This article is part of our The Reshuffle List series.
Dustin Johnson's ascendance to No. 1 in the world at the Genesis Open not only cemented his comeback from a leave of absence but also ended the West Coast swing and sparked the first reshuffle of the 2017 portion of the 2016-17 PGA Tour season. Here's the latest Reshuffle List update:
Top 5
1. Kelly Kraft
2. C.T. Pan
3. Ollie Schniederjans
4. J.J. Spaun
5. Cameron Smith
Bottom 5 (non-medical)
42. Jonathan Randolph
43. Zack Sucher
44. Rick Lamb
45. Bobby Wyatt
46. Max Homa
Biggest Gainers
Scott Stallings, +30 spots – Stallings saw one of the biggest jumps in my time covering the beat – from 40th to 10th – by virtue of an eighth place finish at the CareerBuilder Challenge and a T14 at Pebble Beach. Those might seem like minimal finishes to give you a 30-spot gain, but consider that those at the bottom have single digit FedEx Cup point totals. He now has 137, so any rise will be noticeable. What's led to the increases? ShotLink data isn't available for all rounds at multi-course events, but consider that he was T16 and T33 in driving accuracy, T4 and T7 in greens in regulation in the desert and at AT&T, respectively, (both stats include all four rounds at each event), way above his season averages 107th and 38th, respectively. Hit more fairways and hit more greens and you'll score better on the PGA Tour. He further improved his plight by tying for 21st at The Honda
Dustin Johnson's ascendance to No. 1 in the world at the Genesis Open not only cemented his comeback from a leave of absence but also ended the West Coast swing and sparked the first reshuffle of the 2017 portion of the 2016-17 PGA Tour season. Here's the latest Reshuffle List update:
Top 5
1. Kelly Kraft
2. C.T. Pan
3. Ollie Schniederjans
4. J.J. Spaun
5. Cameron Smith
Bottom 5 (non-medical)
42. Jonathan Randolph
43. Zack Sucher
44. Rick Lamb
45. Bobby Wyatt
46. Max Homa
Biggest Gainers
Scott Stallings, +30 spots – Stallings saw one of the biggest jumps in my time covering the beat – from 40th to 10th – by virtue of an eighth place finish at the CareerBuilder Challenge and a T14 at Pebble Beach. Those might seem like minimal finishes to give you a 30-spot gain, but consider that those at the bottom have single digit FedEx Cup point totals. He now has 137, so any rise will be noticeable. What's led to the increases? ShotLink data isn't available for all rounds at multi-course events, but consider that he was T16 and T33 in driving accuracy, T4 and T7 in greens in regulation in the desert and at AT&T, respectively, (both stats include all four rounds at each event), way above his season averages 107th and 38th, respectively. Hit more fairways and hit more greens and you'll score better on the PGA Tour. He further improved his plight by tying for 21st at The Honda Classic and moving up three more spots on the Reshuffle List.
Richy Werenski, +17 spots – Werenski went from 25th to eighth on the Reshuffle List following a stretch to open 2017 where he made every cut – crucial for a rookie like him – and went T49-T9-T20-T58. Most impressive, he has no final rounds over par and had three of his four third rounds in the 60s. Consistent play when your name starts to rise on leaderboards is key to getting comfortable on the PGA Tour early on, and that stretch happened for him on the west coast. He now enters the Florida swing 50th in driving accuracy and 46th in greens in regulation, two solid ball-striking stats as he enters a stretch of ball-striking rich golf courses. Werenski missed the cut at the Honda Classic.
Dominic Bozzelli, + 17 spots – Bozzelli made a run at the title at the CareerBuilder Challenge before falling into a tie for fifth with a Sunday 71. He impressively held on in his second and third rounds – he played with cameras following him practically every day after opening with 64 at the difficult PGA West Stadium course – as his ball-striking went awry, shooting rounds of 67 and 69 to stay in the hunt. Consider that he was T42 in fairways hit and T21 in greens hit yet was 12th in putts per GIR over four rounds and first in strokes gained-putting over the two rounds on the Stadium Course. Unfortunately my recommendation for him after CareerBuilder hasn't panned out – he missed his next two cuts at Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach – but I still was impressed enough to where I wouldn't be surprised if his name re-surfaced as the season goes on. Bozzelli missed the cut at the Honda Classic.
Kelly Kraft, +15 spots – If it wasn't for Jordan Spieth playing some of the best golf of his career, Kraft may have gotten his first win at Pebble Beach, he was playing that well. It's impressive for the former U.S. Amateur champion who hasn't had an easy road to the PGA Tour and has had to grind his way there at every level. He finished solo second at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, catapulting him to first on the Reshuffle List and just one solid finish away from clinching his PGA Tour card for the 2017-18 season. He also finished T28 at the Farmers Insurance Open. As a whole he's had a very inconsistent season – four missed cuts, one withdrawal, and his other finishes all T28 or better – but it appears his game is trending positive. On the year he's ranked 25th in strokes gained-approach to the green, 57th in birdie average and is certainly a name to keep an eye on. He also practices a lot with Spieth, which can't hurt matters either. Kraft missed the cut at the Honda Classic.
J.J. Spaun, +14 spots – If there's a name that may have surprised some on leaderboards in the first part of 2017 it has to be Spaun, who is now fourth on the Reshuffle List, rising 14 spots in this period. He had two top-10s, a T9 at Torrey Pines that led to a T4 at Phoenix that, in addition to a T50 at CareerBuilder, has helped him gain exactly 200 FedEx Cup points in 2017. What's working? Take the T4 at TPC Scottsdale, where he ranked 15th in strokes gained-off the tee, ninth in approach to the green and seventh in putting. That complete performance is what has put him roughly 200 points away from locking up his card for next season as well and allowing him to freewheel it for the remainder of 2017. Really impressive play from a rookie. Spaun further helped his cause by tying for 21st at the Honda Classic.
Biggest Droppers
Xander Schauffele, -13 spots – Schauffele dropped 13 spots from sixth to 19th after struggling in the most recent reshuffle period. He rose toward the top after a T5 at the Sanderson Farms Championship in fall but went MC-MC-MC-T66 with just two rounds in the 60s. He's now 132nd in strokes gained-off the tee, 152nd in driving accuracy and 83rd in greens in regulation, all trends that need to reverse if Schauffele wants to find himself back in contention during the season. Schauffele missed the cut at the Honda Classic.
Miguel Angel Carballo, -12 spots – Carballo dropped to 31st on the list because he only made one cut in the latest period, a T70 finish in Palm Springs, shooting just two rounds in the 60s all the while. The issue is, well, everything. Consider these four-round stats: 149th in driving distance, 104th in driving accuracy, 189th in greens in regulation and 180th in scoring average. None of that will get it done on golf's biggest stage, and now he faces fewer starts during the southern swing to improve upon. The Puerto Rico Open is going to be big for how Carballo does the rest of the year. Carballo hasn't played on the PGA Tour since Pebble Beach.
Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, -12 spots – Fernández-Castaño, who plays on both the PGA and European Tours, is No. 722 in the world, which is something I like to bring up to show how far he's fallen from a couple years ago when he had a chance to win a couple events. His issues this reshuffle period, that put him 35th on the Reshuffle List, stem from three missed cuts and a 63rd-place finish for Sony Open in Hawaii. The stats aren't pretty either: 199th in driving accuracy and greens in regulation, 142nd in scoring average and 102nd in birdie average. He needs to improve fast or else his PGA Tour appearances will dwindle as the season goes on. He hasn't played on the PGA Tour since Pebble Beach.
Ryan Brehm, -11 spots – Brehm went from seventh to 18th due to OK not great finishes. He made every cut in this reshuffle period – a major positive – but didn't crack the top 40, going T45-T75-T41-66. If he can hit more fairways and greens – 171st and 115th in those categories respectively – he'll be in a position to improve on those marks and get more starts as 2017 goes on. Brehm helped his cause a tiny bit by finishing 69th at the Honda Classic.
Brandon Hagy, -10 spots – Hagy's made three cuts in five starts to enter 2017, with a best finish of T33 at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He moved from 14th to 24th – so the amount of spring starts he'll get won't change dramatically – but needs to hit more fairways and greens to have higher finishes. He's one of the longer hitters on tour, averaging more than 310 yards per drive, yet is about 200th in driving accuracy and about 175th in greens in regulation. Hay bouncec back nicely at the Honda, finishing T21 and moving up seven spots if the reshuffle happened today.
The Nothing Men Update
Max Homa is the last nothing man, having missed the cut in all three events he played in 2017 (CareerBuilder, Torrey Pines, Pebble Beach), not breaking 70 in any of them. For the season he ranks no better than 200th in all but two key statistical categories: strokes gained-approach to the green, where he ranks 192nd, and putting, where he's 95th. Ouch. And now he faces the uncertain starts as the southern swing commences. Look for him to possibly get an occasional Web.com Tour start or two to try and get his game back in shape. Homa hasn't played on the PGA Tour since Pebble Beach.
