Sleeper Picks: WM Phoenix Open

Unscheduled Monday finishes present a handful of challenges to everyone they touch, but if there’s a positive to the loss of one day between THE NORTHERN TRUST and this week’s scheduled Thursday start of the BMW Championship, it’s that the next host is as close to a neutral site as the field of 69 will tackle. (Patrick Reed, who is seeded 26th, withdrew due to a bout with pneumonia. For an introduction to Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland, the format and more, keep reading beyond the expanded ranking of projected contenders. POWER RANKINGS: BMW CHAMPIONSHIP Louis Oosthuizen, Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth, Alex Noren and Rory McIlroy will be among the notables reviewed in the Fantasy Insider. Situated in Baltimore County, Caves Valley GC is about a dozen miles to the northwest of downtown Baltimore as the oriole flies. It’s significant not only as the host of the top 70 in the updated FedExCup standings for the penultimate tournament of the 2020-21 season, but neither the City of Baltimore nor Baltimore Country has hosted the PGA TOUR since, well, before the PGA TOUR was the PGA TOUR. This marks the first visit to the region since 1962 when the final edition of the Eastern Open Invitational was contested at Mount Pleasant Golf Club in Baltimore proper. Doug Ford prevailed by one over Bob Goalby. Caves Valley has hosted a handful of competitions since it opened in 1991. For men only, in addition to a pair of events of note for seniors, the 2005 NCAA Division I Men’s Championship and the 2007 Palmer Cup were staged on site. Of those who participated in the more recent, Dustin Johnson (22nd seed), Billy Horschel (27th), Brian Harman (39th), Webb Simpson (52nd) and Chris Kirk (60th) are back this week. But again, it’s been 14 years since they were here and when they were amateurs. Suffice it to say that the statute of limitations for relevant course history has elapsed. At 7,542 yards, the stock par 72 designed by Tom Fazio is a bigger ballpark than most. The full complement of four par 5s serves as default scoring opportunities on unfamiliar greens that, in turn, will reward ball-strikers until the field finds the pulse for the bentgrass greens. Furthermore, because the targets average just 5,200 square feet, the approach game likely will determine the final leaderboard. The combination fescue-bluegrass rough has been allowed to grow to four inches on the perimeter, so with putting surfaces stretching to 12½ feet on the Stimpmeter, Caves Valley sets up as a first- and second-shot track. That, of course, brings us back to the ball-striker model. There’s so much more at stake at the BMW Championship than the official victory, the membership extension through at least 2022-23 for the winner and official earnings. Golfers inside the top 30 of the FedExCup standings at the conclusion of the tournament not only will advance to the TOUR Championship but each will receive an exemption into the 2022 editions of the Masters, the U.S. Open and The Open Championship. Consider that even winners of some tournaments rewarding the full allocation of FedExCup points don’t qualify automatically for the last two. With no cut at Caves Valley, it’ll be a 72-hole race for all the spoils. There will be physical sweating in addition to the mental variety. Daytime temperatures will eclipse 90 degrees on Thursday and Friday before a gradual cooling occurs, albeit with highs still ranging into the mid- to upper-80s on the weekend. Juicy air will promote the development of clouds, rain and possibly storms every day. Wind will not be a factor, which means that every bit of the elevated heating will be felt, but unlike the course, that’s something that all have experienced. 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. TUESDAY*: Power Rankings; Sleepers; Fantasy Insider SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, 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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Politics aside, Presidents Cup gets off to flying start

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