Pressure? Opportunity? Weirdness? All will be part of U.S. Open Sunday

The PGA TOUR returns after a few weeks off and travels to the middle of the Pacific Ocean for the Sentry Tournament of Champions located on Maui in the Aloha State of Hawaii. The tournament will take place at the Plantation Course in Kapalua and will be a no-cut event. The course will play as the only Par 73 on the PGA TOUR with just three par 3s, measure just over 7,500 yards and feature grainy, Bermuda greens. The field will consist of only those who qualified by winning last season, which includes members of the winning U.S. Presidents Cup team like Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and defending champion Xander Schauffele, who shot a 62 in the final round last year to beat out Woodland by just a stroke. Those who won last season, but haven’t committed include players like Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka and the Open Champion Shane Lowry. The Plantation course ranked as the sixth easiest course in scoring relative to par last season and routinely plays as one of the easiest every year. Finishing scores at Kapalua have totaled as high as 30 under back in 2016 with the lowest winning score at 22 under over the past four years. The main reason we see scores get this high? Extremely wide and easy to hit fairways as well as accessible par 5s, which are all birdie and eagle opportunities. The course’s main defense is the wind, but it shouldn’t be too much of an issue as we’ve seen guys still go low like Dustin Johnson, who won back in 2018 shooting 24 under in extremely windy conditions. The normal key stats apply here like Par 5 scoring, birdie or better average and Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, but this week we should also be focusing a little more on Bermuda putting and Approaches from 100 to 125 yards. There are six par 4s measuring under 400 yards, which are just as important to score on as the par 5s. Justin Thomas ($11,200) It’ll be tough to fade Thomas this week with how well he’s currently playing and how well he’s played at the Plantation Course over his career. He’s ranks second to only Dustin Johnson in Strokes Gained: Total since 2015 and is one of only three players to qualify for the Sentry Tournament of Champions in four of the past five years. Thomas has the all-around game to win anywhere, gaining an average of 6.3 strokes Tee-to-Green over his past 10 tournaments. Ride the momentum. Patrick Cantlay ($9,800) Cantlay played amazing last season, making 11 straight cuts leading up to the TOUR Championship and gained an average of 2.6 strokes with his irons over his past 10 tournaments. Cantlay ranks 12th in Par 5 scoring average over his past six tournaments and if we look closer at his statistics over his past eight rounds with shot tracker he ranks fifth in approaches from 100 to 125 yards, ninth in birdie or better percentage and first in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. Collin Morikawa ($8,600) If you’re looking for value, Morikawa should be a solid play this week. It’ll be his first start in Kapalua, but what he lacks in experience, he more than makes up with his iron play, ranking second in the field dating back to the last 50 rounds coming into this tournament. It’ll be hard to trust his putting on Bermuda, but he’ll rely on his strong wedge play ranking fourth in Approaches from 100 to 125 yards over his past three tournaments. Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is reidtfowler) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.

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Old Westbury, New York – As attendees stroll the fairways at THE NORTHERN TRUST, the first event in the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs, they will be able to taste a slice of New York, as the tournament announced today that Junior’s Cheesecake will be served onsite, along with some of its other famous items. Served at the tournament’s Taste NY Marketplace, an upgraded concession and fan destination, Junior’s is one of several new food venues meant to capture the unique, world-class food culture of Manhattan. Featuring fashion, food and do-or-die drama as the top 125 players in the FedExCup compete on a world stage, THE NORTHERN TRUST will be played at the prestigious Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, New York, from August 22-27, 2017. Founded by Harry Rosen in 1950 in Brooklyn, Junior’s landmark restaurant is known as the home of New York’s best cheesecake. Today, Junior’s has several locations, from the original on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, to the theater district on Broadway in Times Square, and even at the Fox Tower Hotel at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. This August, Junior’s will add a new location during tournament week at THE NORTHERN TRUST, giving players and fans the chance to experience one of New York’s favorite traditions. “We look forward to showing PGA TOUR players and professional eaters from around the country what New Yorkers have known for over 67 years,â€� said Alan Rosen, third-generation owner of Junior’s Restaurant & Bakery. “We look forward to serving some of our signature items like Reuben’s, corned beef, pastrami and of course cheesecake at THE NORTHERN TRUST.” The recipe for Junior’s Cheesecake remains unchanged, featuring only the finest ingredients like premium cream cheese, fresh heavy cream, eggs and a touch of vanilla. In 1973, New York Magazine conducted a blind taste test and rated Junior’s the best cheesecake in New York, and since then, it has won several accolades and awards including the “Best Overall Mail-order Cheesecakeâ€� from the Wall Street Journal and “Best Food Gift NYâ€� from People Magazine. Junior’s will also be serving other items, like its famous Reubens, onsite. Junior’s will be available at THE NORTHERN TRUST in the Taste NY Marketplace as part of a partnership with New York State. Located in a shaded area adjacent to the 16th fairway of the Glen Oaks Club, Taste NY will sponsor the venue and feature menu items from various iconic New York restaurants that will be announced in the lead-up to the event. The area also features various other enhancements and is open to all fans onsite. New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball said, “We are proud to sponsor the Taste NY Marketplace and highlight all of the great New York restaurants and businesses who make some of the best food and beverages in the world. The Taste NY Marketplace will be an exciting destination for THE NORTHERN TRUST fans and spectators who are looking to sample locally made products and unique dishes from iconic New York restaurants.  We look forward to connecting even more consumers to New York agriculture and cuisine.â€�  THE NORTHERN TRUST will kick off the FedExCup Playoffs at the Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, New York, August 22-27, 2017. For more information and a behind-the-scenes look at the tournament, visit thenortherntrust.com or follow the tournament on Twitter and Instagram @TheNTGolf, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheNTGolf. To purchase tickets, please visit www.thenortherntrust.com or call 844-868-7465.

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Another roar shook the grounds as the beer rained down in celebration. RELATED: Leaderboard | Inside Sam Ryder’s epic ace on WM Phoenix Open’s 16th hole | The top 5 aces at TPC Scottsdale’s 16th Not 24 hours after the week’s first ace at TPC Scottsdale’s wild 16th hole, Carlos Ortiz made another hole-in-one at the raucous par-3 party stop at the WM Phoenix Open on Sunday. Ortiz hit 9-iron and watched the ball land short and roll into the hole from 179 yards, the crowd detonating as it disappeared. He high-fived playing partners Kevin Kisner and Joseph Bramlett and their caddies as chaos ensued for the second straight day. Sam Ryder aced the same hole Saturday, but from just 124 yards. This marks just the second time there have been two aces on 16 in the same week; Tiger Woods (third round) and Steve Stricker (final round) each made a hole-in-one at the iconic hole in 1997. Although it was reported that someone bet $10,000 on Ortiz to win, at 150-to-1 odds, before the tournament, he was well off the pace when he made a hole-in-one on his seventh hole of the day after starting on the back nine. (The leaders were still on the second hole.) Be that as it may, Ortiz further helped his cause when he drove the short, par-4 17th hole and made the eagle putt from 12 feet, 9 inches. It marked the first time a player has made back-to-back eagles on the PGA TOUR this season, and the second time in as many seasons that Ortiz has. He went back-to-back at the Sony Open in Hawaii last year. Ortiz’s ace on 16 was the 11th all-time at the wild-and-crazy par 3.

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