The players that matter most (and least) at this Ryder Cup

Neither this week’s BMW Championship nor the TOUR Championship on Sept. 20-23 will feature cuts, so the strategy is simple. If you’re front-running, stymie your competition with chalk. Just be sure to position yourself properly with six worthy defensemen at East Lake. If you’re chasing, you’re forced to reach outside the box for the proverbial contrarian investments. My roster in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO is both chalky and loaded with ball-striking talents who might go overlooked in my little league. If Kyle Stanley in particular prevails or even contends, it’d be a bit like catching lightning in a bottle even though we see him coming. With no TOUR action next week, this column goes on hiatus until the week of the Playoffs finale. It’s why you’ll find two weeks of birthdays at the bottom. The Power Rankings for the TOUR Championship will slot all 30 qualifiers, so the Fantasy Insider will be abridged. Sleepers returns with the Safeway Open on Tuesday, Oct. 2. I’ll have a full-field Power Rankings for the Ryder Cup after the FedExCup champion is crowned. All of my weekly staples will turn over for the 2018-19 season right around then as well. They include the Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions and Rookie Ranking. And after eliminating comments from my full-membership fantasy ranking due to the absence of a break in between seasons a year ago, they will return for this year’s annual monster. I’ll tweet everything as it publishes. Remember, while you don’t have to register for Twitter to read my tweets that aren’t replies, you’ll find the same on the FANTASY page. Scroll to ROB BOLTON TWITTERFEED at your leisure. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO My roster for the BMW Championship (in alphabetical order): Jason Day Bryson DeChambeau Hideki Matsuyama Francesco Molinari Justin Rose Kyle Stanley You’ll find my starters in Expert Picks. Others to consider for each category (in alphabetical order): Scoring: Tony Finau; Tommy Fleetwood; Dustin Johnson; Brooks Koepka; Marc Leishman; Rory McIlroy; Phil Mickelson; Cameron Smith; Jordan Spieth; Justin Thomas Driving: Keegan Bradley; Rafa Cabrera Bello; Patrick Cantlay; Paul Casey; Tommy Fleetwood; Emiliano Grillo; Billy Horschel; Adam Scott Approach: Keegan Bradley; Rafa Cabrera Bello; Dustin Johnson; Andrew Landry; Louis Oosthuizen; Chez Reavie; Jordan Spieth Short: Emiliano Grillo; Billy Horschel; Dustin Johnson; Phil Mickelson; Cameron Smith; Justin Thomas Power Rankings Wild Card Bubba Watson … En route to a T7 at TPC Boston, he led the field in strokes gained: off-the-tee, strokes gained: tee-to-green and par-5 scoring. He also checked up at second in distance of all drives and T10 in proximity. That confidence with his longest clubs should carry over to Aronimink where it figures to matter even more given the foreign putting surfaces. Draws Marc Leishman … The defending champion is one of the seven in the field who competed in both editions of the Quicken Loans National. He placed T7 in 2010, but Aronimink is a different track this time around. Nevertheless, his consistency week to week and potential to make noise is enough reason to trot him out there most weeks. The results and the stats aren’t necessarily glossy, but every fantasy team needs reliable depth. Emiliano Grillo … With respective rounds of 72 and 70 bracketing his T7 at the Dell Technologies Championship, he was the only golfer who finished inside the top 10 with fewer than three sub-70s, but the aggregate of the execution is why he deserves another strong look at Aronimink. He’s doing just fine in the Playoffs overall, but he’s excelling in proximity to the hole, ranking third. Billy Horschel … The bright side of his mid-tournament withdrawal at TPC Boston is that a sinus infection doesn’t hamper the golf swing. Assuming he’s turned the corner, expect him to resume pounding the leaderboard as he has for months. He checks all of the boxes analytically, too. Abraham Ancer (DFS) Keegan Bradley (all) Brain Gay (DFS) Kevin Kisner (DFS) Jason Kokrak (DFS) Louis Oosthuizen (all) Patrick Reed (SERVPRO) Brandt Snedeker (DFS) Gary Woodland (DFS) Fades Tiger Woods … This is relative to his form, nothing else. Pure and simple, he’s been putting poorly. In the Playoffs alone, he’s 97th in strokes gained: putting and T102 in birdies-or-better percentage with the putter. The good news is that he’s been grinding well (sixth in scrambling), but all that’s allowed is a T40 at Ridgewood and T24 at TPC Boston. Now, if you believe that he sets up as a contrarian against your competition, sleep well knowing that he’s 17th in the Playoffs in strokes gained: tee-to-green and eighth in his trademark strokes gained: approach-the-green. With sizable targets unfamiliar to the field, any reconnection with his putter could ignite a special weekend. Jon Rahm … This is a rare spot for him. As I’ve described before, his game is slump-proof, but he’s opened the Playoffs by going MC-T43 and hasn’t done a good job of managing his game after the tee ball. Perhaps the Ryder Cup is in the back of his mind – it’ll be the first time he’s representing Europe in the biennial competition – but he still wants to ramp into it with better feels. Webb Simpson … Held the 36-hole lead at the Dell Technologies Championship, but shot 76-74 post-cut to finish T49. That triggers the alarm on how he hits the ground running at Aronimink even though he competed in both editions of the Quicken Loans National when it was contested there. Henrik Stenson … If his left elbow is feeling better, he didn’t play like it at TPC Boston where he ranked T5 in greens hit but 73rd (of 76) in strokes gained: putting. The T69 was his fourth finish of T35 or worse in his last five starts. Pat Perez … Still in the field as of Tuesday afternoon. He withdrew during the Dell Technologies Championship when his wife went into labor with their first child. Currently 34th in the FedExCup standings. Chesson Hadley Brian Harman Charles Howell III Si Woo Kim Patton Kizzire Alex Noren Xander Schauffele Brendan Steele Returning to Competition Rickie Fowler … By sitting out the first two events of the Playoffs, he’s slid from 17th to 22nd to 26th in points. Therefore, he needs to log four rounds with some form to get to East Lake. However, you’re advised to let him go it alone what with the oblique injury that has prevented him from competing until now. Use this as a testing ground just in case he qualifies for the finale. We’ll reassess in two weeks if he does. Notable WDs Daniel Berger … He did well to climb from his opening position of 89th to 65th in the FedExCup standings after two events, but his decision not to play the BMW Championship could be an indication that he’s still bothered by a sore wrist. Gets at least one month off now to rest. Power Rankings Recap – Dell Technologies Championship Power Ranking  Golfer  Result 1  Justin Thomas  T24 2  Brooks Koepka  T12 3  Dustin Johnson  T7 4  Jason Day  MC 5  Tony Finau  T4 6  Bryson DeChambeau  Win 7  Patrick Cantlay  T24 8  Adam Scott  T49 9  Rory McIlroy  T12 10  Jordan Spieth  T12 11  Phil Mickelson  T12 12  Justin Rose  2nd 13  Billy Horschel  WD 14  Patrick Reed  T35 15  Tommy Fleetwood  T24 16  Jon Rahm  T43 17  Hideki Matsuyama  T4 18  Gary Woodland  T24 19  Paul Casey  T21 20  Kevin Na  MC Wild Card  Marc Leishman  T21 Sleepers Recap – Dell Technologies Championship Golfer  Result Kevin Chappell  T35 Joel Dahmen  MC Branden Grace  T43 Russell Knox  T43 Jamie Lovemark  76th Birthdays among active golfers on the PGA TOUR September 4 … none September 5 … none September 6 … Brice Garnett (35) September 7 … none September 8 … none September 9 … Hudson Swafford (31) September 10 … none September 11 … none September 12 … Ã�ngel Cabrera (49) September 13 … none September 14 … Will Claxton (37); Tony Finau (29); Emiliano Grillo (26) September 15 … Kevin Na (35) September 16 … Bryson DeChambeau (25) September 17 … Byeong Hun An (27)

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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Play Yellow, a program benefitting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN Hospitals), announced today its newest brand ambassador Peter Malnati, winner on the PGA TOUR of the 2016 Sanderson Farms Championship. Peter and his family join Jack and Barbara Nicklaus and fellow TOUR professionals in support of Play Yellow and its mission to bring the entire golf world together to help the 10 million kids treated at local CMN Hospitals each year. Peter explains, “My wife and I have had the wonderful opportunity to visit Children’s of Mississippi and interact with the patients many times. I’m thrilled to be able to support the hospital here, and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals more broadly as a Play Yellow ambassador. CMN Hospitals treat more than 10 million children each year, and the Play Yellow initiative supports every one of them. To be even a small part of such a powerful mission is a great honor for us.” Since 2013, the Sanderson Farms Championship has raised more than $9.1 million that has gone towards the Children’s of Mississippi capital campaign. Last November, Children’s of Mississippi celebrated the grand opening of the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower (joining the existing Batson Tower), an expansion with top-of-the-line equipment that will help to treat more than 180,000 sick children each year. The Sanderson Farms Championship raises money for Mississippi’s only children’s hospital, Children’s of Mississippi. Last year, the Championship raised $1.45 million – the most money raised in the history of the tournament. “We are proud to have Peter Malnati and his family join Play Yellow,” says Chad Phillips, SVP, Play Yellow. “Peter will be a force for good for the golf community that supports Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. We are excited to have his passion and drive to change kids’ health to change the future.” Launched in 2019 alongside Jack and Barbara Nicklaus and CMN Hospitals, Play Yellow strives to bring the entire golf world together and raise the critical funds needed by CMN Hospitals and the patients they serve. Like most nonprofits, children’s hospitals rely on donations. More kids need the specialized care that children’s hospitals provide than can afford it, creating a significant funding gap that donations help close allowing CMN Hospitals to put necessary dollars toward advancing and improving research, care, and treatments. Play Yellow brings golfers together for a good cause. Play Yellow was inspired by a family friend of Jack and Barbara Nicklaus named Craig Smith who was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma as a young teenager. As Craig battled cancer, Jack and Barbara looked to support him and his family. One way was for Jack to wear a shirt in Craig’s favorite color, yellow, which Craig said brought Jack luck from week to week. Over the years, Jack could be seen wearing yellow on tournament Sundays and major championship Sundays. Who can forget Sunday of the 1986 Masters Tournament when Jack wore a yellow shirt to honor Craig and went on to win his record sixth Green Jacket? Years later, Play Yellow was born. CMN Hospitals has raised more than $7 billion in unrestricted funds for 170 children’s hospitals across the United States and Canada. Changing kids’ health through children’s hospitals isn’t just about helping those in critical situations — it’s also about the research, preventative care, health and safety education that help build healthier communities. By improving medical treatments, equipment and facilities, children’s hospitals can not only address the most challenging health issues of our day, but also prevent and prepare for those to come. When we change kids’ health, we change the future — for all of us. About Play Yellow Play Yellow, a program benefitting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, launched alongside Jack and Barbara Nicklaus, brings together the golf community to help the 10 million kids treated at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals every year. Inspired by Jack’s family friend Craig, who was diagnosed with childhood cancer, and his lucky color yellow, Play Yellow engages golfers in raising critical funds for children’s hospitals. Through special events like Family Golf Day, local tournaments, corporate partners, and Play Yellow Sundays on the PGA TOUR, Play Yellow helps change kids’ health and change the future. For more information, visit playyellow.org and follow on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. About Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® raises funds for 170 children’s hospitals that support the health of 10 million kids each year across the U.S. and Canada. Donations go to local hospitals to fund critical life-saving treatments and healthcare services, along with innovative research, vital pediatric medical equipment, child life services that put kids’ and families’ minds at ease during difficult hospital stays and financial assistance for families who could not otherwise afford these health services. When we improve the health of all children and allow them the opportunity to reach their full potential, we also improve our communities for years to come. Together, we can change kids’ health. Together, we can change the future. To learn about Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and your local children’s hospital, visit cmnhospitals.org.

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