This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
It's always a tough call when wrapping up tournaments played the week before a major because as soon as they're over, everyone has moved on to the major, in this case the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
But we did have the John Deere Classic, won by Dylan Frittelli, and the Scottish Open, won by Bernd Wiesberger. While Frittelli's win is closer to home for U.S. golf fans, Wiesberger's is the more critical to review heading into this week.
Wiesberger is perhaps the hottest player going, he of the world ranking of almost 400 just two months ago but now 40th. It's off his career-best – that would be 23rd some four years ago – but still, wow.
After missing much of last year with a wrist injury, the 33-year-old Austrian has won twice in the past two months, beginning with the Made in Denmark tournament on the European Tour in mid-May. In between Denmark and Scotland, Wiesberger was eighth in Belgium, 16th in Munich and co-runner-up just a week ago at the Irish Open. He'd never had a stretch like this before, and the win on Sunday at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick was the biggest of his career.
We ranked him 49th in the Majors Value Meter for the Open Championship, which was published before the Scottish Open. We'd obviously move him higher now. But how high? Let's first take a look at his Open history. Hint: It isn't pretty. Wiesberger's been
It's always a tough call when wrapping up tournaments played the week before a major because as soon as they're over, everyone has moved on to the major, in this case the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
But we did have the John Deere Classic, won by Dylan Frittelli, and the Scottish Open, won by Bernd Wiesberger. While Frittelli's win is closer to home for U.S. golf fans, Wiesberger's is the more critical to review heading into this week.
Wiesberger is perhaps the hottest player going, he of the world ranking of almost 400 just two months ago but now 40th. It's off his career-best – that would be 23rd some four years ago – but still, wow.
After missing much of last year with a wrist injury, the 33-year-old Austrian has won twice in the past two months, beginning with the Made in Denmark tournament on the European Tour in mid-May. In between Denmark and Scotland, Wiesberger was eighth in Belgium, 16th in Munich and co-runner-up just a week ago at the Irish Open. He'd never had a stretch like this before, and the win on Sunday at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick was the biggest of his career.
We ranked him 49th in the Majors Value Meter for the Open Championship, which was published before the Scottish Open. We'd obviously move him higher now. But how high? Let's first take a look at his Open history. Hint: It isn't pretty. Wiesberger's been in five of them, from 2013-17, and has missed two cuts with nothing better than a tie for 64th. He's been in only one major over the past two years and that was a tie for 76th at last month's U.S. Open.
Majors are an animal unto themselves, with the best fields and the most pressure. Wiesberger has top-25s in three of his 21 career majors, one each in the three U.S.-based tournaments.
We're not gonna say Wiesberger will win the Open – in fact, we'll say he won't (not exactly bold, we know) – but it's certainly possible for him to see some TV time on Sunday. This latest stretch will also surely raise his DFS profile, especially at the very affordable DraftKings price of $7,100.
Really, he seems like a steal at that number. Yes, you want all six of your guys to make the cut, but it's hard to go wrong at that number even if he misses. Except you will probably have a lot of company, as Wiesberger should now be a popular choice.
As for Frittelli, he's been on the cusp for a few years now, once ranked as high as 44th. This win, his first on the PGA Tour but not worldwide, moves him back into the top-100 at 92nd. More importantly, it gets him into the field at Royal Portrush. His prior big win was at the 2017 Lyoness Open in Austria with a weak field that included still-developing players such as Matt Wallace, Eddie Pepperell and Lucas Bjerregaard and, yes, also local favorite Wiesberger. (How weak was the field? Mike Weir was in it.)
Frittelli's decline in the rankings – from 44th in early 2018 to the 130s before Sunday – largely coincided with his bid to make a go of it on the PGA Tour. Maybe it has just taken him some time. Maybe it was because the Deere field was so weak (there's definitely a large dose of that). Regardless, we don't view Frittelli as a consideration this week at the Open. Simply making the cut would be a huge accomplishment for him.
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Rory McIlroy
McIlroy shot four rounds in the 60s in Scotland yet tied for 34th. It's really irrelevant. For McIlroy, next week will come down to two things: how he handles the pressure of playing in his homeland and how he handles his putter. Even though he is the Open favorite and has finished top-five each of the past three years, it's quite a tall order to say he'll have both of those under control and win.
Justin Thomas
Thomas had a great week in Scotland on a number of levels. Not only did he tie for ninth with his best ever links showing, but he needed to play well anywhere just because he he'd been off his game for a long time. He missed two of four cuts in June, including at the U.S. Open. His previous top-10 was way back in February at the WGC-Mexico. Thomas has never done a thing at the Open Championship, missing the cut the past two years – when he was playing far better than he is now.
Matt Wallace
The Englishman could be a pivotal figure at Royal Portrush. He's been trending straight up for a while now, and even though he only tied for 14th at the Renaissance Club, it moved him up a notch to a career-best 23rd in the world rankings. This was on the heels of a tie for third at the PGA and for 12th at the U.S. Open. Wallace has two other top-fives on the European Tour in the past two months, at the British Masters and BMW International in Munich.
Matt Kuchar
Kuchar tied for 20th in Scotland. Not bad; not great. He arrives at the Open with top-16s at all three majors this year, plus top-10s in his past two Opens, including runner-up to Jordan Spieth in 2017 at Royal Birkdale.
Benjamin Hebert, Andrew Johnston, Nino Bertasio
The Frenchman, the Englishman and the Italian (in the order they are listed above), all finished in the top-five in Scotland to qualify for the Open. Hebert was runner-up, the other two tied for fourth. Hebert and Bertasio will just be happy to be in Royal Portrush and likely depart after two days. Johnston actually tied for eighth in 2016 and for 27th in 2017, and he has a chance to make the cut again.
Andrew Putnam
Putnam was in the group with Johnston and Bertasio that tied for fourth. The good week had two-fold ramifications for him. First, it gives him a boost heading into his first Open. Second, it moved him from 50th to 46th in the world rankings, qualifying him for the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational the week after Royal Portrush.
Russell Henley
Henley played the round of his life on Sunday at the Deere, and it came at just the right time. He shot a 10-under 61 to finish solo second. It was his first top-10 of the season. He hadn't even had a top-25 since March (outside of the Zurich). But he jumped not only inside the top-125 but all the way to 83rd in the FedEx point standings, ensuring he'll not only make the playoffs but keep his card next year. He exemption for winning the Shell Houston Open in 2017 was just a few tournaments from expiring.
Andrew Landry
Landry was in no danger of losing his card – he won the Valero Texas Open last year. But he was outside the top-125 until a solo third at the Deere lifted him to 121st. He still has work to do to make the playoffs. This was Landry's first top-10 of the season and technically his third top-25 – but the other two came in the season-opening Tournament of Champions in which there were only 33 golfers, and in the Zurich team event.
Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Matthew Wolff, Justin Suh
Here's our weekly look at the Class of '19. Morikawa kept on going with a tie for fourth at the Deere, his second top-five in as many weeks. He's up to 172nd in the world. Hovland notched his fourth top-20 in five weeks. Wolff understandably took a step back after winning the 3M Open but still acquitted himself nicely with a tie for 37th. Suh missed the cut for the fifth time in six PGA Tour events this year (not all as a professional) and he appears to be overmatched at this point, even in the weaker Deere field.
Bill Haas
Haas was in contention at the Deere after a 64 on Saturday. A 71 on Sunday relegated him to a tie for 10th. It equaled his best showing of what has been a difficult season, and just getting into the playoffs will be a chore. Meanwhile, his father, Jay Haas, came close to winning the SENIORS PLAYERS Championship, finishing tied for second behind Retief Goosen, who thus got a berth in next year's "regular" PLAYERS Championship. Wouldn't it have been awkward if the elder Haas had been in the field at TPC Sawgrass while his son wasn't?
Tony Romo
Romo won the American Century Championship, the celebrity event in Nevada, for the second straight year. Romo is not a pro, but he's good enough to continue to get sponsor invites, and he shouldn't be playing in a celebrity event. Former major league pitcher Mark Mulder, who won the title three years before Romo arrived, finished second. He's really the best "celebrity" golfer these days.
