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Chesson Hadley … Enduring an up-and-down season is a lot easier when there’s considerable “up” baked in. To wit, he’s registered five top 20s, the last two to open the Florida Swing. He’s 50th in the FedExCup standings thanks primarily to laser-like precision with his irons. When he descended for his fifth appearance at TPC San Antonio, where he finished T4 in 2015 and T20 last year, he was T2 on TOUR in proximity to the hole and 14th in strokes gained: approach-the-green. Kevin Streelman … Among a handful in the field who arrive hoping to find form on a track that isn’t expected to be friendly, but he’s 5-for-5 at TPC San Antonio with three top 15s, including a T8 last year. For the week, he ranked second in strokes gained: around-the-green and fourth in strokes gained: tee-to-green. If one thing’s for certain, he’ll keep his ball in play in the Hill Country. Currently 10th on the PGA TOUR in fairways hit. Chris Kirk … Like Streelman, the Georgian could use a little TPC San Antonio in his life. Spanning his last 15 starts, Kirk has connected for only one-40 finish. It was less than a month ago at Bay Hill (T15), so it’s relatively recent, but it’s an anomaly nonetheless. In the last four editions of the Valero Texas Open, he’s recorded a pair of T8s and a T13. His putting leaves much to be desired, but his tee-to-green game is still solid enough to warrant consideration as a threat. He’s also done his best scoring on par 5s this season. Sung Kang … The 31-year-old is quietly assembling a sturdy season with five top 20s that have lifted him to 60th in the FedExCup standings. He capped a 4-for-4 on the Florida Swing with a T18 at the Valspar Championship where he ranked fourth in total driving, T9 in par-5 scoring and 17th in strokes gained: putting. His sum is greater than his parts overall, but he’s T23 in par-5 scoring for the season. He’s also no stranger to TPC San Antonio, which has boggled everyone who’s played it at some point, but he survived the battle in 2017 with a share of sixth place. Julián Etulain … The native of Argentina didn’t enter his second spin with a PGA TOUR card with any momentum, but he’s drummed up nine paydays to sit 113th in the FedExCup, eight of which in 2019 alone. He prevailed just over a year ago at the Web.com Tour’s Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS, and then chased it with a T5 at the Savannah Golf Championship, but hasn’t recorded a top 10 on either circuit since. Still, he lines up as a game-changer around and on greens at 21st on the PGA TOUR in scrambling and 16th in strokes gained: putting, but his improvement tee to green is why he’s found consistency of late. 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.
Our experts provide their top plays for fantasy golf as the PGA Tour heads to Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
As sunset threatened to send us to a real Monday Finish in the California desert, Jon Rahm finally nailed a birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole to claim his second PGA TOUR win at the CareerBuilder Challenge. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Rahm’s rapid rise in golf continued all the way to second place in the FedExCup and the Official World Golf Rankings with his win in La Quinta. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. You have to love Jon Rahm’s aggression. While we often talk about the outward passion of Spanish golfers and argue the merits of playing with your heart on your sleeve, it is Rahm’s aggressive mode of play that impresses me most. On Sunday in the desert as Rahm came down to the final few holes of regulation, one thing had been strikingly obvious. He was always trying to win the golf tournament and he was doing it by taking dead aim. Sure, not a single birdie dropped in the last four holes of regulation – or the first three of the playoff – but he created opportunities by playing fearless. On the back nine Sunday, he hit six of seven fairways and eight of nine greens in regulation – and there was nothing conservative about any of it. He gave himself decent looks at birdie on all four playoff holes. This guy is not interested in being second and certainly not afraid to win. 2. Rahm is seemingly finding the perfect balance for his temperament. Spanish people are usually wonderfully passionate. But the knock on Rahm’s countryman Sergio Garcia throughout his impressive career was his passion and emotion could get the best of him at times. As Rahm hit the elite golf landscape there was a similar feeling… the talent is immense, but would the passion get in the way? Honestly, a player should do what works best for them. But over the last year there has been a noticeable harnessing of Rahm’s fire. It certainly hasn’t gone missing – it is clearly on show – but the maturity to deal with things has grown. Saturday, he battled his way through a frustrating round in windy conditions and didn’t implode. Sunday, the par-5s were becoming a bunch of wasted chances – yet he remained focused on the job at hand and was ultimately rewarded with victory. 3. We are looking at a future No.1. Yes – I know this is not really a hot take given the fact Rahm has risen up the rankings at lightning speed, but at this stage he’s still got work to do to catch Dustin Johnson so it’s no lay down misère. And with the likes of Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day amongst many others expecting big seasons, it will be no cake walk. But still, it seems certainly likely. Three years ago Rahm ranked 1576th in the world. Two years ago he was 586th. A year ago he was 137th. He now sits second. Of course he has the benefit of not defending too many points yet and having a favorable divisor – this will change now. But he still shows enough drive and talent to become just the second player from Spain to the be the best in the world. 4. Andrew Landry is making a name for himself – again. There were plenty of people watching Landry push Rahm to the brink on Sunday thinking – “where do I know this guy from?â€� A Web.com Tour graduate this season – for the second time in his career – Landry is not in the consciousness of all golf fans. The first time around (2015-16) he failed to stay on the PGA TOUR but you might remember him as the upstart of the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont. In the middle of his rookie season on the PGA TOUR – having missed six of 11 cuts and finishing no higher than T41 – Landry took the first-round lead at the U.S. Open and was sitting second through 36 and 54 holes. A final round 78 saw him fade to T15 but it was proof his game is high caliber. Last season he won on the web.com Tour to get himself back on the big stage and while his rookie season opened with five straight missed cuts, this time around he has three top-10s from his first seven starts and sits 11th in the FedExCup. He has evolved and could easily be a first-time winner sometime soon. 5. Hadwin home in the desert. A year from now, when you are looking for who to pick as a possible winner or who to pick on your fantasy team – slate Adam Hadwin. It was refreshing to see the Canadian finish T3 this week after he failed to really kick on from his 2017 win at the Valspar Championship. The International Team member from the Presidents Cup had just two top-10 finishes after his win in March last year but this might be the start of a return to his best golf. Or it might just be he’s very much at home at La Quinta. A year ago he shot 59 on Saturday and finished runner up in the event and two years ago he was T6. He has yet to shoot an over-par score in 16 rounds at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He made a late run this time around but ultimately fell two shots shy of the playoff. An even par front nine Sunday left him pushing and while a 4-under final nine was impressive, it wasn’t enough. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. With the win, Rahm moved from No. 20 to No. 2 in the FedExCup standings. Last season, in his first full season on TOUR, Rahm finished No. 5 in the FedExCup. Rahm also passed Jordan Spieth and moved to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking. 2. It marks Jon Rahm’s second PGA TOUR title in his 38th career start at the age of 23 years, 2 months, 11 days. Rahm is the second-youngest winner of the CareerBuilder Challenge. Jack Nicklaus was 23 years, 0 months, 13 days when he claimed the title in 1963. Since his first PGA TOUR start as a professional at The National in June, 2016 (T3), Rahm has recorded 15 top-five results in 38 starts worldwide, including four victories (two on European Tour). 3. Rahm’s opening-round 62 at La Quinta matched his career low on TOUR, set in the first round of The National in 2016, and his 36-hole total of 129 surpassed his previous best, which was set at the same tournament. 4. Andrew Landry went 59 consecutive holes this week before making his first bogey at his 60th hole, the par-3 fifth at the Stadium Course. Landry has six rounds on the PGA TOUR without a bogey or worse, three coming this week. 5. Martin Piller (T3) and Sam Saunders (T8) led the field with 28 birdies for the week (Rahm had 26 and an eagle). Saunders shot a final round 8-under 64 with six birdies in his last eight holes. A year after we had a 59, 62 was the low score of the week – shot by Rahm in the opening round at La Quinta Country Club.
