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PGA Power Rankings: The 2019 Northern Trust

By Chris Aliperto

PGA Power Rankings: PARAMUS, NJ - AUGUST 25: Brooks Koepka waits to play his tee shot on the first hole during the third round of THE NORTHERN TRUST at Ridgewood Country Club on August 25, 2018 in Paramus, New Jersey. (Photo by Stan Badz/PGA TOUR)
PGA Power Rankings: PARAMUS, NJ - AUGUST 25: Brooks Koepka waits to play his tee shot on the first hole during the third round of THE NORTHERN TRUST at Ridgewood Country Club on August 25, 2018 in Paramus, New Jersey. (Photo by Stan Badz/PGA TOUR) /
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PGA Power Rankings
PGA Power Rankings: PORTRUSH, NORTHERN IRELAND – JULY 16: Rickie Fowler of the United States plays a shot during a practice round prior to the 148th Open Championship held on the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush Golf Club on July 16, 2019 in Portrush, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

PGA Power Rankings: The Northern Trust

15. Rickie Fowler – (15)

It was easy to forget how well Fowler played at the Open Championship considering how awful he was playing coming in. Maybe awful is a bit harsh, but for a top-15 player in the world, Fowler was certainly not playing up to expectations.

Going back to the PGA Championship where he T-36, he has missed two cuts in the five events that followed leading up to the Open.

On top of that, he finished he T-43 at the U.S. Open and followed that with a T-46 in a less than stellar field at the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic. Fowler T-6 at Royal Portrush, and it will be interesting to see if he can build on what was his first top-ten since the Wells Fargo Championship.

14. Patrick Reed – (24)

Reed continues to keep himself relevant, as he comes into the Northern Trust currently ranked 50th in the FedEx Cup standings, and he will need to keep up his solid play to make the push to the top-30 for a berth to the TOUR Championship.

He T-22 at the Wyndham Championship last week, as he carded a 63 on Sunday push him into what turned out to be his fifth straight top-25 or better finish.

Reed played really well at the Open finishing alone in 10th, and was able to follow it up with a T-12 at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational last week leading into the Wyndham. Reed missed the cut here at Liberty National at the Barclays in 2013, but played well at the 2017 Presidents Cup, finishing 3-1-1 overall and helping the U.S. to victory over the International team.

13. Bryson DeChambeau – (8)

Up-and-down we go with the mad scientist of the PGA. Last seasons Northern Trust champion Bryson DeChambeau comes into the FedEx Cup playoffs currently ranked 18th in the standings, and after fooling most of us into thinking he was back with a T-2 at the 3M Open, he basically fell apart his last two times out.

DeChambeau missed the cut at the Open Championship, and finished T-48 in the field of 64 at the St. Jude, just another example of how fickle this sport can be.

After back-to-back top-tens, things just went the other way quickly, and Bryson said in an interview today that he worked on some things, and needed the week off to fix them. He is another first timer here at Liberty National this week.

12. Tiger Woods – (5)

I went from being convinced he was back after the storybook win at the Masters, to now thinking that one more major championship was all he really needed at his age to feel complete. After he missed the cut at the Open Championship, he flat out stated that the drive he once had to play every day is not there and that he was just not 100% in it anymore like he used to be.

Now he comes into Liberty National for the Northern Trust, a site where he finished runner-up at the Barclays in 2009 and again in 2013. His history here is great in our small sample size obviously, but with a T-21 at the U.S. Open prior to his missed cut, he does not deserve to crack the top ten in this week’s PGA Power Rankings.

11. Adam Scott – (20)

At number 11 this week, also just missing the top-ten, is yet another golfer who was cruising along in solid form up until the Open Championship, only to be derailed over the last couple of weeks. After three straight top-tens including at two major championships, Scott missed the cut at the Open, and followed it with a T-40 at the St. Jude Invitational.

Scott has played sparingly all year long. He finished the regular season in 21st place in the FedEx Cup final standings, which is the second-highest finish of all of those who have not won this season.

Only Tommy Fleetwood has more FedEx Cup points than Scott for those who haven’t won, and both played in only 15 events. Among those in the top 30, only Tiger Woods, Justin Rose, and Shane Lowry have played fewer.

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