LPGA Shanghai event canceled due to COVID

Ya hear, pards? There’s a new sheriff in town. With the revised look of the PGA TOUR schedule this season, the Valero Texas Open has assumed a new position. This week’s edition is the first of 10 straight in the week preceding the Masters. The AT&T Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio hosts for the 10th consecutive year. For more on this extreme par 72 and other nuggets of knowledge, scroll past the ranking. Corales champion Graeme McDowell, Jordan Spieth, Charley Hoffman and former VTO winners Jimmy Walker and Andrew Landry will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. For the tournament that’s never left San Antonio since it debuted in 1922, it’s not easy to present fresh perspective. And truth be told, this isn’t the first time that the Valero Texas Open has been contested on the eve of the Masters, but it’s just the second. Six years ago, in the last season before the PGA TOUR introduced the wraparound schedule, the VTO immediately preceded the Masters. The primary difference between then and now is that the 2013 field went the full 156 deep. This week’s field was limited to 144 entrants. Even at San Antonio’s latitude in early April, the limitation of daylight impacts field size. The last exemption into the Masters is reserved for the winner of the Valero Texas Open. As of midday Monday, only 17 in the field at TPC San Antonio have qualified for the season’s first major. While the opportunity to play is invaluable, the opportunity to be tested is guaranteed. TPC San Antonio is a beast of 7,435 yards. Despite the full complement of four par 5s, it’s never averaged under par. Last year’s clip of 72.367 slotted it third-hardest among par 72s in non-majors. The field averaged 4.81 on the par 5s, which have never ranked easier than fourth-hardest of any course during a PGA TOUR season. Greens average 6,400 square feet, so they’re not small targets, but they’re among the stingiest in holding for scoring opportunities. Last year’s field average of 11 greens in regulation per round ranked the course ninth-lowest all season, and that was more than half a click higher than the previous year. As a result, splitting fairways eases the challenge more than usual, but despite two-inch primary rough which is overseeded, proficiency in finding the shortest grass still isn’t a prerequisite for success. En route to his breakthrough title last year, Andrew Landry beat the field average of fairways hit by less than one percent, and then paced it in GIR. He also brought his touch around and on the targets in ranking eighth in strokes gained: putting and second in scrambling. This combination likely will define this week’s champion. The undulating putting surfaces (overseeded bermuda) are governed to run no faster than 11 feet on the Stimpmeter due to winds that are a way of life in south Texas. However, and with a note of respect for the possibility of change, breezes are forecast to be negligible throughout the entirety of the tournament. This wasn’t the case in 2013 when gusts reached 25 mph, much more in line with what’s expected in the Hill Country. With sunshine warming, daytime temperatures will rise into the mid-80s every day but Saturday when clouds and the risk of inclement weather will make it feel 10 degrees cooler. 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: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Cameron Tringale made a 10 at the par-5 16th hole. Carlos Ortiz quadruple-bogeyed 17. And Marc Leishman double-bogeyed 17, bogeyed 18, and missed the cut by one. The last five holes may as well have been a meat grinder at the 103rd PGA Championship at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, and almost no one was spared. RELATED: Oosthuizen, Mickelson share lead | DJ headlines big names to miss cut “Mentally, I don’t think I did anything wrong,” said Branden Grace (71, 3 under), who was at 6 under and leading the tournament when he stepped onto the tee at the fearsome par-3 17th hole. “I stood up there, I picked my target, I hit the shot that I wanted to, but it just didn’t come off.” His ball found the water, and he made double bogey. He bogeyed the 18th to fall two behind co-leaders Phil Mickelson (69) and Louis Oosthuizen (68) – each of whom also bogeyed 18. Dustin Johnson bogeyed 15 and shot 74 to miss the cut by one. Adam Scott (72) bogeyed 15 and 16 to miss by a shot, and Xander Schauffele bogeyed 15 and 18 to finish with them at 6 over. Ian Poulter (70, even) could only laugh about how hard it was at the end. He was cruising at 6 under through 12 holes, but about to turn into the teeth of the wind when he saw a scoreboard in the distance that said he was 6 under and threatening the course record. “And I just started laughing to myself,” he said after going 4 over for his last six. “Like, who in the world would write that and put that on a board with that last five holes to play?” Even with some of the tees moved up, he added, “It’s a brutally difficult finish (into the wind). Straight in, very slightly at times just off the left, and you’re aiming at targets which if you pull it very slightly, you’re in the dunes, and if you cut it, you’re wet or on the beach. It’s intense.” The scariest of the fearsome five finishing holes was 17, which played the hardest in the second round. Mickelson bogeyed it, as did Brooks Koepka (71, 4 under). Kevin Streelman (72, 2 under), who hit the green and two-putted from over 77 feet to par it, called 17, “One of the hardest par-3s we’ve ever played in professional golf right now.” The hole played to a 3.682 stroke average and was No. 1 in difficulty Friday. The 15th was the second hardest at 4.552, and the par-3 14th was the third hardest at 3.539. The 18th hole played to a 4.526 average and was fourth toughest on the day. For the week, 17 and 18 are playing the toughest and second toughest holes on the course, respectively. Harry Higgs (71, 1 under) bucked convention Friday. He hit the green on 17 and 18 before holing trans-continental birdie putts of 59 and 64 feet, respectively. He said it bought him a few extra hours sleep Saturday, and his brother was going to make him a cocktail to celebrate. Charley Hoffman (70, 1 under) did him one better, going 2 under on holes 14-18. “To be completely honest we got lucky,” Hoffman said of a slight let-up from the wind late in the day. “As soon as we made that turn, it did die a little.” They were the exceptions to the rule; nearly everyone died a little on the last five holes.

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ATLANTA — Each of the top five players in the FedExCup standings is guaranteed to win the FedExCup with a victory at this week’s TOUR Championship. In addition, there are certain scenarios for winning the FedExCup should someone outside the top five win the tournament. TOUR Championship co-leaders Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler are Nos. 2 and 3 in the projected FedExCup standings. (Both players are currently credited with the 2,000 points that come with a victory). Here’s a look at how each top-5 player fared during Thursday’s first round at East Lake.  1. Bryson DeChambeau, 71, T21 (projected 4th in FedExCup): It was a tale of two nines for the FedExCup leader, and it resulted in his highest round of the Playoffs. DeChambeau made two double-bogeys en route to a 39 on the front nine, then came in with a bogey-free 32. “The rough is brutal out there. I’ve never encountered something that thick,â€� said DeChambeau, who hit just six fairways Thursday. 2. Justin Rose, 66, T3 (projected 1st): The Englishman continued his strong play at East Lake, where he twice has been runner-up. The 66 matched his lowest opening round in the TOUR Championship. He also started with a 66 en route to a second-place finish in 2012. “I think I played fantastically, if I’m honest. I drove the ball unbelievably well today, which obviously sets up the opportunity to score well,â€� Rose said. “With a couple of holes to play, I was a little frustrated I hadn’t gotten more out of my round. I felt like it was a day that I could have gone low.â€� He only missed two fairways and one green Thursday to lead the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. 3. Tony Finau, 67, T5 (projected 5th): Finau, who is playing in his second TOUR Championship, has broken par in four of five rounds at East Lake. He was 1 over par after bogeys at 4 and 5, but was bogey-free the rest of the way. He made birdies on Nos. 6, 7, 9 and 17. “It was important to birdie a couple coming back,â€� Finau said. “This golf course is playing tough. It’s fast. The rough is thick. So you’ve got to hit fairways to score. I was able to do that today.â€� 4. Dustin Johnson, 69, T12 (projected 7th): Johnson got under par for the first time with an eagle at the final hole. Woods was the only other player to make a 3 on 18. Johnson was 3 over par at the turn but played his final four holes in 4 under. He birdied 15 and 16 before his eagle. “I definitely was struggling a little bit, but I didn’t feel like I was playing bad,â€� Johnson said. “I just missed some short putts and then hit a couple bad drives that cost me the three shots. … I knew if I could get it back to even that I’m not out of the golf tournament by any means, especially not around here.â€� 5. Justin Thomas, 67, T5 (projected 6th): The reigning FedExCup champ is off to another strong start at East Lake. Thomas, who has finished second and sixth in his previous two TOUR Championships, stared with a sub-par round for the third consecutive year. He bogeyed the first two holes, then shot 31 on the back nine with birdies on Nos. 10-12 and 15. “I hung in there well,â€� said Thomas, who hit 15 greens Thursday. “I felt like I could have shot 7 or 8 under on that back nine. I really had it going and had good control out there.” Here’s a look at the top 5 in the projected standings:  1. Justin Rose (2nd in FedExCup), 2,450 projected points 2. Tiger Woods (20th in FedExCup), 2,219 projected points 3. Rickie Fowler (23rd in FedExCup, 2,182 projected points 4. Bryson DeChambeau (1st in FedExCup), 2,160 projected points 5. Tony Finau, (3rd in projected points), 1,920 projected points 

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