PGA Hot Topics

By Bryan Douglass

~ Hot Topic of the Week ~



- Rickie being Rickie


The only news coming out of Tiger's camp would be the continued list of his sponsors that fall in the wake of his insatiable libido and the fact the President of the United States didn't call him. Hunter Mahan got the win at the Phoenix Open and did so with a Ping Eye2 (yes, THAT Ping Eye2... a 59-degree wedge to be exact) in the bag and no one seems to care. Phil Mickelson moves on from the left-coast swing and has yet to contend on the course... no one is in shock.

The only thing folks want to talk about is Rickie Fowler. Here are the facts.

The kid has six starts on the season suffering three missed cuts balanced with two top-10 finishes. He played horribly in his first two events, shooting 75-72 at the Sony Open followed by a 74-70-75-75 to miss the cut moving into the fifth round. The following week he surged with a 67 on the links of the Farmers Insurance Open, closing with three consecutive 70s to hold on at T5. He went at it again the next week at the Northern Trust and missed the cut again, shooting 71-75. At that point he wasn't truly registered on the radar but the T5 made you wonder.

His last two outings are the source of buzz. Fowler was impressive in his opening round at a touch Pebble Beach track, shooting 67 on Thursday. He tailed off but never waned terribly (71-71-70) to finish T27. Last week at the Phoenix Open he not only started hot (65) at the TPC Scottsdale but he remained consistently hot throughout, shooting 67-69-68 to finish 2nd to Hunter Mahan.

He ranks 14th on the Money Leaders, 21st in driving distance (290.0), 49th in greens in regulation (71.4%), 172nd in putting (1.833), and 156th in birdies per round (3.20).

Those are the facts, here are the questions.


1) Does Rickie have the sack to work among the Tour's elite?

In an interesting debate held by multiple golf writers for Sports Illustrated on Monday (http://golf.com/) the topic of Rickie's decision to lay up on the par-5 15th had many raising this very question and thoughts on his motivations were split. Several voiced opinion that Fowler can't be this conservative this young. Others felt it was a simple choice made without thought of the scoreboard but more in an effort to make a sound golf decision. We suggest it is one instance and we aren't willing to determine if this will be a regular thing until that end of the pool gets a deep end.


2) Can Rickie Fowler qualify for The Masters?

There are 18 methods of qualification to make the Masters field for the season. All but one are tied to results from the past, and Fowler has none of those (he's a rookie). Thus his only ticket in would be to make the top 50 in the world as ranked by the Official World Golf Rankings in the week before the Masters begins.

Right now he resides at #77. He has four more events to make the grade and he's not necessarily guaranteed spots in those fields. It seems like a difficult task, but it is not impossible.


3) Is he the one?

As of today, no... but it's early. Tiger didn't translate immediately to the PGA but it didn't take him long to figure it out. Let's see what Rickie does moving forward before rushing him to the main stage.

And that's the new face of golf entertainment while the main face continues to stay home.


~ Stock Up ~



- Robert Allenby

Consider this. Last season Allenby, one of the recognized greats in the game (on the verge of definition as "elite"), made 22 starts on the PGA Tour. He pulled 16 cuts made with a disappointing three top-10 finishes, banking $1.9 million for a respectable-yet-frustrating campaign that ranks among the worst he's endured since turning pro in 1991. He closed out with two missed cuts over three starts with a T29 reprieve at the BMW Championship, a fitting end to a season to forget.

Thus far in 2010 Allenby has carded five starts on the Tour. He has yet to suffer a missed cut, he's matched his top-10 total from 2009, and he's already over half way to the bank balance he earned last season ($1.02 million).

He started the reversal of fortunes with a T2 at the Sony Open, carding four outstanding rounds (65-67-67-67) that nearly got him a win. He followed two weeks later with a T9 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open, another winning effort ruined by a 72 on Saturday (his only poor round of the week). There was a rough start one week later at the Northern Trust Open (72) but he rebounded to shoot 69 on Friday followed by 68 on Sunday to finish T27 (his worst finish thus far). He pushed into the quarterfinals in match play before falling but turned right around to hit the TPC Scottsdale last week for the Phoenix Open, finishing T8 (shooting 65 on Friday, tempered by a 70 on Sunday).

He ranks 16th on the Tour in greens in regulation (74.0%), 26th in sand saves (60.9%), 23rd in birdies per round (3.89), and 34th in putting (1.732).

The momentum isn't the only reason we will be listing Allenby as our pick to win this week's Honda Classic, but it sure helps. (Want to know the rest? Tune in to Owner's Edge tomorrow.)

~ Stock Down ~



- David Toms

Let's take the same approach traveled with Allenby.

Last season Toms made 27 appearances on the Tour, carding 21 cuts made (one of the best conversion rates on the tour) with seven top-10 finishes, representing one of the best seasons he's seen in recent memory. He nearly doubled Allenby in winnings, banking $3.05 million. He closed with nine consecutive cuts made, managing to finish in the top 40 in all but one of those stops.

This season it's not going so well. Toms has four starts on the Tour but already has one missed cut. To be fair, you might suggest he has two, dismissed on Day 1 of the WGC Match Play Championship to Sergio Garcia (nothing to be ashamed of, though Garcia certainly hasn't been his dominant self in some time). Before those falls Toms carded a troubled T43 finish at the Sony Open followed by a T42 at the Bob Hope. He ranks 67th on Tour in greens in regulation (70.2%), 103rd in sand saves (46.7%), 100th in birdies per round (3.42), and 65th in putting (1.755).

It's the flip side of the Stock Up coin we presented above, giving you two respected veterans we normally turn to for reliable fantasy returns, both coming from opposing directions and headed down different paths.


- Official World Golf Rankings
RANK PLAYER POINTS

1 Tiger Woods 12.34
2 Steve Stricker 7.83
3 Phil Mickelson 7.42
4 Lee Westwood 6.94
5 Ian Poulter 6.29
6 Paul Casey 5.94
7 Jim Furyk 5.26
8 Martin Kaymer 5.13
9 Rory McIlroy 4.93
10 Padraig Harrington 4.83
11 Henrik Stenson 4.81
12 Geoff Ogilvy 4.68
13 Sergio Garcia 4.37
14 Robert Allenby 4.30
15 Kenny Perry 4.29
16 Retief Goosen 3.98
17 Ernie Els 3.95
18 Robert Karlsson 3.95
19 Sean O'Hair 3.93
20 Stewart Cink 3.93
21 Camilo Villegas 3.87
22 Hunter Mahan 3.80
23 Ross Fisher 3.74
24 Luke Donald 3.67
25 Lucas Glover 3.56

- FedEx Cup Point Standings
PLAYER FEDEX POINT

Dustin Johnson 793
Steve Stricker 780
Ben Crane 617
Ian Poulter 592
Ryan Palmer 580
Hunter Mahan 570
Geoff Ogilvy 553
Bill Haas 532
Robert Allenby 529
Matt Kuchar 517
J.B. Holmes 474
Luke Donald 442
Rickie Fowler 437
Tim Clark 417
Brandt Snedeker 394
Paul Casey 383
Y.E. Yang 365
Rory Sabbatini 354
Charles Howell III 350
Retief Goosen 328
Alex Prugh 313
Marc Leishman 311
Nick Watney 273
Camilo Villegas 273
Brian Gay 268


Bryan Douglass is the Managing Editor of the Fanball Sports Network as well as an Associate Editor for Fanball.com, providing analysis and commentary for the NFL, NBA, and PGA neighborhoods of the world's preeminent sports community. He also serves as the Denver Broncos Correspondent (BroncosStable.com) for the Fanball Sports Network. You can find his work syndicated at RotoTimes.com, TheGolfChannel.com, and Comcast.net You can contact Bryan via email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Digg.