Valero Texas Open: Milestone moments

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Harris English leads by two after 54 holes at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. A second-straight 65 has his third win of the season and No. 1 in the FedExCup standings just one round away. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Leishman’s emotional reunion with parents English has led after each of the first three rounds in the World Golf Championships event, opening with a 62 to go with the two 65s to get to 18-under 192. He’s in position for the fifth PGA TOUR victory. “I love playing with pressure,” English said. “I think it helps me focus. It’s a privilege to be in this spot. You have to take (challenges) on.” The 2013 champion at TPC Southwind, English won the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January in Hawaii and the Travelers Championship in June in Connecticut. He finished third at the U.S. Open. Cameron Smith had a 65 to join DeChambeau at 16 under. Abraham Ancer (67) was 14 under. Scottie Scheffler (67) and Ian Poulter (67) were 13 under. The long-hitting DeChambeau birdied four of the first five holes on the back nine. The third came at the par-4 13th after nearly holing out his approach. DeChambeau’s tap-in birdie took him to 14 under, one shot behind the leaders. He tied English and Ancer for the lead on the following hole, making a 10-footer to reach 15 under. DeChambeau got to 16 under — to remain tied with English — with a short birdie putt on No. 16 after narrowly missing an eagle attempt from 11 feet. Ancer rejoined them with a 4-foot birdie, also at the 16th. English created separation atop the leaderboard by birdieing two of the last three holes. Second-ranked Dustin Johnson had a 65 to get to 11 under. Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama shot a 64 to reach at 9 under He eagled Nos. 3 and 16, the two par 5s at TPC Southwind. Jordan Spieth was 7 under after a 63.

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With one more win, Tiger Woods will tie Sam Snead for most career PGA TOUR victories at 82. Each time Tiger tees it up, we’ll take a look at his chances for that particular week. Here’s a CHASING 82 preview entering this week’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush. RECENT FORM Difficult to say what his form is, given the fact that his last competitive start was the U.S. Open. From that final round to Thursday’s first round at Royal Portrush, 32 days will have passed. And in the 95 days since winning the Masters in mid-April, he has played just 10 competitive rounds – a missed cut at the PGA Championship, a T-9 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, and a T-21 at the U.S. Open. NBA players could learn a lesson from Woods about load management. But that’s not to say Woods has avoided preparing for the Open. Earlier this month, Nike posted a video in which Woods discusses waking up at 1 a.m. ET in order to prep for the time change for the Open, which is five hours ahead. “If you want to succeed, if you want to get better, if you want to win, if you want to accomplish your goals, it all starts with getting up early in the morning,â€� Woods explained in the video. Although Woods has never played a competitive event in Northern Ireland, he has played practice rounds there while prepping for previous Opens. But this will be the first time he’s seen Royal Portrush. “I’ve only played (Royal) County Down, I’ve never been up to Portrush and I’m looking forward to getting up there and taking a look at the golf course and trying to figure it out,” Woods said. “I’ll get there early and do a little bit of homework – see if the golf course is going to be dry, fast or not. “Hopefully I’ll get practice rounds with different winds to try and get a feel for the golf course.â€� TOURNAMENT HISTORY Woods is making his 21st start in the Open Championship and has won three times: 2000 – At St. Andrews, Woods won with a final score of 19 under, eight strokes ahead of Thomas Bjorn and Ernie Els. The 19 under was the lowest score, in relation to par, of any major winner (eventually surpassed by Jason Day at 21 under at the 2015 PGA Championship). Woods’ win also completed the career Grand Slam. “It may be years before I fully appreciate it, but I’m inclined to believe that winning the Open at the Home of Golf is the ultimate achievement in the sport,â€� Woods said. 2005 – At St. Andrews, Woods won by five strokes over Colin Montgomerie, leading wire to wire. It was the 10th major win of his career. “When I first started playing the Tour, I didn’t think I’d have this many majors before the age of 30,â€� said the then-29-year-old Woods. “ There’s no way. No one ever has.â€�  2006 – At Royal Liverpool, Woods won by two strokes over Chris DiMarco, an emotional victory as it was his first major win after the death of his father Earl two months earlier. “To win your first tournament after my father had passed away, and for it to be a major championship, it makes it that much more special,â€� Woods said. “And mom was watching, I’m sure she was bawling her eyes out.â€� It was the first time a player had won consecutive Opens since Tom Watson in 1982-83. Since his last win, Woods’ best finish was a T-3 at Royal Lytham in 2012. Last year at Carnoustie, he was in contention midway through the final round until a double bogey-bogey stretch on his back nine, eventually finishing T-6. TEE TIMES Tee times for the Open can be found here.

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PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO At first glance of the top 10 in ownership percentages for the Travelers Championship, you’d wonder if Jordan Spieth withdrew. (Relax, he didn’t pull out. On the contrary. He converted birdies on his first two holes to open his debut at TPC River Highlands and is well on his way to making noise this week.) Even if you don’t visit this recap often, that Spieth would slot outside the top 10 in anything should surprise you. Of course, the explanation is obvious, well, as obvious as it gets in the context of reviewing gamer dedication. The Travelers is the last of 11 tournaments in Segment 3, seven of which Spieth has played. Plain and simple, we’ve run dry as a group on starts. In fact, that 19.1 percent of you still had one start remaining is the surprise. Another shocker is who doesn’t appear below. Defending champions usually get some benefit of the doubt with gamers, but not Russell Knox. He slots a distant 27th at just 4.4 percent. The last time Jim Furyk signed a card at TPC River Highlands, it added up to 58. Yet, he’s just 23rd in ownership percentage at 5.3 percent. Other notables off the radar include Zach Johnson (16th, 14.4 percent), Keegan Bradley (19th, 8.1 percent), Chez Reavie (26th, 4.9 percent) and Bud Cauley (32nd, 2.7 percent). NOTE: Rob’s Rating refers to where our Fantasy Insider slotted a golfer in his Power Rankings. Golfers in the Power Rankings and outside the top 10 in most owned PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO No shortage of talent at TPC River Highlands this week, but curious gamers will immediately notice the absence of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day among the top 10 most-owned at the Travelers Championship. Of course, this takes nothing away from the golfers listed below because this is entirely about fantasy strategy and not some sort of popularity contest, but it’s still pretty incredible that not even one of the three heavyweights cracked the top 10. McIlroy is 11th at 1.5 percent, Spieth slots 12th at 1.4 percent and Day checks in 14th at 1.3 percent. If one of those guys takes the title, it would be a coup for gamers invested. And that’s precisely the point in an event when their opponents shopped elsewhere. It doesn’t get any better than surprising your competition with 500 FedExCup points when they expect it least. However, the last laugh may await in the Playoffs when a solo fourth-place finish rewards 540 points. From that perspective, McIlroy, Spieth or Day would need to win this week to validate the pick. But, and obviously, only one can. Other notables outside the top 10 include Webb Simpson (15th, 1.3 percent), Tony Finau (16th, 1.1 percent), Jim Furyk (18th, 1.0 percent) and Graham DeLaet (T20, 0.7 percent). Defending champion Russell Knox is 19th at 0.7 percent. Johnson Wagner and Brett Stegmaier paced the morning wave in the opening round with 6-under 64s, but only Wagner was selected as a One & Done and by only one gamer.

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