The First Look: Fortinet Championship

Tiger Woods, playing in his fourth tournament since returning from spinal fusion surgery, said he was “very pleased” with a first-round 70 at the Honda Classic.

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Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club (par 70, 7,044 yards) in Honolulu that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. Nobody Beats the Kizz Patton Kizzire held off James Hahn over six playoff holes to win for the second time on TOUR this season. His first win involved fending off Rickie Fowler at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. Now, he adds a six-hole playoff to his resume less than two months later. His recipe for success this week included painting the top 10 in SG: Approach the Green, SG: Putting and bogey avoidance. He circled 22 birdies, T4 on the week. The 31-year old from Tuscaloosa is an Auburn grad but I’m guessing he’s still having a very good year. This is his second win and fourth top 10 in seven events in the new season. Hahn Solo James Hahn’s 62 on Sunday was two better than the next best and secured his place in the epic playoff on 17-under-par 263. Hahn continued his excellent record at Waialae as he posted his sixth consecutive payday and his first podium finish. Of his 24 rounds on this track 20 are in red figures including in 15 of his last 16. He torched the par four holes to the tune of 13-under and that never hurts at this event! I can understand if gamers were skeptical entering the week as his low round in three events during the fall was just 68. Sandwiched Between Chalk this up as a great learning experience for Tom Hoge. Most guys holding the 54-hole lead for the first time rarely go on to win. Hoge had the lead at 18-under after a birdie on No. 12. His double on No. 16 knocked him out of the lead and he eventually finished solo third, his best finish on TOUR. Hoge has never finished better than No. 132 in the FEC standings but he’s picked up his second top 10 in his first six attempts of the 2017-18 season. Charlotte’s Webb His 63 on Saturday was the lowest of the day and his 65 on Sunday moved him up five more spots to T4. Simpson finished last year with a flurry as he finished T20 or better in six of his last seven events. He might have added another in The RSM Classic but he withdrew to be by his dying father’s side. He’s picked back up where he left off with his fourth top 10 in his last eight starts. The Life of Brian Brian Stuard played 31 events last season and made just 16 cuts. None of those weekends resulted in a top 10 and only four went for top 25’s. He’s exempt this year as he’s the last Zurich champion that didn’t have a partner. He’s found new life in the new season as he’s now made the cut in all six events he’s played and half of those have gone for top 10’s. This is also his third top 10 in his last five starts at Waialae. Gamers love when recent and course form merges! Hawaii 5-0 Technically it is Hawaii 5-6, as in 56-under-par in his last four trips for Gary Woodland. After MC in his first two trips he’s fired off T-3, T-13 and T-6 last year with all 12 rounds at par or better. He added four more rounds in the red this week and his 64 on Sunday leapfrogged him 14 spots to T7. He co-led the field in birdies with 24, tied with fellow T7 finisher Ollie Schniederjans.  Kelly Green I’m usually ageist in fantasy golf but all rules have exceptions and Jerry Kelly at Waialae qualifies. His final round 66 moved him up to T14, his 13th top 25 in 21 career events. This is his WORST finish, when making the cut, in his last four trips. Not bad for 51 years young! Favorite Sons Defending champion Justin Thomas posted four rounds of 68 or lower and finished T14. Strangely he only made 15 birdies on the week but he did add two eagles. The last repeat champion will still be Ernie Els in 2003-2004. I didn’t see anything from the Bones-Thomas pairing that would suggest anything but business as usual moving forward. Jordan Spieth’s pair of 66’s on the weekend saw him cash T18. The backdoor wasn’t as cracked as much as gamers hoped and it was Spieth’s putter, strangely, that let him down. He ranked 58th in SG: Putting but he was first in GIR. I know which one of these two is easier to fix and it rhymes with cutting… Study Hall Wesley Bryan didn’t stick a driver in his bag this week and isn’t going to in the foreseeable future. He finished T32 and posted all four rounds at par or better…No magic Marc Leishman Sunday this week as the Aussie could only muster 68 and finished T47…Charles Howell, III never fired this week (T29) but he’s still never missed the cut at Waialae in 17 starts…Jason Dufner continues to have better results with the putter. He finished T18 for the week and 18th in SG: Putting…I hid Brian Harman down here as I have written about him the last three days. Fantasy players who had him this week will be disappointed that he didn’t close the deal. I’ll point out I was one of them but I’m not upset he didn’t win. Winning is really difficult out here and if he continues to rack up top 10’s, I’ll be able to live with my decisions! Have some perspective, folks! Only one guy can win each week!

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