This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
The RBC Heritage certainly had no chance to match the buzz generated by Sergio Garcia's late magic at the Masters, but it was still a tight finish Sunday, and South Carolina native Wesley Bryan and his pink pants emerged to claim his first career Tour victory at Harbour Town. Our "fallers" from last week's edition included Rafael Cabrera-Bello, who missed the cut by three strokes, along with Kevin Na, who needed a two-under 69 in his final round just to jump into a tie for 39th place. While many of the game's top names are looking ahead to the PLAYERS Championship in mid-May, the Tour's next stop is TPC San Antonio, and several trends have emerged heading into the Valero Texas Open.
VALUE RISING
Patrick Cantlay
Since returning from a back injury that kept him away from the PGA Tour for over two years, Cantlay has made four consecutive cuts while notching a T3 at the RBC Heritage and a runner-up finish at the Valspar Championship in early March. The 25-year-old is gaining strokes on the field in every category, showcasing an all-around game that could result in sustained success moving forward. Cantlay is 40th in the FedExCup standings and has already surpassed $1 million in earnings in just four events this season. After beginning his 2017 campaign ranked No. 1866 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Cantlay has launched himself up to No. 131, and is on pace to vault inside the top 100 in no time.
William McGirt
The RBC Heritage certainly had no chance to match the buzz generated by Sergio Garcia's late magic at the Masters, but it was still a tight finish Sunday, and South Carolina native Wesley Bryan and his pink pants emerged to claim his first career Tour victory at Harbour Town. Our "fallers" from last week's edition included Rafael Cabrera-Bello, who missed the cut by three strokes, along with Kevin Na, who needed a two-under 69 in his final round just to jump into a tie for 39th place. While many of the game's top names are looking ahead to the PLAYERS Championship in mid-May, the Tour's next stop is TPC San Antonio, and several trends have emerged heading into the Valero Texas Open.
VALUE RISING
Patrick Cantlay
Since returning from a back injury that kept him away from the PGA Tour for over two years, Cantlay has made four consecutive cuts while notching a T3 at the RBC Heritage and a runner-up finish at the Valspar Championship in early March. The 25-year-old is gaining strokes on the field in every category, showcasing an all-around game that could result in sustained success moving forward. Cantlay is 40th in the FedExCup standings and has already surpassed $1 million in earnings in just four events this season. After beginning his 2017 campaign ranked No. 1866 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Cantlay has launched himself up to No. 131, and is on pace to vault inside the top 100 in no time.
William McGirt
Following a top-25 performance at the Masters, McGirt showed no signs of fatigue in South Carolina as he fired four consecutive rounds under 70 to finish tied for third, just two shots behind the winner. Before advancing to the round of 16 at the WGC-Dell Match Play, McGirt had missed three cuts in six events, but three straight top-25s have the 37-year-old back up to No. 44 in the OWGR. He ranks 40th on Tour in strokes gained: off-the-tee, but woes around the green have kept McGirt from notching a second career Tour victory this season.
Rafael Campos
The Puerto Rican took advantage of his entry in the Puerto Rico Open in late March, as the local hero fired a first-round 64, ultimately leading to a top-10 finish and qualifying him for other events on Tour. He has turned that into a total of five consecutive made cuts, which includes two additional top-10s since Puerto Rico and no finish worse than a T38. Most recently, Campos placed inside the top five in GIR percentage at the RBC Heritage, an impressive showing for a golfer making his debut at a tough venue like Harbour Town. He is now set to make another debut at TPC San Antonio for the Valero Texas Open and will be striving to extend his streak of cuts made to six.
VALUE FALLING
Shane Lowry
Lowry followed up consecutive top-20 finishes in February with results of WD-T51-MC before a mediocre showing at the RBC Heritage led to a tie for 44th. The 114th-ranked player in the FedExCup standings has played his last six tournament rounds in a combined five-over-par, sinking to No. 67 in the OWGR after beginning 2017 at No. 43. Through his last 14 measured rounds on Tour, however, Lowry actually ranks inside the top 30 among his peers in terms of strokes gained: off-the-tee and strokes gained: tee-to-green. However, he has sung the blues around the green due to a lousy short game and average putter.
Scott Stallings
Over his last three events alone Stallings fired rounds of 80, 78, and 77 while missing two cuts and finishing 68th in the other tournament. He posted three top-25 finishes throughout the first four events of his 2017 campaign but earned just $12,852 total during three starts in March. Stallings ranks outside of the top 100 in every major strokes gained category, but has stayed afloat thanks to a 68.69 GIR percentage, good for 67th on Tour. He placed inside the top 15 at last year's Valero Texas Open, so course history could play a role in Stallings potentially regaining momentum.
Carl Pettersson
Having won the RBC Heritage in 2012, last week's event may have been one of the last opportunities for Pettersson to find his game and salvage any chance at a successful 2016-17 season. However, his struggled continued, and another missed cut sends him deeper into the abyss. The Swede is No. 206 in the FedExCup standings and is earning just $3,149 per entry this season. Pettersson has yet to turn 40 years old, but his career has dwindled quickly despite him notching five PGA Tour victories during brighter times. He will be in the field for the Valero Texas Open, but his game does not exactly fit TPC San Antonio given his recent struggles from tee to green.
INJURY UPDATE
Matt Every
The struggling 33-year-old withdrew during his second round at the RBC Heritage, marking the second WD for Every in his last six events. Currently ranked 221st in the FedExCup standings, Every has finished no better than T62 at a single tournament throughout the past calendar year. He plans on returning to tournament action this week at TPC San Antonio, and although he finished runner-up at the Valero Texas Open in 2012, Every will just hope to make the cut at this point.
