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2021 Fortinet Championship betting tips and selections

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After the shortest offseason in sports, the PGA Tour kicks off its new 2021-2022 season with the Fortinet Championship in Napa, California. If this tournament sounds unfamiliar, fear not, it will still be held at Silverado Country Club, which has been the host course for the past seven years. It merely received a new title sponsor, as this was primarily the Safeway Open. While many of the world’s best players will be opting to rest up after a grueling super-season, three of last year’s major champions, Hideki Matsuyama, Jon Rahm, and Phil Mickelson will be in attendance.

As far as the task at hand, Silverado Country Club is a par 72 measuring just 7,123 yards on the scorecard with a poa-bent greens and poa-Bermuda fairways. Players will certainly be able to take advantage of the Robert Trent Jones design, as all four par 5s are reachable, zero par 4s measure over 458 yards, water only comes into play twice, and there is not a huge penalty for missing the fairway. For those reasons, I will primarily be looking to attack elite wedge players who thrive in low scoring events.

Let’s dig into my outright selections.

Harold Varner III (40-1, DraftKings)

On a course where every player in the field will have a wedge in their hands often, I’m comfortable skipping the top of the board and beginning my card in the 40-1 range. I tend to feel that elite players lose some of their advantage on easier courses. Much more randomness is involved in tournaments that can turn into a putting contest, so you’ll notice that I am taking a couple more chances with selections at longer odds.

With that being said, Harold Varner feels like an adequate place to start. The East Carolina University alum is coming off back-to-back top-15 finishes in the FedEx Cup Playoffs where he gained over 3.5 strokes on approach. Now, he enters a tournament with a much weaker field on a course he has already experienced a fair amount of success at. Varner has four top-30 finishes in six appearances at Silverado, and he continues to come here every year and is often hovering around the first page of the leaderboard. Both his off the tee and approach game are trending positively as well. This feels like a logical breakthrough spot for the Ohio native.

Chez Reavie (70-1, DraftKings)

Moving down the board, Chez Reavie has my attention as a player who is both riding some impressive form and has already experienced success at Silverado. The two-time PGA Tour winner has made the cut in every appearance at this event, culminating with a career-best third-place last year, where he gained 7.4 strokes on approach.

While Reavie is not long off the tee, he is able to mask that with elite driving accuracy and wedge play. With impressive performances at Pebble Beach, TPC Scottsdale, Waialae, and PGA West, the Arizona State product also has a clear affinity for west coast golf and poa greens.

Most importantly, I love the way his ball-striking is trending. Reavie has gained over 1.7 strokes off the tee in four consecutive starts, and he is coming off a performance at the Northern Trust where he gained 3.2 strokes on approach. I will gladly back Reavie at this very reasonable price.

Doug Ghim (90-1, DraftKings)

Doug Ghim is a player I continue to believe is on the precipice of a break-through win. At the tender age of 25, the former University of Texas standout boasts a decorated amateur and collegiate career, and while he has yet to find the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour, a contending performance at the Players Championship in March displayed his talent.

The reason I have interest in Ghim on this specific course is two-fold. First of all, Ghim is an incredible wedge player. Over his last 36 rounds, he is one of only two players in this entire field to rank inside the top 15 in every proximity distance between 75-150 yards, where the large plurality of Silverado’s approach shots come from.

Secondly, Silverado can be picked apart with elite driving, and Ghim is coming off a week at the Northern Trust where he gained 5.3 strokes off the tee, good for the best performance of his career. If the former Ben Hogan Award winner has truly found something off the tee, and irons can continue to trend positively, Ghim will be firmly in the mix come Sunday afternoon.

Pat Perez (95-1, FanDuel)

Pat Perez might be my favorite play on the board this week, and I would encourage readers to shop around, as he can be found as low as 60-1 at other books.

With four top-20 finishes in his last six starts, the three-time PGA Tour winner is clearly percolating. Most recently, Perez gained 5.7 on approach at the Northern Trust, which featured one of the strongest fields of the entire season. Now he returns to a much weaker field in a fall series event, where he is certainly most comfortable.

Two of Perez’s three career wins have come in fall series events, and his affinity for resort-style courses where birdies are the currency runs deep. I expect the Arizona State product to mesh perfectly with the vibe this week in Napa, and pick up win number four in the process.

Dylan Frittelli (140-1, FanDuel)

While Dylan Frittelli’s 2021 season has been marred with inconsistency, Silverado is the perfect set-up for the big-hitting South African, as evidenced by a 25th and seventh in two appearances.

While Frittelli is mediocre at many things, he is downright elite at two very specific things that have been proven to be very important at Silverado. The University of Texas product is long off the tee, and he is an excellent wedge player. Frittelli is actually one of only two players in this entire field to rank top-40 in all of the proximity distances between 75 and 150 yards, as well as driving distance.

At an extremely elementary level, selecting players that can bomb it off the tee and stick their wedges is not a terrible strategy to adopt this week. Obviously, recent form cannot be ignored, and while Frittelli has missed two of his last three cuts, he is coming off his best off the tee performance in over a year, and his irons are trending positively as well. This is far too large of a number for a PGA Tour winner with a recent top-five at the British Open, who also happens to fit this course to a tee.

Patrick Rodgers (160-1, FanDuel)

After a standout career at the University of Stanford, there is only one way to describe Patrick Rodgers’ PGA Tour career: disappointing. Rodgers is not short on talent, but he has yet to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together and pick up that elusive first PGA Tour victory. While some may have already lost hope, I’m not yet willing to give up on the big hitting former Ben Hogan Award winner with one of the silkiest putting strokes in the game.

In a nutshell, Patrick Rodgers hits the ball a long way and can get insanely hot with his putter, which is never a bad formula in a birdie-fest. I think Silverado is the perfect course for Rodgers, and not just because it is in California, where Rodgers has un-coincidentally recorded some of his best career finishes.

With seven of his last eight made cuts, Rodgers’ game is really starting to come around. He has gained off the tee in seven of his last eight starts and gained with his irons in three straight as well. I’ve already alluded to the putting stroke, and now Rodgers returns to his preferred surface, poa annua, where he was last seen gaining 7.2 strokes putting at Torrey Pines.

Featured image c/o Fortinet Championship on Twitter

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Morning 9: Scheffler repeats at Players | Monday PIF meeting | McIlroy takes another shot at Norman

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Monday morning, golf fans, as an exciting final day at the Players Championship saw Scottie Scheffler retain his title.

1. Back to back, X2

Doug Ferguson for AP…”The roar could be heard from a half-mile away just 16 minutes after the final group set out Sunday in the final round of The Players Championship. It was loud enough to indicate something special had happened. The question was more “what” than “who.”

  • “Moments later, Scottie Scheffler’s name appeared on the leaderboard, and he was on his way, adding another layer to his legend as the best in golf.”
  • “His 8-under 64 tied the Players Championship record for best Sunday score by a winner. His five-shot comeback matched another tournament record. And he now stands alone as the only back-to-back champion in 50 years of the PGA Tour’s premier championship.”
  • “It’s tough enough to win one Players,” said Scheffler, who was coming off a five-shot victory last week at Bay Hill. “So to have it back-to-back is extremely special. Yeah, really thankful.”
Full piece.

2. Cantlay confirms Monday meeting

Golfweek’s Adam Woodard…”On Friday, Golfweek was first to report a group of PGA Tour players were nearing a meeting with the head of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in an effort to continue to broker a deal between the Tour and the controversial sovereign wealth fund that has been disrupting men’s professional golf.”

  • “Two sources told Eamon Lynch a meeting was tentatively scheduled for Monday at a private residence in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, following the conclusion of the Players Championship at nearby TPC Sawgrass. Patrick Cantlay, a player director on the PGA Tour policy board, confirmed the meeting with Sports Illustrated on Sunday and tabbed the event as a meet-and-greet.”
  • “Well, I’ve gotta hear out what they have to say, and I will always do my best to represent the entire membership whenever I am in a meeting in that capacity,” Cantlay told SI after his final round at the Players Championship. “I think more information is always better.”
Full piece.

3. Mystery abounds

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”It turns out Monday’s expected “secret” meeting between the PGA Tour policy board player directors and the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is even clandestine for those who are being “strongly encouraged” to attend.”

  • “I don’t even think our membership knows anything about a meeting on Monday yet. I don’t know the details of it,” said Peter Malnati, one of the six player directors who would meet with the fund’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, on Monday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. “I would rather tell our membership first, but, honestly, I think at this point I probably should have more details because there may be a meeting but I don’t even know. I don’t know where it is or how I’m getting there.”
  • “The possible meeting, which was first reported by Golfweek.com and would take place in a private residence, would be the first time the player directors have met with anyone from the PIF. Malnati said Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has been pushing for a face-to-face meeting between the players and Al-Rumayyan “for months.”
Full piece.

4. McIlroy takes aim at Norman

Jack Milko for SB Nation…”McIlroy still wants to see a deal between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) go through.

But he holds no remorse for LIV Golf’s CEO, Greg Norman.”

  • “They’re a sovereign wealth fund. They want to park money for decades and not worry about it,” McIlroy said of the PIF.
  • “They want to invest in smart and secure businesses, and the PGA Tour is definitely one of those, especially if they’re looking to invest in sport in some way… I have spent time with [PIF Governor] Yasir [al-Rumayyan]. I think the people who have represented him in LIV have done him a disservice, so Norman and those guys.”
  • “Norman has championed LIV Golf’s cause for more than two years now, celebrating its format, players, and how the Saudi-backed circuit continues to ‘change the game.’
Full piece.

5. Boo birds

Bunkered report…”Jay Monahan was booed at The PLAYERS Championship as some golf fans made their feelings clear on the PGA Tour commissioner.

Monahan has been under fire ever since blindsiding his players with a top-secret framework agreement with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund which bankrolls LIV Golf last June.”

  • “He confirmed in his pre-tournament address at TPC Sawgrass that negotiations were “accelerating” with the sovereign wealth fund over a deal to unify the game.”
Full Piece.

6. Scheffler first in money won at The Players

Todd Kelly for Golfweek…”With a first-place prize of $4.5 million on the line, Scheffler came from five shots back on Sunday to win the 2024 Players Championship. And with that, he took over the top spot for most money won in a career at the PGA Tour’s flagship event at TPC Sawgrass.”

  • “Scheffler was previously third all-time at the Players with more than $4.5 million (with most of that earned for winning there in 2023) but now he’s over the $9 million mark.”
  • “He takes over the top spot from Sergio Garcia. Tiger Woods slides from the second to third.”
Full Piece.

7. Winning WITB

*Presented by 2nd Swing*

Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (8 degrees @8.25)

Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X (45 inches)

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)

Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X

Irons: Srixon ZU85 (3, 4) Buy here, TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW) Buy here.

Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Hybrid Prototype 10 X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM8 (50-12F, 56-14F), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks Proto (60.5-T)

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Grip: Golf Pride Pro Only

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Full Piece.
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Tour Rundown: Matching luggage for Scheffler

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For those of us from another generation, the disruption of the golf world that we knew well is both exciting and unsettling. The two most potent disruptors are rival golf leagues, not unlike the turmoil seen in the NCAA, and the Anchorman-style gangs of golf reporters. Reconciled to a past era are the dominance of the U.S. PGA Tour and the monthly golf magazines. One element that will not change, at any time in the foreseeable future, however, is the sanctity of the grand slam and golf’s four male major championships. While the LPGA and the PGA Tour Champions have seen a light and added fifth and sixth power titles, the men’s game remains staunchly in the 20th century.

This last topic surges in pertinence each March, just before the playing of The Players Championship. Two camps stake tents and run banners up the poll. One cries out for elevation of the PC to major status, while the other digs a trench around its impregnable quadrilateral. My personal take is this: Every four years since 2016, golf is played at the Olympics. Is Olympic Gold the equivalent of a major title? Yes, it is. It comes around every 1,500 days and brings elite golfers together in competition at the most important athletic event and venue. In my mind, Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele earned major titles in Brazil and Japan, as did Inbee Park and Nelly Korda. As for the Players Championship, why not? The field is stronger by ranking than any major event, and the golf course demands every shot that golfers can create.

The Players Championship is so important to the U.S. PGA Tour that all other tours under its umbrella take the week off. No Korn Ferry, no Tour Champions. The LPGA and the DP World Tour follow suit, which shrinks the amount of watchable golf to two events. On that sour note, let’s run down this week’s play, beginning with the Players Championship and ending with the Asian Tour in Macau.

PGA Tour @ Players Championship: matching luggage for Scheffler

Scottie Scheffler is making a bid to be the player of his generation. From the previous one, a fair number have taken leave from traditional competition. The Johnsons, Koepkas, and Reeds from the 1980s no longer play the events that stand the test of time. The born-in-the-90s generation had its first great champion in Jordan Spieth until he took leave of the senses that brought him to golf’s pinnacle. Spieth’s descent ran opposite Scheffler’s rise.

Scottie Scheffler had won nothing on the PGA Tour until February 13th of 2022. He won on that day in Phoenix, then won three more times by the middle of April. One of those wins was the API at Bay Hill. Last week, Scheffler won for a second time at the Orlando course. Last March, Scheffler won his first Players Championship, by five shots over Tyrrell Hatton. On Sunday, Scheffler dived headfirst into a cauldron of fierce competition. Facing challenges from Olympic champion Schauffele, Open champion Brian Harmon, and U.S. Open champion  Wyndham Clark, Scheffler breathed. As the only man to reach 20 under par, he earned a second consecutive title at Sawgrass and reminded us that it has been two years since he won the Masters and that he is on a tear.

It all began at the fourth on Sunday for Scheffler. After pars at the opening three holes, Scheffler’s driving wedge from 92 yards landed 20 feet shy of the hole, took one large bounce, then spun left, trickling into the hole for eagle. He followed that incantation with another birdie, then two pars. The stretch from 8 to 12 was where the champion made a statement. His quartet of birdies over that run, brought him to 19-under par and let the pursuing pack know that even lower than the winning 17 under in 2023 would be necessary.

And the trio was game. Harman and Clark both dipped below 70, to reach 19 under at the final pole. Schauffele could not find a similar gear and closed with 70 — 69 would have earned him a playoff with Scheffler. It was the extra gear, the ability to go low when all things mattered, that eleveated the now two-time champion to the top of the podium. In five of his eight tour wins, Scheffler has posted a sub-70 round on day four, and four of those have been 67 or lower.

With elegant precision, Scheffler applied the final thrust at the par-5 16th. He played safely away from Pete’s Pond on the right, into the left greenside bunker at the back of the putting surface. His bunker shot was thing of exquisite accuracy, trickling to a planned stop about 20 inches from the hole. The birdie concluded matters and rang the sort of bell that Dye courses tend to display.

Asian Tour @ International Series Macau: Catlin earns playoff victory

There are two sorts of golfers that compete on the Asian Tour, which makes no secret of its alliance with the LIV. The first are the AT stalwarts, the ones who play as golfers have always played, with little guarantee and much pride. The others are the ones who compete on the LIV, eschewing both risk and pride for the guaranteed payday. Their deal costs them world ranking points, so they play in AT events, hoping to qualify for golf’s major events.

This week in Macau, one of those LIV golfers shot 60 on Sunday and did not win the tournament. Hard to believe, you say? Aye, but when another golfer shoots 59 in the third round, follows it up with a 65 on day four, then makes overtime birdie twice at the par-five closer, the razor’s edge of great golf is sharpened. Thus did it happen with American John Catlin and Spaniard David Puig.

It was Catlin who signed for 59, and it took a twisting, eagle putt at the last to enshrine the first-ever, sub-60 on the Asian Tour. It was Puig who closed the gap on Sunday with a 60 of his own, which featured a bogey at the lengthy fifth hole, but was followed by seven birdies and an eagle over the next 13 holes. Catlin had a six-feet putt for the regulation win, but missed. In extra time, Puig nearly holed for eagle at 18, then tapped in for birdie. Catlin’s second danced along the OOB perimeter, before ending on an access road. His drop and pitch left him another six feet to remain alive, and this time, he converted.

At the second go-round of the par-5 finisher, Puig found the green in two, but took three putts from nearly 50 feet. Catlin confronted another challenging pitch for his third, and once again, his wedge game won the day. He tapped in for birdie and the win.

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Morning 9: Rory, Xander, Clark share Players lead | Rory on controversial drop | AK misses Macau cut

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Friday morning, golf fans, as day two of the Players Championship gets underway from TPC Sawgrass!

1. McIlroy grabs share of the lead

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach…”Despite hitting two tee shots into the water and being at the center of a controversial drop after the second one, four-time major champion Rory McIlroy opened the 50th Players Championship with a 7-under 65 to grab a share of the first-round lead Thursday.”

  • “McIlroy, the 2019 Players Championship winner, was tied atop the leaderboard with Xander Schauffele and reigning U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, who had much more uneventful opening rounds at TPC Sawgrass.”
Full piece.

2. Xander and Clark also fire 65

Ali Stafford for Sky Sports…“Schauffele, playing in the group ahead of McIlroy, charged up the leaderboard with five birdies in a six-hole stretch around the turn to make a bogey-free start to the week and set the initial clubhouse target.”

  • “The pair held a share of the lead until Clark produced a spectacular back-nine birdie run, where he rolled in from 20 feet at the 15th before taking advantage of the par-five next and birdied the 17th to join the group on seven under.”
Full piece.

3. McIlroy drop debate

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”McIlroy rinsed two tee balls into the water, the first at TPC Sawgrass’ par-4 18th hole and the second on the par-4 seventh. While the former prompted some discussion, the latter produced an especially lengthy back-and-forth between McIlroy and the other two players, as the trio spent more than eight minutes trying to determine where McIlroy should drop.”

  • “Initially, the walking ESPN+ reporter said that McIlroy’s caddie, Harry Diamond, said that McIlroy’s ball “absolutely” hit above the red penalty line before kicking into the water left of a long fairway bunker. The one television camera angle showed McIlroy’s ball clearly bouncing once, though it was unclear where exactly it pitched.”
  • “That’s an emphatic 250-yard difference,” an announcer said of where McIlroy was looking to drop, and where he’d have to drop, had his ball not crossed in play.”
  • “It bounced into the water but we were just trying to make sure that it was above the red line,” McIlroy shouted over to his playing competitors, who were inquiring about his thought process.”
Full piece.

4. Beall: Time for a different system?

Golf Digest’s Joel Beall…”Reputations in golf are a fickle thing, and to compromise them for what may or may not have happened hundreds of yards away is an avoidable gamble. Perhaps McIlroy should have been more open to what his opponents were saying, yet there’s a case that he shouldn’t have had to defend himself in the first place; that should have fallen to a rules official. And the current system isn’t just failing the player whose score is in question. It shouldn’t fall to opponents to police the field, for that responsibility can put them in awkward, uncomfortable positions that can simultaneously put them in an unfavorable light.”

  • “Just because this is how golf has always done it doesn’t mean it has to be this way in perpetuity. It’s a change easier said than done, one that requires more rules officials and more cameras, two resources that are not in plentiful supply. But this week the PGA Tour is returning its Every Shot At broadcast option and its new television center opens up a world of possibility for how the tour is watched … and in some cases, reviewed.”
  • “Much of the conversation this week has been about the tour product, specifically, how it can be enhanced and refined. But the tour’s primary product is its players, and what the tour wants to improve also needs to be protected. In this case, that means protecting them from themselves. Something so valuable shouldn’t be vulnerable to five minutes.”
Full piece.

5. Tom Kim out with illness

Golf Channel report…”Tom Kim withdrew Thursday after eight holes of the opening round of The Players Championship. The PGA Tour sent out a social media post citing an unspecified illness as the reason.”

  • “Kim, who started on the back nine on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, was 5 over par at the time, including two bogeys and a triple bogey.”
Full Piece.

6. Owen Wilson poised to play golf’s Ted Lasso

Hollywood Reporter…”The streamer behind Ted Lasso has placed a series order for a show starring Owen Wilson as a former pro golfer who needs to get his life back in order. The Loki star will also be an executive producer of the untitled series, which comes from Apple Studios and creator Jason Keller (Ford v. Ferrari).

  • “Wilson will play Pryce Cahill, whose golf career ended prematurely 20 years ago. After he gets fired from his job at a sporting goods store in Indiana and his wife leaves him, Pryce sees a troubled 17-year-old golf phenom as his way back.”
Full Piece.

7. AK one of five to miss Macau cut

Paul Higham for Golf Monthly…”Although he was four shots better in his second round, Anthony Kim still came unstuck at the International Series in Macau as he missed his first professional cut in 12 years.”

  • “Kim was one of 21 LIV Golf League stars teeing it up at Macau Golf & Country Club, and one of five to miss the cut along with Harold Varner, Danny Lee, Eugenio Chacarra and Graeme McDowell.”
  • “The American improved from his opening 74 with a second-round 70, but still finished on four over which saw him miss the cut by eight shots.”
Full Piece.

8. Best Driver 2024 is live now on GolfWRX

What’s the best driver of 2024? This year, to answer that question, we have expanded our panel of expert fitters to help you find which of the 2024 drivers is best for your game, breaking down the candidates by clubhead speed.

Full Piece.

9. Photos from The Players

  • Check out all of our galleries from TPC Sawgrass!
Full Piece.
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