Power Rankings: TOUR Championship

How it works: Each week, our experts from PGATOUR.COM will make their selections in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. Each lineup consists of four starters and two bench players that can be rotated after each round. Adding to the challenge is that every golfer can be used only three time per each of four Segments. The first fantasy golf game to utilize live ShotLink data, PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO allows you to see scores update live during competition. To learn more or sign up click here. Aside from the experts below, Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton breaks down the field at this year’s Sentry Tournament of Champions in his edition of the Power Rankings. CDW, an official partner of the PGA TOUR, offers its weekly fantasy selection. Here’s this week’s “Data-Driven Decision.”  The computer selected driving distance, strokes gained: tee-to-green, and proximity to the hole as the three most important statistics this week. After calculating this season’s ranks in those categories of every player in the field, the computer made the following prediction for this week’s winner. THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN OUR EXPERTS?  The PGA TOUR Experts league is once again open to the public. You can play our free fantasy game and see how you measure up against our experts below.  Joining the league is simple. Just click here to sign up or log in. Once you create your team, click the “Leagues” tab and search for “PGA TOUR Experts.” After that? Pick your players and start talking smack.

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Tiger Woods gets his PGA TOUR season underway at his customary starting spot, seeking more Torrey Pines glory against a strong lineup boasting FedExCup champion Justin Rose, current points leader Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm and defending champion Jason Day. Rory McIlroy is set to give Torrey Pines a test for the first time in his career, adding to his travelogue of West Coast Swing stops previously bypassed. Jordan Spieth also returns after a three-year hiatus as he seeks a jump-start to his season. FIELD NOTES: Masters champion Patrick Reed and Rickie Fowler also help create an appetizing menu of spectator options for those not following Woods. … In all, the lineup figures to deliver 19 of the top 30 in the current FedExCup standings. … Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Viktor Hovland tees it up against PGA TOUR competition for the second time since winning at Pebble Beach. The Oklahoma State junior missed the cut at last fall’s Mayakoba Golf Classic. … Former top-ranked amateur Braden Thornberry makes his pro debut at Torrey Pines on a sponsor invite. The 2017 NCAA champion, who left Mississippi at midyear, tied for fourth at the FedEx St. Jude Classic weeks after his NCAA triumph. … Another exemption went to Doug Ghim, former U.S. Amateur runner-up and winner of college golf’s Ben Hogan Award. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. STORYLINES: Woods makes his long-awaited 2019 debut, his first official start since a stirring Sunday at last fall’s TOUR Championship ended a winless run of 1,876 days. He’s won this event seven times along with the 2008 U.S. Open, but was last seen finishing next-to-last at the Hero World Challenge. … Schauffele, a La Jolla native, already has two wins this season but might be content with simply making the weekend at Torrey Pines. He’s missed the cut in all three Farmers starts. … Spieth hopes to find a spark in his first visit to Torrey Pines since 2015. His first three starts of the season have yet to produce a top-50 finish, with two missed cuts. … Day seeks to become the event’s fourth back-to-back champion, joining J.C. Snead (1975-76), Mickelson (2000-01) and Woods (four straight from 2005-08). … Last year’s result made it eight consecutive Farmers champions to open their week on the South course. Ben Crane (2010) was the last winner to start play on the North. COURSE: Torrey Pines GC (South), 7,698 yards, par 72. Now beginning its sixth decade as a PGA TOUR venue, the former World War II army base has evolved into a major championship layout amid one of the TOUR’s more scenic settings. William Bell’s 1957 design skillfully transformed the cliffs fronting the Pacific Ocean into a stimulating layout, attracting the TOUR’s annual San Diego stop in 1968. Torrey Pines also hosts the Junior Worlds each July. A Rees Jones upgrade in 2001 helped attract the 2008 U.S. Open, captured by Woods in an epic playoff over Rocco Mediate, and the South course is set to serve again as 2021 host. Torrey Pines’ North course (7,258/72), in its third year of a Tom Weiskopf redesign, again will be utilized for the first two rounds. 72-HOLE RECORD: 266, George Burns (1987), Tiger Woods (1999). 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Mark Brooks (2nd round, 1990) and Brandt Snedeker (1st round, 2007) at Torrey Pines North, predating the Weiskopf redesign. South course record: 62, Tiger Woods (3rd round, 1999). Redesigned North record: 64, Jason Day (2nd round, 2018). LAST YEAR: Day made short work of a Monday finish, needing 13 minutes to dispatch Alex Noren with a birdie on the sixth extra hole after their playoff was halted by darkness the previous evening. The playoff began with three men, but Ryan Palmer was eliminated on the first extra hole before Day and Noren matched two more birdies and two pars until twilight took over. Day found the rough upon resumption at the par-5 18th, laying up back to the fairway and watching his 85-yard wedge trickle back to 18 inches of the flagstick. Noren’s second shot, meantime, wound up in Devlin’s Billabong that fronts the 18th green. Day’s 11th PGA TOUR victory ended a 20-month winless drought dating back to THE PLAYERS Championship in 2016. Woods tied for 23rd in his first TOUR start back after a fourth back surgery. HOW TO FOLLOW (ALL TIMES ET) TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 3-7 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1-2:45 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 1-2:45 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 11:45 a.m.-7 p.m. (featured groups). Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes). Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6:30 p.m. (featured holes). RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. Saturday, 1-6 p.m. Sunday, 1-6:30 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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Putting a bow on the West Coast swing, the PGA TOUR makes its way to Scottsdale, Arizona, for the Waste Management Phoenix Open (WMPO) at TPC Scottsdale on the Stadium Course. The tournament will play as a par 71, measuring 7,261 yards and will be putt on Bermuda greens this week. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $750K Flop Shot [$200K to 1st] STRATEGY Always well attended in previous years, the WMPO will go from averaging 210,000 fans, depending on the day, to a maximum of 5,000 fans a day due to COVID-19 protocols. On paper, the course profile doesn't lean toward golfers who hit it far, especially not as much as last week at Torrey Pines, but this could be a potential contrarian strategy for lineup construction this week. Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green is still the priority, but Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee measures almost the same as approach in average strokes gained per round by former winners. Distance hitters like Tony Finau, Gary Woodland (+7500, $8,300) and Bubba Watson (+5500, $8,500) routinely play well here, with the latter two winning this tournament. Bubba's admitted to hitting driver a lot at this course in the past, with the rough not being penal. Like Bubba, longer hitters have the advantage of hitting shorter irons into these fast greens. The course sits over 1,500 feet above sea level, which could be another reason we see the average driving distance 12 yards higher (293 yards) than the TOUR average. Driving distance is not the end-all, be-all here by any stretch, but it's a way to differentiate your lineups from others. Conversely, and just as important, is driving accuracy with 70 bunkers and three water hazards that come into play on six holes. Golfers like Chez Reavie (+17500, $7,000), who ranks fourth in fairways gained over the previous 50 rounds, and 2020 champion Webb Simpson (+1500, $10,100), who ranks 15th in off-the-tee accuracy over the same timeframe, have done well with their ability to keep it in the short grass. Currently set at 132 golfers, the field is 15% less than what we've seen over the past two weeks, which could help us get our golfers through the cut line. Getting your guys to play the weekend is vital at most tournaments, but especially this week. Only two out of the past 11 golfers have held on to win when leading after 54 holes, and five of the previous eight have come from two or more back to win this tournament. Another potential strategy is rostering golfers in the afternoon tee draws when building lineups for the classic four-day or single-round Showdown contest. Golfers like Martin Laird (+17500, $7,000) have mentioned the course can play longer in the morning and shorter in the afternoon after the humidity burns off. GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Jon Rahm (+625 to Win, $11,200 on DraftKings) This stretch of golf is Rahm season, even though he didn't win last week. With his third straight seventh-place finish this season, Rahm is coming home, literally. Being in contention last week with the new Callaway clubs, especially the new putter, should only help Rahm, who ranks fifth in Strokes Gained: Total at the WMPO since 2016. Surprisingly, Rahm has yet to win here. Not surprisingly, he is gaining an average of 5.82 strokes tee-to-green at TPC Scottdale over his five appearances. Daniel Berger (+1700, $9,600) should also be a consideration this week. Berger's game should work well here, ranking 26th in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green over the previous 12 rounds and 11th in Strokes Gained: Total here over the past five years. Coming off of back-to-back top 10s, Berger should feel great about where his game is at right now. Will Zalatoris (+5000 to Win, $9,000 on DraftKings) Zalatoris found himself in the mix last week, but the greens at Torrey Pines got the better of him on Sunday, losing 1.3 strokes putting. Despite his flastick foibles, Zalatoris gained 3.53 strokes tee-to-green over the weekend, finishing seventh in his first tournament of the calendar year. Three top 10s at Winged Foot, TPC Summerlin (a top 5 at the Shriners) and Torrey Pines prove he can play on all types of courses. Russell Henley (+7500 to Win, $8,200 on DraftKings) Henley deserves some consideration this week when it's a ball-striking course with Bermuda greens. Even though he missed the cut here last season and in 2018, he proved he can play well, finishing top 15 in 2019 and 16th in 2017. With two missed cuts in the past four years and a missed weekend in San Diego last week, this could be a spot we get a low-rostered Henley who ranks inside the top 40 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, third in Tee-to-Green and first in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green. Another player in this range who deserves attention is Sebastian Munoz (+17500, $7,100). Munoz's ability to make birdies in bunches is as good as anybody's on TOUR and presents value in this range, ranking 23rd in birdies or better gained over the previous 50 rounds. A top 30 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and a top 10 at the CJ Cup, another desert course, should be enough to give him a look this week. Harold Varner III (+17500 to Win, $6,700 on DraftKings) Varner finished last season ranked inside the top 20 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and was hitting it great toward the end of last year, ranking fifth in Tee-to-Green over the previous 24 rounds. Varner also has a solid track record at correlated tournaments like the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, finishing 13th at TPC Summerlin last season. The short game wasn't great last week, but Varner was still able to gain with his Approach and Off-the-Tee. TPC Scottsdale should fit his game a little more than Torrey Pines; over his previous three WMPO outings, he's gained an average of 3.6 strokes Tee-to-Green. Varner needs to equalize his putting in Scottsdale, or we may see similar results from his 2020 effort when he missed the cut. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $750K Flop Shot [$200K to 1st] Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. For sports betting, head over to DraftKings Sportsbook or download the DraftKings Sportsbook app. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL). 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