McIlroy: Players cancellation was ‘right decision’

It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. That classic line is what defined my come-from-behind, worst-to-first victory among the Experts in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO last season. Justin Rose’s bogey-bogey close en route to his playoff loss at the BMW Championship didn’t come back to bite after all. That’s the beauty of the format on this site. By using FedExCup points to measure performance, just about anyone within a whiff of the leader can roar from the outside and threaten late. In earnings-based leagues, the fate of those who won’t win is known weeks if not months in advance. I admit that it took me time to come around on using FedExCup points, but I’ve grown to love the volatility that the quadrupled points in the Playoffs present. (And that’s even before my timely surge. In fact, it’s my second league championship.) You still have to plan ahead and you still have to connect, but the possibilities don’t rule you out at the buzzer. And hey, the front-runners are in the same boat. If they leave that door open, someone just might sneak in and steal the trophy. With the parade over and the celebration complete, we now venture into a new season. Here are a few critical things to keep in mind that I’m parking on this page. Use it as a resource throughout the 2018-19 season: • The Houston Open, A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier and the Dell Technologies Championship are off the schedule. • The RBC Canadian Open will be contested at Hamilton Golf & Country Club, which hosted in 2003, 2006 and 2012. • TPC Southwind now hosts the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. (Firestone Country Club no longer hosts a PGA TOUR event.) • Only three events will be included in the 2019 Playoffs. Among them, East Lake is the only recurring host (of the TOUR Championship). • THE NORTHERN TRUST will be contested at Liberty National Golf Club, which hosted in 2009 and 2013. The BMW Championship migrates to Medinah Country Club, which hasn’t hosted an individual competition since the 2006 PGA Championship. • Unlike the Masters (held every year at Augusta National), the PGA Championship (at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course), the U.S. Open (at Pebble Beach) and The Open Championship (at Royal Portrush) always demand real-time decision-making over long-range planning due to the variables in play during each of those weeks (even though Bethpage Black and Pebble Beach are familiar to many PGA TOUR members). All of these changes for 2018-19 are reflected in the organization of Future Possibilities below. The section is dedicated to notables who are most likely to warrant consideration in all One & Dones. I’ve updated my confidence values for all golfers and extended a few to assist two-man gamers. With the new season comes turnover among the notables as well. For example, Patrick Cantlay, Emiliano Grillo and Adam Hadwin represent this week’s newcomers in Future Possibilities. This process will continue until all notables make their season debuts. You’ll also notice the +1 in my little league. Mike Glasscott joined (and doubled) the fantasy writing team at PGATOUR.com during last year’s fall stretch. He authors the Confidence Factor every week, wrote the Emergency 9 after every round of every tournament through the TOUR Championship and will continue to contribute in various roles. Also note Glass’ willingness to step out on a limb with his first-ever selection. It’s always easy to pick on the rookie, but at least he doesn’t miss the bunny. Even before Brendan Steele connected victories at Silverado in 2016 and 2017, he delivered for a pair of top 25s on the course. Now he’s attempting to become the first since Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic from 2009-2011 to win the same tournament in three consecutive years. Steele is a no-brainer of a No. 1 in my Power Rankings, but investors can’t ignore suspect form spanning his last 10 starts. Since THE PLAYERS, he’s made just five cuts and finished no better than T47 at The Open Championship. Maybe it’s the euphoria of my surprise triumph in the Playoffs, but my confidence is higher in Ryan Moore, who sits No. 2 in the Power Rankings. No one’s record at Silverado can stack up against Steele’s, but Moore has a T10 (2015) and a T17 (2017) in two tries. He’s always a reliable bridge during the heart of the season, but the course feeds into his accuracy off the tee and experience in blending going low with salvaging a score during a tough round. While former champion Emiliano Grillo, Patrick Cantlay and Martin Laird are tempting for different reasons, I love Sean’s decision to piggyback red-hot Denny McCarthy. The events of the Web.com Tour Finals aren’t PGA TOUR events, but they’re play-in copetitions for the real thing. So many of the graduates ride the momentum of their latest achievement. Citing a historical example, Grillo made history when he concluded the 2015 Finals with victory at the Web.com Tour Championship before repeating the achievement at Silverado two weeks later. Now that’s euphoria! 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. Patrick Cantlay … Shriners (1; defending); Genesis (4); Valspar (2); Memorial (3) Jason Dufner … CareerBuilder (9); Honda (3); PLAYERS (7); Valspar (4); New Orleans (1); Charles Schwab (6); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (2); Wyndham (8); TOUR Championship (10) Emiliano Grillo … Mayakoba (1); Arnold Palmer (2); Charles Schwab (3) Bill Haas … Safeway (5); RSM (7); CareerBuilder (1); Genesis (3); WGC-Match Play (8); Heritage (4); Charles Schwab (2); Wyndham (6) Adam Hadwin … CareerBuilder (1); Waste Management (4); Genesis (3); Valspar (2); John Deere (5) Russell Henley … Shriners (5); RSM (1); Sony (2); Honda (4); Masters (3) J.B. Holmes … Farmers (1); Waste Management (3); Pebble Beach (2); Genesis (4); Wells Fargo (5) Chris Kirk … Sanderson Farms (6); RSM (1); Sony (4); Valero (3); PLAYERS (5); Charles Schwab (2) Russell Knox … CIMB (5); WGC-HSBC (4); Mayakoba (1); Sony (3); Heritage (2) Martin Laird … Safeway (4); CareerBuilder (6); Waste Management (1); Genesis (3); Valero (5); Barracuda (2) Phil Mickelson … Safeway (7); CareerBuilder (10); Waste Management (4); Pebble Beach (5); Genesis (6); WGC-Mexico (1; defending); Masters (9); Wells Fargo (2); Open Championship (8); WGC-St. Jude (3) Ryan Moore … Safeway (4); CIMB (1); Shriners (10); Waste Management (12); Genesis (5); Valspar (3); Valero (7); Masters (13); Memorial (11); Travelers (6); John Deere (8); Wyndham (2); TOUR Championship (9) Scott Piercy … Safeway (2); CIMB (4); Shriners (5); Mayakoba (6); Sony (3); New Orleans (1; defending); Canadian (7; last winner at Hamilton in 2012) Brandt Snedeker … Sentry (4); Farmers (3); Waste Management (8); Pebble Beach (2); Masters (10); Heritage (6); Charles Schwab (7); U.S. Open (5); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1; defending) Brendan Steele … Safeway (1; two-time defending); CIMB (5); CareerBuilder (6); Waste Management (2); Honda (7); Valero (8); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (4); Reno-Tahoe (3) Kevin Streelman … Sanderson Farms (3); Shriners (6); Mayakoba (2); CareerBuilder (8); Pebble Beach (1); Valero (9); Heritage (5); Memorial (4); Travelers (7)

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Bee-yoo! Bee-yoo! Arnold Palmer alert! Arnold Palmer alert! That line from “The Other Guys” is ironic because The King needs no introduction. His legend will last forever. It’s a fact cemented further with Monday’s announcement that the Rookie of the Year will now receive the Arnold Palmer Award. Of course, as much it all started in golf, his cool was kept fresh throughout his life thanks in part to his dedication to keeping golf courses current. This is perhaps no more evident than at Bay Hill Golf Club and Lodge. It hosts the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard for the 41st time this week. For the latest modifications to the track, expectations for those in the field and more, scroll past the ranking. Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will include Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson, Bubba Watson, Louis Oosthuizen and The Honda Classic champion Keith Mitchell among other notables. Bay Hill is a stock par 72, but it wasn’t always. It debuted as a par 71 in 1979, transitioned to a par 72 in 1990 (when Robert Gamez holed out for eagle on the par-4 finisher to win; he’d go on to claim what is now the Arnold Palmer Award) and tightened to a par 70 from 2007-2009 before it reclaimed its par of today (following a significant renovation). Palmer’s penchant for tinkering served as the common thread for the fabric of his tournament’s history. It’s a theme carried on this year with new tee boxes on the par-5 fourth hole and par-4 ninth that have lengthened the course by an aggregate 35 yards to a tournament-record 7,454 yards. In addition to other upgrades such as a new area to work on the short game and numerous spots of improved landscaping, modern irrigation has been introduced to water only the primary rough whenever preferred. Speaking of which, the longest rough, which is overseeded, has been allow to grow as high as three-and-a-half inches. TifEagle bermudagrass greens, which are not overseeded, are average in size but prepped to run as fast as 13-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter. Of all publicized measurements, that’s as slick as it gets on the PGA TOUR. Rory McIlroy put on a clinic with his putter en route to a three-stroke victory here last year, but that’s what he needed to do to prevail. He ranked just T45 in greens in regulation (at the field average). However, when he manufactured those scoring opportunities, he led the field in proximity to the hole and paid them off also by pacing it in strokes gained: putting, fewest putts and scrambling. Of 61 attempts inside 10 feet, he whiffed just twice. While the primary rough separates the excessively wayward, hitting fairways isn’t a prerequisite to contend. At T48, McIlroy felt short of the field average. Instead, distance off the tee is more valuable, especially when it concerns gettable par 5s, while the greens are as fair as the field would want. Mother Nature should cooperate. After some rain, wind and cooling early in the week, a dry, calm and warming trend will take over. Sunshine is expected through Saturday while daytime highs will climb 10 degrees or so and into the low 80s by the weekend. The return of the threat of rain re-enters the picture on Sunday when the high could climb into the mid-80s. The impact of wind will be felt only with the energy. As of midday Monday, the field stood at 123. That’s three more than what’s scheduled because Gamez, Ernie Els and Tim Herron are exempt as winners prior to 2000. They’re considered add-ons and would not be replaced if any withdrew. For the fifth consecutive year, the champion will receive three-year exemptions for PGA TOUR membership and into THE PLAYERS. 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 THURSDAY: Champions 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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