This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
The Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club features one of the strongest fields you will see this early in the PGA Tour season. As Tiger Woods looks to build upon his return and Dustin Johnson defends his title, the likes of Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas will also be teeing it up this week. We'll take a look at several trends on Tour heading into the grand finale of the West Coast swing as the Honda Classic and WGC-Mexico Championship are also approaching in the near future.
VALUE RISING
Phil Mickelson
Lefty was in danger of falling outside the top-50 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time since 1993 as he fell to 49th after the Farmers Insurance Open. Mickelson wouldn't remain close to the edge for much longer, notching a T5 at TPC Scottsdale before finishing runner-up at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He still hasn't won since 2013, but the 47-year-old has rounded into form just in time for the Genesis Open where he's a two-time champion.
Kevin Chappell
Chappell could be a force on Tour if his putting ever comes around, as he ranks fourth in SG: Off-the-Tee, eighth in SG: Tee-to-Green, 16th in driving distance and 11th in par-four scoring average. He's missed just one cut since last year's Open Championship and has recorded a pair of top-eight finishes in his past three starts.
Brian Gay
Only three golfers have more top-10s than Gay throughout the 2017-18 season, as the 46-year-old
The Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club features one of the strongest fields you will see this early in the PGA Tour season. As Tiger Woods looks to build upon his return and Dustin Johnson defends his title, the likes of Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas will also be teeing it up this week. We'll take a look at several trends on Tour heading into the grand finale of the West Coast swing as the Honda Classic and WGC-Mexico Championship are also approaching in the near future.
VALUE RISING
Phil Mickelson
Lefty was in danger of falling outside the top-50 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time since 1993 as he fell to 49th after the Farmers Insurance Open. Mickelson wouldn't remain close to the edge for much longer, notching a T5 at TPC Scottsdale before finishing runner-up at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He still hasn't won since 2013, but the 47-year-old has rounded into form just in time for the Genesis Open where he's a two-time champion.
Kevin Chappell
Chappell could be a force on Tour if his putting ever comes around, as he ranks fourth in SG: Off-the-Tee, eighth in SG: Tee-to-Green, 16th in driving distance and 11th in par-four scoring average. He's missed just one cut since last year's Open Championship and has recorded a pair of top-eight finishes in his past three starts.
Brian Gay
Only three golfers have more top-10s than Gay throughout the 2017-18 season, as the 46-year-old has added to his resume in recent weeks with finishes of T8-T9 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Waste Management Phoenix Open. It'll take just one more made cut for Gay to surpass his earnings from each of the past three seasons, having failed to reach $1 million since his 2013 campaign. His short game has been the difference maker lately, ranking eighth on Tour in scrambling, 18th in SG: Around-the-Green and 24th in SG: Putting.
VALUE FALLING
Hudson Swafford
Swafford missed the cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, extending his streak of starts without a top-25 finish to his last nine events. Down to 99th in the OWGR, he'll be in danger of falling outside the top-100 after climbing as high as 75th in 2017.
Wesley Bryan
Bryan also failed to make it through to the weekend at TPC Scottsdale, while he hasn't posted single top-25 finish since the John Deere Classic last July. That's a pretty rough stretch for someone who finished 41st in last season's FedExCup standings. He ranks 215th out of 216 in SG: Off-the-Tee and just 209th in SG: Tee-to-Green this season as he's struggled to find the greens in regulation.
INJURY UPDATE
Charley Hoffman
Hoffman was forced to withdraw during his third round at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am due to a minor back issue, but he'll be returning to action this week at the Genesis Open. The 41-year-old hasn't been all that spectacular since a missed cut at the OHL Classic in November, but he placed T4 at the Genesis Open at Riviera in 2017.
Bill Haas
Haas -- who was the passenger of a car that was involved in a serious accident this week in Pacific Palisades, CA -- was forced to withdraw from the Genesis Open after sustaining pain and swelling in his leg. According to PGATour.com, Haas avoided any broken bones as he escaped without a serious injury. The severity of the entire situation could result in an extended absence for Haas as he returns home to the Carolinas, so a timetable for his return is unclear at this point.
