If you’re keen to attach to the trend that’s opened 2019, you’re in luck. Well, as long as you haven’t burned Charles Howell III, the stars are aligned. Xander Schauffele and Matt Kuchar respectively opened and closed the Aloha Swing with their second titles of the season, but there’s only one golfer in the 156-man field at the Desert Classic who has a win in 2018-19: Chucky Three Sticks. You know, CH3 is No. 4 in my Power Rankings and only next week’s Farmers Insurance Open is included in his Future Possibilities below. OK, so Torrey Pines arguably is his best spot in our world and this week’s tri-course experience caters to surprise exponentially more than it does expectation. Patrick Cantlay, defending champion Jon Rahm and Justin Rose sit 1-2-3 in my Power Rankings, but I’d sit on each if it’s still an option. All look good everywhere. Everywhere. What’s more, while Rose is the epitome of a professional, his thoughts might not be undivided as his regular caddie, Mark Fulcher, will be having heart surgery this week. Even if you like the inspirational angle, remember the nature of this tournament and add the variable that the Englishman will be making his debut on the current rotation of courses. In fact, he hasn’t appeared since 2010. Among the other notables, considering holstering Phil Mickelson as well. He’s spoken openly about focusing more than ever for opportunities on the biggest stages. Granted, you might not be terribly interested in the World Golf Hall of Famer in those situations what with him turning 49 in mid-June, but the Desert Classic barely pinged the radar of smartest choices, anyway. Instead, consider using the Desert Classic as a bridge. Even though Hudson Swafford (2017) is the only first-time winner in the last seven years, this is a terrific time to burn red-hot Corey Conners, the dynamic Peter Uihlein and Bud Cauley, or the sneaky Richy Werenski. Those are endorsements that extend to the back half of two-man One & Done lineups, especially. Meanwhile, Adam Hadwin’s course history almost is to glossy to believe with a T6-2nd-T3 slate since the current rotation debuted in 2016. Pairing him with CH3 is saucy. Same with the surging Andrew Putnam. Desert cornerstone Lucas Glover makes sense no matter your game. He and Chez Reavie always seem to attract our attention at the same time, so it’s kind of them to join forces once again. And if you’re game to have some fun – well, more than usual – roll out the quinella of Swafford and/or oft-mistaken lookalike Harris English. The moral of this story is that you’re not going to miss most of the guys who have taken a step forward above. We always want to be bold, but that dose of reality can help finalize your decision. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2018-19. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Daniel Berger … Waste Management (2); WGC-Mexico (3); Travelers (1) Patrick Cantlay … Genesis (4); Valspar (2); Memorial (3) Jason Dufner … Desert Classic (9); Honda (3); PLAYERS (7); Valspar (4); New Orleans (1); Charles Schwab (6); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (2); Wyndham (8); TOUR Championship (10) Bill Haas … Desert Classic (1); Genesis (3); WGC-Match Play (8); Heritage (4); Charles Schwab (2); Wyndham (6) Adam Hadwin … Desert Classic (1); Waste Management (4); Genesis (3); Valspar (2); John Deere (5) Brian Harman … Desert Classic (3); Arnold Palmer (7); Charles Schwab (1); Travelers (5); John Deere (4) Russell Henley … Honda (4); Masters (3) Charley Hoffman … Genesis (5); Arnold Palmer (2); Masters (4); Heritage (7); Valero (3); Charles Schwab (6); Travelers (1) Charles Howell III … Desert Classic (4); Farmers (1) Zach Johnson … Waste Management (6); Arnold Palmer (7); Valero (4); Charles Schwab (5); John Deere (1); Open Championship (2); TOUR Championship (8) Si Woo Kim … PLAYERS (3); Heritage (1) Chris Kirk … Valero (3); PLAYERS (5); Charles Schwab (2) Kevin Kisner … Heritage (3); New Orleans (5); Charles Schwab (2); Memorial (6) Russell Knox … Heritage (2) Martin Laird … Desert Classic (6); Waste Management (1); Genesis (3); Valero (5); Barracuda (2) Phil Mickelson … Desert Classic (10); Waste Management (4); Pebble Beach (5); Genesis (6); WGC-Mexico (1; defending); Masters (9); Wells Fargo (2); Open Championship (8); WGC-St. Jude (3) Ryan Palmer … Desert Classic (1); Valero (2); Charles Schwab (4) Pat Perez … Farmers (2); Pebble Beach (5) Scott Piercy … New Orleans (1; co-defending); Canadian (7; last winner at Hamilton in 2012) Jon Rahm … Desert Classic (3; defending); Farmers (6); Waste Management (4); Masters (5); Charles Schwab (1); TOUR Championship (7) Justin Rose … Farmers (6); Genesis (9); Arnold Palmer (3); Masters (1); PLAYERS (10); Charles Schwab (7; defending); Memorial (4); Open Championship (8); TOUR Championship (2) Brendan Steele … Desert Classic (6); Waste Management (2); Honda (7); Valero (8); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (4); Reno-Tahoe (3) Kevin Streelman … Desert Classic (8); Pebble Beach (1); Valero (9); Heritage (5); Memorial (4); Travelers (7)

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It’s probably safe to say that Corey Conners is the only player on the PGA TOUR who can interpret all those mortality tables that show the probability of a person at a certain age dying before his or her next birthday. That’s just one of the things you learn when you pursue a college degree in actuarial mathematics, though. You also study financial theory and statistics, along with math, in order to better analyze and manage risk and its implications, particularly for insurance and pension programs. But Conners didn’t even know what an actuary did when he enrolled at Kent State in 2010. The Canadian was actually thinking about becoming a pharmacist or an optometrist, or maybe even a doctor like his grandfather and his twin sister Nicole, who is currently in medical school. Unfortunately, those three-hour labs for science courses Conners was taking didn’t leave much time to hit the practice range or play a quick 18 with his teammates on the Golden Flashes golf team. Conners’ plans changed when he was a sophomore, though. “Our coach was bragging, we’ve got this smart guy coming in to take a math degree, an actuary, and I started looking up what it was, and I was like, oh, this stuff’s pretty cool,â€� Conners recalled. “Math and finance — two things that I also liked as well as the sciences. “So, I said, well, maybe I’ll look into that.â€� Conners started taking some math and finance courses, liked them and eventually switched his major. His graduating class in actuarial math was pretty small, just seven or eight others, but Conners enjoyed the challenge and the camaraderie. “I’ve always been fascinated by math, and it was a great program to study in college,â€� Conners explained. “It was definitely a lot of work. Had to keep on top of things and be really organized, missing a lot of school when the team would travel. “Hopefully I’ll never have to fall back on that degree, but it’s some fascinating stuff that I really enjoy as well.â€� The 27-year-old plotted his path to golf early. He grew up in Listowel, a town of about 7,000 in southwestern Ontario about two hours west of Toronto that is known for, among other things, its two-week Irish festival called “Paddyfest.â€� Conners played hockey in the winter, a game he still loves — his favorite team is the Toronto Maple Leafs — and then switched to golf in the summer. He didn’t give up on the ice until he was 18 years old and played on a team that won a provincial championship. “I was a center all my life and the last few years, I switched to defense,â€� Conners said. “The coaching staff decided they needed someone with some brains on the back end of it to make some safe plays and keep the puck out of our net.â€� He was equally adept at getting the that little white ball in the hole, though. When Conners was 12 years old, he started working at Listowel Golf Club. The facility had 27 holes and the teenager was there pretty much every day the club was open. As he got more serious about the game, Conners and his father even found an indoor range about an hour away where he could practice in the dead of winter. “It was really cool growing up there,â€� Conners said. “We were really fortunate to have such a great golf facility. … If I grew up in a town without a golf course who knows what would have happened. “I get a lot of support from back home and it feels really special. I’m trying to put it on the map a little bit and make people proud back home.â€� So far the golf gig is working out pretty well, too. Conners heads into this week’s Desert Challenge with momentum on the heels of tie for third at the Sony Open in Hawaii, his second top-three finish of the season. Thanks to those standout finishes, the man who finished 130th in the FedExCup as a rookie last year now clocks in at very solid No. 19. So while his classmates might be working in insurance offices or as consultants, the newly-married Conners is living his dream. “They all have pretty nice jobs right now, as do I,â€� he said with a smile.

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