Rory McIlroy looks to add DP World Tour title to FedExCup

No, it's not a new thing to reward a first-time major champion the option to select where he wants to relocate a World Golf Championships event in which he'll be participating, but given Bryson DeChambeau's unprecedented approach at his craft, it feels like an option necessary to rule out. Before DeChambeau broke through in a major at the 2020 U.S. Open, he prevailed as the individual champion of the 2015 NCAA Men's Championship at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida. For the first time, the 15-year-old course is hosting the PGA TOUR as 72 automatic qualifiers have assembled for the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession. For an explanation of how this came to be, what the field can expect and more, scroll past the extended ranking of projected contenders. RELATED: The First Look | Inside the Field POWER RANKINGS: WGC-WORKDAY CHAMPIONSHIP Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood, Joaquin Niemann, Hideki Matsuyama and Jason Day will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday's Fantasy Insider. Just as two of the three Asian Swing tournaments in the fall were moved to sites in the United States due to the challenges caused by the pandemic, the WGC-Workday in Florida serves as a temporary substitute for what was an annual excursion to Mexico City for the WGC-Mexico Championship from 2017-2020. The objective is to return to Mexico in 2022, but the focus right now is continue the tradition of this WGC no matter the stage. The timing of the WGC-Workday serves as an entry or a return for international talent to log four rounds in a no-cut, 72-hole competition, all in advance of THE PLAYERS Championship in two weeks, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in four weeks, the Masters in six weeks, and so on. The timing of The Concession as host is serendipitous in the context of sports in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays returned to the World Series in 2020 and the Buccaneers just became the first team to win a Super Bowl in their home stadium. Local fans have been spoiled of late! DeChambeau isn't from Tampa - he's a California native - but he's undefeated on this week's host course. Four others in the field also competed in the 2015 NCAA Men's Championships: Thomas Detry (T3), Jon Rahm (T22), Scottie Scheffler (T33) and Xander Schauffele (T45). The Concession is the only collaboration between Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin. Suitably, it's named after Nicklaus' concession of a short putt to the Englishman during the 1969 Ryder Cup that resulted in a tie (and the U.S. retaining the trophy). It's a stock par 72 with 7,474 yards of eye-popping imagery. Set entirely in native Florida landscape, there are over six dozen bunkers across the property. Typical of many Nicklaus designs, there's room to move it off the tee, but course management is as important as precision on approach. TifEagle bermuda greens average just 6,000 square feet, and that's generous in application because of the undulations, segments and a Stimpmeter prep of 12 feet. Typically, with unfamiliar greens that happen to be challenging, ball-strikers tend to hog the final leaderboard, but quick studies with the putter - and you don't qualify for a WGC unless you're that - will mix in. The course should present wonderfully in its debut. The weather forecast is outstanding. A primarily sunny sky will allow daytime highs to reach 80 degrees throughout. Winds will be tame by Florida standards. Even a push out of the north on Thursday shouldn't bother before ever-so-slightly stronger breezes rotate to blow in from the prevailing southerly direction. In addition to 550 FedExCup points and $1.82-million payday, the champion will earn a three-year PGA TOUR membership exemption. Should a non-member win and accept membership, the FedExCup points will not contribute to his membership total this season because it's a WGC. 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 (WGC-Workday) TUESDAY*: Power Rankings (Puerto Rico); Sleepers (WGC-Workday), 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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OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. - Tiger Woods’ 2019-20 PGA TOUR season came to an end Sunday at Olympia Fields as he finished with a 1-over 71, falling well short of the top three finish he needed to advance to the TOUR Championship. The two-time FedExCup champion will not have a chance for a third next week at East Lake, instead he will take two weeks off before kickstarting his 2020-21 campaign at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. "I didn’t play as well as I wanted to the first couple days. Today was nice. I hit the ball really well and made only a couple putts, but today was more indicative of how I want to play in a couple weeks," Woods said. "This golf course was basically a U.S. Open, with the rough being as high as it is and fairways a little bit narrow. Look at the scores, and I don’t think that we’ve seen scores like this in a non-major in a very long time. This was a great ramp-up for me for the U.S. Open. I wish I was playing next week, but I’ve got a couple weeks off." Needing to go super low on a tough course on Sunday, Woods raised an eyebrow or two with two birdies in his first four holes but he couldn't make enough of the mid-range chances he presented himself to create a miracle. A bogey right before the turn was countered with a birdie at the 11th but that was his last of the season. A bogey at the 15th was followed with a double bogey at the 17th. "It’s me missing the ball in the wrong spots. When I missed in the correct spots I was able to advance in the correct spots, make putts, but if I missed them in bad spots, this golf course will certainly punish you," he added. Measuring Woods performance for the season depends on if you're a glass half full or half empty type of person. Starting back last October in Japan Woods claimed his 82nd PGA TOUR win at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, joining Sam Snead at the top of the all-time win list. "Well, it's a big number," Woods said of his 82nd victory at the time. "It's about consistency and doing it for a long period of time ... I'm very fortunate to have had the career I've had so far." Woods was referencing tough times from 2014 through 2017 where it looked increasingly likely he might not play again such were his back issues. But in April of 2017, he saw Dr. Richard Guyer of the Center for Disc Replacement at the Texas Back Institute, where spinal fusion surgery gave Woods a new lease on life. "Probably the low point was not knowing if I'd ever be able to live pain-free again," he said after winning the TOUR Championship in 2018. "Am I going to be able to sit, stand, walk, lay down without feeling the pain that I was in? I just didn't want to live that way. This is how the rest of my life is going to be?" He would famously win the 2019 Masters before his win in Japan. Woods followed the ZOZO win up with a fourth place in his Hero World Challenge (an unofficial TOUR event) before leading the U.S. Team as a playing captain to a stirring come from behind victory in the Presidents Cup. Woods took his team to Royal Melbourne in December and overcame a 10-8 deficit heading to singles to win 16-14. He was 3-0 personally that week.

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