Golf Channel’s game has a new look in 2019.
This year in addition to picking a tournament winner we’re also shifting the focus to head-to-head matchups, with both the Golf Pick ‘Em game and an additional Sunday-only contest that focuses on the final round. Both contests can be found in the NBC Sports Predictor app, which fantasy players can download to make their selections each week.
Players can compete for weekly cash prizes, with the best scores during the season qualifying for the season-ending FJ $100,000 Championship, where cash and prizes will be awarded to top finishers.
The contests continues this week with the U.S. Open, as the PGA Tour heads to Detroit for the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic. Here’s a look at some of the players to keep an eye on as the Tour returns to Michigan for the first time since 2009:
1. Dustin Johnson: Might as well start with the chalk when a new venue is involved. Johnson is the clear headliner in this week’s field, having finished second at each of the first two majors this year. Johnson was T-35 two weeks ago at Pebble Beach and his diversified trophy collection proves he can win on nearly any style of venue.
2. Gary Woodland: The U.S. Open champ makes his return to competition this week in the Motor City. Woodland took last week off to bask in the glow of his victory at Pebble Beach, the capstone of a strong season that also included runner-up finishes in both Korea and Hawaii. While there’s certainly the possibility of a major hangover for the newly-minted champ, if he comes close to sporting the game he did in California he’ll likely factor again.
3. Hideki Matsuyama: Don’t look now, but the Japanese phenom is starting to put the pieces back together. Matsuyama has been relatively quiet since winning in Akron nearly two years ago, but he hasn’t finished outside the top 35 since the Sony Open in January - a run of 13 starts that includes four top-10 finishes.
4. Rickie Fowler: Fowler’s appearance this week was never in doubt given his endorsement relationship with Quicken Loans, and he’ll likely have plenty of fan support as a result. But his game has also been quietly solid in recent weeks, highlighted by top-10 finishes at Augusta National and Quail Hollow and a top-15 result earlier this month at the Memorial.
5. Chez Reavie: Reavie is officially on a heater, having turned a T-3 finish at Pebble Beach into his first win in more than a decade. Now he’ll head west with hopes of keeping it up on an old-school layout that, while stretched to some eye-popping distances on a few holes, should afford an accurate player like Reavie plenty of birdie opportunities.
6. Kevin Kisner: Kisner has largely flown under the radar since his run through the WGC bracket back in March, but a T-15 finish at Travelers showed that he’s got plenty of game when the venue fits his style. That should again be the case this week in Detroit, where Kisner will encounter a Donald Ross layout that will likely feel familiar to a player who grew up on Carolina courses.
7. Billy Horschel: Horschel has missed only one cut in 20 starts this season, putting together 10 top-25 finishes in that span. The former FedExCup champ finished T-32 at Pebble Beach on the heels of four straight top-25s, and that consistency could again yield results this week for a player who hasn’t shot higher than 73 since the final round of the RBC Heritage.
8. Kevin Streelman: Streelman surged to a T-4 finish at the Memorial thanks to a closing 66, then after missing the U.S. Open he returned to action at Travelers where the former champ tied for 15th. Streelman now has seven straight rounds in the 60s and ranks inside the top 30 in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Should the putter remain cooperative, he’ll likely factor again on a course that should yield plenty of red numbers.
9. Patrick Reed: The former Masters champ made some headlines for his club snap at the U.S. Open, but despite those antics he still tied for 32nd at Pebble Beach and followed with a T-30 finish last week in Connecticut. Reed hasn’t cracked the top 10 on Tour since his first start of the season back in October, but that streak could end this week if his game continues to make a turnaround - and if all 14 clubs remain intact.
10. Sungjae Im: The 21-year-old is in the midst of an impressive rookie campaign, with six top-10s and 11 top-25s in 27 starts. That includes a T-21 result last week at Travelers and a seventh-place showing earlier this month in Canada, where he closed with 66 and 64, respectively. Im has had a few brushes with contention, notably a T-3 finish at Bay Hill that qualified him for The Open, and he could add to that tally this week.