The Ryder Cup 2018: Tournament news, schedule, coverage and analysis

Through two rounds at the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions, Tony Finau sits at 11 under par and has opened up a three-stroke advantage over a trio of players. Here are the top 10 win probabilities heading into the weekend: The top 3 in terms of their share of win probability, Tony Finau, Justin Rose, and Tommy Fleetwood, are all among the top 6 players in this field according to our model (Rose at #2, Finau at #5, and Fleetwood at #6). There is a 72 percent chance that the winner will emerge from that trio of golfers. While Rose has been a top-10 player in the world for several years now, both Fleetwood and Finau have only recently risen to that level. In fact, they have followed similar trajectories: here are plots of their respective performances over the last few years (Fleetwood above, Finau below): Each bar in these graphs indicates the golfer’s average Strokes Gained at an event, and the black line is a 10-event moving average. Both Fleetwood and Finau were performing at a level similar to an average PGA TOUR professional (i.e. Strokes Gained of 0) near the end of the 2016 season. Recently they have both elevated their games to near the level of a top 5 player in the world (which can be thought of as a golfer who averages +2 Strokes Gained per round). Finau and Fleetwood have done everything but win over the past year on the PGA TOUR; a win at a World Golf Championships event this week would solidify their position among golf’s current elite. NOTE: These reports are based off the live predictive model run by @DataGolf. The model provides live “Make Cutâ€�, “Top 20â€�, “Top 5â€�, and “Winâ€� probabilities every 5 minutes from the opening tee shot to the final putt of every PGA TOUR event. Briefly, the model takes account of the current form of each golfer as well as the difficulty of their remaining holes, and probabilities are calculated from 10K simulations. To follow live finish probabilities throughout the remainder of the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions, or to see how each golfer’s probabilities have evolved from the start of the event to the current time, click here for the model’s home page.

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TORONTO, Ont. – Even though Rory McIlroy has a different caddy this week at the RBC Canadian Open, it hasn’t seemed to impact his performance through 36 holes. McIlroy’s usual caddy, Harry Diamond, is at home as he and his wife are expecting their second child any day. The defending RBC Canadian Open champion is using long-time friend Niall O’Connor instead. O’Connor caddied for McIlroy once before, at the 2019 DP World Championship in Dubai. The pair met in their late teens. O’Connor played high-level rugby for Ulster and roomed with a good friend of McIlroy’s. He’s also a keen golfer. “Sort of bonded through my love of rugby and him playing and our love of golf,” said McIlroy. “He made the move over to the States a few years ago and (we) kept close.” McIlroy sits at 6-under heading into the weekend and is near the top of the leaderboard as he looks to defend a PGA TOUR title for the first time. “Overall it was a good score today,” said McIlroy. “I scrambled well when I needed to. I didn’t really take advantage of how well I hit it off the tee. But overall I felt it was, a couple under was a fair reflection of how the day went.” McIlroy said Diamond, who he has worked with since 2017, is “hopefully” on the bag next week at the U.S. Open.

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As of Tuesday afternoon, Webb Simpson is rostered by two-thirds of gamers in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf for the Wyndham Championship. Only two-thirds! How does this happen? Here, I was ready to recommend that only gamers in pursuit should abstain because front-runners will be using him for defensive purposes. Simpson at Sedgefield probably is on the podium of sites at which One & Doners write him down in ink before the season starts. Despite its slot on the schedule, it’s an acceptable push because you can’t lose ground in that format, but in the roster game that totals the scores for four golfers and with quadrupled bonus points in each of the three FedExCup Playoffs events lined up next, the smarter play is the no-play. Even if Simpson wins (again) at Sedgefield, you can absorb the hit with the promise of volatility straight ahead. If you’re still with me on that approach, pivot to Will Zalatoris. Because he’s not eligible for the Playoffs unless he wins the Wyndham, it’ll be his last start of the 2020-21 season. If you’re concerned about his health, that’s fair, but consider that he mustered the strength to sign for four rounds in the 60s at TPC Southwind en route to his T8. He’s absolutely ideal to spell Simpson for chasers. RELATED: Power Rankings | PGATOUR.COM Expert Picks PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf My roster for the Wyndham Championship (in alphabetical order): Russell Henley Sungjae Im Si Woo Kim Kevin Kisner Webb Simpson Will Zalatoris You’ll find my starters in Expert Picks. Others to consider for each category (in alphabetical order): Scoring: Joel Dahmen; Brian Harman; Jason Kokrak; Hideki Matsuyama; Seamus Power; Rory Sabbatini; Adam Scott; Brandt Snedeker; Matthew Wolff Driving: Joel Dahmen; Lucas Glover; Brian Harman; Jim Herman; Jason Kokrak; Hideki Matsuyama; Louis Oosthuizen; Harold Varner III POWER RANKINGS WILD CARD Rickie Fowler (+5000) … He’s fully exempt through the 2022-23 season but he’s not inside the bubble to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs, so there is pressure to perform slotted 130th. We give him the benefit of the doubt that he’s invigorated by the immediacy of something so valuable at stake, so reserve him for fractional purposes in DFS. DRAWS Lucas Glover (+8000)… He hadn’t yet qualified for The Open Championship (MC) and the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational (T57) until he won the John Deere Classic a month ago, so treat those starts as bonuses on which he didn’t capitalize. The Wyndham Championship has been a staple on his schedule throughout his career, so anticipate a rebound and a springboard into the Playoffs. At Sedgefield, he’s gone 8-for-12 with five top 25s. It’s a test that rewards his skill set as a ball-striker and it won’t overpower as the 41-year-old ages. Jim Herman (+10000)… It’s strange but true that he’s defending a title for the second time in three starts. Four weeks ago, he placed T20 at the Barbasol Championship after sitting on that trophy since 2019. Now he returns to Sedgefield where he shot 16-under 124 on the weekend to prevail by one shot. He had hung up a pair of top 20s previously on this track, so it already was a comfort zone for the ball-striker. With five consecutive paydays upon arrival this time, he projects to serve DFSers well. Tommy Fleetwood (+5000)… Good for the payday but he’s gone five months without a top 10 and sits 136th in the FedExCup. His worst-case scenario is that he falls short of the Playoffs and then focuses on the Ryder Cup. Ryan Armour Joel Dahmen Talor Gooch Zach Johnson Kevin Na Patrick Rodgers Charl Schwartzel Adam Scott Roger Sloan Harold Varner III Matthew Wolff Gary Woodland Odds sourced on Tuesday, August 3 at 5 a.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. FADES Erik van Rooyen (+6600)… Nappy Factor, uh, baby! Gotta credit him for retaining this week’s commitment after last week’s career-changing experience, and we know that he’s won abroad, but it’s been a heavy, life-changing summer for the 31-year-old South African. Let’s give him the week to decompress and celebrate. If he goes on to contend again, then it’ll be the exception for a scenario like his. Bubba Watson (+6600)… First trip to Sedgefield in 12 years, so I’m lowering expectations based on that alone. The 42-year-old has had a terrific season with five top 10s among nine top 25s, but he’s still just 71st in the FedExCup, so the timing to contribute once more and slide inside the top 70 for a deeper run is perfect. Francesco Molinari (+12500)… The cynic in me has to give attention to the fact that this will be his 15th start of the season. It meets the membership minimum to retain voting privileges and avoids a one-year restriction from membership. He’s 140th in the FedExCup (and has missed six of his last eight cuts worldwide), so he likely would need to finish no worse than sixth to qualify for the Playoffs. This is just his second appearance at Sedgefield (T24, 2014). Matt Jones Matt Kuchar Luke List Chez Reavie Justin Rose Kyle Stanley Brendon Todd Jhonattan Vegas RETURNING TO COMPETITION Hank Lebioda … Hasn’t played since the 3M Open where he made the cut but withdrew at the midpoint to be with his father who was experiencing a serious health-related issue. Prior to it, the lefty was on some kind of tear. He was 7-for-7 with a pair of top 20s ahead of a T5-T4-T8 run into July. Also 2-for-2 at Sedgefield, so with the resolution of knowing his dad is on the mend, the byproduct of what happened is experienced in the form of a mental break from the day job and physical rest. At 90th in the FedExCup, he’s poised to make noise now and next week. Kramer Hickok … Rested since walking off TPC Deere Run during the second round of the John Deere Classic with a sore rib. He’s 86th in the FedExCup on the strength of the eight-hole playoff loss at the Travelers two weeks prior. Wildly inconsistent, so invest elsewhere. Vaughn Taylor … Injuries to his lower back (3M) and a rib (Barracuda) forced mid-tournament withdrawals in consecutive starts. He’s 148th in the FedExCup and 6-for-8 at Sedgefield, but he is unownable until he proves he’s healthy. NOTABLE WDs Patrick Reed … It’s not often when I drop an “indefatigable” on a golfer, as I did on him in the Power Rankings before he opted out on Tuesday. You can’t play them all, which is how the conclusion of his season was lining up because of the late call to compete in the Olympics. He was on the road for four straight weeks through Memphis and the three-event Playoffs await. If there’s a negative to the rest, it’s that he’s forfeiting the chance to finish inside the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10. At 22nd in the FedExCup, he had a chance to rise to as high as eighth. Sam Burns … Now 10th in the FedExCup following his playoff loss at TPC Southwind. Pat Perez … It was interesting for a while there, but he climbed from outside the top 125 in the FedExCup with a sturdy summer that included a trio of top 15s. Currently 104th and headed back to the Playoffs. He’s missed only one edition in his career (2016) and that was because he was sidelined for eight months after having surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Rafa Cabrera Bello … At 169th in the FedExCup, the Spaniard will qualify only for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, but he already had locked that up when he finished 129th in the 2019-20 FedExCup. He’s a good reminder that all who finished 126-200 in points both last season and this season are eligible. Kevin Stadler … It would have been his last start on a Major Medical Extension. POWER RANKINGS RECAP – World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational Power Ranking Golfer Result 1 Brooks Koepka T54 2 Jordan Spieth T12 3 Daniel Berger T5 4 Louis Oosthuizen T17 5 Dustin Johnson T10 6 Collin Morikawa T26 7 Matt Fitzpatrick T57 8 Scottie Scheffler 14th 9 Viktor Hovland T36 10 Rory McIlroy T12 11 Justin Thomas T26 12 Webb Simpson T15 13 Billy Horschel T17 14 Abraham Ancer Win 15 Xander Schauffele T46 16 Shane Lowry T23 17 Corey Conners T36 18 Brian Harman T36 19 Phil Mickelson T17 20 Sergio Garcia T26 Wild Card Patrick Cantlay T23 SLEEPERS RECAP – World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational Golfer Result Jim Herman T46 Ryosuke Kinoshita T43 Martin Laird T57 Carlos Ortiz T36 Aaron Rai T26 POWER RANKINGS RECAP – Barracuda Championship Power Ranking Golfer Result 1 Branden Grace T30 2 Maverick McNealy T18 3 Ryan Moore MC 4 Emiliano Grillo T27 5 Brian Stuard MC 6 Brandt Snedeker MC 7 Chez Reavie T43 8 Thomas Pieters T54 9 Mito Pereira T39 10 Justin Suh MC OTHERS TO CONSIDER RECAP – Barracuda Championship Golfer Result Ryan Armour MC Brandon Hagy 5th Aaron Wise MC BIRTHDAYS AMONG ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE PGA TOUR August 10 … none August 11 … Morgan Hoffmann (32) August 12 … Chase Seiffert (30) August 13 … Tommy Gainey (46) August 14 … Lucas Bjerregaard (30) August 15 … Ted Purdy (48); Harold Varner III (31) August 16 … Will Zalatoris (25) Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ years of age or older to wager. 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