This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
Spaniard sensation Jon Rahm continues his ascension as he secured his fourth win worldwide since the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open at last week's CareerBuilder Challenge, climbing to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking after defeating Andrew Landry in a playoff. The PGA Tour's West Coast Swing is staged in a familiar Torrey Pines venue this week, where Tiger Woods has been historically dominant as he plans to hear plenty of roars from the crowd in his return. We'll now take a look at several trends on Tour from a fantasy perspective as many of golf's giants begin to rebound from their winter breaks.
VALUE RISING
Austin Cook
Cook, who entered his rookie season on the PGA Tour ranked just outside the top-300 of the OWGR, has rapidly ascended to No. 112 thanks to six top-25 finishes in seven starts and a win at the RSM Classic. Currently fifth in the FedExCup standings, Cook ranks 28th in driving accuracy, 34th in GIR percentage and 26th in birdie average on Tour.
Grayson Murray
Not only is Murray's length of the tee impressive, but he also ranks ninth on Tour in par-three scoring, 32nd in SG: Putting and fourth in proximity from 150-175 yards during the early stages of his 2017-18 campaign. It took a win at the 2017 Barbasol Championship to salvage an otherwise mediocre rookie season last year, but he's finally found consistency with eight consecutive starts without a missed cut. Coming off back-to-back top-25s at the CareerBuilder Challenge
Spaniard sensation Jon Rahm continues his ascension as he secured his fourth win worldwide since the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open at last week's CareerBuilder Challenge, climbing to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking after defeating Andrew Landry in a playoff. The PGA Tour's West Coast Swing is staged in a familiar Torrey Pines venue this week, where Tiger Woods has been historically dominant as he plans to hear plenty of roars from the crowd in his return. We'll now take a look at several trends on Tour from a fantasy perspective as many of golf's giants begin to rebound from their winter breaks.
VALUE RISING
Austin Cook
Cook, who entered his rookie season on the PGA Tour ranked just outside the top-300 of the OWGR, has rapidly ascended to No. 112 thanks to six top-25 finishes in seven starts and a win at the RSM Classic. Currently fifth in the FedExCup standings, Cook ranks 28th in driving accuracy, 34th in GIR percentage and 26th in birdie average on Tour.
Grayson Murray
Not only is Murray's length of the tee impressive, but he also ranks ninth on Tour in par-three scoring, 32nd in SG: Putting and fourth in proximity from 150-175 yards during the early stages of his 2017-18 campaign. It took a win at the 2017 Barbasol Championship to salvage an otherwise mediocre rookie season last year, but he's finally found consistency with eight consecutive starts without a missed cut. Coming off back-to-back top-25s at the CareerBuilder Challenge and Sentry Tournament of Champions, Murray fired a four-under 68 during his first round at this week's Farmers Insurance Open.
Brandon Harkins
The 31-year-old rookie has kicked off his PGA Tour career with six made cuts in seven starts, including a pair of top-10s and five top-25s. Harkins is up to 32nd in the FedExCup standings as he sports the 26th-best scoring average on Tour.
VALUE FALLING
Bill Haas
Haas has missed three consecutive cuts for the first time since May of last year, but this time around it's come against much weaker competition at the RSM Classic, Sony Open and CareerBuilder Challenge. The 35-year-old vet ranks just 142nd in the FedExCup standings, while he's outside of the top-170 on Tour in SG: Off-the-Tee and SG: Putting through four events.
Harold Varner III
Varner has cooled down since back-to-back top-20s at the Wyndham Championship and Northern Trust near the end of his 2016-17 campaign, notching just two top-45 finishes in his last seven starts. He's also missed back-to-back cuts and is on pace to miss a third consecutive after posting a four-over 76 during his first round at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Whee Kim
Kim catapulted toward the top of the FedExCup standings after finishing runner-up at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and fourth at the CJ Cup in the fall, but he's since missed three cuts in a row and almost failed to break 80 in his last round at the CareerBuilder Challenge. The 25-year-old will be a risky fantasy asset until he shows consistency.
INJURY UPDATE
Brandon Hagy
Hagy, who was forced to withdraw prior to the CareerBuilder Challenge due to a wrist injury, is not in the field for this week's Farmers Insurance Open as well. He's also not listed as a participant at next week's Waste Management Phoenix Open, so his next chance to return will come at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
