Morikawa does something only Tiger accomplished

First his former caddie, Jim Mackay, got into the foot-soldier game. Now Phil Mickelson has. Mickelson, tournament host for this week's The American Express in Palm Desert, California, wore a mask and a microphone to emcee The American Express Charity Challenge at PGA West on Wednesday. Playing alternate shot, Paul Casey, with singer Jake Owen, and Tony Finau, with retired soccer star Landon Donovan, raised $1 million for Coachella Valley charities. Casey and Owen, a former competitive junior golfer, easily won the match. Mickelson got off the most one-liners. "I'm going to watch and talk smack," he said after the first-tee introductions, "which is what I do better than play right now, so let's have at it." Most of his needle came at his own expense. On the first tee he handed Owen a $100 bill, eliciting laughter. The move was a reference to Owen jokingly complaining about the quality of the golf in The Match, an earlier made-for-TV event between Mickelson and Tiger Woods, and Mickelson giving him his money back. Owen, however, played well, despite making nothing on the greens. Donovan struggled with his wedges. Mickelson spent the two and a half hours telling stories, trying to coach Donovan, explaining shots as they came up, reading greens, and taking more light jabs mostly at himself. "I'm shorter and crooked, and I still hit driver," the 50-year-old Hall of Famer said by way of urging Finau to hit driver as much as possible. Later, Mickelson asked with mock seriousness, "Does that get tiring playing from the fairway all the time?" Mickelson is not switching careers to TV like his ex-caddie Mackay; instead, he said earlier Wednesday, he plans to play the PGA TOUR's West Coast swing. He will then evaluate whether to continue competing on TOUR, where he has 44 titles, or move over to the 50-and-over PGA TOUR Champions, the circuit where he already has two victories in two career starts. The host was brought into Wednesday's action with two driving contests, both against Finau, a closest-to-the-pin contest (Casey), and a short-game contest (Casey) - all for the two teams' chosen charities. He did not win any of them. He was admittedly stiff, and also was hooked up to wires, wearing a mask, and admitted Finau is untouchable with the driver, anyway. "Ten years ago, I was at the Callaway test center," Mickelson said as he kept things moving along, "and you and your brother Gipper were there, and you were hitting nasty bombs there, and you broke the golf ball. You broke it. Literally broke it. It had a 212 mph threshold. I've never done - that unless I bladed it, like a wedge or something." At the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park last August, Mickelson spent more than an hour in the CBS booth with Nick Faldo and Jim Nantz. He exchanged zingers with Faldo while the veteran Nantz kept everything running smoothly. But for the Charity Challenge, which aired on Golf Channel and PGA TOUR LIVE, Mickelson had to work mostly solo. At the 14th hole, when asked why he wasn't giving even more advice to amateurs Donovan and Owen, Mickelson said, "I mean it's a little difficult because when you see the skill level with the wedge of Landon, the beautiful one he hit on 10, the horrific one he hit on 13, you really don't know where to go with it. Oh, you heard that, Landon? My bad." At the 15th hole, Owen said he'd been drinking more coffee lately, which naturally was followed by Mickelson recommending his specially blended Coffee for Wellness. "When you drink it," he said, "you won't have any crash later on." Donovan, newer to the game, was sketchy on the Rules and kept asking when to concede a putt. "You'd still watch it," Mickelson said of Casey's upcoming short birdie putt at the 15th hole, "but 98.7 percent of the time he's going to make that. You're nice and classy, so I know you want to give it. I want to watch it." (Casey made it.) Mickelson razzed Donovan for hitting his tee shot in the water at the island par-3 17th hole (Alcatraz), but then seemed to remember how many thousands of balls are drowned there. "Sorry," he said. "It's late in the day, I'm getting a little slap-happy." Team Finau/Donovan raised $340,000 for Youth Development & Education in the Coachella Valley while Team Casey/Owen raised $660,000 for Health & Wellness.

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The house lights are flashing to signify that intermission is over. Yes! Intermission is over! What a first half of the FedExCup Playoffs it was. Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas captured victory at THE NORTHERN TRUST and Dell Technologies Championship, respectively, but it’s Jordan Spieth atop the standings with consecutive runner-up finishes. He’s the first non-winner of the first two FedExCup Playoffs events in history to sit No. 1 entering the BMW Championship, a feat even more unfathomable given he started the series third in points. Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Illinois, hosts the third leg for the third time. Of this week’s field of 70, 42 competed either in 2013 or in 2015. Twenty-three played in both editions. Two wins and a T6 in his last three starts. Leading the FedExCup Playoffs in scrambling and one-putt percentage. Shared 13th in his first look at Conway Farms in 2015. Leading the FedExCup Playoffs in adjusted scoring thanks to ranking fourth in GIR and third in birdie-or-better percentage. T16 (2013) and T13 (2015) at Conway Farms. The defending champion prevailed at Crooked Stick last year, but he finished T7 at Conway Farms in 2015. Pacing the FedExCup Playoffs in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Connected five top 15s, and then shook off short week at Glen Oaks where the greens befuddled him with a T23 at TPC Boston. T7 at Conway Farms in 2015. Top fives in five consecutive FedExCup Playoffs events. Top 15s in his last six starts of 2017. Seventh on TOUR in adjusted scoring. T23 in Conway Farms debut in 2015. Regularly in the mix all year. Ranks third in the FedExCup Playoffs in strokes gained: off-the-tee and T7 in proximity en route a T20 (Glen Oaks) and T13 (TPC Boston). T4 at 2015 BMW. Slots fifth in points with renewed mindset and T3-T4 opening. Leading the FedExCup Playoffs in strokes gained: putting. Also third in birdie-or-better percentage and T7 in bogey avoidance. Shifted it into a higher gear at Quail Hollow, where he shared runner-up honors. A respective T20 and T6 to begin the FedExCup Playoffs in which he ranks T5 in bogey avoidance. T10s to open the FedExCup Playoffs are first consecutive top 10s since January. Now 17th in points and poised to head to East Lake where he’s been phenomenal. T13 here in 2015. Rested the last two weeks after four straight on the road with no worse than T17 (twice). Top 20s in six of last seven starts worldwide. Tied for 10th at the 2015 BMW. Added a solo third at the Dell Technologies Championship to what has already been a sparkling 2017. Ranks third in greens in regulation during the FedExCup Playoffs. Opened with 61 and went wire-to-wire at Conway Farms in 2015. Not nearly as sharp of late, but enters having logged four straight top 25s, two of which for a top 10. Headed in the wrong direction but has everything to gain at 51st in points, so he’s dangerous. Placed T4 at Conway Farms in 2015, ranking second in par-5 scoring. Debutant is handling the series like a veteran, ranking first in greens hit and bogey avoidance. Also third in scrambling. T10 (Glen Oaks) and T13 (TPC Boston). Didn’t crack the top 20 in either previous appearance at Conway Farms, but he recorded 11 top 20s in 15 starts since the Masters five months ago. Not scoring per his reputation but the components are there. Ranks 16th in the FedExCup Playoffs in proximity and second in scrambling. Runner-up in only appearance here in 2015. Quieted in recent weeks but hardly scuffling with three top 20s in his last four starts. Finished T7 in proximity to the hole while posting a T18 at TPC Boston. The 2013 champ has lost his way again, but it’s not due to poor putting. He’s 28th in strokes gained: putting in the FedExCup Playoffs. T13 here in 2015 as well, so he’s a horse. Coming to life at a great time. Validated a T4 at Sedgefield with a T6 at TPC Boston. Ranked second in strokes gained: putting en route to a T10 at the 2015 BMW Championship. The streaky 35-year-old is fresh off a confidence-building T10 at TPC Boston. It ended a spell without a top 30 at six straight starts. T28 (2013) and T19 (2015) at Conway Farms. Power Rankings: BMW Championship RANK PLAYER COMMENT Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Kevin Kisner and Webb Simpson will be among the notables included in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. Zach Johnson came from behind to prevail in 2013 and Jason Day cruised to a wire-to-wire title in 2015 at the BMW Championship at Conway Farms, but the Tom Fazio design also is remembered as the site of Jim Furyk’s 59 (with a bogey) in the second round of 2013. Yet, the field averaged 70.811 in its first look as compared to 69.489 in its return. Comparably, the 2015 field missed more fairways (63.72 percent vs. 66.73 percent in 2013), but it stacked up better on average in an array of scoring measurements: • Green in Regulation: 66.26 percent (vs. 62.94 percent in 2013) • Proximity to the Hole: 32 feet, one inch (vs. 33 feet, four inches) • Birdie-or-Better Conversion Percentage: 33.98 percent (vs. 30.24 percent) • Scrambling: 64.02 percent (vs. 59.90 percent) Rain softened Conway Farms in 2015, but not to the extent that anyone would have foreseen such a measurable drop in scoring on the par 35-36=71. So, with little chance of rain until Sunday during this week’s tournament, this year’s scoring average should land in between the two in the books. Daytimes highs in the mid-to-upper 70s are forecast. Mother Nature’s greatest challenge figures to be a moderate wind mid-tournament. Since Conway Farms hosted in 2015, several areas of the course were upgraded, many of which to improve drainage. The only change in overall yardage occurred at the par-5 18th hole, which is now up 10 yards, boosting the aggregate to 7,208 yards. Bentgrass greens are maintained at 12-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter. The longest rough is allowed to grow three-and-a-half inches. Those who advanced to the BMW Championship are not only chasing one of 30 berths into the TOUR Championship but also a carte-blanche schedule in 2017-18. In additions to exemptions already secured for finishing inside the top 70 of the FedExCup standings, the top 30 are granted exemptions into each of the first three majors in 2018 as well as spots in the first two World Golf Championships (HSBC, Mexico). The Confidence Factor on Tuesday will focus on specific statistics to identify would-be contenders as well as list all results of golfers in the field who competed at Conway Farms in 2013 and/or 2015. ROB BOLTON’S WRITING SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Columnist Rob Bolton will be filing his usual staples leading up to this week’s event. Look for the following columns this week. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Reshuffle, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, The Confidence Factor, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Ownership Percentages in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf and One & Done presented by SERVPRO * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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Welcome to PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live! This is the PGA TOUR’s first offering of an interactive game using live odds, which are powered by PointsBet. It’s a weekly contest developed by Low6 and it’s free to play on desktop and mobile devices. RELATED: FAQs for PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live! Fittingly, its launch aligns with The Genesis Invitational. The annual stop at The Riviera Country Club hosts a smashing field of 120. What you’re reading now is the first edition of Pick ‘Em Preview, the weekly space dedicated to tournaments that PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live will be presenting. Our resident fantasy writers, Rob Bolton and Mike Glasscott, have been collaborating on various projects for many years, so we hope that you enjoy their analysis, insight, opinion, and banter as much as they do. Before you go on though be sure to sign up at https://pickemlive.pgatour.com/ and join the free fun! Not sure who to pick where? Never fear, our gurus are here! After having reviewed the board at PointsBet, Rob and Glass are sharing their opening selections for the weeklong component and for the first round. With this debut, they’ve dug into some of the strategic components of the gameplay. As we navigate PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live for ourselves, we will present more perspective, tips and other helpful hints from the experience. A cash prize bounty of $5,000 is on offer ever tournament for the top five scorers. $2,500 for first place, $1,000 for second, $750 for third, $500 for fourth and $250 for fifth. You cannot lose points at any time, so there’s no reason to abstain from any pick. And with three weeklong wagers hovering over 12 props for which progressive multipliers of 25, 50, 75 and 100 drive the action, you’re never out of the hunt. Odds for weeklong outrights will change in real time, and quite often in your favor. So, if you’re locked in at, say, +1200, and he moves to +2000, and you still want him as your choice, cancel and reselect at more favorable pricing. Just like that. Enjoy! WEEKLONG Outright Rob … Francesco Molinari (+15000) Unless you’re the punter who’d rather set and forget, à la Glass turning to shorter odds below, reaching for a longshot before R1 is the way to go in PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live. The experience and phenomenon of monitoring odds changing in real time is fascinating for me as someone who has never played in this space. With the power to modify the investment at any time, and with the insurance that I still can select the winner just before he is determined, consider making it a weekly routine to start outside the box. Thing is, despite what the board says, Molinari really isn’t a longshot on a course where he is a member. His value is long in part because of his form, but also because of the depth of the kind of field over which he hasn’t prevailed in recent memory – his and ours. Glass … Xander Schauffele (+2200) Uh, Rob, how many times has Webb Simpson won at Quail Hollow? How about Ryan Palmer at Colonial? I’ll hang up and listen to your answer. Meanwhile, it’s hard to turn down a number on Schauffele after he led the field last week in Strokes-Gained: Tee-to-Green for a T3. SoCal player has never missed the cut here in four tries and won’t have to figure out Poa. Max Homa won on his fifth try last year. Top 10 Rob … Francesco Molinari (+1000) There are a few ways you can go with this and your top-20 prop. First and foremost, unlike the outright, the lines for top 10 and top 20 will freeze during live action. You will be unable to modify either selection until play concludes every day. That could be challenging depending on where you are and your lifestyle because there isn’t a set period of time after any round when the window will reopen. As for the strategy, when an outright is as long as Molinari is at Riviera, and there aren’t any others valued more favorably (in your opinion) for a top 10, then you might as well double dip. Although my outright and top 10 match in the tournament for which PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em launches, it’s unlikely to happen again for a while. Regardless, with the promise to have the power to change picks in between rounds, ignoring the chalk for a longshot makes sense early. Once again, however, Glass has other ideas, but I’m used to that. It’s what makes his world go round. Glass … Matthew Fitzpatrick (+360) Value smacks me right in the forehead, so I’ll take it! The Englishman has stacked back-to-back top 10s at Pebble and Scottsdale in his first two TOUR events of 2022. Posted par or better in seven of eight career rounds here with T5 the highlight last year. Top 20 Glass … James Hahn (+650) Let’s gamble. I write Horses for Courses, so let’s get #OnBrand. I get that he’s ICE COLD right now but the 2015 champ hasn’t finished worse than T15 here the last three years. Remember, you can change all of your weeklong picks throughout the week, so riding a longshot isn’t the worst strategy in the business! Rob … C.T. Pan (+850) Gee, partner. Thanks for the advice! I’ll have to remember that. Molinari checks in at +425 here but Pan at twice the payoff is totally worth the early nod. He finished T20 here last year (in his fourth start) and he’s peppered leaderboards at times with top 20s. That’s all well and good, but the 30-year-old always has presented as a go-to on tough tracks. No, it’s not a sure thing, nothing is, but he does some of his best work when par is a good score. Pan isn’t quite at the class-is-permanent level, but he can see it from where he operates. The sequence of variables at Riviera are aligned to prove it. ROUND 1 Leader Glass … Patrick Cantlay (+2500) Saddle up, folks! Ready? Last four first rounds here: 67-68-68-66. Also, a bit hot in ALL FACETS of his game, no? Rob … Luke List (+6000) In full disclosure, either I’m missing something or I don’t have a mechanism for blind confidence. Connecting for the first-round leader, or the leader of any round, is akin to playing the lottery. Sure, you can kind of rule out a percentage of possibilities, but this is just an educated dart. For me, I’ve always espoused steering toward the draw with the better weather and/or wind. When it’s balanced and neutral as it will be throughout Thursday in Pacific Palisades, California, I default to the morning wave, and I’m hardly alone. Softer conditions from overnight moisture that settles and pure greens allow for better scoring. It’s that simple. Cantlay is perched atop my Power Rankings, but he goes out at 12:21 p.m. PT in the opening round. Pass. List tees off at 7:46 a.m., and he starts on the par-5 first hole with that elevated box beside the clubhouse. It’s been the easiest hole on Riviera for forever and it’s among the easiest par 5s on the PGA TOUR annually. He just captured his first TOUR title at Torrey Pines and he’s been among the best performers all season. So, give me the bomber to circle a birdie or even an eagle to ignite his day and keep that rally rolling. Make the Cut Rob … Francesco Molinari (-188) How do you say, “Duh,” in Italian? Not only is he already my outright, but his odds are the longest of the offerings. It’s almost an insult at this point. It’s important to note that, unlike the weeklong props, you will not be able to change this pick after the R1 deadline, but you won’t see an outcome on your home page until the 36-hole cut falls. Glass … Cameron Tringale (-277) Again, sniffing around for some value. I’ll ride his nine paydays from 10 starts at The Riv. Of them, seven are T30 or better, so you might shoehorn him in somewhere else if you need! Oh, and he’s on the “every” this week of his “every other week” streak of big finishes. Matchup Glass … Joaquin Niemann over Robert Streb and Adam Long. Opened his season T6 on Poa at Torrey before jetting off to Saudi Arabia for another top 10 (T8). Dialed in and easily the class of this 3 ball as Long is 0-3 and Streb is 0-7 here. Rob … Talor Gooch over Erik van Rooyen and Chez Reavie It’d be logical to double down on my FRL, Luke List, but the angle here isn’t the same. It’s relative to the group and the potential influence of its dynamics, but I do like the opportunity to take advantage of the vacuum of the morning conditions. I also like putting points on the board early for psychological reasons. With a multiplier of only 25 in R1, it’s not worth reaching. Can’t win the thing on Thursday! Moreover, of the first six wagers we make, this is the easiest to convert, so go ahead and drive to the hoop for the layup. Gooch, who goes off the par-4 10th at 7:13 a.m. PT, is having himself a season. In addition to his breakthrough victory at Sea Island, he’s second on TOUR in both red numbers (34) and sub-70s (30). In three appearances at Riviera, he’s finished a respective T20, T10 and T12 with a scoring average of 69.75. EVR is 0-for-1 with an average of 72.50 in his two rounds. Stallings exploded for a T4 in 2018, but it’s his only top 40 among three paydays in six trips. His scoring average in 30 rounds is 72.37. LATER ROUNDS Don’t forget, if you want to get the maximum chance at points, you’ll need to return prior to rounds 2, 3 and 4 to pick from three categories each round! There will be some variance between tournaments but the choices will come from the markets PointsBet provides. It’s likely most second rounds will see you picking two separate 3-ball results and which player will lead at the halfway mark. Start thinking about which players grind to make cuts, or who is prone to producing rebound rounds. It might be prudent to also think about those who may be mentally moving on to the following week a little early. Round 3 is slated to provide you with six match ups (2 or 3-Balls depending on tournament), from which you’ll have to make three selections. Who are the moving day masters? The final round, which carries the 100-point multiplier, will have you select three matchups from the final six groups of the tournament. As you watch those key players down the stretch remember you can change your weeklong outright winner if your choice has faded! How long will you keep the faith before jumping ship? Will a late change be enough to finish in the cash? If not, well you live to fight another week as we all go back to zero to kick off the next tournament! We hope you enjoy the ride as much as we intend to. Good luck!

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