Fansided

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) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 5
Next
PGA Power Rankings
PGA Power Rankings: CHARLOTTE, NC – MAY 05: Justin Rose plays his shot from the 3rd tee during the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship on May 05, 2019 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte,NC. (Photo by Dannie Walls/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

PGA Power Rankings: The Northern Trust

5. Justin Rose – (4)

In terms of highest finish in the FedEx Cup standings with the least amount of starts, Rose played only 14 events and was able to finish just outside the top ten in 11th place, taking that honor by a good percentage.

He won at the Farmers Insurance Open, added five more top-tens, and was inside the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 for the majority of the season.

Rose had a slight hiccup for a couple of weeks as he T-29 at the PGA Championship back in May, and followed it with a T-58 at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

However, the former world number one has now strung together four straight top-20’s, highlighted by a T-3 at the U.S. Open, and he comes into this week’s Northern Trust off of a solo 11th place finish at Sedgefield last week. Back at the Barclays in 2013 here, Rose finished 10-under par among those that T-2.

4. Dustin Johnson – (2)

It has been five straight events now that we have not gotten the Dustin Johnson that we know, and expect to win nearly every time he is in action. Since his solo 2nd at the PGA Championship, Johnson’s best finishes are a pair of T-20’s in five total events.

The first came at the RBC Canadian where he was a heavy favorite, and the second came at last week’s St. Jude Invitational.

One thing you need here at Liberty National is solid iron play, and Johnson has not been great in that regard as of late. He finished 7th in the final FedEx Cup standings, with a win at the WGC-Mexico and seven total top tens in 16 starts. but his recent form is certainly in question coming in.

Johnson missed the cut here in 2013 at the Barclays, but was the best golfer on the U.S. squad for the Presidents Cup in 2017, going 4-0-1 for the tournament. My opinion just based on watching when I can, is that something is off for him mentally, and his focus just might not be 100% at some of these events.

3. Rory McIlroy – (3)

My gut is telling me McIlroy is about to go on a run, as I think the absolute tragedy displayed in the form of a quadruple-bogey on the opening hole at Royal Portrush is well behind him. McIlroy is a consummate professional, and I am sure he knew how important it was to put it behind him, as he fought his way back and almost made the cut with that 65 on Friday.

He went right out next week at Sedgefield and finished T-4, despite the fact that a 62 on moving day was wasted by a sloppy 71 on Sunday. I don’t think he is going to win this week, but I think he will play well enough for the next three weeks to be right in the mix when things are winding down at the end of August.

He finished the regular season in second place in the final FedEx Cup standings, notching two wins, and 12 top-tens in just 16 events.

2. Jon Rahm – (7)

Rahm is right there with the best in the world at this point in his young career. Those back-to-back missed cuts at the PGA Championship and the Charles Schwab Challenge must have really done a number to his OWGR, as he is still in 7th place despite five straight solid tournaments.

He T-3 at the U.S. Open, then took off overseas to play on the European Tour to prep for the Open Championship. It was a wise move, as he went on to T-2 at the Andalucia Masters, and follow it up with a victory at the Irish Open.

Rahm fought the elements at Royal Portrush to grab a solid T-11 finish, and he followed it up with a solo 7th at the St. Jude Invitational last week. His form since the U.S. Open is among the best on tour, and I think another win is coming here for Rahm in this playoff series at some point.

1. Brooks Koepka – (1)

No surprise at number one, even in arguably the toughest field of the year if you think about it. Koepka put to sleep all the thoughts that he doesn’t care about these minor events, by going out and crushing the field of 64 at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational last week. The win was his third of the season, and his lead in the final FedEx Cup standings is now over 500 points.

One more win in the final three playoff events for Koepka and he all but has this FedEx Cup locked up. For our sake, I hope he doesn’t win quite yet, as it could make for some sub-optimal viewing if he has an even more dominant lead going into the BMW Championship. Hard not to root for Brooksy though.

Next. DraftKings PGA: 2019 Northern Trust. dark

Thanks for stopping by FanSided Fantasy and checking out our ever-expanding PGA page. I hope you enjoyed this week’s PGA Power Rankings. Be sure to keep an eye out for my FanDuel article coming soon as well. Once again, special thanks to goes to Smart Golf Bets for his tournament sheets.

Home/Fantasy Golf