This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
The PGA Tour's fifth and final Texas stop of the 2017-18 season is underway at the Fort Worth Invitational hosted by Colonial Country Club, where half of the world's top-10 players are slated to tee it up on a historic track. Last week, Aaron Wise made a hefty leap in the FedExCup standings from 56th to No. 18 with his first career win on the PGA Tour at the AT&T Byron Nelson, which came immediately after a runner-up finish at the Wells Fargo Championship for the former Oregon Duck standout. We'll turn our attention to several fantasy trends on Tour as players battle for positioning with the U.S. Open now less than a month away.
VALUE RISING
Webb Simpson
The 20th-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking wasn't even inside of the top-75 at this point in the schedule last year, while a recent win at the PLAYERS Championship marked his first victory since 2013. Following years of struggles with the flat stick, Simpson has emerged as one of the best putters on Tour this season en route to his current positioning at fifth in SG: Putting, eighth in three-putt avoidance and 11th in one-putt percentage. He's also third in scoring average and ninth in proximity from 50-125 yards.
Adam Scott
Scott was just one stroke short of qualifying for the U.S. Open after finishing T9 at the AT&T Byron Nelson last week, so he'll need to wait until June 11th for his fate to be decided. At that
The PGA Tour's fifth and final Texas stop of the 2017-18 season is underway at the Fort Worth Invitational hosted by Colonial Country Club, where half of the world's top-10 players are slated to tee it up on a historic track. Last week, Aaron Wise made a hefty leap in the FedExCup standings from 56th to No. 18 with his first career win on the PGA Tour at the AT&T Byron Nelson, which came immediately after a runner-up finish at the Wells Fargo Championship for the former Oregon Duck standout. We'll turn our attention to several fantasy trends on Tour as players battle for positioning with the U.S. Open now less than a month away.
VALUE RISING
Webb Simpson
The 20th-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking wasn't even inside of the top-75 at this point in the schedule last year, while a recent win at the PLAYERS Championship marked his first victory since 2013. Following years of struggles with the flat stick, Simpson has emerged as one of the best putters on Tour this season en route to his current positioning at fifth in SG: Putting, eighth in three-putt avoidance and 11th in one-putt percentage. He's also third in scoring average and ninth in proximity from 50-125 yards.
Adam Scott
Scott was just one stroke short of qualifying for the U.S. Open after finishing T9 at the AT&T Byron Nelson last week, so he'll need to wait until June 11th for his fate to be decided. At that point he'd qualify for Shinnecock Hills if he's top-60 in the OWGR, but that shouldn't be too difficult as he currently sits 61st and heads to Colonial CC coming off results of T9-T11 in his past two starts. Scott is fourth on Tour in GIR percentage and eighth in SG: Tee-to-Green, so he could be dangerous if the putter comes around one of these weeks.
Nick Watney
Surpassing the $1M mark in earnings for the first time since the 2014-15 season, Watney has now made 12 consecutive cuts and posted a runner-up finish in his penultimate start at the Wells Fargo Championship. He's returned to the top-100 in the OWGR after ending the 2017 calendar year all the way down at 397th, while he currently ranks 15th on Tour in driving distance, third in proximity and 45th in SG: Total.
Patrick Cantlay
Since missing the cut with scores of 75-76 at The Masters in April, Cantlay has posted results of T7-T7-T23 throughout his next three starts at the RBC Heritage, Zurich Classic and The PLAYERS Championship. Rising to 17th in the FedExCup standings, Cantlay's ballstriking has been the key as he ranks sixth on Tour in SG: Tee-to-Green and ninth in SG: Off-the-Tee.
Rory Sabbatini
Not counting the partner-formatted Zurich Classic, Sabbatini has finished T30 or better in four consecutive starts dating back to his top-25 at the RBC Heritage. The 42-year-old resides comfortably at 80th in the FedExCup standings after just barely earning his PGA Tour card last season when he finished 124th.
VALUE FALLING
William McGirt
McGirt has made the cut in just one of his past five starts, but a 70th-place finish at the RBC Heritage during this stretch wasn't exactly a celebratory experience either. His scoring average has soared to 73.67 in his past six tournament rounds, while ultimately descending to 107th in the FedExCup standings. McGirt will attempt to turn things around at the Fort Worth Invitational, but he's never finished top-20 in seven career trips to Colonial CC.
Scott Stallings
Stallings owns zero top-50 finishes since a missed cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in mid-March, while he's also missed three cuts in a row from the Zurich Classic through the PLAYERS Championship. The 33-year-old has hit fairways in regulation at a rate of just 54 percent this season and ranks outside of the top-150 on Tour in GIR percentage.
Sung Kang
Kang showed some promise last season when he finished 59th in the FedExCup standings, but he's earned just $69,469 combined throughout his past 10 starts. This disastrous span has also included six missed cuts, while he's not currently qualified for any of the remaining three major championships this year.
INJURY UPDATE
Paul Casey
The 10th-ranked golfer in the world is slated to return this week from a back injury that kept him out of the PLAYERS Championship earlier this month, but it'll be across the pond at the Wentworth Club for the European Tour's BMW PGA Championship. His next chance to play in the states will come at the Memorial Tournament, though it may be likely he takes that week off following a brief stint back home in England.
