Rather, its one of those tracks that players will say is all out in front of you. That means its all about executing. 16. Beau Hossler getting the "royal treatment" at the 2022 @WMPhoenixOpen pic.twitter.com/WCcbmi60xU, Before the sun was even up, fans made a mad dash to get a good spot at the 16th Hole at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Saturday. Let's get down to the top 10 players to get it done at PGA National: 10 Min Woo Lee OWGR: T-47th, FedEx Cup: --, Min Woo Lee is making his Honda Classic debut this week on a sponsor exemption.. Tony Finau : I was a little bit surprised to see Finaus extremely strong results in high winds since hes not someone we often hear about when talking about those conditions. He had six birdies in his first eight holes in the second round before picking up three bogeys on the second nine. Ultimately, his top-10 exemption wasnt necessary, anyway, as the entire. Previous rank: 5 Previous rank: 9 Almost all the worlds top stars will be in attendance as this is one of the PGA Tours newly designated events. So, the test still tips at 7,125 yards, the tallest of the overseeded rough might not reach three inches and the TifEagle bermuda greens will run 12 feet on the Stimpmeter. He has 10 top-10s in 14 starts there, including a victory in 2020. Keegan Bradley : I always think of Bradley when I hear about potentially brutal conditions on a course. Who's out: Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton, Just missed the cut: DeChambeau, Hatton, Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Russell Henley, Brian Harman, Abraham Ancer, Louis Oosthuizen, Harris English, Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Matthew Wolff, PGA Tour Power Rankings: Time to make a change at the top, A battle for No. He tied for 45th at the Saudi International. PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, and the Swinging Golfer design are registered trademarks. * - Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COMs Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday. Justin Thomas : Was gaining momentum going into Riviera after a huge final round in Phoenix vaulted him to 4th, but he lost all of that with one of his worst iron performances. Even with a playoff loss Sunday, one can argue that the reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year is playing better than anyone right now -- even world No. Lee also was T-13th at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic where he finished ahead of names like Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard, Perez, Tyrrell Hatton, etc. Morikawa missed the cut at the WM Phoenix Open, his first missed weekend since the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews in July. All of golfs best players will be in attendance. but he tends to play his best golf in the southeastern United States. Brett White's wife, Natalie, was emotional watching her husband make his TOUR debut @WMPhoenixOpen. Rickie Fowler : You cant look past Fowlers recent iron play, as the former top 5 player has gained more than 15 strokes on approach in his last three starts. Hes found success on the Australasian Tour, Asian Tour, DP World Tour, etc. Choi had eight PGA Tour wins. His PGA TOUR Horse for the Course for daily fantasy golf based on course history. 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational picks, odds, Fantasy golf power rankings: PGA Tour predictions and best bets from top golf expert Jim Holliman, who has been rolling with his golf picks this season, offers his PGA Tour golf best bets and top players for the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill 6. Who's on the bubble in men's CBB? Hes never played the Arnold Palmer, but Cantlay has strong results in Florida and enjoys tough conditions. Corey Conners : Conners will be happy hes off the West Coast considering his usual struggles there. Scroll to the bottom to find odds comparisons for every golfer in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Previous rank: 13 PGA TOUR Rob Bolton's fantasy golf preview for the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational ROB BOLTON'S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.com's Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives.. Poston, Thomas Detry, Webb Simpson and Min Woo Lee will be among the notables reviewed in Golfbet Insider. MJ Daffue The first-time PGA TOUR member finally connected for his first top 25 of the season at The Honda Classic. pic.twitter.com/djDjZuFQFy, 321 yards 13 feet@MaxHoma23 with one of the best drives of the week on 17 @WMPhoenixOpen. 1 for more than another dozen years to catch Woods' record total of 679 weeks ranked atop the Official World Golf Ranking. He finished 10th in the Genesis Invitational last season, after claiming his second PGA Tour win in the event in 2021. The PGA Tour's 2021-22 season started way back in September but it kicks into high gear this week with the annual Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua's Plantation course.. According to Justin Ray of Twenty First Group, that's the best of any tour player during that span. The highest-ranked golfer is Louis Oosthuizen at 13th in the world. Viktor Hovland : Hovlands short game continues to let him down as he struggles to get much going since his run at The Open at St. Andrews. Copyright 2023 PGA TOUR, Inc. All rights reserved. As usual, a longshot that makes the top-25 this week is Alex Smalley. Just make sure to click here to create your new DraftKings account today. Ignoring guys who hit it straighter off the tee with average distance would discredit a group of guys who seem just as likely to win around Bay Hill. With primary rough at least 3 inches high, distance and accuracy off the tee plays up all week. Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Jordan Spieth and Hideki Matsuyama will be among the notables considered in Golfbet Insider. * - Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COMs Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday. Sundays finale easily will be the best round in the context of scoring conditions, but Bay Hills bite might strengthen even more than usual as the wind will rotate and howl in from the north. Rafael Campos The 34-year-old native of Puerto Rico hasnt been the same since an injured left elbow thwarted his only DNP in tournament history in 2020. But hes continued his elite golf as of late even if the driver hasnt quite been clicking. PGA Tour golf rankings at CBSSports.com include the world golf rankings, FedEx Cup points, and money list. In what appears to be the most star-studded event hosted at Riviera Country Club since the 1995 PGA Championship, only world No. Length is not a huge advantage this week as fairway woods and irons are the common play on many par-4s and par-5s. Still, given his track record at Bay Hill and doses of phenomenal form a fortnight ago at Riviera, youll excuse any competitor for not missing him on the leaderboard this week. Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy will once again be looking to be World No. Kevin Yu and Joseph Bramlett both finished T7 at Pebble and didnt get into the WM as predicted, but only Bramlett is committed to the Honda (as of Monday). For a variety of reasons. Jon Rahm : Rahms numbers in the model this week are just absurd, and hes a runaway No. There were plenty of changes in this week's edition of the PGA Tour Power Rankings, including a new No. That means a $10 bet returns $65 of profit if the red-hot Spaniard does in fact win the tournament. Make no mistake, however, par still remains a terrific score on the course. His strength is on approach and, given his roots, also confidence when the wind blows. What weve seen more often that not lately is Bermuda history continues to very relevant on Florida courses. Missed fairways will be inevitable, so playing out of the thick rough with short irons instead of long irons is a big advantage. Free to enter! "High praise from Michael Greller on @JordanSpieth's ridiculous shot on 17 @WMPhoenixOpen. 18. PGATOUR.coms Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives. Too bad we didn't get to see Rickie Fowler in action this past week at the Northern Trust Open. He was 120th in shots gained: approach going into the WM Phoenix Open. He'll have a chance to get things right at Riviera, where he tied for second, 2 strokes behind Joaquin Niemann, last season. Unlike the last two tournaments that exceeded the allotted reservation to make room for all automatically eligible PGA TOUR members both were designated events the cap of 144 at PGA National is the field size as advertised. The Korn Ferry trademark is also a registered trademark, and is used in the Korn Ferry Tour logo with permission. 1. Kokrak won the Houston Open in November, his third victory in 13 months. Hovland won the Hero World Challenge, an unofficial event that Woods hosted in the Bahamas in December, but he hasn't done anything spectacular in official tournaments so far in 2023. Thomas, the reigning PGA Championship winner, still seemed to be dialing things in heading into Phoenix. As of Tuesday, five commits are currently exempt into THE PLAYERS, so the PRO also is an opportunity for Nate Lashley, Max McGreevy, Scott Piercy, Austin Smotherman and Nick Watney to sharpen their tools for the PGA TOURs flagship event. The goal will be to hit shorter irons into challenging targets with invisible forces poised to smack even properly executed strikes out of the sky. Its, ahem, treated to one of the hardest par 70s on the PGA TOUR. Scottie Scheffler became the third straight first-time winner on tour, beating Patrick Cantlay in a sudden-death playoff with a 26-foot putt Sunday at TPC Scottsdale. Previous rank: 3 Brutally difficult conditions led to Scottie Scheffler persevering to win at 5-under last year. When it does, it could make a difference of 10-15 degrees cooler. Daytime highs could hit 90 degrees until the wind shifts. 21+: TheLines.com and all content herein is intended for audiences 21 years and older. The qualifications for this exclusive event are pretty simple: win a tournament during the 2021 calendar year, stretching across two seasons (January to December). With that being said, it seems that distance may be becoming less important since some changes from the Bay Hill superintendent that have opened the course up more and made the fairway width closer to average. This will be even more pronounced in tomorrow's slate, with winds looking to be brutal as the day progresses. His current form is absolutely terrible, as hes been dealing with an injury and the irons have been awful. Morikawa is back from the Middle East and is scheduled to play at Riviera Country Club, which will be his first start on the U.S. mainland since a runner-up at The CJ Cup at Summit in mid-October. He has two top-15 finishes in his past three starts, including a tie for 14th in Phoenix. is making his 2023 debut: Scheffler picked up his fifth victory over the past 365 days, but he hasn't been as consistent as Rahm during the past few months. Only 10 players broke par for 72 holes. Well see if history repeats itself again, and Scottie is clearly locked in. Weve seen some tougher courses for Par 5 scoring as of late, but Bay Hill is a place where you really want to get your birdies on those four holes and survive for the rest of the round. * - Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COMs Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday. Like the TV newscaster in the classic movie "Network," Hahn is mad as hell except he's mad as hell about the changes coming to the PGA Tour in 2024. Cantlay, who is ranked No. PGA Tour Power Rankings: 2016 Honda Classic 1. The Los Angeles native hasn't finished better than 26th in two starts at the Genesis Invitational. It should also be noted that Zalatoris was in the top 10 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2021. 1. Previous rank: 1 Ranking Four World Championship Tournaments, The Aussie and brother to LPGA star Minjee Lee. In 2022, Lee struggled early on with one top-10 in his first 20 starts. Predicting 2023 NFL starting QBs Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports. He hadn't missed the weekend since the 2021 Masters. Its an event dating back to 1972 thats been held at its current venue, PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, since 2007. TPC Southwind boasts 94 bunkers and 10 water hazards, and usually ranks as a top-third difficult course. pic.twitter.com/Eud55ZASZc, the mug shot of the mulletted streaker from Friday at the WM Phoenix Open is rather perfect pic.twitter.com/ISyMDuc3me, Scheffler, Rahm and McIlroy battle for the top spot in PGA Tour Power Rankings, A battle for No. The course measures 7,261 yards for a par 70. Xander Schauffele : Schauffele has been a bit lost since he tied the lead in Phoenix on Saturday, as he dropped to 10th there on Sunday and had a strange week at Riviera. Ranks 19th in the model. In addition to the aforementioned rewards, clutching the silver trophy and slipping on the iconic red sweater, the winner will be exempt into THE PLAYERS Championship through 2025 and his PGA TOUR membership will be extended through at least 2026. It was the largest 36-hole comeback at the WM Phoenix Open since it moved to TPC Scottsdale in 1987, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. It ranks as one of the tougher courses on the PGA Tour annually and in the event of high winds and dry conditions like we saw in 2020, it can play as the toughest course of the season. In five starts, Burns has made a respectable four cuts, but last years T-9th (72-69-75-71) was his first top-10 at Bay Hill. It didnt matter to him that there were two fewer par 5s at the time, but thats always been a cornerstone weapon for the 82-time PGA TOUR winner. Sundays finale easily will be the best round in the context of scoring conditions, but Bay Hills bite might strengthen even more than usual as the wind will rotate and howl in from the north. PGATOUR.coms Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives. 1 once again. Only eight of the top 50 from the Official World Golf Rankings are playing the Honda Classic. Its fun to watch the games best have to struggle to make par and be tested on a tough layout.