This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
Brian Davis: He's about as consistent as a paper cup in a windstorm - consider that his last six starts look like this: 2nd, 136th, 74th, 94th, 57th, 2nd. But he's still in his mid-30s and is too good not to win eventually; I expect he'll have multiple trophies on the mantle before he hits his 40th birthday. His lack of distance makes him a longshot on some layouts, but Davis has the patience and the mind to outperform the sum of his skills.
Ricky Barnes: He's not all the way there yet - he's still erratic off the tee and we'd like to see more consistent play on the weekend. But let's give credit where it's due: Barnes has turned the corner in 2010 and become a legitimate force on Tour, cashing 12-of-15 times and approaching $1 million in seasonal earnings. Strong iron play and a little bit of confidence go a long way.
Heath Slocum: Great iron players tend to be consistent players and that's been the story with Slocum in 2010: he's sixth in greens in regulation and has only missed one cut all year. And this hasn't just been a story about a bunch of small paydays; Slocum's cashed three six-digit checks in his last five starts. Slocum has never ended a season as a Top-30 player, but he's got a chance this year; he's matured as a player at age 36.
Ben Crane: Make it three Top 10s in a
Brian Davis: He's about as consistent as a paper cup in a windstorm - consider that his last six starts look like this: 2nd, 136th, 74th, 94th, 57th, 2nd. But he's still in his mid-30s and is too good not to win eventually; I expect he'll have multiple trophies on the mantle before he hits his 40th birthday. His lack of distance makes him a longshot on some layouts, but Davis has the patience and the mind to outperform the sum of his skills.
Ricky Barnes: He's not all the way there yet - he's still erratic off the tee and we'd like to see more consistent play on the weekend. But let's give credit where it's due: Barnes has turned the corner in 2010 and become a legitimate force on Tour, cashing 12-of-15 times and approaching $1 million in seasonal earnings. Strong iron play and a little bit of confidence go a long way.
Heath Slocum: Great iron players tend to be consistent players and that's been the story with Slocum in 2010: he's sixth in greens in regulation and has only missed one cut all year. And this hasn't just been a story about a bunch of small paydays; Slocum's cashed three six-digit checks in his last five starts. Slocum has never ended a season as a Top-30 player, but he's got a chance this year; he's matured as a player at age 36.
Ben Crane: Make it three Top 10s in a row for The Turtle, who's making a legitimate run at a Ryder Cup spot. And to be fair, he's not even the slowest player on the circuit any longer (we're looking at you, Kevin Na).
Jeff Overton: Here's another guy just smoking right now, with three Top-5 finishes in his last five starts. Overton's length off the tee gets your attention (15th in distance), but don't miss the other skills here: he's 44th in greens in regulation and 32nd in putting average.
DOWNGRADE
Steve Stricker: The shoulder clearly isn't 100 percent, and I don't have a good vibe on Stricker's upcoming play this summer. He's only cashed one strong check since his win in early February, and he wasn't a factor in his title defense at Colonial (T38).
Vijay Singh: He's cashed two checks and banked just under $46K the last two months. This has all the looks of a cliff season, doesn't it? Singh is a sublime ball striker when he's right, but he ranks 155th in tee accuracy. And you know all about his putting problems, that's a long-running story.
Webb Simpson: Make it five straight trunk slams for the struggling sophomore; he hasn't cashed a check since mid-April and hasn't cracked the top dozen in any event all year. Simpson is still one of the better putters around (he's 22nd in putting average), but when you're dealing with his ball-striking problems (183rd in total driving, 135th in GIR), no amount of putting brilliance will bail you out.
HOLDING STEADY
Rickie Fowler: He finally hung around for the weekend and a 64 on Saturday had us intrigued, but Fowler didn't have a finishing kick on Sunday (71). It will be interesting to see what he does in his first visit to The Memorial this week; most of the time you wouldn't trust a debut player at this type of event, but Fowler's talent has a way of breaking the rules.
