Weekly PGA Recap: Scouting the RotoWire Draft

The annual RotoWire League draft auction is about three weeks away. Fourteen teams, nine golfers per team, 126 deep -- very much like the FedEx Cup playoffs. While the golfers we select likely will closely mirror the 125 who qualify for the playoffs -- I imagine we'll hit on 100 or so, not that that's any great accomplishment -- there's never been a more wide-open season in the history of fantasy golf.*

That pretty much coincides with the Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson era, which is clearly over, even if one or both manage to make a bit of a resurgence in 2015. Neither won a tournament in 2014. Woods because he was hurt; Mickelson, simply because he didn't.

For years, Woods and Mickelson went 1-2 in the RotoWire draft auction. Last year, Woods went first, based on his five-win 2013, but Mickelson fell to fifth -- and that was with a major win and runner-up the year before.

This is all a roundabout way of saying, there are now far more than two golfers who could be slotted in the upper echelon heading into 2015.

Rory McIlroy almost surely will cost the most on draft day, despite his ongoing legal situation that will occupy an unknown amount of his time. But the case can be made for a bunch of others emerging as the top golfer in 2015 (while not necessarily supplanting McIlroy as No. 1): Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler ... and, oh, Woods.

While I don't see the likes of Patrick Reed, Jason Day, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Jim Furyk and Zach Johnson being the best of 2015, any of them surely could have a better year than some in the top tier.

Here's a closer look:

BEST OF THE BEST

Rory McIlroy

Two majors and a WGC in the span of four weeks will be hard to top -- not only in 2015 but maybe the rest of McIlroy's career. Of course, the Masters is right in his wheelhouse, and so is the site of the Open Championship, venerable St. Andrews. But it's tough to win majors every year -- even Woods and Jack Nicklaus turned in some 0-fers. And McIlroy's lawsuit against his former management company adds another layer of caution. Should McIlroy be the most expensive golfer to draft? Yes. But that doesn't mean it'll pay off.

Henrik Stenson

The Swede was the top golfer in the world in 2013 and, while not playing at the level in 2014, he was again pretty dang good. Stenson was top 5 in both the U.S. Open and PGA Championship, and T14 at Augusta, before finishing the European Tour schedule by winning the season-ending DP World Tour Championship. He's No. 2 in the world, and deservedly so. This is the second act in his career. Not many second acts win majors, but this one could.

Adam Scott

There's a lot going when trying to predict Scott. He won only once on the PGA Tour last season, at Colonial, but he was top 15 in all four majors and one WGC. His window for more majors may be closing, with this the last year before the anchored putter ban. Plus, Scott is still searching for a full-time caddie to replace the retired Steve Williams, whom some credited with helping Scott finally get his major. There are so many top golfers these days, and only one is changing his right-hand man this year. It's not a red flag, but it is yellow.

Rickie Fowler

As has been well chronicled, Fowler was the only golfer to finish in the top 5 in all four 2014 majors. Of course, he didn't win any of them, and still sits on one career win. But somehow, and deservedly so, he's in the conversation of who could be tops in 2015. The feeling here is, until he does it, let's see him do it. And that applies to just winning a tournament, much less a major or being the best golfer of the year.

Bubba Watson

We know he'll be the favorite to win the Masters, or a close second to McIlroy. But Watson recently won the WGC event in China, which makes one wonder: If the Good Bubba can now show up more than the Bad, Disinterested Bubba, how good can the Good Bubba be? Certainly good enough to stay in the top 5 in the world, contend in a couple of majors and win multiple tournaments.

Jordan Spieth

Spieth arrived with much fanfare in early 2013, soon after won a PGA tour event, albeit the John Deere, and then ... crickets. OK, not exactly crickets, but no more wins. He had a bunch of runner-ups, notably in the 2014 Masters. But he seemingly turned a corner late in 2014, starring in the Ryder Cup alongside Patrick Reed, then winning the prestigious Australian Open by six strokes, then dominating an elite, 18-man field in the Hero World Challenge to win by 10. If Spieth doesn't win multiple times this year, including a major, it will surprise a lot of people.

Tiger Woods

To be honest, who the heck knows what Woods will do in 2015? Watching perhaps the greatest golfer of all-time not be great anymore is hard. And so every time he shows a glimmer, we think he's now back. Such as when he debuted his new swing earlier this month at his Hero World Challenge. It received positive reviews, even from noted nemesis Brandel Chamblee. Putting Woods in the top tier is probably more wishful thinking than anything else. There are so many good-to-great golfers who hit the ball so far and so straight. To see his dollar value will be the most fascinating moment of the RotoWire draft.

BEST OF THE REST

Jason Day

Day has played majors for only five years, but his results are reminiscent of Phil Mickelson's early days: a lot of near misses. The Aussie has two top-5s in the Masters and three at the U.S. Open. It took Mickelson 10 years of full-time play in the majors to break through, but it's hard to see that happening with Day. Either he'll do it soon, or not do it at all. Day is No. 8 in the world -- better than either Spieth or Fowler right now -- but the trouble with him is, he doesn't win much. Anywhere. His victory in 2014 was his first in four years -- and that wasn't even in stroke play, it was the WGC-Match Play Championship. He has only one other worldwide win in his career, the 2010 Byron Nelson.

Dustin Johnson

Johnson will return from a self-imposed leave/suspension early in the year. He's reportedly been training hard, he's getting married, he's going to be a father. For someone with all the talent in the world, all he needed was his head screwed on right, and that appears to happening. Multiple wins and maybe a major wouldn't surprise. But neither would tough sledding in the early going.

Justin Rose

The Englishman is No. 6 in the world and has wins each of the last four years, all in quality events, including his one major, the 2013 U.S. Open. Rose hasn't had a top-10 in his six major starts since, so it's fair to wonder whether he's one-and-done. He surely doesn't seem to have as good a shot as the guys mentioned before him.

Sergio Garcia

Garcia is fifth in the world, playing perhaps the best golf of his career, and it still hasn't added up to a major win. And that probably isn't going to happen for the Spaniard, but that doesn't mean he can't have a successful year and stay in the top 5. Plus, when Sergio's on your team, there's never a dull moment.

Martin Kaymer

Anyone who wins The Players Championship and a month later runs away with the U.S. Open has got the goods, especially since it was so recent. But just as quickly as emerging from his slumber, Kaymer retreated, with only one top-10 the rest of the year. Will he win a major in 2015? It doesn't look like it. But then again, it didn't look like in 2014, either.

Patrick Reed

He's 23rd in the world, a long way from top 5, but Reed surely has the confidence to get over the top in majors, which is perhaps what's been holding back Fowler. As good as Reed played on tour in the early part of the year, and then in the Ryder Cup, winning a major seems maybe a year away. But winning once or more in "regular" tournaments is not.

Jim Furyk, Matt Kuchar, Zach Johnson

Furyk, at age 44, is still No. 7 in the world. Kuchar is No. 11 and Johnson is No. 18. Furyk can't close in any tournament anymore, so adding a second major is out of the question. That also goes for Kuchar, who piles up the points to be a high-ranked golfer but never really is a factor in the biggest events. Johnson will play continue to play Augusta as a past champion, but that more and more seems like a fortunate aberration. That's not to say he's not good for a win of some kind in 2015.

REST OF THE BEST

Bill Horschel (No. 13), Phil Mickelson (14), Graeme McDowell (15), Hideki Matsuyama (16), Victor Dubuisson (17), Chris Kirk (20), Jimmy Walker (21), Hunter Mahan (22), Keegan Bradley (28), Brooks Koepka (34)

Many forecasters predict big things for Horschel and Kirk. Horschel parlayed a subpar season and an amazing few weeks into a lifetime of security. Kirk is the real deal, but a little less real in majors. Walker is good but nowhere near as good as his 2014; if he didn't win in 2015, it would not be a surprise. Bradley played the Hero World Challenge with a conventional putter and tied for third, so he bears watching. Koepka is on just about everybody's Next Great Player list. And deservedly so. But he's a got a few other Next Great Players ahead of him.

* Fantasy golf has been around for more than 50 years, according to Wikipedia, but for practical purposes, we are characterizing "history" as the last two decades, coinciding with the fantasy boom.