This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
A rotten field at the Bermuda Championship this week is an indication that Masters prep is well underway, with 2020's third and final major championship looming just two weeks away. Easier travel means the upcoming Houston Open will draw a handful of household names, though, so there will be one more chance to evaluate Augusta entrants before a tradition unlike any other.
For now, we'll take a look at several players who have seen a shift in value early in the fall season.
VALUE RISING
The 21-year-old Chilean battled some consistency issues earlier in 2020, missing three consecutive cuts from the Genesis Invitational through the Arnold Palmer Invitational before also missing cuts at the Memorial, PGA Championship and The Northern Trust this summer. Conversely, he's now placed T23 or better in five straight starts -- excluding the TOUR Championship -- since a top-3 finish at the BMW Championship, a streak that has helped him rise to a career-best 42nd in the Official World Golf Ranking. Niemann even gained strokes putting three events in a row from the U.S. Open to The CJ Cup, which is an extremely rare feat for him. Dating to the aforementioned Arnold Palmer event in March, he has gained strokes off the tee in all but one of his 16 starts.
A two-time All American standout at USC, Suh joined the PGA Tour scene with that stellar rookie class of 2019 alongside Collin Morikawa, Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland. Suh
A rotten field at the Bermuda Championship this week is an indication that Masters prep is well underway, with 2020's third and final major championship looming just two weeks away. Easier travel means the upcoming Houston Open will draw a handful of household names, though, so there will be one more chance to evaluate Augusta entrants before a tradition unlike any other.
For now, we'll take a look at several players who have seen a shift in value early in the fall season.
VALUE RISING
The 21-year-old Chilean battled some consistency issues earlier in 2020, missing three consecutive cuts from the Genesis Invitational through the Arnold Palmer Invitational before also missing cuts at the Memorial, PGA Championship and The Northern Trust this summer. Conversely, he's now placed T23 or better in five straight starts -- excluding the TOUR Championship -- since a top-3 finish at the BMW Championship, a streak that has helped him rise to a career-best 42nd in the Official World Golf Ranking. Niemann even gained strokes putting three events in a row from the U.S. Open to The CJ Cup, which is an extremely rare feat for him. Dating to the aforementioned Arnold Palmer event in March, he has gained strokes off the tee in all but one of his 16 starts.
A two-time All American standout at USC, Suh joined the PGA Tour scene with that stellar rookie class of 2019 alongside Collin Morikawa, Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland. Suh didn't enjoy the same immediate success as his counterparts, however, missing the cut in seven of his first eight starts. He's since spent some time at the PGA Tour Latinoamerica level, which paid off when he tied for 21st at the Barracuda Championship in August during his first appearance since play resumed in June. Suh didn't stop there, most recently collecting back-to-back top-15s at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship and the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, where he gained 6.5 strokes on his approaches. His surge came to a halt this week, though, as he was in position to make the cut in Bermuda but was ultimately done in by a second-round 75.
Westwood impressed with a T13 at the U.S. Open in his only stateside appearance since March, and he's been racking up quality results on the European Tour, with six straight top-30s since the ISPS HANDA UK Championship. He's up to fourth in the Euro Tour's Race to Dubai, behind only Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood and Collin Morikawa. If he doesn't tee it up at the Houston Open, Westwood's next start would come at the Masters, where he's finished runner-up twice.
Just one spot behind Westwood in the European Tour's Race to Dubai, Rai has placed top-3 in three of his last four starts, which includes a victory at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open. Rai is a career-best 79th in the OWGR while he ranks top-5 overseas in both driving accuracy and GIR percentage. If the Englishman can gain a little distance off the tee, he could be a sneaky name to monitor in majors and WGC events next year.
VALUE FALLING
Woods' 2020 campaign has been one to forget, as a top-30 finish eludes his resume since January's Farmers Insurance Open, where he placed T9. He managed to beat only three other competitors in his title defense last week at The ZOZO Championship, which was played at Sherwood Country Club, where he'd won five times before. He'll be defending again soon in a couple weeks at Augusta. Woods has now lost strokes from tee-to-green in three consecutive starts and the putter is not cooperating either.
On the heels of a missed cut at the U.S. Open, Woodland made his next appearance in Las Vegas for The CJ Cup, where he put up a lousy 72nd-place finish and failed to break 70 in all four of his rounds at Shadow Creek. To make matters worse, Woodland then withdrew from The ZOZO Championship during Round 1 due to a back injury, so he's gone without a single top-25 since the Memorial in July. He's lost strokes from tee-to-green in four straight tournaments, and the back issue might impact his play at the Masters as well.
INJURY UPDATE
Stenson made the trek to Bermuda this week, but after an eight-over 43 on the front nine of Round 2, the Swede decided to withdraw due to a foot injury. Dating to the PGA Championship, he's now either missed the cut or withdrawn in four of five starts while dropping outside the top 50 in the OWGR. If the foot issue entices him to skip the Houston Open, his next start could come at the Masters.
