The 17th of 24 contributing events for PGA TOUR Champions One & Done presented by SERVPRO is this week’s 3M Championship. It begins on Friday. Scroll for tournament notes, 12 notables and five wild cards from the field of 78 north of Minneapolis. For the stand-alone One & Done for the Barracuda Championship, click here. It’s Turn Back the Clock week at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, for Tiger Woods is in play at Firestone Country Club’s South Course for the first time in four years. If you didn’t bite on Woods at Bay Hill (T5), Augusta National (T32) or Muirfield Village (T23) – all sites of historical success – your patience has been rewarded with one final go in Akron, Ohio. Even if you settle for a top 10, this is the final logical spot to burn the Secretariat of the horses of courses. Balk at the eight-time winner here if you wish, but if you’re forced to invest elsewhere anyway, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood present strong cases for getting the call. Sort through the dwindling assortment of Future Possibilities below and jot down a shot chart of how you might like to play out the string. As you do, remember the value that all of the 73 qualifiers for the final WGC of the season committed to the tournament. In other words, just like the South Course itself, all of the chalk is right there in front of you. An angle that I’ve hit a few times this year involves the curious trend of how well McIlroy has performed in the Playoffs in Ryder Cup years. In 2012, 2014 and 2016, he finished a respective second, third and first in the FedExCup with four wins, a T2 and another three top 10s in the last three events in the Playoffs alone. Furthermore, and oddly, he played in all four Playoffs events in each of those series. Compare that to 2013 and 2017 when he didn’t qualify for the TOUR Championship, and 2015 when he skipped the first event. This is to say that McIlroy is worth the wait especially if you use FedExCup points to measure performance. Dustin Johnson is atop the Power Rankings for the third consecutive week, but he doesn’t present as the smartest option in our game at Firestone. Even though he won here just two years ago, note that the WGC-Bridgestone slots 14th in terms of my confidence in Future Possibilities. The security basked into that subjection is that he looks great almost every time he pegs it, so if he’s still available to you, sit tight. One chance after another will continue to fall onto your lap. Same goes for Justin Thomas. Scorching-hot Francesco Molinari has an uninspiring record in this tournament, but he did at The Open Championship as well. He contended in his debut at the John Deere Classic and played TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in his own fast lane. His confidence is higher than anyone’s right now. Go along for the ride already. I gave a long stare at Fleetwood if for no other reason than he’s the prototypical wild card who will contribute. His form is as fine as his flow, but I’m of the belief that I’d miss Bubba Watson more. So, I’m going with the lefty. For a free spirit, he’s been predictable this season, and since 2015 at Firestone, he’s gone 2nd-T14-T17. This tournament also slots No. 1 on his strongest choices. I considered exhausting Fleetwood now and Watson at East Lake, but I’m saving Rose for the finale at which none of the others in my little league can. Jordan Spieth would also make a ton of sense at the TOUR Championship, but he still has work to do to qualify. Even at 42nd in the FedExCup standings, it’s hard to fathom that he won’t go all the way for the sixth consecutive season, but I’d endorse him at Firestone if you don’t want to play that game. He impressed at Carnoustie, which isn’t supposed to be the kind of track where a guy can find his game. For One & Doners at the end of their rope, you might as well give Hideki Matsuyama a try. While I hope you find a better option on this page, there’s nothing better than the feels of strutting around as the defending champion and with a course-record-tying 61 to close it out to boot. What’s more, he’s been just OK in the Playoffs, so this could be your last best chance. If by chance you’re dry on all of the aforementioned or your plans preclude usage now and you still need a guy at Firestone, consider pivoting to Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Tony Finau, Adam Scott, Alex Noren or Patrick Cantlay. Two-man gamers who are swinging for the fences need to consider Russell Knox, Charl Schwartzel and Tyrrell Hatton. 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 2017-18. 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. Paul Casey … WGC-Bridgestone (5); Dell Technologies (2); TOUR Championship (3) Kevin Chappell … WGC-Bridgestone (2); Dell Technologies (3) Jason Day … WGC-Bridgestone (9); PGA Championship (1); THE NORTHERN TRUST (8); Dell Technologies (5) Rickie Fowler … WGC-Bridgestone (3); THE NORTHERN TRUST (10); Dell Technologies (6) Sergio Garcia … TOUR Championship (4) Branden Grace … WGC-Bridgestone (3) Dustin Johnson … WGC-Bridgestone (14); PGA Championship (9); Dell Technologies (11); TOUR Championship (6) Zach Johnson … WGC-Bridgestone (6); TOUR Championship (8) Kevin Kisner … Wyndham (6) Russell Knox … Dell Technologies (7) Brooks Koepka … WGC-Bridgestone (6); PGA Championship (2) Matt Kuchar … WGC-Bridgestone (7); THE NORTHERN TRUST (9) Hideki Matsuyama … WGC-Bridgestone (8; defending) Rory McIlroy … WGC-Bridgestone (7); Dell Technologies (5); TOUR Championship (3) Kevin Na … Wyndham (3); THE NORTHERN TRUST (11) Louis Oosthuizen … PGA Championship (4); Dell Technologies (3) Patrick Reed … PGA Championship (8); Wyndham (7); THE NORTHERN TRUST (9); Dell Technologies (2) Justin Rose … WGC-Bridgestone (7); TOUR Championship (2) Charl Schwartzel … WGC-Bridgestone (2) Adam Scott … WGC-Bridgestone (3); Dell Technologies (9); TOUR Championship (6) Webb Simpson … Wyndham (1) Jordan Spieth … WGC-Bridgestone (10); TOUR Championship (4) Henrik Stenson … WGC-Bridgestone (4); PGA Championship (7); Wyndham (8; defending); Dell Technologies (9); TOUR Championship (2) Justin Thomas … Dell Technologies (6; defending); TOUR Championship (3) Bubba Watson … WGC-Bridgestone (1); TOUR Championship (4) Tiger Woods … WGC-Bridgestone (3) CHAMPIONS ONE & DONE 3M Championship This is the last edition of the tournament as it’s been known since it debuted in 1993. Chi Chi Rodriguez’ victory in the inaugural was his last of 22 career titles on the PGA TOUR Champions. Before it transitions into its new role as host of the PGA TOUR’s 3M Open on July 4-7, 2019, TPC Twin Cities will serve as the backdrop for the seniors for the 18th consecutive year. It’s a stock par 72 that tips at 7,114 yards. Paul Goydos returns to defend his title. He emerged from a playoff with Gene Sauers after the duo completed regulation in 20-under 196. All but one of the last eight champions (Bernhard Langer, 2012) are committed, including two-time winner Kenny Perry (2014, 2015). For as long as TPC Twin Cities has hosted, total prize money has been $1.75 million with $262,500 going to the winner. All of the remaining tournaments this season will feature a larger purse. 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. 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. Joe Durant … 3M (6); DICK’S (12); Boeing (10); Shaw (11); PURE (3); SAS (13) David Frost … 3M (7); Boeing (5); Shaw (8); PURE (1) Doug Garwood … SAS (1) Paul Goydos … 3M (1; defending); DICK’S (3); SAS (5) Tom Lehman … SAS (9) Billy Mayfair … Boeing (2); PURE (1) Tom Pernice, Jr. … Shaw (3); SAS (5) Kenny Perry … 3M (1); DICK’S (11); SAS (2) Gene Sauers … Boeing (1) Kevin Sutherland … Usable everywhere. Kirk Triplett … Shaw (4) Duffy Waldorf … Shaw (5) WILD CARDS (short list of golfers not included above but on the rise or still building portfolios after recently turning 50): Bob Estes; Steve Flesch; Rocco Mediate; Scott Parel; Tim Petrovic
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