For the first day in five, I’m sat upright at my laptop.

Sorry about the lack of #content, but I was knocked out on cold meds instead of my usual IPA.

Big shout to my homey Sean Dupree for the photo ABOVE. He’s not in the one below, haha.

I’ve rallied today and here are my thoughts.

Emergency 9

Here are nine tidbits from the Round 3 of the Waste Management Phoenix Open that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. TPC Scottsdale hosts annually and plays to a Par-71 and 7,261 yards.

Let’s Try This Again

Rickie Fowler has posted 20-under and leads by four as he looks to finally get it over the finish line in Phoenix. He led by one after 54 holes in 2018 and has been in contention plenty of times this decade but hasn’t closed the deal. Throw in that he’s never closed a 36-hole lead and gamers will be nervous again tomorrow. I won’t be! Since I don’t have in OAD and he’s playing with his buddies Kooooooooooooch and JT, he should be just fine, right?

Fantasy Island

PGATOUR game:

Rank	Player	Place	% Ownership
1	Phil Mickelson	MC	66.59
2	Hideki Matsuyama	T26	56.70
3	Matt Kuchar	2nd	56.10
4	Jon Rahm	T18	43.39
5	Justin Thomas	3rd	40.57
6	Gary Woodland	T6	39.27
7	Webb Simpson	T26	37.84
8	Rickie Fowler	1st	36.71
9	Tony Finau	MC	30.76
10	Xander Schauffele	T26	30.24

 

Fantasy OAD

Rank	Player	Place	% Ownership
1	Hideki Matsuyama	T26	32.72
2	Phil Mickelson	MC	13.89
3	Jon Rahm	T18	9.11
4	Matt Kuchar	2nd	6.80
5	Rickie Fowler	1st	5.87
6	Gary Woodland	T6	4.28
7	Tony Finau	MC	3.75
8	Webb Simpson	T26	3.50
9	Xander Schauffele	T26	3.34
10	Justin Thomas	3rd	1.71

Fountain of Youth

Maybe it’s the Sketchers. Maybe it’s the new ball. If 40 is the new 30 Kuchar should be the poster boy. Back-to-back rounds of 65 have him four back of Fowler’s lead as he looks for his third win this season. The keys: just two bogeys plus he’s T2 in scrambling.

Last-Minute Decision

Branden Grace decided he would enter this week at the last minute. Good idea. He leapt into the conversation after 64 on Friday that included an ace and another eagle. If he’s going to focus on the PGATOUR this season, as was said on television, we’ll need to pay more attention. He’s leading the event in Par-5 scoring.

Defending

Gary Woodland is trending the proper direction after 68-67-66 and will need something even lower tomorrow to retain his title. He’s pounding it tee-to-green but he hasn’t holed over 80 feet of putts in a single round yet. Last year he used 64 on Sunday to set the number for the playoff that he eventually won. Groundhog Day? Yes, please!

Moving Day

Man, Jason Kokrak has been popping up on weekends the last three weeks but he’s digging too many Thursday holes. He started with 73 but bounced with 66-65 to move up 28 spots to T12 entering Sunday. … Chez Reavie was Woodland’s victim in the playoff last year. His bogey-free 64 moved him up 41 spots to T12 and a chance at back-to-back top-10 finishes in Scottsdale.

Moving Day: Wrong Way

Jon Rahm began the day T12 but 70 saw him drop to T18. … Webb Simpson only made one bogey but only had two circles on the card as he dropped from T18 to T26. His worst Round 3 this decade in five tries was 68 prior to his 70 on Saturday. … Trey Mullinax posted 72 and dropped from T3 to T8. His final round scoring average this season is 68 and includes a 64 at The RSM Classic.

Study Hall

The Round 3 scoring average was 69.479, the easiest of the week, as the cloud cover and lack of wind resulted in nine bogey-free rounds. … Thanks to Johnny Miller and his wit, humour and reality. Enjoy the next chapter! It’s Paul Azinger in the jump seat tomorrow! … Sergio Garcia was DISQUALIFIED at the European Tour event in Saudi Arabia. What a shitshow. … Dustin Johnson shot 61 on Friday and Haotong Li posted 62 on Saturday. They’re five clear as they’ll play in the final group Sunday.