This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
Last year, the Zurich Classic was kind of fun and different. It was the first go-round with the two-man team format, and novelty counts for a lot in sports, even though there were no DFS games. This year, four of the five top-10-ranked golfers in the field – Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia – didn't make it to the weekend, highlighting the capricious nature and downside of the event, and, again, there were no DFS games.
Since our editor needs to write a headline here, we'll grudgingly tell you that the team of Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy won the tournament. Big whoop.
Playing with a partner tells us nothing for fantasy golf purposes, and there really isn't much useful information to be gleaned from the entire tournament. If you want to cite Brooks Koepka, we'll grant you that. Koepka (torn tendon in left wrist) played for the first time in nearly four months and made it through two rounds with his curious selection of pro golfer-turned-real estate agent Marc Turnesa as a teammate. The good news is, the only reason he stopped playing was because their scores were too high. Imagine that. Koepka is in the field for this week's Wells Fargo Championship, where we'll get a truer indication of the state of his game.
The most noteworthy change at TPC Louisiana, tellingly, was that this year the golfers were introduced at the first tee with walk up music. For those of you scoring at
Last year, the Zurich Classic was kind of fun and different. It was the first go-round with the two-man team format, and novelty counts for a lot in sports, even though there were no DFS games. This year, four of the five top-10-ranked golfers in the field – Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia – didn't make it to the weekend, highlighting the capricious nature and downside of the event, and, again, there were no DFS games.
Since our editor needs to write a headline here, we'll grudgingly tell you that the team of Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy won the tournament. Big whoop.
Playing with a partner tells us nothing for fantasy golf purposes, and there really isn't much useful information to be gleaned from the entire tournament. If you want to cite Brooks Koepka, we'll grant you that. Koepka (torn tendon in left wrist) played for the first time in nearly four months and made it through two rounds with his curious selection of pro golfer-turned-real estate agent Marc Turnesa as a teammate. The good news is, the only reason he stopped playing was because their scores were too high. Imagine that. Koepka is in the field for this week's Wells Fargo Championship, where we'll get a truer indication of the state of his game.
The most noteworthy change at TPC Louisiana, tellingly, was that this year the golfers were introduced at the first tee with walk up music. For those of you scoring at home, that's one song per team. The selections ranged – and this was no easy task, determining where the range began and ended – from Metallica to Zapp and Roger. Metallica was the choice of the most teams (four), because in the Jeopardy! category "Things That Are Staid," everyone's first answer would be "Who is Metallica?"
Oh, and which team selected Zapp and Roger, you ask? We know you didn't really ask, or care, but it was Tony Finau-Daniel Summerhays. Take a look here at Summerhays being introduced:
Daniel Summerhays brought his dancing shoes.#LiveUnderParpic.twitter.com/kmFOK3QCPo
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 29, 2018
For the record, Finau-Summerhays danced their way to a solo sixth, ahead of all of the Metallica guys.
Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar chose an homage to the host city of New Orleans, Louis Armstrong's When the Saints Go Marching In. But that wasn't the most surprising element of their partnership. No, it was: They slapped each other in the face after every birdie. Yes, you read that right.
"We want to be inspired to make more birdies," Watson told reporters. "So we basically slap each other in the face and say, 'Come on! Do another one! Get another one!'"
Kuchar-Watson tied for 28th, which may or may not have been because their faces were sore.
Anyhoo, golf gets back to regular business this week at Quail Hollow. Over the next two weeks, including The Players Championship, there's the potential for some wild swings atop the rankings. No fewer than seven golfers have the chance, however slight, to be ranked No. 1 at the end of the fortnight, according to @VC606, a Twitter handle tracking the OWGR (but unaffiliated with the ranking system). Dustin Johnson continues his precarious hold on the top spot, just ahead of Thomas. Then comes Rahm, Spieth, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy. Fowler and McIlroy would have to win twice in the next two weeks to become No. 1 and, while that is extremely remote, it goes to the tightening of the rankings as we begin the ramp-up to the U.S. Open in June.
Even though seven guys can become No. 1, that's not even the main focus of the next two weeks. It is, of course, Tiger Woods, who has committed to both events in his first action since the Masters.
It's always Tiger.
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Since looking back at the Zurich will tell us little, we'll use this week's Backspin to look ahead for some of the biggest names in golf.
Dustin Johnson
It's absurd to say that someone with a win, two runners-up, five top-10s and seven top-25s in eight starts this season is off his game, but Johnson has been far from the No. 1 golfer in 2017-18. And his margin over Thomas is so slim that it seems only a matter of time before he's overtaken, perhaps this week. Thomas will be playing Quail Hollow and Johnson is off. Johnson's three best cashes all came by mid-February, and he hasn't contended for a title since then. He can be in the mix just on his sheer talent, but clearly something has been off. A quick look at the stats shows he's still first in strokes gained: off the tee, as he was last year, and he's putting better than ever. However, he's 32nd in SG approach, after being ranked fifth on Tour last season. Johnson's iron play, however slight, is what's costing him. Johnson has never had a top-10 at The Players, and he may already have fallen from No. 1 by the time he arrives at TPC Sawgrass.
Justin Thomas
It won't take much for Thomas to overtake Johnson this week and, since Thomas won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow last year, there's a good chance it happens. Since Johnson's game dropped off in February, Thomas has a win, a runner-up and a solo fourth, the latter two in WGCs. The de facto No. 1 who we could see winning any of the remaining majors, and a whole lot more.
Jon Rahm
Even though Rahm missed the cut alongside partner Wesley Bryan at the Zurich, he edged ahead of Jordan Spieth back into the No. 3 spot. Rahm is not playing Quail Hollow and tied for 72nd in his Players debut last year. No matter, it seems only a matter of time for Rahm, too, to become No. 1 in the world. With the tight bunching at the top, it also seems that it will be hard for one golfer to get a firm hold of the top spot.
Jordan Spieth
The former No. 1 had incredibly been an afterthought in all this No. 1 talk, which is almost as surprising as it is to note it's been more than two years since he led the rankings. Spieth's game tailed off while others' thrived. Lately, finally, he has shown his old form, tying for third at Houston before a solo third at Augusta. Spieth, idle this week, could regain the top spot with a win at The Players, but he's missed the cut there the past two years.
Justin Rose
Rose is the fifth and final golfer who can climb to No. 1 based solely on his performance at TPC Sawgrass. And while that's mathematically possible, The Players hasn't been one of the Englishman's stronger events. Rose has had almost as many missed cuts as cashes, with only one top-10 in more than a dozen starts.
Rickie Fowler
It's crazy to think that someone who barely wins – Fowler is still sitting on four career titles – can become No. 1 with victories the next two weeks. But, as the cliché goes, Fowler does everything but win. Despite a largely off-year, a runner-up at the Masters moved him to No. 6 in the OWGR. Fowler now heads to two courses where he's notched two of those four career wins. He won at Quail Hollow in 2012 and was top-five there the past two years. He's had a crazy history at The Players, winning two years ago, finishing second in 2012 and missing the cut his other five visits.
Rory McIlroy
Math tells us that McIlroy is in the mix for No. 1 the next two weeks, but let's see where his head is at in his first start since his Sunday beatdown by Patrick Reed at Augusta. Yes, McIlroy is a two-time winner at Quail Hollow, but that seems a lifetime ago. He was trending upward beautifully with his recent win at Bay Hill, but we'll be surprised if he's able to rebound so quickly after his Masters meltdown.
Patrick Reed
Reed's Masters win moved him to No. 11 in the OWGR and, despite being idle since then as far as the world rankings are concerned, he just got back into the top-10 this week for the first time in more than a year. Reed was runner-up to Thomas in the PGA at Quail Hollow last year, so another high finish would not be a surprise. Such a result at The Players would be, as Reed has missed the cut in two of three visits, sandwiching a T24.
Phil Mickelson
Mickelson is far from the top-10, ranked 19th right now. He's cooled considerably since winning the WGC-Mexico in March, but he's got a quite a track record at Quail Hollow, with six top-fives in the past 11 years. While Mickelson missed the cut at the PGA there last year, the course will not be nearly as tough for the Wells Fargo.
Tiger Woods
We kind of knew Woods would play this week, based on the way his schedule had been taking shape. But Quail Hollow is not one of his best tracks. Even though Woods won there way back in 2007, he's missed the cut in his two most recent visits. Neither is at all recent, but he was still the old Tiger Woods back in 2010 and '12. In other words, this wasn't one of his dominating tracks, and to expect a win this week, or even a high finish, might be wishful thinking.
