Stenson says goodbye to a trusty friend â€" his 3-wood

The PGA TOUR returns after a few weeks off and travels to the middle of the Pacific Ocean for the Sentry Tournament of Champions located on Maui in the Aloha State of Hawaii. The tournament will take place at the Plantation Course in Kapalua and will be a no-cut event. The course will play as the only Par 73 on the PGA TOUR with just three par 3s, measure just over 7,500 yards and feature grainy, Bermuda greens. The field will consist of only those who qualified by winning last season, which includes members of the winning U.S. Presidents Cup team like Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and defending champion Xander Schauffele, who shot a 62 in the final round last year to beat out Woodland by just a stroke. Those who won last season, but haven’t committed include players like Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka and the Open Champion Shane Lowry. The Plantation course ranked as the sixth easiest course in scoring relative to par last season and routinely plays as one of the easiest every year. Finishing scores at Kapalua have totaled as high as 30 under back in 2016 with the lowest winning score at 22 under over the past four years. The main reason we see scores get this high? Extremely wide and easy to hit fairways as well as accessible par 5s, which are all birdie and eagle opportunities. The course’s main defense is the wind, but it shouldn’t be too much of an issue as we’ve seen guys still go low like Dustin Johnson, who won back in 2018 shooting 24 under in extremely windy conditions. The normal key stats apply here like Par 5 scoring, birdie or better average and Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, but this week we should also be focusing a little more on Bermuda putting and Approaches from 100 to 125 yards. There are six par 4s measuring under 400 yards, which are just as important to score on as the par 5s. Justin Thomas ($11,200) It’ll be tough to fade Thomas this week with how well he’s currently playing and how well he’s played at the Plantation Course over his career. He’s ranks second to only Dustin Johnson in Strokes Gained: Total since 2015 and is one of only three players to qualify for the Sentry Tournament of Champions in four of the past five years. Thomas has the all-around game to win anywhere, gaining an average of 6.3 strokes Tee-to-Green over his past 10 tournaments. Ride the momentum. Patrick Cantlay ($9,800) Cantlay played amazing last season, making 11 straight cuts leading up to the TOUR Championship and gained an average of 2.6 strokes with his irons over his past 10 tournaments. Cantlay ranks 12th in Par 5 scoring average over his past six tournaments and if we look closer at his statistics over his past eight rounds with shot tracker he ranks fifth in approaches from 100 to 125 yards, ninth in birdie or better percentage and first in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. Collin Morikawa ($8,600) If you’re looking for value, Morikawa should be a solid play this week. It’ll be his first start in Kapalua, but what he lacks in experience, he more than makes up with his iron play, ranking second in the field dating back to the last 50 rounds coming into this tournament. It’ll be hard to trust his putting on Bermuda, but he’ll rely on his strong wedge play ranking fourth in Approaches from 100 to 125 yards over his past three tournaments. Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is reidtfowler) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.

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Here are nine tidbits from the second round of the Wells Fargo Championship that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte has been the host since the creation of the event in 2003 and plays 7,544 yards to a Par-71. The 2017 WFC was played at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, NC. PAIN OR GAIN These were the top-10 picked golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: The top eight are through to the weekend but it’s Day (-6) who is five-shots clear of his closest competitor, Rickie Fowler (-1). Finau fans that were holding their breath can exhale now as three-over made it on the number. At least they have a chance to get after it early and get back into the mix. I doubt it will be worse than his 76 today. With 87 players making the cut at +3, there will be another cut (MDF) after Round 3. People’s Choice My faith in the gaming community has been restored in the One & Done format! It’s too bad in a non-substitution format that your faith is not being repaid by Rory McIlroy (68-76). Yet. He sat on the cut line in 2010 before he eviscerated Quail Hollow Club for 66-62 on the weekend to win by four shots. He turned 21 the night he won. This year he’s nine shots back after limping home in 40. He’ll have an early tee time tomorrow that should enable him to get right back into the mix. Illu-Malnati He might not know everything but Peter Malnati is leading the field after 36 holes. He backed up his opening round 67 with 68 and leads on seven-under-par 135. He’s cashing in on greens as he leads the field in SG: putting and must enjoy the new Champion Bermuda. His best result on the previous surface was 73 in four tries. He’s a great putter this season (15th SG: putting) but it’s his ball-striking (201 total driving, 188 GIR) this week that is punching above its weight. Tiger Trap Greens are running at 12 feet on the Stimpmeter but Tiger Woods believes they are running slowly. Sigh. This is the only course where he’s MC twice. Think about that stat for a minute. He checked in at No. 119 in SG: putting after Round 1 and No. 144 after Round 2. He made a birdie on his final hole today to finish two-over and T48. He made three birdies. Proper grinding. Wise Guy This is just the fifth time in 17 starts in rookie Aaron Wise’s season that he posted his first two rounds in red figures. Of the previous four, three went for T17 or better and T32 at the Houston Open. His only top-10 finish in 22 starts as a pro was last season (T10) in Las Vegas. He’s tied with major champion Jason Day on six-under-par 136 with Charl Schwartzel and Paul Casey one further shot adrift. The breath on the neck will be real on Saturday. Moving On Up Nick Watney’s streak of made cuts is now at 11 after his classy, bogey-free 67 vaulted him into the top 10 (T7). The oddest part of Watney’s streak is that his best finish is T20. He’s now made 10 of 12 cuts at QHC as is looking rack up his third top-10 payday. … The biggest cheerleader of the Bryson DeChambeau Fan Club, ME, was ecstatic to see him post the round of the day as he’s my choice in One & Done. His 65 was 10 shots better than his opening round and not only did he make the cut, he moved up 101 spots into contention at T13. Whew. … German Martin Kaymer, the 2015 PLAYERS champion, is tuning up for next week. His 67 in Round 2 saw him leap 66 spots to T13 after opening with 73. His best finish on TOUR this season is six previous starts is 48th. Achtung! Recession First-round leader John Peterson backed up his 65 with 77 in Round 2. The good news is his 65 was so good that he’ll begin the weekend T28 and just seven shots back. … Geoff Ogilvy drew plenty attention after his opening round 68 (T7) but his 81 in Round 2 saw him MC easily. He’s now MC nine times in 12 events this season. … Keegan Bradley dropped 62 spots after 77 in Round 2. Bradley (68) was one of two players who posted a bogey-free Round 1. The other was Sam Burns who is currently T7. MC HOF Louis Oosthuizen (+4) and Kevin Kisner (+5) were major One & Done casualties. Oosthuizen was two-over entering “The Green Mile” and four-over (MC) when he was done. Kisner was four-under through his first six holes and played his last 30 holes in nine-over. I wondered if the memories came flowing back after the PGA Championship last year. Study Hall Friday’s scoring average was 72.500 versus 73.833 in Round 1. Both rounds conceded 65 as the low round of the day. …. Joining Watney with bogey-free rounds were Vaughn Taylor (68), Shawn Stefani (69) and Nick Taylor (70, MC). … Bob Estes (allergies) and Davis Love III (back injury) WD before their tee times in Round 2. Steve Marino played nine holes and also WD.

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