Power Rankings: Rocket Mortgage Classic

The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club might be the most underrated and highly respected host course on the PGA TOUR. Unscientific polls and rhetoric support it, but the eclectic mix of champions of the Valspar Championship furnishes the evidence. Wily veterans comfortable on tough tracks like Copperhead can define most of the winners and the last five represent as many nations. With the colors on the flags of Australia (John Senden, 2014), the United States (Jordan Spieth, 2015), South Africa (Charl Schwartzel, 2016), Canada (Adam Hadwin, 2017) and England (Paul Casey, 2018), the tournament is positioned properly with its title sponsor. Identifying the connective tissue of the victors is more complicated, or at least not as obvious. From the power of Gary Woodland (2011) and Casey, to the methodical of Retief Goosen (2003, 2009), Jim Furyk (2010) and Schwartzel, to the world-class short games of Luke Donald (2012), Spieth and Hadwin, Copperhead is fair. It’s the highest compliment you can give any test, thus the praise in kind. So, to cast a net over all with the intent of capturing a common characteristic, consider resolve. No doubt all of the aforementioned are tremendous talents and a few are household names among casual fans, but collectively they don’t comprise a Who’s Who as much as a What’s What. Substantive, steadfast and solid all. Now, fine-tuning your selection does require critical and quantitative analysis. A-listers such as Dustin Johnson and Jason Day are scheduled to compete, but they’re not short-listers for One & Doners at Copperhead. The course is an equalizer for which no one is immune. Each will stand out later and often. Sergio Garcia sits atop my Power Rankings and deserves your slot. The only reason you don’t invest is because you already had earlier in the season or, like me, you’re leaning on the consistently strong Patrick Reed, twice a runner-up at Copperhead. Reed’s soft hands check another box of the empirical, while his tenacity and grit complement your confidence in him. Frankly, and simply, the rest of the considerations either make sense another time – Webb Simpson, Ryan Moore, Jon Rahm, Brandt Snedeker and even defending champion Paul Casey among them – or they’re better suited as the tail of the tandem in two-man formats. The latter grouping includes Schwartzel, Hadwin and surging Jim Furyk. Seriously. Steer clear of the youth and under-experienced when the tough gets going. Henrik Stenson, Louis Oosthuizen and my unfortunate pick at THE PLAYERS, Rafa Cabrera Bello, also populate my Power Rankings, but the timing is off for each right now. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2018-19. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Keegan Bradley … Memorial (5); Travelers (4) Rafa Cabrera Bello … Wyndham (4) Paul Casey … Valspar (7; defending); WGC-Match Play (8); Masters (2); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (1); TOUR Championship (3) Jason Day … WGC-Match Play (11); Masters (4); Wells Fargo (6 defending); PGA Championship (3); U.S. Open (10); Open Championship (9) Jason Dufner … Valspar (4); New Orleans (1); Charles Schwab (6); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (2); Wyndham (8); TOUR Championship (10) Sergio Garcia … Valspar (9); Masters (6); Open Championship (5); TOUR Championship (2) Branden Grace … Heritage (1); Valero (3); Byron Nelson (5); U.S. Open (4) Bill Haas … WGC-Match Play (8); Heritage (4); Charles Schwab (2); Wyndham (6) Adam Hadwin … Valspar (2); John Deere (5) Brian Harman … Charles Schwab (1); Travelers (5); John Deere (4) Russell Henley … Masters (3) Charley Hoffman … Masters (4); Heritage (7); Valero (3); Charles Schwab (6); Travelers (1) Dustin Johnson … Masters (8); PGA Championship (11); Memorial (10); U.S. Open (1); WGC-St. Jude (6); TOUR Championship (7) Zach Johnson … Valero (4); Charles Schwab (5); John Deere (1); Open Championship (2); TOUR Championship (8) Chris Kirk … Valero (3); Charles Schwab (2) Kevin Kisner … Heritage (3); New Orleans (5); Charles Schwab (2); Memorial (6) Russell Knox … Heritage (2) Ryan Moore … Valspar (3); Valero (7); Masters (13); Memorial (11); Travelers (6); John Deere (8); Wyndham (2); TOUR Championship (9) Kevin Na … Valspar (6); Charles Schwab (3); Wyndham (5) Louis Oosthuizen … Valspar (3); WGC-Match Play (1); Masters (2); U.S. Open (5); PGA Championship (4) Jon Rahm … Masters (5); Charles Schwab (1); TOUR Championship (7) Patrick Reed … Valspar (1); Masters (5; defending); PGA Championship (4); U.S. Open (3); Travelers (7) Webb Simpson … Heritage (6); Wells Fargo (7); Charles Schwab (8); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1) Brandt Snedeker … Masters (10); Heritage (6); Charles Schwab (7); U.S. Open (5); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1; defending) Brendan Steele … Valero (8); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (4); Reno-Tahoe (3) Henrik Stenson … Valspar (3); Masters (5); PGA Championship (4); Open Championship (6); Wyndham (8); TOUR Championship (7) Kevin Streelman … Valero (9); Heritage (5); Memorial (4); Travelers (7) Bubba Watson … WGC-Match Play (6; defending); Masters (5); Memorial (7); Travelers (2; defending); TOUR Championship (8) Gary Woodland … Memorial (4)

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