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Emergency 9

Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. The Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort plays 7,518 yards to Par-73.

 

No X-planation needed on the Plantation

I thought it would take a big one to catch and pass Woodland and Xander Schauffele, trailing by five shots, provided just that. His course-record tying 62 saw him post 23-under 269 and win by a shot. Schauffele picks up his second win of the season after coming-from-behind to win the WGC-HSBC Champions in his last official start on TOUR.

This is his fourth win on TOUR and third consecutive in a limited-field event (TOUR Championship, WGC-HSBC Champions) so he has no problem beating top-heavy competition. He was T2 at THE PLAYERS, T6 at Shinnecock, T2 at Carnoustie and T3 at Aronimink so he can play difficult or resort-style tracks all the like.

Schauffele Superlatives

After opening with a bogey, the 25-year old rattled off two eagles and eight birdies in his final 17 holes for an even 31-31=62.

Finished third on the week in Strokes-Gained: Tee-to-Green, breaking a streak of three-straight winners leading the field in this event. He turned on the jets on the weekend as he was second on Saturday (68) and first on Sunday (62).

• Second; Par-4 scoring.
• Third; Strokes-Gained: Putting, Total Birdies.
• Fourth; Strokes-Gained: Approach-the-Green.
• T4; Par-5 scoring.
• Fifth; Strokes-Gained: Around-the-Green.

Cause for Separation

These were the top-10 selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf One & Done. If you’re wondering why you’re not doing well, here’s why:

Rank	Player	Position	% Ownership
1	Marc Leishman	T4	15.63
2	Jon Rahm	T8	9.85
3	Patrick Reed	T25	9.33
4	Dustin Johnson	T4	7.30
5	Bryson DeChambeau	7th	6.69
6	Brooks Koepka	24th	5.30
7	Cameron Champ	T11	4.96
8	Xander Schauffele	WIN	4.91
9	Gary Woodland	2nd	4.34
10	Justin Thomas	3rd	3.16

Hanging 10

These were the top-10 selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game. If you’re wondering why you’re not doing well, here’s why:

Rank	Player	Position	% Ownership
1	Justin Thomas	3rd	53.76
2	Dustin Johnson	T4	52.35
3	Brooks Koepka	24th	47.65
4	Bryson DeChambeau	7th	45.86
5	Jon Rahm	T8	42.15
6	Marc Leishman	T4	36.42
7	Gary Woodland	2nd	30.05
8	Jason Day	13th	28.59
9	Patrick Reed	T25	26.99
10	Xander Schauffele	WIN	25.31

Tough Pill to Swallow

Woodland was beaten, plain and simple. He played the weekend 68-68 (-10) and lost by a shot. It happens and it stinks if you were backing him this week. If he closed with 73, I’m singing a different song but one putt, as cruel as it may be, isn’t going to sway me moving forward. He now has two runner-up finishes and four top 10’s in five starts this season.

Go Low

Justin Thomas and Webb Simpson posted the low rounds of the week with 65 and then were blasted by three shots when Schauffele signed his scorecard. Simpson continues his love for Kapalua as this is his third top-10 paycheck in four starts. It’s here or Wyndham in OAD! … Thomas led the field in Strokes-Gained: Tee-to-Green, Approach-the-Green, Proximity, and tied for the lead in birdies with 25. That will cement him as my favorite this week at Waialae!

Red-Hot Summer

It’s summer down-under but no matter where Marc Leishman has played recently, excellent golf has followed.

• CIMB Classic: Win
• CJ CUP: T18
• ISPS World Cup: T2
• Australian PGA: T2
• Sentry TOC: T4

Defending Champion

Only Stuart Appleby has won more on Maui but nobody has won more cash than Dustin Johnson. He needed just over $145k this week to ascend to the top of the heap and he did just that with T4. He’s an automatic in every format here but needs probably deeper inspection for One-and-Done. His value for me is on the most difficult courses, not one of the easiest. He carded two doubles and a round above par and was still T4. Hahahahahaha.

Study Hall

The scoring average for the week was 70.924 with the final round the easiest of the bunch at 69.727. … There were 12, bogey-free rounds this week and eight were on the weekend when the wind eased. … Woodland and Thomas most made 25 birdies (T1) while first-timer Rory McIlroy squared only three bogeys finishing T4. … Schauffele becomes the fourth winner of the last five to win in their second start at Kapalua (Reed, Spieth and Thomas). He also becomes the fourth winner in the last five to be 25 or younger (Reed, Spieth and Thomas).