Top 30 Players to Watch in 2019: No. 22 Xander Schauffele

The Olympic Games men’s golf competition gets underway Wednesday evening in the Eastern Time Zone. Note: This event is not part of the official PGA TOUR Fantasy game.

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When Justin Rose captured the FedExCup in 2018, he became the first champion without a victory in the same Playoffs. That possibility no longer exists with the revised format of the TOUR Championship. The winner of this week’s TOUR Championship is the FedExCup champion. It’s that simple. What requires a moment to understand is why all 30 in the field aren’t starting the tournament at even par like usual. So, scroll past the ranking for an explanation on the format, other wrinkles of the tournament and more. NOTE: This full-field Power Rankings includes starting score for every golfer in the field. POWER RANKINGS: TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP The 13th TOUR Championship of the FedExCup era is unlike every other. The FedExCup Starting Strokes scoring system segregates the field by FedExCup ranking upon arrival. As the top seed, BMW Championship winner Justin Thomas begins the 72-hole competition at East Lake at 10-under. Patrick Cantlay, the 2-seed, opens at 8-under. The cascade effect continues all the way down to those seeded 26-30, who start traditionally at even par. While there likely will be curiosity for who actually scores best, the starting leaderboard will reflect official position. If it helps understand it at first, think of the opening round as if at least one round was already played and you’re viewing the continuation of the same tournament. There is no cut, so all qualifiers are guaranteed 72 holes. The winner of the TOUR Championship will be credited with an official victory, but the earnings will be bonus in nature only. The champ will receive $15 million, the runner-up $5 million, and so on down to $395,000 for 30th place. So, there is no stand-alone purse with official money for the field. The BMW represented the last tournament of the 2018-19 season with official earnings. The FedExCup Starting Strokes scoring system could be responsible for the end of a nine-year drought during which the top seed entering the TOUR Championship has failed to win the FedExCup. Five of the last six FedExCup champions arrived as the 2-seed, including defending champ Justin Rose. No golfer ever has won consecutive FedExCups. Only Tiger Woods (2007, 2009) has captured multiple titles. This year’s field is populated by seven golfers who started the three-event Playoffs outside the top 30 in FedExCup points. The lowest opening seed to qualify is Abraham Ancer. He started THE NORTHERN TRUST seeded 67th and parlayed it with a runner-up finish at Liberty National into debuts in the TOUR Championship and the Presidents Cup. Ancer, who is now seeded 10th, also is one of four PGA TOUR non-winners in the field. Tommy Fleetwood (22nd), rookie Sungjae Im (24th) and Jason Kokrak (30th) are the others. The highest opening seed who failed to advance to East Lake was Shane Lowry. He started 20th and finished 33rd after going a respective T52-T48 in the first two events. He withdrew early from a pair of commitments late in the regular season, but, and of course, his consolation prize is the claret jug. Not too shabby. After two weeks of tackling migrating host tracks, the field lands at the only site used for the TOUR Championship in Playoffs history. All but four – Ancer, Im, Kokrak and Corey Conners – have pegged it at the consistently firm and fair test of East Lake in Atlanta. The stock par 70 tips at 7,346 yards. This is the fourth year since the nines were reversed so that the tournament concludes on a par 5 instead of a par 3. Last year’s field averaged 69.617, which hit the bull’s-eye of the expectation when you consider the setup and the quality of the competition. As the longest of the par 70s in non-majors, smashing drivers is encouraged and capitalizing on the pair of par 5s is all but a prerequisite to contend. While always vulnerable, Nos. 5 and 18 surrendered a scoring average of just 4.43 last year. That’s lowest in the FedExCup era since the inaugural of 2007 and fourth-easiest of 51 courses last season. With FedExCup Starting Strokes now in play, the premium of converting eagles and birdies on the eight times through these holes is more valuable than ever. Overall, like all worthy courses, the test toughens nearer the green. Hitting the averaged-sized greens in regulation 11 or 12 times per round is keeping up with the joneses even in the tiniest field of the season. Putting on what might be the fastest surfaces groomed by the PGA TOUR multiplies the challenge. The MiniVerde bermudagrass greens could roll up to 13 feet on the Stimpmeter. That said, top speeds are unlikely with the persistent threat and likely reality of rain throughout the week. As a result, scoring will favor the aggressive, which only will make it more difficult for those starting at the bottom of the leaderboard to gain ground. Warm and humid air won’t be impacted much by light winds, either. In addition to the richest prize in the history of the PGA TOUR, the FedExCup champion also will receive a three-year membership exemption. By qualifying for the tournament, all 30 in the field are exempt into the Masters, the U.S. Open and The Open Championship, as well as the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and WGC-Mexico Championship next season. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Reshuffle, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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This is one of the most fascinating weeks of the season. Whether you’re pacing or chasing, because the Wells Fargo Championship is loaded with chalk that has played well and often at Quail Hollow over the years, ownership percentages will be top-heavy. And even if you don’t play in every tournament – this is the 28th of 46 in 2018-19 – it’s highly likely that many of those choices are off your board and those of your opposition because of where we are in the season. The additional layer of intrigue is that most of the chalk will have our attention at each of the last three majors, so the tug of war between the now and the later is real. Rory McIlroy all but owns Quail Hollow, so if you need to go for the downs, take your swing. If you’re thinking about holstering, you don’t deserve the option. And after reading that remark, if you’re still considering abstaining, pat yourself on the back for waiting until now to get him in there. I’ll do whatever it takes for you to understand his value on this track. I remain bullish on Rickie Fowler’s chances in a major this summer, but he also presents smartly as a weapon if you need to cut into your deficit. Like McIlroy twice at Quail Hollow (2010, 2015), Fowler also is a former champ (2012) and his overall record is phenomenal. If you’re stuck between the two, first understand how nice of a problem that is, and then burn Fowler now and keep McIlroy in your pocket for a major. Jason Day is the defending champion. He’s never won the same tournament in consecutive editions, but he’s always on the short list of candidates to turn the trick because of his talent. I love him again this week, but consider saving for the PGA Championship or the FedExCup Playoffs (even though none of the three stops appears in his Future Possibilities). Paul Casey also is on that short list, but he’s just outside our focus in the majors, so if you’re as fortunate as I am to give him a go, pounce. You’ll note that the Travelers Championship is his top spot, but I’ve penciled in three-time champion Bubba Watson for that event the week after the U.S. Open. (The lefty is not competing at the Wells Fargo Championship.) Quail Hollow will challenge Phil Mickelson’s approach in 2019. Overseeded bermuda rough as long as two-and-a-half inches goes against his better-laid plan to avoid it, and that’s simply hard to do as he continues to tee it up in familiar spots. His results were not inspiring after he prevailed at Pebble Beach and prior to a T18 at Augusta National where the second cut isn’t penal. Target the return trip to Pebble Beach for the U.S. Open even though he’ll be chasing the career grand slam and the course should be a brute. It’s scheduled to conclude on his birthday (June 16), so maybe his wish will finally come true. Another curiosity is Justin Rose only because Quail Hollow doesn’t rank in his top tier of go-to tracks as he scrambles for form. No one would be surprised if he won, of course, but One & Doners in every situation don’t need to risk it with him. He’s one example of how the timing of the tournament benefits you. Other notables who resonate similarly coolly include Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Reed, Gary Woodland, Tony Finau, Sergio Garcia and local resident Webb Simpson. All are usable in roster games, but we’ll turn to them in our world another time. Two-man gamers should employ the aforementioned advice for your primary, and then gives the likes of Lucas Glover, Jason Kokrak, J.B. Holmes and Luke List a look to ride shotgun. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2018-19. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Byeong Hun An … Memorial (1) Daniel Berger … Travelers (1) Keegan Bradley … Memorial (5); Travelers (4) Paul Casey … Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (1); TOUR Championship (3) Jason Day … Wells Fargo (6 defending); PGA Championship (3); U.S. Open (10); Open Championship (9) Jason Dufner … Charles Schwab (6); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (2); Wyndham (8); TOUR Championship (10) Tony Finau … Memorial (2) Rickie Fowler … Wells Fargo (6); PGA Championship (9); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (10) Sergio Garcia … Open Championship (5); TOUR Championship (2) Bill Haas … Charles Schwab (2); Wyndham (6) Adam Hadwin … John Deere (5) Brian Harman … Charles Schwab (1); Travelers (5); John Deere (4) J.B. Holmes … Wells Fargo (5) Zach Johnson … Charles Schwab (5); John Deere (1); Open Championship (2); TOUR Championship (8) Martin Laird … Barracuda (2) Hideki Matsuyama … PGA Championship (13); Memorial (8); U.S. Open (14); Wyndham (7); TOUR Championship (5) Rory McIlroy … Wells Fargo (3); Memorial (5); Travelers (8); Open Championship (1); TOUR Championship (6) Phil Mickelson … Wells Fargo (2); U.S. Open (6); Open Championship (9); WGC-St. Jude (3) Patrick Reed … PGA Championship (4); U.S. Open (3); Travelers (7) Justin Rose … Charles Schwab (7; defending); Memorial (4); Open Championship (8); TOUR Championship (2) Webb Simpson … Wells Fargo (7); Charles Schwab (8); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1) Brendan Steele … Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (4); Barracuda (3) Henrik Stenson … PGA Championship (4); Open Championship (6); Wyndham (8); TOUR Championship (7) Kevin Streelman … Memorial (4); Travelers (7) Jimmy Walker … Byron Nelson (6) Gary Woodland … Memorial (4)

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