David Lingmerth

Lingmerth is two starts away from reaching 200 events played on the PGA Tour in his career, but he was forced to earn his card for the 2022-23 season via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals where he won the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship. The 35-year-old Swede appeared in 14 events at the PGA Tour level this past season, notching just one top-25 result at the Puerto Rico Open. Despite his victory during the second leg of the KFT Finals, Lingmerth remains outside of the top 250 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Lingmerth failed to crack the top-10 in any of his 26 starts this season, his best finish was a T11 at The Greenbrier. The Swede is accurate off the tee and a good putter each year, but his lack of consistency everywhere else this season left him on the wrong side of the top 125. Should he manage to play in around 25 events next season, expect a return to the top 125 as he has done in four of the last six seasons. He's not a guy who is likely to win the Memorial Tournament again, but he should post at least one top-10.

Lingmerth had a very impressive rookie campaign, where he recorded two runner-up finishes on his way to more than $1.7 million in earnings. He followed that up with a less than stellar sophomore season of only $600k in earnings, but it was his third season which put him on the map. During that season, Lingmerth picked up his first PGA Tour victory on his way to $2.7 million in earnings. He regressed a bit the following season, and the next season, this past one, he regressed even further. Lingmerth could be stuck going the wrong way, but if he finds his game in any form, he's bound to improve upon his numbers from this past season.

Lingmerth came out like gang-busters during his rookie season on his way to over $1.7 million in earnings, but he struggled during his sophomore season. He rebounded nicely during his third season, to the tune of over $2.7 million in earnings, but he again regressed last season to just over $1.8 million. If this is indeed a pattern, then he's due to bounce upward again, but that's awful speculative at this point. What's more like is that his normal number is in the high-$1 million range and though he may stray from that number from time to time, he'll most often be near it. As such, he's not a great salary cap selection this year. In draft leagues, he's a sixth- or seventh-round pick.

Lingmerth’s claim to fame was finishing second to Tiger Woods in the 2013 Players Championship. He kept his card for 2014, and barely missed the playoffs, at 134th in the standings. But he returns via the Web.com Tour finals, with a decent No. 17 spot in the priority rankings. At 5-foot-7, 175 pounds, he’s among the shorter (in distance) drivers on tour, and isn’t a great putter. Not a good combination.

Lingmerth started the season well with a runner-up finish early-on and he backed up that play with a solid stretch in the middle of the season. That kind of resume is what you'd like to see out of a guy on his way up. Lingmerth offers some intrigue in salary cap formats, but he might be priced a little too high. In draft leagues he should fall in the 50-60 range.

Lingmerth won the Web.com Tour’s Neediest Kids Championship in October, earning his card not only with that victory but also with five top-10s and 10 top-25s. Impressively, he did this all without being ranked in the top 25 of any of the PGA Tour’s main “Performance Stats.” One thing he was very good at was earning money, as a 10th-place finish on the Web.com Tour money list got him his 2013 PGA TOUR card. But to keep it for 2014, Lingmerth will need to become more consistent in all facets of his game.