This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
After falling to No. 7 in the Official World Golf Ranking following a pair of missed cuts in May, Jordan Spieth dramatically surged back into the top three this past week as he beat Daniel Berger on a hole-out from a greenside bunker on the first playoff hole. It will take a miracle for the upcoming Quicken Loans National to live up to the club/rake throws and chest bumps at TPC River Highlands, as just three of the OWGR's top-25 head to TPC Potomac.
Let's take a look at several shifters in value on the PGA Tour, along with injury updates for a pair of golfers returning to action this week.
VALUE RISING
Daniel Berger
Berger has ascended to a career-high 18th in the OWGR after he followed up his win at the FedEx St. Jude Classic with a runner-up at the Travelers Championship just two events later. Fellow "Class of '11" stud Jordan Spieth needed a bunker hole-out during the first hole of a playoff at TPC River Highlands to keep Berger from notching his second victory in three events. He's now up to eighth in the FedExCup standings, surpassing $3.5M in earnings throughout the 2016-17 season. Berger is first on Tour in average proximity to the hole from 50-125 yards out, which has led to a 23 percent birdie-or-better mark.
Paul Casey
Casey's win drought on the PGA Tour is baffling, as the 15th-ranked player in the world hasn't won since his first career victory at the 2009
After falling to No. 7 in the Official World Golf Ranking following a pair of missed cuts in May, Jordan Spieth dramatically surged back into the top three this past week as he beat Daniel Berger on a hole-out from a greenside bunker on the first playoff hole. It will take a miracle for the upcoming Quicken Loans National to live up to the club/rake throws and chest bumps at TPC River Highlands, as just three of the OWGR's top-25 head to TPC Potomac.
Let's take a look at several shifters in value on the PGA Tour, along with injury updates for a pair of golfers returning to action this week.
VALUE RISING
Daniel Berger
Berger has ascended to a career-high 18th in the OWGR after he followed up his win at the FedEx St. Jude Classic with a runner-up at the Travelers Championship just two events later. Fellow "Class of '11" stud Jordan Spieth needed a bunker hole-out during the first hole of a playoff at TPC River Highlands to keep Berger from notching his second victory in three events. He's now up to eighth in the FedExCup standings, surpassing $3.5M in earnings throughout the 2016-17 season. Berger is first on Tour in average proximity to the hole from 50-125 yards out, which has led to a 23 percent birdie-or-better mark.
Paul Casey
Casey's win drought on the PGA Tour is baffling, as the 15th-ranked player in the world hasn't won since his first career victory at the 2009 Shell Houston Open. He hasn't missed a cut since the Sony Open in early January, while also racking up 11 top-25s throughout the season. To say he's due is an understatement, but the fact that Casey has zero top-three finishes in 2017 is somewhat concerning for the Englishman, who is set to turn 40 in July. He's still fourth on Tour in GIR percentage, ninth in scoring average, and sixth in proximity from 175-200 yards while averaging just over $187K per entry during his last seven starts.
Grayson Murray
The rookie has now made nine consecutive cuts after a T26 at the Travelers last week, where he also made a hole-in-one during his final round. He's up to 26th on Tour in SG: OTT thanks to his power, currently averaging 307 yards off the tee. Murray has notched five top-35s in his past seven starts, and will look to add another at the upcoming Quicken Loans National.
VALUE FALLING
Luke Donald
Donald's noble short game has failed to carry him recently, as he has missed five consecutive cuts since a runner-up finish at the RBC Heritage in mid-April. He's fourth on Tour in both SG: Putting and SG: Around-the-Green, but outside the top 200 in SG: OTT and just 169th in SG: T2G. Poor ball-striking has limited Donald's birdie percentage, forcing him to grind out pars with limited upside. The 39-year-old hasn't won a PGA Tour event since 2012, back when he was the No. 1 golfer in the OWGR.
Wesley Bryan
To a lesser extent than Donald, Bryan has cooled off since the RBC Heritage, where the rookie notched his maiden victory on Tour. He missed the cut in three of his last five events, although two of those included his PLAYERS Championship and U.S. Open debuts, so there's less cause for concern there. Bryan is still top-25 in the FedExCup standings, but he's outside the top-175 in terms of SG: OTT and GIR percentage. His game doesn't translate well to quite a few stops on Tour due to below-average ball striking, but the 27-year-old still harnesses potential at certain venues.
JT Poston
Poston failed to reach the weekend during four of his last five starts, and he most recently withdrew from this week's Quicken Loans National for an undisclosed reason. There's now a level of uncertainty regarding Poston's downfall, and he could be dealing with some sort of injury given the WD. He made eight straight cuts from the Genesis Open through the Wells Fargo Championship earlier this season, but he's clearly not the same golfer right now.
INJURY UPDATE
Charles Howell III (ribs)
Howell made 14 consecutive cuts before a rib injury forced him to the sideline, and he remained out since a T56 at the RBC Heritage in mid-April. He is ready to return to action this week at the Quicken Loans National, but it's tough to forecast how he will perform after over two months of recovery. He was hitting greens in regulation at a rate of nearly 70 percent prior to the injury, good enough to rank 13th on Tour.
J.J. Spaun (ribs)
Spaun hasn't finished all four rounds of a tournament since the AT&T Byron Nelson in mid-May, as a rib injury forced him to withdraw from his following two starts. He's also slated to make his return at this week's Quicken Loans National alongside Howell, and the duo figures to see low ownership in daily fantasy formats due to the injury effect. Spaun needs an additional $58K in earnings to surpass $1M for the season.
