This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
The strongest field to date pegs it at TPC Sawgrass for the coveted PLAYERS Championship this week, halfway through the PGA Tour's Florida Swing after Francesco Molinari came out of nowhere on Sunday at Bay Hill to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The PLAYERS not only features all top-50 members of the Official World Golf Ranking, but also the season's largest prize pool as $12.5M is up for grabs with $2.25M to the champion. We'll take a look at several fantasy trends and various injury updates heading into the substantial non-major.
VALUE RISING
After just two top-3s worldwide in 2018, Cabrera-Bello already notched a T3 in just his sixth start of the new year. Following a stretch of three straight top-25s from the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am through the WGC-Mexico Championship, the Spaniard opened with a seven-under 65 at Bay Hill to embrace the 18-hole lead. He would ultimately end the week with 20 birdies while ranking top-10 in driving accuracy, SG: Putting, putts per GIR and SG: Off-the-Tee.
Mitchell was easily one of the worst putters on Tour prior to his maiden win at the Honda Classic, but he's gained strokes putting in two straight events on bermuda grass. He led the field in birdies en route to a T6 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, also gaining 3.6 strokes with the flat stick. On the season, Mitchell ranks seventh in SG: OTT and 15th in SG: Tee-to-Green.
The Englishman has ascended to a
The strongest field to date pegs it at TPC Sawgrass for the coveted PLAYERS Championship this week, halfway through the PGA Tour's Florida Swing after Francesco Molinari came out of nowhere on Sunday at Bay Hill to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The PLAYERS not only features all top-50 members of the Official World Golf Ranking, but also the season's largest prize pool as $12.5M is up for grabs with $2.25M to the champion. We'll take a look at several fantasy trends and various injury updates heading into the substantial non-major.
VALUE RISING
After just two top-3s worldwide in 2018, Cabrera-Bello already notched a T3 in just his sixth start of the new year. Following a stretch of three straight top-25s from the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am through the WGC-Mexico Championship, the Spaniard opened with a seven-under 65 at Bay Hill to embrace the 18-hole lead. He would ultimately end the week with 20 birdies while ranking top-10 in driving accuracy, SG: Putting, putts per GIR and SG: Off-the-Tee.
Mitchell was easily one of the worst putters on Tour prior to his maiden win at the Honda Classic, but he's gained strokes putting in two straight events on bermuda grass. He led the field in birdies en route to a T6 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, also gaining 3.6 strokes with the flat stick. On the season, Mitchell ranks seventh in SG: OTT and 15th in SG: Tee-to-Green.
The Englishman has ascended to a career best 35th in the OWGR with four top-20s in his first six starts of 2019, including runner-up honors at the Euro Tour's Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Wallace collected a pair of eagles at Bay Hill en route to his T6, also ranking sixth in SG: Around-the-Green and T12 in GIR percentage. He'll be making his TPC Sawgrass debut this week.
Schenk resides inside of the top-70 in the FedExCup standings with 11 made cuts in 14 tournaments to begin his 2018-19 campaign. He's strung together three consecutive top-30s from the Puerto Rico Open through the API, where he gained nearly five strokes approach and hit 41 of 56 fairways in regulation. Schenk is 28th on Tour in putting from 15-20 feet and 41st in par-5 scoring.
VALUE FALLING
He's still fifth in the OWGR, but DeChambeau has struggled in back-to-back appearances with a pair of finishes outside the top-45 at the API and WGC-Mexico Championship. He lost over four strokes approach at Bay Hill and nearly seven strokes total at the Club de Golf Chapultepec. DeChambeau will look to get back on track at the PLAYERS, while he remains top-10 on Tour in birdie average this season.
The Canadian has been bumped to No. 200 in the OWGR with four straight missed cuts since a T3 at the Sony Open, losing 2.9 strokes tee-to-green most recently at Arnie's place. Although he's already notched two top-3s this season, Conners sits just 55th in the FedExCup standings due to a whopping seven missed cuts. He's outside the top-115 in both scrambling and SG: Putting.
Snedeker has underwhelmed in four straight showings with results of T50-MC-T55-T62 dating back to the Farmers Insurance Open, dropping to 57th in the OWGR. He's lost strokes tee-to-green in four of his last six starts, only to be somewhat saved by a respectable short game. It'll be difficult for Sneds to turn things around at the PLAYERS, having missed the cut in seven of 10 career appearances at the event.
INJURY UPDATE
Woods revealed a neck strain as the reason for his withdrawal from the Arnold Palmer Invitational, sending the golf world into a panicked frenzy after all it took to return from multiple back surgeries. The issue appears to be minor, however, as he managed to play through the injury en route to a top-10 at the WGC-Mexico. He'll make his return at the PLAYERS Championship having gained at least 5.8 strokes tee-to-green through his past three starts.
The Aussie withdrew from the API after just six holes on the back nine at Bay Hill, citing a back injury after hitting his second shot in the water on the par-5 16th. He's dealt with nagging back issues in the past, so there's a bit of concern moving forward as he returns in a timely manner at TPC Sawgrass. Expect his ownership to be reduced this week at the PLAYERS, even though he's a past champion.
Originally thought to have completely blown out his Achilles while working out in Florida on Monday, the latest expectation is that he simply suffered a significant calf strain. The lower-leg injury is slated to keep him sidelined for at least six weeks, so Perez may not return until late April or early May. He'd been struggling with his game to begin 2019, posting no finish better than a T50 to accompany three missed cuts and a WD.
Sidelined since a missed cut at the Sony Open, Merritt had his top-left rib removed after dealing with a blood clot in his arm last year. He'd been diagnosed with Thoracic outlet syndrome, but will already make his return at the PLAYERS this week just about two months after his surgery. Merritt's resume at TPC Sawgrass includes three made cuts in five attempts.
Daly will be in recovery mode for a couple weeks after undergoing a procedure to repair torn meniscus, though he's yet to tee it up on the PGA Tour since last year's PGA Championship. He's currently 63rd in the Charles Schwab Cup money list on the Champions Tour.
