Sei Young Kim leads in Shanghai after 10 under

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The 2021-22 PGA TOUR regular season has arrived at its final fortnight. It always feels like the last few days of senior year in high school. Once class it dismissed, the field for the FedExCup Playoffs will be determined, as will the qualifiers for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. Many golfers will reunite sooner and later, while some never will. Get those yardage books signed now, fellas. RELATED: Play Pick ‘Em Live | The First Look | Inside the Field Donald Ross designs will serve as the stages for both of the next two tournaments. Detroit Golf Club hosts this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic for the fourth time, and a field of 156 has assembled. For what it should expect inside the ropes, how Cam Davis completed the mission en route to his breakthrough victory, and more, continue reading beneath the ranking of those projected to contend. POWER RANKINGS: ROCKET MORTGAGE CLASSIC Webb Simpson, Adam Scott, Matt Kuchar and Cameron Tringale will be among the notables reviewed in Draws and Fades. Although its bones can be traced to the 19th century, Detroit GC very much caters to the 21st-century approach of relying on advances in equipment to mitigate trouble found off the tee, the worst rough of which will reach four inches. In short, it pays to be long. That said, much like Ross’ Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, site of next week’s Wyndham Championship, Detroit GC allows for all skills sets to shine. Proper tracks oblige like that. The stock par 72 tips at 7,370 yards for the second straight year. There are two courses on the property – the North and the South – and almost all of the North Course is utilized. Because the par-4 third hole uses a tee on the South Course and a green on the North Course, the routing for the RMC is classified as a composite. Not unlike last week at TPC Twin Cities, capitalizing on the par 5s in Motown will matter. They frequently do on par 72s but compared to its siblings – the par 3s and par 4s – the four par 5s stand tallest. Last year’s field averaged 4.71 to position Detroit GC as T16-hardest among 51 courses during the super season of 2020-21. En route to his playoff victory, Cam Davis led the field in par-5 scoring at 4.25. He was bogey-free 12-under with an eagle and 10 birdies. Even though he’s one of the longest off the tee, his skill set has played up on shorter tracks more often, so last year’s success is evidence both of how the course rewards execution and his capacity to adapt. It’s a good thing, too, because the Aussie didn’t dazzle like most winners, but he maximized on his chances. He ranked T24 in greens hit, but he averaged just three GIR above field average over 72 holes, 55 to 52. Yet, he ranked second in converting his looks into par breakers. Detroit GC made possible his coronation as a PGA TOUR winner with spikes of brilliance atop a balanced bag. The 5,150-square foot greens feature a common blend of Poa and bentgrass. They should reach the max prepared length of 12½ feet on the Stimpmeter deep into the tournament, too. After early-week rain passes, sunny and dry conditions will drop anchor. Wind could be a mild factor early, but it won’t be generating any headlines. Daytime highs will be in the 80s. It’s customary summer weather in the Lower Peninsula. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.com’s Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Draws & Fades WEDNESDAY: Pick ’Em Preview SUNDAY: Medical Extensions, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Rookie Ranking * – 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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Pick any year and Sergio Garcia is an automatic call at THE PLAYERS where he’s a former champion and the tournament’s all-time earnings leader. However, when he poured in the putt in the playoff to win the Masters, it was immediately fair to ponder if you’d be picking up the phone this week at TPC Sawgrass. One & Doners are famously – infamously? – prone to overthink and overreact with the first ripple or success or failure. At times, it’s absolutely warranted, but this isn’t one of those times. The Spaniard checks all of the boxes. Possibly overlooked in the accomplishment of his coronation in a major is that it was also the culmination of phenomenal form going back to as long as you’d like. With that victory, you can’t argue that he’s in the best form of his life. And then there’s the obvious fact that he’s not an upstart in whom we might expect regression. The Masters also wasn’t last week. It was a month ago. He celebrated, basked and separated. In the process, he was able to turn the page normally. A man in complete control. Within the context of our game, THE PLAYERS is also the most likely event at which we’re comfortable burning Garcia, well, it and The Open Championship. This is due in part to his success in both events, but equally so as defense to the crapshoot that often unravels in each. The risk managers among you might say that we’re OK in losing Garcia in a tournament where he’s most likely to prosper. Among the other short-listers in Future Possibilities below, Martin Kaymer and Francesco Molinari capture my attention the most. I’ve already burned both, so even though I’m settling with a push with our league leader, my decision to plug in Garcia was as easy as it gets. However, with no other attractive sites at which to consider the other two internationals, both have my blessing this week. Justin Thomas and Lee Westwood are the other two without a no-brainer kind of joint to line up later. Thomas’ limited expectations are in direct correlation to his limited experience. He’s in just his third season with a PGA TOUR card. Meanwhile, the veteran Englishman is a non-member well into the back half of his career. As a result, he presents perfectly as a secondary pick in a two-man game. If you’re in a two-man format and can’t or choose not to manufacture a team consisting of any of the aforementioned, also consider Jason Dufner, Kyle Stanley and Graham DeLaet, all of whom are among my Sleepers. Rory McIlroy’s signing with TaylorMade is worth pause in every fantasy format, but One & Doners were unaffected. While he’s atop my Power Rankings, the risk of burning him at TPC Sawgrass isn’t worth it even though the tournament distributes FedExCup points equivalent to every major. There’s also the obvious factor that he’s the kind of juggernaut who is worth reserving for the Playoffs when points are quadrupled. (I’m reserving McIlroy for the Dell Technologies Championship.) FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2016-17. All are pending golfer commitment. Daniel Berger … St. Jude (defending) Jason Bohn … Greenbrier Keegan Bradley … Byron Nelson; Memorial; WGC-Bridgestone; Dell Technologies Paul Casey … Travelers; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Kevin Chappell … Dell Technologies Jason Day … PLAYERS (defending); U.S. Open; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Luke Donald … Wyndham; TOUR Championship Jason Dufner … Byron Nelson; DEAN & DELUCA; U.S. Open; TOUR Championship Harris English … DEAN & DELUCA Jim Furyk … Memorial; U.S. Open; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Sergio Garcia … PLAYERS; Byron Nelson (defending); Open Championship; TOUR Championship Branden Grace … U.S. Open; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship Bill Haas … Wyndham Charley Hoffman … Byron Nelson; DEAN & DELUCA; Travelers; Canadian Billy Horschel … St. Jude; TOUR Championship Dustin Johnson … Byron Nelson; Memorial; St. Jude; U.S. Open (defending); Canadian; TOUR Championship Zach Johnson … PLAYERS; DEAN & DELUCA; John Deere; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Martin Kaymer … PLAYERS Chris Kirk … DEAN & DELUCA Kevin Kisner … PLAYERS; DEAN & DELUCA; Wyndham Russell Knox … Travelers (defending); Dell Technologies Brooks Koepka … Byron Nelson; St. Jude; U.S. Open; PGA Championship Matt Kuchar … PLAYERS; Byron Nelson; DEAN & DELUCA; Memorial; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone Martin Laird … Barracuda Marc Leishman … DEAN & DELUCA; Memorial; Travelers; Open Championship Hideki Matsuyama … PLAYERS; Memorial; PGA Championship; BMW Graeme McDowell … Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; Wyndham William McGirt … Memorial (defending); Wyndham Rory McIlroy … PLAYERS; Memorial; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies (defending); TOUR Championship (defending) Phil Mickelson … St. Jude; Open Championship; PGA Championship Francesco Molinari … PLAYERS Ryan Moore … Travelers; John Deere (defending); TOUR Championship Kevin Na … Memorial; John Deere; Wyndham Louis Oosthuizen … Dell Technologies Ryan Palmer … Byron Nelson; DEAN & DELUCA; St. Jude Scott Piercy … John Deere; BMW Ian Poulter … Arnold Palmer; Puerto Rico Patrick Reed … Wyndham; Dell Technologies Justin Rose … PLAYERS; Memorial; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; TOUR Championship Charl Schwartzel … Memorial; U.S. Open; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone Adam Scott … Memorial; U.S. Open; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Webb Simpson … Greenbrier; Wyndham Jordan Spieth … DEAN & DELUCA (defending); John Deere; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; TOUR Championship Brendan Steele … Travelers; Barracuda (already eligible for concurrent WGC-Bridgestone) Henrik Stenson … Open Championship (defending); WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Kevin Streelman … Memorial Justin Thomas … PLAYERS David Toms … PLAYERS; DEAN & DELUCA; Barbasol; Barracuda Jimmy Walker … Greenbrier; PGA Championship (defending); Dell Technologies Bubba Watson … Travelers; Greenbrier; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Boo Weekley … St. Jude; Barbasol Lee Westwood … PLAYERS Gary Woodland … Byron Nelson; Barracuda; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship

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