Pick ‘Em Preview: Wells Fargo Championship

The latest version of PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf extends a win-win at THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT, and the gift will keep on giving in tournaments with no cut. The first component is obvious. Barring a mid-round withdrawal or disqualification, you’re going to post four scores in each of the four rounds. No zeroes, unlike last week’s carnage. The other half of the experience will be determined by the final result. Because end-of-tournament [EOT] bonus points have a much greater impact on overall scoring than its predecessor, there’s a directly proportional opportunity to make hay with a lesser-owned winner. In other words, and quite simply, the reduction in round-by-round scoring without a similar drop in EOT bonus points lifts the latter into a position of stronger leverage. As of Tuesday, Sean and I have matched five of our six charges at The Summit Club. (You’ll find our lineups linked in Expert Picks below.). The only difference is that he’s rostering Marc Leishman and I’m on Tony Finau. Should Finau prevail and if he’s among my Starters in the final round, he alone could be enough to slingshot me past Sean even though we’re poised to be a virtual push until the EOT bonus points. This kind of volatility wasn’t possible in the most recent version of the game. What’s more, if our guys play poorly and unique investments for Cam, Ben and Glass contend or even win, the top five in the overall standings quickly will evolve into a fantasy version of Pick-Up Sticks. As PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf continues to roll out enhancements, I’ve been detailing a few of them in this space weekly. Not all improvements and tweaks require attention, but the latest to share is of considerable importance. Note that the three circles have returned to the player cards on your ROSTER page. The total of blue circles equals your number of starts remaining for the Segment. The total of gray circles represents starts burned. When adding players as STARTERS to your ROSTER, a blue circle will turn gray, but it won’t count as a start burned until the deadline for the tournament falls. This “in-ROSTER” viewpoint always has been valuable in all versions of the game because it didn’t require a series of steps to attempt to learn how many starts you have remaining on guys for whom you may not want to burn a start after a deadline fell. However, now that EOT bonus points are worth much more relative to overall scoring, it’s not going to be as risky to plug in a guy only for the final round. Just like how THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT should transpire in fantasy, the pendulum for general strategy has swung from addition-by-subtraction to addition-by-addition. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf My roster for THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT (in alphabetical order): Tony Finau Sungjae Im Dustin Johnson Collin Morikawa Xander Schauffele Justin Thomas You’ll find my starters in Expert Picks. POWER RANKINGS WILD CARD Jason Kokrak … It feels like it’s not often that a defending champion slides into this position – despite my OCD tendencies, I don’t keep records – but this is proper. He’s the total package, but he’s not on Shadow Creek this week, a track where his personal knowledge yielded a career-defining accomplishment last year. Given his long and successful career on the PGA TOUR, I’m not concerned that he’s experiencing a week as a defending champion for the first time. Quite simply, he’s groomed for it and the veteran will know how to reconnect with routine when his schedule can accommodate. As noted in Monday’s Power Rankings, he’s attempting to become the first since Jim Furyk at the 2007 RBC Canadian Open to successfully defend a victory in a non-major on a different course, but a top-20 finish would be acceptable in our world. DRAWS Jordan Spieth … You say you want to be a fantasy golf writer-analyst, huh? Well, then that would require survival of the daggers hurled from all directions during the week of the Ryder Cup. With Spieth slotted No. 1, my Twitter was lit up. Lit. Up. And you know what, I can’t blame anyone for the emotional reaction. (This is a perfect time to restate that the only real enemy is silence, not hate.) Loyal readers know that I’m an optimist and that I always make efforts to learn and improve. As a wise man said to me in my formative years of honing this craft, the moment you begin to defend is the moment you begin to lose. So, even though the Power Rankings for team competition always has included a disclaimer to cover for the differences versus an individual event, I have an idea of how I’d format future PRs for team competitions. Until then, Spieth deserves our extended faith at The Summit Club. He’s not a wizard with the long sticks, but he supersedes the concern because of his short game and putting. He’s ideal as a contrarian in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. Hideki Matsuyama … Until he truly sputters, he hasn’t lost our trust. And now the tee-to-green monster gets a joint on which his skill set can shine. Pair him with Spieth in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf and have no fear in DFS. Aaron Wise … He was the last cut from the Power Rankings in this deep field, so confidence remains high on the 25-year-old. In fact, given his youth and that he’s already a PGA TOUR winner, his trajectory of the last year portends a continuation for years. Love him in every format this week. Harold Varner III … This is his first start as a first-time father as HV4 was born a few days ago. HV3 already had been performing at an elevated level. How he handles the post-birth focus will be new and a big deal, but he’s built for it. It also won’t hurt being on the receiving end of numerous congratulatory handshakes and fist bumps from his peers, and shout-outs from fans throughout the week. Tommy Fleetwood … Begins his fifth season on the PGA TOUR with everything to gain. That’s the upshot after finishing outside the top 125 in the FedExCup. While he’s eligible for the Playoffs, he’s not subject to the membership minimum of 15 starts to retain voting privileges and be subject to a one-year restriction of membership, so there’s nothing but open road ahead. (Thus the relatively lofty position of No. 117 in my full-membership fantasy ranking. Even better right now, he’s fresh off a T2-T12-T7 surge on the European Tour and that spanned the Ryder Cup appearance. Paul Casey Harris English Talor Gooch Russell Henley Max Homa Mackenzie Hughes Ian Poulter Justin Rose Scottie Scheffler Adam Scott FADES Sergio Garcia … As fruitful as he’s been in the long-term, the Spaniard remains an enigma in bursts. The conservative investor in me won’t reach even without a cut. For DFSers who agree, this means that he’s quintessential chum for the sharks in that format. Patrick Reed … The Summit Club rewards the opposite skill set. While the counterargument (above) for why I like Jordan Spieth has merit for Spieth, Reed’s leash is much shorter on tracks like this. But he’s at the front of the line for fantasy wild cards, anyway. Cameron Tringale … As I’ve written before in this space, he’s a trap in deeper fields. Let your opposition go it alone. Charl Schwartzel … I’m keen on trusting him but that he’s missed the cut in his last three starts with a cut after three months of lurking on leaderboards is cause for pause. Lucas Glover … This track sets up well for his ball-striking, but the same was said about other sites since his win at the John Deere Classic three months ago. Yet, he’s just 3-for-7 and without a top-35 finish in the interim. Byeong Hun An … The promise of a payday is about all he gets out of this start, at least for now. Because he finished 164th in the FedExCup last season, the veteran of 139 PGA TOUR starts as a professional has no status in 2021-22. As remarkable is that he never had appeared in a Korn Ferry Tour event until going MC-MC-T20 in the 2021 Finals. Jason Day Rickie Fowler Brian Harman Matt Jones Kevin Kisner Patton Kizzire Sebastián Muñoz Hudson Swafford Gary Woodland RETURNING TO COMPETITION Kevin Na … The dance continues. After earning the No. 1 position in my Power Rankings for the Shriners Children’s Open, he withdrew the following day due to an injured rib. It was his third early WD since Memorial this summer (although his early exit from The Open Championship wasn’t related to injury) and his 15th early WD since the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions. It’s who we accept him to be, which is why he’s always been more valuable in long-term formats in which you can absorb the blows. After last week’s knockout, give him this week to put the rib back into play. He gets four rounds to see how it responds. NOTABLE WDs n/a RECAPS – SHRINERS CHILDREN’S OPEN POWER RANKINGS Power Ranking Golfer Result 1 Kevin Na DNP 2 Will Zalatoris MC 3 Sam Burns T14 4 Scottie Scheffler MC 5 Brooks Koepka T67 6 Webb Simpson MC 7 Abraham Ancer MC 8 Louis Oosthuizen T14 9 Joaquin Niemann T40 10 Sungjae Im Win 11 Viktor Hovland T44 12 Matthew Wolff 2nd 13 Si Woo Kim MC 14 Hideki Matsuyama T67 15 Corey Conners T40 Wild Card Harris English MC SLEEPERS Golfer (GolfBet prop) Result Talor Gooch (top 10) T11 Harry Hall (top 20) T8 Nate Lashley (top 20) T35 Scott Piercy (top 20) MC Alex Smalley (top 20) T47 GOLFBET Bet Result OUTRIGHT: Sungjae Im (+3200) Win PROP: Talor Gooch and Aaron Wise both to make the cut (+145) T11/T8 PROP: Patrick Reed to miss the cut (+190) MC BIRTHDAYS AMONG ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE PGA TOUR October 12 … none October 13 … none October 14 … Tyrrell Hatton (30) October 15 … Richard S. Johnson (45) October 16 … Ryan Blaum (38) October 17 … none October 18 … none

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The PGA TOUR returns to Canada for the RBC Canadian Open after the event was cancelled the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Scottie Scheffler, the FedExCup leader and world No. 1, headlines the field with Rory McIlroy returning to defend his title from 2019. The deep field also includes Justin Thomas, Cameron Smith, Tony Finau, Matt Fitzpatrick, Shane Lowry (who finished tied for second in 2019), Justin Rose and Tyrrell Hatton. Corey Conners is the top-ranked Canadian in the FedExCup standings. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE and newly expanded and extended coverage on ESPN+. Click here for more details. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes FEATURED GROUPS THURSDAY Marquee Group 7:13 a.m. ET: Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Corey Conners Featured Groups 7:24 a.m. ET: Shane Lowry, Brandt Snedeker, Matt Fitzpatrick 7:35 a.m. ET: JJ Spaun, Tony Finau, Nick Taylor Featured Holes: No. 3 (par 3), No. 6 (par 3), No. 13 (par 3), No. 16 (par 3) FRIDAY Marquee Group 7:13 a.m. ET: Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns, Cameron Smith Featured Groups 7:24 a.m. ET: Tyrrell Hatton, Justin Rose, Harold Varner III 7:35 a.m. ET: Cameron Champ, Parker McLachlin, Sebastian Munoz Featured Holes: No. 3 (par 3), No. 6 (par 3), No. 13 (par 3), No. 16 (par 3) MUST READS RBC Canadian Open makes long-awaited return The First Look Power Rankings Expert Picks Five Things to Know: St. George’s Golf and Country Club Best Canadian golfers ever

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With driver faces nearing the limits in terms of thickness, engineers have shifted the focus to other areas of the club head to pick up speed, boost forgiveness and decrease weight. For Cobra’s new F9 Speedback driver and fairway woods, that meant taking a different look at crown shaping — an integral piece of the design equation that not only dictates aerodynamic properties but the center of gravity position and Moment of Inertia (MOI) as well. Aerodynamic heads typically designed for speed require the perimeter skirt, tail and leading edges to be rounded and raised to reduce drag. But those design alterations have historically come at a cost to overall forgiveness due to a center of gravity location that can’t be positioned low and back in the head. Cobra is attempting to break aerodynamic design constraints with the help of the company’s new Speedback Technology. The design begins with an aerodynamic shape that comes from a raised perimeter skirt, aft, crown and rounded leading edges designed to reduce drag and improve overall stability and clubhead speed. The perimeter skirt on the back of the head is meant to mimic the diffusers found on the underbody of a car that redirect airflow upward, improving downforce. With a similar design to that of an airplane wing, the new overall shaping is 17 percent more aerodynamically efficient than Cobra’s King F7 driver from two years ago; it’s 5 percent more efficient than last year’s King F8. Polymer trips were added to the front portion of the crown — similar to what’s currently found on King F8 — to further improve airflow and overall efficiency. The trips are one-tenth the weight of titanium and allow the air to glide around the head. Discussions regarding the aerodynamic shaping led to ideas about ways to lower the center of gravity position within the head to increase forgiveness. The first part of the equation is a carbon fiber crown that wraps around the perimeter of the head, further reducing the amount of titanium used in the overall design. By increasing the carbon fiber area by 12 percent, engineers were able to save 10 grams of discretionary weight. Weight savings in the crown led to the addition of an adjustable port in the back of the head housing a 14-gram weight. The design of the port pushes the weight deeper in the head, lowering the club’s overall center of gravity. For players who want to reduce launch and spin, the 14-gram weight can be positioned closer to the face. The driver also features other technologies from previous versions, including strategically placed PWR Ridges designed to add rigidity to the carbon crown for a more efficient energy return. According to Rickie Fowler, the ridges serve another purpose, framing the ball at address. “I realize that was not their intended purpose, but it’s nice to be able to get some confirmation that I’m aligned correctly before I hit the shot,” Fowler said. Cobra’s proprietary CNC milled face returns with King F9. The eight-step milling process, which takes roughly 25 minutes, produces a product that’s more exact than what’s been offered in the past. The face is also 3 percent lighter and 10 percent thinner than its predecessor, which allows the face to flex more effectively at impact. The face also features, for the first time, an optimized bulge-and-roll curvature for different lofts and swing speeds. With more roll on the top half of the face and less on the bottom half, launch conditions are improved, regardless of where the ball is struck at impact. The driver will be offered in three standard lofts (9, 10.5 and 12 degrees) with an adjustable sleeve that can go up and down in loft by 1.5 degrees. Instead of offering standard and plus versions, Cobra will only offer a single F9 head; the 9-degree head is the best option for those looking to reduce launch and spin. Cobra’s Connect sensor is concealed in the butt-end of the grip. The sensor weighs 4.6 grams and doesn’t affect the overall swing weight of the club. Once the sensor is paired with Arccos’ app, golfers are able to log distance and statistics during their round. Cobra King F9 Speedback fairway woods and hybrids For the first time, Cobra’s King F9 Speedback fairway woods will feature a CNC milled face insert (475 steel) designed to produce similar ball speed properties to that of the driver face. According to test results, the CNC face saw an increase in ball speed by 2.5 miles per hour, compared to traditional hand polished fairway wood faces. Due to the fairway wood shaping, the bulge curvature tilts diagonally from the high heel to low toe to account for the slight tilt in the head at impact. The same Baffler rail technology on the sole of King F8 can be found on King F9, however, the rails were re-engineered so the lower lofts have a shallower version and the higher lofts a steeper version for different attack angles and turf interaction. Taking another page from the driver design, the fairway wood utilizes a low, back tungsten weight for higher launch characteristics and improved forgiveness in the standard model. Along with the standard head, a more compact TOUR model has the weight situated closer to the front of the sole for less spin and a penetrating ball flight. The King F9 Speedback hybrids offer the same dual rail design in the sole with a progressive height design to account for attack angle and turf interaction. The head utilizes a 455 stainless steel face insert and tungsten weight positioned in the rear portion of the sole. Cobra’s King F9 Speedback driver will be available at retail January 18, 2019 and retails for $450. The two fairway woods go for $270 while the hybrid is priced at $220. BUY EQUIPMENT HERE: PGA TOUR Superstore

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