The post 2 tips that helped a PGA Tour player recapture his best form appeared first on Golf.

The post 2 tips that helped a PGA Tour player recapture his best form appeared first on Golf.

Russell Henley seems to be solving one of the most elusive problems in golf: he’s figured out how to recapture his best form.

It was less than two years ago that Henley, a multiple-time PGA Tour winner, had tumbled down to 251st in the Official World Golf Ranking. For many golfers, it’s hard to climb back up. But Henley scrapped his way back: A third at last year’s Honda Classic, followed by a combination of top 10s, 15s and 20s (including a T13 at the 2021 U.S Open, where he at times held the lead) means he’s now back inside the top 50.

A win in Hawaii would’ve been a nice way to cap it off, but Hideki Matsuyama — and his 3-wood — was too good down the stretch. But Russell’s deserved trophy is surely just around the corner. And when it happens, his fully-realized comeback will be courtesy of a few principles that may help you capture your best form.

1. Keep the swing thoughts simple

It’s a cruel truth in golf that so often, the harder you try to fix a certain aspect of your game, the more broken things become.

Shots don’t start going sideways by accident — it’s the result of subtle swing flaws that hinder your ability to square the clubface. It’s in trying to find and fix that flaw which often sends golfers down a rabbit hole they never come back from.

“It’s easy to fall down the rabbit hole of trying to search a lot, because every week you play with somebody that you might think does this or that better,” Harris English, who snapped his seven-year winless streak last season, says. “I’ve learned not to go up and down the range saying, ‘I need to be like Dustin or Justin Thomas or Xander Schauffele.’ I need to be the best version of myself and work at doing the things I do well.”

Henley’s issue was a high hook. The ball was curving aggressively left and he didn’t know why. He consulted with legendary GOLF Magazine Hall-of-Fame teacher Jim McClean early last year, who quickly spotted the issue: Henley’s arms and club were getting “stuck” behind him, causing a club path that moved too in-to-out.

I worked a lot with Russell Henley last year. Didn’t change his natural swing. We worked on taking out the hook. This is his iron shot on #1 today at Sony. Perfect shot! Russell has a 2 shot lead. Using the claw this year for putting. I like that. Rooting for him!!! pic.twitter.com/qnxVwZWklJ

— Jim McLean Golf (@McLeanGolf) January 16, 2022

But Henley isn’t concerned with the technical details of the golf swing. Instead, he wants to find a simple thought he can use.

“Russell definitely does not like too much detail from the teaching,” McLean says. “He does not want complicated answers to questions he asks.”

The thought that worked for him, McLean says, was the feeling of “getting his arms to move faster,” or in Russell’s words, to be “aggressive” with his arms.

That cue allowed Henley to put into action a fix to the problem that had been plaguing him, without getting overly technical.

2. Embrace chaos in your practice

Another cruel irony in golf is that one of the places where golfers often need to go to fix problems — the driving range — can create a raft of new problems itself.

Standing in a singular spot and hitting golf balls into a wide open space in rapid succession, often with the same club, from a flat lie, is not golf. It’s not even a good simulation of golf. It’s a logistical necessity that can come in handy at times, but it can also do more harm than good in others.

It’s why there’s a growing number of voices within golf who espouse the benefits of randomized practice.

Henley, it turns out, is one of them.

“I use a Trackman … it’s a great way to practice” he told the PGA Tour’s Sean Martin over the weekend. “It throws me random yardages and I try to hit it and guess [how far I hit it] and see what it is. It’s constantly giving me feedback and throwing curveballs at me.

This strategy, coincidentally, was one that Dustin Johnson used to improve his own wedge game. And while it certainly helps to have a high-powered Trackman spitting out randomized numbers, there are ways the rest of us can follow a similar path.

First, you could simply invest in a more affordable version of technology, or you could follow the golden rule: Never hit the same shot on the range on back-to-back shots. This means choosing a different club for one shot, aiming at a different target, altering the distance you hit your club, or all of the above.

By forcing yourself to make small adjustments on the range, you’re mirroring more closely the task we face on the golf course itself. Which, as it did for Henley, could leave us all better off.

The post 2 tips that helped a PGA Tour player recapture his best form appeared first on Golf.

The post How a rarely used rule could have ended the Sony Open playoff much sooner appeared first on Golf.

The post How a rarely used rule could have ended the Sony Open playoff much sooner appeared first on Golf.

There didn’t need to be a playoff. 

Of course, there was — that’s why they’re out there, right? — but as Hideki Matsuyama and Russell Henley played their playoff on Sunday after finishing four rounds at the Sony Open tied, and Matsuyama pulled away, and Henley sunk, a rarely used rule that could have ended things at any point could have become more and more a consideration. 

Here’s how. The playoff began with Henley hitting a tee shot into a fairway bunker on the par-5 18th at Waialae Country Club, and Matsuyama finding the fairway. From there, Henley laid up short of the green, and Matsuyama hit the shot of the tournament, a 270-yard 3-wood that dropped within 2 feet of the hole. Henley would now have to hole out, from 84 yards away, in order to force Matsuyama to make his putt and continue the playoff. It wasn’t over, but it was close. 

News

And then closer still. Henley airmailed his wedge over the green, and he would now have to hole that, and have Matsuyama two-putt from 2 feet, to keep things going. At that point, on the Golf Channel broadcast, analyst and longtime caddie John Wood said he asked PGA Tour rules official Gary Young whether Matsuyama and Henley could play out of turn — essentially, could Matsuyama just hit his 2-footer and claim his prize.  

No, but … 

“Guys, I was just talking with Gary Young and asked him if they could play out of turn in a playoff if they both agreed to it,” Wood said on the broadcast. “He said they couldn’t play out of turn, but Russell could actually concede in a playoff so — we’ll finish things out here.” 

And they did. Henley chipped on and two-putted for a bogey six, and Matsuyama rolled in the near-tap-in for an eagle three. But, according to Rule 1.3c/2, under the interpretation section, Henley, or Matsuyama for that matter, could have tapped out at any point. The rule states: “If two players are in the play-off, one player is allowed to concede the play-off to the other player.”

Rules

As for the order of play that Wood asked about, ahead of the concession revelation, the Rules of Golf also cover that. Rule 6.4b states: “The ball that is farthest from the hole should be played first. If two or more balls are the same distance from the hole or their relative distances are not known, the ball to be played first should be decided by agreement or by using a random method. There is no penalty if a player plays out of turn, except that if two or more players agree to play out of turn to give one of them an advantage, each of them gets the general penalty (two penalty strokes).”

Afterward, Henley was asked how he would “process just falling short.” He had entered Sunday’s final round with the sixth 54-hole lead in his career, and left sitting at converting just one of those into a victory. (Notably, it was in his first-ever Tour start, at the 2013 Sony.)

“It stings,” said Henley, who’s won three times on Tour. “I played some great golf. I feel like I was in it the entire time mentally this time. I didn’t have too many mental lapses like I have other tournaments where I’ve been close to the lead in the last couple years.

“So feel like I was there. You know, just got to keep chugging.”

The post How a rarely used rule could have ended the Sony Open playoff much sooner appeared first on Golf.

The post Sony Open leaderboard: Who’s leading after Round 3 appeared first on Golf.

The post Sony Open leaderboard: Who’s leading after Round 3 appeared first on Golf.

Russell Henley was reminiscing about his win at the Sony Open in 2013, in his first-ever PGA Tour start, when he admitted that, for a teeny-tiny second, he thought that golf “might be easier than I thought.” “But it’s not,” he quickly added. Then laughed. He’s right, of course. Then again, through 54 holes at this year’s Sony, it’s not as if things have been all too hard, either. Here are three things you need to know after Saturday’s third round at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.    

Complete leaderboard here. 

Russell Henley leads 

Henley’s best maybe came after his worst. 

On the par-4 13th, after coming up short of the green on his second stroke, he came short on his third, too, duffing the shot into a greenside bunker from just 48 yards out — only to get up and down, exhale and add two birdies on his way to the clubhouse. He finished with a three-under 67, an 18-under total and a two-shot lead over Hideki Matsuyama, and a four-shot advantage over Matt Kuchar, Haotong Li, Seamus Power and Adam Svensson. 

“Yeah, I figured it wouldn’t be quite as easy as the first two days,” Henley said. “It’s just not how golf works typically. I wasn’t planning on making bogeys, but definitely wasn’t expecting to shoot eight-under again.

“But at the same time, I felt really good about my game all day. I never really got too nervous or too ahead of myself. I feel like I stayed in every shot, one shot at a time, and had really good focus the whole day. I’m pleased and just tried to do the best I could.”

Entering Sunday, Henley will be seeking his fourth PGA Tour win, not that he’s not had other opportunities to add to his haul. Most notably, he was tied for the lead at last year’s U.S. Open entering the final day, then shot a five-76 and tied for 13th.

“I’ve slept on a few leads the last couple years,” Henley said. “It’s hard. I struggle to sleep. I’m already not the best sleeper.

“But, yeah, I mean, the thing is, you look at what Hideki did today, he shot seven-under. Guys are so good out here. You just have to play at such a high level for so long to be in contention. So hopefully I can keep doing that and play well tomorrow, give myself a chance on the back nine.”

Hideki Matsuyama is two shots back 

Matsuyama shot the day’s low round, a seven-under 63. And four of his seven birdies came on putts of 9 feet or longer — he dropped a 9-footer on 2, a 37-footer on 13, a 13-footer on 15, and a 13-footer on the 18th. 

“Probably putting was my strong point today,” he said. “Even my missed putts found the hole.”

A reporter asked how that happened. 

“I was lucky today,” last year’s Masters champ said. 

Power and Svensson each shot 65s, Kuchar a 67 and Li a 68, which included a back nine that featured three birdies, one bogey and one double bogey.

“Well, another great day,” Li said. “Any day you shoot under par is a good score. But I found my putting not as hot as normal and had a couple bad tee shots.”

Kevin Kisner is five shots back 

Among other players, Kevin Kisner is five shots back after a 65, defending champion Kevin Na is seven back after a 67, and Keita Nakajima, the world’s top-ranke amateur, is 11 back after a 72.

The post Sony Open leaderboard: Who’s leading after Round 3 appeared first on Golf.

The post Russell Henley has an incredible alert pop up on his phone every morning appeared first on Golf.

The post Russell Henley has an incredible alert pop up on his phone every morning appeared first on Golf.

Think about the sort of alerts that pop up on your phone.

Morning alarm? Back to bed, thanks.

News notifications? Probably something bad.

Weekly screen time report? Nope, I’m good.

Perhaps we should all take a lesson from Russell Henley. A golf lesson, for one thing — Henley shot eight-under 62 on Thursday to take the lead at the Wyndham Championship — but a phone lesson, too. And a lesson in positive self-talk.

That’s because Henley filters the information that enters his day. And every morning, he gets a pop-up reminder on his phone carrying a very simple message:

“I’m a great putter.”

It’s usually true, too. It was true on Thursday, when Henley gained two-and-a-half shots on the field with the flatstick in his hands. It was true when he made a five-foot putt for eagle at 5 and a 31-foot putt for birdie at 6. It was doubly true at No. 11, where he snaked in a double-breaker for another birdie.

“It broke off the side of the fringe and then the grain at the hole was going the opposite way, so I saw it perfectly and broke both ways and went in. That was pretty cool,” he said. Henley was in a good mood, which makes sense. He’d birdied three of his final four holes, too, to post the day’s low round.

Lifestyle

The reminder isn’t brand-new; Henley first alerted himself to his own putting prowess some seven or eight years ago. But then he ditched it for a while, when the putts weren’t going in.

“I turned it off for a few years because it was making me mad because I wasn’t putting well, but I put it back on recently. Maybe I need to keep it there.”

In 2013 and 2015, Henley ranked inside the top 10 on Tour in putting. He hasn’t been able to match that level since; he even fell to No. 162 in 2019 and No. 138 in 2020, consistently losing shots to the field on the greens. But he’s become a sniper with an iron in hand, ranking fourth on Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach. Last year he finished the season third in the same category.

“It’s tough to be really highly ranked in putting, I feel like, when you’re hitting it well, and I feel like I’ve hit it well this year, so that’s my excuse,” he said. Then he caught himself. “I actually have no idea if that’s real or not.”

Henley said he’s made tremendous stride with his full swing the last few years but acknowledged that his putting lagged behind. Recently, though, he’s seen improvement working with Ramon Bescansa, former touring pro and inventor of training aid “The Perfect Putter.” He’s moved up to No. 85 in putting, above average for the first time in years. He’s particularly good from four to eight feet, where he ranks No. 20 on Tour. The stroke looks steady.

Henley hasn’t quite had the season he wanted. He held the lead at the U.S. Open on Sunday before fading to T13. Given his iron play (fourth on Tour) and his scoring average (20th) and his total strokes gained (28th) he feels like he should be higher in the FedEx Cup than his current position of 44th. But he gets it, too.

“That’s golf and it’s just hard and everybody’s good, and I’m just trying to keep my head down and just play well for me.”

I should say that Henley hasn’t quite had the season he wanted yet. He has several more events to make it happen, and this one’s off to a particularly promising start.

“Yeah, my goal at the start of the year is to make the Tour Championship and win and I haven’t done either one of those yet, but going to keep trying my best,” he said.

Perhaps he’ll speak a win into being, just like he did with his hot putter. If he’s taking suggestions for phone alerts, I’ll submit a new one he can use this weekend:

“I’m a PGA Tour winner.”

Worth a try, right?

The post Russell Henley has an incredible alert pop up on his phone every morning appeared first on Golf.

The post What a rules gaffe taught us about U.S. Open co-leader Russell Henley appeared first on Golf.

The post What a rules gaffe taught us about U.S. Open co-leader Russell Henley appeared first on Golf.

LA JOLLA, Calif. — This is why we love golf, professional golf, major-championship golf, seaside golf. Why we love the people who play it and their caddies. The organizations that stage these storied events, on hard courses, old trophies waiting backstage. (Take a bow, USGA.) The architects who cultivate these playing fields. (Rees.) The wind-burned security guards, the fans with their merch bags. The suited broadcasters and sneakered reporters who disseminate the varied and excellent stories that come out of major-championship golf, despite the absurd over-management of the players by far too many player managers. 

But most especially — once more with feeling — the people who play it.

It’s a varied and excellent leaderboard.

Love King Louie. Rory, a gem. Go on down the line.

News

But I’m rooting for Russell Henley. 

The players, as they always have, reveal themselves with how they handle bad lies and lucky bounces. How they handle their caddies, their playing partners, their fans. How they handle rules issues. How they handle themselves.

Enter Russell Henley.

Henley did something, mid-November, 2019, that has stayed with me and others. He was playing in Mexico, at the Mayakoba Classic. He shot a tidy 66 to start. After completing his second round, he realized that he had inadvertently and repeatedly violated a rule — the so-called One Ball Rule — that had no impact on his score whatsoever. He did it in a manner that no playing partner or fan or rules official could have possibly known. But he knew, and that was enough.

Henley was signing autographs after a round, signing game balls, when he realized he had been using one type of Pro V1x for most of the round, and a prototype Pro V1x, with slightly different marking, for four holes. He shot 69, but he had violated the One Ball Rule. With a two-shot penalty on each of those four holes, his 69 became a 77. He missed the cut.

I’ve been rooting for Henley ever since.

Arnold Palmer used to say, “I’m a USGA man.” Arnold won a U.S. Amateur and a U.S. Open and later was the honorary chairman of the USGA. What did Arnold mean? Loads.

News

That the game’s code of grace-under-pressure was elemental to him. That he, like the USGA, liked fair, difficult courses. That he embraced the idea of leaving the game and the course in better shape than you found it.

And that the rulebook published every two years by the USGA, in concert with the R&A, is the necessary and sacred starting point for any serious competition. Yes, Palmer had his issues with individual rules and rules officials over the years. But he understood that the rulebook was at the heart of the game. And so does Henley, who is in three-way tie for first through three rounds.

Henley was a college star at Georgia, but he never won a U.S. Amateur. He’s 32 and is playing in his eighth U.S. Open but he’s never had a top-10 finish. His best finish was in his first Open, in 2010, when he was the low amateur. No one is confusing him for Arnold. (Jordan Spieth is more likely.) But he knows what Arnold meant, when he said he was a USGA man.

News

“I hope I’m a USGA man,” Henley said Saturday night. For an entourage he had . . . nobody. Henley’s balky player credential was stuffed in his back pocket with a long blue lanyard dangling along his right leg. “I know what he’s saying. I think getting rewarded for being mentally tough and just hitting good shots under pressure is kind of what U.S. Opens seem to be all about. You can’t really fake it around a U.S. Open course. You kind of have to have everything going. I like that — I get what he’s saying.”

Henley’s play was gritty on Saturday. After rounds of 67 and 70, he shot a 71, playing in the last twosome with Richard Bland, on a day when 71, even par, was about as good a score as he could make. He may look like Spieth, who won the 2015 U.S. Open, but Spieth’s game is loaded with style. Henley’s game is out of the fairways-and-greens mode, the one used by many Open winners. Scott Simpson, for instance, your 1987 champion. There’s a long and worthy U.S. Open tradition of that working, too.

There is no way to know how many players would have called that penalty on themselves in Mexico, 18 months ago, as Henley did. Bobby Jones once said, famously, “You might as well praise a man for not robbing a bank as to praise him for playing by the rules.” Still, pretend you’re Henley: You and only you know you have broken a rule. It would be easy to say to yourself, “Dumb rule. Made no difference to my score. I’m playing the weekend and cashing my check.” Henley did not do that.

“Gosh, I feel like you’re always going to feel better about making the right decision,” he said Saturday night. “It was a pretty easy one. I think the rulebook is what makes the game, plain and simple. The rules make the game difficult — and they make it fair.”

How can you not root for this guy?

Richard Bland, 47-year-old Englishman, shot a third-round 77 playing with Henley, and still he was willing to talk to a reporter after his round. (That says something.) He had no entourage. (That says something.) He and Henley talked a little through the round, but not much. Both players had their hands full.

I told Bland about what Henley did in Mexico.

“Well,” Bland said, “you’d like to think that every player would do that, but—”

He didn’t finish his thought.

“Russell’s a really nice fellow, with a lot of game,” said the man who had the best view of Henley’s third round. “He played hard. He should play well.”

Michael Bamberger may be reached at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com

The post What a rules gaffe taught us about U.S. Open co-leader Russell Henley appeared first on Golf.

The post In rare rules decision, Russell Henley learned a lesson for all of us: call yourself on it! appeared first on Golf.

The post In rare rules decision, Russell Henley learned a lesson for all of us: call yourself on it! appeared first on Golf.

All the so-called Great Religions have some kind of written code at their heart, and golf, of course, does, too. Serious players used to carry the rulebook in their bags but now, if you have a smart phone, there’s no need for that. Russell Henley, 30-year-old Tour player with three wins, had a weird one last week in Mexico that made a half-dozen or more grizzled rules experts go to the good book: what exactly happens if you violate the One Ball Rule?

In Henley’s case, you go from making the cut and maybe a good check to heading on home. This week, he’s playing at Sea Island, and every ball in his bag is a Titleist ProV1x. No exceptions. In Mexico, there were exceptions.

He’s still trying to figure out how a Prov1x prototype ball — same good looks as his regular ball but with a little extra dash on it — got in his bag and to the Mayakoba course for (he estimates) five holes. He brought the problem to rules officials. They took it from there. That was on Saturday. Since then, Henley, deeply religious, contemplative by nature and a prone to worry, has figured out this:

— You call a penalty on yourself because it’s the right thing to do;

— If you don’t call a penalty on yourself, you’re going to have live with it, and that’s a lousy way to live;

— Everybody has to adhere to the rules or you can’t have meaningful competition.

Russell Henley went from making the cut to missing it after calling a penalty on himself.

Getty Images

---

The post In rare rules decision, Russell Henley learned a lesson for all of us: call yourself on it! appeared first on Golf.

The post Houston Open | Tournament Preview appeared first on Golf.

The post Houston Open | Tournament Preview appeared first on Golf.

After 14 years, The Golf Club of Houston will host its final event and Russell Henley is the ‘horse for course’ pick this week.

The post Houston Open | Tournament Preview appeared first on Golf.

The post How to hit the deceptive ‘fluffy’ lie chip shot, according to a three-time PGA Tour winner appeared first on Golf.

The post How to hit the deceptive ‘fluffy’ lie chip shot, according to a three-time PGA Tour winner appeared first on Golf.

You missed the green, but hey, the ball’s sitting up in the rough. Good, right? Maybe. In this situation, it’s not always certain how the ball will come out. As with all short-game shots, crisp contact is the key.

Step 1: Even if you’re short-sided, refrain from opening the face too much. With the ball up, you risk sliding the club right underneath it if you add extra loft. The ball won’t go anywhere. I keep the face square in this situation, or barely opened if I really need more loft to stop it close.

Step 2: I swing as if I’m hitting a little draw, with the club moving in-to-out and my hands rolling over slightly through impact. This helps the club remain shallow, which usually results in cleaner contact. My main thought is to get as many grooves on the ball as possible. Think “glide,” not “chop.”

The post How to hit the deceptive ‘fluffy’ lie chip shot, according to a three-time PGA Tour winner appeared first on Golf.

The post Fantasy Six Pack: Players to get in your lineup at the Greenbrier appeared first on Golf.

The post Fantasy Six Pack: Players to get in your lineup at the Greenbrier appeared first on Golf.

After a week where Tiger Woods was the headliner, the Tour heads to West Virginia. Before the week even got started, there was some high drama in the golfing world. I happened to be at the epicenter of it, as Josh Berhow explains in this article for GOLF.com on the controversy. If you are a golf fan, and haven’t heard about this yet, you’ll want to check it out.

Now, onto this week, where we have a rather weak field, but NOT weak contests! Three different contests offering 100K first place this week, as we ramp up into this year’s third major.

The Tournament: A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier

Course: The Old White TPC

Average Winning Score: -15

Average Cut: -1

Yardage: 7200 yards

Par: 70

Skills emphasized: Each of the last seven winners has ended up in the top 20 in SG: T2G for the week, while all of them except Scott Stallings were inside the top 10 of Strokes Gained-Putting. Putting is so hard to predict, but we’ll do our best to weed out who’s trending!

Top-10 finishers last year:

Xander Schauffele
Robert Streb
Jamie Lovemark
Russell Henley
Kelly Kraft
Ryan Blaum
Alex Cejka
J.B. Holmes
Danny Lee
Chad Campbell
Nick Taylor

Recap of last week’s picks:

While we weren’t able to capture the winner last week, six of the seven golfers we mentioned made it through the cut, and as long as you were able to avoid J.B. Holmes, you likely had a profitable week! Want to see how I was able to win the $33 contest on FanDuel last week? Check out our full recap of all of Tour Level’s action last week.

The Favorite(s):

Tony Finau (Odds: 13/1 DraftKings-$11,500 FanDuel: $12,000) What a year it’s been so far for Tony. He earned top 10 in 2018’s first two majors. That after a near tragedy at the par three contest during the Masters week, where he slipped and dislocated his ankle. He was lucky to escape a significant injury, but it was a scary sight to see. Now he heads to West Virginia as the favorite to win the tournament. Wow. This tall, athletic golfer enjoys hitting it long off the tee, ranked third on tour this year in that category, and seems to use that length to his advantage here earning a 7th place finish and a 13th in his two visits (2017, 2015). Tony also uses that length to obtain one of the best par four scoring numbers on Tour, ranking 5th this year, also something that spells success here since it is a par 70. Fitting him in a lineup on DraftKings won’t be as easy as it is on FanDuel, but a win is coming soon for Tony, and it might just be this week against a weak field.

Going Streaking: Players entering this week in the great form

1. Russell Henley (Odds: 25/1 Draftkings-$10,400 FanDuel-$10,500) It’s not often that a golfer doesn’t seem to match up statistically for the course, but then has some high finishes. This applies to Russell at Greenbrier as he’s had back to back top 5’s and has made all three cuts since 2013 at The Old White TPC. He also comes into the week in some of the best form he’s been in all year, making four straight cuts, coming off his best finish of the year, a 6th place finish just two weeks ago. Henley is an incredibly streaky player and ball striker, and last time out he was on, hitting almost every green, and fairway, an excellent recipe for success. If that continues this week, you can expect another run at a top 5, which would mark his third straight top 5 here at The Greenbrier.

2. Joaquin Niemann (Odds: 33/1 DraftKings- $9,700 FanDuel- $10,400) The Wonderboy from Chile, this nineteen-year-old phenom is still playing under the unlimited sponsorship exemptions category, but, Niemann is on the verge of receiving his full PGA Tour card, one of only two golfers in the past ten years not to go through the Web.com Tour, joining Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm. That’s some darn good company to be in. We haven’t quite got a full list of stats published for Joaquin, but here are some of the most important ones we were able to find. He would rank 6th regarding birde or better percentage, 15th in strokes gained: tee to green, second in strokes gained: approach and 17th in par four scoring, pretty good stats to have around this course. Niemann, believe it or not has also played the course, last year, where he finished 29th as an 18-year-old amateur. He’ll likely be able to parlay that success into another big finish this week.

3. Ryan Armour (Odds: 66/1 DraftKings-$7,700 FanDuel-$8,700) Everything seemed to come together for this 39-year-old last week. He’s made five straight cuts now and was able to use his accuracy off the tee last week to earn himself his best finish of this calendar year (he won over the fall circuit of the current PGA Tour season, but that was in 2017). I mentioned his driving accuracy is one of the strong suits of his game, ranking second on Tour, but his par four scoring is where he makes up a ton of strokes, ranking FIRST on the year. Over his last five starts, Armour ranks 5th in the field in strokes gained: Tee to Green and 10th in strokes gained: ball striking. He’ll look to make amends for his missed cut last year, and look to better his 2015 result where he finished 22nd. I was able to spend a little bit of time with Ryan out in Maui this year at the Tournament of Champions and let me tell you, he might be the easiest person to root for. A genuinely friendly and caring human being, Ryan will be on my root-for list every single week.

4. Cameron Percy: (Odds- 165/1 DraftKings-$7,000 FanDuel-$7,600) Truth be told, this is not a name I expected to be writing about this week, but here we are. Percy has found some consistency over his last four starts, making every cut, including one top 10 in those four starts. For a golfer priced at 7K, we are just looking for him to make the cut, and Cameron seems to be doing that and then some! He’s gained over 1.5 strokes in total strokes gained over his last five starts, ranking him 15th in the field. Percy does most of his damage though around or on the greens, as he ranks 18th in putting inside 10 feet this year, and 31st in strokes gained around the green. This will be his fourth trip to the Greenbrier since 2012; he holds a 2/3 record here with a 30th place finish back in 2013 being his best result.

5. Norman Xiong (Odds: 200/1 DraftKings-$6,500 FanDuel- $7,600) He may not have much form to go off of, as this is Norman’s first start on the PGA Tour. This incredibly talented sophomore has decided to leave school early and chase his dream of becoming a PGA Tour golfer. In his two years at Oregon, Norman won the Phil Mickelson award, given to the nation’s top freshman, and this year won the Jack Nicklaus award, an honor bestowed on the nation’s best Division 1 golfer, as well as the Fred Haskins award, an award given to the best collegiate golfer. He finished the year at Oregon with a scoring average of 69.05, with 23 rounds in the 60’s. For a 19-year-old, that record rivals the aforementioned, emerging superstar from Chile, Joaquin Niemann. Norman’s game has even been compared to the GOAT Tiger Woods by former PGA Tour player and coach Casey Martin. I’m excited to see him make his pro debut. The DFS sites don’t quite know who he is yet, so the price could end up being very cheap this week.

Mulligans: Players who need a reset and expect to play well this week

J.B. Holmes (Odds: 50/1 Draftkings $9,000 FanDuel- $10,600) After making four straight cuts, with three consecutive top 15’s and two straight top 10’s, Holmes regressed and was not able to make the weekend last week. However, he missed it on the number, so he wasn’t far off of being able to make a weekend run. Holmes ranks 7th in SG: BS in the previous five starts, earning on average just shy of 2 strokes per round. J.B. goes with his putter and lately it’s been pretty warm. He’ll need that to continue this week if he wants to make amends for his missed cut last week.

Where to play this fantasy golf this week:

DraftKings: Three contests with a 100K first prize. Pretty good for a rather weak field!

1. $5 Buy-in contest called Drive the Green contest with a top prize of $100,000 and a prize pool of $500,000

2. $444 Buy-in contest called the “Pressure Putt” with a top prize of $100,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $375,0000

3. $44 Buy-in contest called the “Club Twirl” with a top prize of $100,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $400,000

FanDuel: Another increase in FanDuel’s main offerings, as golf continues to improve as a viable fantasy option for FanDuel

1. $7.77 Buy-in contest called the “Eagle” with a top prize of $20,000 and a guaranteed prize pool of $110,000

2. $.60 Buy-in contest called the “Lob Wedge” with a top prize of $600 and a guaranteed prize pool of $8,000

3. $333 Buy-In contest called the “Monster” with a top prize of $8,00 and a guaranteed prize pool of $30,000

These are just some of the many contests between the two sites. For a full breakdown of all contests and offerings check out the links below.

Good luck this week, and HAPPY WATCHING!

Jason Rouslin is the founder of tourlevelfantasy.com. He has been playing golf for the last 20 years, betting on golf for the last five and writing about golf for the last two. Connect with him on twitter @dfsgolfer23 or check him out on the @rotogrinders live golf show on Tuesday’s @ 8 PM! 

The post Fantasy Six Pack: Players to get in your lineup at the Greenbrier appeared first on Golf.

The post Russell Henley wins Shell Houston Open, earns Masters bid appeared first on Golf.

The post Russell Henley wins Shell Houston Open, earns Masters bid appeared first on Golf.

Russell Henley made 10 birdies during his final round to win the Shell Houston Open on Sunday in Texas and earn a trip to the Masters at Augusta National.

Russell Henley made 10 birdies during his final round to win the Shell Houston Open on Sunday in Texas and earn a trip to the Masters at Augusta National.

The post Russell Henley wins Shell Houston Open, earns Masters bid appeared first on Golf.