Live leaderboard: FedEx Cup playoffs begin

The PGA TOUR stays in the Sunshine State as it heads across I-4 west-to-east from Tampa to Orlando for the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge. For the second week in a row, gamers will be faced with how to use Tiger Woods but after his near-miss performance last week, I’m pretty sure I can nail the angle this week. There is plenty of star power in this invitational field of 120 but the eight-time champion on the road to redemption is clearly the headliner. The former Orlando resident will have the confluence of current form and course form smashing into each other as he arrives at the club that Arnold Palmer built, grew and made famous. The King will be here in spirit but it’s a shame he couldn’t see the return. The 40th edition at Bay Hill will play to a Par-72 and will stretch to 7,419 yards. The course underwent some fine tuning after the 2014 edition which saw tree limbs and trees reduced, expanding fairways and improving sightlines. All 84 bunkers also received brand-new G-Angle sand. After the 2015 event the fairways and greens were regrassed. Similarly to Innisbrook, Bay Hill installed TifEagle Bermuda greens and Celebration Bermuda fairways to improve playability tee-to-green. Similarly to Innisbrook, none of the contours on the greens were affected. Unlike Innisbrook, new hole locations were NOT added so maps of the greens are still valid and so are the reps from playing them. These greens have had three summers to properly grow in and should be ready to roll, quite literally. Along with the 500 FedExCup points for the fourth year in a row the winner will earn a THREE-year exemption on TOUR. Adam Scott was the last to set the course record with a 62 in 2014, while Matt Every owns the post-2009 refurbishment record of 269 (-19) in 2015. Tales of the Tape (Winners) After being torched in 2015 and 2016, Mother Nature decided a bit of breeze would be in store in 2017. One of the best wind players on TOUR took full advantage of the conditions as Australian Marc Leishman came from three shots off the 54-hole lead of Kevin Kisner and Charley Hoffman to pick up the check. His final round 69 saw him post 11-under-par 277 and was one of only 10 rounds in the 60’s on Sunday. It was a difficult week all around as dry, wind-swept Bay Hill fought back with chilly temperatures in the two rounds before the cut, which ended up at three-over-par, and warm and windy conditions after. There were only nine bogey-free rounds on the week and only 34 players finished in the red. The low round of the week, 65, belonged to Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy in the early wave on Saturday. Leishman became just the sixth international winner in 39 events. The 2016 edition introduced TifEagle greens and Celebration fairways and gnarly rough but Jason Day wasn’t bothered. The Australian stud went wire-to-wire and posted 17-under 271 to hold off Kevin Chappell by a shot. Rain softened the less-than-year old greens and the course played over a half-shot below par for the week. The top 11 players were double-digits-under-par while the top 16 finishers accounted for exactly six rounds of par or worse for the week. Chappell was the only player in the field to post all four rounds in the 60’s. McIlroy couldn’t improve on his T11 debut from ’15 as he squared FOUR doubles but he fired 65 on Sunday to claim T27. Derek Fathauer didn’t mind the new greens as he needed only 98 putts for the week to claim T12. After posting 13-under in 2014 he stormed home from three shots behind post 19-under 269 to pass 54-hole leader Henrik Stenson. A tough winter saw the greens in rough shape and the full complement of pin placements couldn’t be used. Every took advantage of the conditions on the greens and the absence of wind to post all four rounds in the 60’s. His total was the lowest this century, matching Woods from 2003, and his 25 birdies were the most in the last five events easily. The greens and fairways were replaced two months later. I’ve posted both winning years to analyze, enjoy. NOTE: Golfers inside the top 25 in each statistic on the 2016-17 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. * – Finished inside the top 10 at Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard since 2013. Par-5 Scoring Rank Golfer 1 *Hideki Matsuyama 2 Luke List 4 *Rory McIlroy 7 Brandon Hagy 11 *Rickie Fowler 12 *Charley Hoffman 12 *Justin Rose 12 Charl Schwartzel 12 Kevin Tway 18 *Jason Day 18 *Marc Leishman 18 Pat Perez 18 Kyle Stanley 24 *Jamie Lovemark Strokes-gained: Putting Rank Golfer 2 *Rickie Fowler 3 Luke Donald 4 *Graeme McDowell 5 Brian Harman 7 Patrick Reed 8 Mackenzie Hughes 10 Shane Lowry 15 Cody Gribble 16 Brian Gay 19 David Lingmerth 20 *Kevin Kisner 21 Whee Kim 22 *Louis Oosthuizen 24 Camilo Villegas Bogey Avoidance Rank Golfer 7 Ian Poulter 9 Charles Howell III 10 Lucas Glover 11 *Rickie Fowler 15 *Hideki Matsuyama 18 *Marc Leishman 19 Pat Perez 24 John Huh 25 Ryan Armour Par-3 Scoring Rank Golfer 1 Tom Hoge 2 *Brandt Snedeker 4 *Rickie Fowler 4 *Graeme McDowell 4 *Adam Scott 10 *Marc Leishman 10 Ryan Armour 24 *Keegan Bradley 24 Camilo Villegas Former champion Jason Day remarked he believed finding fairways and putting were the keys to success at Bay Hill. With fairways plentiful in width and greens that usually run slick, I’ll agree with his assessment. Tee balls that don’t find the generous fairways will be punished with over-seeded rye grass that will make approach shots difficult. This will bring the sand and water into play when attacking the greens. Finding the fairway is a key for scoring because it will be easier to find the proper tier of these above-average sized greens from the short stuff. The Par-3 holes seem to be just as important as the Par-5 holes. They are all listed on the card at 199 yards or better so make three and get out. Palmer is famous for saying “you must play boldly to win” and his design will ask the player that question often throughout the round. Unlike Innisbrook, this resort course allows for the driver to be swung, just as Palmer would prefer. Water also returns to the menu as Bay Hill plays more like PGA National than Innisbrook and that could mean big numbers on the card. Whereas we’ve seen difficult golf down the stretch on the other two Florida stops (think “Bear Trap” and “Snake Pit”) this week the FIRST three holes, as a group, annually rank near the top of difficulty on TOUR. It’s been a dry March in Orlando and the forecast looks excellent so they should be able to set it up anyway they see fit. Of the 39 previous winners, the only European to lift the trophy is Martin Laird in 2011. Another odd statistic is rookies do not fare well here. Maybe they haven’t had enough experience to know when to keep the foot on the brake rather than the gas. The best rookie finish in the last three years is Smylie Kaufman (T12, 2016) but he had already won earlier in the season. It’s a course where veterans who know how to take their medicine will excel. Those same veterans usually excel in course management and are familiar with this track. I’ll point out that world-class players also haven’t had problem adapting. Check “Building Confidence” below for more information. Course Ratings: 2015: 36th-most difficult of 52 played; -0.801(first time under par since reverting to par 72 in 2010) 2016: 28th-most difficult of 50 played; -0.515 2017: 9th-most difficult of 50 played; +0.890 (second-most difficult par 72 behind TPC Sawgrass) Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings will give you more juice for the week so make sure you stop by. It’s also who I trust with the weather each week so pay attention!  NOTE: The groups below are comprehensive to assist in data mining. Inclusion doesn’t imply automatic endorsement in every fantasy game as all decisions are specific to your situation. Confidence Men Selected golfers with multiple cuts made sorted by rank on the tournament’s money list. Building Confidence Sorted by best finish, selected golfers who are either finally finding form on the course or are still relatively new to the tournament but have enjoyed some success. Other Signs of Confidence Sorted by most recent top 10s, selected golfers for whom it’s been a few years since their last.

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  Richard H. Lee was successful in a second consecutive Monday qualifier as he tries to work his way back to the PGA TOUR. Lee’s 64 was the low score in the Genesis Open’s qualifier at Industry Hills Golf Club’s Eisenhower Course. It came two weeks after he fired a 66 to play his way into the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Lee, 30, played the PGA TOUR from 2012-14, finishing a career-best 96th in the FedExCup in 2013. He had surgery on his left thumb in February 2015 and has been unable to regain PGA TOUR status since. Last year, Lee made just two starts apiece on the Web.com Tour and Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada. This year’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he missed the cut with rounds of 74-70, was his first PGA TOUR start since the John Deere Classic in August 2016, the final event of his medical extension following surgery. He has six top-10s in 88 career TOUR starts, highlighted by T4 finishes at the 2016 Barbasol Championship and 2014 Puerto Rico Open. Zecheng Dou, Rob Oppenheim and Parker McLachlin were the other successful qualifiers for the PGA TOUR’s annual stop at Riviera Country Club. Dou shot 65 on Monday, while Oppenheim and McLachlin fired 66 before winning a 5-for-2 playoff. Conrad Shindler, club pro Michael Block and Hyun Woo Ryu, the world’s 130th-ranked player, also were in the playoff. Block is the winner of the 2014 PGA Professional National Championship and a four-time Southern California PGA Player of the Year (2013-16). Dou, 21, and Xinjun Zhang both graduated the Web.com Tour in 2017, becoming the first Chinese-born players to earn PGA TOUR cards. Dou was the first Chinese-born player to win on the Web.com Tour, as well. He is 201st in this season’s FedExCup standings. Dou won PGA TOUR China’s Order of Merit in 2016 after winning four times. Oppenheim, 38, is playing his second PGA TOUR season after regaining his card at last year’s Web.com Tour Finals. He finished 27th on the Web.com Tour’s Regular Season money list in 2017, missing his TOUR card by about $7,000, but had two top-5 finishes in the four Finals events. The Rollins College alum was 35 years old when he earned his first PGA TOUR card, but he finished 158th in the FedExCup standings and had to return to the Web.com Tour last year. He’s 138th in this season’s standings. McLachlin, winner of the 2008 Barracuda Championship, is an alumnus of nearby UCLA. This will be just his 16th PGA TOUR start since the end of the 2010 season. He has made the cut in just one of those events. McLachlin made seven of 18 cuts last year on the Web.com Tour to finish 157th on the money list. Julian Suri, the world’s 65th-ranked player, shot 67 on Monday to miss the playoff by a shot. Former Masters champion Mike Weir fired 68.

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J.J. Spaun chalked it up to the long season that had ended with the second event of the FedExCup Playoffs. Last year’s BMW Championship was his 27th start of the season, after all, and he had a right to be tired. The weight loss? Well, maybe that was due to the grind, too. Plus, he had packed on a few pounds during the year — carrying 219 pounds on his 5-foot-9 frame at his heaviest — so seeing the drop on the scales didn’t exactly bother him. “I probably lost 15 pounds in a month without even trying,â€� Spaun recalls. “I was like, oh, my pants are fitting looser. And I liked it. I was like, oh, this is great. I’m losing some weight, you know. But then once I started noticing it was affecting my golf, then I knew something was up.â€� Between the fatigue and the unexplained weight loss, Spaun realized that his swing speed and corresponding distance was decreasing. Unable to build on the momentum of a tie for third at the Barracuda Championship, he didn’t finish higher than 35th in his final four events last year. Finally, Spaun’s fiancée, Melody Means, convinced him to go to the doctor. Maybe it was his thyroid, he thought. At any rate, those tests he had before he went to Asia to play in the CIMB Classic and the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges would surely offer an explanation. More than three weeks passed before the doctor’s office called, though, telling him to come back in. But Spaun was in Las Vegas to play in the Shriners Hospital for Children Open, the first of a three-week stretch, so a physician’s assistant delivered the news. His blood sugar was extremely high. Finally, Spaun had a diagnosis. At least, he did after sending his test results to Dr. Saleem Malik, who had hosted him during his time playing PGA TOUR Canada and remains a good friend. Spaun had type 2 diabetes. “So, he was like, yeah, don’t worry, everything is going to be fine,â€� Spaun remembers. “… It’s more of like having an allergy versus a disease. Like you’ve just got to watch what you eat, exercise and you’ll be fine. “It was good to hear that, that peace of mind, you know, especially when on the road.â€� Once the 28-year-old got back to his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, he went back to see the doctor. He needed to start eating healthier and exercise more – and as an added bonus, he ended up losing 35 pounds, the right way, this time. So, don’t expect to find Spaun hitting the drive-through at Taco Bell, which he calls his “soft spot,â€� anymore. That’s where he usually headed after a bad round or a double-bogey on the 18th hole left a bitter taste in his mouth. “I was like, oh, like let me just go eat a burrito,â€� Spaun says. “I mean, some people, you know, lean towards like alcohol or something, but I like to eat food. So unfortunately, I can’t do that. So, I’ve got to find other ways to kind of balance things out when I’m not having a good day.â€� As much as possible, Spaun has cut out processed sugars – saying goodbye to candy and ice cream, among other delights – and carbohydrates, giving up French fries or other starches. He keeps a special protein bar in his golf bag that gives him energy but has a low glycemic index. A plant-based protein shake is another go-to. “It’s difficult, but it’s great finding new alternatives to what I’m used to eating in the past,â€� Spaun said. “So, thank God for Whole Foods. … I’m accustomed to it now. It’s definitely a lifestyle change and my body’s feeling great.â€� The lab reports he got in early May bear out Spaun’s words. He’s no longer on medication, and his A1c, which measures how well the body controls the sugar in the blood, had dropped from 11.2 percent when he was first diagnosed to 5.9. The normal level is between 4-5.6 percent. “So, I think the dieting and the exercise has really paid off,â€� Spaun said. “… It’s all about having it under control. I’ll always be on that edge of, you know, going over or having those symptoms again. So, I’ve just got to really pay close attention to it.â€� Spaun hit the gym with a trainer three or four times a week last winter. His hour-long workouts would consist of weight training, agility drills and aerobics to keep the heart rate up. No breaks. Just one set after another. “I got stronger. I got my speed back,â€� Spaun recalls. “So, I’m still doing a little bit of both, but it’s more about more about diet and stuff because I’m already doing so much walking around in the course. “So, it’s important to not get my sugar too low, too, because that’s the other thing, you know, if you’re out there burning, you know, 5,000 calories a day playing golf and you can’t eat carbohydrates and you can’t eat sugar. It’s like, how do I find this perfect balance?â€� With all the changes going on in his body over the past eight months or so, Spaun admits that he has struggled to fine-tune the mechanics of his swing again. Even so, the Californian is a solid 86th in the FedExCup and has already topped the $1 million mark in earnings for the third straight year. While he calls his diagnosis a “rude awakening in a way,â€� the most important part is that Spaun feels better now. “I was getting so fatigued when I had uncontrolled diabetes,â€� he says. “I didn’t even know, and I was getting agitated on the course. I didn’t know why I was hitting it shorter. It was just, you know, it was just a big, like slippery slope of just things in it, and it mentally, it was tough, too.â€� Now he knows how to handle it – on and off the golf course.

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