This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
With just two events remaining on the schedule before June's U.S. Open, the world's top players are looking to find their groove heading into 2017's second major tournament. Kevin Tway, who played his way into last week's "Rising" category, continued his out-of-nowhere ascension with a fifth-consecutive top-20 finish, while "Faller" Bill Haas bounced back with a T12 after three straight missed cuts. Jack Nicklaus is geared up to host the Memorial Tournament at his prestigious Muirfield Village Golf Club, where six of the world's top 10 golfers will duke it out with a top-notch field.
We'll now turn our attention to several golfers whose fantasy value is on the move, along with another injury update on Northern Ireland's prodigy.
VALUE RISING
Jon Rahm
Rahm's runner-up finish at the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational marked his sixth top-five performance since a win at January's Farmers Insurance Open, vaulting the 22-year-old Spaniard into the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking less than a year after he turned pro. He's first on Tour in top-10 finishes during the 2016-17 season with seven, one spot ahead of Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, who all own six such results. Rahm's best club has been the driver, but he's also hitting just over 70 percent of his greens in regulation thanks to a quality approach-shot game. Despite playing most courses for the first time in his career, he continues to impress on a weekly basis and will look to do so again at
With just two events remaining on the schedule before June's U.S. Open, the world's top players are looking to find their groove heading into 2017's second major tournament. Kevin Tway, who played his way into last week's "Rising" category, continued his out-of-nowhere ascension with a fifth-consecutive top-20 finish, while "Faller" Bill Haas bounced back with a T12 after three straight missed cuts. Jack Nicklaus is geared up to host the Memorial Tournament at his prestigious Muirfield Village Golf Club, where six of the world's top 10 golfers will duke it out with a top-notch field.
We'll now turn our attention to several golfers whose fantasy value is on the move, along with another injury update on Northern Ireland's prodigy.
VALUE RISING
Jon Rahm
Rahm's runner-up finish at the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational marked his sixth top-five performance since a win at January's Farmers Insurance Open, vaulting the 22-year-old Spaniard into the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking less than a year after he turned pro. He's first on Tour in top-10 finishes during the 2016-17 season with seven, one spot ahead of Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, who all own six such results. Rahm's best club has been the driver, but he's also hitting just over 70 percent of his greens in regulation thanks to a quality approach-shot game. Despite playing most courses for the first time in his career, he continues to impress on a weekly basis and will look to do so again at his Muirfield Village debut
Brian Harman
Harman notched five top-15s in his last seven events, including a win at the Wells Fargo Championship and a T7 at Colonial that bumped him up to No. 51 in the OWGR. This leaves him one spot short of an exemption for July's British Open at Royal Birkdale, so he will have to qualify via a top finish at one of a few upcoming PGA Tour events. Nonetheless, Harman began his 2017 campaign outside of the top 140 in the OWGR, so his ascent to the best ranking of his entire career is no small feat. He is also up to ninth in the FedExCup standings due to stellar wedge play around the greens and a scorching hot putter. He's in the field for the Memorial, where he will look to improve upon his below-average track record.
Danny Lee
Lee's plunge from fantasy relevance was a harsh one, as the 26-year-old fell nearly 100 OWGR spots in just over a year after reaching a career-best 34th in March of 2016. He didn't make a cut for five consecutive events earlier in 2017, and a missed cut at the PLAYERS Championship dropped him to No. 125 in the world rankings. Lee must have took this to heart, finishing 6-T5 in his last two events to jump back inside of the top 100. He's carried by his iron play, most recently finishing first among the DEAN & DELUCA field in SG: approach-the-green and fifth in GIR percentage. Lee is 22nd on Tour in average proximity to the hole on approach shots from 150-175 yards out of the fairway and sixth from that same distance out of the rough. Lee's major flaw is scrambling, so he will have to rely on hitting greens in regulation until the wedge play comes around.
VALUE FALLING
Charles Howell III
Howell could very well be part of the "Injury Update" portion of this article, but the fact of the matter is that he's not playing and his value has fallen quickly. According to USAToday.com, he's dealing with a rib injury similar to that of Rory McIlroy, who has also missed plenty of time throughout 2017. Howell hasn't played since mid-April's RBC Heritage and he won't be in the field for the Memorial despite lacking an exemption into the U.S. Open. His next chance to make it to Erin Hills will come Monday, but it's unclear at this point if the injury has fully healed. Howell hasn't missed a cut since the season-opening Safeway Open, but he's not exempt into any of the three remaining majors, and it's unknown when he will be ready to return to tournament action.
Anirban Lahiri
Since a T5 at the Asian Tour's Hero Indian Open in March, Lahiri has missed four cuts in six events back in the states, including three in a row. He's 155th on Tour in GIR percentage and 204th in average proximity to the hole on approach shots from 50-125 yards. Lahiri is hitting just 57.8 percent of his fairways in regulation, which is the first drawback in the list of his current ball-striking flaws. Muirfield Village won't be an easy venue for the 29-year-old to turn things around at, as he failed to finish inside of the top 60 during his lone career appearance at the Memorial.
Fabian Gomez
Gomez surprisingly found the winner's circle on Tour in 2015 and 2016, but the 147th-ranked golfer in the world appears to have run out of magic. Outside of a T24 at the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open Gomez has missed seven cuts through 12 events in 2017 alone. He's 188th on Tour in terms of proximity from 175-200 yards out, and just 187th in SG: approach-the-green. There aren't many positives in Gomez's game heading into the Memorial.
INJURY UPDATE
Rory McIlroy
Originally expected to play in the Memorial, McIlroy elected to withdraw in order to avoid any setbacks with the rib injury that sidelined him earlier in the year. He was able to finish T35 at THE PLAYERS Championship during his last start stateside, but the injury flared up enough to force a WD prior to the Euro Tour's BMW PGA Championship. With the U.S. Open looming in the near future, McIlroy will continue to play it safe before heading to Erin Hills.
