World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play group draw preview

Risk/reward is always the name of the game in Las Vegas, and it’s no different at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin. The Bobby Weed/Fuzzy Zoeller design in the desert features a driveable, par-4 15th and a par-5 16th that may be the last, best birdie opportunities. Rod Pampling made four birdies in his last six holes to become the surprise winner last year, picking up his first PGA TOUR title since the 2006 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. The Shriners has seen 10 first-time TOUR winners in the last 15 years, plus champions with Vegas ties such as Kevin Na (2011) and Ryan Moore (’12). The winner gets 500 FedExCup points. Among the other headliners: Newly minted Web.com Tour graduate Chesson Hadley, who has gotten off to a great start this season and sits at sixth in the FedExCup; Ryan Armour, 41, who is coming off his emotional maiden victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship and is ninth; and FedExCup No. 5 Tony Finau, who is close to home (Utah) but must adapt to the 15-hour difference between the Shriners and the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions (Shanghai, China). Maverick McNealy will tee it up on a sponsor exemption. Former UNLV golfer Charley Hoffman will be playing for a cause greater than himself, donating his winnings to survivors of the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival shooting. His Presidents Cup teammate Kevin Chappell is also in the field. And keep an eye on Patrick Cantlay, one of the big movers last season after playing his way from injury and career jeopardy all the way to the TOUR Championship. MORE SHRINERS: Field | Tee times | Power Rankings | Course | Past Results Here’s a look at this week’s featured groups (current FedExCup ranking in parentheses). All times ET: Webb Simpson (T-81), Smylie Kaufman (51), Rod Pampling (146): Three past champions, plenty of good mojo. Four years after his Vegas victory, Simpson is enjoying a career resurgence and one of six players in the field who made it all the way to last season’s TOUR Championship. He eventually finished 17th in the FedExCup. Kaufman, who won the Shriners two years ago, had an off year in 2017 but is trending upward after a tie for fourth at the Sanderson Farms. And Pampling is looking to recapture the magic that made him one of the biggest surprises of the last season when he won for the first time anywhere since the 2008 Australian Masters. Tee times: Rd. 1 – 3:25 p.m. 1st tee; Rd. 1 – 10:35 a.m. 10th tee. Bubba Watson (N/A), Graeme McDowell (T-156), Jimmy Walker (N/A): Three major champions who are coming off a down year hope to get the early jump on the 2017-’18 with a solid performance in the desert. Two-time Masters champion Watson will be playing Shriners event for first time since 2007, while Walker, who broke through with a life-changing win at the 2016 PGA Championship, hopes to bounce back from a lull triggered by his bout with Lyme Disease. Meanwhile, 2010 U.S. Open champion McDowell, 38, will perhaps find inspiration in the fact that he is coming up on another Ryder Cup year.   Tee times: Rd. 1 – 3:35 p.m. 1st tee; Rd. 1 – 10:45 a.m. 10th tee. Ryan Armour (9), Bryson DeChambeau (T-81), Billy Horschel (N/A_: Two of last season’s winners plus late-bloomer Armour, 41, who won by five at last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship in just the fifth tournament of the new season. Mad scientist DeChambeau is coming off a life-changing summer in which he won the John Deere Classic to punch his last-minute ticket to the Open Championship, while 2014 FedExCup champion Horschel got back in the game with a playoff victory over Jason Day at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Tee times: Rd. 1 – 10:35 a.m. 10th tee; Rd. 2 – 3:25 p.m. 1st tee. Charley Hoffman (N/A), Ryan Moore (T-81), Kevin Chappell (N/A): Hoffman, who attended UNLV, is coming off the best season of his career, a campaign that saw him finish 20th in the FedExCup and make his first Presidents Cup team at age 40. This week he is paired with fellow UNLV alumnus Moore and Presidents Cup partner Chappell. Hoffman and Chappell paired up for one win and one loss in the U.S. Team’s easy victory over the Internationals. Hoffman will donate 100 percent of his earnings to PGA TOUR Charities, which will donate the entirety to the Direct Impact Fund in support of those affected by the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival shooting. Tee times: Rd. 1 – 10:45 a.m. 10th tee; Rd. 2 – 3:35 p.m. 1st tee.

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OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. – Bubba Watson admits his mind hasn’t been fully focused on golf this year and he’s looking forward to shutting things down for the rest of 2017 once his FedExCup Playoffs end. After a solid 3-under 67 start at Glen Oaks Club leaves him sitting tied 6th at THE NORTHERN TRUST his vacation time could be delayed a little longer. The nine-time PGA TOUR winner and two-time Masters champion entered the FedExCup Playoffs ranked 113th, firmly facing elimination if he doesn’t perform this week. But he’s finally playing with some mental freedom and hopes to ride the wave a little longer. “All I know is where my mind was, where my focus was the first half of the year; it wasn’t in the right spot to play the best game of golf,â€� Watson said. “Now, I’m driven, I’m dedicated and I want to be back on top. I want to win tournaments, so this is the best way I know how to do it. “Hopefully when this is over, I’m in Atlanta and then I get to take a break after that. My thing is just play until they tell me I can’t play anymore. When I’m done with the Playoffs, no matter where that is, I’m taking at least four and a half months off. I won’t play until next year.â€� The top 100 in the FedExCup standings after this week advance to the Dell Technologies Championship with the top 70 after Boston advancing to the BMW Championship in Chicago. From there the top 30 make it to the TOUR Championship. Points in Playoff events are quadrupled. Watson currently projects to 62nd place. The Florida native plans to spend the bulk of his time off with his family as son Caleb begins school. “I’m going to be tee-ball coach. So looking forward to that, being home with the family and just have a blast,â€� Watson beamed. “My kid started kindergarten. My family’s not going to be able to travel as much anymore. So I just want time off. If I had to choose golf or family, I’m going family every day of the week.â€� TOP FIVE OUTLOOK: FedExCup leader Hideki Matsuyama looks set to lose his top dog status after an opening 4-over 74 left him tied for 102nd. Currently he’s trending towards a missed cut and a drop down to 4th. Dustin Johnson sits just one shot off the pace at Glen Oaks and as such projects to the top spot from his fourth position. Justin Thomas (68) currently projects to drop from No. 2 to No. 3 with Jordan Spieth (69) dropping back to 5th. Rickie Fowler started the week 5th but his round of 68 has him falling to 6th in the current projections. Tournament leader Russell Henley (64) is the man projected to surge into the top 5, all the way to No. 2. BUBBLE BOY: Heading to New York Seung-Yul Noh was the man on the bubble to advance at 100th in the FedExCup but the Korean is going to need something special to remain in the mix for TPC Boston. A 4-over 74 leaves him tied for 102nd this week and projected to 111th in the standings. The nerves now shift to Sanderson Farms champion Cody Gribble whose 78 has him projected to fall from 89th to 100th. MOVING IN, MOVING OUT: After one round, five players have put themselves in position to play their way into next week from outside the top 100. They are led by Bubba Watson who projects from 113th to 62nd after his 67. Martin Flores (118 to 63) and Harold Varner III (123 to 64) joined Watson with 67s to get the start they needed for salvation. Ryan Blaum’s 68 has him projected from 105th to 77th and Brian Gay’s 69 shows him moving from 106th to 94th. The players projected to be booted out at after one round are Branden Grace, Jason Kokrak, Byeong Hun An, Robert Garrigus and Seung-Yul Noh. OUT OF THEIR CONTROL: There will be 25 players officially eliminated from the Playoffs after THE NORTHERN TRUST but we already know one of them is Dominic Bozzelli who withdrew before the tournament. He started at 115th and projects to 119th. Four other players are not in the field this week leaving them at the mercy of others. Masters champion Sergio Garcia (rest) now projects to 30th, Brandt Snedeker (rib injury) projects to 73rd, Adam Scott (paternity leave) projects to 79th and Scott Piercy (shoulder injury) projects to 97th. Scott has welcomed his second child into the world in the last few days, a son named Byron. He will not play in Boston, effectively ensuring his elimination from the Playoffs. NOTABLE NUGGETS: Among those players projected to be eliminated at this stage are major winners Jimmy Walker and Geoff Ogilvy plus Team USA Presidents Cup Captain Steve Stricker. International Team hopeful Byeong Hun An hurt his chances after an opening 74 leaves him projected 105th. At 13th on the International Team standings An must make the cut on Friday or be out of chances to both make the team outright and to further impress Nick Price for a captain’s pick. The biggest potential FedExCup movers are so far Chris Kirk and Camillo Villegas who share third after rounds of 66. They project to move up 64 spots each from 97th and 98th to 33rd and 34th respectively. Harold Varner III (59 spots), Martin Flores (55 spots) and Bubba Watson (51 spots) also look good for a giant leap. Defending FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy had a tough day at the office with a 73 projecting him from 44th to 54th in the standings. Phil Mickelson’s round of 72 has him projected to drop from 51st to 61st. Jason Day’s 69 gives him a modest projected lift from 49th to 46th while Presidents Cup teammate Louis Oosthuizen is eyeing the top 30 after his first round 67 has him projected from 35th to 16th.

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