This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
The red-hot Jordan Spieth would not let the poor conditions at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am deter him from putting his name back into consideration for the title of world's best golfer, cruising to a four-stroke victory in dominant fashion. Six consecutive top-10s worldwide -- including two wins -- have positioned Spieth to recapture a green jacket after last year's depressing fluke. There are now six golfers arranged tightly near the top of the Official World Golf Ranking, but we will take a look at several others who are rising or falling, along with a disappointing injury update for Tiger.
VALUE RISING
Kelly Kraft
Kraft notched his fourth top-30 finish in five events last week at Pebble Beach, leading the field in strokes gained: tee-to-green and hitting 80.6 percent of his greens in regulation to earn an impressive second-place finish behind the sizzling Spieth. Kraft has more than doubled his career Tour earnings through just eight events this season, and he only needs an additional $77,740 to surpass the $1-million mark. The 20th-ranked golfer in the FedExCup standings will be in the field at Riviera this week, where he will look to maintain his recent form and avoid any potential fatigue due to his busy schedule of late.
Bernd Wiesberger
Dating back to a runner-up finish at the KLM Open in September, Wiesberger has recorded a whopping seven top-five results in just 10 European Tour events. The three instances in which he did not finish top-five include no performance worse
The red-hot Jordan Spieth would not let the poor conditions at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am deter him from putting his name back into consideration for the title of world's best golfer, cruising to a four-stroke victory in dominant fashion. Six consecutive top-10s worldwide -- including two wins -- have positioned Spieth to recapture a green jacket after last year's depressing fluke. There are now six golfers arranged tightly near the top of the Official World Golf Ranking, but we will take a look at several others who are rising or falling, along with a disappointing injury update for Tiger.
VALUE RISING
Kelly Kraft
Kraft notched his fourth top-30 finish in five events last week at Pebble Beach, leading the field in strokes gained: tee-to-green and hitting 80.6 percent of his greens in regulation to earn an impressive second-place finish behind the sizzling Spieth. Kraft has more than doubled his career Tour earnings through just eight events this season, and he only needs an additional $77,740 to surpass the $1-million mark. The 20th-ranked golfer in the FedExCup standings will be in the field at Riviera this week, where he will look to maintain his recent form and avoid any potential fatigue due to his busy schedule of late.
Bernd Wiesberger
Dating back to a runner-up finish at the KLM Open in September, Wiesberger has recorded a whopping seven top-five results in just 10 European Tour events. The three instances in which he did not finish top-five include no performance worse than a T37 at January's Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. Currently slated at No. 34 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Wiesberger finished T34 at Augusta in 2016 despite not playing well at the time, so he could be a sneaky pick this year if he continues trending upward. Pay attention to how he performs on the international stage at the upcoming WGC-Mexico Championship in early March.
Adam Scott
Scott has not played on American soil since finishing T8 at last year's TOUR Championship, but he has been a force overseas since, posting finishes of T9-3-T14-T14-T10 over his last five events. He heads to the Genesis Open with plenty of momentum on his side, and it doesn't hurt that he also finished runner-up to Bubba Watson at Riviera CC in 2016. Scott followed that up with back-to-back wins at the Honda Classic and WGC-Cadillac Championship, so he is no stranger to playing outstanding golf early in the year.
Kevin Kisner
The 44th-ranked golfer in the world went seven consecutive weeks without a top-25 finish to end his 2016 calendar year, but has turned things around quickly in 2017, finishing T10-T25-T4 in his last three events. Accuracy off the tee and a formidable putting stroke have kept Kisner steady, but his skills will not be on display this week with him absent from the field. Kisner's next appearance may come at the Honda Classic where he has made back-to-back cuts, but failed to finish inside the top 50.
VALUE FALLING
Scott Piercy
Despite making 13 consecutive cuts, Piercy's value has taken a hit this year due to his struggles to have any sort of success in his weekend rounds. In fact, he failed to break 70 in all eight of the post-cut rounds over his past four events, a series of struggles that have left him without a top-40 result since early November. His price has dropped significantly in daily formats this week at the Genesis Open, but it may be unwise to take a flier on him given his recent form and poor course history.
K.J. Choi
Choi has not made a single cut in six tries this season, and he also finished third-to-last at the CIMB Classic (no-cut event) in October. Driving accuracy may be the only promising aspect of his game at times, as he has failed to break 70 in all but two rounds throughout his seven events of the 2016-17 season. Once upon a time ranked fifth in the OWGR, Choi has fallen all the way down to No. 191, and the 46-year-old certainly now looks past his prime after playing well last year. He will be in the field for this week's Genesis Open, and DFS players may elect to take a risk on a low-priced Choi given his streak of 16 straight made cuts at Riviera CC and his fifth-place finish last year. I will take a hard pass and fade the veteran, but if there is a spot for Choi to rebound, it's this week.
Cody Gribble
A win at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October followed by two top-15 finishes in his next four tournaments gave Gribble an abundance of confidence heading into 2017, but he has since missed three consecutive cuts and has broken 72 just twice in his last seven competitive rounds. The rookie is the lowest-ranked player in the FedExCup Standings to have notched a win this season, at No. 13, and his debut at Riviera presents a tough venue for a potential turnaround.
INJURY UPDATE
Tiger Woods (back spasms)
The back issues that forced Woods to withdraw from the Omega Dubai Desert Classic have also ruled him out for the upcoming Genesis Open and Honda Classic. His withdrawal in Dubai followed a missed cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, so he will have plenty of polishing and healing to do in order to prepare for the Masters in April. At this point there are certainly doubts he can ever get back to 100 percent.
