Will he fly or will he fold? What to expect from Tour Championship leader Tiger Woods

Rickie Fowler has withdrawn from next week’s THE NORTHERN TRUST, the first event of the FedExCup Playoffs, because of a tear in his right oblique. Fowler announced the news on Instagram, posting, “News got out last week that I was dealing with an oblique injury the past two tournaments…it was confirmed yesterday, via MRI, that I have a partial tear in my right oblique … my team and I feel like it’s best not to play next week in the Northern Trust … I will be back healthy and competitive ASAP for the FedExCup and more than ready for the Ryder Cup!!â€� The top 125 in the FedExCup standings are eligible for THE NORTHERN TRUST, which will be played Aug. 23-26 at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J. Fowler is 17th in the FedExCup standings. He is guaranteed starts in the first three Playoffs, but likely needs additional points to qualify for his fifth TOUR Championship. He has 1,302 points. Last year, Jason Dufner earned the final spot in the TOUR Championship with 1,322 points. Austin Cook currently holds the 30th spot in the FedExCup standings with 1,060 points. The first three events of the FedExCup Playoffs will be held on consecutive weeks before taking a one-week break. The top 100 in the FedExCup standings are eligible for the Dell Technologies Championship on Aug. 31-Sept. 3 at TPC Boston. The third Playoffs stop, the BMW Championship, is open to the top 70. It will be played Sept. 6-9 at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. After the off week, the Playoffs will visit Atlanta for the TOUR Championship. The top 30 will compete at East Lake Golf Club on Sept. 20-23. Every player in the TOUR Championship field has a chance of claiming the FedExCup. Fowler finished 17th at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and 12th at the PGA Championship. He started the final round at Bellerive in third place, three shots behind Brooks Koepka, but faded with a final-round 71. He finished eight shots behind Koepka, who claimed his second major of the season. Fowler finished T9 in the 2014 THE NORTHERN TRUST at Ridgewood en route to a ninth-place finish in the FedExCup. He has finished in the top 10 of the FedExCup in three of the past four seasons. The exception is 2016, when he missed the TOUR Championship by less than one point.

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The golf betting community got a real taste of how weather can affect events throughout the United Kingdom during an interesting first round of the Genesis Scottish Open in North Berwick, Scotland. The wind picked up during the afternoon at The Renaissance Club, leading to much higher scores for half of the field as the morning wave posted a scoring average of 70.39, compared to 73.60 for the afternoon. This was frustrating for some players but also for many in the golf betting community. Of the 38 rounds under par Thursday, 32 came in the morning wave. Cameron Tringale took advantage of the scoring conditions early and fired a 9-under 61 to take a three-shot lead into the second round. But the beauty of golf betting is one doesn’t need to wait long for a new opportunity to right any wrongs, weather induced or not. Instead of waiting until the tournament ends on Sunday, there are a few betting opportunities at the BetMGM online sportsbook for Friday’s second round. One of those is 3-ball betting, i.e., which golfer within a threesome will have the lowest score for the round. As all three in any given wager face the same conditions, you can rest assured no unforeseen advantage can be gained by one player over the other. Here’s a look at 3-ball betting within the featured groups that you can also watch, and cheer on your choices, here. Matt Fitzpatrick (+165) / Collin Morikawa (+175) / Will Zalatoris (+190) – 3:05 a.m. ET Playing in the wilder winds Fitzpatrick (+1) lost ground in Strokes Gained: Approach, which is unusual for him, in the opening round. The U.S. Open champ is 22nd this year on the PGA TOUR for that metric. Interestingly his second-round scoring average is his worst this season at 70.21. The other three are all sub-70. The 25-year-old Morikawa (+1) gained two strokes against the field putting Thursday, which goes against his norm. He entered the week 86th on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting. He’s 97th in second-round scoring, with a scoring average of 70.5. Zalatoris (+1) was 1-under over his last five holes Thursday, so he will look to carry that into the second round. He has excelled in second rounds this season; his 69.5 scoring average ranks 19th on TOUR. Justin Thomas (+130) / Hideki Matsuyama (+190) / Tommy Fleetwood (+220) – 3:15 a.m. ET Thomas (+3) lost just over two strokes to the field on the greens Thursday, which is unusual for the PGA Championship winner. For the year, Thomas has the best scoring average in second rounds on the PGA TOUR (67.67). Matsuyama (+3) struggled with his putting in round one, losing 1.4 strokes to the field. This is somewhat normal for him this year; he’s 126th in Strokes Gained: Putting. One thing to note with Fleetwood (+3) is he’s had some issues in second rounds this year. His 70.54 scoring average ranks 103rd. Jon Rahm (+125) / Scottie Scheffler (+165) / Viktor Hovland (+275) – 8:15 a.m. ET Rahm’s (-2) success Thursday was aided by his putter. He gained just over 3.5 strokes against the field. He ranks 60th this season in Strokes Gained: Putting, but his 69.31 second round scoring average ranks ninth. It was a tough day for Scheffler (+3) on Thursday as the No. 1 ranked player in the world did not take advantage of the better scoring conditions. His scoring average of 69 is fifth on TOUR in second rounds. Like Scheffler, Hovland (+4) didn’t take advantage of playing in the morning wave. He lost just under three strokes putting, which is unusual considering he’s ranked 28th this season in Strokes Gained: Putting. Cameron Smith (+160) / Jordan Spieth (+170) / Tyrrell Hatton (+200) – 8:25 a.m. ET Smith (-2) got off to a good start despite losing strokes to the field in Strokes Gained: Approach. This isn’t the norm for him; he’s second in that category this year on TOUR. Spieth (-2) ranked sixth in the field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green. This doesn’t come as a major surprise, considering he’s ranked 23rd this year on TOUR. Second rounds have been kind to Hatton (-2) this year. He enters the week with a 69.42 second round scoring average, 14th on the PGA TOUR. He shot under par Thursday while losing strokes to the field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green. * Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. 21+ years of age or older to wager. BetMGM is available in AZ, CO, DC, IA, IN, IL, LA, MI, MS, NJ, NV, NY, PA, TN, VA, WV, or WY only. All promotions are subject to qualification and eligibility requirements. Paid in free bets. Free bets expire in 7 days from issuance. Minimum deposit required. Excludes Michigan Disassociated Persons. Please Gamble Responsibly. Gambling problem? 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NORTH BERWICK, Scotland – Max Homa’s back was sore and his legs were tired, but getting to play one of Scotland’s historic links was worth it. And it may have helped him get back in contention at the Genesis Scottish Open. RELATED: Leaderboard “A 66 helps the body feel a little better,” Homa said after shooting that score in the third round at the Renaissance Club. He’d played 36 holes a day earlier, following his second-round 71 at Renaissance Club with a casual round at course that he’d been hankering to play ever since he saw it on a No Laying Up video a few years ago. North Berwick’s West Links is just a nine-minute drive from the venue for this week’s Genesis Scottish Open and Homa wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to play a course that he thought “looked like the coolest course in the world” after seeing it on YouTube. “It became my favorite course I had never played,” Homa said. “I knew I was going to be beat but it’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime things and I’d be kicking myself if I didn’t play.” Homa had already passed on a round at historic Muirfield because his caddie’s clubs didn’t arrive on time. He wasn’t going to miss North Berwick, as well. Golf has been played on the course since the 17th century, and it is known as the home of the original Redan hole and for the ancient wall that runs through several of the holes. Homa teed off at 4:30 p.m. Friday with caddie Joe Greiner, swing coach Mark Blackburn and North Berwick assistant pro Scott Gillies. All four birdied the 18th hole around 8:30 p.m. and Homa was proud to report that he and Greiner, who are friends since childhood, “drummed” Blackburn and Gillies. Photo and video of the round started circulating on social media Friday night, as well. “Playing the first Redan makes it neat,” said Homa, who also eagled North Berwick’s par-5 eighth hole after hitting 3-wood from 212 yards. “It was one of the best golf experiences I’ve ever had.” He made the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open with a shot to spare after opening with consecutive 71s. He birdied his opening hole of the third round and added another eagle on the third hole. He made just one birdie over the next 15 holes, at the par-5 10th, but also was bogey-free for the day. After starting the third round in 38th place, he sat in the top 10 for most of Saturday. Homa ranks 10th in the FedExCup after two wins this season and a high finish could also help him in his Presidents Cup candidacy, as he sits eighth in the U.S. standings.

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