Sleeper Picks: Dell Technologies Championship

NOTE: For the first three events of the FedExCup Playoffs, Rob will focus only on golfers outside the bubble to advance. In this second installment, all five below enter the Dell Technologies Championship outside the top 70 in points. Harold Varner III … Two weeks ago at this time, he was headed to the Web.com Tour Finals after what couldn’t be ruled out as a sophomore slump. He then celebrated his 27th birthday on Aug. 15 with a T10 at the Wyndham Championship five days later. That secured both his third consecutive season with a TOUR card and a spot in the Playoffs for which he opened 123rd in points. A T20 at THE NORTHERN TRUST bumped him to 91st and into the field at TPC Boston where he placed T33 in last year’s debut. Since the FedExCup points structure was revised in 2015, all top 20s at the Dell Technologies Championship have yielded survival. He’s simmered before, so there’s precedent for another climb. During a 9-for-9 stretch as a rookie from April into July of 2016, he recorded five top 25s, including three in a row at one point. Graham DeLaet … No stranger to back injuries, it knocked him out during his third round of the Barracuda Championship to start the month, and then again during his second round at Glen Oaks last week. However, in between, he mustered a T7 at the PGA Championship where he led the field in greens hit and strokes gained: approach-the-green. Now 74th in the FedExCup standings, the 35-year-old Canuck will be keen to tap into the form that fueled a career-low-tying 62 in the third round of the 2013 edition of the Dell Technologies Championship. But he won’t need as strong as a top-five to advance. In last year’s Playoffs, Chris Kirk arrived at TPC Boston slotted 75th in points. He finished T33 in the tournament and rose to 66th. With this modest goal facing DeLaet, his health might be the greater challenge. Jason Kokrak … He serves as a terrific example of how even consistently strong play during the Playoffs sometimes isn’t enough, so he’s seeking redemption. After entering last year’s series at 65th in points, he opened T7-T8, the latter at TPC Boston, to rise to 34th. A T17 at the BMW Championship left him 33rd, just outside the bubble for a berth in the TOUR Championship. Nonetheless, it’s a career-best result he’s targeting right now. On the shoulders of consecutive top 25s, he arrives at the Dell Technologies Championship at 79th in points. Finished T16 in the tournament in 2014. Chad Campbell … Still owns the badge as the last golfer to capture his first PGA TOUR title at the TOUR Championship. That was in 2003 under the old qualifying system and contested in Houston, the last time before it moved permanently to East Lake. Now 43 years of age, he’s reached the Playoffs finale only once, way back in 2008. Currently 76th in points, if he performs like he has since May, we’ll see him at the BMW Championship in two weeks. He’s survived nine of 10 cuts, five going for a top 25. Ranks 13th in greens in regulation, fourth in scrambling and 50th in adjusted scoring. Finished T21 at TPC Boston last year. Rafa Cabrera Bello … Fits the classic narrative that class is permanent, which it going to be put to the test this week. It’s the minimalist’s approach toward his expectations as the 19th-ranked golfer in the world sitting 80th in the FedExCup standings. The Spaniard is making his debut in the series at 33 years of age. It was just eight weeks ago that he prevailed at the Scottish Open. A T4 at Royal Birkdale followed, but he hasn’t readapted to parkland-style golf in three U.S.-based starts since. With everything to gain and as one of the best putters on the planet, he’s at or near the top of the list of guys in a slump who present among the most dangerous to threaten at TPC Boston.

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