The 11th of 24 contributing events for PGA TOUR Champions One & Done presented by SERVPRO is this week’s KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. It’s the second of five majors, all of which are contested over 72 holes and begin on Thursdays. Scroll for tournament notes, 21 notables and three wild cards from the field of 156 in Benton Harbor, Michigan. In the context of the Fort Worth Invitational and nothing else, we’re in a weird position. Whether you measure performance with FedExCup points in PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO or earnings, Jordan Spieth should be the clear-cut favorite as your selection. Of course, this assumes that he’s still available because the same thing was said at the Masters. However, he continues to waver between locking in on a solution with his putter and losing the handle. It’s not an uncommon challenge for a touring professional, and he continues to say the right things, but at what point does he begin to worry that there’s a mental roadblock on some level? That he’s not there yet, at least publicly, speaks to the expectation to overcome, but experiencing mere snippets of success also prolongs the frustration. He’s consuming arguably as good a dose of understanding his mettle than at any other point of his career. The same thing can be said for Adam Scott, albeit on a lesser scale because he’s in a different phase of his profession and life outside the ropes, and his struggles with the putter have been a narrative for a longer time. As a result, and oddly enough, the Aussie presents as a stronger option at Colonial if only because you’re going to want Spieth in a major or the Playoffs. If Scott isn’t doing it for you, look at Zach Johnson. He’s enjoyed a really solid season. As the all-time earnings leader at Colonial, you’re going to consider burning him now or at the John Deere Classic. Frankly, it’s a coin flip. With Spieth scuffling, ZJ presents as a worthy pinch-hitter. Kevin Kisner defends his title, and he has to be happy that this tournament rolled around when it did because of his own mild slump. However, swerving based on two consecutive missed cuts (Wells Fargo, PLAYERS) is micromanaging. He checks all of the other boxes. Jason Dufner is the defending champion of next week’s annual northward trek to the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, but he’s a decent option at Colonial. Not unlike how Charl Schwartzel was given a kick in the rear at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Dufner received the same treatment en route to a runner-up finish (with Pat Perez). In his last start, he tied for fifth at THE PLAYERS on his own ball, of course, and where no one can hide. If I hadn’t already burned him, he’d be my pick in Fort Worth. The smattering of notables omitted above includes Jimmy Walker, Brian Harman, Matt Kuchar, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Jon Rahm. All make sense for another time or test. (Harman’s form prompts patience until the John Deere Classic, which, in turn, green-lights Johnson now.) Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele size up as swings for the fence as relatively inexperienced talents at Colonial, so if you’re front-running, you don’t need to reach. Meanwhile, Chesson Hadley and Adam Hadwin are sound pivots regardless of your current position. If you’re a two-man gamer and you still can’t build a tandem from the endorsements above, consider Danny Lee, Nick Watney and Rory Sabbatini. Steve Stricker also makes sense because he’s basically week-to-week in moonlighting on the PGA TOUR Champions. Grab him while you can. Last but nowhere near least, in a rare bury-the-lede routing of this preview, keep Webb Simpson in your pocket. He’s atop my Power Rankings, but his victory at THE PLAYERS two weeks ago deserves some time to marinate before you use your only opportunity to invest. Naturally, the Wyndham Championship is the default play, but he’s regained the kind of game worthy of consideration in a major. 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 2017-18. 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. Jason Dufner … Fort Worth (2); Memorial (3; defending); U.S. Open (4); Wyndham (6); TOUR Championship (7) Rickie Fowler … WGC-Bridgestone (3); THE NORTHERN TRUST (10); Dell Technologies (6) Bill Haas … Wyndham (2) Brian Harman … Fort Worth (4); John Deere (3) Russell Henley … Greenbrier (2) Charley Hoffman … Fort Worth (4); Travelers (2); Canadian (3) Zach Johnson … Fort Worth (2); John Deere (1); Open Championship (5); WGC-Bridgestone (6); TOUR Championship (8) Chris Kirk … Fort Worth (2) Kevin Kisner … Fort Worth (1; defending); Memorial (5); Wyndham (6) Russell Knox … Dell Technologies (7) Brooks Koepka … St. Jude (3); U.S. Open (1; defending); Open Championship (4); WGC-Bridgestone (6); PGA Championship (2) Matt Kuchar … Fort Worth (6); Memorial (2); Canadian (3); WGC-Bridgestone (7); THE NORTHERN TRUST (9) Martin Laird … Barracuda (1) Marc Leishman … Fort Worth (7); Memorial (5); Travelers (2); Open Championship (1) William McGirt … Memorial (4) Kevin Na … Memorial (10); John Deere (9); Wyndham (3); THE NORTHERN TRUST (11) Louis Oosthuizen … U.S. Open (5); PGA Championship (4); Dell Technologies (3) Ryan Palmer … Fort Worth (2); St. Jude (6) Scott Piercy … John Deere (6) Justin Rose … Memorial (6); Open Championship (8); WGC-Bridgestone (7); TOUR Championship (2) Adam Scott … U.S. Open (10); Open Championship (8); WGC-Bridgestone (3); Dell Technologies (9); TOUR Championship (6) Webb Simpson … Fort Worth (4); Travelers (8); Greenbrier (5); Wyndham (1) Brandt Snedeker … Fort Worth (11); U.S. Open (5); Travelers (6); Canadian (3); Wyndham (4) Jordan Spieth … Fort Worth (2); Travelers (6; defending); John Deere (7); Open Championship (9; defending); WGC-Bridgestone (10); TOUR Championship (4) Kevin Streelman … Memorial (1); Travelers (2) Jimmy Walker … Greenbrier (8); Dell Technologies (7) CHAMPIONS ONE & DONE KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship For the fourth consecutive even-numbered year, Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Michigan, hosts. It’s a par 71 at 6,852 yards with five par 3s and four par 5s. Rocco Mediate established numerous tournament scoring records at Harbor Shores in 2016, including the 72-hole mark of 19-under 265. Bernhard Langer is not defending his title due to his son’s graduation from high school. This is the first of three tournaments (all are majors) with a 36-hole cut. Total prize money is $3.25 million of which the champion will earn $585,000. Only the U.S. Senior Open Championship with a purse of $4 million is more lucrative. 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. 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. Stephen Ames … Principal (8); U.S. Senior Open (6); Boeing (2); Shaw (7) Joe Durant … Principal (2); American Family (8); U.S. Senior Open (7); SENIOR PLAYERS (1); 3M (6); DICK’S (12); Boeing (10); Shaw (11); PURE (3); SAS (13) David Frost … U.S. Senior Open (4); 3M (7); Boeing (5); Shaw (8); PURE (1) Fred Funk … Boeing (6); PURE (5) Doug Garwood … SAS (1) Paul Goydos … 3M (1; defending); DICK’S (3); SAS (5) Lee Janzen … U.S. Senior Open (2) Miguel Angel Jiménez … Senior PGA (6); Principal (10); U.S. Senior Open (5); SENIOR PLAYERS (3); Senior Open Championship (4); 3M (9); Shaw (7); SAS (12) Jerry Kelly … Boeing (1; defending); Shaw (5); PURE (2); SAS (4) Tom Lehman … Principal (1); U.S. Senior Open (3); SAS (9) Jeff Maggert … American Family (3); Shaw (5) Billy Mayfair … Boeing (2); PURE (1) Scott McCarron … Senior PGA (11); Principal (1); SENIOR PLAYERS (3; defending); Senior Open Championship (10); DICK’S (4; defending); Shaw (5; defending); PURE (8) Colin Montgomerie … Senior PGA (1); U.S. Senior Open (6); SENIOR PLAYERS (2); Senior Open Championship (10); Shaw (4); PURE (7); SAS (3; defending) Tom Pernice, Jr. … Principal (2); Shaw (3); SAS (5) Kenny Perry … Senior PGA (6); 3M (1); DICK’S (10); SAS (2) Gene Sauers … U.S. Senior Open (5); SENIOR PLAYERS (6); Boeing (1) Vijay Singh … Senior PGA (3); U.S. Senior Open (2); Shaw (5); SAS (1) Kevin Sutherland … Usable everywhere. David Toms … Boeing (2); SAS (4) Duffy Waldorf … Principal (6); Shaw (5) WILD CARDS (short list of golfers not included above but on the rise or still building portfolios after recently turning 50): Bob Estes; Rocco Mediate; Scott Parel
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