This article is part of our PGA Tour Stats Review series.
This week the PGA Tour shifts to Las Vegas for the Shriners Open, the event that has made news off the course for the pools installed for fans this week. Back on the course, here's our stats preview:
History Lesson
The defending champion is Webb Simpson, who beat Jason Bohn and Ryo Ishikawa by six shots. In 2012, Ryan Moore beat Brendon de Jonge by one, and in 2011 Kevin Na beat Nick Watney by two.
Our pick this week is Ishikawa. Last week at the Frys.com Open, he tied for 19th, including a Saturday 67 that shot him into the top-20. He ranked 19th in strokes gained-tee to green last week. Simpson is also someone fantasy owners should look at - heck, he does have good memories here - but his Ryder Cup performance may scare some off.
Who Is Playing
The field includes FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel, making his first start since winning more than $13 million in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Also playing are Jimmy Walker, Jonathan Byrd (who won this tournament in 2010 on a walk-off ace), Tim Clark, Graham DeLaet, Padraig Harrington, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Camilo Villegas.
Besides the players we spoke of last week, our picks are Horschel and DeLaet. For Horschel, the reasons are self-explanatory, as he finished the 2013-14 season, ranked fourth in greens in regulation, 11th in total driving and 29th in the all-around ranking.
DeLaet is the Canadian who has come close to victory - he's finished
This week the PGA Tour shifts to Las Vegas for the Shriners Open, the event that has made news off the course for the pools installed for fans this week. Back on the course, here's our stats preview:
History Lesson
The defending champion is Webb Simpson, who beat Jason Bohn and Ryo Ishikawa by six shots. In 2012, Ryan Moore beat Brendon de Jonge by one, and in 2011 Kevin Na beat Nick Watney by two.
Our pick this week is Ishikawa. Last week at the Frys.com Open, he tied for 19th, including a Saturday 67 that shot him into the top-20. He ranked 19th in strokes gained-tee to green last week. Simpson is also someone fantasy owners should look at - heck, he does have good memories here - but his Ryder Cup performance may scare some off.
Who Is Playing
The field includes FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel, making his first start since winning more than $13 million in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Also playing are Jimmy Walker, Jonathan Byrd (who won this tournament in 2010 on a walk-off ace), Tim Clark, Graham DeLaet, Padraig Harrington, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Camilo Villegas.
Besides the players we spoke of last week, our picks are Horschel and DeLaet. For Horschel, the reasons are self-explanatory, as he finished the 2013-14 season, ranked fourth in greens in regulation, 11th in total driving and 29th in the all-around ranking.
DeLaet is the Canadian who has come close to victory - he's finished second three times in his career - and is as passionate as anyone on the course these days. He ranked 14th in driving distance, third in greens in regulation and 14th in strokes gained-total last season.
Last week's winner Sang-Moon Bae is also in the field.
Sunday Surgers
Here are the players who surged up Sunday's leaderboard and could carry that momentum into this week:
Steven Bowditch - Bowditch's Sunday 67 led to a 12 spot rise on the final leaderboard and a second-place finish at the Frys.com Open. He ranked second in strokes gained-total for the week.
Bryce Molder - Molder, whose game has not been sharp in recent years, shot a 68 that gave him an 11-spot boost into a much-needed T3 finish. Molder was 12th in strokes gained-putting and T3 in strokes gained-total.
Hudson Swafford - Swafford, a bright young player, also shot a Sunday 67 that moved him up 14 spots in the final results to give him a T8 finish. He finished the week 11th in driving distance and fifth in strokes gained-putting.
Robert Streb - Streb's final-round 67 moved him up 34 spots into a tie for 31st. What led to the dramatic rise? His final-round strokes gained-total was 4.865. Put another way: he gained nearly five shots on the field on Sunday.
