The PGA Tour's Florida Swing is over and after a stretch of hole-outs and other clutch moments, we move to Texas for two weeks, beginning with the Texas Open. And with the Masters increasingly on players' minds, golfers will look to grab some momentum heading into Augusta. Here's this week's stats column.
History Lesson
The defending champion is Steven Bowditch, who beat Daniel Summerhays and Will MacKenzie by one. In 2013, Martin Laird beat Rory McIlroy by two shots, while in 2012 Ben Curtis beat Matt Every and John Huh by two.
Well, needless to say, those names this side of McIlroy and Every have not made waves lately, and McIlroy is taking the next two weeks off to prep for Augusta. So our only recommendation is Every, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week with a clutch putt on the 72nd hole, finishing the week second in strokes gained-tee to green and eighth in strokes gained-putting.
Who is Playing
The field includes Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Jimmy Walker, Daniel Berger, Graham DeLaet, Jason Dufner, Harris English, Jim Furyk, Billy Horschel, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Justin Thomas and Nick Watney.
Our picks are Spieth and Dustin and Zach Johnson. Spieth won at the Valspar Championship in that thrilling playoff and showed how lethal his short game and determination can be when on. For the season he ranks 11th in strokes gained–tee to green, 23rd in strokes gained–putting and third in strokes gained–total. Not surprisingly, he's also 19th
The PGA Tour's Florida Swing is over and after a stretch of hole-outs and other clutch moments, we move to Texas for two weeks, beginning with the Texas Open. And with the Masters increasingly on players' minds, golfers will look to grab some momentum heading into Augusta. Here's this week's stats column.
History Lesson
The defending champion is Steven Bowditch, who beat Daniel Summerhays and Will MacKenzie by one. In 2013, Martin Laird beat Rory McIlroy by two shots, while in 2012 Ben Curtis beat Matt Every and John Huh by two.
Well, needless to say, those names this side of McIlroy and Every have not made waves lately, and McIlroy is taking the next two weeks off to prep for Augusta. So our only recommendation is Every, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week with a clutch putt on the 72nd hole, finishing the week second in strokes gained-tee to green and eighth in strokes gained-putting.
Who is Playing
The field includes Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Jimmy Walker, Daniel Berger, Graham DeLaet, Jason Dufner, Harris English, Jim Furyk, Billy Horschel, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Justin Thomas and Nick Watney.
Our picks are Spieth and Dustin and Zach Johnson. Spieth won at the Valspar Championship in that thrilling playoff and showed how lethal his short game and determination can be when on. For the season he ranks 11th in strokes gained–tee to green, 23rd in strokes gained–putting and third in strokes gained–total. Not surprisingly, he's also 19th in scrambling from rough.
Dustin Johnson won Doral in impressive fashion -- including an ace on Saturday -- cementing his comeback after a long layoff. For the week he was first in driving distance, T1 in greens in regulation, second in strokes gained-tee to green and first in strokes gained-total.
Zach Johnson, meanwhile, had an albatross at Bay Hill last week -- the second in two days -- and an overall wild Sunday round that featured the best and worst that he has to offer. What we like, though, is that his game is trending upward, as evidenced by his T21 ranking in driving accuracy and T27 placement in greens in regulation.
Sunday Surgers
These strong final rounds could help you this week at the Valero:
The aforementioned Zach Johnson, who rose 20 spots with that final round 66 that led to a T9 finish and included the double eagle.
Gary Woodland made an 18-spot jump with his Sunday 69 into a T21 result. He ranked fifth in driving distance for the week.
Zac Blair shot a final-round 69 that also helped elevate him 18 spots to a T21 finish. His round, which featured four birdies offset by only one bogey, saw him gain two of the 2.5 shots he gained on the field from tee to green.
