This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
A wild ending to an interesting couple weeks in Hawaii for the PGA Tour culminated at the Sony Open with a six-hole playoff between James Hahn and Patton Kizzire, who came away with his second victory of the season as he rose to No. 1 in the FedExCup standings. Much less drama could be on the horizon for this week's CareerBuilder Challenge, which includes just two players in the top-20 of the Official World Golf Ranking in Jon Rahm and Brian Harman. Across the globe, however, the European Tour's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is highlighted by a much larger batch of stars including Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy. We'll take a look at several trends in fantasy golf, while keeping these upcoming events in mind.
VALUE RISING
Cameron Smith
The 24-year-old has reached top-60 status in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career thanks to a win on his home turf at the Australian PGA Championship just before the end of 2017, while he's currently riding a streak of seven consecutive top-20s. Smith ranks 15th on Tour in GIR percentage and 10th in birdie average through the early stages of his 2017-18 campaign. The reigning Zurich Classic champion is also up to seventh among his peers in terms of par-four scoring.
Branden Grace
Grace won the European Tour's Nedbank Golf Challenge in his penultimate start of the 2017 calendar year, but most recently finished runner-up at the BMW SA Open to add to
A wild ending to an interesting couple weeks in Hawaii for the PGA Tour culminated at the Sony Open with a six-hole playoff between James Hahn and Patton Kizzire, who came away with his second victory of the season as he rose to No. 1 in the FedExCup standings. Much less drama could be on the horizon for this week's CareerBuilder Challenge, which includes just two players in the top-20 of the Official World Golf Ranking in Jon Rahm and Brian Harman. Across the globe, however, the European Tour's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is highlighted by a much larger batch of stars including Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy. We'll take a look at several trends in fantasy golf, while keeping these upcoming events in mind.
VALUE RISING
Cameron Smith
The 24-year-old has reached top-60 status in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career thanks to a win on his home turf at the Australian PGA Championship just before the end of 2017, while he's currently riding a streak of seven consecutive top-20s. Smith ranks 15th on Tour in GIR percentage and 10th in birdie average through the early stages of his 2017-18 campaign. The reigning Zurich Classic champion is also up to seventh among his peers in terms of par-four scoring.
Branden Grace
Grace won the European Tour's Nedbank Golf Challenge in his penultimate start of the 2017 calendar year, but most recently finished runner-up at the BMW SA Open to add to his impressive run. The South African had fallen off a bit after consecutive missed cuts at the PGA Championship and Northern Trust late last summer, but he's certainly back on track heading into this week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Brian Stuard
Stuard has improved from an irrelevant 225th in the OWGR to 168th since the beginning of his 2017-18 campaign, thanks in part to a trio of top-10 finishes. Most recently at the Sony Open, he led the field in driving accuracy and ranked second in SG: Putting on the way to a fourth-place result. He'll look to keep the flat stick rolling steady at this week's CareerBuilder Challenge.
VALUE FALLING
Jamie Lovemark
Lovemark, who missed just five cuts in 28 total starts throughout his 2016-17 campaign, has already missed the weekend on three consecutive occasions beginning with the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and running through the recent Sony Open. He's just 187th in SG: Tee-to-Green and 136th in GIR percentage on Tour this season. At 98th in the OWGR, he'll be in trouble of falling outside the top-100 sooner than later.
Robert Streb
Similarly to Lovemark, Streb has missed a trio of cuts in his past three starts after making the weekend in 13 of his previous 14 events. Streb is situated at a disappointing 171st in the FedExCup standings through five appearances this season, while he currently ranks 221st out of 235 in terms of SG: Approach.
INJURY UPDATE
Graham DeLaet
DeLaet hasn't appeared in competition since a withdrawal at the CJ Cup in mid-October due to an injured back, and recent stem-cell treatment has extended the absence further into 2018 according to PGATour.com. The healing time is usually just over a week for this type of recovery, but the Canadian doesn't plan to rush back to tournament play before returning to full health.
Brandon Hagy
Hagy was forced to withdraw from this week's CareerBuilder Challenge due to a wrist injury, which is an issue that bothered him during the start of his 2017-18 PGA Tour season. The severity of his wrist injury remains unclear, but he was able to play shortly after prematurely withdrawing from the Safeway Open this past fall.
