Charley Hoffman

For much of this past season, it appeared Hoffman was poised to finish well outside the top 150, as he hadn’t recorded a top 10 finish in over a calendar year. The 45-year-old Tour veteran then clutched up and carded a four-day total of 16-under par (T10) at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit to walk away with over $200k and reclaim his exempt status. Hoffman has been on a downward trajectory in the earnings department for the past few years now, but he always seems to find his way onto the leaderboard at a couple events per year.

Hoffman is approaching his mid-40s, which explains his lackluster seasons from 2018-2020, but it's harder to explain his $3 million from 2020-21. Most golfers get worse as they approach their mid-40s and while Hoffman appears to have found new life, it's hard to imagine he can sustain it for much longer. Hoffman isn't the type to fall off a cliff, but his numbers should drop this season after an incredibly productive 2020-21 campaign.

Hoffman has now finished 79th, 78th and 77th in the final FedEx Cup standings the last three seasons. He ended up top-20 in birdie average last season, but was outside the top 115 in scoring average. Two big areas for Hoffman to improve would be his short game and driving accuracy, especially considering his length at age 43. His best years are more than likely behind him.

Hoffman has been a fixture on the PGA Tour since he first joined in 2006. In that time, he's never lost his card and he's one of only a few members that have taken part in every FedEx playoff. He's had some great seasons in the past five years, but his last two have been less than stellar. Hoffman turned 42 last season and it's hard to ignore that his recent slide start as he turned 40. Hoffman will still produce at a certain level for the next few years, he won't fall off a cliff, but he also won't regain his old form either.

A very strange season for Hofmann as he failed to record a single top-10 all season. This after recording seven top-10s the year prior and over $4 million in earnings. Hoffman's $1.4 million in earnings was his lowest since 2012 and at the age of 41, it's reasonable to wonder if he's starting on a downward trend. Even if that is the case, that probably doesn't explain the precipitous drop-off last season though. Hoffman set the bar so far below his standard of the previous few seasons that even if he's in decline mode, he still could be a decent salary cap option this season...if he figured out where it went wrong last season.

Hoffman has four wins on the PGA Tour, and while he didn't win last season, it was his second best season on the PGA Tour. Hoffman posted two runner-ups and two third-place finishes last season, with a total seven top-10s. Hoffman's best season came in 2015, when he posted a win, two runner-ups and a 3rd-place showing on his way to more than $4 million in earnings. Hoffman's production dropped quite a bit the season following that one, however, and that's always a possibility here. Hoffman turned 40 last season and while his game doesn't appear to be on the slide, age sneaks up on everyone and a regression could be right around the corner. All things considered, Hoffman isn't a great pick in salary cap leagues next season.

Coming off an amazing season where he earned over $4 million in 2015, it would have been easy for a guy like Hoffman, who's lived between $1-$2 million most of his career, to mail it in, but he didn't and he again was highly-productive in 2016. Not only was he productive, but he picked-up another win, at the Valero Texas Open and topped $2 million in earnings for just the third time in his career. Hoffman seems to have settled-in at a higher level than he was playing at for most of his career, but he's still too much of a risk at this price in salary cap leagues. As mentioned, he's only been above $2 million three times and while he did make it above $4 million once, it's unlikely that he'll do that again. In drafts, Hoffman is a solid fifth-round pick.

Hoffman nearly cracked the $2 million mark last season, but perhaps his most impressive feat was making the cut in 21 of 25 starts. Hoffman has become a very reliable player, but his upside might not be as high as we once thought. Hoffman earned just over $2.5 million in 2010 and at that point it looked like he was on his way up the money list, but that wasn't the case. He regressed for a few years until last season and he maybe on his way back up again, but his peak looks a lot lower than it did just a few years ago. As such, he's a 50/50 prop in a salary cap league at best. In draft leagues he's a 5th-rounder.

Here's an interesting fact regarding Hoffman, he's never topped $2 million in earnings during one season. That's a little shocking as Hoffman had a stretch a few years back where it seemed like he was a player on the upswing, but his game has fallen off since then and considering his ceiling is under $2 million, there's really no reason to consider him at this number. He's a steady player though, so he has value in draft leagues, somewhere in the 50-60 range.

Hoffman surpassed $10 million on the PGA TOUR last year. To reach that feat, you have to be really good for a short period or pretty good for a long period. Hoffman falls into the latter category. He's been a regular on the PGA TOUR since 2006, and every season, with the exception of 2008, he's topped $1 million in earnings. His peak came in 2010 when he earned more than $2.5 million. That was supposed to be the start of big things, but Hoffman has since struggled to find his best form. He's probably a better golfer than he's shown the last couple years, but probably not worth the risk this season, either. In draft leagues, he should be available in the seventh round.

Although Hoffman played well for most of the 2011 season, he lacked the extra gear that we've seen from him, which meant no victories last season. Without the benefit of victory, Hoffman was unable to match his 2010 number, which came in at about $2.5 million. Hoffman seems to have a pretty high upside, but he's yet to really have a breakout season. And cracking $2 million is not exactly a breakout year these days. Hoffman is capable of winning multiple events, but you can't bank on "capable."

Hoffman has plenty of potential, but until last season he hadn't really reached it. Now the question is whether this is his best or just the best yet. Hoffman has a lethal combination of distance off the tee and solid putting, which means he'll have plenty of opportunities throughout the season. Considering that combination, expect to see continued improvement from Hoffman in 2011.

Hoffman has alternated good and bad seasons the past four years; so if that trend continues, Hoffman is due for a rough 2010. Using that method is admittedly not the best predictor of a golfer's performance, but Hoffman's game is truly a mystery and it's difficult to envision how he will play this season. Hoffman's struggles are generally due to the putter, so he'll need to roll the ball well if he hopes to find success this season. Hoffman has the ability to win tournaments, but his numbers over the past few years suggests that he's going to remain in the middle of the pack in 2010.

Hoffman came back down to Earth last year. Actually, it was more like a crash. Expectations rose quickly after a strong 2007 campaign, but Hoffman showed no signs of that from in 2008. In fact, since his win in January 2007, he's done next to nothing, relatively speaking of course. He's fairly young however and should be able to improve over the next few seasons.

Crazy-haired Charley Hoffman, yet another guy in a seemingly endless string of players that made most of the money from one event in 2007. In Hoffman's case it was the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, which was his first event of the season. From there Hoffman went on to earn a whopping one more top-10 the rest of the season. Let's see, two top-10s, one of which came last January, not a good sign for 2008.

Hoffman is perhaps best known as the goofy looking fellow with the hair sticking out of his cap, but this goofy looking fellow can play. Hoffman joined the PGA Tour in 2006 via the Nationwide Tour and got off to a pretty good start with a top-10 and a top-20 in his first four events. In all, he earned five top-5s and 10 top-25s. Not bad for a rookie. He also managed to play well throughout the year, which is always a good sign. Look for a nice jump in his numbers in 2007.