St. Andrews to host record crowd for The Open

Hear ye! Hear ye! The 2021-22 PGA TOUR schedule was released on Tuesday morning. There’s more than the usual to unpack, so I encourage you to read through it here. I’ll be digesting all of it in the coming weeks for a proper and thorough review and analysis for my full-membership fantasy ranking in about a month, but there are two takeaways worth extended time right now. First, and indeed, the Fortinet Championship will launch the season on Sept. 16-19. This confirms the announcement on March 31, but I always hold my breath until something of this magnitude is official. This means that, barring the unforeseen, my annual ranking again will include golfers, ages, salaries, statuses and comments. If you’re not familiar, here’s the last in the series (for the 2019-20 season). It wasn’t possible last year due to the massive rescheduling due to the pandemic and only two full days between seasons. The other notable nugget regarding the 2021-22 season is that the Genesis Scottish Open, Barbasol Championship and Barracuda Championship will be co-sanctioned by the PGA TOUR and the European Tour as part of their Strategic Alliance. All will be contributing to the FedExCup with the two based in the United States each reserving space for 50 European Tour members. If you missed it in this space last week, I detailed the changes coming to PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. Since, I’ve learned more about some of the granular modifications and other efforts, and I trust that you’ll be equally as intrigued when they’re made official. It’s more evidence that you’ve been heard and that how you play has helped shape the future. I’m excited to share with you the details once confirmed. RELATED: Power Rankings | PGATOUR.COM Expert Picks PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf My roster for the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational (in alphabetical order): Daniel Berger Matthew Fitzpatrick Dustin Johnson Brooks Koepka Louis Oosthuizen Scottie Scheffler You’ll find my starters in Expert Picks. Others to consider for each category (in alphabetical order): Scoring: Harris English; Brian Harman; Viktor Hovland; Jason Kokrak; Rory McIlroy; Collin Morikawa; Xander Schauffele; Adam Scott; Webb Simpson; Jordan Spieth; Justin Thomas Driving: Cameron Champ; Corey Conners; Harris English; Sergio Garcia; Viktor Hovland; Sungjae Im; Jason Kokrak; Martin Laird; Collin Morikawa; Joaquin Niemann; Xander Schauffele POWER RANKINGS WILD CARD Patrick Cantlay (+2500) … He’s an extension of the Power Rankings proper. His victory at Muirfield Village two months ago reminded us of how dangerous he can be, so he serves as a valuable complement in every format at TPC Southwind. Finished T12 in his debut here in 2019 and T35 last year. DRAWS Joaquin Niemann (+4000) … What a week and an experience for the Chilean tandem at the Olympics. He finished T10 and his long-time friend, Mito Pereira, placed T4. Pereira is committed to this week’s Barracuda Championship (and appears in the Power Rankings), while Niemann already is a fixture in the World Golf Championships. In what was his WGC debut here last year, he placed T52 but scored 11 strokes better on the weekend than in the first two rounds. There’s no cut, of course, but he’s missed only one in the last 11 months. Cameron Champ (+8000) … Gotta love when the execution matches the attitude adjustment. Answered a slump-busting T11 at the John Deere Classic with a statement victory at the 3M Open. Considering this surge is fresh, we might as well ride the wave along with him. Sungjae Im (+6600) … Disappointing performance at the Olympics where he settled for a T22, but the 23-year-old will have another chance to earn a dispensation from his military obligation in Paris in 2024. Meanwhile, the focus is forward and immediate at TPC Southwind. He loves to travel – we know that – and he’s relatively rested after having sat out the two weeks prior to the Games. Harris English (+3300) … Broke through at TPC Southwind in 2013 and remained a regular until it transitioned to its role of host for this tournament in 2019, but this is the first time he’s qualified in five years. Enjoying a sizzling summer with his second win of the season at TPC River Highlands immediately after a career-best finish in a major with a solo third at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Jason Kokrak (+5000) … If there still was space beneath the Power Rankings for comments, it’d have been reasonable to assume that a couple would’ve griped about his omission. (Of course, none would’ve gone into detail and explained who should’ve been bumped and why, but that was bogey for the course in that space for seven years. Loyal readers understand what I mean.) Frankly, he deserves consideration more often now than ever, but it’s relative to this deep field on a track where he’s failed to perform well over time. That said, because he’s still on the rise into the top tier, he’s as strong a spell for anyone you want to holster for the Playoffs. Stewart Cink Kevin Kisner Ian Poulter Adam Scott Odds sourced on Tuesday, August 3 at 5 a.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. FADES Hideki Matsuyama (+2800) … Impossible and unfair to determine how he’s feeling after experiencing playing for a medal in his native Japan, but the conservative gamer in me sees this week as prime for a letdown after he was eliminated in a playoff for the bronze. Perhaps a week off would allow for enough time to reset, but he doesn’t have that luxury. Bryson DeChambeau (+2500) … Although he didn’t play well at TPC Southwind early in his still-young career, he hasn’t solved the puzzling elements for him since evolving into his latest iteration (or two). Save him for the Playoffs. Tony Finau (+4000) … Don’t call it a slump but he’s gone six consecutive starts without a top 10. He’s also managed only two top 10s in a dozen appearances in the World Golf Championship series. Finished T27 (2019) and T65 (2020) in the WGC at TPC Southwind. Cam Davis (+12500) … Love the player long-term but this is his WGC debut. While poised to be a staple in all premier events sooner than later, the field is deep enough not to reach into his direction. Sam Burns (+8000) … See: Davis, Cam. Lucas Glover Max Homa Marc Leishman Patrick Reed Lee Westwood Matthew Wolff Brendon Todd RETURNING TO COMPETITION – WGC-St. Jude Will Zalatoris … Cited a back injury for his reason to withdraw after completing one round of his debut at The Open Championship. He’s rested since, so it’s all systems go for his first look at TPC Southwind, but it’s also relevant to cite that he hasn’t recorded a top 25 anywhere since the PGA Championship in May (T8). In that context, he’s a contrarian for chasers. RETURNING TO COMPETITION – Barracuda Vaughn Taylor … Walked off TPC Twin Cities during his second round with a sore lower back. It’s been a challenging season for the 45-year-old. He’s 146th in the FedExCup, so it could be worse. Likely always arrives in Lake Tahoe with good vibes as a two-time champion (2004, 2005) at Montrêux, but your fantasy considerations should not be latched to that in any way. Sangmoon Bae … A back injury forced him out during his second round of the Barbasol Championship and a sore neck was the reason for his withdrawal from the 3M Open after one round. Currently 217th in the FedExCup with only two paydays in 10 starts on Past Champion status this season. NOTABLE WDs – WGC-St. Jude Jon Rahm … Announced before the Olympics that he was going to rest this week. He then tested positive for COVID-19 and couldn’t compete in the Olympics. Christiaan Bezuidenhout … The non-member has made 12 starts this season and came up short of qualifying for Special Temporary Membership by about six FedExCup points, so he’s ineligible to compete on the PGA TOUR again until 2021-22. NOTABLE WDs – Barracuda Sepp Straka … He pulled out not long after the commitment deadline and about an hour before his tee time in the second round of the Olympics where he led with an opening 63. (The Austrian finished T10.) Positioned comfortable at 101st in the FedExCup. James Hahn … It’s been a maddeningly productive season for the 39-year-old. He opened on a Major Medical Extension and three top 10s right out of the gate before ultimately fulfilling its terms in January, but the last five months have been a struggle with only one payday in his 11 starts. Half of his 10 cuts made this season went for a top 10, so he’s headed back to the Playoffs for the first time in three years. Currently 96th in points. Jimmy Walker … Last finished T11 at the 3M Open, but he’s 163rd in the FedExCup. One more year of fully exempt status remains by virtue of his victory at the 2016 PGA Championship. Kiradech Aphibarnrat … At 200th in the FedExCup, he’s the current line of demarcation for eligibility for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, so it’s surprising that he’s bowed out early of the penultimate tournament of the season. Ryan Blaum … Just 2-for-12 and without a top 50 this season. Exempt via conditional status. Hunter Mahan … The 39-year-old is just 4-for-26 on the season and sits 225th in the FedExCup. He burned his top-50 career earnings exemption in 2020-21. POWER RANKINGS RECAP – Olympics Power Ranking Golfer Result 1 Collin Morikawa T4 2 Xander Schauffele Gold 3 Viktor Hovland T14 4 Hideki Matsuyama T4 5 Shane Lowry T22 6 Sungjae Im T22 7 Paul Casey T4 8 Corey Conners 13th 9 Patrick Reed T22 10 Abraham Ancer T14 11 Justin Thomas T22 12 Rory McIlroy T4 13 Jhonattan Vegas T16 14 Mito Pereira T4 15 Cameron Smith T10 SLEEPERS RECAP – Olympics Golfer Result Thomas Detry T22 Rikuya Hoshino T38 Kristian Krogh Johannessen T53 Henrik Norlander T45 Carl Yuan T38 BIRTHDAYS AMONG ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE PGA TOUR August 3 … Omar Uresti (53) August 4 … none August 5 … Patrick Reed (31) August 6 … none August 7 … Andrew Landry (34) August 8 … Webb Simpson (36) August 9 … none Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ years of age or older to wager. CO, IA, IN,MI, NJ, NV,PA, TN, VA or WV only. Excludes Michigan Disassociated Persons. Please Gamble Responsibly. Gambling Problem? 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As Quail Hollow Club gears up for the Presidents Cup this fall, TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm has stepped in to host the 2022 Wells Fargo Championship. If the latter course rings a bell, that’s because this staple of Washington, D.C. area golf has seen plenty of PGA TOUR action. It’s going to play long. It’s going to play thick. And if we’re lucky – really lucky – maybe we’ll see a repeat of one of history’s most mind-boggling feats. 1. HISTORY LESSON The Wells Fargo Championship has looked not to a rookie, but to a proven TOUR venue to host this year’s tournament. While TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm spent the last three years off the TOUR schedule, it was a stalwart for much of the previous three decades. In 1987, the Kemper Open (later known as the Booz Allen Classic) moved to TPC Potomac after seven years at Congressional Country Club down the road in Bethesda. The tournament would stay at TPC Potomac through 2006, with the exception of 2005, when it made a one-year return to Congressional while TPC Potomac underwent renovations. In 2007, the Quicken Loans National, hosted by Tiger Woods and the TGR Foundation, replaced the Booz Allen in the Washington D.C. area and set up shop at Congressional. The tournament would shift to a variety of locations, including two stops at TPC Potomac in 2017 and 2018. The course also hosted the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship in 2010 and the Korn Ferry Tour’s Mid-Atlantic Championship in 2012 and 2013. In the Booz Allen Classic era the winners at TPC Potomac included Tom Kite, Lee Janzen, Steve Stricker, Justin Leonard, Rich Beem, Rory Sabbatini and Adam Scott. In the Quicken Loans era, Kyle Stanley knocked off Charles Howell III in a 2017 playoff, and Francesco Molinari shot a final-round 62 and cruised to an eight-stroke victory, his maiden PGA TOUR title, in 2018. Woods handed Molinari the trophy that day, and it was a sign of things to come. Three weeks later, Molinari won The Open Championship in the same group as Woods at Carnoustie. Two months after that, Molinari beat Woods three times at the Ryder Cup. Six months later, Tiger got some revenge at Augusta, winning the 2019 Masters. 2. A NEW LOOK Rory Sabbatini and Adam Scott are part of the bridge from the old TPC Potomac to the new TPC Potomac. The 2003 and 2004 Booz Allen Classic champions, respectively, will play a different track in their 40s than they did in their 20s. After the competition left TPC Potomac, then called TPC Avenel, in 2006, a sweeping renovation of the course modernized the layout. The Rock Run Stream Valley, one of the main tributaries of the Potomac River, had become badly eroded by the end of the Booz Allen tenure and caused frequent flooding. As part of the renovation, 5,000 linear feet of the mainstream and 2,250 linear feet of eroding stream banks were restored, enhancing the presence of water on the course while leading the way to a new, modern irrigation system. The renovation also brought the addition of 15 acres of trees, the restructuring of the course to a 7,124-yard par 70, and a re-building of bunkers to their intended Mid-Atlantic style, while adding some Scottish-themed traps. Greens, tees and fairways were rebuilt with Bentgrass. The 2006-08 renovation also dramatically altered the middle of the course. The par-5 sixth hole was turned into a long par 4. The par-3 ninth hole was rebuilt, while the 10th and 11th holes were combined into a par-5 10th hole playing around the restored creek. The 12th hole became the 11th hole, and the par-5 13th hole was split into a par-3 12th hole and short par-4 13th. TPC Avenel was now TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. This name was intended to pay tribute to the history of Avenel Farm, once Maryland’s largest short-horned cattle farm, while also ushering in a new era for the PGA TOUR’s TPC Network venue. 3. ARNIE’S ACES TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm made its 1986 debut by way of a couple of legends. It served as the first site of the Chrysler Cup, a senior team event featuring a U.S. squad captained by Arnold Palmer and an international roster captained by Gary Player. This would serve as a precursor to the Booz Allen Classic’s arrival in 1987. On the Tuesday before the event, Palmer, one week before his 57th birthday, was playing a practice round when he hit a 5-iron on the 182-yard par-3 3rd hole and watched the ball land and roll right into the cup – the first hole-in-one at one of golf’s newest competitive tracks. The next day, on the same hole, with the same club, Palmer hit another beautiful iron shot at the pin. “Don’t go in the hole again,” he yelled. “Don’t do that!” It did. Palmer’s amazing two-fer marked his 12th and 13th career aces, and a commemorative plaque was promptly installed on the third tee. He would credit his hole-in-one theatrics as important for publicizing the Chrysler Cup in its first year. A TV camera had caught the Wednesday (second) hole-in-one, and while the world was still 20 years from Twitter, local TV news would pick up the clip while newspaper writers worldwide gushed about the unlikely feat. 4. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE By the final years of the Booz Allen, TOUR pros had figured out TPC Potomac. Adam Scott won with a 21-under total in 2004. Ben Curtis followed with a 20-under score to win in 2006. But after the renovation, scores cooled off. Mark O’Meara shot 7 under to win the 2010 Senior PLAYERS at TPC Potomac. On the Korn Ferry Tour, David Lingmerth shot 8 under to win there in 2012, as did Michael Putnam in 2013. When the PGA TOUR returned in 2017, Kyle Stanley knocked off Charles Howell III in a playoff with both players finishing 72 holes at 7 under. Francesco Molinari was the exception to the rule, shooting a post-renovation record of 21 under to win here in 2018. But to be fair, runner-up Ryan Armour was all the way back at 13 under. And as history now shows, Molinari was about to play lights-out golf for the next few months. This Wells Fargo Championship probably won’t be a birdie-fest. The new TPC Potomac features more water hazards, more tree trouble, and more distance at a lower par. It’s no pushover. 5. A TOUGH 5 Most weeks on TOUR, the par 5s are players’ four best friends. At TPC Potomac, there are only two, and they’re beasts. The first, No. 2, is scheduled to play 641 yards this week, already making it a three-shot hole by distance. The tough decision on the second shot is not about taking aim at the green, but whether players feel comfortable carrying a dry gulch two-thirds of the way down the fairway. Around the green, a deep bunker awaits on the left side, hoping to gobble up any approach shots that miss left. Hit the bunker and par becomes an outstanding save. The par-5 10th hole, a combination of the old 10th and 11th holes, plays to 591 yards, and the greater challenge here is the angle. A slight dogleg left requires a player to hit a long enough tee shot down the right side of the fairway – away from the hole – to have an angle into the green. A narrow landing area short of the green and a sea of bushes, plus no shortage of thick rough short and left of the green, present all sorts of stress for the second shot. This explains much of the challenge at TPC Potomac. Without gettable par 5s, and two-putt birdies rare, birdies must come the old-fashioned way on the grounds of the old Avenel Farm.

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