Winner’s Bag: Adam Svensson, The RSM Classic

Sean O’Hair and Steve Stricker kept it going in Round 2, but Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry made their presence known with a round of 8-under in Saturday’s Modified best ball format. Third round tee times Third round leaderboard HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN Telecast: Golf Channel (1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET) NBC (2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET) NOTABLE PAIRINGS Harris English & Matt Kuchar, Charley Hoffman & Zach Johnson 9:35 a.m. ET Kyle Stanley & Russell Henley, Bubba Watson & Brandt Snedeker 9:50 a.m. ET Pat Perez Brian Harman, Jason Dufner & Billy Horschel 10:20 a.m. ET Sean O’Hair & Steve Stricker, Shane Lowry & Graeme McDowell 10:50 p.m. ET

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Here are nine tidbits from the opening round of the OHL Classic at Mayakoba that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Patt-on the Back: Kudos to the in-form Patton Kizzire for torching El Camaleon this morning with 9-under-par, 62. After collecting T10 and T4 the last two weeks, I’m not surprised that he posted 10 birdies today. The only blemish on his card was a bogey at his last hole, No. 18, which saw him miss tying the course record. His lead is two entering the second round with fierce winds scheduled to blow tomorrow and throughout the weekend. The afternoon wave saw veteran Vaughn Taylor post 64, the best of the bunch. Gamers remember his last victory on TOUR came at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. If the wind blows, he might not be bothered. In three events this season he’s sandwiched T10 between a pair of missed cuts so I’m still trying to find a compass reading here. There is an old saying that form is temporary but class is permanent. I’m not here to argue but I will point out that absolutisms in fantasy golf don’t always pan out. Rickie Fowler’s opening round is making the argument against my point. He carded 65 Thursday morning and sits T3 in his first tournament since the TOUR Championship. Four players selected in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO were chosen by over 40 percent of the participants this week. Gamers who started Pat Perez (67) and Rickie Fowler (66), the top two selections, are having their expectations met. Chesson Hadley and Charley Hoffman were the third and fourth most-selected players and they ended the day T73. Everyone likes to saddle up a course horse but be careful not to get bucked off. Here are the five players with the lowest score in relation to par the last five seasons and their position after round one. Another wonderful angle in the world of fantasy golf is the much debated “Nappy Factor”. I’ve heard the argument suggesting jumping on guys who are expecting their first. I’ve heard it’s also smart to pile on right after the baby is born. SO MANY RULES. Here’s what I do know: Martin Piller’s wife is expecting in May and he’s T5 (66). Mac Hughes not only welcomed a baby but also changed his name from Mackenzie yet he’s T73 (E). Does this also effect “Nappy Factor”? Stay tuned. Only a handful of gamers had the foresight to roster Keith Mitchell (66) in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. I hope both of you started him! The rest of you will learn this is his fifth TOUR start. His T11 at the Valspar Championship last year probably slipped your mind.  This is his first round in the 60’s in four tournaments in the new season. The Class of 2011 has been highly celebrated but I’m not sure how many fantasy gamers will recall that Patrick Rodgers is a part of that group. After 11 wins at Stanford (tied with Tiger Woods for most at the time) he hasn’t joined the others, yet. If grinding tee-to-green in the wind is going to be a key this weekend I’ll be interested to see how his ball-striking translates. His opening round 67 (T11) ties his lowest score of the new season. As my astute colleague Rob Bolton pointed out last week, Harris English is struggling. English set the tournament scoring record here in 2014 but that mojo didn’t appear on Thursday. His 75 saw him check in at T120 in a field of 132. Weekly and season-long investors should be concerned as he has missed four cuts in a row. Pending a very low one tomorrow that streak is going to reach five. Speaking of struggling, Ryan Blaum withdrew due to illness (virus) after posting 77 so adjust accordingly. 

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Brooks Koepka goes for the three-peat. Tiger Woods returns to the site of his masterpiece performance. Phil Mickelson attempts to complete the career Grand Slam. There are plenty of storylines for next week’s U.S. Open at arguably the world’s most scenic course. Six hundred FedExCup points are available for the winner, as well. Here’s a look at some of the tee times we’ll have an eye on at Pebble Beach (note: FedExCup ranking in parentheses; (a) – amateur; all times ET). Jon Rahm (12): The winner of this season’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans (with Ryan Palmer) has three top-10s in majors in his career. His best U.S. Open finish was T23 in 2016, his last event as an amateur. Marc Leishman (11): The CIMB Classic champion has five top-10s in majors but none at the U.S. Open. Rory McIlroy (4): The reigning PLAYERS champion and 2016 FedExCup champion also won the U.S. Open in 2011. Thursday tee time: 10:51 a.m. off No. 10. Friday tee time: 4:36 p.m. off No. 1. Si Woo Kim (39): The 2017 PLAYERS champion has four top-10s this season. Rickie Fowler (8): The 2015 PLAYERS champion also won this year’s Waste Management Phoenix Open. He was runner-up at the 2014 U.S. Open. Jason Day (36): His 12 PGA TOUR victories include the 2016 PLAYERS and 2015 PGA Championship. He is a two-time U.S. Open runner-up. Thursday tee time: 11:02 a.m. off No. 1. Friday tee time: 4:47 p.m. off No. 10. Justin Thomas (14): The 2017 FedExCup champion has two top-3 finishes this season but is still seeking his first win since last year’s World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. Kevin Kisner (19): Kisner picked up his first World Golf Championship at this year’s Dell Technologies Match Play. Kisner and Thomas were teammates on the 2017 Presidents Cup. Bryson DeChambeau (27): The five-time PGA TOUR winner also was the 2015 U.S. Amateur champion. Thursday tee time: 11:02 a.m. off No. 10. Friday tee time: 4:47 p.m. off No. 1. Dustin Johnson (5): Not only has he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am two times, but he was the 54-hole leader at the 2010 U.S. Open. He shot a final-round 82, but got his U.S. Open title six years later. Phil Mickelson (24): He picked up his record-tying fifth AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am victory earlier this year. Now he’s trying to complete the Career Grand Slam by winning the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He finished T4 at the 2010 U.S. Open. Graeme McDowell (53): The 2010 U.S. Open champion won earlier this year at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. Thursday tee time: 11:13 a.m. off No. 10. Friday tee time: 4:58 p.m. off No. 1. Francesco Molinari (22): The reigning champion of The Open won earlier this year with a final-round 64 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Viktor Hovland (a): Hovland won last year’s U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach, and was the fifth-ranked player in college golf this season. Brooks Koepka (2): He’s won the past two U.S. Opens and PGA Championships. He also won this season’s CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Thursday tee time: 4:47 p.m. off No. 1. Friday tee time: 11:02 a.m. off No. 10. Webb Simpson (42): The 2018 PLAYERS champion also won the 2012 U.S. Open in Northern California, at the Olympic Club. Adam Scott (15): The former PLAYERS champion has two runners-up this season, at the Farmers Insurance Open and Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Matt Kuchar (1): He leads the FedExCup standings after two wins this season. He also popularized the arm-lock putting method on the PGA TOUR that Simpson employs and Scott used earlier this year. Kuchar is the 2012 PLAYERS champion. Thursday tee time: 4:47 p.m. off No. 10.  Friday tee time: 11:02 a.m. off No. 1. Jordan Spieth (65): He won the 2015 U.S. Open en route to claiming the FedExCup. He hasn’t won since the 2017 Open Championship but his game is trending in the right direction. He has three consecutive top-10s. Spieth also won the 2017 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Justin Rose (10): The reigning FedExCup champion already won once this year on the California coast, at the Farmers Insurance Open. He is the 2013 U.S. Open champion. Tiger Woods (20): He returns to the site of his record-smashing performance in the 2000 U.S. Open. He also was T4 here 10 years later. Woods is a two-time FedExCup champion. He’ll have another opportunity to tie Sam Snead’s PGA TOUR record of 82 victories this week. Thursday tee time: 5:09 p.m. off No. 1 Friday tee time: 11:24 a.m. off No. 10. Here are the full first and second round tee times for the 2019 U.S. Open. (* Denotes 10th Tee Start) FIRST ROUND 9:45 AM Sam Saunders Carlos Ortiz Marcus Fraser 9:45 AM* Luis Gagne (a) Sepp Straka Julian Etulain 9:56 AM Player TBD Erik Van Rooyen Chun An Yu (a) 9:56 AM* Dean Burmester Player TBD Kyounghoon Lee 10:07 AM Ryan Fox Thorbjorn Olesen Player TBD 10:07 AM* Clement Sordet Tom Hoge Adri Arnaus 10:18 AM Scottie Scheffler Matt Parziale (a) Nick Taylor 10:18 AM* Brian Davis Kevin O’Connell (a) Billy Hurley III 10:29 AM Patton Kizzire Jovan Rebula (a) Jason Dufner 10:29 AM* Brendon Todd Luke Donald Mike Weir 10:40 AM Haotong Li Bubba Watson J.B. Holmes 10:40 AM* Kyle Stanley Billy Horschel Danny Willett 10:51 AM Zach Johnson Martin Kaymer Ernie Els 10:51 AM* Jon Rahm Marc Leishman Rory McIlroy 11:02 AM Si Woo Kim Rickie Fowler Jason Day 11:02 AM* Justin Thomas Kevin Kisner Bryson Dechambeau 11:13 AM Shane Lowry Tyrrell Hatton Gary Woodland 11:13 AM* Dustin Johnson Phil Mickelson Graeme McDowell 11:24 AM Cameron Smith Matthew Wallace Xander Schauffele 11:24 AM* Hideki Matsuyama Sergio Garcia Tommy Fleetwood 11:35 AM C.T. Pan Abraham Ancer Brandon Wu (a) 11:35 AM* Jhonattan Vegas Patrick Reed Louis Oosthuizen 11:46 AM Chan Kim Justin Walters Player TBD 11:46 AM* Rob Oppenheim Rhys Enoch Richard Lee 11:57 AM Nick Hardy Noah Norton (a) Andreas Halvorsen 11:57 AM* Andy Pope Ryan Sullivan Matthew Naumec 3:30 PM Rory Sabbatini Sam Horsfield Roberto Castro 3:30 PM* Nathan Lashley Renato Paratore Lee Slattery 3:41 PM Cameron Young (a) Marcus Kinhult Brian Stuard 3:41 PM* Player TBD Collin Morikawa Aaron Wise 3:52 PM Luke Guthrie Joseph Bramlett Charlie Danielson 3:52 PM* Merrick Bremner Chip McDaniel Cody Gribble 4:03 PM Austin Eckroat (a) Alexander Noren Charles Howell III 4:03 PM* Michael Thorbjornsen (a) Chez Reavie David Toms 4:14 PM Thomas Pieters Chesson Hadley Stewart Hagestad (a) 4:14 PM* Rafa Cabrera Bello Kevin Na Keegan Bradley 4:25 PM Paul Casey Patrick Cantlay Lucas Glover 4:25 PM* Jim Furyk Henrik Stenson Brandt Snedeker 4:36 PM Kiradech Aphibarnrat Keith Mitchell Shugo Imahira 4:36 PM* Luke List Lucas Bjerregaard Branden Grace 4:47 PM Francesco Molinari Viktor Hovland (a) Brooks Koepka 4:47 PM* Webb Simpson Adam Scott Matt Kuchar 4:58 PM Tony Finau Jimmy Walker Ian Poulter 4:58 PM* Byeong Hun An Devon Bling (a) Matthew Fitzpatrick 5:09 PM Jordan Spieth Justin Rose Tiger Woods 5:09 PM* Justin Harding Aaron Baddeley Player TBD 5:20 PM Daniel Berger Matthew Jones Kodai Ichihara 5:20 PM* Ollie Schniederjans Mikumu Horikawa Anirban Lahiri 5:31 PM Matthieu Pavon Chandler Eaton (a) Callum Tarren 5:31 PM* Daniel Hillier (a) Alex Prugh Zac Blair 5:42 PM Eric Dietrich Guillermo Pereira Brett Drewitt 5:42 PM* Hayden Shieh Spencer Tibbits (a) Connor Arendell SECOND ROUND 9:45 AM Nathan Lashley Renato Paratore Lee Slattery 9:45 AM* Rory Sabbatini Sam Horsfield Roberto Castro 9:56 AM Player TBD Collin Morikawa Aaron Wise 9:56 AM* Cameron Young (a) Marcus Kinhult Brian Stuard 10:07 AM Merrick Bremner Chip McDaniel Cody Gribble 10:07 AM* Luke Guthrie Joseph Bramlett Charlie Danielson 10:18 AM Michael Thorbjornsen (a) Chez Reavie David Toms 10:18 AM* Austin Eckroat (a) Alexander Noren Charles Howell III 10:29 AM Rafa Cabrera Bello Kevin Na Keegan Bradley 10:29 AM* Thomas Pieters Chesson Hadley Stewart Hagestad (a) 10:40 AM Jim Furyk Henrik Stenson Brandt Snedeker 10:40 AM* Paul Casey Patrick Cantlay Lucas Glover 10:51 AM Luke List Lucas Bjerregaard Branden Grace 10:51 AM* Kiradech Aphibarnrat Keith Mitchell Shugo Imahira 11:02 AM Webb Simpson Adam Scott Matt Kuchar 11:02 AM* Francesco Molinari Viktor Hovland (a) Brooks Koepka 11:13 AM Byeong Hun An Devon Bling (a) Matthew Fitzpatrick 11:13 AM* Tony Finau Jimmy Walker Ian Poulter 11:24 AM Justin Harding Aaron Baddeley Player TBD 11:24 AM* Jordan Spieth Justin Rose Tiger Woods 11:35 AM Ollie Schniederjans Mikumu Horikawa Anirban Lahiri 11:35 AM* Daniel Berger Matthew Jones Kodai Ichihara 11:46 AM Daniel Hillier (a) Alex Prugh Zac Blair 11:46 AM* Matthieu Pavon Chandler Eaton (a) Callum Tarren 11:57 AM Hayden Shieh Spencer Tibbits (a) Connor Arendell 11:57 AM* Eric Dietrich Guillermo Pereira Brett Drewitt 3:30 PM Luis Gagne (a) Sepp Straka Julian Etulain 3:30 PM* Sam Saunders Carlos Ortiz Marcus Fraser 3:41 PM Dean Burmester Player TBD Kyounghoon Lee 3:41 PM* Player TBD Erik Van Rooyen Chun An Yu (a) 3:52 PM Clement Sordet Tom Hoge Adri Arnaus 3:52 PM* Ryan Fox Thorbjorn Olesen Player TBD 4:03 PM Brian Davis Kevin O’Connell (a) Billy Hurley III 4:03 PM* Scottie Scheffler Matt Parziale (a) Nick Taylor 4:14 PM Brendon Todd Luke Donald Mike Weir 4:14 PM* Patton Kizzire Jovan Rebula (a) Jason Dufner 4:25 PM Kyle Stanley Billy Horschel Danny Willett 4:25 PM* Haotong Li Bubba Watson J.B. Holmes 4:36 PM Jon Rahm Marc Leishman Rory McIlroy 4:36 PM* Zach Johnson Martin Kaymer Ernie Els 4:47 PM Justin Thomas Kevin Kisner Bryson Dechambeau 4:47 PM* Si Woo Kim Rickie Fowler Jason Day 4:58 PM Dustin Johnson Phil Mickelson Graeme McDowell 4:58 PM* Shane Lowry Tyrrell Hatton Gary Woodland 5:09 PM Hideki Matsuyama Sergio Garcia Tommy Fleetwood 5:09 PM* Cameron Smith Matthew Wallace Xander Schauffele 5:20 PM Jhonattan Vegas Patrick Reed Louis Oosthuizen 5:20 PM* C.T. Pan Abraham Ancer Brandon Wu (a) 5:31 PM Rob Oppenheim Rhys Enoch Richard Lee 5:31 PM* Chan Kim Justin Walters Player TBD 5:42 PM Andy Pope Ryan Sullivan Matthew Naumec 5:42 PM* Nick Hardy Noah Norton (a) Andreas Halvorsen

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