Ryan Palmer … There are some guys for whom the inviting fairways and greens of Nine Bridges would neutralize strengths, and then there are others for whom it reinforces the same skill set because they’ve learned how to capitalize. Forever known as a talent whose success is fortified by his game off the tee, the 43-year-old falls into the latter category. A closing 62 in his debut here last year not only established the competitive course record, it also lifted him into a share of third place. He scored progressively lower in every round. This is just his second start of 2019-20 after he dusted off a little rust with a T37 at TPC Summerlin where he nonetheless ranked 10th in total driving and landed three-quarters of the greens in regulation. Joel Dahmen … A repeat performance throughout his bag that yielded a T9 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open two weeks ago will do, thank you. He was inside the top 10 in total driving, greens in regulation, proximity to the hole, Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and par-4 scoring. He also ranked 19th in putting: birdies-or-better. Placed T29 in his debut at Nine Bridges last year. Brian Stuard … He’s played well on islands and in the tropics throughout his career, so the veteran always pinged the radar in an event like THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Now he arrives for his second appearance (T52, 2018) with the experience of the course piggybacking terrific current form. Finished T17 at Silverado and T4 at TPC Summerlin in his last two starts. Wrapped the 2018-19 season inside the top 15 on the PGA TOUR in fairways hit, proximity to the hole and scrambling, and he’s opened the new season sustaining those strengths while hitting more greens in regulation relative to most of the competition. Adam Schenk … The 27-year-old continues to piece together imbalanced efforts despite long-range analytics that suggest otherwise. His latest at the Shriners resulted in a T18 during which he scored in the 60s throughout and did everything well on the surface. Digging a little deeper, and despite ranking T8 in scoring opportunities and fifth in conversion percentage inside 10 feet, he was 68th in connecting for par breakers with the putter. This was due primarily to him finishing 63rd in proximity on approach. As it concerns this week, the large greens will allow him to be aggressive as he works on improving his precision. Kyongjun Moon … He’s 37 years of age, he has one win on his native KPGA and he’s a career-best 356th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He’s also never competed in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event, but he’s in the field as one of five designated golfers representing his circuit. Fresh off a T2 at the Genesis Championship (where Sungjae Im prevailed by two strokes) – one of seven top 10s on the season – he’s seventh on the KPGA in earnings, third in greens in regulation and No. 1 in scoring average. 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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