Power Rankings: CIMB Classic

ST. LOUIS – With his FedExCup Playoff spot on the line Adam Scott produced a vintage performance at Bellerive on Friday. Sitting in 119th spot on the FedExCup standings, Scott entered the PGA Championship with his FedExCup Playoff future in doubt. The Australian is one of only 13 players who have qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs every year since its inception in 2007 but a rough 14 months put the streak under threat. So a tidy 5-under 65 was very welcome indeed, ensuring he will start the weekend just five shots back of leader Gary Woodland. As a 13-time PGA TOUR winner and former Masters champion it has surprised many to see the 38-year-old’s spot in jeopardy. Including Scott himself. But the reality is he has just one top-10 finish in 14 months, a tie for ninth this season at the AT&T Byron Nelson. “The difference between the level I think I’ve played at and the top level is very fine and really after a little while it’s just that little bit of confidence that you lack,� Scott said. “And it is very very hard for anyone to give you that other than yourself. “That self-belief has to come out and I feel like the last six to eight weeks has been a real positive for me. My results look a lot worse than what it has felt. I have played some good golf but inconsistently.� Scott said his warmup before an opening round 70 was the best he’s had all season. Having recently re-hired his brother in law Brad Malone as a swing coach after a two-year hiatus the benefits are beginning to show. “It felt like the young Adam Scott swinging the golf club. With a bit of ease, a bit of grace, bit of flow and rhythm,� Scott said. “That was enough to make me play a little more freely. There were good signs that carried over to today, and hopefully tomorrow it gets better and better.� At 5-under through 36 holes Scott projects up towards 100th place on the points list. It would be enough to secure his spot and give him the option of not playing the season ending Wyndham Championship should he wish to rest up for THE NORTHERN TRUST. But he’s got his sights set on another number. One. He believes he can win at Bellerive. He believes he can secure a FedExCup Playoff berth. And he believes he can get to the TOUR Championship for the eighth time in the FedExCup era and ultimately win the FedExCup. “If I can get myself to New York then I can get myself to East Lake,� he says. Scott won the TOUR Championship in 2006, the year before the FedExCup Playoff system was implemented. Another former Masters champion in Sergio Garcia has not been so fortunate in terms of his FedExCup Playoff push. Garcia is projecting towards a missed cut and having started the event at 131st in the standings he will indeed head to the Wyndham Championship next week. Like Scott, he has qualified every year since 2007. He has made it to Atlanta six times and was runner up at East Lake in 2008. Garcia also needs a 15th event to meet his PGA TOUR minimum start requirement, a mark he will hit next week. Bill Haas (147th) and Luke Donald (212th) also need a late surge if they are going to keep their 100 percent playoff record alive. Justin Rose (3rd), Bubba Watson (4th), Phil Mickelson (9th), Charles Howell III (44th), Zach Johnson (51st), Ryan Moore (57th), Matt Kuchar (58th), Brandt Snedeker (77th) and Charley Hoffman (92nd) will all make it 12 straight FedExCup Playoff runs.

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The ballots are out for PGA TOUR Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, and we gave out season superlatives last week. But not so fast. Here were some other unforgettable moments and achievements from a brilliant 2018-19 season. Best New Way to Watch a Tournament: BMW Championship It was tailgating without the tailgate for four Medinah Country Club members who rented out a 350-square foot “tinyâ€� house just to the right of the 14th tee. The house featured two lofts with queen-size beds, plenty of windows, a full bathroom, a couch, and a galley kitchen with four-burner stove and microwave. It also came with a private chef and bartender.  “If this takes off, we want to be able to say we were the first,â€� said John Christopher, a financial planner and one of the four club members who rented it. You could feel the breeze come off an especially vigorous practice swing, and a few of the players, like Ryan Palmer, even came under the ropes to sit in their Adirondack chairs. Toughest start: Rory McIlroy Hit his first shot out of bounds and made a quadruple bogey at the Open Championship at Royal Portrush, the first Open in Ireland since 1951. Best finish: Rory McIlroy He started five back but won the TOUR Championship to become the only other player other than Tiger Woods to win the FedExCup. Biggest turnaround: Rory McIlroy After going into the final round of the World Golf Championships – FedEx St. Jude Invitational one ahead of Brooks Koepka and losing by six, McIlroy went into the final round of the TOUR Championship one back of Koepka and beat him by six.  Best Social Media Follow: Phil Mickelson This is a hot field with Max Homa taking the veteran Mickelson down to the wire, but in the end the countless calf flexes and “Phireside with Philâ€� chats bring Mickelson the award. If you haven’t seen what the Hall-Of-Famer is bringing to the table, you’re missing out. Better-Than-Most Award: Jhonattan Vegas On Sunday at the PLAYERS Championship, Eddie Pepperell thrilled the crowds at the iconic par-3 17th island green with a 50-foot birdie bomb. Vegas then stepped up and connected for birdie from 69-feet, seven-inches, the longest made putt on 17 since official records began in 2003. Patience-is-a-Virtue Award:Charles Howell III Augusta native won the RSM Classic to break a win drought of 11 years and nine months, or 333 starts. Robert Gamez (15 year, six months) still has the longest gap between wins.  Family Ties Award, Part I:  Charles Howell III and his kids, in tears, after Howell won the RSM.  Family Ties Award, Part II:  After his first major win in 11 years at The Masters Tournament, Tiger Woods embraced his kids just off the 18th green at Augusta in almost the identical spot a young Woods embraced his father, Earl, after his incredible 1997 Masters win 22 years earlier.  Family Ties Award, Part III:  Nate Lashley and his sister Brooke embracing after Lashley, the last alternate into the field, won the Rocket Mortgage Classic. His first PGA TOUR win came 15 years after their parents – and Lashley’s then girlfriend – died in a plane crash after watching him play in a college tournament. Best Home Performance: Shane Lowry Northern Ireland and Ireland are not the same country, but it was epic to see Lowry, an Irishman, take out the first Open Championship in Northern Ireland since 1951. Lowry admitted to crying in the carpark after missing the cut at Carnoustie a year earlier as he felt his game was gone. But in front of massive crowds he destroyed the competition. His new mission is to have a celebration drink with everyone on his home island. We wish him well.  Biggest Shocker: Jim Herman Herman won the Barbasol Championship after having made just three cuts in 19 starts. Best Forgotten Finish: Patrick Rodgers Rodgers fired closing rounds of 61-62 at the RSM Classic, the best closing 36-holes in PGA TOUR history, to get himself into a playoff against Charles Howell III. Nostradamus Award: John McLaren Paul Casey’s caddie donned a bib that said “CHAMP” in the Wednesday pro-am before Casey successfully defended his title at the Valspar Championship. Clean-Sheet Award: J.T. Poston Poston got his first win at the Wyndham Championship and became the first player to win without a bogey over 72 holes since Lee Trevino at the ’74 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Boldest-Beginning Award: Collin Morikawa At the Barracuda Championship, Morikawa, who just months earlier had been finishing up his degree at Cal-Berkeley, became the first Special Temporary Member to win on the PGA TOUR since Shane Lowry at the 2015 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Best Sponsor Return for Investment: 3M Open  The new 3M Open decided to give young gun Matthew Wolff and a handful of other young studs sponsor invites in Minnesota. Wolff paid them back by winning with an epic eagle on the 72nd hole, beating Collin Morikawa, another invite, by a shot.  Iron Man Award: Sungjae Im Rookie played a PGA TOUR-high 35 events and barely took a week off on his way to be the only rookie to make the TOUR Championship. That’s the most starts since Danny Lee (36) in 2015.  The Zoolander Blue Steel Award: Brooks Koepka It was a no contest once the ESPN Body Issue photos of Brooks Koepka were released. Koepka reportedly lost 25 pounds to feature in the nude photos.

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Charley Hoffman (+15000) … It doesn’t make any sense when you attempt to digest that he’s just 3-for-11 with no better than a T40 (at Oak Hill in 2013) in the PGA Championship. Obviously, the tournament doesn’t have a permanent home, so it’s not a sightlines issue. Whatever the case, he still deserves respect on tough tracks and especially for his form upon arrival. Since a T7 at Pebble Beach three months ago, he’s cashed in nine consecutive starts with three top 10s and another four top 20s. The 44-year-old also is inside the top 25 on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, SG: Tee-to-Green, proximity to the hole, scrambling, par-3 scoring and par-4 scoring. Emiliano Grillo (+15000) … Untimely rounds here and there over the last three months led to a trio of missed cuts but the native of Argentina has covered with six top 25s since the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The surge was highlighted by a T6 at Corales and a T2 at Harbour Town. It’s been possible because of vastly improved putting. He already was among the best in the world from tee to green. Currently 11th on TOUR in total driving, third in greens hit and first in proximity. He’s also T14 in par-3 scoring and T1 in par-4 scoring. What’s more, the 28-year-old is more than familiar with the rigors of the major championships with four top 25s among 11 cuts made in 17 career appearances. Alex Noren (+15000) … The 38-year-old Swede has quietly gone about his business to the tune of 13 cuts made in 17 starts this season. He’s 98th in the FedExCup with eight top 25s, but he hasn’t connected for a top 10 since the 2020 Playoffs. No matter because that steady, reliable form plays up in the majors. In fact, he’s recorded top 25s in his last three appearances in the set dating back to The Open Championship in 2019. He’s governed by inconsistency off the tee and on approach, but he has a surplus of confidence with his putting to compensate. Currently leading the TOUR in three-putt avoidance and ranks 18th in one-putt percentage. Takumi Kanaya (+50000) … You remember him. He’s the Japanese star who prevailed in a JGTO event as an amateur in November of 2019 and rose to No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. A month after turning pro last October, he won the Dunlop Phoenix. Since mid-April, he’s added another win and three top 20s to sit 77th in the Official World Golf Ranking. Currently second on his home circuit in earnings and first in scoring average. Also fourth in greens hit and second in putting. Assuming he makes the cut in his debut at the PGA Championship, he’ll be playing the final round on his 23rd birthday on Sunday. Garrick Higgo (+10000) … At first glance, his name looks like a fat-fingered attempt to type Harry Higgs – also in the field – but Higgo is a different human. He’s rapidly distinguishing himself from the others inside the ropes, too. American John Catlin captured the attention in this space last week as a three-time winner on the European Tour since play resumed last summer, but Higgo has done the same, including twice in the last four weeks and just before he turned 22 on May 12. Higgo is fifth in the Race to Dubai, as well as fifth in putting and fourth scoring average on the European Tour. The South African also is a two-time winner on his native Sunshine Tour where he was the 2019-20 Rookie of the Year. With momentum to validate the pedigree, the lefty is 51st in the Official World Golf Ranking as he makes his debut in PGA TOUR-sanctioned competition. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, May 18 at 5 a.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. 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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