This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
Despite the Masters essentially turning into a match play event throughout the back nine during Sunday's final round, Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose provided an Augusta showdown for the ages as the Spaniard finally put heartbreak in the rearview and captured his first major championship. Our "risers" from last week's Barometer included Russell Henley and Charley Hoffman, who finished T11 and T22, respectively, while "fallers" Henrik Stenson and Patrick Reed both missed the cut by at least two strokes. The upcoming RBC Heritage includes a below-average field, but we will take a look at several golfers who are now rising or falling in value following the Masters, along with an injury update for one of the biggest names on Tour.
VALUE RISING
Brooks Koepka
The 26-year-old bomber began his 2017 campaign with four missed cuts in six events, and his highest finish during that span came at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he finished T42. In his last two starts, however, Koepka advanced out of his grouping at the WGC-Dell Match Play -- before losing to Alex Noren in the round of 16 -- resulting in a T9 finish among a loaded field. Koepka would then go on to lead the Masters in driving distance and place top 10 in putting average, playing his final two rounds in a combined four-under-par at Augusta on the way to a T11 performance. Fusing healthy strokes gained: off-the-tee numbers with a hot putter has the 23rd-ranked golfer in the world trending in
Despite the Masters essentially turning into a match play event throughout the back nine during Sunday's final round, Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose provided an Augusta showdown for the ages as the Spaniard finally put heartbreak in the rearview and captured his first major championship. Our "risers" from last week's Barometer included Russell Henley and Charley Hoffman, who finished T11 and T22, respectively, while "fallers" Henrik Stenson and Patrick Reed both missed the cut by at least two strokes. The upcoming RBC Heritage includes a below-average field, but we will take a look at several golfers who are now rising or falling in value following the Masters, along with an injury update for one of the biggest names on Tour.
VALUE RISING
Brooks Koepka
The 26-year-old bomber began his 2017 campaign with four missed cuts in six events, and his highest finish during that span came at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he finished T42. In his last two starts, however, Koepka advanced out of his grouping at the WGC-Dell Match Play -- before losing to Alex Noren in the round of 16 -- resulting in a T9 finish among a loaded field. Koepka would then go on to lead the Masters in driving distance and place top 10 in putting average, playing his final two rounds in a combined four-under-par at Augusta on the way to a T11 performance. Fusing healthy strokes gained: off-the-tee numbers with a hot putter has the 23rd-ranked golfer in the world trending in the right direction, placing his name back into consideration as a GPP play in daily fantasy formats on a weekly basis moving forward.
Thomas Pieters
Not often does a young Masters debutant place top-five in his first attempt at Augusta's tricky layout, but Pieters was up to the task as he finished tied for fourth thanks to a pair of four-under 68s during the week. Not long ago the 6-foot-5 Belgian posted a T5 performance at the competitive WGC-Mexico Championship, and last week further proved to the world that he fears no stage. Certainly Pieters' length and ball striking are impressive, but like Koepka, the putter is coming along too, as Pieters ranks 13th on Tour in terms of birdie average through 20 measured rounds in 2017. Consistency may be an issue in the short run for the 25-year-old as he fine-tunes his game -- he missed three cuts in his last eight events -- but his value as a GPP target is on the rise.
Ryan Moore
Moore shot his way into contention at the Masters after back-to-back three-under 69s in rounds two and three placed him inside the top five heading into Sunday. He dropped a couple strokes during his final round with a two-over 74 but still managed to finish T9 for his best career result at Augusta. Moore has quietly missed just one cut since last May's PLAYERS Championship and has racked up five top-20 finishes so far during his 2016-17 campaign. He ranks top 25 on Tour in terms of strokes gained: approach-the-green and FIR percentage and has moved up to No. 33 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
VALUE FALLING
Alex Noren
Sure he advanced to the quarterfinals of the WGC-Dell Match Play in his penultimate start, but stroke play has been another story for Noren over the past two months, as his stay in the top 10 of the OWGR was short-lived. He entered the Masters coming of a stretch of T49-T55-MC in his previous three stroke-play efforts, and another missed cut at Augusta added to the avalanche of poor finishes. The 34-year-old Swede may not return to tournament action in the United States until the U.S. Open, so he will have plenty of time to polish his game in Europe before the next major tournament.
Rafael Cabrera-Bello
Cabrera-Bello had an impressive streak of made cuts ranging from May of 2016 through the Euro Tour's Hero India Open in March, but the Spaniard has missed back-to-back cuts stateside at the Shell Houston Open and the Masters. He has moved down a couple spots to No. 28 in the OWGR, but will be one of the higher-ranked players at the upcoming RBC Heritage, where he will be making his debut at Harbour Town. Cabrera-Bello has been known for his solid ball striking on the European Tour, which he could use to his advantage in Hilton Head as GIR percentage figures to serve as a key statistic for success.
Kevin Na
Na has fallen to 164th on Tour in strokes gained off-the-tee after missing the cut during his past three consecutive stroke-play events, moving outside of the top 50 in the OWGR as a result. He is also hitting greens in regulation at a clip of just 66 percent, placing 144th amongst his peers on that front. Given his recent struggles with accuracy off the tee combined with a poor GIR percentage, Harbour Town may be a difficult venue for Na to turn things around, although he has finished top 10 at the RBC Heritage in two of his last three attempts.
INJURY UPDATE
Dustin Johnson (back)
The No. 1 player in the OWGR sent the golf community into a frenzy last week after news broke that Johnson suffered a back injury prior to the Masters after falling on a flight of stairs during his stay near Augusta. Following a stretch of three consecutive victories, he was ultimately unable to play through the pain and did not want to risk further damage. Toward the culmination of the weekend Johnson's agent revealed that he is already going through light exercises, putting him on the road to recovery with an eye on returning tournament action at the Wells Fargo Championship in early May.
