This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
For the third consecutive week on Tour, a superstar took home the crown in anticlimactic fashion down the stretch. Rickie Fowler found the winner's circle for the fourth time in his PGA Tour career, while many of the players found in last week's Barometer continued trending in the same direction. Tyrrell Hatton flew under the radar in his first stateside event of the season, but was close to the top of the leaderboard for a while and went on to finish tied for fourth. Both Luke Donald and Ollie Schniederjans made the cut, with the former finishing T27 and the latter tying for 48th. Moving to those falling in value, Brooks Koepka missed yet another cut -- this time by a whopping nine strokes -- while Si Woo Kim also missed it by just one. Ryan Palmer finally broke through with a made cut and even held the lead temporarily, but he played his final two rounds in a brutal eight-over-par. Willy Wilcox (wrist) withdrew after one round, and now has just one more event remaining on his minor medical exemption before potentially embarking on another Web.com Tour stint. For this week we will take a look at several other golfers who are on the rise, a few experiencing a downfall, and some players dealing with or coming off injuries heading into the WGC-Mexico Championship.
VALUE RISING
Rickie Fowler
The 28-year-old was finally able to close out a 54-hole lead for the first time in his career, securing a win
For the third consecutive week on Tour, a superstar took home the crown in anticlimactic fashion down the stretch. Rickie Fowler found the winner's circle for the fourth time in his PGA Tour career, while many of the players found in last week's Barometer continued trending in the same direction. Tyrrell Hatton flew under the radar in his first stateside event of the season, but was close to the top of the leaderboard for a while and went on to finish tied for fourth. Both Luke Donald and Ollie Schniederjans made the cut, with the former finishing T27 and the latter tying for 48th. Moving to those falling in value, Brooks Koepka missed yet another cut -- this time by a whopping nine strokes -- while Si Woo Kim also missed it by just one. Ryan Palmer finally broke through with a made cut and even held the lead temporarily, but he played his final two rounds in a brutal eight-over-par. Willy Wilcox (wrist) withdrew after one round, and now has just one more event remaining on his minor medical exemption before potentially embarking on another Web.com Tour stint. For this week we will take a look at several other golfers who are on the rise, a few experiencing a downfall, and some players dealing with or coming off injuries heading into the WGC-Mexico Championship.
VALUE RISING
Rickie Fowler
The 28-year-old was finally able to close out a 54-hole lead for the first time in his career, securing a win at last week's Honda Classic by four strokes and putting to rest doubts regarding his ability to finish. Such a feat once again sparks the idea that 2017 could be the year Fowler emerges victorious at a major tournament, which has been an intriguing debate each season since he finished top-five at all four majors in 2014. Thanks to his performance at PGA National and a T4 in his previous event at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Fowler has jumped back inside the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He heads into the WGC-Mexico Championship with a hot putter and plenty of momentum.
Jhonattan Vegas
Highlighted by an ace on the par-three 15th hole at PGA National, Vegas fired the field's best final-round score at the Honda Classic with a six-under 64, firing him up 46 spots up the leaderboard and into a tie for fourth. He also led the field in strokes gained off-the-tee and finished third in strokes gained tee-to-green, and a similar ball-striking effort this week would give him a huge advantage and make him a bargain at his ultra-cheap price in daily formats. Vegas' results have improved in each of his last four starts: he posted finishes of T4-T15-T28-T34 dating back to January's CareerBuilder Challenge.
Martin Kaymer
The former world No. 1 is coming up on an entire calendar year without missing a cut worldwide, with his last failure to play the weekend coming in March of 2016 at the Valspar Championship. There won't be a cut this week in Mexico due to the WGC structure, but Kaymer's steady play should not go unnoticed. Through four total events on the PGA and European Tours in 2017, the German has twice tied for fourth while also notching a top-25 at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. At this past week's Honda Classic, Kaymer finished top 20 in both driving accuracy and GIR percentage, two key statistics for predicting success at the Club de Golf Chapultepec.
VALUE FALLING
Russell Knox
There were high hopes for Knox heading into the Honda Classic, but he ultimately missed the cut by a whole five strokes and has now missed the cut in back-to-back events. His poor recent form is reflected in his sub-$,7000 DraftKings price for the WGC-Mexico Championship, but that could provide gamers who believe that price is too low for the 19th-ranked player in the world with a chance to pounce. He has won a WGC event before, but the Club de Golf Chapultepec will be uncharted territory.
William McGirt
McGirt has gotten off to a slow start in 2017, posting results of MC-T66-T24-MC-T49 in his last five events and falling out of the top 50 in the OWGR. On a positive note, driving accuracy has been one of the few promising aspects of McGirt's game this season, as he currently ranks fifth on Tour in FIR percentage. He will look to continue this trend at a tight venue in Mexico this week, but there may be stronger options to deploy in lineups given the loaded pool of talent in the field.
Jamie Lovemark
Lovemark notched consecutive top-10s at the RSM Classic and Sony Open earlier this season, but has since missed three cuts in five events, a stretch including no finish better than a T39 at the Genesis Open. The long-hitter has struggled to find fairways, currently producing a 53.28 FIR percentage rate. He may need to sacrifice a bit of distance for additional accuracy in the short run as the Tour's competition becomes stronger. He did not qualify for this week's WGC event, so his next chance to play will come at next week's Valspar Championship.
INJURY UPDATE
Rory McIlroy
McIlroy is set to return from his rib injury this week in Mexico, having been sidelined for close to a month and a half after dealing with soreness stemming from increased practice reps during the brief offseason. It is usually wise to err on the cautious side when considering a player returning from injury in your daily lineup, but McIlroy's issue was not overly serious and he should possess the free-flowing swing golf fans are accustomed to. Also on his side is the no-cut structure of a WGC event, providing him with four full rounds to work out any kinks.
Jason Day
Due to a double ear infection and a case of the flu, Day was forced to withdraw from the WGC-Mexico Championship in order to take care of his ailing health. The No. 2 player in the world has one top-five finish through four events in 2017, but he may not return to action until the Arnold Palmer Invitational later in March.
Branden Grace
Grace withdrew from last week's Honda Classic citing a rotator cuff injury, but after shooting a first-round 77, this move was likely part of a plan to give him additional preparation time for Mexico. He will benefit from the no-cut structure if the shoulder presents a real issue and flares up at times throughout the first couple rounds, but this would seemingly be a worst-case scenario for Grace.
