Match recaps from Saturday: WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play

Here are nine tidbits from the second round of the CareerBuilder Challenge that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. Done with this One These were the top five picked golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: Remember, there is one more chance tomorrow to get into position to get into position. Those supporting Dufner (raises hand) and Mickelson will need a low one tomorrow from each to get back into the fight. The downside is that they are playing the Stadium Course, the toughest of the three tracks, in Round 3. Course and Weather Management There were rumbles during the telecast again on Friday that gusting winds could be on the menu for round three Saturday. While the Stadium Course played easier on Friday, it was still two full strokes harder than La Quinta Country Club and almost two full shots more difficult than the Nicklaus Tournament Course. Yesterday, there were only five of the top 41 who played the Stadium Course. Today, nine of the top 35 had to play the Pete Dye design. If you didn’t balance your lineup in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO you’ll have to hope your guys mimic Kevin Chappell’s performance in round two. His 64 was the best on that track by two shots. Three other players, Bronson Burgoon, Andrew Putnam and Zac Blair posted 66’s. Leader Landry Andrew Landry has taken advantage of playing the two easier tracks in the first two rounds. His 63 at La Quinta to open and 65 at Nicklaus Tournament in round two has a one-shot lead on first-round leader Jon Rahm on 16-under-par 128. It’s never easy backing up a career-low score but his 65 qualifies as backed up! He hasn’t squared a bogey and his seven birdies in round two tied his career-best output. Landry fired 64 at The RSM Classic to close last season so he’s in the mood. There is exactly ONE of you on him in PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO. Memory Loss There were plenty of 64’s posted in round two but the one that caught my eye was the one from Zach Johnson on the Nicklaus Tournament. His previous two trips to this rotation saw him post nothing lower than 67. Entering the week, he had signed for 64 or lower in his last three events so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. His worst finish in four events this season is T23 so he’s had sharp winter. He enters the weekend T4 and has two rounds of the Stadium Course in front of him. Brian’s Song 2013 champ Brian Gay signed for 64 at La Quinta to jump 35 spots into the top 10 at T7. His opening nine 30 included six of eight birdies on day where he didn’t make a bogey. Similarly to Johnson, Gay has missed the cut the last two seasons on this track. His opening rounds of 68-64 are his only two rounds in the 60’s from eight tries in the last three years. Muscle Russell Gamers heard the engine turning over last week at Waialae as he posted Friday-Saturday rounds of 64-65. He continues trending in the right direction with another 64 (Nicklaus Tournament) today to move up 54 spots to T10. Knox joins Landry as the only players in the top 10 without a bogey on their cards for the first two rounds. It’s interesting that Bubba Watson also hasn’t made any bogeys. His five birdies and a double bogey suggest that it isn’t his week (T108). Don’t Sleep on Sleepers Rob Bolton picks his crew each week and gamers should add it to their routine before each tournament. At the halfway point, he’s has a few performing, including Beau Hossler. His opening round of 64 was backed up by 69 in round two as he’s currently T10, the exact same scores from one of his other selections, Aaron Wise. Lucas Glover sits a very solid T19 at 10-under. Lurking Canadian Adam Hadwin hasn’t finished worse than T6 in the two events in the new rotation. It didn’t hurt that he shot 59 at La Quinta on Saturday last year but he joined the famous club of posting that number and not winning. His bogey-free 67 at the Stadium Course today piggybacked his 66 Thursday at the Nicklaus Tournament layout. I’m not Colombo but even I can figure out he’s heading back to La Quinta tomorrow sitting T10. Study Hall According to reports, Greg Chalmers added CareerBuilder Challenge to his schedule and dropped the Farmers Insurance Open. Gamers can connect the dots on which type of courses suit the veteran Aussie moving forward. … I’m fascinated that Wesley Bryan isn’t carrying a driver until he figures out where it’s going. He opened with 65 but added 75 today to drop 81 spots to T90. We’ll see how long the experiment lasts. … Maverick McNealy sits T19 after 66-68 but gamers must remember that he doesn’t carry any status. … Rory McIlroy is bogey-free through 36 holes in Abu Dhabi and is just three back. … Dustin Johnson, playing the same event, busted out 64 in round two to move to T11. … Sergio Garcia is one back at the Singapore Open as Ryo Ishikawa (!) is one of three tied for the lead on seven-under-par. … Brooks Koepka announced that his wrist does need surgery so this should activate contingency plans for season-long owners who knew this might have been a possibility. Read more here from our man Ben Everill.

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The PGA TOUR returns to Canada this week for the RBC Canadian Open. This year marks the first time since 2019 that the event will be featured on the PGA TOUR schedule, as the pandemic led to cancelations of the event in 2020 and 2021. Rory McIlroy is the last winner of this event when it was held at Hamilton Golf & Country Club in 2019. This week does feature a full field, with more than 150 golfers in the attendance, and will feature a strong top end, with five of the top 10 golfers in the OWGR teeing it up. The event will take place at St. George’s G&CC, a 7,014-yard par 70 that last hosted the event in 2010. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $800,000 Pitch + Putt [$200,000 to 1st] With the U.S. Open taking place the week after the RBC Canadian Open, a lot of big names have made the trek up North to get in some competitive practice. Both Justin Thomas ($10,900) and Scottie Scheffler ($11,100), the year’s first two major championship winners, are in the field. Sam Burns ($10,000), winner at another tricky par-70 track (Colonial) two weeks ago, is also making an appearance. As is Cameron Smith ($10,300), who suffered a dismal Sunday last weekend and ended the Memorial Tournament T13. The last time we saw the RBC Canadian Open played, it was on another shorter par-70 track in Hamilton, and that event was won at -22 by Rory McIlroy ($10,500). Given the way some of the top names in the world have performed this year, it wouldn’t be shocking to see another dominate win by one of them on what will be a shorter than normal setup for the pros. STRATEGY Shorter courses tend to put an emphasis on short irons, short games and putting. We should expect the Stanley Thompson-designed St. George’s G&CC to emphasize those specific facets of the game. In 2010, we saw Carl Pettersson take down the event at St. George’s, a player who ranked 137th in driving distance that season. Pettersson also ranked third in strokes gained putting that year and was able to craft a round of 60 on St. George’s in the third round, on his way to the win. The greens at St. George’s are bentgrass and, with rain in the forecast, could be very receptive for 2022. McIlroy ranks first in Strokes Gained: Putting on bentgrass greens over the last 24 rounds. Players who have good track records at short courses and have solid proximity stats with their short irons should also be valued highly this week. Matthias Schwab ($7,300) and Rory Sabbatini ($7,200) both rank inside the top 10 in proximity from 125-150 yards over the last 24 rounds while Smith and David Lipsky ($7,300) both rank inside the top 10 in proximity from 100-125 yards over that same span. Last year, the week before the U.S. Open, we saw Garrick Higgo take down his first PGA TOUR title at the Palmetto Championship, in what was only his second PGA TOUR start. Strange things can happen the week prior to a major, and there’s plenty of interesting names down the field to take a look at this week for our daily fantasy golf lineups. GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Cameron Smith ($10,300) Smith found himself in contention again last week but fell back to T13 after a poor Sunday. He has wins at both Waialae Country Club (Sony Open) and TPC Sawgrass (THE PLAYERS), two shorter tracks on the PGA TOUR where short irons, short games and putting are all magnified. The course this week will be much less demanding off the tee than the venues seen in Smith’s last two starts, and that should allow the rest of his game to shine through. He’s been showcasing an elite approach game of late and ranks first in proximity from 100-125 yards out over the last 24 rounds. Starting DFS lineups with Smith this week on a suitable layout makes complete sense when looking at the top of the board. Corey Conners ($9,600) Conners has typically held himself very well at some of the shorter tracks on the PGA TOUR. He landed a T12 at Hilton Head in April and was also T11 at the aforementioned Waialae Country Club in Hawaii this January. Obviously, the Canadian will be playing in his national open, which will make this week a little more special for him than the rest of the field, so seeing him attack with a little more seriousness wouldn’t be shocking. A wet course with high greens in regulations also wouldn’t be terrible for Conners, as he gained over 8.0 strokes on approach last week at the Memorial and is second in the field in proximity stats over the last 50 rounds. David Lipsky ($7,300) If you’re looking to take a shot with a player lower down the board this week, then perhaps think about looking to Lipsky, who has been playing solid golf of late. The former Korn Ferry Tour and European Tour winner ranks 12th in Strokes Gained: Approach stats over the last 50 rounds and has done well over the last couple of weeks on tougher setups (T37 last week at Muirfield). Lipsky’s strong short-iron game should shine through at St. George’s, and he won’t be as disadvantaged by his lack of distance off the tee. Stephan Jaeger ($7,300) and C.T. Pan ($8,100) are a couple of other potential value targets for DFS this week, as they’ve been trending well on approach and should set up well for this older, more technical venue. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $800,000 Pitch + Putt [$200,000 to 1st] Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is wavegoodbye) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. 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GREENSBORO, N.C. – Josh Teater started the week off by throwing out the first pitch on Monday at the Greensboro Grasshoppers game. He has skills, too. The ball caught the right corner of home plate for a strike. “They let me go out to the rubber, which you usually don’t see,â€� Teater said. “Brought back some old memories from the baseball days.â€� “He definitely threw some heat,â€� the Grasshoppers posted with the video of the pitch on Facebook. On Thursday, Teater was still wearing the cap he got at the game when he shot 64 in the first round of the Wyndham Championship. The round of 6 under left him just two strokes off the lead. There’s a lot at stake at Sedgefield Country Club this week, to be sure. Teater, who came into the week ranked 165th in the FedExCup, likely needs a finish of solo third or better to make the Playoffs and secure his PGA TOUR card for the 2019-20 season. He’s been playing better of late, though, with a tie for sixth at the Barbasol Championship in his hometown of Lexington, Kentucky, two weeks ago, where he shot 21 under on a course not unlike Sedgefield where you have to go low. He also shared 13th at last week’s Barracuda Championship. In fact, Teater has made the cut on seven of his last eight starts – after missing 10 of his first 15 starts through the AT&T Byron Nelson. The upswing started when he parlayed a sponsor’s exemption into a tie for 17th at the Charles Schwab Challenge that was his best of the year until the last two weeks. “Just trying to keep being patient,â€� Teater said. “I think after Byron Nelson I was kind of at a low point, like what am I going to do, and since then I’ve turned it around in a considerable way. Colonial was a huge tournament for me getting an exemption and playing well. “Yeah, just trying to not make too much of it, you know. These hot summer days, not staying out here practicing for two and three hours, going and getting off my feet and relaxing and trying to be fresh.â€� Teater, a big Kentucky fan who played collegiately at Morehead State, opened with three straight birdies on Thursday and ended up with a 30 on the front nine. He was resilient on the back nine, following a double bogey on the 14th with a 13-foot eagle putt at the next. “That’s probably the hardest hole, 14,â€� Teater said. “I mean, no reason for me not to make a bogey there, I just three-putted from the front fringe. “But we had a nice little break there, got to sit in one of the nice comfortable Wyndham chairs and kind of get it out of my mind. Obviously, a little bounce back.â€� Teater finished his round off with a flourish when he holed a bunker shot at No. 18 for a final birdie. Teater, who was a fully-exempt TOUR member from 2010-14, got his card back through the Korn Ferry Tour for this season. He needs to finish 150th or better in the FedExCup to be conditionally exempt and inside the top 125 to secure full playing privileges. This week, the 40-year-old Teater isn’t worrying about the numbers. He’s just trying to play his best golf and stay patient. “It’s the hardest part of the game,â€� Teater said. “We’re all capable of winning every week and rarely do we do it. I’ve been out here almost 10 years and haven’t done it, so it would be a good time for it.â€�

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