Who, if anyone, can catch Dustin Johnson, and other big final-round Masters questions

The Hero World Challenge, hosted by Tiger Woods and his TGR Foundation, takes place at Albany in the Bahamas this week. The 20-man field was set to feature Woods in his first start since The 150th Open Championship in July but the 82-time PGA TOUR winner was forced to withdraw with plantar fasciitis. Sepp Straka gets the late call up against some elite talent. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $300K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st] STRATEGY The field might be very limited with only 20 players, but it’s elite and features golfers from across the globe. All 20 reside inside the top 33 of the OWGR, giving us plenty of top options down the board to choose from for fantasy. Last year’s winner and runner-up (Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler) are both in the field, as is 2018 winner Jon Rahm, who won twice on the DP World Tour this fall. With such a limited field — and every player guaranteed to get in four rounds of golf — every pick we make will have serious consequences for our daily fantasy golf lineups, so prepare for some big swings up and down the leaderboard this week as the event progresses. Albany is set near the sea and has little in the way of cover, with wide-open fairways tending to deemphasize power. Even with heavy winds from the sea often affecting play, the course itself is conducive to lower scoring. Albany has yielded a winning score of 18-under par or better in each of the past five seasons. The venue is unique in its setup in that designer Ernie Els set up Albany to play as more of a links-style venue, and Els even compared it stylistically to St. Andrews at one point. Rickie Fowler, who has proven himself to be an excellent links player (but who doesn’t qualify as a long hitter), is a past champion. The venue is also unique in that it features five par 5s and five par 3s (instead of the normal four we find on most par 72s). That makes this more of a shot-makers course and also siphons away some of the advantages that longer drivers have. Without a ton of the longer par 4s that we see on more traditional PGA TOUR setups, players who are weaker off the tee can challenge this week if they are firing with their approaches and putter. It’s near the end of the year and players will be coming in with varying form, but strong around the green and approach play has generally been the key to success at this event. Look for players who have been sharp in those areas this fall and who have experienced some success on the links in their careers already. GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Justin Thomas ($10,200) Taking Thomas this week could be a nice contrarian play in larger field tournaments on DraftKings. The American only played a couple of events over the fall with a T40 at THE CJ CUP in South Carolina being his best result. That’s not likely to get him a ton of eyeballs on a week where you only have to pay $500 more to get up to the red-hot Jon Rahm or have the choice of going more balanced by using players like Tony Finau ($9,300) and Viktor Hovland ($8,700) as your anchors. Thomas finally cracked the top 10 at this event in 2021, grabbing a T5 finish at Albany last season. With limited starts on his resume since the TOUR Championship, he should be eager to improve on that career-best finish in 2022. He’s also ranked first in around the green stats over the last 50 rounds in this field and has had plenty of success winning at non-mainland PGA TOUR courses over his career, grabbing wins in Malaysia, Hawaii (twice) and South Korea to date. While his price may seem high, his upside is every bit as elite as the other top players in the field, making him a solid contrarian play to build around in big field GPPs. Tommy Fleetwood ($7,300) Fleetwood is an experienced links player who has already had a terrific 2022 season and is coming off a win on the DP World Tour just a few weeks ago in South Africa. Like Thomas, Fleetwood has an elite short game that should allow him to handle this venue if and when the wind gets up. Fleetwood has also shown a ton of confidence with the putter over the back half of 2022, gaining strokes on the greens in six of his last seven PGA TOUR starts. A top-five finisher at The Open Championship in two of the past four years, Fleetwood also showed strong at Albany the last time he played this event in 2017 (his only invite), grabbing a share of third. Given his recent form and the success he’s had on links venues in the past, using him as a value play in this range makes plenty of sense for DFS purposes. Collin Morikawa ($6,900) Even in this elite field, Morikawa’s sub-$7,000 salary sticks out like a sore thumb. The two-time major winner may have had a down season by his standards, but he still finished top five at two of the four major championships in 2022, and encouragingly, looked better in his last fall start in Mexico where he grabbed a share of 15th place. Morikawa’s last two starts have also seen him gain strokes around the green which is perhaps a sign that the rest of his game is catching up to his elite iron play — which has him ranked third in this field in strokes gained approach stats over the last 50 rounds. Morikawa is an Open Championship winner who also prevailed for a big win against an elite WGC field down in Florida (at the very open and windy Concession Golf Course). He finished T5 at this event/venue last season and comes in with more motivation than his peers given he’s gone the entire year without a win. At under $7,000 on DraftKings, he’s criminally underpriced (even in this limited field) and makes for a terrific value target this week for fantasy. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $300K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st] Place your golf bets at DraftKings Sportsbook and bet online by downloading the DraftKings Sportsbook app. I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is wavegoodbye) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.

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The Florida Swing is in full effect and Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge is the next challenge, the second of four consecutive weeks in the Sunshine State. An invitational field of 123 will try to tame The King’s Par-72, 7,466 yard playground as Bay Hill hosts for the 43rd time. RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks | The First Look Dick Wilson laid out the original in 1961 but Palmer started the major renovations in 2009 and regrassed all of the greens with TifEagle Bermuda in 2015. Those massive greens average 7,500 square feet, 1,500 square feet larger than last week at The Concession. Prepped to run 12 feet, the flat stick will definitely have a say in who takes home the biggest prize. Big targets off the tee and into the green reward those who find the short grass. Missing those large targets will come with large penalties, including 84 bunkers and water in play on half of the course. Keeping it off the beach and out of the drink isn’t as easy as it sounds with three inches of over-seeded Bermuda rough. The invitational field, similarly to Genesis, will enjoy an elevated prize pool of $9.3 million with the winner taking home $1.674 million and 550 FedExCup points plus a three year exemption. Even though the field is reduced, the top 65 and ties will need to qualify to play the weekend. The weather forecast this week is a mixed bag, especially on the weekend. Keep an eye on it moving forward because if the wind is up, this place will show all of its teeth! Recent Event Winners Stats 2020: Tyrrell Hatton (-4, 284) Picked up his first TOUR win in his 60th start as he won by one. … Didn’t break 73 on the weekend but won by a shot. … Led by two after Saturday, his first 54-hole lead on TOUR. … Shared the 36-hole lead for the first time on TOUR. … Entered the week leading the TOUR in Strokes-Gained: Approach the Green. … Becomes the fifth consecutive international champion. … Of the last 15 victors, nine are internationals. … Fifth consecutive winner T4 or better Par-3 scoring. … First Englishman to win. … First on TOUR since Geoff Ogilvy (2006 U.S. Open) to play BOTH rounds on the weekend over-par and win. … Won in his fourth attempt. … T6 in his previous start on TOUR (WGC-Mexico Championship). … Picked up T4 in his debut here in 2017. Notables: 2107 champ Marc Leishman (2nd) beat Hatton by a shot on Sunday. … Sungjae Im (3rd) winner the previous week at Honda bettered his 2019 debut (T3). … Bryson DeChambeau (4th) was the only other player under-par for the week. … Joel Dahmen (T5) MC in perfect weather in 2019. … Danny Lee (T5) cashed his best finish in his eighth start. … 2018 winner Rory McIlroy (T5) began the final round just two back but signed for 76. … Keith Mitchell (T5) cashed his second consecutive T6 paycheck. … 2019 runner-up Matthew Fitzpatrick (T9) was the only player on THE WEEKEND to post a number in the 60s (69). … Sung Kang (T9) shared the 36 hole lead before 78-74 on the weekend. … Harris English (T9) cashed his best payday in his ninth start. … Only 10 rounds under par on Sunday. … 2016 winner Jason Day (WD) is one of two players (Fred Couples) to go wire-to-wire. … The last champion to defend, Matt Every 2014-15, opened with 65 to lead after Round 1 but shot 83 (MC) in Round 2. … Hardest course on TOUR in 2020, including majors, as it played 2.106 shots over par. … Saturday played 3.913 shots over par. … Wind gusts played havoc all week, just four bogey-free rounds. 2019: Francesco Molinari (-12, 276) Closed with bogey-free 64 to win by two. … Sat five back after 54 holes. … Posted the low round of the week in Round 4. … Won in his seventh attempt. … Never MC in seven tries. … Led the field Strokes-Gained: Off the Tee. … 51-under lifetime at Bay Hill. … Made an ace in Round 1. … Only made two bogeys on the weekend. … Picked up his third win in last 12 TOUR starts. Notables: Matthew Fitzpatrick (2nd) led by one after 54 holes and was the first round leader in 2017. … Tommy Fleetwood (T3) was the 36-hole co-leader by four. … Sungjae Im (T3) posted all four rounds under-par on debut. … Sung Kang (T6) picked up his first of two consecutive top 10 finishes. … Rory McIlroy (T6) began Round 4 just one back. … Keith Mitchell (T6) won The Honda Classic the previous week and led the field in birdies with 21. … Englishman Matt Wallace (T6) posted all four rounds in the red on debut. … Byeong Hun-An (T10) improved on T14 from 2018. … Luke List (T10) backed up his T7 from 2018. … Adam Long (T10) played the weekend 69-67 on debut. … Cut was 1-over 145. … Wind didn’t factor. … Only nine bogey free rounds. 2018: Rory McIlroy (-18, 270) Started the two year trend of posting bogey-free 64 on Sunday. … Won by three for his 14th TOUR victory. … Began the final round two back. … Posted his career best Strokes-Gained: Putting. … Only needed 100 putts. … 54 from 54 inside seven feet. … Won in his fourth attempt. … Best US result entering the week was T20. … MC week prior at Valspar. … On a Bay Hill run of T6 or better in his last four visits. Notables: Bryson DeChambeau (2nd) shared the 36-hole lead and played in the final group. … Justin Rose (3rd) led the field with 24 birdies. … Orlando resident Henrik Stenson (4th) led or co-led after 18, 36 and 54 holes. … 2017 winner Marc Leishman (T7) closed with 67 in his defense. … Patrick Reed (T7) posted 22 birdies, T2 behind Rose. … Patrick Rodgers (T7) closed 68-69. … Played the easiest of the three years at 72.023. … 14 bogey free rounds. … Talor Gooch (T26) and Aaron Wise (T41) both opened with 65 on their debuts. … Last first-timer to win here was Matt Every in 2014. … Cut was 1-over 145. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2019-2020 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. * – Top 10 finish here since 2016 Horses for Courses

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The famous father watched his son hit a lot of impressive shots. But for Tiger Woods, this was all about making sure Charlie had fun. Along the way, they both had a blast.

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