Live leaderboard: Round 2 of BMW Championship

Both of this week’s tournaments are treated with stand-alone columns for PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO. Look for the edition for the Barracuda Championship on the FANTASY page. Also, if you play PGA TOUR Champions One & Done presented by SERVPRO, the 3M Championship begins Friday. Review the notables at the bottom of the page to assist you in determining your pick. With the conclusion of the season on the horizon, it’s that time of the year when gamers express gratitude for how my insight and analysis have assisted in success to date. You’re always welcome, but hang on for just a minute. Before we hug it out, there’s a not-so-insignificant task of actually breaking the tape. Many in pursuit of you are exactly where they expected to be entering the PGA Championship. Playing from behind can be a better mental motivator in reality because all fantasy gamers should prefer front-running, but in a One & Done, all that matters is the aggregate result. Too many of you who have reached out citing a contending position in earnings-based formats are essentially out of chalk. You’re hoping to hang on, but you know you’re gasping for air despite whatever margin you’re maintaining. Meanwhile, many of us plugged into PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO have end-weighted our master plan with powerhouses in the FedExCup Playoffs, myself included. The only problem with it is that Jason Day, who I have penciled in for the BMW Championship, isn’t guaranteed to get to Conway Farms. At least not yet. He’s 52nd in the FedExCup standings entering the PGA Championship; the top 70 after the Dell Technologies Championship advance. And even if he does, the Aussie hasn’t been performing well enough consistently to warrant selection for contending gamers. J-Wall has already burned Rory McIlroy, who I have slotted for TPC Boston. It’s tempting to exhaust the surging 28-year-old from Northern Ireland, but since FedExCup points are basically quadrupled in the Playoffs, I’m within striking distance right now and I can wait him out unchallenged, patience is the play at the PGA. The winner at Quail Hollow will earn 600 points. Compare that to a three-way T3 in the Playoffs worth 580 and the decision is easy. However, if you use earnings, consider yourself hurtled into McIlroy. Hideki Matsuyama, who J-Wall selected, is No. 1 in my Power Rankings, but McIlroy is really a 1a instead of No. 2. Both are premium picks this late. As I consider potential relief for Day, the 2015 BMW champion at Conway Farms, which also hosted in 2013, Zach Johnson (2013 champ) and Daniel Berger (2015 runner-up) are in my crosshairs. Both are still on my board and both are worthy of consideration at Quail Hollow. In fact, ZJ is No. 4 in my Power Rankings, but because Conway Farms is some 400 yards shorter, and Quail Hollow boasts Bermudagrass greens, I’m going to attempt to strike while Berger’s irons are hot. Since every gamer’s situation is unique, my perfect world would involve tackling yours one-on-one as I often do on Twitter, email and in discussion threads, but we settle for broad-stroke endorsements at worst. This is to say that if any of these additional options are still available to you in either method of measuring performance, give him a long look for the PGA: Paul Casey, Kevin Chappell, Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler, Charley Hoffman, Brooks Koepka, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson, Henrik Stenson. Non-members aren’t eligible for the Playoffs, so this is probably your last opportunity to use Thomas Pieters, who is No. 6 in the Power Rankings. If you’re currently contending, here are the guys I’d advise holstering for usage in the Playoffs: Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Jordan Spieth. I’ve omitted advice for two-man gamers the last two weeks because of the depth of the fields at Firestone at Quail Hollow, but that subsection will return for next week’s Wyndham Championship. 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 2016-17. All are pending golfer commitment. Daniel Berger … BMW Keegan Bradley … Dell Technologies Paul Casey … TOUR Championship Kevin Chappell … Dell Technologies Jason Day … PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; BMW; TOUR Championship Luke Donald … Wyndham; BMW; TOUR Championship Jason Dufner … TOUR Championship Rickie Fowler … BMW Jim Furyk … BMW; TOUR Championship Sergio Garcia … TOUR Championship Branden Grace … PGA Championship Bill Haas … Wyndham J.B. Holmes … BMW Billy Horschel … TOUR Championship Dustin Johnson … BMW; TOUR Championship Zach Johnson … BMW; TOUR Championship Kevin Kisner … Wyndham Russell Knox … Dell Technologies Brooks Koepka … PGA Championship Hideki Matsuyama … PGA Championship; BMW Graeme McDowell … Wyndham William McGirt … Wyndham Rory McIlroy … PGA Championship; Dell Technologies (defending); BMW; TOUR Championship (defending) Phil Mickelson … PGA Championship Ryan Moore … TOUR Championship Kevin Na … Wyndham Louis Oosthuizen … Dell Technologies Patrick Reed … Wyndham; Dell Technologies Justin Rose … PGA Championship; TOUR Championship Charl Schwartzel … BMW Adam Scott … Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Webb Simpson … Wyndham Jordan Spieth … PGA Championship; TOUR Championship Henrik Stenson … PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Jimmy Walker … PGA Championship (defending); Dell Technologies Bubba Watson … TOUR Championship Gary Woodland … PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship

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FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – History could be on Tiger Woods’ side this week. The last time the PGA Championship was played in May, the winner was the same man who won the Masters a month earlier. That was Sam Snead, who won both events in 1949. You may have heard that Woods won this year’s Masters. Now he’s trying to win the year’s first two majors for just the second time in his career. He accomplished the feat in 2002, when Augusta National and Bethpage Black were the venues. Woods doesn’t need the assistance of omens, though. He’s no longer a man on the comeback trail. He’s once again one of the best players on the planet. Period. He’s been victorious in two of his last seven starts and finished no worse than sixth in the past three major championships. The question is no longer “ifâ€� but “how many?â€� This week, he can tie Snead’s record for most PGA TOUR victories (82). And the pursuit of Jack Nicklaus’ 18 majors is debate fodder once again. The conversation continues this week after Woods’ lengthy post-Masters layoff. Despite speculation to the contrary, Woods said he was physically able to play two weeks ago at the Wells Fargo Championship. He just needed more time to relax and relish in a victory that was once unthinkable. “I wasn’t ready yet to start the grind of practicing and preparing,â€� said Woods, who ranks 18th in the FedExCup. “I was feeling good in the gym, but I wasn’t mentally prepared to log in the hours.â€� Woods said he feels “rested and readyâ€� this week. If he is to win his 16th major this week, though, he’ll have to do it with a different game than the powerful one he used to win the 2002 U.S. Open on this brawny Long Island muni. Woods dominated with distance back then. He was the only player to finish under par on a 7,214-yard course that was the longest U.S. Open venue in history. He locked up the title by reaching the par-5 13th in two with a 2-iron from 263 yards. No one else in the field possessed that shot. Woods ranked seventh in both driving distance and driving accuracy that week. He hit 73% of the fairways on a week while the field averaged 59%. He hit 53 greens in regulation, five more than anyone else in the field. He had a 74% success rate with his irons on a week when the field barely hit more than half the greens. Back then, Woods’ biggest differentiator may have been his ability to gouge balls out of the rough and onto the green. Woods had enough speed to dig shots out of even the thickest rough while other players were pitching out. It’s why he was dominant at Firestone and Torrey Pines, two courses that perennially have the toughest fairways to hit. The name may be different, but this week’s setup is expected to be reminiscent of the previous major championships held here. Rain played a role in both U.S. Opens here, as it already has this week. Defending champion Brooks Koepka expected a winning score around even par. The rough is thick and wet. Words like and “brutishâ€� are appropriate descriptors for Bethpage Black, the only course that greets players with a warning sign. “In order to win this one, driving is going to be at the forefront,â€� Woods said. He’ll need to hit fairways to take advantage of his strongest asset. Iron play is still Woods’ forte. He leads the TOUR in greens in regulation and ranks 14th in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green. But at 43 years old and with a fused back, the speed isn’t quite the same. Related: Featured groups, tee times | Power Rankings | Tiger-Snead: Tale of the tape | Koepka’s goal: 10 majors | JT withdraws with wrist injury | Nine things to know about Bethpage | Spieth ‘under the radar’ in latest career Grand Slam bid | Tiger ‘would certainly welcome’ spot in 2020 Olympics He has to play the role of wily veteran, relying on his smarts more than his speed. That’s what he did at Augusta National, which he used to decimate with his drives. He won this year’s Masters while ranking 44th (out of 65 players) in driving distance. The pivotal moment came on No. 12, when he played the safe shot while the other contenders crumbled around him. Woods sees similarities between himself and Peyton Manning, who won a Super Bowl after neck surgery. Or a pitcher who has to rely on command after their fastball has lost a couple mph. “Just because someone doesn’t have the strength to do something, he’s going to figure out a different way,â€� Woods said. “I don’t have a fastball. (Manning) couldn’t zip the ball into the tight little windows. He had to anticipate more. He has to do more work in the film room. I had to do more work on managing my game, my body, understanding it, what I can and cannot do.â€� That’s why the driver may be his most important club this week. Hitting to Bethpage Black’s elevated greens from the rough will be a tall task for everyone, especially those who aren’t among the longest hitters. Woods, who wowed with some eye-popping swing speeds last season, is 52nd in driving distance this week (299.6 yards). “He seems to have lost a bit of ball speed this year, which I think is a conscious decision to take some pressure off his back,â€� said Padraig Harrington. “He realizes if you’re still leading greens in regulation, … he doesn’t need that ball speed.â€� Harrington was impressed with how Woods played the final holes at Augusta National. After a couple unsuccessful attempts to hit a draw off the tee, Harrington saw a man who stopped trying to play the “properâ€� shot and accrue style points. “He just played to win,â€� Harrington said. “He hit a fade off the 14th, he hit a fade off the 15th, where you’re trying for a bit of distance. He was just getting the job done and winning the tournament.â€�

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