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PGA Power Rankings: The 148th Open Championship

By Chris Aliperto

CARNOUSTIE, SCOTLAND - JULY 22: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland reacts on the 18th green during the final round of the Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Club on July 22, 2018 in Carnoustie, Scotland. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
CARNOUSTIE, SCOTLAND - JULY 22: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland reacts on the 18th green during the final round of the Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Club on July 22, 2018 in Carnoustie, Scotland. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/R&A/R&A via Getty Images) /
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PGA Power Rankings
PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Hideki Matsuyama of Japan plays a shot from the fifth tee during the final round of the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on June 16, 2019 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images) /

PGA Power Rankings: The 148th Open Championship

15. Hideki Matsuyama – (29)

The continued solid play of Matsuyama pushes him up to number 15 in this week’s PGA Power Rankings. There has been nobody more consistent in 2019, as he has still not missed a cut, and his worst finish was his T-33 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Matsuyama has finished inside the top-20 nine times in 15 total events, and he comes into the 148th Open Championship off of a T-7 at the 3M Open in his last action.

Although Matsuyama has been ranked as high as number two in the world in his career, he is still seeking his first major championship victory. He almost had his moment at the 2017 U.S. Open, but Brooks Koepka was too much winning by four strokes, and Matsuyama had to settle for a T-2. In six Open Championships, he has missed two cuts including last year at Carnoustie, and his best finish was in his first appearance in 2013 at Muirfield G.C. where he T-6.

14. Matt Kuchar – (13)

It has been a pretty eventful 2019 for Matt Kuchar, to say the least. He came into the new year off a win at the Mayakoba Classic to wrap up the fall swing and grabbed another early win at the Sony Open. He has added three top-five finishes since, and he has been right in the mix at each of the first three major championships this season.

Kuchar T-12 at the Masters at the seasons first major and his best finish of the three was his T-8 at the PGA Championship. The U.S. Open was actually his worst of the three, but his T-16 finish there was solid as well.

The 41-year-old has never won a major, and the best performance in his career in one was at the 146th Open Championship in 2017, where Kuchar finished alone in second place, three strokes behind Jordan Spieth at Royal Birkdale. He T-9 last year at Carnoustie, giving him back-to-back top-tens at the Open Championship.

13. Rickie Fowler – (14)

It’s not the intention of this page of the PGA Power Rankings this week, but this is looking like the group of golfers you would think have maybe won a major championship at this point in their careers. Fowler has a total of three runner-up finishes in majors in his career, with two coming in 2014, and his last at the 2018 Masters. Fowler T-28 last year at Carnoustie, and his recent play coming into Royal Portrush has not been up to par.

Fowler used the Scottish Open as a tune-up, and as a past champion in that event, he missed the cut. It was his second event since the U.S. Open where he T-43, as he also underachieved at the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic as well, where he finished T-46. Of all of the golfers in the top-20 in this week’s PGA Power Rankings for the 148th Open Championship, Fowler might be in the worst form coming in.

12. Adam Scott – (17)

It would be very interesting to see what Scott may have done this year if he played a little bit more. He has dropped to number 17 in the world rankings despite three straight top-tens and five straight top-20’s, and it is rare that we see golfers actually drop in the rankings simply for being idle. That string of top-20’s dates all the way back to the Players Championship where he T-12, and Scott has only played in four events since then.

Scott T-8 at the PGA Championship and T-7 at the U.S. Open this year, and even though he skipping mostly every event, it seems to be working for him. He T-17 last year at Carnoustie for the 147th Open Championship, but he has not missed a cut in this event since 2009. From 2012-2015, Scott had an impressive stretch of four straight top-tens at the Open as well.

11. Xander Schauffele – (11)

Much like Scott, Schauffele has also been pretty limited in his overall action in 2019. Along with Kuchar, he was among the best in the game with his win during the fall swing at the WGC-HSBC Champions, as he was also able to parlay that into another win at the Sentry Tournament of Champions to start 2019. Schauffele has played just 11 events since that win at the Sentry TOC, and he has been on top of his game at major championships once again this year.

He is still yet to win a major, but for just being 25-years-old, it seems inevitable that his day will come soon. Xander finished T-2 at the Masters, and in his last action he T-3 at the U.S. Open. Last year at Carnoustie for the 147th Open Championship, Schauffele was also very close, as he T-2 with Rory Mcllroy, as both came up just short of eventual champion Francesco Molinari.

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