Mackenzie Tour - PGA TOUR announces four-event Canada Life Series

If the choices are windburn or sunburn, this is an easy one! As most of the country is freezing early this week, the TOUR players will be scrambling for sunscreen and beach towels at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Horses for Courses will ride again this week as the 13th edition will take place at the exact location of the first 12. Greg Norman’s El Camaleon track will host a field of 132 as this is the penultimate chance to move up the FedExCup standings in 2019. El Camaleon, as the name would suggest, changes shape as it winds through jungle, beach and quarry, but is ultimately a resort track. Playing a par-71 just over 7,000 yards, the highest winning score since moving to the November date in 2013 is 17-under, plus the tournament record has been equaled or broken in half of the six outings since. Only one of the last six winners have found the top 10 in driving accuracy, five of the last six have hit the top 11 in GIR. The large Sea Isle Paspalum greens provide an excellent attacking target from either the fairway or the light rough. The tiered layouts will keep the Stimpmeter at normal speeds, so expect to see plenty of aggressive approaches with both irons and putters. RELATED: Power Rankings | Daily fantasy advice | Sleeper picks This is a scoring track, as three of the last four champs have led the field in birdies, while rounds above par for the top finishers are the clear exception to any rules. With four of the last five victors 36 or older, it’s obvious that a bit of strategy, patience and execution will come in handy this week. But, I’d remember there has never been a champ who defends or a multiple winner over the years, as is usually the case at a shootout. The winner takes home $1.296 million (500 FedExCup points) of the $7.2 million purse. Recent Winners 2018: Matt Kuchar (-22, 262) Set 36 and 54-hole scoring marks as the 40-year old went wire-to-wire after sharing the first round lead. … 26 birdies co-led the field. … Five of the last six winners T7 or better in bogey avoidance (T1). Notables: Danny Lee (2nd) posted four rounds of 67 or better and was second by a shot. … J.J. Spaun and Richy Werenski shared third. … Cameron Champ and Scott Piercy joined Harold Varner III as the only three players to shoot 62 and not win the event. … Perfect weather saw the cut land on 4 under and the top 40 were 10-under or better. … There were THREE rounds above par in the top 37. 2017: Patton Kizzire (-19, 265) Opened with 62 and led or co-led the rest of the way. … At 31, he’s the youngest of the last five winners. … Opened with 62 in his just his fifth round here (T58, 2016). … Entered the week on back-to-back top-10 paydays. … Co-led the field in birdies with 25. … Played in the final group with Rickie Fowler (DNS) and won for the first time on TOUR. Notables: Si Woo Kim (3rd), Charles Howell III (T4) and Scott Brown (T6) are all in the field this week. … Kizzire’s 25 birdies were three more than Danny Lee and Russell Knox. … Final two rounds were lift, clean and replace after heavy weather. 2016: Pat Perez (-21, 263) Perez closed 62-67 to win over 54-hole record setter Gary Woodland. … Another year of perfect weather and another 40-year old winner. … T1 bogey avoidance and T2 Par-4 scoring saw him tie the tournament scoring record. Notables: The top 24 players all made 20 or more birdies, led by Scott Piercy and Kevin Streelman (26). … Chris Kirk led after 18 holes (63) and is back in action this week. … Chez Reavie posted 63 in Round 3. … John Huh (WD) and Harris English are the only two winners in their 20s. … Fred Funk won the inaugural event at 50 in 2007. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2018-19 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. Mayakoba Golf Classic does NOT use laser measurements.  * – previous top 10 finish here Rounds in the 60s  2  *Charles Howell III  3  Vaughn Taylor  4  *Rory Sabbatini (T3, 2014)  7  *Chez Reavie (T4, 2017)  9  Wyndham Clark  9  J.T. Poston 11 Denny McCarthy 11 *Tony Finau (T7, 2015) 14 *Harris English (WIN, 2013) 14 *Abraham Ancer (T9, 2019) 14 Joaquin Niemann 14 *Scott Piercy 20 Sebastian Munoz 22 *Matt Kuchar Greens in Regulation  5  Jason Dufner  7  *Charles Howell III 10 *Scott Piercy 12 Martin Laird 14 Cameron Tringale 15 Brendan Steele 16 Shawn Stefani (2, 2015) 17 Jason Day 17 *Kevin Streelman 19 *Brice Garnett 20 Sepp Straka 22 *Cameron Champ (T10, 2018) 26 Hank Lebioda 28 Nick Watney 28 Jhonattan Vegas Scrambling  4  Aaron Baddeley  6  Matt Jones  9  Denny McCarthy  9  *Brian Stuard 17 *Scott Piercy 18 *Rory Sabbatini 19 Ryan Armour 20 C.T. Pan 22 *Si Woo Kim 26 *Matt Kuchar All-Inclusive Pat Perez: He’s won, cashed T34 and collected T6 last year in his last three. Of his last 11 rounds, nine are 67 or better, including all four last year. Russell Knox: Of his 24 career rounds here, 21 are par or better and the last 16 are in the red. Another top-10 result this year will make it four consecutive visits to the big bucks. He lost in a playoff to Graeme McDowell in 2015, followed that up with solo third and was T9 in his return last year. Charles Howell: I was physically ill when he MC last year and he did so on level par. T17 or better with three top-10 checks in six of his last eight. Automatic. Scott Piercy: He’s 44-under in his last three trips and the last two have paid T4 (2016) and T6 (2018).  Upgraded Danny Lee: Posted 21 under – this would have won or gotten into a playoff in all previous 11 events here – to finish second last year. T25 in 2017 and another podium, T3 in 2014 shows he’s more than comfortable here. He’s made 47 birdies over his last two trips. Brice Garnett: He’s 51 under his last four times here with three top-10s and a T25 to show for his trouble. Also won on Paspalum at Punta Cana in the spring of 2018. Emiliano Grillo: Let’s not over-think this one. He’s 40 under the last and only three years he’s played and has cashed T10, T9 and 15th over that span. Of his 12 rounds, 11 are in the 60s. Harold Varner III: In three trips, he’s left with T5 and T6 money, but the meat in that sandwich is MC. One of the members of “Club 62”. Wait, What? J.J. Spaun: Gamers love a trend and Spaun qualifies here (T28-T14-T3) the last three years. He’s posted one top-25 result on TOUR since T3 in 2018.

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All right, you know the drill. We did this last week. The Open Championship at St. Andrews is just 12 miles due north of The Renaissance Club, so, yes, it’s in the same time zone. This means that the tournament begins at 1:35 a.m. ET on Thursday in the United States. That’s 10:35 p.m. on Wednesday on the West Coast. That’s the given, but what we don’t know is if PointsBet will open a market for the Top 20 bet during the tournament. It was not made available after both R2 and R3 at the Genesis Scottish Open. Plan accordingly. Register for PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live here and monitor Rob’s and Glass’ progress as Influencers. For a broader explanation of the format and FAQs, click here. TOURNAMENT Rob … Joohyung Kim (+15000) Wrestled back the honor with a 24th-place finish at the Genesis Scottish Open. It’s my seventh top 30 in PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live. Not too shabby given, as predicted in this space last week, I wouldn’t be awake in time to adjust my (failed) bets for R1 and R2 leader. This week presents a rare challenge. St. Andrews is going to crown a big, big name as its champion. It’s the 150th edition and, well, that’s just how these things tend to develop. However, as much as I’d like to just sit on Rory McIlroy (+1000) or Jon Rahm (+1600) deep into Sunday, we have a game to play! It ain’t broke, so I ain’t gonna break it. The Tank Engine is the reason why I finished 24th last week. He talked about how much he enjoyed his foray at links-style golf. His solo third was evidence. At 20, he’s probably young enough not to have the fully formed feel of the significance of what a victory here and now represents, and I like it like that for the purpose of this opening selection. Glass … Kevin Kisner (+20000) Did you think I was going to trot Rory out here at +1000? Kisner was an afterthought at Carnoustie in 2018 before finishing T2. Earlier that season, he finished second at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. Wanna guess how he finished at Match Play this year? Kisner paints fairways, and the firm and fast should help shorten the yardage book. Grinder mentality evident with five straight paydays at this event. Reminds me a bit of Zach Johnson in 2015, plus Kisner has a comfortable pairing with Chris Kirk for the first two days. Plenty of time to reload if this longshot doesn’t fire. Last week’s winner hopped on Xander Schauffele at +8000 after Round 1. It can happen! TOP 10 Rob … Joohyung Kim (+1000) Reset and repeat. He was +2000 for this finish last week and delivered. Always room on the bandwagon for ya, especially since Glass refuses to take a seat. Glass … Thomas Pieters (+750) Rolls in on six straight with three top 10s, so I’m leaning into his form, plus he’s never MC in four attempts at this championship. The “other” news is that he’s never painted the top 10 here, but for +750 that’s not surprising. As is the case weekly with this pick, hit the window and change it when it goes sideways. TOP 20 Glass … Stewart Cink (+600) Admittedly, I’ve struggled to intersect value with form, but that’s the best part of this game: Perfect is NOT required. Chances can be taken, even 49-year old chances. His best performances this year were on demanding ball-striking layouts like Innisbrook and TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. Also finished T23 at Southern Hills and T24 last week at The Renaissance Club. Rob … Keita Nakajima (+1400) I went into more detail in Sleepers on why the long-standing world’s top-ranked amateur is attractive this week, but the abridged version is that if an amateur is going to connect at an Open, it’s going to be at St. Andrews. Three ams recorded a top-15 finish in the last time the course hosted in 2015, and it’s the last time it’s happened in any Open. ROUND 1 LEADER Glass … Webb Simpson (+10000) First group out, perfect greens. I’m not going to overthink this. My USUAL selection of McIlroy can still be in play 18 groups later but at +1200, I can patiently wait. Or sleep in. Or both. Rob … Rory McIlroy (+1200) With all 52 threesomes in single file off 1, there’s a greater likelihood that I’ll be alert before this window closes as compared to last week. Still, I’m doing what Glass will regret … again. In his last six starts, McIlroy has averaged 66.17 in the first round. Yes, it includes a 62 a TPC River Highlands, but it also includes two majors and another two tough tracks. NOTE: While Glass and Rob typically stick with their selections as detailed in Pick ‘Em Preview, they are allowed the right to make changes at any time.

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