Niemann opens with 66 to lead at Kapalua

ERIN, Wis. – The house shared by Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas not far from Erin Hills was supposed to be the scene of someone’s breaking out party Sunday night… instead it served as the scene of post mortems. Heading to Sunday the U.S. Open was well and truly up for grabs with 16 players within six shots of the lead, none of whom had a major victory to their name. Of those, Fowler and Thomas were the ones most likely. Fowler had gone through enough near misses in majors to have learned from the experience with four previous top-5 finishes. He had since won THE PLAYERS in 2015. The 28-year-old had also claimed The Honda Classic earlier this season, knocking off the notion from some that he struggled to close although he opened the door to doubters again when he faded from one off the lead through 54 holes at the Masters in April to finish T11. Thomas had invigorated the tournament by terrorizing Erin Hills on Saturday for a record 9-under 63. He already had three wins on the PGA TOUR season and sat second in the FedExCup. Oh and the now 24-year-old joined the 59 club earlier in the year. Surely one of them would kick ahead. Starting two back, Fowler could only muster an even-par 72 to finish six shots back in a tie for fifth. Starting one back in the final group, the U.S. Open was effectively over for Thomas after just five holes and three bogeys. His 3-over 75 left him finishing in a tie for ninth. “I just didn’t have it today. Anytime you don’t win, it stings,â€� Thomas said. “It just sucks to not even have a chance on that back nine. To try to go out there and try to get in a top-5 or trying to get up near the lead is not what I play for, but, unfortunately, that’s really all I was dealt, so it’s what I had to try to do.â€� Fowler tried to take only positives away from the occasion. He only needs to look at his Zurich Classic partner Jason Day, who had nine top-10 finishes in majors before his win at the 2015 PGA Championship, to know he must forge ahead.
 “I feel like golf-wise I’m playing at the highest level. If you look at the negatives too much, you’re going to be stuck doing that the whole time,â€� he rationalized. 

“You have to measure success in different ways, not just by winning, just because that doesn’t happen a whole lot. I think Tiger had the best winning percentage of all time at 30%, and you’re lucky to even sniff close to 10.

“You kind of have to say, hey, it’s a major. We played well this week. I felt like I did a lot of good things, especially in the first round, executing my game plan. To finish in double digits, under par at a major championship, especially the U.S. Open, it was a good week.â€� Perhaps the writing was on the wall for Thomas from the opening tee shot as it sailed left into a hazard and it’s always tough to back up a super low score with another one. The three previous players to shoot 63 in an early round at a U.S. Open all struggled the next day. Jack Nicklaus shot 71 and Tom Weiskopf 75 after their opening 63s in the 1980 U.S. Open. Vijay Singh shot 72 in Round 3 after his second round 63 in 2003. (Johnny Miller shot 63 at Oakmont in 1973’s final round to win.) Only Nicklaus rebounded well enough to win. The gas tank on Thomas just didn’t fill up in time, despite having a long wait before his tee time. Too long he felt. “It was a lot of kind of laying around and just trying to stay off the phone and try to stay away from reading stuff just because there are so many things out there that are being said or written,â€� Thomas explained after he woke early Sunday ahead of his 2:54 p.m. tee time. “I just tried to stay away from it but it was hard to. I would like to think that’s not why I played how I did today.â€�
 The good news for the pair is perhaps this first-time majors thing is going to be a lasting trend. Going back to Day’s win at Whistling Straits, the last seven major winners have been first timers. Perhaps they will get their chance to continue the narrative at the Open Championship next month at Royal Birkdale. “I think it’s a great thing. It’s a lot of new blood, young guys. Kind of some of the younger crew is coming in,â€� Fowler said. “I’m not saying the older guys are out by any means, but I think we’re making our presence a little bit more known.â€�

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The PGA TOUR heads back to the Carolinas for the Palmetto Championship at Congaree Golf Club. The course will play as a par 71, measuring 7,655 yards. Congaree is located in Ridgeland, South Carolina, and will feature Bermuda greens. The move to Congaree is a one-year replacement for the RBC Canadian Open due to COVID-19 concerns in Canada. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $700K Flop Shot [$200K to 1st] STRATEGY The pseudo-Carolina swing now has its third tournament in the state, following the RBC Heritage and PGA Championship earlier this season. The field is set at 156, and the top 65 and ties will make the weekend. South Carolina’s Dustin Johnson (+800, $11,400) and Brooks Koepka (+900, $11,100) headline the field this week, and both are looking to make any last-minute corrections to their games before the U.S. Open next week at Torrey Pines (South). A swath of young talent fresh off the NCAA’s will be competing like John Pak (+20000, $6,900), who’s won multiple times in his college career, and the University of Texas’ Cole Hammer (+25000, $6,800), both looking to play well early in their professional careers. Congaree was designed in 2017 by Tom Fazio with tree-lined fairways and a lot of sand instead of rough, similar to courses we see in Australia and other desert settings. One of the first things you notice is the length, especially on the par 4s; three on the front-nine measure over 500 yards and two on the back measuring between 465 to 500 yards. The par 5s are no walk in the park either, each measuring over 580 yards. The par 5, fourth hole is 645 yards with sand on both sides and a water hazard that guards the right side of the green. The length and advantage of hitting it out of the fairway should translate to both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and long-iron proximity, especially for shorter hitters, being an important stat to consider when building rosters. The course should play hard and fast if the weather remains dry, making Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green a factor as well. The course conditions could also mean it plays shorter than the entire 7,600-plus yards. Lucas Glover (+4500, $8,600), who has a connection to Congaree, mentions that we’ll see many styles of golf if the conditions remain firm and fast, giving way to multiple styles of golf potentially playing well this week. The increase in field size back up to 156 golfers after a couple of weeks of 120 golfers means a smaller percentage of lineups getting six of six golfers through the cut. With no course history, an obvious place to start when building lineups is rostering golfers who play well on similar course styles. Tracks in Australia, Texas and some European Tour events in the Middle East like The Saudi International and tournaments in Dubai are a few that come to mind. GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Tommy Fleetwood (+2500 to Win, $9,500 on DraftKings) The Euros seem to have a slight edge coming into this week with how the course sets up, and Fleetwood, who’s playing well on the European Tour, could be in for a solid week. He’s been inconsistent with three missed cuts in his previous five events on TOUR, but with most of the top golfers taking the week off pre-U.S. Open, the 32nd-ranked golfer in the world becomes an enticing option. Looking at courses that play over 7,400 yards, Fleetwood ranks 30th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, 11th in approach and second in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green over the past 24 rounds. His game becomes even more impressive on fast Bermuda greens, ranking just inside the top 20 in Strokes Gained: Putting, 11th around the greens and first in Strokes Gained: Total over the same timeframe. With two top 10s and a top 20 on desert courses in the Middle East this season, Fleetwood could have that elusive wins he’s been searching for on the PGA TOUR heading into the U.S. Open. Ian Poulter (+3200 to Win, $9,200 on DraftKings) His outright number may seem like a stretch, but Poulter should like what he sees this week at Congaree GC, especially on the greens. On fast, Bermuda surfaces, Poulter ranks 16th in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and 11th in putting over the previous 24 rounds. His short game isn’t the concern, especially when he’s gaining 4.5 strokes on the Bermuda greens like he did at the PGA Championship; it’s his ball-striking. He’s been accurate Off-the-Tee but isn’t gaining much distance on the field. His approach game is in form, ranking 29th over the last dozen rounds, and he was stellar with his irons at the Charles Schwab Challenge when he gained 3.9 strokes at Colonial CC. Even if he’s not hitting it 300-plus yards on these long holes, we should feel somewhat confident in his accuracy with his long irons on courses over 7,400 yards, ranking 18th in proximity from 175 to 200 yards and 32nd in 200-plus yards away over the past 24 rounds. Poulter has a ton of experience playing overseas in the Middle East and has some of his best career finishes on longer courses finishing third at the WGC-Mexico at Golf Club de Chapultepec in 2019 and winning the 2018 Shell Houston Open at GC of Houston. Refer a friend and get $20 DK Dollars! Head to the DraftKings Playbook Promo page for more details! Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $700K Flop Shot [$200K to 1st] Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. 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The United States heads into Sunday singles down 10-6 to Europe at the Ryder Cup.

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