Stats Report: Sentry Tournament of Champions, Round 1

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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GREENSBORO, N.C. – Notes and observations from Friday’s second round of the Wyndham Championship, where Henrik Stenson shot 66 to take the lead at 12 under. Kevin Na shot 63 and a resurgent Hunter Mahan carded his second straight 65 to go into the weekend two shots back MAHAN BACK FROM THE ABYSS Hunter Mahan was the only player not to miss a FedExCup playoff event from its 2007 inception until he failed to make the 2015 TOUR Championship. He reached a career high of fourth in the Official World Golf Ranking after winning The Barclays in 2014. He played in four Presidents Cups, two Ryder Cups, and racked up roughly $30 million in career earnings. No one would have looked twice if that Mahan had shot 65 at steamy Sedgefield, getting him to 10 under and just two off the lead at the Wyndham. But today, at 35 and the father of three kids age 4 and younger, Mahan is 197th in the FedExCup and 809th in the OWGR. His best result so far this season: a T17 at the Travelers Championship, where he got his first win in 2007. If his name on the leaderboard surprises you, well, yes—it should. “I’ve been on a little bit of a journey in the last year trying to figure out what kind of—what kind of golfer I am, what kind of swings I need to make,â€� Mahan said after making six birdies and one bogey. “It kind of starts from scratch. It feels a little better. I’m trying to get back to what I did when I was successful and my kind of fingerprints and what I do well and—it’s difficult.â€� What happened to Mahan? The short answer is: parenthood. He held a two-shot at the 2013 RBC Canadian Open, but withdrew to be home for the birth of his first child with wife Kandi. It’s too easy to call that the line of demarcation in his career, since he won The Barclays the season after that, but Hunter and Kandi had their second and third kids in quick succession. “I think it overwhelmed me,â€� he told the AP last year. “And I lost track of my swing a little bit.â€� Mahan took a new caddie. He changed coaches, hiring Dallas-based Chris O’Connell, and the two went on a deep dive in search of the stuff that made Mahan the winner of two World Golf Championships and six total PGA TOUR titles. The results at Sedgefield suggest they’re on the right track. Mahan especially liked the way he responded to bogeying the sixth hole Friday. Over the past few years, he said, he might have faltered. This time, the former Oklahoma State star flushed a 6-iron onto the green at the par-3 seventh hole, leading to an easy par. At the par-4 eighth, he split the fairway and stuck a wedge inside 16 feet, then made the birdie putt. Can he keep building on his success? Mahan admits he doesn’t know. Some fixes have helped him one day only to hurt him the next. “Sometimes the cure becomes the cancer,â€� he said. Stenson, who has played his way out of the golfing wilderness more than once, said one of the hardest things for a player in Mahan’s shoes is to keep taking the long view. “The tendency is to try to turn things around too quickly,â€� Stenson said. “When I’ve been down, the key for me has been committing to the long-term process. You’ve got to give yourself time, and once you get into that mindset you get a different calmness and you can kind of climb your way up. It’s good to see Hunter playing well again. Mahan says his life is “pretty good,â€� and adds that he has learned what he can and can’t control with three young children. He watches the big events like last week’s PGA Championship go on without him, and while that’s disappointing, he tells himself that he’s doing the right things. Like any parent, he tries to stay patient. He tries to appreciate the small victories even if they don’t necessarily translate on the scorecard. Peers like Sean O’Hair, with whom Mahan played junior golf and who himself is a parent of four, tell him to keep his head up, that it’ll turn around. “I feel excited to play,â€� Mahan said. “Excited to learn about what I can do to get better. I’m not tired of golf, not sick of playing tournaments. I’ve got keep learning about myself and what I do well and what ‘feels’ work for me.â€�

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