Weekly Recap: McIlroy Ends Drought

Right around lunchtime at Jason Day's home in Ohio on Sunday afternoon, Rory McIlroy was putting the finishing touches on a long-overdue win at the Irish Open. Soon after, Jordan Spieth teed off in the final group of the AT&T Byron Nelson in Texas, looking to send a message to his rivals that this three-pronged bid for golf supremacy really does has three prongs.

Once Day dominated The Players Championship last week for his seventh win in 17 starts, he separated himself from his main foes, both statistically in the world rankings and figuratively in the minds of golf fans. Big 3 becoming Big 1?

On Sunday, McIlroy said: not so fast. Spieth, however, uttered another F word: frustration.

While McIlroy's long victory drought ended, Spieth's did not, as he plummeted to 18th place at the Nelson before final-round partner Brooks Koepka lost in a playoff to Sergio Garcia, another golfer who ended a long dormant period.

We're about to embark on the mad summer rush of the golf season – the U.S. Open, Open Championship, PGA Championship, Olympics, FedEx Cup playoffs – and Day was threatening to throw all the DraftKings values completely out of whack. He still may do that, but at least for now, DFS gamers still have some decisions to make.

Day, Spieth and McIlroy (and that's the way they are still ordered in the OWGR) will resume their rivalry in two weeks, at the Memorial, kicking off a concentrated string of matchups that will then continue at mighty Oakmont, where Spieth will defend his U.S. Open title. Yes, it was just last year that Spieth won two majors to usurp McIlroy and threaten to establish a beachhead atop the rankings.

How will these developments, positive and negative, play out in the fantasy world? In the past, DraftKings seemingly gave a dollar edge to McIlroy and Spieth over Day, perhaps sensing the court of public opinion. Right now, that's not possible; Day has been too strong.

When Memorial prices come out a week from Monday, these three will be the overwhelming favorites, and your lineup will be determined largely by how you think they will fare. Of course, that's not telling you anything you don't already know. Three dominant golfers not only make for better golf, but also for harder gaming.

MONDAY TAKEAWAY

Rory McIlroy

McIlroy hadn't won since November (he still hasn't won on the PGA Tour in more than a year) and was routinely getting his teeth kicked in by Spieth and, more recently, Day. But he may have signaled a new chapter with two glorious shots at the end of the Irish Open, a tournament he hosts at his home course, the K Club. He launched a 3-wood from 271 yards onto the green to set up birdie on No. 16, then topped that by hitting from 252 yards to within three feet for a closing birdie on 18. "The ovation I got when that ball landed on the 16th green sent shivers down my spine," McIlroy told reporters afterward. "… I felt I needed a week like this to kick-start something." You can say that again, Rory.

Jordan Spieth

Talk about getting your teeth kicked in. Spieth played alongside Day the first two rounds of The Players and was beaten by 14 shots and missed the cut. But after opening 64-65-67 at the Nelson, all (or most) would be forgotten with a victory. Instead, Spieth's slump continued, as he shot 2-over 74 to fall to T18. Afterward, he summed up the round with one word: "frustration." You could chalk up The Players result to being off for a month following the Masters, but the Nelson shows otherwise. Spieth also tees it up this week at Colonial, meaning his Memorial meeting with Day and McIlroy will be his fourth event in four weeks. Somebody show this man how to work his phone's schedule organizer!

Sergio Garcia

"Hey, I won this week, how come I'm all the way down here in the middle of Monday Takeaway?" Sorry, Sergio, you done good. Garcia was actually tougher mentally than Koepka down the stretch and especially in the one-hole playoff. The Spaniard birdied the 16th and closed with a 2-under 68, then parred the first playoff hole in textbook fashion. Garcia has always been a valuable DFS option, with frequent high finishes. But he hadn't won on the PGA Tour in four years. Just don't expect another win anytime soon.

Brooks Koepka

No one was really making a run at Koepka, the third-round leader. So he did them a favor by bogeying 14 and 15 to open the door for Garcia. Then he opened the side of barn for Garcia by sending his tee shot on the playoff hole into the water. You certainly don't expect this from a former tour winner who is ranked No. 16 in the world. But as we see often on tour, the difference between greatness and elite is not the physical but the mental. To be one-upped by the often-fragile Garcia department is certainly an eye-opener about Koepka.

Matt Kuchar

Just when everyone – okay, maybe it was just me – was starting to write off Kuchar, he strings together third-place showings at The Players and the Nelson. Kuchar has made quite a career of rarely winning and never winning a major but having lots of top-10s (seven wins, none since 2014, with 80 top-10s). And if you're happy with that and expect it, then Kuchar can be a very nice piece of your overall lineup/strategy.

Colt Knost

Knost tied with Kuchar at The Players and was just behind him at the Nelson at T4 – and for a considerably cheaper DraftKings price. The secret that is Knost is long out of the bag, as he continues a career breakthrough that began last season. His T3 at The Players tied his best career showing. But even without a win or a runner-up, Knost looks like he'll continue to be a strong value play.

Tim Wilkinson

Speaking of value, Wilkinson was pegged at $6,800 for the Nelson. He hadn't had a top-10 all season but was trending upward with some very nice stats: 10th in proximity to the hole, seventh in par-4 scoring and first in scrambling. He had made nine of 11 cuts coming in and responded with only the eighth top-10 of his 126-event career, in a six-way tie for fourth. Now, the secret that is Wilkinson is no more.

Bud Cauley

Cauley is playing out of the Reshuffle category on a medical extension (shoulder surgery). He went a long way toward keeping his card, joining that logjam at T4 to earn $264,625. That was only his seventh start of the year and just his fourth made cut. Cauley has 10 starts remaining to earn $323,828 or 258.5 FedEx Cup points, and it certainly seems doable for a once-promising golfer derailed by injury. The secret that is Cauley might still a bit of a secret.

Zach Johnson

Johnson is ranked 19th in the world but 78th in the points race. Which means that the OWGR isn't the truest indicator of a golfer's current form. Johnson's form isn't currently good, as he tied for 66th at the Nelson, leaving him without so much as a top-25 since March. He hasn't won since his surprise at the Open Championship last summer – a big part of why his world ranking remains so high. That is Johnson's lone win in the past two and a half years and, while of course it was a big one, it was out of the blue. Without that, we'd all be asking: What happened to Zach Johnson? Well, we're asking it anyway.

Bryson DeChambeau

Speaking of what happened, what happened to this guy? After his emergence at the Masters, followed by a T4 at RBC Heritage, DeChambeau had gone MC-MC-MC, the latest coming at the Nelson. It's time to temper expectations for someone who is still only 22 years old.

Matt Wallace

Wallace is ranked No. 301 in the world, so he's not exactly a nobody. He just became the first golfer to ever win four straight weeks on the Alps Tour – yes, the Alps Tour is a thing. It's akin to a third division of the European Tour, like a step below the Web.com Tour. The Englishman won the Vigevano Open in Italy on Sunday, and winning a pro tournament of any kind can't be poo-pooed, even if the OWGR strength-of-field rating for the Vigevano is … zero. (How is that even possible?)