This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
This week's John Deere Classic lies in the shadows of the European Tour's Scottish Open and upcoming Open Championship, as many of the world's top golfers travel overseas. In turn, the "Golf Barometer" will also highlight a few players trending on the international scene throughout the next couple weeks. Last week's "Risers" continued their surge as Ben Martin placed top-40 at the Greenbrier while Tommy Fleetwood followed up his French Open victory with a T10 at the Irish Open. "Faller" Patton Kizzire missed the Greenbrier cut, marking the fourth MC in his last five events.
We'll now turn our attention to several players whose stocks are shifting as a pair of significant events in Europe approach.
VALUE RISING
Tony Finau
Originally an alternate for the upcoming Open Championship, Finau has earned an entry due to the withdrawal of Ben Curtis (shoulder). During his British Open debut last year, Finau carded a four-day total of even-par to finish T18, and he'll now be in the "sleepers" conversation at Royal Birkdale coming off a stretch of six consecutive top-40s on Tour. He most recently finished T7 at the Greenbrier Classic, climbing to No. 26 in the FedExCup standings. So far this season he's ranked fourth in both SG: OTT and GIR percentage, but will need to make improvements with his accuracy and putting in order to contend next week at the Open.
Kevin Streelman
Streelman has been on fire since an MDF at the PLAYERS Championship, finishing no worse than 29th in
This week's John Deere Classic lies in the shadows of the European Tour's Scottish Open and upcoming Open Championship, as many of the world's top golfers travel overseas. In turn, the "Golf Barometer" will also highlight a few players trending on the international scene throughout the next couple weeks. Last week's "Risers" continued their surge as Ben Martin placed top-40 at the Greenbrier while Tommy Fleetwood followed up his French Open victory with a T10 at the Irish Open. "Faller" Patton Kizzire missed the Greenbrier cut, marking the fourth MC in his last five events.
We'll now turn our attention to several players whose stocks are shifting as a pair of significant events in Europe approach.
VALUE RISING
Tony Finau
Originally an alternate for the upcoming Open Championship, Finau has earned an entry due to the withdrawal of Ben Curtis (shoulder). During his British Open debut last year, Finau carded a four-day total of even-par to finish T18, and he'll now be in the "sleepers" conversation at Royal Birkdale coming off a stretch of six consecutive top-40s on Tour. He most recently finished T7 at the Greenbrier Classic, climbing to No. 26 in the FedExCup standings. So far this season he's ranked fourth in both SG: OTT and GIR percentage, but will need to make improvements with his accuracy and putting in order to contend next week at the Open.
Kevin Streelman
Streelman has been on fire since an MDF at the PLAYERS Championship, finishing no worse than 29th in his last five events while posting four top-18s during this stretch. He's up to 19th on Tour in total driving, seventh in proximity from 100-125 yards, and 31st in par-four scoring average. The 38-year-old will look to maintain the momentum at this week's John Deere Classic, where he finished eighth in 2012.
Ryan Fox
Currently 28th in the European Tour's Race to Dubai, Fox has reached a career-high 122nd in the Official World Golf Ranking after five consecutive top-26s and a pair of top-sixes in his last two starts. On the Euro Tour this season he's fifth in driving distance and 14th in GIR percentage, so the long-hitter will certainly be someone to keep an eye on at this week's Scottish Open and the upcoming Open Championship where he finished T49 in 2015.
VALUE FALLING
Rory McIlroy
Let's not rush into panic mode just yet for the world's fourth-ranked golfer, but McIlroy -- who missed the cut at the U.S. Open in June -- most recently missed another cut at his very own Irish Open. He's played just nine events worldwide in 2017 due to a rib injury that has lingered throughout the first half of the year, but he'll attempt to find his form at the Scottish Open this week. Other than some issues with his putter and accuracy off the tee, McIlroy isn't hitting the ball terribly and will look to win his first major since 2014 at next week's Open Championship.
Si Woo Kim
In five starts since his win at the PLAYERS Championship, Kim has missed three cuts, withdrawn from the Memorial, and tied for 13th at the U.S. Open. The 34th-ranked player in the world is a wild card, becoming one of the most inconsistent golfers on Tour. He's all the way down at 194th in GIR percentage for the season, while also ranking outside the top 180 in SG: T2G and SG: Putting. That victory at the PLAYERS saved Kim's 2017 campaign, but it'll be tough for him to turn his poor ball-striking around during his Open Championship debut next week.
Martin Kaymer
Kaymer didn't miss a single cut for more than an entire calendar year from the 2016 Masters through the 2017 PLAYERS Championship, but has since missed two cuts in his last four events. He's fallen to No. 61 in the OWGR after his MCs at the BMW PGA Championship and BMW International Open, while he currently ranks 109th in GIR percentage on the Euro Tour. He heads into this week's Scottish Open on a downward trend, so he'll look to work out the kinks before next week's British Open.
INJURY UPDATE
Scott Piercy (undisclosed)
Piercy elected to decline his invitation to the Open Championship this week, but he didn't give a reason for the withdrawal and he may not even be dealing with an injury at this point. He's missed six cuts in his last nine events, including an MDF during his last start at the Travelers Championship after carding a third-round 81. He may not return to action until the RBC Canadian Open in late July, an event he won back in 2012.
