PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

3 of 5

NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA – SEPTEMBER 10: Hideki Matsuyama of Japan plays his tee shot on the fourth hole during the weather-delayed final round of the BMW Championship at Aronimink Golf Club on September 10, 2018 in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images) /

PGA Power Rankings: WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

15. Hideki Matsuyama – (32)

The longest streak of consecutive cuts made on tour was snapped at Royal Portrush last week, as Matsuyama failed to make the weekend for the first time since at Carnoustie last year for the 147th Open Championship. The Hideki-Bot had been heating up, notching top-25 finishes in five straight events, and he was coming into this years Open off of a T-7 at the 3M Open.

However, he ended up +3 after Friday, coming up two strokes short of the +1 cut line. This week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude will be the 27-year-olds first appearance here at TPC Southland.

14. Webb Simpson – (20)

Simpson was interesting last week heading into the Open, as he was not really getting a lot of steam going in. He started out with 100/1 odds a couple of weeks prior to teeing it up at Royal Portrush, and around a week closer to the 148th Open Championship, that number moved to 80/1, then 66/1, then up to 50/1. However, right before tee off, that number was back up to 100/1, as the books tried to lure in more action.

He obviously did not win, so none of that really matters, but still interesting to say the least. Simpson finished even par for the tournament, tied with Kevin Kisner for 30th place. He has made eight straight cuts, with five top-20 finishes in that span, highlighted by his T-2 at the RBC Canadian Open.

13. Matt Kuchar – (16)

I was a little surprised to see that Kuchar has not played one FedEx St. Jude Classic in the last ten years, or even possibly ever in his career, but now that this is one of just four WGC events with its new invitational status, we obviously have a few new faces here this week.

Kuchar was not quite in contention last week at Royal Portrush heading into Sunday, but he was pretty close at 6-under par. However, the rough conditions were a bear for some of those that teed off a little later in the day, and Kuch was among those that struggled most.

Kuchar ended up shooting an eight-over 79 on Sunday, moving him to +2 for the tournament and pushing him all the way down to a T-41 finish. Considering his Sunday struggles were mostly due to the wind gusting up over 30 MPH, Kuchar remains a top-15 golfer heading into TPC Southland this week in my opinion.

12. Jason Day – (21)

At number 12 this week, I am sticking with a household name here, as Jason Day is another golfer I fully expect to bounce back this week, after missing the cut at the Open Championship last week. Day has played six times since the PGA Championship, and it has been a fully mixed bag with the worst of it coming as of late. He shot a 70 on Thursday at Royal Portrush, but a 74 on Friday left him one stroke short of making the weekend.

Prior to the missed cut, Day T-66 at the inaugural 3M Open. He also missed the cut at the Memorial Tournament, and his best finish in this stretch was a T-8 at the Travelers Championship. In the previous two majors in this span, Day T-23 at Bethpage, and T-21 at the U.S. Open.

11. Henrik Stenson – (34)

Much like Kuchar last week, Stenson was pretty close to contention heading into Sunday as he also sat at 6-under par. Also like Kuchar, Stenson had to play in some nasty winds and ended up struggling, shooting a 5-over 76, leaving him at 1-under for the tournament and T-20.

Considering he was coming in with three straight top-tens this may seem like a downgrade, but considering the strength of this field, Stenson sits right outside the top-ten in this week’s PGA Power Rankings for the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. He is currently in the best form we have seen him in over a year, and my gut says he will win before the fall swing.

Home/Fantasy Golf