Power Rankings: THE PLAYERS Championship

Due to its positive reception the first time around, the Power Rankings for THE PLAYERS Championship covers the entire field of 144 at TPC Sawgrass. The full-field format that we launched for the Masters hit the target, so this weekly preview material will reprise for the final three majors of the season as well. This means that all Sleepers that are usually found in their stand-alone space are also below for these special events. The Fantasy Insider column will still run, but it’ll be abridged. This page opens as usual with 20 in the traditional ranking. Beneath it are numerous groupings of the remainder of the field, details on the course and its latest changes, defending champion Si Woo Kim, the weather, my writing schedule and as much space as you want and need for discussion and a Q&A. Power Rankings: THE PLAYERS Championship RANK PLAYER COMMENT What a difference a year makes. Free of personal distraction, the TOUR’s leader in strokes gained: putting is fresh off victory at Quail Hollow. Also a former winner at TPC Sawgrass (2016). The FedExCup points leader also paces the TOUR in the all-around ranking. Phenomenal tee to green, a fearless putter and T3 in par-5 scoring. Tied for third here just two years ago. Remarkably polarizing record at TPC Sawgrass with a win in 2015 and a T2 in 2012, but no better than T60 in other six starts. Risen to the challenge in biggest events of late, though. He’s been bitten by one bad round in last two starts and still finished T5 at Masters and T15 at Wells Fargo. Perfect here since 2013 with three top 10s and a scoring average of 70.55. The 2009 champ is third in the tournament’s all-time earnings. In his last three individual competitions, he’s gone 4th-T6-T5. Tops on TOUR in both fairways hit and GIR. Comin’ in hot from every angle: tee-to-green game is terrific; he’s T3 in proximity; putting wonderfully; ranks T1 in par-3 scoring. Also 12-for-13 with six top 20s at TPC Sawgrass. Zero letup since converting at the Masters. Chased T7 (with Patrick Cantlay) in NOLA and placed eighth in Charlotte. Two top 25s at TPC Sawgrass with average-at-best ball-striking. Time and space unite. Paying off his usual strong ball-striking with the most consistently strong putting of his career. Also has two top 20s at TPC Sawgrass, including a T16 last year. Surprisingly quiet here with just one top 10 among only three top 35s among eight cuts made in 14 tries. Sharp of late, though, with top fives at Copperhead and Bay Hill. T12 at Masters. Has embraced this challenge throughout his career. He’s 11-for-14 with a pair of runner-up finishes, including last year. Recent winner in Houston and placed T7 at Harbour Town. In the small stable of horses for TPC Sawgrass where he has top 10s in his last three trips and a scoring average of 70.08. It’s what you expect from the world-class ball-striker. Last year at this time, he was in arguably the best form of his career and it yielded only a T12, but it was his first top 25 in nine appearances. Defending OWGR No. 1 this week now. Confident as ever in the air at seventh in fairways hit and second in GIR. With better-than-usual (and –average) putting as well, has eight top 25s this season. T13 at Quail Hollow. If not for a T4 in his debut in 2014 (0-for-3 since), he might not land here. Currently second in strokes gained: tee-to-green, third in GIR, fifth in proximity and first in scrambling. Co-led at the midpoint last year and finished T2. Turned up the heat on the greens, ranking fourth in strokes gained: putting. Also led the field in par-5 scoring. Solid in 2018. Riding first 0-for-3 skid on the PGA TOUR since 2003. That’s also the last time he’s missed the cut at TPC Sawgrass. The 2008 champ is No. 1 on the tournament’s all-time money list. In such a good place right now that it doesn’t matter the test. Five straight top 20s upon arrival, two of which for a top 10. Sits 35th on TOUR in GIR and T11 in proximity. His T16 with a balanced attack at the Wells Fargo Championship was his sixth consecutive top 25. Ranks 25th in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Fourth appearance at TPC Sawgrass.   Toss out conventional analysis and make room for his firepower even though TPC Sawgrass will probably get under his skin. Followed a fourth at the Masters with a win in native Spain. More of a wild card due to the absence of anything impressive since returning from injury, but he’s finished no worse than T23 in four appearances at TPC Sawgrass. WILD CARD Phil Mickelson For a guy who has earned so much attention on the West Coast Swing and points elsewhere, his devil-may-care style doesn’t cater to the hazards of TPC Sawgrass. That he prevailed here in 2007 easily is one of the most underrated victories of his Hall of Fame career. As he sizes up the latest course modifications, he’s attempting to turn around a slate that warrants lowered expectations in his 25th appearance. Since 2013, he’s just 1-for-5 with a T41 last year. Of course, 2018 has shaped up as everything but, so something will give for the 48-year-old. CHALLENGERS Just about any other week and the 22 golfers in this section could populate the Power Rankings proper and few would gripe about their inclusion. For the handful still building cachet on the game’s biggest stage, their appearance below has more to do with surging form upon arrival than success or experience at TPC Sawgrass. Meanwhile, the household names sprinkled in have earned their benefit of the doubt due to enough recent form or having proven that they can tame TPC Sawgrass, just not both. Ranked in order of Rob’s confidence (* – debutant; # – second appearance) Billy Horschel Brian Harman Jimmy Walker Matt Kuchar (winner: 2012) Marc Leishman Si Woo Kim (defending champion) #Tommy Fleetwood Tiger Woods (winner: 2001, 2013) *Bryson DeChambeau #Patrick Cantlay Emiliano Grillo Brendan Steele Kevin Kisner #Alex Noren Kevin Chappell Lucas Glover Pat Perez Adam Scott Brooks Koepka #Tyrrell Hatton Martin Kaymer (winner: 2014) Rafa Cabrera Bello SLEEPERS When it comes to THE PLAYERS Championship, Sleepers are relative due to the depth of the field. Similarly to Challengers above but sans the punch of familiarity, they conjoin here as having either especially strong recent form but with little experience at TPC Sawgrass or whiffs of recent form with a body of success on the course. Ranked in order of Rob’s confidence (# – second appearance) #Luke List #Cameron Smith Branden Grace Russell Knox #Grayson Murray Chris Kirk Steve Stricker Rory Sabbatini Russell Henley TWEENERS This smattering of 27 includes a boatload of experience but it’s been a while since it translated into success at TPC Sawgrass if at all. Failure to perform could be due to a poor fit as a general profile or it could very well boil down to the absence of a comfort level and understanding of how to adjust to this course with danger lurking everywhere. The two first-timers are on the rise but have exhibited enough inconsistency to warrant patience. To that end, their inclusion here is a relative endorsement. Ranked in order of Rob’s confidence (* – debutant) Paul Casey (4-for-11, two top 20s) Tony Finau (0-for-2) Charley Hoffman (8-for-11; zero top 20s) Sean O’Hair (6-for-11; all three top 40s are top 25s, but none since 2011) Scott Piercy (2-for-7; both cuts made are top 25s) Charl Schwartzel (5-for-7; zero top 25s) Kevin Na (5-for-11; all three top 35s are top 10s) Jason Dufner (7-for-9; one top 30) Ryan Moore (8-for-11; zero top 25s) Ryan Palmer (4-for-12; both top 55s are top 25s) Bubba Watson (6-for-10; zero top 35s) *Xander Schauffele Kevin Streelman (5-for-9; both top 50s are top 20s, but none since 2013) Brandt Snedeker (3-for-9; both top 45s are top 15s, but none since 2013) Gary Woodland (3-for-6; only top 25 was a T11 in 2014) Martin Laird (4-for-8; both top 65s are top fives, but none since 2013) Brian Gay (6-for-14; one top 30) Bill Haas (6-for-11; one top 20) James Hahn (3-for-5; zero top 25s) Jamie Lovemark (2-for-2; zero top 60s) *Andrew Landry Matthew Fitzpatrick (0-for-2) Ben Martin (2-for-3; one top 25) Jhonattan Vegas (3-for-5; only top 40 was a T7 in 2012) Sung Kang (2-for-2; zero top 25s) Patton Kizzire (1-for-2; solo 76th) Chris Stroud (5-for-7; both top 30s are top 15s, but none since 2011) QUESTION MARKS Every tournament consists of golfers who haven’t played well in it before or recently, don’t have enough experience to lift expectations, arrive dealing with a known physical injury or simply are in poor form. The following 38 check at least one of those boxes and don’t suggest to be categorized elsewhere. Ranked in order of Rob’s confidence Bud Cauley Nick Watney Charles Howell III Daniel Berger Keegan Bradley Anirban Lahiri Chez Reavie Ross Fisher Shane Lowry Harris English Stewart Cink John Huh J.B. Holmes Hudson Swafford Geoff Ogilvy Harold Varner III Scott Stallings J.J. Henry Patrick Rodgers David Lingmerth Jason Kokrak Nick Taylor William McGirt Scott McCarron Martin Flores Jonas Blixt Danny Lee Ted Potter, Jr. Robert Garrigus Chad Campbell Scott Brown Michael Thompson Danny Willett Robert Streb Rod Pampling Derek Fathauer D.A. Points Vaughn Taylor SOPHOMORES In 2017, Si Woo Kim became just the second golfer in tournament history to prevail in his second appearance, but he was the first to do it at TPC Sawgrass. (Al Geiberger turned the trick in the second edition of the event in its only spin at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth in 1975.) So, it’s logical to give each of these 10 another year’s worth of experience. Ranked in order of Rob’s confidence Kiradech Aphibarnrat Byeong Hun An Tyrone Van Aswegen Blayne Barber Ryan Armour Michael Kim Brice Garnett Wesley Bryan Cody Gribble Mac Hughes DEBUTANTS Augusta National Golf Club has a few more decades of tradition than TPC Sawgrass, but the two tracks share a stingy similarity. Just as there have been only three first-time participants to prevail at the Masters (two of which in the first two editions), only three of the 44 winners of THE PLAYERS Championship connected for victory in their debuts. And when you eliminate Jack Nicklaus at Atlanta Country Club in the inaugural edition in 1974, you’re left with only two in 36 contests at TPC Sawgrass – Hal Sutton (1983) and Craig Perks (2002). Last year’s debutants were led by Alex Noren at solo 10th. The 17 of the 20 first-timers in this year’s field who don’t appear in a previous section are slotted below. Ranked in order of Rob’s confidence Beau Hossler Trey Mullinax Ollie Schniederjans C.T. Pan Hao Tong Li Austin Cook Tom Hoge Kelly Kraft Satoshi Kodaira J.J. Spaun Alexander Levy Dominic Bozzelli Brandon Harkins Kevin Tway Richy Werenski Whee Kim Ryan Blaum NOTE: Graham DeLaet, Luke Donald, Brandon Hagy, Jim Herman, Morgan Hoffmann, Seung-Yul Noh and Camilo Villegas are the qualifiers who didn’t commit for various reasons. It probably always will be illogical that Si Woo Kim prevailed at TPC Sawgrass last year. On a course that demands precision, he had anything but that upon arrival, ranking near the bottom in almost all acceptable measurements to define and explain performance. He then closed with a bogey-free 69 for a – of all things – comfortable three-stroke margin to become – of all things – the youngest winner in the 36 years the track has hosted the PGA TOUR’s flagship event. This isn’t what course creator Pete Dye envisioned, but it’s what any worthy course can produce. Last year’s scoring average on the par 72 tipping at 7,189 yards was a nine-year high of 73.291. Unlike Kim’s achievement, that wasn’t surprising after significant upgrades and modifications were in play for the first time. Included in the changes was the introduction of TifEagle bermudagrass greens running at about 13 feet on the Stimpmeter, as they will again this week. New greens need two or three years to settle into an identity for the long-term, so this year’s field should improve on last year’s eight-year low in greens in regulation (11.08 per round) and the tournament’s longest average in proximity to the hole (42 feet, one inch) in the ShotLink era (2002-present). Those led to nine-year basements in both converting birdies or better after hitting GIR (28.49 percent) and scrambling (51.26 percent). Kim placed T23 as a first-time participant in 2016, so it’s clear that TPC Sawgrass fits his eye. He kept in front of him off the tee (eighth in distance of all drives and T15 in fairways hit) and put on a clinic around and on greens. He led the field in scrambling and was perfect on 57 tries from six feet and in, 17 of which were outside three feet. The most noticeable of this year’s adjustments occurred at the 12th hole. After an awkward foray as a potentially drivable par 4, the landing area adjacent to the water on the left has been lifted and flattened to reduce the chances of a tee ball rolling into the hazard, the primary rough on that side is wider as an additional defense and the fairway bunker was elongated nearer the green. The right side of the fairway was also opened to accentuate the value of that angle of approach. The thickest rough everywhere is down one-quarter of an inch to two-and-one-quarter inches. There are also new trees on multiple holes, some as a result of trees felled by Hurricane Irma last September, and pine straw has replaced rough in spots. After a dozen years with a May date, THE PLAYERS Championship will shift back to March in 2019. So, this will likely be the last time that the field experience the relative heat and humidity on tap this week. Daytime highs in the mid- to upper 80s are expected. Breezes will be light to moderate and may freshen with a slight increase in the threat for inclement weather on the weekend. Whatever the weather, among the windfall of perks for the winner will be 600 FedExCup points, a five-year PGA TOUR exemption and $1.98 million. The total prize money is a record $11 million. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton reviews and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Facebook Live, Fantasy Insider 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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