Reed’s plan pays off with victory at THE NORTHERN TRUST

HOUSTON – Scottie Scheffler got mad. Then he went low. A course record didn’t seem likely after a frustrating start to his day. Finishing up his delayed first round, he missed a 5-foot par putt on the last hole to sign for a 2-over 72. A poor tee shot to start his second round and another early bogey put him over the edge. “Anger can go a few ways on the golf course,” he said. “You can use it and get even more frustrated and more pissed off and you start thinking negatively. I used that anger today as a positive.” Scheffler finished Friday by signing for the lowest score in the short history of this renovated rendition of Memorial Park, which is in its second year hosting the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open. Scheffler’s 62 bested the previous record – set by three players in last year’s final round – by a stroke. It also was Scheffler’s fourth round of 62 or lower since the start of the 2019-20 season (his rookie year), the most on TOUR in that span. That includes a 59 shot in last year’s FedExCup Playoffs. Scheffler leapt from outside of the cut line and into contention. At 6-under 134 (72-62), he’s four back of leader Martin Trainer. Scheffler is seeking his first PGA TOUR win, and it’s about the only thing missing from the 25-year-old’s sterling resume. He was the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year and 2020 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year. He has qualified for the TOUR Championship in both of his seasons and has finished in the top 10 in the past three majors. He capped his Ryder Cup debut by birdieing the first four holes in his Singles match with Jon Rahm to dispatch the World No. 1, 4 and 3. Winning may have been far from Scheffler’s mind after Thursday’s start, however. He double-bogeyed his third hole to fall to 3 over. He thought he’d sorted out his swing after a quick range session between Friday’s rounds. Then he duck-hooked his tee shot off the first tee. A bogey on the fourth hole was the last straw. “After I bogeyed No. 4 I basically told myself I’ve had enough of this crap,” he said. “That’s what I told my caddie, too, walking down the fifth fairway. Hit a nice putt on six and just kind of turned the round around from there.” He birdied six of seven holes from Nos. 5-11, then added birdies at 15 and 17. He missed just four fairways in the second round after hitting fewer than half in his opening round. His 12 greens hit were three more than in the opening round. “This golf course can be pretty challenging from the Bermuda rough and you’ve got to hit the ball in play,” he said. “If you’re hitting it in the rough to elevated greens that you can’t hold just because you’re hitting knucklers out of the rough, so it was very important to get the ball in the fairway.”

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The Fortinet Championship represents the launch of the 2021-22 season as the first of 47 scheduled events, but it’s so much more than that. The narrative of the brief break since the conclusions of the PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour seasons takes a back seat to the opening of new chapters in the careers of the PGA TOUR’s newest membership class. It’s a moment in time dripping with metaphors. If you want something badly enough, you do whatever it takes. Time and pressure are required to form a diamond. And so on. And you know what, they all apply because it’s the manifestation of the commitment, effort and determination. Silverado Resort and Spa’s North Course is the familiar backdrop for the tournament. For details on the proper season-opening exam in Napa, California, how the eventual champion likely will be defined and more, continue reading beneath the ranking of projected contenders. RELATED: How the field qualified | The First Look POWER RANKINGS: FORTINET CHAMPIONSHIP Former winners Brendan Steele (2016, 2017), Cameron Champ (2019) and Emiliano Grillo (2015), and KFT Finals points leader Joseph Bramlett, will be among the notables reviewed in the Fantasy Insider. If you thought that the super season of 50 events on the PGA TOUR in 2020-21 was something – and it was – consider that the Korn Ferry Tour hosted 46 events in its combined season that started in January of 2020. Two KFT members played in all of them – Dawie van der Walt and Kevin Roy. Of the pair, only van der Walt secured his PGA TOUR card, and he needed the three-event Finals to do so. That means that 96 tournaments across two tours were required to help set the field of 156 possibilities at Silverado. It also means that, because momentum doesn’t care about what’s positioned in its path, there are several in-form rookies who are eager to make a splash. It happens to some degree every year. It even translated into victory for Emiliano Grillo in 2015 and after just two weeks after he prevailed at the last event of the KFT Finals. Silverado is a stock par 72 and it stretches to just 7,123 yards. It has hosted this tournament every year since 2014. While it’s always easier to strike approaches from the shortest grass, the premium is on hitting greens in regulation, but then it always is when a course is painted with red numbers. En route to his title and tournament-record 21-under 267 a year ago, Stewart Cink led the field in GIR. He also paced it in par-3 scoring (typical for him) and finished second in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. That he also finished second in scrambling (10-for-11) was the difference between his two-stroke victory and, say, merely a top-five finish. The bottom line is that muscle isn’t a prerequisite and missed fairways often are forgiven. (Cink is not defending his title so that he can attend his son’s wedding). Last year’s field averaged 70.212, so the KFT grads will find Silverado to their liking given their familiarity with low scores on that circuit. Greens are heavily Poa annua but there’s an influence (or lack thereof) of bentgrass as they touch 11½ feet on the Stimpmeter, a customary distance on a resort course. Fairways are not overseeded and the primary rough is trimmed to three inches. Summertime heat eases for the season opener. After a warm lead-in, daytime highs are unlikely to reach 80 degrees. Wind could confuse at times but it won’t be gusty. Scorers still will pounce. There’s but a chance for light rain on the weekend. All in all, the greatest threat concerning the elements is morning fog that might require additional time to dissipate. In addition to exemptions into the 2022 editions of the Sentry Tournament of Champions, THE PLAYERS Championship, the Masters and the PGA Championship, the winner will secure fully exempt membership through the 2023-24 season. 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: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers; Fantasy Insider SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Watch * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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How the field qualified for the The RSM Classic as of 11/13/2020. Check here for updates. Winner – PGA/U.S. Open Championship Jason Day Winner – THE PLAYERS Championship Webb Simpson Winner – The Masters Danny Willett Winner – The Open Championship Zach Johnson Shane Lowry Henrik Stenson Winner – World Golf Championship Event Kevin Kisner Justin Rose Winners of the Arnold Palmer, Memorial, Genesis (Last 3 Years) Jason Dufner Tyrrell Hatton Tournament Winner in Past Two Seasons Ryan Armour Keegan Bradley Stewart Cink Corey Conners Austin Cook Tyler Duncan Dylan Frittelli Brice Garnett Brian Gay Jim Herman Charles Howell III Sungjae Im Sung Kang Michael Kim Patton Kizzire Russell Knox Satoshi Kodaira Jason Kokrak Matt Kuchar Martin Laird Andrew Landry Nate Lashley Adam Long Graeme McDowell Troy Merritt Keith Mitchell Sebastián Muñoz Joaquin Niemann Cheng Tsung Pan Pat Perez Scott Piercy J.T. Poston Ted Potter, Jr. Ian Poulter Andrew Putnam Chez Reavie Brandt Snedeker Brendan Steele Hudson Swafford Nick Taylor Michael Thompson Brendon Todd Martin Trainer Kevin Tway Richy Werenski Aaron Wise Career Money Exemption K.J. Choi Luke Donald Hunter Mahan Bo Van Pelt Sponsors Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt Jonathan Byrd Bill Haas Sponsors Exemptions – Unrestricted Andy Sullivan Davis Thompson Lee Westwood Bernd Wiesberger PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year Anthony Cordes Past Champion of Respective Event Mackenzie Hughes Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedExCup Points List Harris English Kevin Streelman Matthew Fitzpatrick Brian Harman Joel Dahmen Mark Hubbard Tom Hoge Alex Noren Adam Hadwin Harry Higgs Russell Henley Talor Gooch Louis Oosthuizen Robby Shelton Maverick McNealy Doc Redman Denny McCarthy Henrik Norlander Charley Hoffman Xinjun Zhang Sepp Straka Harold Varner III Cameron Tringale Cameron Davis Vaughn Taylor Patrick Rodgers Brian Stuard Tommy Fleetwood Emiliano Grillo Matt Jones Kyoung-Hoon Lee Scott Harrington Matthew NeSmith Sam Ryder Adam Schenk Wyndham Clark Sam Burns Scott Brown Beau Hossler Lucas Glover Luke List Scott Stallings Rory Sabbatini Tom Lewis Bo Hoag Top 125 (Prior Season Nonmember) William Gordon Major Medical Extension Charl Schwartzel Kevin Chappell Chris Kirk Kevin Stadler James Hahn Sean O’Hair Jamie Lovemark Camilo Villegas John Huh D.A. Points 2018-19 Top 125 FEC/2019 Top Finishers Korn Ferry Tour Cat. Fabián Gómez Rafa Cabrera Bello Bronson Burgoon Chase Seiffert Nick Watney Kyle Stanley Matt Wallace Chesson Hadley Peter Malnati Rob Oppenheim Jhonattan Vegas Hank Lebioda Joseph Bramlett Cameron Percy Robert Streb Tim Wilkinson Brandon Hagy D.J. Trahan Kristoffer Ventura Mark Anderson Sebastian Cappelen Aaron Baddeley David Hearn Tyler McCumber Chris Baker Branden Grace

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