This article is part of our PGA Tour Stats Review series.
The new PGA Tour season is here! Didn't you miss us? Tiger Woods won't be at the Safeway Open after all but a lot of good young PGA Tour players are and our stats article will look at some of these young guys:
There is Momentum!
It's a new season but there are guys, especially those that played well in the Web.com Tour Finals, who have some serious momentum right now. (Although Hurricane Matthew canceled their last event, they played as recently as three weeks ago.) Additionally, there's always the chatter this time of year about the hot rookie. While I believe that this side of Wesley Bryan and DeChambeau (if you count him that way) that this is a fairly weak rookie class, here's a couple who come in on good form: (for more on all the rookies, check out their perspective pages on the RotoWire Fantasy Golf Draft Kit):
Ryan Blaum - Blaum got his PGA Tour card through the Web.com Tour Finals and used a T5 in Boise and a T18 in Columbus to do it. In Boise he finished with 64 and ranked T2 in birdies and tenth in putts per GIR. If he continues that combination on the PGA Tour, he might contend. Blaum was 33rd on the regular season money list, just missing out on getting his card that way. He also competed last fall at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba on the PGA Tour and tied for 29th. A player hot right now,
The new PGA Tour season is here! Didn't you miss us? Tiger Woods won't be at the Safeway Open after all but a lot of good young PGA Tour players are and our stats article will look at some of these young guys:
There is Momentum!
It's a new season but there are guys, especially those that played well in the Web.com Tour Finals, who have some serious momentum right now. (Although Hurricane Matthew canceled their last event, they played as recently as three weeks ago.) Additionally, there's always the chatter this time of year about the hot rookie. While I believe that this side of Wesley Bryan and DeChambeau (if you count him that way) that this is a fairly weak rookie class, here's a couple who come in on good form: (for more on all the rookies, check out their perspective pages on the RotoWire Fantasy Golf Draft Kit):
Ryan Blaum - Blaum got his PGA Tour card through the Web.com Tour Finals and used a T5 in Boise and a T18 in Columbus to do it. In Boise he finished with 64 and ranked T2 in birdies and tenth in putts per GIR. If he continues that combination on the PGA Tour, he might contend. Blaum was 33rd on the regular season money list, just missing out on getting his card that way. He also competed last fall at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba on the PGA Tour and tied for 29th. A player hot right now, the fall could be a good spot for him.
Xander Schauffele - 26th on the regular season Web.com Tour money list and missing out on a Tour card that way by one spot, Schauffele gathered himself and T50-T18-T9 in the playoffs, clinching a spot on the PGA Tour next year and giving himself a nice sigh of relief. He's another player playing well right now who could hop up on a leaderboard this fall, as he was T12 in GIR and T15 in putts per GIR in Columbus a couple weeks ago.
Bryson DeChambeau – After a struggle in his PGA Tour starts (save the RBC Heritage) following his turning pro after Augusta, DeChambeau gathered himself, changed his practice round routine and won the DAP Championship, the first Web.com Tour Final event, to clinch his PGA Tour card. DeChambeau was sixth in driving accuracy and fourth in greens per GIR in his win.
Brett Drewitt - A mediocre regular season – he was 55th on the Web.com Tour regular season money list – got turned into a great season after clinching his PGA Tour card via the Web.com Tour Finals. Drewitt went T28-missed cut-T5 in the playoffs, ranking first in greens hit and T3 in driving accuracy at Nationwide. A nice combination to close his season and a potential good omen for the 2016-2017 PGA Tour fall campaign.
Grayson Murray – Murray won the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship, which because of Hurricane Matthew became the last event of the Web.com Tour season. That win gave him a win, a second, and a third on the season and a Web.com Tour Finals run of missed cut-third-first. He finished first on the Web.com Tour Finals money list, is fully exempt, and has a spot in The Players. He ranked T4 in birdies, fifth in driving distance, T23 in greens in regulation and T12 in putts per GIR in his win.
There are also some veterans who worked their way back onto the PGA Tour for this season who have momentum this week via the Web.com Tour Finals:
Michael Thompson – Thompson won the Albertsons Boise Open presented by Kraft Nabisco, finishing with 64-64 and ranking first in birdies, T4 in driving accuracy, T12 in greens in regulation and first in putts per GIR.
Scott Stallings – Still working his way back into form after injury and suspension, Stallings finished #128 on the FedEx Cup Points list but easily earned back his card by going T6-T5 in the first two Web.com Tour Finals events, and ranked T5 in GIR and fourth in putts per GIR in Boise in that T5 finish.
Will MacKenzie – One of the most fun players on tour got his playing privileges back after a Web.com Tour Finals run where he went T6-missed cut-T5. Stats wise he ranked T11 in driving accuracy and T3 in greens in regulation two weeks ago in Columbus.
Others to Watch
Phil Mickelson is here, coming off his ten-birdie—would have been a 63 in stroke play-epic Ryder Cup singles match against Sergio Garcia, along with defending champion Emiliano Grillo, Justin Thomas, Matt Kuchar, Paul Casey, Aaron Wise and Wesley Bryan.
A lot of those guys you know, so let me highlight Wise and Bryan. Wise, the University of Oregon star who won the NCAA individual title last season is a pro now playing on a sponsor's invitation. He also got a sponsors invite to the John Deere where he finished T16. He played in Canada after leaving Oregon and won twice, earning a spot on the Web.com Tour for 2017. Stats wise he ranked second in scoring average and first in birdie average in Canada. He's a great super sleeper for this week.
Bryan, meanwhile, is the former trick shot artist who won three times on the Web.com Tour this year to earn his Battlefield Promotion. He even was on the leaderboard at the John Deere Classic for a while before finishing T8. But Bryan has legitimate talent to win, and him winning potentially as early as this fall would not surprise me at all. And besides, he's got a ton of positive mojo from 2016. He's long, can putt, and has a confidence that's unique for someone that came from nowhere to something in 2016. Consider this: he only played 15 events on the Web.com Tour this year and still finished the season ranked first in putting average, second in birdie average and third in scoring average.
Weather
The weather in Napa will be un-California Wine Country-like this week, with clouds on Thursday and wet and windy weather for Friday through Sunday with temperatures in the upper 60s to around 70.
