Twelve things you should know about Erin Hills

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Europe continued to dominate early on day two taking the first Four-ball session 3-1 before splitting the afternoon Foursomes 2-2. It all adds up to a 10-6 lead for the home side. It is a huge mountain to climb for the USA in Sunday singles but they can take heart from the 2012 Ryder Cup. In Chicago it was the USA who led 10-6 on Saturday but Europe turned it around to win. BEST MATCH The Foursomes match that led off the afternoon between Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson and Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson was impressive. The icemen from Europe known for their ball-striking and the bash brothers from the USA known for their incredible power. Johnson and Koepka started hot to lead but miscued on the fourth hole to relinquish the advantage. They remained close throughout but never regained it from that point. Europe pushed two holes clear at the 10th but lost the 12th hole to once again be just barely ahead. Sensing the comeback they found another buffer birdie on 13. Then Koepka stepped up on the 15th hole, hitting a laser approach to tap in range to give hope of a turnaround. Enter the iceman from Sweden. Stenson blocked a potential win for the USA on the 16th with a clutch par putt and then clinched the match with an even longer par save on the 17th. BEST AMERICANS Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas stood up to be counted on Saturday. Paired together in both sessions the young Americans claimed two valuable points. First they took down the powder keg duo of Ian Poulter and Jon Rahm in Four-ball 2 and 1 and then, when they were very much needed, they combined in Foursomes to take out Poulter and Rory McIlroy 4 and 3. They improved their record as a team to 3-1 in the process and look like a solid pairing into the future. BEST EUROPEANS Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari. Can’t go past the pair who created history as the first European duo to go 4-0 in a single Ryder Cup. They join Larry Nelson and Lanny Wadkins as the only pair to do it at all. Fleetwood is a rookie and as such became the most successful rookie point getter in European history, beating Sir Nick Faldo’s three from three in 1977. If he wins his singles match he will be the first European rookie to go 5-0 and just the third rookie of all time behind Gardner Dickinson (1967) and Larry Nelson (1979). BEST STAT In 2012 at Medinah in Chicago the European team trailed 10-4 late on Saturday before winning the last two matches to claw to 10-6 heading to Sunday singles. They were clutch wins as it sparked a momentous comeback on Sunday where they won the last session 8.5-3.5 to win the Cup. Can the USA repeat the Miracle at Medinah? Another similarity … it was the last Ryder Cup to go through the opening four sessions with no halved matches much like has happened so far in Paris. BEST USE OF HINDSIGHT Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed did not work as a combination on Friday. They did not work again on Saturday morning as Woods was forced to try to carry a woeful Reed but was unable to do so in a 4 and 3 loss to Molinari and Fleetwood. Reed’s play was especially poor on Saturday with multiple wild tee shots. In stroke play he would have struggled to break 80. But one thing about the man formerly dubbed as Captain America … he won’t give up. He will need to turn things around and salvage something in singles. ROOKIE REVIEW USA Bryson DeChambeau (0-2-0) – Once again sat out the morning before being paired with Tiger Woods in alternate shot. The pair hit the buzz saw that was Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood and were thrashed. Hit some poor shots under pressure. Justin Thomas (3-1-0) – Teamed with good friend and fellow former FedExCup champ Jordan Spieth in both sessions again on Saturday. This time they managed two critical victories. Tried desperately to lift the American tilt. Tony Finau (1-1-0) – Unable to repeat Friday mornings win with Brooks Koepka, falling to Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy 2 and 1. Stepped up late in the match with a couple of wins, including a great putt on the 16th hole, but it wasn’t enough.  EUROPE Tommy Fleetwood (4-0-0) – A stud on debut in the Ryder Cup. Teamed with Francesco Molinari to become just the second pairing ever to go 4-0 in a single Ryder Cup and the first ever Europeans to do so. Takes the record for most points earned by a European rookie in Ryder Cup history. Alex Noren (1-1-0) – Sat out the morning once more before once again joining Sergio Garcia in Foursomes. After a big win on Friday they were unable to repeat, falling to Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson. Tyrrell Hatton (1-1-0) – Played a solid support role to Paul Casey in Four-ball on the way to an impressive win over Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler. While Casey was the chief destroyer Hatton’s clever play opened the door for his teammate to be aggressive. Thorbjørn Olesen (0-1-0) – Was benched all day Saturday. Jon Rahm (0-2-0) – Despite playing with plenty of passion Rahm was once again on the losing side in the morning Four-ball and sat out the afternoon session. While he produced handfuls of great holes he also failed to uphold the standard throughout with the lack of consistency proving costly.

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After this week’s doubleheader consisting of the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and the Bermuda Championship, the PGA TOUR rests for one week before finishing the fall with the Mayakoba Golf Classic and The RSM Classic. As a result, the Fantasy Insider column will be on hiatus until Tuesday, Nov. 12, thus the additional week of birthdays at the bottom. RELATED: Power Rankings: WGC-HSBC Champions | Power Rankings: Bermuda Championship | Daily fantasy advice Only the WGC-HSBC Champions is in play for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. If it scores anything like the first two stops on the Asian Swing, then the winner of the week will land at right around 880 points. That was the total posted by “tampatom” as the medalist at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. The four-way T1 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP touched 877 points. ShotLink remains off for all fantasy action until the Sentry Tournament of Champions launches Segment 2 in January. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf My roster for the WGC-HSBC Champions (in alphabetical order): Paul Casey Tony Finau Hideki Matsuyama Rory McIlroy Justin Rose Adam Scott You’ll find my starters in Expert Picks. Others to consider for each category (in alphabetical order): Scoring: Rafa Cabrera Bello; Sungjae Im; Francesco Molinari; Andrew Putnam; Xander Schauffele; Danny Willett Driving: n/a Power Rankings Wild Card Cameron Smith … As he rapidly rounds back into form, which he’s proven to do at this time of year, something will give. Despite success in the fourth quarter, he’s finished just T64 (2015) and T54 (2018) at Sheshan International. His scoring average is 73.38. Because there’s no cut, you’re better off rolling the dice with a talent who’s had success here before. However, if you’re into contrarianism, he presents as the golden ticket given the value of course experience. So, consider fractionally in DFS. Draws Danny Willett … At ninth in the Race to Dubai and with a win at the BMW PGA Championship, he’s proven to be all the way back from injury and disappointment. The 2016 Masters champion is among the best putters on the European Tour, but that strength pays off his similarly capable approach game. Placed T3 at Sheshan International in 2015 when he walked off with a course-record-tying 62. Francesco Molinari … Once upon a time, his victory at Sheshan International (in 2010) was considered official for PGA TOUR annals, but it was later stripped for clearer record-keeping. (This tournament endured a few years of unofficial/official placement before all doubt was eliminated in 2013.) So, the Italian’s official breakthrough victory occurred at the Quicken Loans National in 2018. That history lesson aside, his tee-to-green game along should trigger a top 25, but inconsistent form here recently and in recent weeks has lowered his temperature among gamers. Kurt Kitayama … Look away if you’re the analytical type and focus only on the results, especially the most recent. The UNLV product plies his craft on the European Tour where he’s a two-time winner this season. And in his last four circuit starts, he’s gone T21-T14-3rd-4th to sit 12th in the Race to Dubai. The 26-year-old has captured the attention of DFSers for a while now, but this marks his debut in a World Golf Championship. Go ahead and find a seat on the bandwagon. Rafa Cabrera Bello Sergio Garcia Shane Lowry Louis Oosthuizen Andrew Putnam Xinjun Zhang Fades Jordan Spieth … In retrospect, I gave him too much benefit of the doubt at Narashino where his struggling tee-to-green game cost him. He couldn’t find the magic on the greens and finished T66. So, rather than chase his shadow once again at Sheshan International, I’m stuffing my hands into my pockets until the roster deadline. However, if you’re curious, in his last appearance in 2015, he finished T7 despite checking up at T71 in fairways hit and T61 in greens in regulation. That’s because he led the field with only 101 putts and ranked ninth in putts per GIR. Matthew Fitzpatrick … Why does a guy with four runner-up finishes in a single season on the European Tour deserve this treatment? It’s because he swings so far to the other end of the spectrum when he’s not dialed in. Last week’s 75th-place finish in Japan was baffling. The conservative in me must leave him to longer-term formats until he exhibits an aversion to big numbers. The same model can be applied to his experienced at Sheshan International where he has a pair of top 10s, a T16 and a T54. Hao Tong Li … Hasn’t missed an edition since it’s been an official PGA TOUR event (2013-present), and he’s gone for a pair of top 15s, but they are his only top 30s and he’s been struggling of late. No need to reach on the native of China at home. Justin Harding Jason Kokrak Phil Mickelson Chez Reavie Bubba Watson Returning to Competition None. Notable WDs Kevin Na … Numerous qualifiers at the WGC-HSBC Champions elected not to commit, but he withdrew after the deadline. You won’t miss him, though. He hasn’t finished inside the top 50 in his last three tries at Sheshan International. Bud Cauley … After a T9 at the Houston Open and two weeks off, he’s 44th in the FedExCup standings, so there’s no urgency to play again until he’s ready. Martin Trainer … Sigh. He’s opened his sophomore season with five missed cuts in as many starts and he’s gone 16 in a row without a payday. The silver lining is that the 2019 Puerto Rico Open champ is fully exempt on the PGA TOUR through 2020-21. Mark Anderson … He’s 2-for-4 on the season, 118th in the FedExCup and currently set to rise into the top 20 of the graduate reshuffle with still two more playing opportunities before the category reorders for the first time (after The RSM Classic). Power Rankings Recap – ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP Power Ranking  Golfer  Result 1  Justin Thomas  T17 2  Rory McIlroy  T3 3  Hideki Matsuyama  2nd 4  Gary Woodland  5th 5  Adam Scott  T33 6  Matthew Fitzpatrick  75th 7  Patrick Reed  T17 8  Paul Casey  T17 9  Xander Schauffele  T10 10  Adam Hadwin  T41 11  Tommy Fleetwood  T22 12  Tony Finau  T59 13  Jordan Spieth  T66 14  Ryan Moore  T72 15  Louis Oosthuizen  T46 Wild Card  Jason Day  T22 Sleepers Recap – ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP Golfer  Result Ryo Ishikawa  T51 Nate Lashley  WD Shaun Norris  T51 Kevin Streelman  74th Vaughn Taylor  T41 Birthdays among active golfers on the PGA TOUR October 29 … none October 30 … none October 31 … Mark Wilson (45) November 1 … none November 2 … James Hahn (38); Adam Hadwin (32) November 3 … none November 4 … Kevin Streelman (41) November 5 … Jim Herman (42); Bubba Watson (41) November 6 … Scott Piercy (41) November 7 … Maverick McNealy (24); Joaquin Niemann (21) November 8 … Troy Matteson (40); Francesco Molinari (37) November 9 … David Duval (48); Ted Potter, Jr. (36); Nicholas Lindheim (35) November 10 … Jon Rahm (25) November 11 … Robert Garrigus (42); Joel Dahmen (32)

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