Rod Pampling

Pampling played 18 PGA Tour events in 2015-16 but made just eight cuts, his best finish a T26 at the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open. After finishing 195th on the FedEx Cup points list, Pampling carded three top-25s, including a T10, in the Web.com Finals to earn his 2016-17 card. He hasn't topped $190K since 2012, and at 47, likely will keep that streak alive this year.

Pampling posted solid numbers in 2008 on his way to $1.7 million in earnings, but since that season, he's struggled mightily. Pampling's better days are definitely behind him, and although he shows flashes from time to time, he's not going to put enough good showings together to threaten his old marks. Simply retaining his card this season would be considered a success.

Pampling's 2009 season was not one to remember. Pampling failed to record a top-3 finish and lost the consistency that had been a staple of his game for quite some time. Pampling earned at least nine top-25s in each season from 2005- 2008, but he only managed to record seven of those last season. Pampling should bounce back to some degree this season, but he probably won't contribute much to your fantasy team.

Pampling has been a very consistent player over the last five years. But his best season to date was 2006 when he earned over $2.6 million. Other than that season, he's consistently been in the $1.5-$1.8 million range.

Pampling is too good of a player to be down this low on the money list. He's one of the most consistent players on the PGA Tour, but he failed to have a really good showing in 2007. The year as a whole was good, but not quite up to expectations. Pampling is the type of player that will give himself a chance to win or place well nearly every week. The difference between a good and great year is simply if he can put it all together once during the year. Look for Pampling to have it all working at least once this year.

Sometimes you look at the stats that the PGA Tour produces and you wonder how a player can survive when he ranks 172nd on tour in greens hit. Check that, how a player can thrive with numbers like that. Well, Pampling somehow figured out a way to play very well in 2006 without benefit of hitting many greens. Some would say that Greens in Regulation is the best indicator of success. Pampling somehow pulled out a win in 2006, and only missed three cuts in 21 events. Wonder how well he could do if he hits a few more greens?

Pampling earned more than $1.6 million in 2005 and did no better than fifth in any one event. That event happened to be the Masters, which was a nice chunk of change. Anyhow, to earn that much money without a really strong finish means he's earning money nearly every time he plays. It might only be $10k or it might be $237k. The point is, he's usually around for the weekend. The good news when looking at Pampling is that he's had it both ways. He's had a year where most of his earnings came from one event, then he's had years, like last year, where the earnings were spread fairly evenly throughout the year. I like that Pampling has won before. If he continues to play on the weekends like last year he should come up with a couple finishes in the top 5, maybe another win.

You might be a bit surprised to learn that Pampling won more than $1.7 million in 2004. Pampling's earnings has gone up each of the last three years, and we feel the trend should continue in '05 -- albeit a small bump up. Look for about $2 million.

Pampling showed some good play in 2003, but he missed too many cuts, 11 of 27, to spend over $1 million on him. He does not really have any holes in his game when looking at his stats, but he is too sporadic right now.