This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
The pool of players whose 2017-18 campaigns are still alive has been cut down to the top-125 in the FedExCup standings following the culmination of the regular season at last week's Wyndham Championship. The playoffs kick off in New Jersey at Ridgewood Country Club for the venue's fourth appearance on the schedule since 2008. We'll take a look at several fantasy trends around Tour as the quest for a $10 million grand prize awaits in late September at East Lake.
VALUE RISING
Webb Simpson
Simpson has strung together four consecutive top-25 finishes since the Open Championship, with a runner-up result at the Wyndham Championship marking his seventh top-10 of 2018. Three of those top-25s came against some of the strongest fields we'll see all season, including two majors and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. The seventh-ranked player in the FedExCup standings heading into the playoffs is eighth on Tour in SG: Total, third in scrambling, fourth in scoring average and ninth in proximity from 50-125 yards.
Brandt Snedeker
Snedeker described himself as a streaky player in his post-victory interview at the Wyndham Championship, as he expects a continued hot hand throughout the FedExCup Playoffs. His week at Sedgefield was highlighted by a historic 59 during Thursday's first round, despite making bogey on his first hole of the tournament. He doesn't own a solid track record at Ridgewood CC, site of the Northern Trust, but he's 21st on Tour in SG: Putting and has finished top-10 in three of his past five starts.
The pool of players whose 2017-18 campaigns are still alive has been cut down to the top-125 in the FedExCup standings following the culmination of the regular season at last week's Wyndham Championship. The playoffs kick off in New Jersey at Ridgewood Country Club for the venue's fourth appearance on the schedule since 2008. We'll take a look at several fantasy trends around Tour as the quest for a $10 million grand prize awaits in late September at East Lake.
VALUE RISING
Webb Simpson
Simpson has strung together four consecutive top-25 finishes since the Open Championship, with a runner-up result at the Wyndham Championship marking his seventh top-10 of 2018. Three of those top-25s came against some of the strongest fields we'll see all season, including two majors and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. The seventh-ranked player in the FedExCup standings heading into the playoffs is eighth on Tour in SG: Total, third in scrambling, fourth in scoring average and ninth in proximity from 50-125 yards.
Brandt Snedeker
Snedeker described himself as a streaky player in his post-victory interview at the Wyndham Championship, as he expects a continued hot hand throughout the FedExCup Playoffs. His week at Sedgefield was highlighted by a historic 59 during Thursday's first round, despite making bogey on his first hole of the tournament. He doesn't own a solid track record at Ridgewood CC, site of the Northern Trust, but he's 21st on Tour in SG: Putting and has finished top-10 in three of his past five starts.
Jason Day
Day has remained inside of the top-10 in the OWGR since his win at the Wells Fargo Championship, thanks in part to four straight top-20s from the Travelers through the PGA Championship. His short game as been on point as he leads the Tour in SG: Around-the-Green and SG: Putting, while he's also eighth in birdie average. Matching solid recent form with brilliant course history, Day has finished T2-T5-T31 in three starts at the Northern Trust hosted by Ridgewood CC.
Stewart Cink
The 45-year-old still has plenty of mojo left in the tank, as demonstrated by five top-25s in his last six starts including a trio of top-five finishes at the PGA Championship, Travelers Championship and FedEx St. Jude Classic. He's nearly top-70 in the OWGR after falling as low as 181st following a missed cut at the Memorial Tournament, while he's got a good shot of reaching at least the BMW Championship as the 58th-ranked player in the FedExCup standings. Cink is sixth on Tour in SG: Approach and 22nd in proximity.
VALUE FALLING
Sergio Garcia
For the first time since the introduction of the FedExCup Playoffs in 2007, Garcia has failed to reach the top-125 in the standings and won't qualify for the Northern Trust as a result. The Spaniard missed the cut in all four majors this year while falling from 10th to 25th in the OWGR. He managed to post a top-25 result against a weak field at the Wyndham Championship, but had MC'd in three of his previous four starts. Garcia struggled with the flat stick this season, ranking 149th in SG: Putting and 189th in three-putt avoidance.
Brendan Steele
Steele is top-40 in the FedExCup standings thanks to a quality start to the season, kick-started by a win at the Safeway Open in early October, but his short game has been awful en route to finishing no better than a T47 in his last seven starts. He's 173rd on Tour in SG: Putting and 195th in SG: Around-the-Green, while he's also hit just under 59 percent of the fairways in regulation this season. He followed a missed cut at the PGA Championship with another MC at the Wyndham last week.
Scott Piercy
Since back-to-back top-25s at the Houston Open and RBC Heritage, Piercy has missed five of 10 cuts to go along with zero top-30 results. Falling to 239th in the OWGR, Piercy isn't expected to do much damage in the FedExCup Playoffs.
Jason Dufner
Dufner's recent stretch of T66-MC-T51 isn't a promising sign heading into the playoffs, and his chances of qualifying for the BMW Championship are quickly diminishing as he ranks 90th in the FedExCup standings. Dufner is outside of the top-100 on Tour in GIR percentage, driving accuracy and birdie average.
INJURY UPDATE
Rickie Fowler
Fowler managed to play through a partial tear in his right oblique muscle during the PGA Championship en route to a T12 finish, but the injury has forced him to withdraw from the Northern Trust. At 17th in the FedExCup standings, Fowler can certainly afford to miss a playoff event or two and still have a solid chance at East Lake, so there's no reason to rush back too soon if he doesn't feel quite ready for next week's Dell Technologies Championship.
