2022-23 PGA TOUR full-membership fantasy rankings

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – Good morning, golf fans. Here’s a quick look at Friday’s early developments in the second round of The Open Championship at Carnoustie. HELLO, RAIN. After a lengthy dry spell in Scotland that left Carnoustie’s fairways with racetrack-like conditions, the weather we’re accustomed to seeing at The Open finally arrived. The rain picked up throughout the mid-morning, forcing players to pull out the umbrellas and rain gear for the first time this week. Game plans were adjusted for the slower conditions, but the good news is that the winds remained calm. PAST CHAMPS MAKING NOISE. Rory McIlroy, the 2014 Open winner, moved into a tie for the lead with Kevin Kisner at 5 under with a birdie at the par-5 14th. McIroy shot an opening 69, and then on Friday birdied the seventh, 10th, 13th and 14th holes (with a bogey at the 12th). Meanwhile, Zach Johnson, the 2015 winner, was 4 under through 12 after shooting a 69 on Thursday. FLEETWOOD OUT FAST. Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who opened with a 72 on Thursday, played the front nine in 3 under, then added two more birdies after the turn. He was 5 under on his round through 14 holes and 4 under for the tournament, just one shot off the lead. Fleetwood was solo second last month at the U.S. Open, shooting a final-round 63, and he owns the course record at Carnoustie, also 63. TIGER BATTLING. With a mid-morning tee time, Tiger Woods set out to improve on his even-par 71 on Thursday. Things didn’t go well early – on his second shot from the rough on the second hole, he hit a spectator. But after two straight bogeys, he bounced back with two straight birdies to remain even par through five holes. Woods has missed the cut in five of his last seven major starts, so the first order of business will be to get to the weekend. (Click here for our Tiger Woods blog in Round 2.) And yes, he’s still wearing the kinesio tape on the back of his neck that caused such a commotion on Thursday. DAY GETS IT GOING. After a first-round 71, Jason Day moved up the leaderboard with three birdies in his first 10 holes. In seven previous Open starts, Day has just one top-10 finish – a T-4 in 2015. WILL KISNER MAINTAIN? First-round leader Kevin Kisner has a 12:53 p.m. tee time (that’s 7:53 a.m. ET). It’s the second time in four majors that he’s been atop the leaderboard after the opening round. At the 2017 PGA Championship, he was the co-leader with Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen after 18 holes and maintained that position through the next two rounds, taking the solo lead by a single stroke entering the final round before finishing T-7. He took only positives from his performance at Quail Hollow. “I love myself under the gun and down the stretch,� Kisner said. CHASING THE CUT. The top 70s and ties make the cut following the second round. Patrick Reed will tee off this afternoon locally (10:21 a.m. ET) below the cutline after shooting a 4-over 75 on Thursday. Reed has missed the cut in two of his previous four Open starts, including last year at Royal Birkdale. Since then, his major results include: T-2 at PGA, win at Masters, solo fourth at U.S. Open. NO. 1 IN TROUBLE. After opening with a 5-over 76, Dustin Johnson started the day outside the cutline, and was drifting farther away. He was 1 over through 12 holes, leaving him at 6 over at that point. Johnson had made the cut in his last eight Open starts after missing the cut in his Open debut in 2009. EARLY/LATE ADVANTAGE. The rain was forecast to subside late in the day, and winds were expected to remain relatively calm, so those players in the afternoon could have ideal scoring conditions. They already had the better side of the draw with early first-round tee times – 11 rounds under par were shot by the first 12 groups Thursday compared to none in the last 12 groups.

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Just how much can we expect from Tiger Woods? Has Phil Mickelson’s major window closed? Who could be the next breakthrough winner? With the major season over, we answer all the pressing questions.

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Apropos of the motion required to propel a golf ball, the PGA TOUR loves its Swings. From the Asian to the Aloha to the West Coast to the Florida, these nicknames help delineate one segment of the season from another. Here’s another: the Fortnight of Tom Weiskopf Redesigns. It’s not as catchy, but it’s not inaccurate. It also has the attention of the 132 golfers committed to this week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open. For any of the 156 who took one spin of Torrey Pines North at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open, he might want to digest how the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale has evolved since Weiskopf went to work on the course in 2014. The space beneath the ranking examines what happened in the first three editions of his modernization. TPC Scottsdale isn’t The House That Hideki Built, but it’s been his castle. Since his debut in 2014, he’s an aggregate 517-5-2, not to mention the two-time defending champion. Well, despite early career success at Torrey Pines, it’s had his number since 2014, travel or no travel in advance. No hangovers at the WMPO, though, where he’s gone P2-T4 since 2016. Back home where the ASU product placed T5 as an amateur in 2015. Returned for a T16 last year. Most recently, he lit the world on fire with a Win-2nd-Win burst to bridge the holidays. It’s been over six months now since his last victory (The Open). The constitutes a drought for the 11-time winner. Two top 10s in as many trips to the WMPO; scoring average = 68.13. Anchoring ban and redesign be damned, he’s been a machine at TPC Scottsdale since 2011, going 5-for-5 with a P2 last year, no worse than T14 (2016) and a scoring average of 68.05. This is all about the expectation of him once again sustaining world-beating firepower off the tee. En route to the P2 at Torrey Pines, he led the field in total driving. T2 here in 2015. What an impressive display by the 35-year-old Swede at Torrey Pines where that confident game off the tee will have value in his debut at TPC Scottsdale. Also led last week’s field in GIR. Continues to purr. Tows the confidence of six consecutive top 20s since September into TPC Scottsdale where he’s connected five top 25s since 2009. T10-T14-T12 on the redesign. Rose to T8 at Torrey Pines with a closing 73. Six top 10s in last nine starts worldwide. Back for redemption at TPC Scottsdale where he finished T24 after sitting T7 through 54 holes. Surprisingly uninspiring slate at TPC Scottsdale with one payday (T22, 2015) in three tries on the redesign. Still, experience never hurts as he ascends. Farmers’ T6 the latest of the sizzle. Still chasing his first top 10 since July, but he’s been lurking. Opened 2018 with a T11 at Kapalua and T14 at Waialae. Two top 10s at TPC Scottsdale, including a T7 last year. A threat wherever he pegs it, just not at TPC Scottsdale. Yet. A T17 in 2015 represents his only weekend stay in three attempts. Missed last year’s cut after sweeping the Aloha Swing. He’s a magician. Placed T9 here last year despite ranking outside the top 20 in total driving, GIR, proximity, strokes gained: putting, birdie-or-better percentage and scrambling. Excluding Torrey North (which isn’t lasered for ShotLink), he paced Farmers in strokes gained: putting and strokes gained, period. Scored 9-under 275 in last two trips to TPC Scottsdale. Reconnected with form in the desert of the Coachella Valley two weeks ago. It’s proven to be a comfort zone. Same can be said of TPC Scottsdale, site of a T17 in 2016 and T12 last year. Rank POWER RANKINGS PLAYER COMMENT FedExCup points leader Patton Kizzire, Brandt Snedeker, Patrick Reed and the tournament’s all-time money leader, Phil Mickelson, will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. Various factors can contribute to springy greens that were witnessed at Torrey North in the first two rounds last week, but that those bentgrass targets are just two years old can’t be ruled out as a predominant factor. The new TifEagle Bermuda greens at TPC Scottsdale experienced the same reaction when they debuted in 2015. Weather permitting, the narrative for greens to mature and establish an “identity” usually includes a waiting period of three years. Sure enough, in spectacular conditions, last year’s scoring average of 70.192 at the WMPO was easily the lowest since Weiskopf placed his stamp of approval on the par 35-36=71 tipping at 7,266 yards. Similarly cooperative elements present the canvas this week as Hideki Matsuyama pursues his third straight title in the tournament. As he does, he goes in knowing that he’ll have to remain as aggressive as he was en route to 17-under 267 a year ago. Last year’s field found only 55.36 percent of the fairways, lowest since the redesign, but it hit 68.47 percent of the greens in regulation, which was a four-year high. The average proximity to the hole checked up at 38 feet, 11 inches, measurably the shortest of the last three editions. Short-game metrics align predictably and there’s been no regression in converting scoring opportunities into par breakers despite the increase in those chances. Putting it all together, the indication is that experience on the redesign has mattered on a similar plane as the maturity of the greens. Matsuyama and his playoff victim, Webb Simpson, beat the field averages in fairways hit, GIR, proximity and scrambling. That’s not surprising, but both were poster boys for how all of the contenders performed across the board. There is no one-size-fits-all profile at TPC Scottsdale. During the grand opening of his redesign in November of 2014, Weiskopf said that he expected winning scores to settle at 14- to 18-under par. He hasn’t been wrong yet, but the over (or the under, depending on your perspective), is in play on Super Bowl Sunday. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Columnist Rob Bolton will be filing his usual staples leading up to this week’s event. Look for the following columns this week. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider, Facebook Live WEDNESDAY: One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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