1 once again. Power Rankings: PGA Championship. Expected high winds and firm conditions this week will also open things up a bit to accurate drivers. Previous rank: 6 A cozy field of 120 is chasing a winners cut of 550 FedExCup points and $3.6 million from a prize fund of $20 million. The course is infamous for the Bear Trap closing stretch of holes 16-18 where thousands of wayward shots have gone to a watery grave in past years. He took T-2nd at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship where he was just a shot behind Victor Perez. All five dozen bunkers on the property also are equipped with new drainage and sand. Rose likes his new equipment, caddie and coach and is comfortable with the team around him again. Ranks 6th in SG: OTT and 26th in SG: APP. Finally, the forecast for this week is predicting very high winds on Friday and Saturday along with consistent winds for the rest of the week. Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Jordan Spieth and Hideki Matsuyama will be among the notables considered in Golfbet Insider. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images) The Grateful Dead didn't release an album about 2020, but the band . Bay Hill already is one of if not the hardest par 72 in a non-major in every season last years scoring average of 73.886 easily set the mark among its peers but consider that, in relatively docile conditions a year ago, the opening-round scoring average still was 72.292! Finished 5th here last year. @StewartCink is already rocking a @KDTrey5 jersey pic.twitter.com/FQLxm4tuo8. He was also fifth in fewest putts per round (28.14). He'll take you inside the world of golf with exclusive looks at some of the top courses, feature stories, celebrity guests and interviews with the biggest stars in golf. 2 had what felt like a bad week for most of it at Riviera and still finished 12th. What weve seen more often that not lately is Bermuda history continues to very relevant on Florida courses. That elevated status brings a purse of $20 million. As always, Ill prefer distance, but you can get around here in a variety of ways. Bet Now TULSA, Okla. *All stats are from a players last 24 rounds. Previous rank: 20 Competed once before at Grand Reserve, finishing T52 in 2020 via a sponsor exemption. Corey Conners : Conners will be happy hes off the West Coast considering his usual struggles there. Justin Thomas (+1200) With seven top-10 finishes this season, including at the Masters in April, the 14-time. As one of three invitationals on Tour, its an invite-only field of 120 players and provides automatic three-year exemption status to the winner of the event instead of the standard two years. Brett White, who had to relearn how to walk and talk after battling a brain infection six years ago, made his PGA Tour debut. In what appears to be the most star-studded event hosted at Riviera Country Club since the 1995 PGA Championship, only world No. Zalatoris was sidelined due to injury for the latter part of 2022, but he placed in a tie for fourth last month at Riviera, and that clearly shows he is back in business. Seamus Power: irl 2.579 . Were now onto a multi-week jaunt through Florida starting with the Honda Classic. Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Jordan Spieth and Hideki Matsuyama will be among the notables considered in Golfbet Insider. Impressive stuff. Rafael Campos The 34-year-old native of Puerto Rico hasnt been the same since an injured left elbow thwarted his only DNP in tournament history in 2020. He tied for third at the American Express and 13th at the Farmers Insurance Open, followed by a tie for 10th at the Phoenix Open. Min Woo Lee is making his Honda Classic debut this week on a sponsor exemption. A cozy field of 120 is chasing a winners cut of 550 FedExCup points and $3.6 million from a prize fund of $20 million. He has 10 top-10s in 14 starts there, including a victory in 2020. Perks for the winner, a brief breakdown of Grand Reserve Golf Club and more can be found below. Its fun to watch the games best have to struggle to make par and be tested on a tough layout. The reigning U.S. Open winner has only four PGA Tour starts this season; his best finish was a tie for seventh at the Tournament of Champions. PGA Tour Power Rankings: Is Jon Rahm ready to return to the top? Did the former world No. Winners become PGA TOUR members for life, but theyre treated to so much more. He had a 1-shot lead at the Sandersons Farms Championship in October and tied for eighth. Bet with your head, not over it. The Australian is still searching for his first PGA Tour victory since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship, but there are plenty signs of hope. 14. He was just four off the winning pace on a crowded, talented leaderboard. Jason Kokrak He finished in a tie for third at 15-under. The tee-to-green play was still there, and now the World No. 8. The field gets a primer on Thursday when gusts might touch 20 mph. Scoring will be the name of the game this week. This years field is as weak as this tournaments seen in years. Matthew Fitzpatrick : I like to add a few extra players sometimes for big tournaments, and Fitzpatrick is worth noting this week. Ultimately, his top-10 exemption wasnt necessary, anyway, as the entire Korn Ferry Tour graduate reshuffle category looped in on merit, so even its reorder at the conclusion of the West Coast Swing had no impact. That makes Proximity: 200+ Yards a key statistic this week since we seen many courses go by where players barely hit a long iron outside of Par 5s. The Irishman has it going again with a 14th Riviera and 5th at Honda with more excellent ball striking. But he missed the cut at the WM Phoenix Open after hitting consecutive shots into the water on No. Daniel Berger * - Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COMs Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday. Bradley was just 2nd at Torrey Pines in a great field, and he has a 2nd and 3rd at Bay Hill. Phil Allen of Twenty First Group noted that Matsuyama has 29 rounds in the 60s there -- the most since 2014 -- and 32 of his 33 rounds at the Phoenix Open have been par or better. Spieth bounced back from disappointing back-to-back starts-he missed the cut at the Sony Open and tied for 63rd at Pebble Beach-to finish tied for sixth at TPC Scottsdale. This event has annually attracted strong fields since it began in 1966 and moved to current host course, Bay Hill Club and Lodge, in 1979. The through line is hitting greens in regulation no matter how that equation is written for the individual. 21+: TheLines.com and all content herein is intended for audiences 21 years and older. Previous rank: 21 He finished T16. When looking at players who can perform at difficult courses, Zalatoris name has to be in the conversation. : Payouts and Points, Medical Extensions, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The Los Angeles native hasn't finished better than 26th in two starts at the Genesis Invitational. All of golfs best players will be in attendance. 22. Just a friendly reminder that these aren't necessarily the 25 most talented players in the world or the 25 greatest players on tour. The North Dakota native is on a remarkable run. The course measures 7,261 yards for a par 70. 15 and 17 annually are among the most challenging as a set on TOUR, a fact due to sustained breezes from a southeasterly direction. After missing the cut in three of his past four tour starts, Koepka finally showed a pulse and was in contention to win his third WM Phoenix Open title. PGA Tour Power Rankings: Arnold Palmer Invitational Written by Tyler Duke Last Updated Feb 28, 2023 Each week in our golf power rankings, we will highlight the top players on the PGA TOUR in order of likeliness to win the tournament. 22. MJ Daffue The first-time PGA TOUR member finally connected for his first top 25 of the season at The Honda Classic. Thomas, the reigning PGA Championship winner, still seemed to be dialing things in heading into Phoenix. With primary rough at least 3 inches high, distance and accuracy off the tee plays up all week. Collin Morikawa : Morikawa grades out exceptionally in every category this week except putting, and that will be the obvious spot that determines his finish this week. Its going to be hot and humid this week but little to no rain is expected. That means a $10 bet returns $65 of profit if the red-hot Spaniard does in fact win the tournament. Things are about to get good on the PGA Tour. 14. Many lower-ranked golfers will. Previous rank: 14 Burns also finished T-11th at The American Express. The product of Arizona State University has already won three times this season, including two weeks ago at Riviera, and he has not finished outside the top 10 in any of his seven starts. 9. Thats where 2022 PRO champion Ryan Brehm is competing this week. NHL trade grades: Latest deals Tiger Woods, who is not in the field this year, has won Arnold Palmers event a whopping eight times. Previous rank: 7 Those only resulted in an 11th, 10th and 20th thanks to other areas failing him, but this is a course he has plenty of experience on and has finished 3rd in the past. 1. pic.twitter.com/S4Ax1qYYeQ, Wind's coming HARD left-to-right at 16. Harold Varner III Previous rank: 15 I feel like I'm way better than that and I've been working harder to try to do that.". It guarantees that someone else will be holding the trophy. The PGA Tour will head north to the east coast of Florida for the PGA Tours biggest event and the largest prize pool for a standard tournament all year. Sahith Theegala PGA Championship Fantasy Golf Power Rankings (odds via DraftKings as of May 12) 1. Some of the top golfers on the PGA Tour have kick-started their careers with wins in Puerto Rico, including Tony Finau in 2016 and Viktor Hovland in 2019. "High praise from Michael Greller on @JordanSpieth's ridiculous shot on 17 @WMPhoenixOpen. The former Pepperdine star did everything he could in trying to become only the sixth player in the last 15 seasons to win a tournament with a sponsor exemption. According to Justin Ray of Twenty First Group, that's the best of any tour player during that span. All you have to do is place a bet of at least $5 bet on any pre-game money line, and you wont even need a DraftKings promo code. On cue, the wind steps forward as the primary defense to a course that surrendered a scoring average of 71.339 last year, which essentially is the expectation. Kim backed that win up with consecutive top-25 finishes at the American Express, Farmers Insurance Open and WM Phoenix Open. 2 ranked player in the world. Id imagine hes ready to challenge the big names again. Ranks 17th in the model. He claimed the Houston Open in November and has four straight finishes of 16th or better since then, after finishing in a tie for 14th at Phoenix. He has three top-10s in his past four starts at Riviera, where he has never won. 1 for much of last season, when he won four times, including his first major championship (at the Masters). Its all about finding the fairway however you can to avoid hazards around the green and avoid approaching from the long Bermuda rough. The Honda Classic leads off a month of competitions in the Sunshine State. He tied for 45th at the Saudi International. 17. 1 Jon Rahm. Plus, access replays, originals and more. Our Arnold Palmer Invitational predictions are focused on Will Zalatoris, who is also among the top choices at +2200. Collin Morikawa His dreams of winning ended on Sunday when his tee shot on No. Jon Rahm is a +650 favorite to triumph at Bay Hill. You may call them opposite events, but to the 120 in pursuit of a boatload of benefits, Puerto Rico is the island of opportunity. Scheffler had a round of 9-under 62 in the second round in Phoenix, which was his fifth career round of 62 or lower. He led the field in shots gained: approach this past weekend, the first time he has accomplished that since the 2022 U.S. Open at Brookline. Previous rank: 2 Matt Fitzpatrick Pro golf will be back to California this summer for the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, but the PGA Tours West Coast swing is in the books. It started to come together at TPC Scottsdale. He should be well rested after taking last week off following a missed cut at the Genesis Invitational. Thomas posted his fifth top-20 finish in as many PGA Tour starts this season with a tie for eighth at the WM Phoenix Open. He has made only two starts on tour this year, finishing 38th in the Tournament of Champions and tied for 17th in the Sony Open. Beyond that, his ball striking isnt reaching the ceilings weve grown to expect from him. Theres usually rain during at least some point in the event and water lurks around many corners. looped in on merit, so even its reorder at the conclusion of the West Coast Swing had no impact. Theegala is the first player this season to hold at least a share of two 54-hole leads. pic.twitter.com/xwhDvl8Wrn, "The best bunker shot Jordan has ever hit. PGATOUR.coms Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives. He tied for 11th at the Farmers Insurance Open and tied for sixth in Phoenix. Just make sure to click here to create your new DraftKings account today. Scottie Scheffler became the third straight first-time winner on tour, beating Patrick Cantlay in a sudden-death playoff with a 26-foot putt Sunday at TPC Scottsdale. He carded a 7-under 64 in the third round of the WM Phoenix Open, his 15th such round of 64 or better since 2021. Scottie Scheffler His PGA TOUR Horse for the Course for daily fantasy golf based on course history. The four par 3s, including the two that bracket The Bear Trap Nos. Ranks 2nd in High Winds, 11th in SG: OTT and 12th in SG: APP. He also took T-21st at last years Open Championship. He posted another top-10 on Sunday, a tie for eighth, after overcoming a shaky driver in the first two rounds with a combined 11 fairways hit. pic.twitter.com/djDjZuFQFy, 321 yards 13 feet@MaxHoma23 with one of the best drives of the week on 17 @WMPhoenixOpen. A week after picking up his first PGA Tour victory, in his 203rd career start, at Pebble Beach, Hoge followed it with another top-15 at TPC Scottsdale. Jon Rahm : Rahms numbers in the model this week are just absurd, and hes a runaway No. He tied for 32nd at the Genesis in 2021. Schauffele was right in the mix again in Phoenix, even after a run-in with a cactus and losing his regular caddie, Austin Kaiser, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. 16. Now 291st in the OWGR, the 29-year-old is seeking to rekindle the form that he flashed here last year. The defending Genesis Invitational champ is starting to find his form. * - Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COMs Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday. The PGA Tour moves from Phoenix to Los Angeles this week for The Genesis Invitational, a tour mainstay dating back to 1926. Now, he has already won twice on the PGA Tour and is one of the more popular players. Completely disregarded the laws on physics on this one. It's major week once again and with the best players in the world preparing to tee it up at Kiawah Island, we have listed 10 players in our PGA Championship Player Power Rankings. Every eligible Top 50 player in the world is in attendance to battle it out for the $20 million purse. It's the third ace of his career. Tom Kim : Going through his first mini-slump here since getting his PGA Tour card, but theres not too much to be concerned about. PGA Tour golf rankings at CBSSports.com include the world golf rankings, FedEx Cup points, and money list.