PGA power rankings: The 2019 TOUR championship
PGA power rankings: The TOUR Championship
***The following golfers are my top 15 overall. Instead of having the OWGR follow the golfer like I normally do, this week the number after each golfer represents their current place in the FedExCup standings***
15. Brandt Snedeker – (18)
After back-to-back solid weeks at the Northern Trust and the BMW Championship, Brandt Snedeker finds himself inside the top-15 in the PGA power rankings for the season finale. Sneds followed up his T-6 with a T-5, and he was able to jump another four spots in the standings, putting him in 18th place coming in.
On top of the recent solid form, Snedeker is also a recent past champion here at East Lake, winning the TOUR Championship in 2012. This will be his first time qualifying for this event since 2016 when he finished T-17 at even par.
14. Rickie Fowler – (19)
It has been an up-and-down season for Fowler, to say the least. He was able to bounce back from his missed cut at the Northern Trust with a T-11 last week at the BMW Championship, but he did drop two spots from 17th to 19th in the FedEx Cup standings.
He is one of the hardest to predict golfers on tour with the lack of consistency, and his recent history at the TOUR Championship makes it even more difficult.
Fowler T-7 last year here at East Lake finishing 5-under par, but 2017 was not nearly as good as he finished 6-over and T-26. He did not make the final 30 in 2016, but he was at least better than half the field here in 2014 and 2015. Rickie finished alone in 8th in 2014, and even par in 2015 was good for a T-12 finish.
13. Justin Rose – (17)
Rose shot a decent round of 70 on Sunday at Medinah Country Club after back-to-back disappointing rounds of 73, and he was able to climb his way out of the near dead-last range up to a T-52 finish.
The 39-year-old dropped five spots in the FedEx Cup standings from 12th to 17th and has some serious work to do to get back into the top-ten. Rose T-10 two weeks ago at the Northern Trust, and a rough week last week at the BMW Championship was completely unexpected, at least by me.
Although he did fall quite a bit, and will start the event at 2-under instead of 3-under, Rose certainly has the element of course history here at the TOUR Championship in his favor. He has made it this far in six of the last seven years and has finished no worse than T-10. He has a couple of runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2015, and he T-4 here at East Lake last year at 6-under par.
12. Tony Finau – (12)
Finau is on his best run of the year at the moment, sparked by his solo third place at the Open Championship. He T-30 at the Northern Trust and needed a big finish at the BMW Championship to be able to have a chance this week. The big man did just that with a solo 4th place finish, moving him up seven spots in the FedEx Cup Standings from 19th place to 12th place.
The 29-year-old T-15 last year here at East Lake in his second career TOUR Championship, finishing 3-under par. Finau will start this week’s tournament at 3-under par with the new starting strokes scoring. The course seems like a good fit for Finau, but if he struggles with the putter again as he did at times on Sunday at Medinah then he will likely be in trouble.
11. Hideki Matsuyama – (15)
While JT was out firing a 61 on Saturday at the BMW Championship, Matsuyama struggled to a 73, and despite JT going so low, I think that one bad round cost Hideki the tournament. After an opening round of 69, Matsuyama fired a 63 on Friday, and again on Sunday to move all the way up to a solo third-place finish.
Matsuyama was sitting outside the top-30 coming into Medinah in 33rd place, but the solid finish moved him up to 15th in the FedEx Cup standings as he was able to punch his ticket to the TOUR Championship. He has made it to the season finale in each of the last five years, and his best finish was last year when he T-4 at 6-under par.