Congrats to Troy Merritt on his first career tour victory, which took place this past week at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, site of the Quicken Loans National. With the win, Merritt moved up from 138th in the Fed Ex Cup Standings, all the way to 38th. Merritt has made a name for himself as a player than go ultra-low, evidenced by his 61 at Harbour Town earlier this year which tied him for the course record. This past week was no different, as Merritt carded another 61 in the third round, which gave him sole possession of the course record at the RTJ GC. Holding one course record is a noble feat, however holding two, having occurred in the same year is something only a handful of PGA Tour players have ever accomplished. Considering Merritt had never won on tour, and was 138th in Fed Ex Cup prior to this week, it serves as a healthy reminder that all of the players on Tour are extremely talented, and you really don't know when they could completely break out and become a world beater. I am looking forward to the rest of the season to see what other tricks Merritt has up his sleeves.

The Tour moves to Firestone CC this week, site of the WGC Bridgestone Invitational. As with all other weeks in which a WGC event is being played, there will be a simultaneous event for all the players outside of the Top 50 in the world. This week it will be the Barracuda Championship, and while it will not have the name recognition of the WGC event, there are still valuable Fed Ex Cup points at stake with many players currently outside of the top 125.

Some of the more noteworthy stories this week revolve around the absence of current world #1, Rory McIlroy. McIlroy and Chris Kirk are the only two players among the top 50 in the world, who will not tee it up this week. With Rory out of commission, Jordan Spieth has yet another opportunity to claim his place as worlds #1, and he can accomplish that feat with a win at the WGC.

Ricky Fowler is on a hot streak coming into this week, having finished second this past week at Quicken Loans. That makes two wins, and a second place in his last eight starts for Fowler, so it only makes sense he will be among the favorites at a course where he has two top 10's, including a T8th last year at Firestone.

Another player who has had tremendous success at Firestone, is Jim Furyk. Although a win has alluded him, Furyk has two runner up finishes, as well as eight career top 10s at this week's site. Furyk has been playing really well as of late, notching four top 5's in his last eight events.

Hideki Matsuyama has enjoyed a stellar 2015 campaign, and brings an impressive streak of eleven consecutive top 25's coming into this week. In addition to leading the tour in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, he is second in par 4 scoring, a statistic that will come in handy on some tricky par 4's at Firestone. With many of the top players in attendance this week, Matsuyama's price tag of $9400 on DraftKings is more than fair, and he will be in a majority of my lineups.

Among those not exactly playing well, Charles Schwartzel, Victor Dubuisson, Graham McDowell and Martin Kaymer are the only participants this week that are not inside the top 125 of the Fed Ex Cup, which represents the cutline for players looking to make it into the Fed Ex cup playoffs. With so much talent in the field, they will be hard pressed to come up with a finish that vaults them inside that cutline.

Check back in tomorrow, as I take a look at Firestone CC, and offer breakdowns of specific holes that will challenge the field.



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