Golf Barometer: Risin' Bryson

The Wells Fargo Championship saw Jason Day outlast the PGA's deepest field since the Masters to secure his second win of the season. Even last week's field pales in comparison though to the list of golfers in this week's PLAYERS Championship -- golf's unofficial fifth major -- which will showcase all of the top 50 players in the world rankings besides the late-withdrawing Paul Casey. As usual, we will identify several players whose performance is trending in a positive direction heading into this week's event, as well as note those who have not been playing up to par as of late.

VALUE RISING

Bryson Dechambeau

Since withdrawing from the Valspar Championship due to a sore back in early March, Dechambeau has been playing some of the best golf of his young career. In addition to a respectable T38 at the Masters, the 24-year-old has logged an impressive three Top-5s since returning. He has also been one of the best scorers on Tour this season, as currently sits at eighth in birdie average (4.26 per round) and second in par-5 scoring (4.48). The knicker-sporting youngster is firing on all cylinders heading into his PLAYERS debut.

Emiliano Grillo

Grillo had a hiccup at the Zurich Classic two weeks ago, but outside of a missed cut that week he has compiled three Top-10s in his last seven tournaments to go along with at T26, T50, and T16. The Argentinean appears to be past last year's struggles and is starting to fulfill the promise he showed during his rookie season. He has showed he can hang with the big boys by competing in other strong-field events this year, with a T26 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and and T8 at The Honda Classic. TPC Sawgrass was redesigned in 2016, and one notable trend since has been increased difficulties on par-3s, an area where Grillo thrives: he is fourth on Tour with a 3.00 average.

Chesson Hadley

It's hard to argue with results and Hadley has been providing plenty of the lately. Since slumping in late February and early March with consecutive missed cuts he has been rolling under the radar. He followed a T48 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational with five straight Top-20s, including two Top-10s. The 30-year-old is currently sitting 10th on tour in birdie average (4.21), 11th in proximity to the hole, and 4th in SG: approach-the-green. It is hard to fade someone playing as consistently as Hadley has been of late.

Kyle Stanley

Stanley returned from a one-month absence following the Masters with a T13 at the Wells Fargo Championship this past weekend. Prior to a 52nd-place finish at Augusta he had logged three consecutive top-25s, so his time off did not slow him down. The 30-year-old is not long off the tee, sitting 123rd on tour in driving distance, but he is 33rd in SG: off-the-tee due to his strong ball striking abilities. This course setup will not require him or the rest of the field to use driver very often, which figures to be advantageous for Stanley. He is also second on Tour in GIR, so he figures to have a chance to carry his momentum this week if he can balance his shaky putter.

Zach Johnson

It is hard to make a major move upward when you have not missed a cut all season, but Johnson is coming off a 5th at the Valero Texas Open and a T15 at the Zurich Classic, two of his best three finishes this calendar year. The veteran remains relatively short off the tee, but as referenced with Stanley, driver will not be essential this week. Also previously mentioned, par-3 scoring has become more difficult in recent years, and Johnson happens to be No. 1 on Tour in scoring on those holes. He is also 13th in birdie average (4.14) and 3rd in proximity to the hole. He continues to be a safe play with a seemingly higher ceiling each week.

VALUE FALLING

Alexander Noren

Noren, the 18th-ranked golfer in the world, has had a rough go of it as of late. After making the trek overseas prior to the Farmers Insurance Open, the Swede came out hot on American soil with five consecutive top-25s. However, he failed to make the cut at the Masters, and after a month off missed a second consecutive cut at last weekend's Wells Fargo Championship. Outside of his usual stellar putting, the 35-year-old struggled mightily off the tee and with his approach shots in both those outings. He will need to turn things around with this longer clubs in order to stop trending in the wrong direction.

Gary Woodland

Woodland began the calendar year on fire with four straight top-15s, including three top-10s, which culminated with his first victory on Tour since 2013. However, since then he has been struggling immensely. The big hitter followed the win with two missed cuts in five starts, with his best finish being T29 in a team event at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Since then he has missed three consecutive cuts and logged just one round under par. The best medicine for him at his point would presumably be a course that allows him to let loose with his driver, but that will not be the case this week.

Patton Kizzire

Kizzire already had two Tour victories under his belt by mid-January and was looking in line for a breakout season. However, outside of a T12 at WGC-Mexico, he has cooled off significantly since. The 32-year-old has missed five cuts in his previous seven events including his last three in a row. He has also gone four straight outings without a round under par. His approach game has been fine, but that has failed to make up for everything else across the board.

INJURY UPDATE

Paul Casey

Casey notched back-to-back Top-25s at this event the last two years, but he will not get a chance to make that three in a row due to his ailing back. He took at least a week off after THE PLAYERS the last three years, so his absence could extend beyond this week.