Bolton: Fresh faces offer options at FedExCup Fall kickoff

Before we get cookin’ with the Procore Championship, just a reminder that PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf has concluded for 2024. I posted total points and ranks for Segment 3 and the season for all Experts on X when the results of the TOUR Championship were final. I’m elated to have recaptured the title that Sean rudely snatched away from me with the timely surges of Lucas Glover and Viktor Hovland a year ago. Thank you for participating. A new fantasy game will launch with The Sentry in early January. Details will be forthcoming.

Now, as 144 gather for the first of eight stops of the second iteration of the FedExCup Fall, there are all kinds of dynamics in the air. There always are, but in the absence of a FedExCup title at the end of its finish line, secondary objectives step forward as timely narratives. From six golfers using the Procore as a tune-up for the Presidents Cup, to guys within arm’s length of securing a spot in the Aon Next 10, to the final push for PGA TOUR cards in 2025, there are storylines everywhere you look.

As it pertains to those heading to the Presidents Cup, it can be easy to want to dismiss some or all of them out of fear of them looking ahead to the team competition. Sure, there always are reasons not to invest, but that’s not one of them. Stick with the tried-and-true methods and resources that are proven to matter, and remember that they planned on this start, anyway. They control their schedules.

All six headed to Montreal can be found in my Power Rankings. They are Sahith Theegala (1), Wyndham Clark (2), Max Homa (6), Corey Conners (7), Mackenzie Hughes (11) and Min Woo Lee (12). The support detailed beside them in that file includes the familiar themes of fit, course history and recent form, but achieving a spot on their respective teams is special. Lean into it.

For evidence as to why you should invest, look no further back in time than last year’s edition contested two weeks prior to the Ryder Cup. Although it’s a small sample size, the results are compelling. Justin Thomas finished fifth at Silverado Resort’s North Course, while Max Homa placed T7 in his bid for a three-peat.

Weather

Sometimes the value of the second peek at the conditions (since the Power Rankings) is that nothing has changed. This is one of those weeks. Morning fog will serve as a curtain for the sun that eventually will dominate the sky through at least Saturday. Daytime highs in the mid-80s will tumble into the mid-70s by Sunday. Rain is not expected.

The additional wrinkle on the eve of the opening round is that the first-round leader is projected to emerge from the morning wave. Golf in a dome typically is reserved for the Coachella Valley in January, but it will describe the arena on Thursday morning when the course will be ripe for a low one.

Power Rankings wild card

Neal Shipley (+260 = Top 20) … Because I referenced him for the same bet endorsing Chad Ramey in Sleepers, it’s only fitting that Shipley receives his own breakdown here. The non-member is burning the sixth of seven allotted sponsor exemptions at the Procore, so unless he achieves Special Temporary Membership in two starts, he’ll need a top 10 or open qualifying to crash into subsequent fields. With his equivalent FedExCup points thus far, he’d slot 169th among members, so chasing the non-member top 125 category for a 2025 PGA TOUR card also will require some work. But he’s built for it. He’s been fearless since delivering as the low amateur at both the Masters and the U.S. Open this year. In limited sample sizes, his metrics are significantly better than the alternatives, so his game has transitioned seamlessly from his days at Ohio State University.

Other notables

Beau Hossler (+175 = Top 20) … A top-30 market would be preferable and BetMGM’s top-40 odds aren’t lucrative, so consider a fraction of a unit for this reach. Since 2020, he’s 4-for-4 at Silverado with three top 25s and a T30. He’s also rested since a T12 at the Wyndham Championship, his fifth top 20 of 2024. He checks all of the boxes regarding his bag. At 84th in the FedExCup, he’s a cinch to keep his card, so he can free-wheel it for a while.

Matti Schmid (+240 = Top 20) … If you’ve laid money on him before, you know the routine. When touted, it means that he’s in a groove. His latest sequence isn’t as glossy as the previous two, but it still includes a trio of top 20s among eight paydays in nine starts worldwide. His irons are his primary weapons, and those play up on shorter tracks like Silverado. This is good value for one of the safer speculative pieces on the board.

John Keefer (+260 = Top 20) … Once upon a time, the Procore served as the start line for Korn Ferry Tour graduates. That no longer is the case, of course, but it is for him. See, he’s fresh off landing atop the Fortinet Cup on the PGA TOUR Americas. It rewarded him with a sponsor exemption into this week’s field. Unlike a high percentage of those teeing it up beside him at Silverado, he’s been busy in the last few weeks, so his competitive game arguably is sharper. As witnessed in the past, notably with Emiliano Grillo at Silverado in 2015, elevation to the PGA TOUR is but a formality when in-form talent rises as rapidly. In his last five starts, Keefer finished a respective T2, T2, 1st, T4 and T3. The Baylor University product led his circuit with a filthy scoring average of 66.

Tap-ins

NOTE: Not everything needs a setup. For a variety of reasons, these lines are too enticing to ignore.

• Corey Conners (+160 = Top Canadian)
• Trace Crowe (+130 = Top 40)
• Chris Gotterup (+125 = Top 40)
• Rico Hoey (+333 = Top Asian)
• Charley Hoffman (+120 = Top 40)
• Ben Kohles (+125 = Top 40)
• Justin Lower (+120 = Top 40)
• Matt NeSmith (+140 = Top 40)
• Vince Whaley (+188 = Top 40)

Returning to competition

Trey Mullinax (+160 = Top 40) … This has the makings to be a sparkling return for the 32-year-old PGA TOUR winner. He sat out a few months after having surgery to repair a torn labrum on his right hip late last year, and then went 3-for-4 with a pair of top 20s across four-and-a-half months on the Korn Ferry Tour. His record at Silverado is forgettable, but it doesn’t matter right now. He’s seeking to build a little momentum for a busier schedule on TOUR in 2025 when he’d be equipped with a Major Medical Extension, if necessary.

Taylor Montgomery (+125 = Top 40) … Sidelined a few months ago with torn muscles in both shoulders, he tried to grind it out for a bit, and even connected for a pair of cuts made early in the summer, but his sophomore season has not come anywhere close to his splash as a rookie in 2022-23. If you believe in magic, Silverado could be the kind of place that will defy expectations. He finished third in his only trip two years ago and he won’t have to smash it around to score.

Michael Kim … Called it quits after a third-round 76 at the Wyndham Championship due to a sore back. Out of position to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs, it didn’t cost him in that context, but it dropped him to 1-for-5 across his last month of action. Now 115th in points and a month separated, faith remains strong enough to retain status at the conclusion of the FedExCup Fall, but his record at Silverado is uninspiring, so use the week for observation only.

Norman Xiong … At 190th in the FedExCup with just three cuts made in 11 starts, his rookie season has been incomplete, but this is great news for the most patient owners in keeper leagues and 2025 salary leaguers. Now that he’s passed four months to rest an injured back, he’s eligible for a Major Medical Extension next season if he needs it.

Notable WDs

S.Y. Noh … Sticking with his commitment to the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation on the Korn Ferry Tour. He’s 73rd on the circuit’s points list. He’s also 174th in the FedExCup. Weekly decisions on where to play to regain fully exempt status for guys on the fringes are commonplace at this time of the season.

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