THE PLAYERS Roundtable: Just how good was that 63 by Simpson?

The PGA TOUR starts the West Coast swing with The American Express in La Quinta, California, located near Palm Springs. Due to COVID-19, the TOUR canceled the pro-am this year, resulting in the golfers playing across only two courses instead of the usual three — the Nicklaus Tournament Course and the Stadium Course on PGA West. The Nicklaus Tournament Course is a par 72, measuring 7,181. The Stadium Course measures 7,147 yards and will also play as a par 72. Both courses will be putt on Bermuda greens for the third straight week. The pro-am cancellation didn't just remove La Quinta CC from the course rotation this year; it also will result in the cut occurring after 36 holes instead of the usual 54 holes as in prior years. The Stadium Course has also been the only one to record ShotLink data in the past, which you should consider when looking at previous statistics. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $600K Approach Shot [$200K to 1st] STRATEGY Both courses routinely play as some of the easiest in scoring relative to par with accessible par 5s and short par 4s. The Stadium Course, designed by Pete Dye, draws many comparisons to TPC Sawgrass, one being how often water hazards come into play. The Nicklaus Course was brought into the tournament rotation back in 2016 and should be the easier of the two, as three of the four par 5s play less than 550 yards. Recent Sony Open winner Kevin Na (+3500; $9.200) is tied for the course record (62) at the Nicklaus Course, which means guys like Cameron Champ (+4000; $8,900) aren't the only ones who should be able to score. This week will be the first of many Pete Dye courses the TOUR will play this season, and as with all Dye designs, position golf will be essential. Both courses don't sport a lot of rough, which means fairways hit in regulation matters less than having the correct angles into these undulation greens. The primary stat with all Pete Dye courses is Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, and this week, golfers will need to have success on short par 4s. There is one under 350 yards and five between 350 to 400 yards. Like last week, we should be leaning toward golfers who've played in Hawai'i leading up to the tournament. Ten of the past 11 champions played in the week(s) before their win here. Last year's winner, Andrew Landry (+25000, $7,000), missed the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii but would go on to shoot 26-under and win here by two strokes. The same thing happened to Adam Long (+7500, $8,500) in 2019. He missed the cut at Waialae CC and also shot 26-under, beating Phil Mickelson (+6600, $8,800) and Adam Hadwin (+7000, $8,000) by one. Lastly, players who rank high in par 5 scoring and birdie or better percentage should be in our lineups this week, with the average winning score finishing around 24-under over the past five years. GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Patrick Cantlay +1300 to Win | $11,100 on DraftKings Sticking with the golfers who've played competitive rounds early in the year, Cantlay is my favorite at the top of the salary range. Cantlay could be a popular play this week, with Jon Rahm withdrawing on Monday, but some people may not believe he deserves to be the betting favorite or the most expensive, keeping his roster percentage low. He lost 2.8 strokes with his irons at Kapalua, but we shouldn't be worried. There's only been one occasion over the past 18 months where Cantlay has lost strokes with his irons in back-to-back events (2020 Northern Trust/2020 BMW Championship). Cantlay loves playing in his home state with top finishes at the Genesis, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and here, where he finished ninth back in 2019. Less than three months ago, Cantlay won the ZOZO Championship at Sherwood Country Club, another California course. Cameron Champ +4000 to Win | $8,900 on DraftKings Champ had a difficult start to his season, finishing 31st at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, but this shouldn't keep you from rostering him this week. He lost 4.4 strokes on the greens at the Plantation Course but left Kapalua positive in strokes tee-to-green. Routinely ranking at the top in driving distance, Champ will have a clear advantage with his length and ability to either come into these short par 4s with a wedge in hand or, better yet, with his putter on a few occasions. We should also consider Russell Knox (+900 Top 10, $7,200) in our lineups this week. He's much better on challenging courses where the winning score is closer to 12-under, but Knox has a good record here with a top 20 in 2019 and three straight cuts made over the past three years. In the past, we've seen golfers play well here and at other courses like the Mayakoba Classic, where Knox has made every cut dating back to 2013, has finished no worse than 37th and has a runner-up finish in 2015. Another correlated tournament is the Waste Management Pheonix Open, and Knox has finished inside the top 20 twice, along with a top 10 back in 2019. Tom Hoge +1100 Top 10 | $7,300 on DraftKings Another golfer who plays well during the West Coast swing, Hoge could fly under the radar this week after a missed cut last week. I've already mentioned the poor form both Landry and Long have coming into this tournament; Hoge could keep that streak alive this week. The +2.81 strokes gained through approach in Round 1 last week led to a 5-under start, but he quickly gave it back on Friday when his irons and putter went cold. An early departure from the Aloha State means an early arrival to Palm Springs, where he's played well in the past. Hoge finished sixth in last year's edition, gaining 10.3 strokes total, the fourth-highest mark dating back to 2014. Over the previous 24 rounds, Hoge ranks 30th in par 5 efficiency, 25th in birdies or better gained and 26th in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green. Like Knox, Hoge has played well at correlated courses, with a third-place at the Mayakoba Classic last month, another top 5 at the Farmers Insurance Open and a top 25 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open last season. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $600K Approach Shot [$200K to 1st] Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL). Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ/WV/PA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (NH/CO), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA) or TN REDLINE: 800-889-9789. 21+ (18+ NH). NJ/PA/WV/NH/IN/NH/IA/CO/IL/TN only. Eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for full terms and conditions. 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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Jon Rahm becomes the first Spaniard to win the U.S. Open.

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There was no other way to cap off a PGA TOUR season this dramatic, was there? Trailing World No.1 Scottie Scheffler by six strokes entering the final round, Rory McIlroy staged a historic Sunday charge to become the first player to win three FedExCup titles. McIlroy’s win at East Lake marked the 12th time he has won on the PGA TOUR when trailing entering the final round. Since 2010, that is four more such wins than any other player. McIlroy’s three-win 2021-22 campaign won’t be remembered as the most prolific season of his career in terms of victories, but statistically it may wind up among his best ever. Rory won his fourth scoring average title, posting an adjusting average of 68.67. He joined Vijay Singh (2003) and Tiger Woods (eight different seasons) as the only players in PGA TOUR history with a single season average better than 68.7. Let’s examine some of the most interesting numbers regarding McIlroy’s FedExCup winning season. • One of the most significant improvements in McIlroy’s game over the past few seasons has been on the greens. Yes, there were moments where his putting let him down – namely the final round of The Open, where he languished through 18 two-putts – but the totality of his body of work over the last 36 months reveals a tremendous increase in overall performance. Two seasons ago, McIlroy ranked 122nd of 193 qualified players on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting per round. That ranking climbed to 66th in 2021 – and another 50 spots, to 16th – in this recently concluded 2021-22 campaign. McIlroy’s differential from two seasons ago to now is 0.57 Strokes Gained: Putting per round – a difference of more than two full strokes per 72 holes. From 10 to 15 feet, McIlroy is a completely different player than just a couple of years ago – he’s gone from 153rd in make percentage from that range to 6th this season. After missing 6 putts from 3 feet and in two seasons ago, McIlroy has made 1,193 of 1,194 from that short range over the last 2 seasons on TOUR, and didn’t miss a single one in 2022. All of these improvements seemed to perfectly crystalize over the weekend at East Lake. In the final round, McIlroy led the field in both total distance of putts made (115 feet, 10 inches) and Strokes Gained: Putting (3.92), fueling the largest final round comeback to win in TOUR Championship history. • Another facet of McIlroy’s game that has historically received some public scorn is his approach play from inside 150 yards. This represented another piece of McIlroy’s arsenal that went from weakness to strength, and it happened within the course of the same PGA TOUR season. After the Masters, McIlroy was ranked 208th of 209 players on the PGA TOUR this season in average proximity from 50- to 125 yards away (24 feet, 1 inch). His turnaround in this category since that point is nothing short of remarkable. Since the Wells Fargo Championship began, McIlroy is a staggering 10 feet better, on average, from that range. His mark of 14 feet, 1 inch is the best average among all players on TOUR with 30 or more attempts in that span. • McIlroy ended the season ranked inside the top-50 in all four key Strokes Gained disciplines: Off-the-Tee, Approach the Green, Around the Green and Putting. This is just the second time in McIlroy’s PGA TOUR career he has done that, having also achieved that balanced profile in 2018-19. Only four other players ranked in the top-50 in each of those statistics this season: Patrick Cantlay, Matt Fitzpatrick, Sungjae Im and Xander Schauffele. A season ago, McIlroy’s poorest ranking in the Strokes Gained categories came on shots around the green, where he ranked 71st. It’s been one of the more unheralded improvements in his game over the past 12 months: in the 2020-21 season, McIlroy ranked 131st on the PGA TOUR in scrambling percentage. That leapt up more than 100 spots in 2022, to 30th. He also improved more than 50 spots from this season to last in sand save percentage. • These other improvements allowed McIlroy to maximize his ability to capitalize on being one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the world. Rory has never ranked worse than 6th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in any single, full season of his PGA TOUR career. Since 2012, there are more than 360 different players with 100 or more rounds played on the PGA TOUR. McIlroy leads all of them in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee per round, with 0.94. At East Lake, McIlroy pounded 31 drives 320 yards or longer, 10 more than any other player in the field (Cameron Young ranked second, with 21). On all drives for the week, he averaged 315.8 yards, five more than anyone else. McIlroy’s ability with driver consistently gives him an advantage over the competition – but his balanced brilliance in 2022 made him a FedExCup champion.

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