Golf Barometer: There Is no Joy in Mudville

The CareerBuilder Challenge provided golf fans with some new storylines after what seemed like ages of Justin Thomas and Hideki Matsuyama dominating the action. Cut-making machine Hudson Swafford won his first career PGA tournament, and runner-up Adam Hadwin cemented his name in the history books with a third-round 59 (13-under). While the beloved #59watch is popping up more than it used to, it is unlikely to occur again this week at the Farmers Insurance Open, where Derek Fathauer shot the lowest single-round score of the tournament in 2016, with a seven-under 65 on Friday. As Torrey Pines awaits, let's examine several other players on Tour who are improving, slumping, and returning from injury.

VALUE RISING

Francesco Molinari

After back-to-back seasons finishing right around the $1-million mark, Molinari has already reeled in $621,813 just three events into the 2016-17 season. On top of that, prior to a 12th-place CareerBuilder Challenge finish, the Italian finished T4-T4-T6-1 in his previous four worldwide events. No one hit more fairways (87.50%) than Molinari at the CareerBuilder, and his recent form could help translate to a high finish at this week's Farmers Insurance Open. DFS players should take note, as other may shy away from Molinari this week due to his missed cut at the event in 2016.

Charles Howell

Howell continued his spell of consistency with a T12 at the CareerBuilder last week, extending his streak of top-15 finishes to five. He currently ranks 22nd on Tour this season in GIR percentage (76.3%) and 14th in scoring average (69.76). His resume at the upcoming Farmers Insurance Open is promising as well, as he notched three top-10s in his last seven starts at the event and did not miss the cut at all during that span.

Marc Leishman

Leishman has not finished outside of the top 25 in his past four worldwide starts, with results of T20-T21-T24-5 heading into the Farmers Insurance Open, where he was runner-up in 2014. He ranks sixth on Tour in scoring average this season (69.31), but Torrey Pines will be the toughest challenge yet. The 57th-ranked player in the world has missed just one cut since May of 2016, and he should continue to serve as a reliable cash-game option in DFS formats.

Martin Laird

With an average finish of 14th through four events during the 2016-17 season, Laird has already earned nearly half of the $1.2 million he secured the entire previous campaign. He finished tied for ninth at the CareerBuilder Challenge in his first event of the 2017 calendar year, following results of T13-T27-T8 in his three prior starts. Laird ranks in the top 25 in both driving accuracy and GIR percentage as he heads into the Farmers Insurance Open, where he finished inside the top 10 in back-to-back years.

VALUE FALLING

Paul Casey

The 16th-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking has struggled so far in January, posting a T58 at the CareerBuilder and missing the cut at the Sony Open, two events that typically produce some of the lowest scores of the season. Casey is averaging just over 70 strokes per round in 2017, and the Farmers Insurance Open will not provide much of a reprieve given the fact he has missed the cut at Torrey Pines two years in a row. Putting woes have haunted the Englishman this season, as he currently ranks outside the top 100 in both putts per hole and putts per round.

Charley Hoffman

While Casey's scoring average thus far has been disappointing for a top-20 player, it is not in the same range as the 68th-ranked Hoffman, who is averaging well over two shots more at 72.9 strokes per round.Through five events during his 2016-17 campaign, Hoffman has already registered four missed cuts despite playing against less-than-stellar competition. His tee ball has been acceptable at times, but nearly every other aspect of his game has been atrocious by his usual standards. Hoffman sits outside the top 200 in scrambling, and his iron play must improve as a whole: he ranks a woeful 209th in par-three scoring up to now.

Daniel Summerhays

Two missed cuts and only one top-40 finish through five events was not the start to the season Summerhays was looking for. He failed to shoot 70 or better at the CareerBuilder Challenge on his way to missing the cut by five strokes, and he is currently earning just $10,852 per entry. To put that in perspective, he averaged nearly seven times that number per event last season on his way to just over $2 million in winnings. Although the sample size is small, the unheralded Summerhays will need to turn things around quickly before falling deeper into the hole.

INJURY UPDATE

Phil Mickelson

On the heels of a three-month hiatus caused by multiple hernia surgeries, Lefty returned to action last week at the CareerBuilder Challenge and posted a respectable top-25 finish. He has plenty of room for improvement off the tee, but the veteran's short game and putter appeared on point as usual, making him a viable fantasy option on a weekly basis moving forward. The upcoming Farmers Insurance Open presents quite a challenge for Mickelson, however, as he has failed to play the weekend every year since finishing 51st in 2013.

Willy Wilcox

Wilcox, who underwent wrist surgery in August, will tee it up on Tour this week for the first time since July. He last appeared at this event in 2014, when he missed the cut by a whopping eight strokes and finished with a two-day score better than only six fellow competitors. The 30-year-old is now playing under a minor medical exemption, but he will have three events to earn 55.399 FedExCup points or $41,049, both numbers that are easily attainable. Wilcox is certainly a risky fantasy option given his layoff, but the fact that he will be attempting to avoid a return to the Web.com Tour should help sharpen his focus right out of the gate.