This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
Golf aficionados around the globe were hard-pressed to find a gap in excitement or coverage this past weekend between the European Tour's HNA Open de France, the Women's PGA Championship, the Quicken Loans National and the U.S. Senior Open. Sunday was quite a treat with the culmination of all four, while there's no better excuse to be glued to the couch. The PGA Tour hits a bit of a lull in between the U.S. Open and Open Championship as we see weaker fields at events like the Quicken Loans, but nonetheless we'll take a look at several fantasy trends heading into the upcoming Military Tribute at the Greenbrier.
VALUE RISING
Francesco Molinari
The 16th-ranked player in the world finally secured his first career PGA Tour victory at the Quicken Loans National, where he scorched the rest of the field with an eight-stroke victory. His last four starts worldwide now include results of Win-T25-2-Win dating back to the Euro Tour's BMW PGA Championship. This past week at TPC Potomac, Molinari carded just two bogeys while leading the field in GIR percentage, scrambling, SG: Tee-to-Green and birdies.
Beau Hossler
Hossler has ascended to a career-best 64th in the OWGR thanks to finishes of T6-T2 in his last two starts at the Quicken Loans National and Travelers Championship, while he's also extended his streak of cuts made to 11 consecutive starts. His 334 birdies this season are the most on Tour as he resides top-30 in the FedExCup standings during his first full
Golf aficionados around the globe were hard-pressed to find a gap in excitement or coverage this past weekend between the European Tour's HNA Open de France, the Women's PGA Championship, the Quicken Loans National and the U.S. Senior Open. Sunday was quite a treat with the culmination of all four, while there's no better excuse to be glued to the couch. The PGA Tour hits a bit of a lull in between the U.S. Open and Open Championship as we see weaker fields at events like the Quicken Loans, but nonetheless we'll take a look at several fantasy trends heading into the upcoming Military Tribute at the Greenbrier.
VALUE RISING
Francesco Molinari
The 16th-ranked player in the world finally secured his first career PGA Tour victory at the Quicken Loans National, where he scorched the rest of the field with an eight-stroke victory. His last four starts worldwide now include results of Win-T25-2-Win dating back to the Euro Tour's BMW PGA Championship. This past week at TPC Potomac, Molinari carded just two bogeys while leading the field in GIR percentage, scrambling, SG: Tee-to-Green and birdies.
Beau Hossler
Hossler has ascended to a career-best 64th in the OWGR thanks to finishes of T6-T2 in his last two starts at the Quicken Loans National and Travelers Championship, while he's also extended his streak of cuts made to 11 consecutive starts. His 334 birdies this season are the most on Tour as he resides top-30 in the FedExCup standings during his first full year with a card.
Stewart Cink
Three consecutive top-25s for the 45-year-old, including back-to-back top-four finishes at the Travelers Championship and St. Jude Classic. Cink owns an incredible stroke average of 67.75 throughout his past 12 tournament rounds, climbing to 63rd in the FedExCup standings as a result. He's been money with his irons this season, currently ranking ninth on Tour in SG: Approach, 29th in GIR percentage and ninth in proximity.
VALUE FALLING
Cameron Smith
Smith was embarking on quite the 2017-18 campaign before a stretch of four consecutive missed cuts in his last four starts from the PLAYERS Championship through the U.S. Open. He's shot 72 or worse in eight straight rounds while falling outside of the top-40 in the OWGR.
Satoshi Kodaira
Kodaira reached as high as 27th in the OWGR following his win at the RBC Heritage this spring, but he's now missed the cut in five of his last six starts. He's dropped to 177th on Tour in GIR percentage and ranks outside of the top-100 in each Strokes Gained category.
Ernie Els
Age is certainly catching up to Els, as the 48-year-old has dropped to 726th in the OWGR after six consecutive missed cuts. He's earned just over $100k this season through 13 events played, residing in the 198th spot of the FedExCup standings.
INJURY UPDATE
Brandon Hagy
Hagy, who's been sidelined since last November due to a nagging wrist injury, is slated to tee it up this week at The Greenbrier in what will be just his fourth start of the season. He carded a four-day total of seven-under-par at The Old White TPC in 2017 to finish tied for 18th, but it may take some time for Hagy to feel comfortable in tournament action as he returns from the wrist injury.
