Tiger seeking dual role on U.S. Ryder Cup team

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Bill Haas … The former FedExCup champ continues to grind out paydays but he’s had only one finish better than a T50 in his last dozen starts in individual competition. Still, at 140th in the FedExCup standings, he’s within striking position to return to the Playoffs. There’s no better place than Colonial to make a dent in the ranks as he’s perfect in his last seven appearances with five top 15s, including in each of the last two editions. Talor Gooch … After two months off to allow an injured thumb to heal, he shook off the rust and finished T12 at the Web.com Tour’s Knoxville Open last week, leading the field in fairways hit and ranking T7 in greens in regulation and eighth in scrambling. Suffice it to say that that rust was merely valuable rest. Currently 81st in the FedExCup standings in only nine starts on conditional status thanks to consecutive top fives in January. Despite the limited action, he’s still officially seventh on the PGA TOUR in greens in regulation, T9 in proximity to the hole, second in strokes gained: approach-the-green and 30th in putting: birdies-or-better. RELATED: Power Rankings | Tee times | Field Shawn Stefani … Although it’s been two weeks, this is his second straight appearance in Sleepers. His last previewed a T20 at the AT&T Byron Nelson across town, which itself followed a T13 at the Wells Fargo Championship. The Texan seemingly always is part of a conversation in his home state. That includes at Colonial where he’s 4-for-4 with a T19 in 2015. Currently 66th on TOUR in GIR, T22 in par-3 scoring and T35 in par-4 scoring. Carlos Ortiz … He’s heating up near his old stomping grounds at the University of North Texas. After nearly three months without making noise, he hung up a T12 at Trinity Forest where he led the field in greens hit. After a week off, the 28-year-old then breezed into the U.S. Open at sectional qualifying on Monday, also in Dallas. He now returns to Colonial where he hasn’t shown since a T58 in his debut in 2015. Sits 24th on TOUR in total driving and 33rd in GIR. Doug Ghim … It’s been a busy 11 months since the former University of Texas Longhorn turned professional while atop the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Now 23 years of age, he’s gone 3-for-5 with two top 25s in each of the last two PGA TOUR seasons. His most recent leaderboard appearance occurred just two weeks ago at Trinity Forest where he placed a career-best T12 while ranking inside the top 15 in fairways hit, greens in regulation, proximity to the hole and strokes gained: tee-to-green. That balanced attack has defined his early profile on the Web.com Tour where he’s 46th on the money list, and it should serve him well in his first look at Colonial in competition. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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