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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 10: Tommy Fleetwood of England smiles during a practice round prior to the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on June 10, 2019 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images) /

PGA Power Rankings: The 148th Open Championship

10. Tommy Fleetwood – (20)

Tommy Fleetwood cracks the top-ten this week at Royal Portrush, as he has been one of the most consistent golfers along with Matsuyama over the course of 2019. Fleetwood has not missed a cut in 2019, but he also has not won on either tour since the beginning of 2018. His worst finish this year was his T-65 at the U.S. Open, but his game is at least trending back in the right direction since then, and his good play seems to come in spurts.

Fleetwood T-13 at the Travelers Championship before heading overseas to start his Open Championship prep. In his tune-up at the Irish Open two weeks ago, four solid rounds highlighted by opening and closing round 67’s led to a respectable T-23 finish. The 28-year-old from England had his best Open Championship in five tries thus far last year at Carnoustie with a T-12 finish.

9. Patrick Cantlay – (10)

It wasn’t that long ago that 27-year-old Patrick Cantlay was peaking, and it is safe to assume he is still currently on this run. He has taken the Adam Scott / Xander Schauffele route in 2019, in the same sense that he has been pretty selective about which events he is playing in, and taking plenty of time off in between.

Cantlay had a stretch of four straight top-tens starting with a T-9 at the Masters, and capped with a win at the Memorial Tournament. He followed that win with a T-21 at the U.S. Open, and in his last action, he T-15 at the Travelers Championship. This week will mark his second appearance in the Open Championship in his career, and he T-12 in his debut last year at Carnoustie.

8. Francesco Molinari – (7)

The defending Open Champion Francesco Molinari comes in at number eight this week, but he is the definition of the type of golfer that you can never sleep on. He is far from a model of consistency, but when he gets hot, he can easily be among the best in the game. Molinari’s win at Carnoustie last year was his first major championship victory, and he added wins on both the PGA Tour and the Euro Tour in 2018 as well.

2019 has not been as good, but there have still been some highlights. Molinari got hot with the flat stick at Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational for his only victory this year, but he comes into Royal Portrush in slightly shaky form. After his T-5 at the Masters, he missed the cut at the RBC Heritage, and struggled at the Black Course at Bethpage as well, where he T-48 at the PGA Championship. He was better at Pebble Beach with his T-16 at the U.S. Open, but struggled again in his last action at the Travelers Championship, where he T-57.

7. Tiger Woods – (5)

The 2019 Masters champion was back I was led to believe. Golf is really hard and with his win at this year’s first major championship, and how he has responded since it has only proven to me that what he did in his prime will never be replicated. Woods is the greatest golfer of all time in my opinion, but even though he was able to grab that major championship that many thought would never happen again, the way he has played since has shown us all that only father time, and maybe a different mental perspective, is all that is holding him back from being the consistent threat to dominate that he once was.

Woods opted to not play after his win until the PGA Championship, and it turned out to be the wrong move as he was a bit rusty and missed the cut. Thinking that may have been a mistake, he chose to play the Memorial as a tune-up for the U.S. Open, and he T-9. That turned out to be a good decision as he was much better at Pebble Beach than he was at Bethpage, finishing T-21. Woods opted for no tune-up this time around, as he comes into Royal Portrush having not teed it up since the U.S. Open.

6. Bryson DeChambeau – (6)

After a very rough stretch where it honestly started to look like DeChambeau was going to struggle for some time, he has rounded back into near-perfect form just in time for the last major championship of the year, and the FedEx Playoff run. He missed three cuts in a row at one point including at the PGA Championship, but after his T-35 at the U.S. Open, things started to finally trend the right direction.

DeChambeau was able to notch back-to-back top-tens in his next two events, highlighted by his T-2 in his last action at the 3M Open. He is trending the right way without a doubt, but the fact that he is yet to sniff even a top-ten yet at a major championship yet in his young career keeps him out of the top-five in this week’s PGA Power Rankings. DeChambeau T-15 at the 2016 U.S. Open, and in two Open Championships, he has one missed cut in his debut in 2017, and he struggled on the weekend to a T-51 finish last year.

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