Who’s feeling confident at Glen Abbey

Of the golfers who like to tune up for the majors with live action the week prior, Phil Mickelson is the poster boy. He’s embraced the warm-up act for years. Mickelson’s dedication has included a regular visit to TPC Southwind, site of this week’s FedEx St. Jude Classic. However, while the U.S. Open trophy remains the only hardware separating the World Golf Hall of Famer from the career grand slam, he’s already announced his intention not to compete at Erin Hills next week since the major conflicts with his daughter’s high school graduation ceremony. Nevertheless, like all who are returning to Memphis, they will find one of the most consistent and fairest tests on the PGA TOUR schedule. Horse for the course with respective finishes of T19, T3 and T2. Scoring average in 12 rounds is 68.17. Third on TOUR in birdie-or-better percentage and par-5 scoring. Performs well no matter what. Since 2013, he has two T2s, a T3 and a T11 with a scoring average of 67.88. Approach and scoring metrics are sufficiently supportive. Muirfield Village no longer has his number after Sunday’s T2. Firing on all cylinders. Leads TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green; second in adjusted scoring. T13 here in 2014. Chased T6 at THE PLAYERS with a solo second at the BMW PGA. Sits second on PGA TOUR in strokes gained: approach-the-green and seventh in adjusted scoring. Co-runner-up here last year; led field in scrambling. Stumbled to a T40 at the Memorial with a closing 78. Tops on TOUR in fairways hit, 32nd in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Best known as a great putter, he co-led the 2016 SJC in GIR en route to a T7. Currently 22nd on TOUR in GIR, ninth in strokes gained: putting, 10th in adjusted scoring. The recent winner at TPC Four Seasons has three consecutive top 10s at TPC Southwind (2013-2015). Ranks 10th in greens in regulation and 41st in adjusted scoring. Probably more confident this week than in any of his previous four trips sans a top 45. Tee-to-green game is as proficient as it’s ever been, too. Top 10s in three of last six starts. It’s taken 10 years to seek redemption after surrendering three-shot lead entering final round. He shot 75 to finish seventh in 2007. Recent top 10s at Masters and THE PLAYERS. Continue to percolate. His T25 at the Memorial is his ninth top-30 finish in his last 12 starts. Twelfth in strokes gained: approach-the-green. He’s 7-for-8 at TPC Southwind. The 2009 champ added a fourth top 10 here last year (solo sixth) while leading the field in birdie-or-better percentage. Back to putting like in his heyday (13th in strokes gained). First trip since a T6 in 2014, the Englishman remains buoyed by the T2 at THE PLAYERS. Eighth on TOUR in strokes gained: approach-the-green, 28th in adjusted scoring. He’s scuffled of late and he’ll be experiencing the distractions of new duties as a defending champion, but he’s an electric performer who will also lavish in the good vibes. Tournament debut. Dangerous on the greens and will need to be. Seventh on TOUR in strokes gained: putting. Placed T4 at THE PLAYERS where he was third in the stat. He’s 4-for-7 (two top 25s) since winning in Puerto Rico. TPC Southwind fits his profile as he’s 25th in GIR and 19th in strokes gained: approach-the-green. T18 here last year. Power Rankings: FedEx St. Jude Classic Rank Player Comment Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will include Daniel Summerhays, Kevin Chappell, Jim Furyk, Charl Schwartzel and other notables. This is the 60th edition of the FedEx St. Jude Classic and 29th at TPC Southwind. If the only objective was to prove consistency to anyone interested in committing, all tournament organizers had to do this year was cite that last year’s scoring average of 70.930 on the par 70 that measures 7,244 yards was just three-thousandths of a stroke lower than what it yielded the year prior. Mickelson’s phenomenal record here exemplifies his affinity for the course and the expectation. On the Wednesday of the 2015 FedEx St. Jude Classic, he summed up TPC Southwind as follows: “I think it’s the most underrated course we have on TOUR. It’s such a straightforward, fun test of golf. And if you hit good shots, you get rewarded with good putts and birdies. And if you miss the greens, you’re challenged by very difficult up-and-downs. It’s a wonderful layout.” Greens are 5,420 square feet on average, so it’s no surprise that precision on approach is at a premium. This was the formula for champions Fabian Gomez (2015) and Daniel Berger (2016). However, as Mickelson pointed out, TPC Southwind isn’t a one-trick pony. To single out another two winners, Brian Gay (2009) and Ben Crane (2014) lit up their fields with the kind of putting that has come to define their career success. For more on these angles and other identifiers, please read The Confidence Factor on Tuesday. Clear skies and warming air are expected throughout the tournament. The course’s eponymous south wind won’t make its debut until the weekend, but it’ll barely be noticeable. Combined with greens maxing at an inviting 11-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter, conditions will be ripe for scoring. ROB BOLTON’S WRITING SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Columnist Rob Bolton will be filing his usual staples leading up to this week’s event. Look for the following columns this week. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, The Confidence Factor, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Ownership Percentages in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf and One & Done presented by SERVPRO * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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RENO, Nevada — News and notes from Friday’s second round of the Barracuda Championship, with Richy Werenski leading Stuart Appleby by 2 points in the Modified Stableford event. LATE LEAD CHANGE Richy Werenski, in his first year on the PGA TOUR, made an eagle on No. 18 for 5 points to vault into the Barraduca Championship lead. After a 1 hour, 17 minute weather delay, Werenski went back on the course to complete his late run. He made three birdies and an eagle over his final six holes Friday. It was getting dark as Werenski eyed his 6-foot, 3-inch putt for a closing eagle. This is the first time he’s held a 36-hole lead on the PGA TOUR. Werenski went through a string of five missed cuts earlier this season, but he has found his groove recently. He said the plan was to be aggressive and go for eagles at Montreux. “Everybody knows eagles are huge out here this week,â€� he said. “I’m starting to feel comfortable out here.â€� This is his first time to visit Northern Nevada. The cut was at 10 points. AWESOME AUSSIE A year after Australian Greg Chalmers picked up his first win on the PGA TOUR, another Aussie is in contention at the Barracuda Championship. Stuart Appleby picked up 10 points Friday in the second round, to go with his 14 from Thursday for a two-day total of 24. Appleby, who has nine victories on the PGA TOUR, but none since 2010, had not made a cut at Montreux in his two most recent trips (2014 and 2016), but he did make it to the weekend three times before that. He said there are no courses comparable to Montreux in Australia. He had an Australian term for the course, calling it a “hard yakka,â€� which means hard work. “I’m starting to make some birdies and I’m rolling it nice. I’m reading it nice,â€� Appleby said. “I’ve just got to see if I can keep the ball in the middle of the clubface and grab the right clubs often enough and see if I can grab 20 points or something over the weekend.â€� He suffered a back injury in 2015, but said it is getting better now. His T25 showing at last month’s John Deere Classic ended a streak of nine consecutive missed cuts. “That’s the thing I’ve found hard is being able to repeat; a couple of good shots or a couple of good holes and then I throw in an awful shot, so that kind of knocks a lot of wind out of your sails,â€� Appleby said. “You make cuts, you feel like you’re developing, you feel like you participated in a golf event and you’ve got something you can build on, and I really hadn’t done that. So John Deere was nice.â€� In 2010, during the final round of the inaugural Greenbrier Classic, Appleby became the fifth player in history to shoot a 59 in an official PGA TOUR event. Appleby won the 2010 PGA TOUR Comeback Player of the Year award. CONTENDERS ENJOYING THE FORMAT Greg Owen is tied for third place with 23 points with Luke List, Dicky Pride and Ben Martin. Owen hit 13 of 14 fairways Friday. He said the mountain course at Montreux can be a little tricky, although this is his fifth time playing there. “The only dropped shots I’ve had really have been three-putts because it’s difficult with us being on the side of a mountain, it’s very deceiving with your eyes whether you’re uphill, downhill. The speeds are very difficult to judge,â€� Owen said. He finished 20th last year, making an eagle on his last hole Friday to make the cut. List enjoys the Modified Stableford scoring, which encourages aggressive play. “I’m going to try to play aggressive the whole way through, hit a lot of drivers where a lot of guys are hitting irons, and I’m just going to try to take advantage of my length on a few holes, and for me it’s tough doing some of the numbers with the math and everything with the elevation, but just trying to do the best I can with that, stay patient, and just try to be aggressive on the weekend,â€� List said. WI BELIEVE Former Nevada golfer Charlie Wi had a solid second round, scoring 8 points and making the cut with 16 total. He is semi-retired from the PGA TOUR now, and said that has helped him relax on the course. I’ve had good finishes here, but for some reason, this course is really tricky for me,â€� Wi said. “I was pressing before I made some dumb mistakes. I feel less pressure on myself.â€� WEATHER DELAY Play was suspended for 1 hours 17 minutes by lightning in the area. It also rained slightly at Montreux. Rain is in the forecast for Saturday also, about a 40 percent chance predicted to hit the area about 3 p.m. But golfers will start on No. 1, at 7 a.m. local. The final pairing will tee off at 2:40 p.m.  NOTES • Kyle Reifers, who lost in a playoff in the Barracuda to JJ Henry in 2015, and has a sister who lives in Reno, made the cut with 11 points. • Ricky Barnes, who is married to former Nevada volleyball standout Suzanne Stonebarger and lives in Truckee, has 16 points. • Two-time Barracuda champion JJ Henry missed the cut with 9 points. • Davis Love III made the cut with 16 points, while his son Dru improved Friday, but missed the cut with 6 points. • Padraig Harrington missed the cut with 4 points, as did Geoff Ogilvy with 2.  Retief Goosen also finished with 2 points. • Eight players have made the Barracuda Championship their first PGA TOUR victory in the 18-year history of the event: Notah Begay III (1999), Chris Riley (2002), Vaughn Taylor (2004), Will MacKenzie (2006), Parker McLachlin (2008), Matt Bettencourt (2009), Scott Piercy (2011) and Greg Chalmers (2016). BARRACUDA BONUS Three golfers are tied for the most points on hole No. 18 at Montreux with 7 each — Ben Martin, Harris English and Daniel Summerhays. Graham DeLaet has 5 points on No. 18 and 30 golfers are tied with 4 points. Whoever scores the most points on No. 18 this week earns a $50,000 bonus for the charity of his choice. The Barracuda Bonus is a $50,000 charitable donation given in the name of the player who collects the most Modified Stableford points on the par-5 18th hole over the course of the four competitive rounds.

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