CareerBuilder Challenge Preview: Haas to be the Favorite

If you are new to the game of golf, or perhaps if you came of age during the Tiger Woods era, you might think that Justin Thomas is destined to post the best numbers of any golfer in the history of the PGA Tour. While he's certainly on pace to do so, this is golf, and golf always wins.

It's hard not to get excited about how Justin Thomas is playing, or for that matter, how he's played since the start of the 2016-17 season. If the Masters was held this week, Thomas would be the favorite. But it's not; it's still three months away, and until then there will be at least two, maybe three, golfers who will appear to be the best player on the planet for two or three weeks.

This isn't to take anything away from Thomas, though. He entered this season as the guy with all the talent in the world, yet couldn't seem to find any consistency. In that manner, he's already made a jump to the next level, and if he were to miss every cut the rest of the year, his season would still be considered a smashing success. But before you get too excited about his prospects for the rest of the year, I'll remind you that time is the great equalizer in this game and no one stays hot forever.

This week: CareerBuilder Challenge - PGA West Stadium Course, La Quinta, Calif.

Last Year: Jason Dufner shot a final-round 70 on his way to a playoff victory over David Lingmerth.

PLAYERS TO CONSIDER

Bill Haas

Haas has one of the best, if not the best, track records of anyone in the field this week and enters off a solid showing last week at the Sony. Haas won this event in 2010 and 2015 and posted a top-10 last year. He hasn't played at a high level the last few years, so this might be the best time to use him all season.

Jamie Lovemark

There simply aren't a lot of big names to choose from this week, so it might be a good time to sneak some money out of a guy like Lovemark. Lovemark comes into this week off a top-5 at the Sony Open and played well at this event last year, posting minus-20, which led to a T6.

Zach Johnson

Not exactly the first name that comes to mind when thinking about events on the west coast, but Johnson has two top-10s here in six starts and comes into this week off a solid showing at the Sony where he posted a T6. He's not a good one-and-done option this week because his value is higher later in the season, but there aren't a lot of great options this week.

Charles Howell III

We are entering the portion of the season that Howell refers to as "the sweet spot." Well, I can only imagine he refers to it that way, because the next five events or so are where Howell III generally makes his season. This particular event isn't his best of those on the west coast, but he has played well enough here to warrant a look.

Phil Mickelson

Certainly not the spot to use Mickelson in a one-and-done, but there's reason to believe he'll play well this week. First and foremost, his T3 last year at this event. Mickelson always plays well on the west coast, and although he hasn't been his best at this event over the years, he's been good enough to consider him.

PLAYERS TO AVOID

Wesley Bryan

One of my favorite newcomers this season, Bryan has yet to find any traction on the PGA Tour. Will he be one of the many players in the history of this tour to play well at a lower level only to flame out at the PGA Tour level? Time will tell, but for now it's wise to wait on Bryan until he rediscovers his game.

David Hearn

Either Hearn is a glutton for punishment or he has family in the area, because in five starts at this event, Hearn has yet to make a cut. It's not often you see a player come back for a sixth try after missing the cut at an event five consecutive times, but perhaps it's now on his bucket list -- to make the cut at the event formerly known as the Bob Hope Classic.

Kevin Kisner

Kisner is coming off a good showing last week at the Sony, so it might seem strange to see his name on this list, but for whatever reason, Kisner has really struggled at this event. Granted, he's probably better now than at any point during his four starts here, but sometimes golfers struggle at events like this where they are continuously under pressure to make birdies.

Miguel Angel Carballo

Carballo is off to a rough start this season with only two made cuts in six starts. He missed the cut last week at the Sony by five strokes, which shows he's well off his game. In two starts at this event, he's missed one cut and finished T30. The missed cut came last year.

Chad Campbell

Campbell is a former champion at this event, but that win came in way back in 2006, you know, when Justin Thomas was in middle school. Since then, Campbell has struggled for the most part here. Campbell has missed the cut in four of his past six starts here and hasn't cracked the top 40 at this event since 2009.

ONE AND DONE GOLFER

Last week: Jimmy Walker (MC) - $0; Season - $501,274

This week: Bill Haas - Haas isn't the player he was five years ago and, as such, the spots where you can use him in one-and-done formats are numbered. This, however, is a great spot as his track record here is well established. Haas will be a popular pick this week, so if you are looking to separate from the pack, look elsewhere.

YAHOO PICKS

Points: 335
Rank: 11,877

This Week:

Group A: Bill Haas, Patrick Reed

Group B: Jamie Lovemark, Charles Howell III, Webb Simpson, Phil Mickelson

Group C: Zach Johnson, Jason Dufner

SURVIVOR PICK

Last week: Jimmy Walker - (MC); Streak - 0

This week: Bill Haas - Something tells me that Jimmy Walker killed a lot of survivor pools last week, but that's in the past. This week, another fairly big name in Bill Haas. Haas not only is a good pick to finish well, but he's also very reliable here as well. Haas has made the cut here in 11 of 12 starts.