PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic

We do a lot of DFS site specific coverage here at FantasyCPR, so in an effort to bring in new golf fans, and look at Fantasy Golf as a whole, I am excited to bring you my PGA Power Rankings for this weeks inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic, taking place at Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Michigan. 

This PGA Power Rankings article will cover the top 20 golfers for this event, and with each golfer will come a short blurb with some justification to their respective rankings. Before we do that, let’s touch briefly on the history of the this event.

PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic – Course and History

This week, the PGA tour will head to Michigan for the first time since the Buick Open lost sponsorship and came to an end just over ten years ago. Detroit Golf Club will be the host first Rocket Mortgage Classic as it replaces the Quicken Loans National, and this will be the courses first time hosting a PGA Tour event. The club itself was founded in 1899, and while it stays true to its historic roots and scenery, it has made plenty of upgrades over the years as you could imagine.

Plenty of holes have been lengthened to get this course PGA ready, and the one that stands out the most that could be rather difficult, is the mammoth 625 yard par five fourth hole. In total, Detroit Golf Club will play at par 72 with four par fives, and will play right around 7,300 yards total.

Dustin Johnson who comes in sort of struggling for his standards as of late highlights the field, and he will be joined most notably by Rickie Fowler, and U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland. Other stars such as Hideki Matsuyama, and the red-hot Travelers Championship champ Chez Reavie are listed in field for this first time event as well. Not to be forgotten, PGA Tour rookies Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland will also be in Detroit for their second tournaments as professionals.

With zero course history, finding comparable golf courses may be a help to those using stats to try to make a DFS model this week. I personally do not believe such a correlation can be made that is foolproof when factoring in unpredictable things like weather and different climate in comparable courses, so this is a technique that is just not for me. I will instead put a heavy focus on recent form, and just pay attention to tweets and social media from different golfers early in the week to try to get a feel for who is there and practicing.

With a couple of long par threes, and a par five that will be tough to score on as well, it appears as though really dialing in on the different aspects of this course will be the most help. This was my other consideration along with recent form when finalizing this weeks PGA Power Rankings. Please click the bar below to proceed to the rankings.

PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic

***The following golfers are my top 20 overall in this weeks field. Each golfer will be followed by their official golf world ranking (OWGR) in parenthesis. All rankings are prior to the finish of the Travelers Championship.***

20. Charles Howell III – (54)

We start this weeks PGA Power Rankings with a gut call, considering I will be higher on him than most. Howell has not been playing the caliber of golf he is capable of as of late, but with generally the weakest overall field we have had a for a PGA event in quite some time, he sneaks in the top-20 this week.

Howell had a great run that started with his win at the RSM Classic at the end of 2018, and pretty much ended with his T-15 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. In that span, he had six top-20’s in just eight events.

Since that T-15, Howell has played eight more events, and his best finish was a T-32 at the Masters. He has missed three cuts, and comes into Detroit off of a T-52 at the U.S. Open.

19. Viktor Hovland – (356)

After his T-12 at the U.S. Open in his last tournament as an amateur, Hovland and former Oklahoma State teammate Matthew Wolff each made their pro debuts last week at the Travelers Championship. As it turned out, both made the weekend, but Wolff fell victim to the MDF, and did not make the final round.

Hovland went into Sunday at -4, but a final round of +3 put him in a T-54 in is pro debut. Both will be in Detroit for the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic this week, and with a weak field overall, this could turn into a coming out party for all the kids this weekend. Expect to see a couple more of them later in the PGA Power Rankings as you continue to read further.

18. Kevin Tway – (103)

In easily one of the best turn around stories thus far in 2019, Kevin Tway has slowly been working his way back to relevance, and he seemed to have finally put it all together last week at the Travelers Championship. Tway won the Safeway Open to start the fall swing, and actually put together a nice fall, but as soon as January hit Tway fell apart, until recently.

The rough stretch started with a missed cut at the Sony Open, and after he followed that with a T-43 at the Farmers Insurance Open, he went on to miss six straight cuts. Things finally started to click for Tway in April however, as he started a current run of making the weekend in six straight, with a T-36 at the Masters. Last week he had his best finish since his win, with a T-5 at TPC River Highlands with a score of 11-under par.

17. Billy Horschel – (41)

Consistency is king this week, and although Billy Horschel has not won an event since the AT&T Byron Nelson in 2017, he has knocked on the door with a couple of runner-up finishes since then. Horschel has missed just one cut in 2019, and even though he has cracked the top ten just once with a T-9 at the Memorial, it would a shock if he missed the cut in this field. He last teed it up at the U.S. Open, where he T-32. Prior to Pebble Beach, Horschel notched three straight top-25’s.

16. Rory Sabbatini – (111)

We have not heard a lot about a Sabbatini it seems for the last few weeks here in the PGA Power Rankings, but he continues to make cuts in every event he plays going back ro the Pebble Beach Pro Am. In his last action, Sabbatini T-43 at the U.S. Open, extending his streak of made cuts to eleven.

It wasn’t that long ago he was playing incredible golf, as he posted four straight top-20’s starting at the RBC Heritage where he T-10, and ending at the Charles Schwab Challenge where he T-6. In between the streak ending and the U.S. Open, Sabbatini was also solid at the Memorial, where he T-27.

PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic

15. Kevin Kisner – (27)

Almost in the exact mold of Horschel, Kisner is another thirty-something having a consistent 2019. Kiz had a stretch of finishing somewhere in the 20’s earlier this season, that lasted seven events spanning from the WMPO to the Masters.

After a slight hiccup where he missed a couple of cuts at the PGA Championship and at the Charles Schwab Challenge, Kisner has now made the weekend in three straight, and he comes into Detroit Golf Club off a T-15 last week at the Travelers Championship, where he finished 8-under par for the tournament.

14. Byeong-Hun An – (53)

Benny An might be the hardest golfer to predict from week to week. We know he has great all-around game, and he is the poster boy it seems for old, “if he can putt” cliché, but the missed cut last week at the Travelers after back-to-back solid weeks was a shocker to me, and it hit my PGA DFS lineups like a ton of bricks.

After a T-17 at the Memorial was followed by a T-16 at the U.S. Open in his most recent action, it looked as though An was returning to the form he was in back in March and early April, when he posted a couple of top-tens. It will be interesting to see if he stays in a slight funk here, or finds his game again.

13. Jason Kokrak – (69)

In an even more surprising missed cut last week, Kokrak had one of the longest active streaks of making the cut snapped, as he simply could not make a putt to save his life. The rest of his game was off as well, and from what I saw, it looked as though he did not have it mentally, and he was never able to hone it in.

Any time a professional golfer three-putts from eight feet or less more than once over the span of two days, let alone four holes, it is safe to say there is something off. They all weren’t eight feet or less of course, that was an exagerration, but Kokrak three-putted on the first four holes on Thursday at TPC River Highlands, and there is just no recovery from that. With a fresh start to work with here, it will be interesting if he just had a case of the yips on the green, and can bounce right back, or if he continues to struggle.

12. Bubba Watson – (22)

Recent form won the battle versus course history last week on this one at the Travelers, where the two-time champion continued his stretch of less than stellar play. To be honest, I really didn’t want to even rank him this high this week after last weeks disappointment, but the rest of this field sort of leaves me no other choice.

TPC River Highlands was supposed to be one of the courses that Bubba just excels at, but it just did not work out, as Watson continued to struggle and finished 1-under par for the tournament. To sum up just how bad it has been for the last couple of months for Watson, the T-54 last week was his best finish in four events since his T-12 at the Masters. He has missed two cuts both at the subsequent major championships, and T-63 at the RBC Canadian Open.

11. Patrick Reed – (25)

If there was a golfer we touched on so far in this weeks rankings that would be comparable to Billy Horschel, it would be Patrick Reed. Since Reed won his green jacket in 2018, big finishes are few and far between. And in a sense, he just like Horschel considering the fact he makes cuts, he just has not cracked the top-20 often in 2019.

Surprisingly, Reed has just one top-20 finish since the Farmers Insurance Open back in January, and that was a T-14 in the heat and elevation at the WGC-Mexico at the end of February. He has missed just two cuts since then, but his best finish in that span was his T-30 last week at the Travelers Championship.

PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic

10. Brandt Snedeker – (44)

Snedeker could have made a push to be a little higher this week, but just could not get over the hump last week at TPC River Highlands and string any birdies together. Snedeker shot 1-under par on Sunday to move him to 3-under par for the tournament, which was good for a T-43 finish.

A favorite of mine a couple of weeks ago at Pebble Beach for the U.S. Open, Snedeker was not able to fully bounce back from a disastrous weekend, that left him alone in 77th place. Despite the poor finishes the last couple times out, Sneds has made six cuts in a row, and does have three top-20’s in this stretch, highlighted by his T-4 at the RBC Canadian Open just three weeks ago.

9. Ryan Moore – (79)

Like Bubba before him, Moore was another horse for the course last week at TPC River Highlands. Only difference is Moore came to play a little bit. Ryan Moore has not been the model of consistency like the others before him, but he comes into this event off of a T-15 last week, and has put together a respectable run going back to February.

Moore has played ten events since that T-28 at the Genesis Open mid-February, and he has missed just two cuts since then, one of which at the very difficult Bethpage Black for the PGA Championship. His best finish in this span was his solo third at the Valero Texas Open, but other than his T-15 last week, he has only cracked the top-20 one additional time. Moore has put together back-to-back solid weeks though, as he T-33 in his previous action at the Memorial.

8. Kevin Streelman – (92)

I never thought in a million years, in any field, would Kevin Streelman crack the top-ten in any PGA Power Rankings published on this planet. Yeah I like to exaggerate a little bit today I am in that kind of mood, but seriously no discredit to what this 40-year-old is doing on the golf course as of late, as like Ryan Moore, he was another course horse who did not disappoint last week.

Unlike Bubba Watson, our other previous course horse from last week, Streelman had been playing great in limited action prior to the Travelers Championship. With the strength of the field we have this week, there is little reason to doubt Streelman can keep this run going.

He has now made six straight cuts, with a total of four top-20’s, highlighted by two sixth place finishes, and a solo fourth at the Memorial. Streelman finished 8-under par at the Travelers Championship, good for a T-15.

7. Sungjae Im – (64)

I promised some more young guns and some of the freshest faces on the PGA Tour back when I talked about Viktor Hovland, and the first of which is the 21-year-old South Korean Sungjae Im. Im has finally had a week off here and there after playing nearly every week since his pro debut at the Safeway Open, and it looks to have done him some good as of late. He hit the rookie wall a bit in April, starting with a missed cut at the RBC Heritage.

Im went on to miss a couple more cuts at the PGA Championship and the Charles Schwab Challenge, but seems to have turned it around a bit since his T-57 at the Memorial. A solo seventh place at the RBC Canadian Open was his fifth top-ten in 2019, and not qualifying for the U.S. Open two weeks ago gave him another week off he probably did not want.

He was ready for the Travelers though, and he actually played his best golf on Sunday. Im shot 4-under on Sunday, and finished 6-under par for the tournament, good for a T-21.

6. Joaquin Niemann – (125)

Young gun number two, and still my personal favorite, Niemann has worked his way close to the top five this week. I am not even sure if he is still technically a rookie, but with all of the hype and focus on Wolff and Hovland, this 20-year-old from Chile stole the show, as he showed what he is capable of if he gets hot with the flat stick.

If you have followed my articles since last year, you have heard plenty about Niemann, as I wrote him up nearly every week back in my days of writing up rankings for DRAFT. He has made four straight cuts since his last miss at the PGA Championship, and his T-5 last week at TPC River Highlands matched his best finish in his young professional career.

PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic

5. Chez Reavie – (48)

I have been back and forth between work, Twitter, and writing finishing this beast up, because I keep expecting this man to withdraw after he capped off his recent solid stretch by capturing the victory at the Travelers Championship. So far the only WD I have seen from the PGA Power Rankings (after I wrote him up of course) is Abraham Ancer, and after Chez notched his first win 11 years, it looks like he will be right back out there this week.

After his very quiet T-3 two weeks ago at the U.S. Open in which I think I saw maybe three shots of his total on televised content, Reavie was all systems go at TPC River Highlands, and he carried a six stroke lead heading into Sunday. Admittedly fighting nerves and a surging Keegan Bradley, Reavie ultimately won by four strokes, but Bradley was within a stroke down the stretch.

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Chez has missed one cut in his last seven events, and has cracked the top-20 in four of his last five. With a win and a T-3 the last two weeks, he is the hottest golfer in this field by far.

4. Hideki Matsuyama – (28)

The three and four spots were a toss-up this week, but Matsuyama will settle in at number four this week. After Jason Kokrak finally missed a cut this last week, it appears as though Hideki-Bot now has the longest stretch of consecutive cuts made, as he closes in a full year going all the way back to the Open last year. Even more impressive, in 12 events since the Sony Open in January, Matsuyama’s worst finish was a T-33 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Matsuyama will come into Detroit Golf Club off of a T-21 at the U.S. Open in his last action, and he has now strung together four straight top-25’s. He has not won since the 2017 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, but he has notched four top-tens, with his most recent being his solo sixth place finish at the Memorial Tournament earlier this month. I think he gets it done in Detroit this week, as he is my pick to win this inaugural event.

3. Rickie Fowler – (14)

Fowler got the nod over Matsuyama, but it mostly had to do with the fact that his OWGR is just much higher at the moment. Hideki is arguably in a little better recent form as of late, but we all know if Fowler comes to play this week his chances of winning are as good as any.

Since his win at the WMPO, and his T-2 at the Honda Classic, it has been a less than stellar stretch for his standards leading into this week. He had a nice run of three straight top-20’s that included a T-4 at the Wells Fargo Championship and a T-9 at the Masters, but other than a T-14 at the Memorial, the last four events for Rickie haven’t been great. Fowler T-43rd at Pebble Beach for the U.S. Open in his last action.

2. Gary Woodland – (12)

You can always tell a victory like the one Woodland had at the U.S. Open two weeks ago will be memorable for years to come, when you still think about exactly how it ended almost daily since it happened. This is where I am at, and truthfully a lot of it has to do with his character, and who he chooses to be as a person.

I am big fan of golf, and I like some “villains” like Matt Kuchar, but every story you hear about Woodland is positive. Just the fact that he will sign nearly every autograph for kids, which I have been told by multiple people he does as often as possible, makes him easy to root for.

Woodland T-8 at the PGA Championship so his win at Pebble was not the longest of long shots, but a T-52 at the Memorial Tournament in between left some in doubt. Overall in 2019, the win at the U.S. Open was his fifth top-ten in 13 total events.

1. Dustin Johnson – (2)

In previous weeks, I have stated that the number one pick in a field like this would have been the number one pick with a bullet. This is a very similar spot, but I am finally starting to believe that the top players in the game like DJ and Brooks Koepka just do not feel the need to find that extra gear that propels them to the golfers they are when they are winning major championships.

That is not to say Johnson will not be trying here, I hope my view is not twisted here. However, a rough start for the best of the best as of late has led to average finishes. Going back to April, Johnson was in contention at both the Masters and the PGA Championship, but he T-28 at the RBC Heritage in between, and has not been himself his last two times out either. He T-20 at the RBC Canadian Open where he was a heavy favorite, and he T-21 at the U.S. Open two weeks ago in his last action.

Thanks for stopping by FantasyCPR and checking out my PGA Power Rankings, and our ever-expanding fantasy golf coverage. Be sure to keep an eye out for my FanDuel article coming soon. All information from this article is derived from OWGR, (cited previously) Data Golf, and Smart Golf Bets. Much thanks as always to these free sources of information.

Please give me a follow on Twitter with the link at the top of the page, and feel free to ask any PGA DFS questions if you wish. Good luck with your Fantasy Golf this weekend!