Emergency 9: AT&T Byron Nelson, Round 4

Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the AT&T Byron Nelson that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Trinity Forest Golf Club just south of Dallas hosts for the first time and plays 7,380 yards to a Par-71. Wise Won 21-year old Aaron Wise fired a final-round 65 to post 23-under-par 261. He defeated Marc Leishman by three shots to win for the first time in his 26th career start on TOUR. The rookie joins Austin Cook and Satoshi Kodaira as the only rookies to collect the biggest check this season. After finishing T2 at the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago, I don’t need to detail his story again but he checks off a major box in fantasy golf: He’s a winner. He won in college, on the MacKenzie Tour and last year on the Web.com Tour. Guys like him have closed the deal enough times to know what it takes to slam the door shut. His stellar play included leading the field in SG: approach the green and GIR as he found 66 of 72. He was second in SG: off the tee and tee to green, plus was T2 with 25 birdies. He was a slacker off the tee as he hit just 50 of 56 fairways, just good enough for T6. I think we learned plenty from the former Oregon Duck this week. I’ve seen plenty of guys finish T2, take a week off and then disappear. Instead he was in the final pairing on Sunday, tied with Marc Leishman, and beat him by three shots. Moving forward gamers have to pay attention as his two best finishes were on a very difficult Quail Hollow Club track and a brand new layout at Trinity Forest. His flexibility to play well on both of those tracks shows how special his game is and can be. PGA TOUR Fantasy Game presented by SERVPRO top selections: So much for Jordan Spieth and his 45 previous rounds on this course! I thought he’d have a distinct advantage this week, especially on the greens, but that was hardly the case. He knocked the cover off the ball but couldn’t get it in the hole as his trusty short game, both chipping AND putting, let him down. He rakes at Colonial so he goes right back into the lineup for me next week. PGA TOUR One & Done presented by SERVPRO top selections: Jimmy Walker doubled No. 18 Saturday and added another bogey on Sunday but after a high-pressure T2 last week at THE PLAYERS, I’m not sure any of us can complain. This is the latest in the season I’ve EVER used him in One & Done games so I’m down with a top 10! It’s great to see him approaching full health as well moving forward. Forest without Trees Trinity Forest played three different styles this week and two of them led to premium scoring conditions. The first two rounds the wind wasn’t in play and Leishman set the low round of the week with 61. After the wind picked up Saturday, the scores went up and the players had to adjust to the cross winds and slicker greens. Finally on Sunday, after a four-hour rain delay, they saw zero wind and optimum scoring conditions including the numbers above in the final round. Of the top 31 players on Sunday, 29 of them were UNDER par. Sunday 62, Again Spieth likened this place to Royal Birkdale before the week started. I opined maybe even similar to Chambers Bay in my preview. Branden Grace has now raked at all three tracks mentioned above. He was leading the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay late on Sunday before one errant tee shot found the train tracks. He is the only player to shoot 62 in a major championship and he did that at Royal Birkdale last summer. His 62 today, with a bogey, on his birthday reinforced his class and a bit of #NappyFactor as he missed the Zurich Classic for the birth of his son. Rounding Off the Podium Keith Mitchell and J.J. Spaun both began the day on 11-under T7. Both finished the day T3 with Grace after firing matching 63’s. This is Mitchell’s third top-10 finish in his last seven events on his own ball. Spaun, who missed time earlier this spring due to a nerve issue in his elbow, picks up his first podium since his solo second at The RSM Classic last November. Spaun opened with 64 so don’t think this is a “one-round wonder”. Open for Business? Most accounts suggested that Adam Scott needed a top-10 finish this week to move into the OWGR top 60 Monday and qualify for the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills next month. With a bogey-free 65 to close, the Aussie finished T9. Since he’s returned to his driver from 2010 and went back to his broomstick putter, he’s cashed T11 and T9 the last two weeks. If he’s No. 61 when it all shakes out on Monday, the former champion at Colonial is in the field this coming week at the Ft. Worth Invitational. Sunday Noise Usually in this section I stick in the contenders that didn’t fire in the final round but with almost the entire field firing under-par scores on Sunday, I’ve chosen a few who might have slipped through the cracks for gamers. Playing on the opposite side of the course, Fabian Gomez, Nate Lashley, Robert Streb and member Beau Hossler all shot 64. They all moved up plenty but there was also a reason they were playing on the other side of the course. … Oh, look, Charles Howell III fired 65-66 on the weekend to claim T9. Study Hall The final round scoring average was 68.253 (-2.747), the easiest of the week and that’s not surprising after the weather delay. … The scoring average for the week was 69.435 (-1.565) as the wind only blew one round of the four. … Ryan Blaum led the field with 26 birdies. … Hideki Matsuyama (T16) beat Spieth this week but I’d take a look at his ball-striking numbers before running him back into the lineup. … Spieth’s longest putt made this week was 12 feet, 11 inches.

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