It’s not often when the PGA TOUR descends on what is essentially a new golf course, but that’s the reality at this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson. Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas hosts the 156-man field headlined by local native and resident Jordan Spieth. It opened in the fall of 2016. For much more on it, what it should challenge, how it should score and other nuggets, scroll beneath the ranking. POWER RANKINGS: 2018 AT&T Byron Nelson RANK PLAYER COMMENT Given value of imagination and creativity the course demands, he’s the man to beat even as he continues to struggle with his putting. Among the handful with course knowledge, too. Co-led the B flight at TPC Sawgrass for his best finish since being diagnosed with Lyme disease. Since the Masters: T20-4th-T25-T2. The Texan remains a force with his putter. Always a threat in Texas thanks in part to his profile as one of the best in the wind. Recently T7 at Bay Hill and ninth at Augusta National. Eighth on TOUR in birdies or better. Second defending champion in three weeks on a different course (Brian Harman, Wells Fargo). Horschel’s switch in putters has resulted in a phenomenal month, including Zurich title. Spieth has compared Trinity Forest to Royal Birkdale where Kuchar finished second (to Spieth) in the 2017 Open Championship. He’s been consistently (and predictably) solid ever since. Trinity Forest is the home club for the first-time PGA TOUR member. Lives locally. Terrific short game pays off confident irons. Just a few weeks removed from Houston Open runner-up. The T11 at THE PLAYERS was his best finish anywhere in 11 months. Led the field in scrambling for the first time since the 2011 Open Championship, evidence for his comfort on links. The Scot has been peppering leaderboards since a T9 at the WM Phoenix Open in early February. It’s one of four top-11 finishes during a 7-for-8 burst. Highly underrated putter. Five top 25s in his last six starts, including a career-best T17 in his 16th appearance at THE PLAYERS. Balanced throughout his bag and 26th on TOUR in adjusted scoring. Local veteran comfortable in wind and coming off a T23 at THE PLAYERS where his putting was better than every start since the 2016 PLAYERS. Has a proven record of being streaky. Possesses the entire game needed to win at Trinity Forest but hasn’t been putting four rounds together despite a 10-for-10 season. Sits sixth in strokes gained: putting. Limited in playing time due to conditional status, he’s heated up quickly with a sixth (with Tony Finau) in New Orleans and a T8 in the Knoxville Open on the Web.com Tour. Had last week off after a T5 at the Wells Fargo Championship where he led the field in scrambling and spun a career-low 62 in the third round. Five top 20s on the season. Enters with a streak of five cuts made during which he thrived in the wind at Coralas (T5) and TPC San Antonio (T8). Ranks 30th on the PGA TOUR in greens in regulation. Might own the most confidence right now after capturing victory at the Knoxville Open on Sunday. It was a much-needed jolt after failing to log a top 40 in his first 12 starts of 2018. Sergio Garcia, Hideki Matsuyama and Brandt Snedeker will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. Trinity Forest is unlike every other host course on the PGA TOUR. The irony is that there isn’t a single tree on the 7,380-yard par 71. Situated inside the eponymous woodland south of downtown, it was designed and built by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw on a landfill consisting only of inorganic material. For numerous reasons — including environmental, which is counterintuitive — the agreement was that no trees were to be planted. There isn’t a water hazard, either. And like a piano featuring an identical number of keys, the 88 bunkers will strike major, minor, diminished and augmented chords in targeting for course management due to the virtual absence of distance cues. To the eye, it’s a links-style layout sans the traditional out-and-back characteristic. However, in a recent press conference, Spieth downplayed the ground game usually required on tests that host The Open Championship, for example. “It’s like an American links,” he said. “You’ve kind of got to play it from the air, not really a bounce-the-ball-up kind of links. … You get maybe four or five, six holes where you can bounce the ball up, but the way to get balls close is to come in with a higher shot.” Trinity Zoysia grass blankets everything but the greens and its length is universal at just shy of one-half of one inch, so there is no rough. The Champion bermudagrass putting surfaces will be prepped to run no faster than 11 feet on the Stimpmeter primarily so that the wind doesn’t blow balls around. Due to these facts, the unfamiliarity for most in the field and the expected speed of the turf overall, the basic thinking of hitting fairways is superseded by placement off the tee. This will help mitigate distance and swing open the door for any skill set to contend and prevail. In what was conducted in part as a test run for the AT&T Byron Nelson, Trinity Forest hosted the Texas State Open on the first four days of August of 2017. It played as a par 70 at 7,135 yards. With three 65s and a 67, Fort Worth’s Brax McCarthy posted an eye-opening 18-under 262 en route to an eight-shot victory in both favorable and inclement conditions. This week’s forecast begins and ends with risk of rain and the potential of storms, but drier air will command the rest of the tournament. That will yield the storyline to the heat as daytimes highs easily should eclipse 90 degrees. Customary Texas winds will defend the course especially in the middle rounds. The original nines were reversed for the AT&T Byron Nelson. It isn’t unprecedented for TOUR officials to revise routing, but it is unusual that membership at Trinity Forest has retained it. The 471-yard par-4 11th plays as a par 5 for members. It also shares a 36,000-square foot green with the 412-yard par-4 third. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton reviews 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, Facebook Live, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Champions One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.
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