Webb Simpson WDs from BMW Championship

SAN ANTONIO — For the fifth straight year, Jimmy Walker, the unofficial Valero Texas Open ambassador, hosted 30-40 players and Titleist-FootJoy staff at his home for a barbecue Tuesday night. Walker cooked a 20-pound brisket, four big Tomahawk steaks as well as some strips, while wife, Erin, made the sides. “I mean it was all gone,” Walker said. Among those who partook in the feast was Rickie Fowler, who piled his plate high with brisket and steak. “Jimmy’s a good cook,” Fowler said. “He knows what he’s doing. He can hold his own on the grill.” Fowler, 30, is hoping to hold his own at TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course, where he’s making his PGA TOUR debut. “It’s my 10th year on TOUR and it’s not often it’s your first time being somewhere else,” Fowler said. Walker said Fowler had visited him at his home prior to the WGC Dell Matchplay a few years ago to hang out and practice, but he didn’t need to make any sales pitch to attract Fowler to add his home game to his schedule. “It was pretty much a no-brainer when they got this date (pre-Masters rather than post-Masters) that he would be here,” Walker said. “It’s good. I think I saw a lot of little kids running around in orange yesterday, and that’s huge. There’s a new part of the country that gets to see Rickie play in person and that’s great.” Fowler is here for one obvious reason. Count him among the players firmly in the camp of preferring to play the week before a major championship. Fowler had played in the Shell Houston Open in each of the previous five years when it was the final stop before the Masters. “It just makes me feel more comfortable and more confident,” Fowler explained. “It’s a great week to check some boxes or figure out what boxes need to be checked early next week.” With a victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and two other top-4 finishes, Fowler is looking to build on his momentum and would like nothing more than another multiple-win season like he had in 2015. The momentum from a T-2 at the Honda Classic was temporarily slowed at THE PLAYERS, his fourth tournament in a four-week stretch, when Fowler got sick on the eve of the tournament. “If I had to play Thursday morning, I don’t think I would have made my tee time,” said Fowler, refreshed from a two-week break. “I was happy just making it to the weekend.” That won’t be the case at TPC San Antonio, where Fowler expects to gain a lot from the competitive reps.  “If you play well, get in content and win, it’s just a bonus,” he said.

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Here are nine tidbits from the third round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Jack Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village Golf Club, just outside Columbus, Ohio, has hosted for the 42 previous events and plays 7,392 yards to a Par-72. PAIN OR GAIN These were the top-10 picked golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: With another day of excellent scoring conditions, MVGC played under-par for the second day in a row. We saw plenty of movement in both directions from the most selected players! The roller coaster rolls on tomorrow as thunderstorms are forecast for the afternoon. Trying to beat the weather, tee times are now threesomes off No. 1 and No. 10 starting at 7: 30 am and concluding with leader Bryson DeChambeau (-14), Patrick Cantlay (-13) and Kyle Stanley (-13) at 9:30 am. Make sure your lineups are sorted tonight! Also, LIVE STREAMING will be provided on PGATOURLIVE.COM and CBSSports.com starting at 11 am. Alone Last week at Colonial, Bryson DeChambeau birdied his first two holes on Saturday from T6 and looked to be in the fight. He played the rest of his round in three-over-par and finished the round T31. This week on Saturday he racked up a bogey-free 66 to move into first place alone after 54 holes. His only win on TOUR was last summer at the John Deere Classic where he came from four shots off the lead. That’s where Justin Rose will start tomorrow with Tiger Woods one behind the Englishman. Recent Experiences Patrick Cantlay will make up one third of the final pairing tomorrow as he also posted 66 in Round 3. Unlike DeChambeau, Cantlay picked up a pair of eagles, including an ace on No. 8, but squared two bogeys for his total. Like DeChambeau this is only his second event at MVGC. He’ll be looking to join the group of multiple winners this season as he picked up his first at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas last November. Rear View Mirror Kyle Stanley and Joaquin Niemann both posted 70 from the final two-some Saturday and will sit one off DeChambeau’s lead. Stanley won last summer at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farms in a playoff and has a pair of top-10 finishes at MVGC, including T6 last year. In Niemann’s two top-10 paydays this year he’s closed with 67 (Valero) and 66 (Colonial) but he wasn’t one shot off the lead. If he cards four or five-under tomorrow again I’ll LOVE his chances but I’m more interested to see how he reacts with a chance to win! Large Cat Prowling With a birdie on No. 15, Tiger Woods was tied for the lead on 11-under. With bogeys, plural, on two of the next three holes, Woods donated two shots to the field and eventually ended the day T7. He’s leading the event in SG: tee to green and proximity but his putter hasn’t blown up yet. He finished Round 3 69th in SG: putting (of 81 players) so it’s back to the practice green again tonight. He had troubles closing rounds at THE PLAYERS and don’t look at his front nine vs. back nine scores from this week either. Since he’s my O&D this week, I’ll be in charge of the pompoms tomorrow! On Your Marc I usually mention at least once during the week about #Play72. The most difficult part of fantasy golf is waiting for it to end some weeks and this is one of those weeks for the Marc Leishman supporters. He made the cut on the number and faced the MDF on Saturday before making six birdies to move to T37. He’s first off tomorrow on No.1 and will have perfect greens to putt. Don’t give up just yet! Moving Day Rory McIlroy fired a bogey-free 64 for the lowest round of the week and moved up 58 spots to T11. He has a wonderful top gear that was on display with an eagle and six birdies. The 63 he fired in the first round in 2014 is still his best so he’s hardly in uncharted waters. … We haven’t mentioned Whee Kim since he fell in a playoff at the Shriners to Cantlay. His best payday since the first weekend in November was the following week when he cashed for T45 at OHL Classic at Mayakoba. He moved up 28 spots to T7 after 67 in Round 3. He’s second in SG: putting for the week. Moving Day: Wrong Way Just when I think I’ve solved the Jason Day mystery at MVGC he drops 24 spots to T28 in Round 3. On another day with optimum scoring conditions, the Aussie and club member limped around in 74. There were only six scores worse than 74 Saturday. … The frustration for gamers who back Henrik Stenson at MVGC continued again in Round 3. The Swede couldn’t bounce from his 66 in Round 2 as he dropped 12 spots to T21 after an even-par 72. He’s painting fairways and greens but his trusty short game hasn’t been on point. … MDF claimed eight players including Kevin Kisner and Adam Hadwin as more than 78 players made the 36-hole cut. Study Hall Round 1 scored 72.558 (+.558) and there were just three bogey-free rounds. Round 2 entered the history books as it was just the 13th round in history to average less than 71.00 (70.458). Round 3 fell right in the middle at 71.173 (-0.827). … Byeong-Hun An (5th) is the only player with two bogey-free rounds (Rounds 2 and 3). … Francesco Molinari, like Rose, is looking to win back-to-back events as he’ll begin the final round of the Italian Open one behind England’s Lee Slattery.

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