Most-Picked Players: Shell Houston Open

PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO Assuming that every gamer who submitted a lineup for the Shell Houston Open was cognizant that it’s the last stop of Segment 2, then the ownership percentages should reflect as true a representation of how much chalk remains on the board across the landscape. Suffice it to say that the pickins were getting thin. The emergence of Jon Rahm since the holiday break has been a wonderful bonus, so it’s no surprise that he’s atop this week’s splits, and the cascade throughout the top five is as expected for a field of this strength. But note the slide to Justin Rose in sixth with just 28.2 percent. The usual separation occurs after that spot, not markedly before it. Henrik Stenson hasn’t picked up any fans from our world in recent weeks, but his share at 23.4 percent is much lower than I anticipated. The SHO is just his fourth start of the 2017 portion of the season, and if you had him on your bench during the first round of the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship when he withdrew, you’d have at least one remaining for this week. Yet, there he is in eighth, a few clicks behind the course horse, Russell Henley. We won’t see a juxtaposition between those two often, if again. Defending champion Jim Herman slots 24th with 5.0 percent of you on board. In another interesting comparison that paints the visual of passing ships, Patrick Cantlay is 25th with 4.9 percent. Tony Finau is another notable not shown below. He checks in at 11th at 14.9 percent. Segment 3 will hit the ground running at the Masters next week. NOTE: Rob’s Rating refers to where our Fantasy Insider slotted a golfer in his Power Rankings. Golfers in the Power Rankings and outside the top 10 in most owned PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO While the roster game sets up like a strategic tug of war during which gamers are replenished with three starts per golfer per segment, the arcing lifespan of the One & Done wages a tug of war with our emotions. It can be full of life and it can be full of regret, for you get only one chance per golfer at glory. Week after week, we’re presented with slam dunks. The Shell Houston Open is no different. Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm and Rickie Fowler slot a respective 1-2-3 among gamers. Of course we expect each to succeed, but the ball still needs be guided into the cylinder. The course history buffs convened again here in lifting Russell Henley to fourth most-picked. Make any argument you want for the guy, and I’m not saying it’s wrong, but it’s still shocking to see him ranked above the likes of J.B. Holmes (fifth) and Henrik Stenson (eighth) at the Golf Club of Houston. Back to defend his only PGA TOUR title, Jim Herman populates 0.8 percent of the submissions. That’s good for 21st overall. Other notables outside the top 10 include Justin Rose (11th, 2.9 percent), Jordan Spieth (T13, 2.4 percent), Tony Finau (15th, 2.2 percent), Patrick Cantlay (16th, 1.9 percent) and Patrick Reed (19th, 1.4 percent).

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