Olson moves into Evian lead after third-round 65

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans presents a moment to take a breath in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. The game does not include the team event, so there is no action this week. Segment 3 will resume with the inaugural Mexico Open at Vidanta. So to will the traditional Draws and Fades that are omitted below. RELATED: How Team Format Works | Play Pick ‘Em Live | The First Look However, PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live will turn over on Wednesday for Zurich. Bets for outrights, Top 10s, Top 20s and R1 Leader will be among the options as usual. Regarding Pick ‘Em Live for a moment, remember that no matter how many entries are submitted for any tournament, prize money does not change. So, while the Masters always draws the most attention – it had more than 10,000 entries – you battled against more bodies for a payday than last week’s RBC Heritage that hosted 4,816 entries … for the same payday! Pick ‘Em Preview for Zurich will publish as usual on Wednesday. Mike Glasscott and I always include tips and tricks that will help you contend. I also practice what I preach. In the first eight tournaments, I’ve logged a third (Honda), 10th (PLAYERS) and a 19th (Heritage). If you’re an owner in a season-long format, your patience now is rewarded. After this week’s 160-man Zurich in which all golfers through conditional status have gained entry, and extending through the 156-man Wyndham Championship, 10 of the 11 opens will host the maximum. The Mexico Open has reserved tee times for 132, but the entire Korn Ferry Tour graduate reshuffle (at least) is expected to qualify on merit. (Bryson Nimmer, Jeffrey Kang, Patrick Flavin and Turk Pettit emerged from the open qualifier for the tournament on April 18.) So, while a few guys deep in the overall pecking order will moonlight on the KFT when the PGA TOUR is engaging in invitationals in the coming months, you can expect a regular schedule from your charges for whom playing time had been sporadic. It’s also the time to strike for free agents if you already haven’t. POWER RANKINGS WILD CARD Bubba Watson & Harold Varner III (-125 for a Top 20) … There are a few teams not included in my Power Rankings or Sleepers that present a compelling narrative, nonetheless. This is one of them. Of course, HV3 nipped Watson with a cross-court heave that found the hoop at the buzzer for victory at the Saudi Invitational in early February, and he’s kept the pedal down in recent weeks, connecting five cuts made from a T6 at THE PLAYERS to a T18 at the Match Play to a T3 at the RBC Heritage where he was the 54-hole leader. However, he’s 0-for-4 in the team format at TPC Louisiana. On the flipside, Watson hasn’t missed a cut in all four tries. He’s recorded a pair of top 10s (2017, 2021) and he prevailed as an individual in 2011. The lefty’s form upon arrival this week hasn’t been as impressive as his partner’s, but by no means is playing poorly enough not to deserve this value. RETURNING TO COMPETITION Brandon Hagy & Cameron Percy (+450 for a Top 20) … Both are coming off health-related issues, so it’s a coincidence that they’ve joined forces. Hagy called it quits during his second round of the RBC Heritage due to a sore back. He’s just 7-for-18 on the season and 200th in the FedExCup. Meanwhile, Percy has been sidelined since a T4 at Corales, his second top 10 in his last three starts. He forfeited the top-10 exemption into Valero to have lens-replacement surgery on both eyes (link: https://twitter.com/cameronpercy1/status/1514589194689122311). In the thread of that tweet, the Aussie quipped that he hopes to “see the hole from outside 15 feet now,” but the irony is that, if he’d qualify for official rankings, the 47-year-old would lead the PGA TOUR in conversion percentage outside 25 feet. He’s holed four of 32 attempts from that range. Both of these guys are familiar with TPC Louisiana, and they’re a combined 5-for-5 in the team format. Odds sourced on Tuesday, April 19 at 3 p.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. NOTABLES WDs None. RECAP – RBC HERITAGE POWER RANKINGS Power Ranking Golfer Result 1 Shane Lowry T3 2 Justin Thomas T35 3 Cameron Smith MC 4 Collin Morikawa T26 5 Joaquin Niemann T12 6 Matt Fitzpatrick MC 7 Dustin Johnson MC 8 Daniel Berger T21 9 Corey Conners T12 10 Sungjae Im T21 11 Webb Simpson T59 12 Patrick Cantlay P2 13 Matt Kuchar T3 14 Tyrrell Hatton T26 15 Chris Kirk MC Wild Card Jordan Spieth Win SLEEPERS Golfer (Bet) Result Nate Lashley (+550 for a Top 20) MC Alex Noren (+175 for a Top 20) T42 Mito Pereira (+250 for a Top 20) T26 Scott Stallings (+450 for a Top 20) MC Brendon Todd (+400 for a Top 20) T26 GOLFBET Bet: Daniel Berger (Top 5), Sungjae Im (Top 10) and Tyrrell Hatton (Top 20) at +10000 Result: Berger (T21), Im (T21), Hatton (T26) BIRTHDAYS AMONG ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE PGA TOUR April 19 … Matt Jones (42) April 20 … John Senden (51) April 21 … none April 22 … Eric Axley (48) April 23 … none April 24 … Jason Bohn (49); Lee Westwood (49); Jonas Blixt (38); Carlos Ortiz (31) April 25 … Nick Watney (41)

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PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico (AP) — Will Gordon was frustrated with the way he finished last week in Bermuda. He had no complaints about his start Thursday at Mayakoba. Gordon ran off four straight birdies to start the back nine on the El Camaleon course and finished with a 9-under 62 to take a one-shot lead over Russell Henley in the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. Harris English took another step back in his recovery from hip surgery and was at 64, part of a group that included former Open champion Francesco Molinari. Also seeing positive signs was Masters champion Scottie Scheffler. Without the No. 1 ranking next to his name for the first time since March, Scheffler hit plenty of iron shots close and converted them into a 65. Also at 65 was two-time defending champion Viktor Hovland, who played alongside Scheffler on a balmy and occasionally breezy day in this Mexican resort. Gordon had to go back to the Korn Ferry Tour last year to regain his PGA TOUR card. He thought he was off to a reasonable start in the new season by making every cut, and then he was five shots behind going into the final round in Bermuda last week. He played the final four holes in 4-over par and tied for 35th. “I just had an up-and-down week in Bermuda,” Gordon said. “Played some really good golf for probably 68 holes and had a rough finish. So I didn’t have many expectations coming into this week. It’s just really about managing my expectations and my emotions, so I feel like I did a good job of that today.” The objective for everyone is to keep it in the mangrove-lined fairways, manage the wind and occasional bursts of showers, and take advantage of the relatively flat greens. This might be just want English needed, especially with the good vibes of having won at Mayakoba in 2013 when he was just getting started. English capped off a two-win year in 2021 by making a solid Ryder Cup debut. But then he had surgery on his hip, which had been nagging him for years. After five months away, he returned at the Memorial Tournament and it’s been slow going. “It’s definitely getting better,” English said. “I went through a lot of rehab. But your expectations for coming back are so much higher than they should be. I’m so competitive and I want to be the mix so badly. You’ve got to give yourself time to heal and time to get your game back. “But I love it here. I love the atmosphere,” he said. “I’m excited about the next few days.” Scheffler soared to No. 1 in the world when he won four times in six starts, capped off by the Masters. He lost in a playoff at the Colonial. He had a good shot at winning the FedExCup until he didn’t convert on the final hole. But his game feels a long way from April, and Scheffler is playing three out of four weeks in the fall to try to build some momentum. The biggest takeaway from Thursday was signing a card without bogeys. “Clean card is nice,” Scheffler said. “Kept the ball in play for the most part today.” The exception was No. 3, his 12th hole, when he put his tee shot into the hazard. He took a penalty drop and hit the next one to tap-in range to escape with par. There were a lot of moments like that. Scheffler had six birdies and only a few anxious moments. “Solid golf is fun. Stress free,” Scheffler said. Work remains for Morikawa, who won six times, including two majors, in his three years on TOUR. He is running out of time to get a win in 2022, and this wouldn’t appear to be the week to end that drought after four bogeys negated his four birdies. Tony Finau was headed in that direction. He took triple bogey on his second hole by twice hitting into the hazard. He bogeyed the par-5 fifth. But he turned it around with six birdies the rest of the way and salvaged a 68.

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