Weekly PGA Preview: Brooks Like a Good Thing

With Bryson DeChambeau in the lead heading into Sunday, pace of play was bound to be thrusted into the spotlight. In fact, the tournament organizers moved up all the tee times on Sunday to make sure DeChambeau's grouped finished on time. Yes, I just came up with that, though I am sure someone beat me to it on Twitter, maybe several someones, but I digress.

The PGA Tour keeps stats on many areas of the game, but there is no speed-of-play metric, at least none that is published on the PGA Tour website, but it's well known that DeChambeau is among the slowest on the Tour. DeChambeau's notorious slow play was bound to be become an issue if he stayed in the lead on Sunday. And as we all know, he was in or near the lead all round and yes, it did become an issue.

Here's what I've never thought about: the pace of play is rarely an issue for the at-home viewer. As long as there are several golfers in-play, the telecast can simply go from shot to shot to shot and we, at home, are never the wise – u until the slow one's group is the only one left on the course and it becomes painfully clear that the pace of play is painful for everyone involved.

Though it's tough for those of us at home to watch, imagine the fans on the course, the media members, or – last but not least – the other golfers. I'm sure everyone on the PGA Tour is aware of who plays slow and who moves at a quicker pace and mental adjustments are made before the round, but there is a human element here and after three hours on the course, a wait for someone's complex routine can get old really fast.

The question is, what can be done about this? Currently, players can be put 'on the clock', but that practice has been in place for years and we're still having the same conversations. Perhaps a harsher penalty or a more precise penalty should be given to the player responsible, not the group. I'm sure these ideas have been bandied about for years, but if we want to avoid this conversation five years from now, a rule with some teeth needs to be implemented.

This week: Fed Ex St. Jude Classic - TPC Southwind - Germantown, TN

Last Year: Daniel Berger shot a final round 66 on his way to a one-stroke victory over Charl Schwartzel.

Players to Consider:

Brooks Koepka

Koepka is going to have a monster second-half of the season, which is one reason to stash him for later, but if you are just looking to use him in a good spot, then this is the week. Koepka missed most of the first half of the season, but he's already back up to full speed. Throw in a stellar track record here – two top-3s in his past three starts – and you have the makings of the top-play this week.

Dustin Johnson

DJ has played well this season, yet well below his standards. It's actually strange to watch him play well early, like he did last week, then fade into the background. He's done that a few times this season, which is frustrating for DJ owners, but I don't think he's that far off now. Perhaps a return to this event is the spark he needs. DJ won this event in 2012 and has two top-10s in four other starts.

Billy Horschel

Horschel doesn't have a single top-3 at this event, but his track record is solid nonetheless. Horschel enters this year's St. Jude Classic on a streak of four consecutive top-10s, including a top-5 last year. Horschel missed the cut last week at the Memorial, but he's only about a month removed from a solid stretch of golf on the PGA Tour. A return to a site where he's played well should get him back on track.

Matt Jones

No, I did not start the 'avoid' list already. Jones is not in the top-150 guys I would normally take, but there are some things aligning in his favor this week and if you need a guy well off the radar, then Jones could be your guy. Jones has posted top-20s in his past two events on the PGA Tour, his track record here is solid (T3 in 2015) and he just qualified for the U.S. Open. What more could you want?

Joaquin Niemann

If Niemann is as good as he looked for the first three rounds last week, this will be your last time to get him while he's still under the radar. Niemann is at a stage in his career where he's really unpredictable, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him miss the cut this week, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him win this week either. He's about the furthest thing away from a safe play, but he has as much upside as anyone in the field.

Players to Avoid:

Daniel Berger

This isn't so much a call to avoid Berger this week as it is a voice-of-reason placement. Berger is the two-time defending champion at this event, which means he obviously has a feel for this track, but he's played so far below expectations this season, I wonder if he can get it together this week. I'd still use Berger in team formats, unless you had a much better option, but he's way too risky to use in a one-and-done and I wouldn't even consider him in a survivor format.

Wesley Bryan

For a minute or two last week, there was actually a reason to get excited about Bryan's game, then he fell apart on the weekend on his way to a T52. Bryan's struggles this season are no secret; in fact, his hot start last week put him in the spotlight on Saturday and there were several mentions on his struggles during the telecast. Though that had little to do with his subsequent problems, there's obviously something not right in his game. He might be getting closer, but he's still way off.

Fabian Gomez

Gomez owns a strong track record at this event, which includes a win in 2015 and top-20s in 2011 and 2017, but his results this season make it nearly impossible to pull the trigger here. Gomez has just one top-25 in 19 starts this season and he's finished in the top-40 in just one of his past six starts on the PGA Tour.

Danny Lee

I had a feeling entering last week that Lee was about to turn like month-old milk and sure enough, he opened with an 83 during the first round at The Memorial. Don't expect Lee to rebound this week, as his track record here gives no indication that he's figured out this course and it's not his M.O. to rotate good and bad weeks. He runs hot and cold in stretches and there's a cold front approaching.

Adam Scott

After a T11 at The PLAYERS and a top-10 the following week, it looked like Scott had turned his game around, but he's done little to build on those finishes over his past two starts. And now that he's finally qualified for the U.S. Open, I'm expecting him to come out flat. Scott's quest to qualify for this year's Open has been well documented and I'm sure it's taken a mental toll on him. Now that he's able to exhale, some might think that the pressure is off, whereas I would think that he's spent.

ONE AND DONE GOLFER

Last week: Emiliano Grillo (T23) - $76,935; Season - $5,612,174

This week: Brooks Koepka - As someone who is just out of the lead in my league, this pick isn't all that exciting. I'm sure the guy in first place will take him as well but I can't afford to fall further behind, so I have to use Koepka here. Everything is lined-up for him this week and if he looks as good as he did in his most recent start, it should result in a win this week.

PGATOUR.COM PICKS

This Week:

Starters: Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Billy Horschel, Joaquin Niemann

Bench: Matt Jones, Henrik Stenson

SURVIVOR PICK

Last week: Matt Kuchar - (13); Streak - 4

This week: Ben Crane - Crane is not the safest player for this format, but he's missed the cut at this event just once in 12 starts and that came over a decade ago. Crane's track record here is solid, with a win in 2014 and a top-10 last year. He's also coming off a good showing (T8) in his most recent start at Fort Worth Invitational.