This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
Despite all of the questions and concerns upon the revival of the 2019-20 PGA Tour season in June, we've officially made it to the grand finale as Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club plays host to the top-30 members of the FedExCup standings at the TOUR Championship. With a $15M prize awaiting the champion on Labor Day, we'll take a look at a handful of players who've seen their fantasy value shift throughout the latter portion of a peculiar campaign.
VALUE RISING
Scheffler is battling with Oklahoma State product Viktor Hovland for Rookie of the Year honors as the only two first-time cardholders to advance to East Lake this season. Although Hovland added a win to his resume at the Puerto Rico Open back in February, Scheffler is enjoying a much more successful closing stretch to the 2019-20 campaign and has doubled Hovland in top-10s with six total. Scheffler, who recently fired a 59 in Round 2 of the Northern Trust at TPC Boston during his maiden FedExCup Playoffs appearance, has gained at least 4.2 strokes from tee to green in each of his five starts since the Memorial Tournament. He ranks seventh on Tour in birdie average and fifth in total driving as he carries a streak of five consecutive top-25s into the TOUR Championship.
The former Georgia Bulldog returns to East Lake for the fifth time in six years thanks in part to a trio of top-4 finishes since the restart, including a T3-T4 run
Despite all of the questions and concerns upon the revival of the 2019-20 PGA Tour season in June, we've officially made it to the grand finale as Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club plays host to the top-30 members of the FedExCup standings at the TOUR Championship. With a $15M prize awaiting the champion on Labor Day, we'll take a look at a handful of players who've seen their fantasy value shift throughout the latter portion of a peculiar campaign.
VALUE RISING
Scheffler is battling with Oklahoma State product Viktor Hovland for Rookie of the Year honors as the only two first-time cardholders to advance to East Lake this season. Although Hovland added a win to his resume at the Puerto Rico Open back in February, Scheffler is enjoying a much more successful closing stretch to the 2019-20 campaign and has doubled Hovland in top-10s with six total. Scheffler, who recently fired a 59 in Round 2 of the Northern Trust at TPC Boston during his maiden FedExCup Playoffs appearance, has gained at least 4.2 strokes from tee to green in each of his five starts since the Memorial Tournament. He ranks seventh on Tour in birdie average and fifth in total driving as he carries a streak of five consecutive top-25s into the TOUR Championship.
The former Georgia Bulldog returns to East Lake for the fifth time in six years thanks in part to a trio of top-4 finishes since the restart, including a T3-T4 run at the Wyndham Championship and the Northern Trust. Per usual, the flat stick has been a major plus for Kisner as he's gained an average of 4.8 strokes putting per event over his last five starts, but he's also gained a total of 15.5 strokes on his approach shots across four tourneys dating to the PGA Championship. On the season, he's top-25 in driving accuracy, SG: Putting, scrambling and par-4 scoring.
We find another Georgia alum here as English makes just his second ever trip to East Lake for the TOUR Championship, rewarded for what has become the best season of his entire career at 31 years old. He's posted a whopping 13 top-25 results in just 19 starts and he kicked off the FedExCup Playoffs by recording a solo-second finish at the Northern Trust. English ranks 40th or better in each Strokes Gained subcategory and he's 10th in GIR percentage, so it's tough to find a weakness for him right now.
Hughes' clutch up-and-down par from the greenside bunker on his 72nd hole at the BMW Championship allowed him to secure a spot in what marks his first TOUR Championship appearance, which is accompanied by a handful of perks that give a slight boost to his season-long fantasy value moving forward. The Canadian owns three top-10 finishes since the PGA's restart in June and he's gained strokes putting in 12 straight starts dating all the way back to the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He's also seventh on Tour in SG: Around-the-Green and 30th in par-3 scoring.
VALUE FALLING
Leishman lost more than 10 strokes to the field both from tee to green and with the putter en route to a disastrous last-place performance at last week's BMW Championship, where Andrew Landry finished nine shots ahead of the Aussie in 68th. Leishman has turned in no result better than a T40 at the Memorial Tournament since the schedule resumed this summer, missing the cut in four of eight starts during this span as well. Making matters worse for his short-term outlook, Leishman has never finished top-20 in four career appearances at the TOUR Championship.
Na is playing nowhere near as poorly as the aforementioned Leishman, but the former has now gone four consecutive starts without a top-30 result and he's lost at least 2.4 strokes from tee to green in three of these showings. Na has also lost an average of 1.5 strokes per tournament over his past five events played, and he's just 179th in this category on the season. On a more positive note, he's 12th in SG: Approach and ninth in SG: Putting among this week's field since the Charles Schwab Challenge.
INJURY UPDATE
Following back-to-back top-25s at the 3M Open and Barracuda Championship in late July, Perez was forced to withdraw during his second round from both the Wyndham Championship and the Northern Trust due to a right ankle injury. The issue ultimately kept him from having any chance at advancing to play at Olympia Fields CC last week, as Perez ended his 2019-20 campaign 90th in the FedExCup standings. His season included just four top-25s in 18 starts, though he still managed to eclipse the $1M mark in official money.
A back injury caused Moore to withdraw during his first round at the FedExCup Playoffs opener in Boston, bringing an end to his 2019-20 season at 103rd in the points list. He had just tallied consecutive 12th-place finishes at the Barracuda Championship and 3M Open, so a MC-WD closing stretch at the Wyndham Championship and Northern Trust was surely a disappointment. On the season, he ranked 11th in driving accuracy, 40th in SG: Approach and 42nd in SG: Off-the-Tee en route to five top-25s in 16 starts.
