This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
The stage is set for 2017's second major championship, as 156 of the world's best golfers head to a tiny town called Erin, Wisconsin for the U.S. Open's maiden voyage to Erin Hills. The field is headlined by big names such as Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, but patterns and trends point to several other guys to keep an eye on, and a couple injured golfers also deserve a mention.
VALUE RISING
Stewart Cink
Up nearly 100 spots in the Official World Golf Ranking since the end of 2016, Cink has racked up 10 top-30 finishes over his last 13 events. It's only mid-June, but the 44-year-old has already earned more money during his 2016-17 campaign -- without a single top-five -- than each of his past six seasons. He's up to 19th on Tour in GIR percentage, fifth in par-four scoring and 25th in birdie average. Cink remains inside the top 75 among his peers in terms of driving distance, so he could fare well again this week.
Billy Horschel
After four consecutive missed cuts from April through mid-May, Horschel has turned the page with a win at the AT&T Byron Nelson and, most recently, a T4 finish at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. He's up to 13th in the FedExCup standings and inside the top 50 in the OWGR, and also ranks ninth on Tour in GIR percentage. His worst finish at a U.S. Open in the last four years was a T32 in 2016, so
The stage is set for 2017's second major championship, as 156 of the world's best golfers head to a tiny town called Erin, Wisconsin for the U.S. Open's maiden voyage to Erin Hills. The field is headlined by big names such as Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, but patterns and trends point to several other guys to keep an eye on, and a couple injured golfers also deserve a mention.
VALUE RISING
Stewart Cink
Up nearly 100 spots in the Official World Golf Ranking since the end of 2016, Cink has racked up 10 top-30 finishes over his last 13 events. It's only mid-June, but the 44-year-old has already earned more money during his 2016-17 campaign -- without a single top-five -- than each of his past six seasons. He's up to 19th on Tour in GIR percentage, fifth in par-four scoring and 25th in birdie average. Cink remains inside the top 75 among his peers in terms of driving distance, so he could fare well again this week.
Billy Horschel
After four consecutive missed cuts from April through mid-May, Horschel has turned the page with a win at the AT&T Byron Nelson and, most recently, a T4 finish at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. He's up to 13th in the FedExCup standings and inside the top 50 in the OWGR, and also ranks ninth on Tour in GIR percentage. His worst finish at a U.S. Open in the last four years was a T32 in 2016, so he will look to maintain the momentum this week at Erin Hills.
Byeong-Hun An
An failed to record a single top-30 finish in eight straight events following a sixth-place result at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in early February, but he is on a recent run that has seen him post results of T25-T24-T5-T8 over his past four starts. Ball striking has been An's forte -- he ranks 15th among his peers in terms of SG: tee-to-green -- but he has given up some strokes with the putter. Oddly enough he has struggled with par-five scoring throughout the season, a trend that figures to change at some point given his distance and overall ball-striking.
VALUE FALLING
Russell Knox
Knox was on fire at the start of the 2016-17 season with six consecutive top-20s, but he has notched just one top-35 over his last 11 tournaments. He reached as high as No. 18 in the OWGR, but has now fallen to 39th. Knox is losing strokes both around and on the greens, and he may not have the length to compete at Erin Hills this week.
Gary Woodland
Woodland hasn't made $65k in a single tournament since his runner-up finish at the Honda Classic in February, a stretch that has included no finish better than a T38 in eight events. An off-the-course family concern impacted his play throughout March and April, and it still might be affecting his performance. All of his lost strokes are coming on the green, so at the least he could be one putter change away from turning the corner. Woodland has the distance and ball-striking ability to excel at Erin Hills this week; he'll just need to warm up the putter and keep his head in the game.
Boo Weekley
Weekley has earned at least $832k in each of his last four seasons, but the 43-year-old veteran is averaging just $7k per entry throughout the 2016-17 campaign thus far. He broke 70 just once during his last 15 tournament rounds and has fallen to No. 193 in the FedExCup standings. He's outside of the top 195 on Tour in terms of SG: around-the-green and SG: putting, keeping any fantasy value limited to daily formats at venues where SG: off-the-tee is an all-important statistic.
INJURY UPDATE
Rory McIlroy (ribs)
McIlroy has not seen any tournament action since the PLAYERS Championship, but the seems to have paid off, as he currently has no swing limitations and feels healthy heading into the U.S. Open. The world's No. 2 golfer also got married in April, so his life seems to be in a pretty good spot as Erin Hills awaits his presence.
Ryan Moore (shoulder)
Moore made the tough decision to withdraw from the U.S. Open due to a shoulder injury, an issue that has likely been the cause for his recent struggles -- he broke 70 just once in his last 17 competitive rounds. Moore did not play last week, either, so he is hoping a multi-week recovery period helps his health turn around.
