PGA TOUR, DraftKings expand relationship with Arizona market access and plans for one-of-a-kind retail sportsbook at TPC Scottsdale

• COURSE: TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, 7,139 yards, par 70. Once an annual PGA TOUR stop, the facility returns to host duties with a new look that followed a two-year, $20 million overhaul. The original 1986 layout was designed as host of the old Kemper Open, but players never warmed to the course, which also was plagued by drainage and turf issues. The tournament’s demise after 2006 paved the way for massive renovations, with every hole modified in some fashion and major changes to at least a dozen. The new course opened in 2009 and staged the Senior PLAYERS Championship a year later to positive reviews. This will be the Quicken Loans National’s first visit, as the tournament ventures away from Congressional CC in odd-numbered years. • FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. • CHARITY: The Tiger Woods Foundation, with proceeds earmarked for two Tiger Woods Learning Center campuses in Washington, D.C., along with 25 Tiger Woods Scholars who come from the D.C. area. • FIELD WATCH: Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas, both top-10 finishers at the U.S. Open after contending early in the final round, give the QLN two of the top dozen players in the current world rankings. … Si Woo Kim, winner at THE PLAYERS six weeks ago, also will tee it up along with PGA Championship titleholder Jimmy Walker. … The lineup includes 16 PGA TOUR winners from this season, including recent winners Billy Hurley (AT&T Byron Nelson) and Kevin Chappell (Valero Texas Open). … Arjun Atwal, winner of the 2010 Wyndham Championship, tees it up for just the fifth time anywhere in 2017. … Recent college stars Wyndham Clark (Oregon) and Sam Horsfield (Florida) both make their second professional starts. • 72-HOLE RECORD: 266, Troy Merritt (2015 at Robert Trent Jones GC). • 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Troy Merritt (3rd round, 2015 at Robert Trent Jones GC). • LAST YEAR: Billy Hurley III produced perhaps the top feel-good victory of 2016, winning not only in home territory but following a year of adversity that included his father’s suicide. With old (Vijay Singh) and young (Jon Rahm) pursuers making a run, Hurley holed out from 35 yards for birdie at Congressional’s 15th hole, then drained a 27-foot birdie putt at No.16 to seal a three-stroke triumph. The Naval Academy graduate finished at 17-under-par 267, one off Troy Merritt’s tournament record and tying Woods (2009) for the QLN’s best total at Congressional. Singh, 53, fired a final-round 65 for the Hall of Famer’s best finish since taking second at the 2013 Frys.com Open. Rahm tied for third in his professional debut, four shots back alongside Bill Haas. • STORYLINES: Fowler, who lost a playoff to Troy Merritt two years ago, seeks the elusive trophy again in his first start since tying for fifth at the U.S. Open. He already has won once this year at the Honda Classic. … Thomas, who missed the cut at the Travelers Championship after final-round struggles at Erin Hills, seeks a bounceback at TPC Potomac. A top-two finish would vault him to the top of the FedExCup standings past Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama. … Hurley seeks to become the first back-to-back winner in the tournament’s 11-year history. Anthony Kim came closest, following his 2008 victory by finishing third in ’09. • SHORT CHIPS: Woods, who has served as tournament host even when unable to tee it up, may not be in attendance at all this year after announcing he is seeking help to manage a reliance on prescription painkillers. … Hurley became the sixth winner in the past eight editions to convert at least a share of the 54-hole lead. The others: Troy Merritt (2016), Bill Haas (2013), Nick Watney (2011), Justin Rose (2010) and Woods (2009). … As at Congressional, TPC Potomac will feature the “We Salute Our Heroes� tribute wall where fans can leave personal messages of thanks for those who serve in the nation’s military. • TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 3:30-6:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1-2:30 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. (GC), 3-6:30 p.m. (CBS). • PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (featured groups), 3:30-6:30 p.m. (featured holes). Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. (featured holes). Sunday, 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (featured holes). • RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-7 p.m.; Saturday, 1-6 p.m.; Sunday, 1-7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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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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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Steve Stricker did it the hard way. After writing the USGA for a special exemption into next week’s U.S. Open at Erin Hills, and getting denied, Stricker shot 67-65 at the sectional qualifier at Ridgeway and Germantown Country Clubs on Monday to earn a spot in the 156-player field. “It might be the easy way,� said Stricker, whose 10-under-par total put him alone at the top when a storm halted play with a handful of players still out on the course. “Easier than trying to—yeah, well. It’s nice to be able to go there and play. I’m excited. I’m happy it all worked out.� Troy Merritt, Chez Reavie, Andres Romero and Trey Mullinax finished at 8 under par or better and looked likely to also qualify. Harris English was at 9 under through 16 holes. This will mark the first time the U.S. Open has come to Wisconsin, and Stricker, who lives in Edgerton, about an hour and 15 minutes’ drive from Erin Hills, was grinding to get in. He walked the course with the USGA’s Mike Davis, original owner Bob Lang and Erin Hills chairman Jim Reinhart when a Wisconsin U.S. Open was just a seedling of an idea. Stricker is also a five-time Wisconsin State Open champion who has represented the state throughout a long and distinguished PGA TOUR career that has seen him win 12 times. Still, he went from optimism to pessimism as he wrote the USGA for an exemption, which in the past has mostly been limited to Hall of Famers, plus then-amateur sensation Aaron Baddeley. “I think he just wanted to get in on his own at this point,� said Mario Tiziani, Stricker’s brother-in-law, agent, and occasional caddie. (Tiziani was on the bag in Memphis.) “A lot of people were lobbying for it, but he just wanted to get in on his own. He’s 84th in the world—they probably could have [let him in]—but he’s happy the way it went. “It was a quick no,� Tiziani added. “And, personally, I feel like that’s what the exemption is for, a guy that’s not in the top 60 but he’s super close. Being in Wisconsin and some of the other things that matter, I think it would’ve been a good thing to do, but they have other ideas and he made it on his own.� Stricker nearly holed out for eagle at the par-4 13th hole at Germantown late Monday, and his tap-in birdie got him to 10 under par and seemingly in command. Alas, after his tee shot wound up in a hole on 14, he was denied relief and, trying to do too much with his second shot, clipped a tree and hit his ball in the hazard. He salvaged a bogey after taking a drop and a penalty stroke. “It ended up being a great bogey,� Stricker said of his heart-stopping moment on 14. “It was one of those unfortunate breaks, really, to get into that hole. In hindsight, I probably should have just laid it up short of the hazard. I should have just taken my medicine.� A tap-in birdie at the par-5 18th hole gave him a 10-under-par total, which led the qualifier as some groups waited to finish. The Memphis sectional, one of 10 across the country and 12 worldwide, featured 108 players vying for nine spots. Stricker, 50, has played in 19 U.S. Opens, with his best a fifth-place finish in 1999. He voiced his displeasure at being denied an exemption, but Monday’s performance made it a moot point. A club member brought him and Tiziani two celebratory beers as they plopped down in the clubhouse grill just before the horn blew for the weather delay. “It gained some traction,� Stricker said. “It made its way around, people started tweeting, thinking that I should’ve been given a spot. It’s a big relief to get it behind me and be able to play. It was on my mind a lot. I mean that’s why I’ve been playing all these events, trying to get my world ranking up to try to get in there and play.� Stricker normally doesn’t play as many as four straight tournaments, but last week’s Memorial Tournament Presented by Nationwide, where he faded with a final-round 78, was his fourth in a row. He flew privately Sunday night to Memphis, not just for the sectional qualifier but also because he was scheduled to play in this week’s FedEx St. Jude Classic, after which the top 60 in the Official World Golf Ranking will get into the field at Erin Hills. Now, though, he’s already in. And the FedEx St. Jude would be his fifth consecutive week of play, followed by next week’s U.S. Open (sixth) and the PGA TOUR Champions’ American Family Insurance Championship (seventh). So as not to play himself to exhaustion, Stricker said he may withdraw this week. “I’d hate to do that to them, and to the tournament,� Stricker said. “I’ll talk to a few people and see what the right thing to do is.� He also has one more conundrum, now that he’s a go for Erin Hills: How to distribute his allotment of tickets to friends and family. Stricker laughed at the mention of it. “That’s a nice problem to have,� he said.

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