This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
An exciting week on the PGA Tour awaits as Torrey Pines plays host to nine of the the Official World Golf Ranking's top-15 players for the second leg of the West Coast Swing. The legendary Tiger Woods is an astonishing seven-time champion of the Farmers Insurance Open, but this time around he'll be tasked with taking down favorites such as Justin Rose, Jon Rahm and Jason Day. Meanwhile overseas, another star-studded field will be in attendance at the Euro Tour's Omega Dubai Desert Classic featuring the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia and Tommy Fleetwood to name a few. We'll take a look at several fantasy trends following last week's Desert Classic as the PGA now travels to sunny San Diego.
VALUE RISING
Abraham Ancer
Solidifying his reputation as Mexico's top-ranked golfer, Ancer has climbed to No. 58 in the Official World Golf Ranking thanks to five straight top-30s and a win at the Emirates Australian Open. His all-around game has been extraordinary as he slots in at seventh on Tour in SG: Off-the-Tee, fifth in proximity, 10th in scrambling and second in total putting.
Sungjae Im
Joining fellow rookies Cameron Champ and Adam Long in the top-30 of the FedExCup standings, Im has strolled to finishes of T12-T16-T15 from the Desert Classic to the Japan Tour's Golf Nippon Series JT Cup. The 20-year-old also added top-15s earlier in the season at the Shriners and Safeway Open, while he currently ranks eighth on Tour in SG: Off-the-Tee and 19th in
An exciting week on the PGA Tour awaits as Torrey Pines plays host to nine of the the Official World Golf Ranking's top-15 players for the second leg of the West Coast Swing. The legendary Tiger Woods is an astonishing seven-time champion of the Farmers Insurance Open, but this time around he'll be tasked with taking down favorites such as Justin Rose, Jon Rahm and Jason Day. Meanwhile overseas, another star-studded field will be in attendance at the Euro Tour's Omega Dubai Desert Classic featuring the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia and Tommy Fleetwood to name a few. We'll take a look at several fantasy trends following last week's Desert Classic as the PGA now travels to sunny San Diego.
VALUE RISING
Abraham Ancer
Solidifying his reputation as Mexico's top-ranked golfer, Ancer has climbed to No. 58 in the Official World Golf Ranking thanks to five straight top-30s and a win at the Emirates Australian Open. His all-around game has been extraordinary as he slots in at seventh on Tour in SG: Off-the-Tee, fifth in proximity, 10th in scrambling and second in total putting.
Sungjae Im
Joining fellow rookies Cameron Champ and Adam Long in the top-30 of the FedExCup standings, Im has strolled to finishes of T12-T16-T15 from the Desert Classic to the Japan Tour's Golf Nippon Series JT Cup. The 20-year-old also added top-15s earlier in the season at the Shriners and Safeway Open, while he currently ranks eighth on Tour in SG: Off-the-Tee and 19th in scoring average.
Dominic Bozzelli
Bozzelli has been red hot with the flat stick en route to an average of just over five birdies per round, ranking 15th on Tour in SG: Putting. He collected his first top-5 of the season at the Desert Classic, where he finished fourth in putts per GIR and racked up 25 birdies to just three bogeys all tournament.
Harold Varner III
Including a T16 at the Australian PGA Championship, Varner has notched five straight top-25s since the Shriners Open to reside at 34th in the FedExCup standings. The 5-foot-8 East Carolina product crushes it off the tee, but also ranks top-25 on Tour in scrambling and putting inside 10 feet.
VALUE FALLING
Chris Kirk
Kirk missed his fourth cut of the 2018-19 campaign at last week's Desert Classic, so he's now gone seven starts without a top-40 result. He ranks just 162nd in SG: Total and 180th in birdie average, but has made the cut in all four of his appearances at the Farmers Insurance Open to earn a sliver of hope this week.
Joaquin Niemann
The 20-year-old Chilean harnesses an abundance of long-term potential, but Niemann has struggled of late with three straight finishes of T60 or worse. Despite a top-10 in Vegas during the fall series, Niemann ranks just 102nd in the FedExCup standings through six events played. He's certainly talented enough to reverse this trend at some point, but Niemann's upside is limited for the time being without a single career top-3 on the PGA Tour.
Jhonattan Vegas
Vegas has quietly fallen out of the top-125 in the OWGR with just one top-25 result in his last 22 starts dating all the way back to last March. It was right around this time last year that his game started to slip as well, missing back-to-back cuts at the Farmers and Genesis Open. He's already racked up 13 three-putts this season and is hitting fairways in regulation at an abysmal rate of less than 60 percent.
INJURY UPDATE
Jamie Lovemark
Lovemark could be looking at an extended absence after discovering a partially torn labrum in his shoulder, which ultimately forced an early WD in La Quinta last week. His return timetable will depend on the severity of the partial tear, but Lovemark is already qualified for THE PLAYERS Championship and will therefore hope to be healthy by mid-March.
Pat Perez
Perez is slated to play through a thumb injury this week at Torrey Pines, having withdrawn from the Desert Classic during his third round due to the minor nuisance. On the bright side, the 42-year-old has finished top-5 in two of his past four trips to the Farmers Insurance Open despite underwhelming distance off the tee.
