PGA power rankings: The 2019 BMW championship
PGA Power Rankings: The BMW Championship
***The following golfers are my top 20 overall. Each golfer will be followed by their official golf world ranking OWGR in parenthesis.***
20. Matt Kuchar – (19)
Kicking off the PGA Power Rankings this week for the BMW Championship is the struggling veteran, Matt Kuchar. Kuch is not in his best form, as he comes into Medinah this week off of a rare missed cut last week at Liberty National.
The 41-year-old has had a phenomenal season and has only started to really struggle a bit since the Open Championship, where he finished T-41st.
Even so, Kuchar has notched two wins and eight top-tens this season and is currently ranked 4th in the FedEx Cup standings with two weeks left to go. Other golfers are certainly playing better, but Kuchar being ranked 4th in the overall standings at this point gives him that push inside the top-20 this week.
19. Kevin Kisner – (29)
On the opposite path of Kuchar, Kevin Kisner has been picking up his play as of late, and his T-12 last week at the Northern Trust moved him up one spot closer to locking up a spot in next week’s TOUR Championship.
Kiz is currently ranked 21st in the FedEx Cup standings and his ticket for next week is pretty much punched now, but a win here at Medinah could rocket him, or any of these guys for that matter into the top-ten.
This course may be slightly long for Kisner, but his overall play the last few weeks and the fact that he is improving upon each finish as of late pushes him into the top-20 this week.
Those that hit it a bit longer off the tee will no doubt have an advantage, but Kisner should at least make birdies where others may make eagle. Kisner is ranked 170th in driving distance but comes in at a much better rank of 80th in strokes gained: tee to green on the season.
18. Tommy Fleetwood – (13)
After back-to-back top-fives at two very difficult events in the Open Championship and the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Fleetwood never got anything going last week at Liberty National and ended up with a disappointing T-43 finish. Because he has not played as many FedEx Cup events as some others, the poor finish led to a pretty substantial drop in the current standings.
Fleetwood was ranked 19th heading into last week but dropped five spots to number 24. Another mediocre week here at Medinah could drop him out of the top 30, which would place him out of the field for the TOUR Championship. He has the length off the tee to go low here and is currently ranked 13th in strokes gained: tee to green on the season.
17. Tony Finau – (14)
Much like Fleetwood last week, Finau was playing much better golf as of late and was moving up in the PGA Power Rankings, but he too failed to get anything going at the BMW Championship last week. After a 65 on Thursday at Liberty National, things were looking solid for him, but rounds of 73,70, and 70 followed, and he slipped down to a T-30 finish.
Finau is now heading the wrong way as far as finishes go since his solo third-place finish at the Open Championship. However, his length off the tee here at Medinah could be a big boost for him if he can hit it straight. Finau ranks 9th this season in driving distance, hitting it almost 310 yards per drive, and he currently sits in 19th place in the FedEx Cup standings.
16. Jordan Spieth – (31)
We all know Spieth can be one of the best putters in the world when he is dialed in, and that flat stick was fully on display for three of his four rounds of the Northern Trust last week. He finished third for the tournament in strokes gained: putting, and one bad round of 74 on Saturday likely cost him a shot at a victory.
Spieth shot a pair of 67’s and a 64 to go with that one bad round and finished T-6 for the tournament. The T-6 moved him up 25 spots from 69th to 44th in the FedEx Cup standings, and he will need another big finish this week to grab a spot in the TOUR Championship next week