Golf Barometer: The Grill-o is cold

A loaded 77-player field at the WGC-Mexico Championship certainly projected to provide drama throughout, but who knew it would come in the form of an abundance of hole-outs from off the green. For those counting at home, there were indeed 77 hole-outs over the course of the tournament, and I'll spare you the trouble of calculating any complex math by telling you that's an average of one per golfer. Justin Thomas notched the most costly with an ace on the par-three 13th, while Dustin Johnson surged to his second consecutive victory as he proved deserving of the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. We'll now take a look at several players rising in value, underperforming, or returning from injury.

VALUE RISING

Jason Dufner

A top-25 finish at the WGC-Mexico Championship makes it three in a row for Dufner, who finished T14 and T25 in his previous two events heading into his debut at the Club de Golf Chapultepec. Other than ranking 14th in driving accuracy on Tour, the 39-year-old hasn't jumped off the page statistically as of late despite producing quality results in recent weeks. He has posted three consecutive top-25 finishes at the Valspar Championship, so recent form combined with course history may project Dufner as a highly-owned play in DFS formats this week.

Graham DeLaet

Three consecutive top-20 performances earns DeLaet a spot in the rising category, having also moved into the top 60 of the FedExCup standings along with this season's money list. He has not surpassed the million-dollar mark in terms of earnings since the 2013-14 season, but is on pace to do so this year over $600k in winnings through eight tournaments. He'll have a quality opportunity to reel in the dough this week at the Valspar Championship, having finished top 10 at the event in his last two tries.

Lucas Glover

For someone who began the 2016-17 outside the top 200 of the OWGR, it has been a praiseworthy campaign for Glover thus far. He has strung together seven consecutive missed cuts, while his worst finish during this stretch came at the CareerBuilder Challenge where he finished T41. Glover's ball striking has been a major key, currently ranking eighth on Tour in strokes gained off-the-tee and third in GIR percentage. In his last three showings at the Valspar Championship, he sandwiched a T24 with two missed cuts.

Wesley Bryan

A string of back-to-back fourth-place finishes in his last two starts launched the trick-shot phenom into the top 80 of the OWGR following four consecutive missed cuts earlier in the season. The soon-to-be 27-year-old has become one of the better rookies on Tour, currently ranking 25th in strokes gained around-the-green as he continues to showcase an impressive short game. He certainly does not display dangerous length off the tee, but he makes up for it with his skill on approach shots from 75-to-125 yards out. Bryan is slated to be a popular value pick at this week's Valspar Championship, despite making his debut at the event.

VALUE FALLING

Emiliano Grillo

Grillo capped of his 2016 calendar year with five consecutive top-20 results, but 2017 has been a completely different story thus far. He began with a missed cut at the CareerBuilder Challenge in January, and followed that up with no finish better than a T33 in his next four tournaments. This past week in Mexico, Grillo was brutal with his wedge play around the greens while also hitting just 56 percent of his greens in regulation. The Argentinian has been atrocious with the flat stick, currently ranking 195th on Tour in strokes gained putting. He will need to polish several areas of his game if he hopes to return to his 2016 form.

Patrick Reed

Reed began his 2017 campaign in decent form with a T6 at the SBS Tournament of Champions followed by a T12 at the CareerBuilder Challenge, but he has since posted just one top-25 result to go along with three finishes outside of the top 50 in his past four events.He ended the 2015-16 PGA Tour season as the No. 8 golfer in the OWGR, but has fallen to the No. 12 spot due to a string of mediocre performances. He currently ranks outside of the top 125 on Tour in both strokes gained tee-to-green and strokes gained approach-the-green, indicating struggles with his irons and wedges. On Reed's side in the short run is his promising track record at the upcoming Valspar Championship, finishing tied for seventh and runner-up in back-to-back seasons.

Jim Furyk

The 46-year-old veteran has just one top-40 finish through three events in 2017, with an unimpressive T39 at the Genesis Open in February. Most recently, Furyk finished T58 at the 77-man WGC-Mexico Championship as he failed to post any sub-70 rounds at the Par-71 Club de Golf Chapultepec. He was 71st in strokes gained off-the-tee among the field, despite hitting the ninth-most fairways in regulation as he struggled with the rest of his ball striking. He'll be in the field for this week's Valspar Championship, where he has posted results of T40 and T20 in his past two starts.

INJURY UPDATE

Lee McCoy

McCoy is slated to return at this week's Valspar Championship following a four-month absence from tournament play due to a wrist injury, which he suffered during a minor car accident in early November. He appeared in just one event prior to the the injury, finishing T41 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, but he finished alone in fourth at the Valspar Championship in 2016. He then went on to miss the cut in his next six consecutive events, so fantasy gamers may not have much faith heading into this year's edition.