This article is part of our Weekly PGA Preview series.
What makes a golfer great? What separates the good ones from the great ones, or rather, the great ones from the elite? Although winning majors is the goal of every golfer who makes it to the PGA Tour, history is littered with golfers who won a single major and faded into obscurity. No, there are many major winners who wouldn't come close to being considered elite.
What about those who won, say, five or 10 times on the PGA Tour? Sure, that list certainly weeds out some of the riffraff that might have put everything together for a stretch of four days during a given major, but there are still names you'd be surprised to see. Career numbers in golf don't necessarily tell the tale of a golfer's career. Much like baseball, longevity can make a good career appear great on paper. Perhaps the best indicator of greatness, or those at an elite level, is a feeling you get when watching them play. It doesn't show up on paper, but it's a sense that no matter what comes at them – a bad bounce, another golfer, really anything – that they have it under control.
Case in point, last weekend at the Wells Fargo Championship. Jason Day, who has flirted with elite status for much of the last three years, was atop the leaderboard for much of the weekend and there came a point, maybe a few holes into the final round, where I thought to myself, "he's got this,
What makes a golfer great? What separates the good ones from the great ones, or rather, the great ones from the elite? Although winning majors is the goal of every golfer who makes it to the PGA Tour, history is littered with golfers who won a single major and faded into obscurity. No, there are many major winners who wouldn't come close to being considered elite.
What about those who won, say, five or 10 times on the PGA Tour? Sure, that list certainly weeds out some of the riffraff that might have put everything together for a stretch of four days during a given major, but there are still names you'd be surprised to see. Career numbers in golf don't necessarily tell the tale of a golfer's career. Much like baseball, longevity can make a good career appear great on paper. Perhaps the best indicator of greatness, or those at an elite level, is a feeling you get when watching them play. It doesn't show up on paper, but it's a sense that no matter what comes at them – a bad bounce, another golfer, really anything – that they have it under control.
Case in point, last weekend at the Wells Fargo Championship. Jason Day, who has flirted with elite status for much of the last three years, was atop the leaderboard for much of the weekend and there came a point, maybe a few holes into the final round, where I thought to myself, "he's got this, right?" My internal monologue came in the format of a question, but I knew he "had this." Although he made it much more interesting than I thought he would, it says something about where Day is now that it never seemed like he was going to lose control of this tournament. Sure, he's had his meltdowns, but more often than not, Day is a golfer who seems to be in control. That's not necessarily true of the others often considered in his class.
What makes a golfer great? It's not 300-yard drives or 60-foot putts, or majors wins. It's good old-fashioned reliability.
This week: The Players Championship - TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Last Year: Si Woo Kim shot a final-round 69 on his way to a three-stroke victory over Louis Oosthuizen and Ian Poulter.
PLAYERS TO CONSIDER
Jason Day
This is not like the Masters. There is not a long list of golfers with impressive track records at this event. Heck, there are barely any guys who have played well here more than a handful of times. Day hasn't shown much consistency here, but he did win this event in 2016, and as you know, he's playing pretty well now. Among the elite golfers, Day is the closest to the top of his game.
Ian Poulter
I was all over the chalk last week, but that's not the case this week as most of the big names in the field have failed to show any consistency here. Poulter hasn't shown much consistency here either, but he does have a pair of runner-up finishes and has made the cut in 11 of 14 starts here. He's also played at a very high level much of the last couple months.
Rickie Fowler
Oddly enough, Fowler was the first guy who came to mind when I looked ahead to the Players, but a closer look at his record leaves a little to be desired. He does have a win and a runner-up here, but he also has a lot of poor showings. In other words, he's big-time hit or miss this week. It should be clear early on what you'll get out of Fowler.
Francesco Molinari
Molinari's track record is similar to Fowler's. He doesn't have the high-end finishes that Fowler has here, but he does have four top-10s in seven starts. The only problem is, he's missed the cut in his three other starts. Still, that's nearly 60 percent of his starts here resulting in a top-10.
Patrick Reed
Not the first guy you think of when thinking about the Players, but Reed has played so well the last couple months, that he must be considered every week until he lets up. Reed enters the Players on a streak of six consecutive top-10s on the PGA Tour. His track record here is spotty at best, but the same could have been said prior to his Masters win.
PLAYERS TO AVOID
Ted Potter Jr.
Potter Jr. has recently snapped out of his post-win funk, but he'll likely start another missed-cut streak this week. Potter Jr. missed five consecutive cuts after winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but he's made consecutive cuts entering this week. He's yet to make a cut at this event, however, and considering his overall shaky form the last couple months, he looks like an easy fade this week.
Wesley Bryan
There are no two ways about it, Bryan has been terrible this season. At least for the standard that he set in previous years, he's been terrible. In 13 starts this season, Bryan has yet to record a single top-25. Bryan has been an extremely streaky player in his young PGA Tour career, and hopefully he'll catch a hot streak at some point this season, but there is no indication he's about to turn it on anytime soon.
Charles Howell III
This simply isn't the time of the season to use Howell, and this certainly isn't the event to use him either. Howell has always played better early in the season, but he can pop up here and there later in the season, but this simply isn't his event. Howell has missed the cut in nine of 15 starts here and has never cracked the top 10 at Sawgrass.
Bubba Watson
It's always dangerous putting a guy of Watson's caliber on this list, but there is nothing in his track record here that would suggest he'll play well this week. Watson has 10 starts at this event and has never cracked the top 10. In fact, he's never even cracked the top 30 at this event. He's played really well this season, but he has a huge mental hurdle to overcome this week and has never been known as a guy who deals well with mental hurdles.
Brian Harman
Harman was a pleasant surprise last season, and he picked up this season right where he left off. That said, he's struggled a bit the last month and has rarely fared well at his event. Harman has just one top-10 here in six starts, which is also his only finish inside the top 50 at this event as well.
ONE AND DONE GOLFER
Last week: Rory McIlroy(T16) - $115,500; Season - $5,077,123
This week: Jason Day - A very tough call this week as I teetered between the high-end picks of Day and Reed and the lower-level guys like Poulter and Molinari. In the end, Day is just too tough to pass up when he's playing this well. There are plenty of golfers left to use during the majors, so I'm not worried about firing all my bullets early in the season.
PGATOUR.COM PICKS
This Week:
Starters: Rickie Fowler, Ian Poulter, Patrick Reed, Jason Day
Bench: Francesco Molinari, Zach Johnson
SURVIVOR PICK
Last week: Tommy Fleetwood - (MC); Streak - 0
This week: Ian Poulter - As is often the case, the high-end guy holds more value in this format during a major, so I'll save Day for later in the season. Poulter takes a back seat to no one at this event when it comes to making the cut as he's played the weekend in 11 of 14 starts here. The other option is Zach Johnson, who is playing well and has a strong record of making the cut here as well.
