Russell, 15, gets invite to make PGA Tour debut

If you play PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, don’t expect much movement this week. With no cut at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, each of the 73 golfers in the field will hang up a number in every round. So, if you’re chasing, consider injecting as many as four second-tier selections to maximize the possibilities to slingshot (assuming your pacesetter goes chalk). And because there’s no cut, there’s value in holstering starts for the superstars. Also keep in mind that the last two tournaments of Segment 4 (and the 2017-18 season) also do not feature a cut. As a result, your target shifts to being in position to withhold a lead or at least reach out and touch it by the conclusion of the Dell Technologies Championship. We all then roll with the punches of the BMW Championship and TOUR Championship. Unlike the first three majors, next week’s PGA Championship will use ShotLink. The first 154 qualifiers are listed on this dedicated page. The last two exemptions will go to the winners at Firestone and the Barracuda Championship. The first two alternates are Jason Kokrak and Chris Kirk, respectively. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO My roster for the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational (in alphabetical order): Paul Casey Rory McIlroy Jon Rahm Justin Rose Xander Schauffele Tiger Woods You’ll find my starters in Expert Picks. Others to consider for each category (in alphabetical order): Scoring: Jason Day; Tommy Fleetwood; Rickie Fowler; Dustin Johnson; Zach Johnson; Brooks Koepka; Alex Noren; Patrick Reed; Justin Thomas Driving: Jason Day; Tommy Fleetwood; Rickie Fowler; Dustin Johnson; Hideki Matsuyama; Alex Noren; Adam Scott; Brendan Steele; Bubba Watson Approach: Rickie Fowler; Dustin Johnson; Zach Johnson; Russell Knox; Matt Kuchar; Andrew Landry; Jordan Spieth Short: Austin Cook; Jason Day; Tyrrell Hatton; Dustin Johnson; Matt Kuchar; Alex Noren; Webb Simpson; Justin Thomas Power Rankings Wild Card Patrick Reed … He’s done nothing wrong to get snubbed from the Power Rankings. Consider him an extension in a terrific field. Opened his Firestone career with a T4 in 2014 and T15 in 2015. Winning the Masters this year was a career-defining experience that he’ll likely enjoy again in some capacity. He’s been solid since, too, with four top 10s, including a T9 in Germany on Sunday. If there’s a knock, he puts too much pressure on his short game, but he’s still 23rd on TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green. That’s as much of a quantifier of his confidence as anything. Draws Webb Simpson … First appearance since a T25 in 2015. There’s nothing not to love no matter your angle. In addition to his victory at THE PLAYERS, he’s hung up a top 10 and another two top 20s in the majors thus far. It also can’t go overstated just how strong he’s been with his putting. Patrick Cantlay … Like Tony Finau, Cantlay is finally making his debut in this tournament, the last of the four WGCs for both. Cantlay’s tee-to-green strength should yield numerous opportunities to score. However, as frequent he is in amassing scoring chances, his precision on approach needs to be tighter on large targets. Matt Kuchar … Gasp! A Power Rankings sans the Kooch?! On track record alone, he belongs with the 20 featured, but his relatively massive inconsistency demands pause. So, in reaction to what we do with three missed cuts in his last four starts, remain patient and give him the opportunity to put four rounds together because they’re guaranteed this week. It’s a rare win for course history buffs. Alex Noren … Wholly expected to establish a career-best finish in his fourth appearance. Last year’s T28 was his first top 50, and it was his first trip in six years. Winner recently in Paris and six straight top 25s upon arrival. Pays off above-average tee-to-green work with phenomenal putting. Tyrrell Hatton … The Brit has performed exceptionally in the WGCs, so he’s comfortable on this stage. Work him into any lineup. Kiradech Aphibarnrat (DFS) Branden Grace (DFS) Charley Hoffman (all) Kevin Na (DFS) Louis Oosthuizen (all) Ian Poulter (DFS) Charl Schwartzel (all) Fades Phil Mickelson … His headline-filled summer is one thing, but a middling recent history at Firestone is more concerning. Since concluding a T15 in the 2014 edition with a 62, he’s signed for only two red numbers after 12 rounds and has averaged 71.42 on the course. Henrik Stenson … He’s a bit of a freak in how well he continues to perform amid injury. You’d never accuse him of hard-selling the maladies to lower expectations, but the results don’t help in ruling that out, either. When he cited the elbow injury in advance of The Open Championship and that he was far from 100 percent, gamers appreciated the alert. He finished T35 with pedestrian execution tee to green. If he finishes T35 at Firestone, it’ll be disappointing given his cachet and a sparkling record on the course. Kevin Kisner … He fooled us. So much for the promise at Carnoustie where he had a piece of the lead after every round before settling for a T2. Marc Leishman … This is entirely relative given his up-and-down summer and just one top-30 finish in five previous appearances. Firestone could serve as the kind of layout that could showcase his all-around game – as TPC Potomac at Avenel did for his T13 – but we can’t ignore the recent regression to inconsistency overall. Sergio Garcia … As I first mentioned in the Facebook Live show on the Tuesday before the RBC Canadian Open, the narrative has evolved into wondering how he’s going to total 15 starts to retain voting privileges and TOUR membership. This week’s WGC is start No. 13. The PGA Championship will be his 14th. The Wyndham Championship would get him to the minimum, but he hasn’t showed at Sedgefield since his title defense in 2013. And at 132nd in the FedExCup standings, even with the guarantee to contribute to his total at Firestone, he’s not yet a lock for the Playoffs. Daniel Berger Rafa Cabrera Bello Bryson DeChambeau Ross Fisher Brian Harman Si Woo Kim Patton Kizzire Luke List Pat Perez Shubhankar Sharma Cameron Smith Kyle Stanley Brandon Stone Gary Woodland Returning to Competition None. Notable WDs Beau Hossler … The wunderkind has been shuffling his schedule the last few weeks. He withdrew early from last week’s RBC Canadian Open as well, but this will happen to a first-time member who gains late entry into The Open Championship and PGA Championship as he has. Sittin’ pretty at 33rd in the FedExCup standings. Nick Watney … Eked into the field for next week’s PGA Championship, so he’s opted to rest and prep. Abraham Ancer … With a solo fifth at Glen Abbey, he rose to 79th in the FedExCup standings. Headed to the Playoffs for the first time. Tyler Duncan … Finally taking a break after eight straight starts. He’s earned it as he’s connected 12 cuts made since the team event in New Orleans. At 103rd in the FedExCup, the rookie has achieved his primary goal. Grayson Murray … This would have marked his first action since the FedEx St. Jude Classic. He’s been sidelined by a sore shoulder. At 108th in the FedExCup standings and fully exempt for next season, the only objective right now is to heal. Bronson Burgoon … Thanks in large part to a T6 at the Quicken Loans National and a T2 at the John Deere Classic, he’s positioned comfortably at 106th in FedExCup points and poised to make his Playoffs debut. Perhaps fully exempt status north of the reshuffle category next season will improve his cuts-made ratio. In two seasons, he’s just 25-for-48. D.A. Points … It’s been a season to forget for the 41-year-old. Just 5-for-24 and 212nd in the FedExCup. However, he’s fully exempt for 2018-19 by virtue of his title at the 2017 Puerto Rico Open. Doc Redman … It’s not often when a non-member in any field on a sponsor exemption withdraws after the commitment deadline, but he’s competing at the Web.com Tour’s KC Golf Classic instead. Last week’s T21 at the Price Cutter Charity Championship yielded this week’s top-25 exemption in Overland Park, Kansas. At 170th in Web earnings, he’s about $50K outside the top-75 bubble to qualify for the Finals. Power Rankings Recap – RBC Canadian Open Power Ranking  Golfer  Result 1  Dustin Johnson  Win 2  Tony Finau  T37 3  Charley Hoffman  T29 4  Brooks Koepka  MC 5  Kevin Kisner  MC 6  Brandt Snedeker  T8 7  Joaquin Niemann  T37 8  Matt Kuchar  MC 9  Ian Poulter  T12 10  Harold Varner III  T17 11  Tommy Fleetwood  T6 12  Bubba Watson  MC 13  Joel Dahmen  T8 14  Jhonattan Vegas  T29 15  Sam Ryder  78th Wild Card  Billy Horschel  MC Sleepers Recap – RBC Canadian Open Golfer  Result Cameron Champ  MC Austin Connelly  MC Martin Laird  MC Keith Mitchell  T65 Steve Wheatcroft  T71 Birthdays among active golfers on the PGA TOUR July 31 … none August 1 … none August 2 … Jonathan Kaye (48); Brian Davis (44) August 3 … Omar Uresti (50) August 4 … Dudley Hart (50) August 5 … Patrick Reed (28) August 6 … none

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Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – Six-time PGA TOUR winner and 2014 FedExCup champion Billy Horschel today announced that he will host a special Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour event bringing 18 top minority golfers to THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on July 29-31. The Billy Horschel APGA Tour Invitational presented by Cisco, will focus not only on the competition but also in providing key development opportunities for players off the course as well. The Advocates Professional Golf Association was established in 2008 as a non-profit organization with the mission to bring greater diversity to the game of golf. The Tour hosts and operates professional golf tournaments, player development programs, mentoring programs and introduces the game to inner city youth throughout the country. “Growing up in a blue-collar family, I did not always have the same opportunities in golf as some of my fellow competitors. Without some of the success that I had in college, I would have struggled to find financial backing, resources, and industry connections to continue my dream of making it onto the PGA TOUR,” Horschel said. “Through the APGA Tour and The Player Development Program, I want to help support each players’ journey, provide them with some resources, and gain an experience that I hope will benefit each player as they chase their dreams in professional golf. I’m thrilled to have a company like Cisco, who have already shown great support of promoting equality and diversity in golf, to help this event have a massive impact for these young players both inside and outside the ropes.” “I want to thank Billy Horschel for launching this APGA event and giving Cisco the opportunity to support this important initiative,” said Mark Patterson, SVP and Chief of Staff to the Chairman and CEO at Cisco. “At Cisco, we are focused on powering a more inclusive future, and this is another intentional moment where we are proud to step up and provide support for promising golfers, just as we did earlier this year when we welcomed Kamaiu Johnson to Team Cisco. We’re thrilled to be part of this event and look forward to helping more aspiring golfers reach their full potential!” The event will include an initial day of a pro-am, roundtable, seminars and other development opportunities all with key partners and industry leaders. The competition will challenge the players with 36 holes at THE PLAYERS Stadium course, home of THE PLAYERS Championship. “We are grateful that Billy Horschel took the initiative to start this event and for Cisco’s support to help us continue to create unique opportunities for our players to grow and develop as golfers both on and off the course. Billy’s passion to help these young men is beyond incredible,” said APGA Tour CEO Ken Bentley. “The APGA Tour is a special group of players who all have stories of perseverance and determination. Events like this are crucial for the guys in our development program to continue to progress as golfers and also to introduce them to the variety of opportunities in the golf industry as a whole. I can’t wait to see our guys spend three days at the home of the PGA TOUR and take on TPC Sawgrass.” The event will include several rising stars including Kamaiu Johnson and Willie Mack who each have made multiple starts on the PGA TOUR this year. Johnson returned from his PGA TOUR experience to win in his first event back on the APGA Tour at TPC Las Vegas in April. Mack is one of the most successful players in the history of the APGA Tour with six victories and two Lexus Cup titles. Mack has 65 professional victories and won a record 11 times as a member of the Bethune Cookman golf team. Rovonta Young and Jacksonville native Jarred Garcia each won earlier this year in Florida on the APGA Tour. Young was introduced to the game by his grandfather at a young age while his mom was deployed during her military service. Garcia’s victory in Port St. Lucie came at just the right time as both his parents lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Other APGA Tour standouts in the field include Marcus Byrd, Joey Stills, Michael Herrera, Davin White and Ryan Alford, who won the most recent event at TPC Scottsdale. The 18-player field will consist of: • Nine players from the APGA Tour Player Development Program – Ryan Alford – Marcus Byrd – Jarred Garcia – Michael Hererra – Kamaiu Johnson – Willie Mack III – Joey Stills – Davin White – Rovanta Young • Five graduates from the APGA Collegiate Ranking – Mulbe Dillard – Andrew Walker – Mahindra Lutchman – Cameron Riley – Prince Cunningham • The top-ranked player in the current APGA Collegiate Ranking – TBD • Three Sponsor’s Exemptions – TBD

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