock. He rewarded the gamers who kept the left-hander in the lineup for the final round as he fired the co-low round of the day with 65. Mickelson did have his worst showing in the last six years, T12, but after beginning the day T49 I doubt any of those investors will care! … Sunday Silence There were nine guys who played themselves out of the top 10 in the final round. The most painful, according to the charts above, was obviously the most selected player in both formats. For the second year in a Brooks Koepka row carded 73 (T30) and finished two-over for the weekend. Last year he played the final two rounds in four-over and collected T37. Trend or not a trend? … The Georgia Tech duo of Richy Werenski (T4) and Stewart Cink (T4) combined for three-over-par in the final round but both collected their first top-10 checks of the year. Study Hall The final round scoring average was 71.104 (+1.104), the most difficult of the four rounds. The average for the week was 70.455 (+0.455), the lowest aggregate total in the last four years. The weather and wind never factored the entire week but the move to August next year might change that. … Cook and Goosen had the only two bogey-free rounds on Sunday. There were only 10 total on the week. … Defending champion Daniel Berger’s MC made sure there was no three-peat. … The low round for the week was Snedeker’s 62 in Round 2. … Of the last seven winners, six have finished in the top 20 in SG: off the tee. Johnson was fourth.

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Corey Conners … Can’t be ruled out as one of the many who probably didn’t mind the hiatus when it occurred. After a T19 in his debut at Kapalua and a T12 the week after at Waialae, he went just 2-for-5 with no better than a T45 at TPC Scottsdale. Ready to go again at Colonial where he placed T8 in his debut in 2018 and T31 last year. Because his title defense at the Valero Texas Open was canceled this year, the 28-year-old Canuck also might have a chip on his shoulder to represent in the Lone Star State this week. Russell Knox … Think he also could’ve used a break when the pandemic shut things down? After connecting 11 paydays worldwide from September through the first weekend in February, he missed four straight cuts immediately before the hiatus. It’s a disappointment he’s never experienced at Colonial where he’s finished in the top 25 in all four tries with a personal-best T8 last year. The Scot will turn 35 on June 21. Emiliano Grillo … Like Conners and Knox, Grillo is among the TOUR leaders in setting up scoring opportunities and tee-to-green mastery. While that data is three months old, it’s the kind of formula that’s worked at Colonial for all three. The 27-year-old from Argentina hasn’t missed a cut in four trips, the last three of which yielding a top 25. He bookended a solo third in 2018 with 64s. Brian Harman … Since that torrid pace before and through the holiday break late in 2017, he’s descended back to terra firma, but he’s also a beneficiary of a consistently strong first half of this season. En route to slotting 20th in adjusted scoring, the 33-year-old lefty logged a T3 and another four top 25s to shore up a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs. His record at Colonial since 2014 is similar with a T7 among four top 25s contributing to a 6-for-6 burst. Vaughn Taylor … That he’s 44 years of age is a bonus at Colonial where he’s making his 12th appearance. In fact, since turning 40, he’s 4-for-4 here with a pair of top 20s. Profiles better as a sharpshooter off the tee and putter than he does with the irons, but the totality of his results over time overshadow a deep dive into his bag. This season alone he’s gone for four top 15s, including a co-runner-up at Mayakoba. It also can’t be overstated how much he’s capitalized on his return to glory at Pebble Beach early in 2016. That was a fork in the road, and he took it. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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