Matsuyama rolls to 5-shot Zozo victory in Japan

They’re back! After a one-year hiatus, FedExCup bonus points in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf will be returning for the 2019-20 season. Count on managing every tournament and Segment with that promise. Bonus points were eliminated this season, so it took just one week to realize that cuts made would fill the void as the most valuable currency. For gamers who didn’t register or start playing until 2018-19, your starters in every final round were credited with a fraction of FedExCup points applied to their finish. In events with ShotLink, the bonus was one-tenth the actual. In events without ShotLink, the bonus was one-half (to compensate for lighter fantasy scoring overall). While details concerning everything regarding the next iteration of PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf are forthcoming, the absence of bonus points grumbled the masses. Consider yourselves heard, gang! With no bonus points in play and with no cut at this week’s BMW Championship, only the nail-biters among contenders will lose sleep. This does not apply to my little league in which Ben Everill holds a 245-point edge over me in second, this despite one of my best efforts of the season at THE NORTHERN TRUST. I totaled 800 points, but because Ben got four to the weekend, I outpaced him by only 63. So, it’s over; well, as long as he remembers to save a lineup. Shhh… Looking ahead, with a full-field Power Rankings for next week’s TOUR Championship, this preview column will be abridged. It also means that this week’s Sleepers is the last edition until Tuesday, September 10, for A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier. My annual full-membership fantasy ranking should publish by Friday, Sept. 6, but timing on that always is fluid due to the numerous resources required to generate the finished product. As always, keep an eye on the FANTASY page and my Twitter for everything. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf My roster for the BMW Championship (in alphabetical order): Tony Finau Dustin Johnson Brooks Koepka Louis Oosthuizen Patrick Reed Adam Scott You’ll find my starters in Expert Picks. Others to consider for each category (in alphabetical order): Scoring: Patrick Cantlay; Bryson DeChambeau; Rory McIlroy; Andrew Putnam; Jon Rahm; Justin Rose; Jordan Spieth; Justin Thomas Driving: Paul Casey; Jason Day; Bryson DeChambeau; Tommy Fleetwood; Lucas Glover; Jason Kokrak; Rory McIlroy; Jon Rahm Power Rankings Wild Card Jason Day … Classic rebound candidate. That I loved his short-lived commitment to Steve Williams to spark a relatively lackluster season, I guess you now know in which school I belong. (Hint: It’s not new.) Now handing caddie duties to friend and former PGA TOUR member David Lutterus, he of the different-colored eyelashes – black on the left, blond on the right – Day should have more fun in theory. Quite simply, I’ll buy that and the fresh start at 50th in the FedExCup. Draws Rickie Fowler … Inconsistency is killing this cat, but we have to set aside our emotion and remember that he doesn’t slump. A quietly strong T6 at The Open Championship is his only top-40 finish in five starts, and he’s managed a busy by sitting out the WGC-St. Jude, so fatigue isn’t a factor for the 17-seed. Keep the faith even though you can’t attach anything empirical to it. Bryson DeChambeau Jim Furyk Lucas Glover Kevin Kisner Francesco Molinari Xander Schauffele Vaughn Taylor Fades Keegan Bradley … He’s the defending champion, but he prevailed at Aronimink outside Philadelphia. If only he could find the kind of mojo with the putter that fellow major champions Justin Rose, Webb Simpson and most recently Adam Scott has captured, the 66-seed likely would be enjoying consistently strong form instead of looking up and seeing only one top 25 in his last 13 starts. Tiger Woods … It comes as zero surprise that he devoured the par 5s en route to both victories in the PGA Championship at Medinah. He led the field in 1999 with a scoring average of 4.44 on the set, and then “settled” for T4 at 4.50 in 2006. That narrative applies to every par 72 throughout his career, and he loves this course, but when his health interrupts performance, well, it’s worthy of more concern than just about anyone else. If there’s good news, it’s that he merely strained an oblique muscle. The learning curve continues as he balances how much he needs to rest without getting rusty competitively, but his body rules that court. Seeded 38th, he might need a top 10 to advance. Matt Kuchar … If there’s a bright side, it’s that he can’t miss consecutive cuts for the first time in eight years, but he hasn’t been himself since a closing 79 at Royal Portrush that bumped him 29 spots to a T41. He’s broken par just twice in his last seven rounds and has gone three starts without a top 40. However, he’s been a lock for the TOUR Championship as the top seed for months during the regular season. Currently fourth. J.B. Holmes Hideki Matsuyama Phil Mickelson C.T. Pan Gary Woodland Returning to Competition Rafa Cabrera Bello … Talk about a win-win! The Spaniard sat out THE NORTHERN TRUST for the birth of his first child and he retained position inside the top 70 in the FedExCup after sliding only eight spots to 67th. He’ll need to contend for a spot on the podium at Medinah to advance, but with nothing to lose in a no-cut event and in conjunction with the Nappy Factor, it’s a headline in waiting. Kevin Chappell … Out since November after having a microdiscectomy, the 33-year-old is giving it a go at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. He’ll receive a Major Medical Extension in 2019-20 with somewhere in the vicinity of 22 starts to earn 268.297 FedExCup points and retain status, but a successful blast through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals would set up a safety net for the entire season. With a price tag of just $257K, full-season salary gamers especially will be monitoring his progress intently, as they should. Notable WDs Kevin Na … Done for the season at 55th in points, but for the best of reasons. His wife is due to deliver the couple’s second child soon. Power Rankings Recap – THE NORTHERN TRUST Power Ranking  Golfer  Result 1  Brooks Koepka  T30 2  Rory McIlroy  T6 3  Webb Simpson  T18 4  Justin Rose  T10 5  Jon Rahm  T3 6  Justin Thomas  T12 7  Rickie Fowler  MC 8  Patrick Cantlay  T12 9  Billy Horschel  T21 10  Francesco Molinari  82nd 11  Matt Kuchar  MC 12  Patrick Reed  Win 13  Tommy Fleetwood  T43 14  Adam Scott  5th 15  Dustin Johnson  T24 16  Sungjae Im  T38 17  Rory Sabbatini  T43 18  Jason Day  MC 19  Collin Morikawa  T52 20  Louis Oosthuizen  T6 Wild Card  Xander Schauffele  MC Sleepers Recap – THE NORTHERN TRUST Golfer  Result Brian Harman  T52 Russell Henley  T59 Troy Merritt  T12 Joaquin Niemann  T30 Kyle Stanley  T71 Birthdays among active golfers on the PGA TOUR August 13 … Tommy Gainey (44) August 14 … none August 15 … Ted Purdy (46); Harold Varner III (29) August 16 … none August 17 … none August 18 … Cameron Smith (26) August 19 … Jhonattan Vegas (35)

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The PGA TOUR announced today the four Featured Groups for Thursday-Friday at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, to be contested at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. Full groupings and starting times for the first two rounds of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational will be released officially at approximately 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 28. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 12 p.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-7 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday 12 p.m.-7 p.m. (Featured Groups). Saturday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. (Featured Groups), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Sunday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-7 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 2 p.m.-7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). FEATURED GROUPS (FedExCup Rank) Bryson DeChambeau (4), Jon Rahm (8), Rickie Fowler (89) • DeChambeau enters the week No. 4 in the FedExCup standings, with one win (Rocket Mortgage Classic) and seven additional top-10s in 12 starts on the season • Rahm is making his first start since moving to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, following his win at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide • Fowler is making his 30th start in a World Golf Championships event where he owns 12 top-10s Webb Simpson (2), Rory McIlroy (5), Jordan Spieth (91) Note: McIlroy (2016, 2019) and Spieth (2015) are past FedExCup champions while Simpson is No. 2 in the current FedExCup standings • Simpson is one of three players (others: Justin Thomas, Brendon Todd) with multiple wins on the season (Waste Management Phoenix Open, RBC Heritage) • At No. 5, McIlroy is one of three players in the current top 10 of the FedExCup standings that finished inside the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 at the end of the Regular Season in 2018-19 (others: Jon Rahm, Webb Simpson) • Spieth’s most recent top-10 in a World Golf Championships event came at the 2016 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational (T3) Patrick Reed (6), Viktor Hovland (23), Brooks Koepka (155) • Reed, who won the WGC-Mexico Championship earlier in the season, is looking to become the first player since Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama in 2016-17 to win multiple World Golf Championships titles in a season • The highest-ranked rookie in the FedExCup standings (No. 23), Hovland is making his first career start in a World Golf Championships event • Koepka will be defending a title in consecutive weeks, having won the 2019 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and 2019 PGA Championship; he enters the week No. 155 in the FedExCup standings with just three weeks remaining in the PGA TOUR Regular Season Justin Thomas (1), Collin Morikawa (7), Hideki Matsuyama (18) • Thomas holds the lead in the FedExCup for the 38th week in his career, one shy of Dustin Johnson for third-most since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007 • Morikawa has a win (Workday Charity Open) and a runner-up (Charles Schwab Challenge) since the season resumed, moving from No. 41 to No. 7 in the FedExCup standings over the last seven weeks • Two of Matsuyama’s five career PGA TOUR wins have come in World Golf Championships events (2016 WGC-HSBC Champions, 2017 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational)

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Yes, I was going to burn Tiger Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, and I was going to encourage you to do the same. As much as his early withdrawal from the tournament that he’s won eight times disrupts properly laid plans, the key word is “early.” Withdrawals sting all gamers and investors, but when they occur on Mondays, we can get over that frustration quickly. Woods’ WD also swung open the door for a straight-up trade with Rory McIlroy, who defends his title at Bay Hill. Certainly, McIlroy looks good almost everywhere, but the sharpest of his focus over time is on completing the career grand slam at the Masters. One & Doners will love him at Augusta National, but not unlike Jordan Spieth chasing down his career grand slam at Bethpage in May and Phil Mickelson in pursuit of his at Pebble Beach in June, there’s a valid argument to abstain on each of them in those tournaments. At least with your head. If you’re keen on making space for your heart in the decision-making process, then those are your picks for the season’s first three majors. So, suddenly, and pending good health, obviously, Woods presents a bit stronger for the Masters. With him off the board at Bay Hill, McIlroy, in tow with a title defense and torrid form upon arrival, becomes the no-brainer. If McIlroy wasn’t available to me, I’d pull the trigger on Bryson DeChambeau. After runner-up honors here last year, he picked off five victories worldwide. He’s still building a portfolio of reliable sites, but Bay Hill is one of them. Using Future Possibilities below to help sift through the gold in the deep field in Orlando, the API lines up as the top spot for Marc Leishman and Henrik Stenson. Leishman is a former winner (2017), but Stenson’s overall record is stronger. It’s just that Swede’s form at the moment is awful. He’s a trap. The only reason you don’t circle Leishman is because you’re saving him for the Travelers Championship and Bubba Watson for somewhere else (or the lefty is already off your board). Jason Day is percolating, but his win at Bay Hill in 2016 happens to be his only top 15. Given all of the factors involved, it’s smarter to holster him. Note that all four majors are included in his Future Possibilities. I’ve written about it multiple times already, but it’s worth yet another visit. Rickie Fowler is a man on a mission this year. That he exorcised the demons at TPC Scottsdale and prevailed in front of his family for the first time is a boost of confidence like no other. Save him for a major and stick with it. I haven’t made my mind up for the Masters, but the 30-year-old might get the nod. If Woods and Fowler don’t do it for you at Augusta National, then pencil in Justin Rose. His record at Bay Hill is terrific, but he’ll set up even better in five weeks. Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama and Patrick Reed also are in play this week, but each belongs on your radar in other stops. Look for Reed specifically in two weeks at Copperhead. Caution is the operative advice in weighing your decision for Francesco Molinari. It doesn’t hurt that he’s not lighting the world on fire anymore, but the API won’t be his first live action with the new golf ball. He finished T17 at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship with it and his new clubs, but we still can’t expect him to find paydirt as rapidly as Fowler did with his new ball in Arizona. Ian Poulter doesn’t appear in Future Possibilities, but don’t hesitate if you’re chasing. He’s in a zone and sleeping in his own bed this week. IJP also sets up nicely in two-man formats for which Billy Horschel, Matt Every, Jason Kokrak and Bud Cauley are intriguing. I’d toss Martin Laird into that conversation, but he’s poised to be a weapon in Reno in late July. 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 2018-19. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Byeong Hun An … Memorial (1) Daniel Berger … Travelers (1) Keegan Bradley … Memorial (5); Travelers (4) Rafa Cabrera Bello … PLAYERS (1); Wyndham (4) Jason Day … Arnold Palmer (5); PLAYERS (7); WGC-Match Play (11); Masters (4); Wells Fargo (6 defending); PGA Championship (3); U.S. Open (10); Open Championship (9) Bryson DeChambeau … Arnold Palmer (3); Heritage (1);  Memorial (2; defending); Travelers (4); John Deere (7) Jason Dufner … PLAYERS (7); Valspar (4); New Orleans (1); Charles Schwab (6); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (2); Wyndham (8); TOUR Championship (10) Rickie Fowler … Arnold Palmer (8); Masters (2); Wells Fargo (6); PGA Championship (9); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (10) Bill Haas … WGC-Match Play (8); Heritage (4); Charles Schwab (2); Wyndham (6) Adam Hadwin … Valspar (2); John Deere (5) Brian Harman … Arnold Palmer (7); Charles Schwab (1); Travelers (5); John Deere (4) Charley Hoffman … Arnold Palmer (2); Masters (4); Heritage (7); Valero (3); Charles Schwab (6); Travelers (1) J.B. Holmes … Wells Fargo (5) Billy Horschel … Arnold Palmer (7); Valero (2); New Orleans (3; defending); Wyndham (6); TOUR Championship (1) Zach Johnson … Arnold Palmer (7); Valero (4); Charles Schwab (5); John Deere (1); Open Championship (2); TOUR Championship (8) Si Woo Kim … PLAYERS (3); Heritage (1) Chris Kirk … PLAYERS (5); Valero (3); Charles Schwab (2) Kevin Kisner … Heritage (3); New Orleans (5); Charles Schwab (2); Memorial (6) Brooks Koepka … WGC-Match Play (3); Masters (7); PGA Championship (2; defending); Charles Schwab (6); U.S. Open (1; two-time defending); Open Championship (8) Martin Laird … Valero (5); Reno-Tahoe (2) Marc Leishman … Arnold Palmer (1); Byron Nelson (6); Memorial (4); Travelers (3); Open Championship (8) Hideki Matsuyama … Arnold Palmer (11); PLAYERS (9); Masters (4); PGA Championship (13); Memorial (8); U.S. Open (14); Wyndham (7); TOUR Championship (5) Rory McIlroy … Arnold Palmer (2; defending); Masters (4); Wells Fargo (3); Memorial (5); Travelers (8); Open Championship (1); TOUR Championship (6) Phil Mickelson … Masters (9); Wells Fargo (2); Open Championship (8); WGC-St. Jude (3) Francesco Molinari … Arnold Palmer (2); PLAYERS (3); Wells Fargo (6); PGA Championship (4); Open Championship (1; defending) Ryan Moore … Valspar (3); Valero (7); Masters (13); Memorial (11); Travelers (6); John Deere (8); Wyndham (2); TOUR Championship (9) Kevin Na … Valspar (6); Charles Schwab (3); Wyndham (5) Louis Oosthuizen … Valspar (3); WGC-Match Play (1); Masters (2); U.S. Open (5); PGA Championship (4) Scott Piercy … New Orleans (1; co-defending); Canadian (7; last winner at Hamilton in 2012) Patrick Reed … Valspar (1); Masters (5; defending); PGA Championship (4); U.S. Open (3); Travelers (7) Justin Rose … Arnold Palmer (3); Masters (1); PLAYERS (10); Charles Schwab (7; defending); Memorial (4); Open Championship (8); TOUR Championship (2) Brandt Snedeker … Masters (10); Heritage (6); Charles Schwab (7); U.S. Open (5); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1; defending) Brendan Steele … Valero (8); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (4); Reno-Tahoe (3) Henrik Stenson … Arnold Palmer (1); THE PLAYERS (9); Valspar (3); Masters (5); PGA Championship (4); Open Championship (6); Wyndham (8); TOUR Championship (7) Kevin Streelman … Valero (9); Heritage (5); Memorial (4); Travelers (7) Jimmy Walker … Valero (2); Byron Nelson (6) Bubba Watson … WGC-Match Play (6; defending); Masters (5); Memorial (7); Travelers (2; defending); TOUR Championship (8)

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