This article is part of our Weekly PGA Preview series.
Sang-Moon Bae, Ben Martin and Robert Streb ... the first three winners of the PGA Tour 2014-2015 season, OK, so maybe the fall season hasn't changed that much. That's just a look at the surface though; sure, if you look at just the winners, no, it doesn't look like much has changed. It looks like the same old fall season, with guys coming out of nowhere to gobble up wins, but a closer look reveals that plenty of things have changed, such as the improved fields, the revamped system of how players gain access to the PGA Tour and the ... OK, that's about it, but still, it feels different, right? Look, it is what it is, the PGA Tour is never going to stand out during the fall. So let's look at the fall season as something akin to the preseason in other sports, only it counts.
If you can't tell by now, two years into this thing, it's still difficult to quantify the fall session. For those that just want a little more golf in their life, this little six-week mini-season is the perfect lead into the holiday season. For those who want an extension of the regular season, who want the same feeling they get in April, well that's not going to happen. Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott are not teeing it up anytime soon, but that's OK, we've got Bae, Martin and Streb ... it'll do, for now.
This week: CIMB Classic - Kuala
Sang-Moon Bae, Ben Martin and Robert Streb ... the first three winners of the PGA Tour 2014-2015 season, OK, so maybe the fall season hasn't changed that much. That's just a look at the surface though; sure, if you look at just the winners, no, it doesn't look like much has changed. It looks like the same old fall season, with guys coming out of nowhere to gobble up wins, but a closer look reveals that plenty of things have changed, such as the improved fields, the revamped system of how players gain access to the PGA Tour and the ... OK, that's about it, but still, it feels different, right? Look, it is what it is, the PGA Tour is never going to stand out during the fall. So let's look at the fall season as something akin to the preseason in other sports, only it counts.
If you can't tell by now, two years into this thing, it's still difficult to quantify the fall session. For those that just want a little more golf in their life, this little six-week mini-season is the perfect lead into the holiday season. For those who want an extension of the regular season, who want the same feeling they get in April, well that's not going to happen. Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott are not teeing it up anytime soon, but that's OK, we've got Bae, Martin and Streb ... it'll do, for now.
This week: CIMB Classic - Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club, Malaysia
Last Year: Chris Kirk shot a final-round 66 on his way to a two-stroke victory over Scott Brown.
PLAYERS TO CONSIDER
Hideki Matsuyama
Kind of an odd mix of players in the field this week. Not many from the top tier, but plenty on from the second and third tiers. Matsuyama is squarely in that group, but he's on the rise. He's off to a great start this fall, and there's no reason to think he takes a step back.
Sergio Garcia
The first three winners this season have been under the radar for the most part, but the field this week should produce a winner with a bigger name. Enter Sergio, who's coming off a nice season, which ended only weeks ago.
Patrick Reed
Reed is not a top-5 player in the world, but he's pretty darn good when he's hot, and now, he's hot. He played well at the Ryder Cup a month back as well as the Match-Play event more recently.
Lee Westwood
Westwood is playing fairly well early in the season and a trip to Malaysia will probably do Westwood better than most in the field. Sure, it's not exactly home, but Westwood has always played better outside the U.S.
Will MacKenzie
There were two MacKenzie's last season: the one who looked like his former self -- you know, the good one -- and the guy who looked much like you and I might on the PGA Tour. That guy, the latter, took over for most of last season, but the former appears to be back again.
PLAYERS TO AVOID
Ryan Moore
Let's see -- defending champ who's not playing his best golf. Yeah, I think I'll pass. We saw all we needed from Moore when he missed the cut at the Shriner's event. It wasn't so much that he missed the cut, it was the expectations coming in. Moore had a great track record at that event heading into it.
Billy Horschel
Just a handful of weeks ago, Horschel looked like the best player on the planet. The only problem is that was more than a month ago, and we all know how fast these guys can lose it. Horschel missed the cut in his most recent start, so it's safe to say, he's not on top of his game, at least not like he was during the FedEx Cup.
Heath Slocum
Slocum is on a terrible run lately. He's missed the cut in all of his three starts this season and he hasn't played on the weekend since mid-April. He finished fourth that week, but again, that was two months ago and a lot can change in that span.
Brian Davis
Davis is a good player who simply can't figure out this track. Yes, that line was left in here from last week, and Davis MDF. Same holds true this week, though we have only one year of records to look at this week. Davis failed to crack 74 in any of his four rounds last year.
Pat Perez
Perez's game was trending downward at the end of last season and that trend has continued into the new season. Perez has yet to make a cut on the new season and hasn't finished in the top20 since April.
ONE AND DONE GOLFER
Last week: Webb Simpson (T41) - $19,600; Season - $187,600
This week: Patrick Reed - I've gone a bit heavy on the bigger names so far this season, so I'm taking a step back this week ... kind of. Reed isn't top-tier player as of now, but he's capable of looking like one from time to time. One of those times could be this week.
YAHOO PICKS
Yahoo's fantasy game does not use the fall season, beginning in January for the traditional start of the PGA Tour season.
Last Season:
Points: 5,516
Rank: 15,723
SURVIVOR PICK
Last week: Russell Knox (MC); Streak - 0
This week: The 78-man event does not have a cut.
