3Jack Golf's PGA Tour Rundown: Week 19

Matt Kuchar wins the Players Championship.



For those who are wondering, here’s a look at Tiger Woods’ rankings:

Advanced Total Driving: 7th

Putts Gained: 18th
Short Game Play: 114th

Birdie Zone: 74th
Safe Zone: 14th
Danger Zone: 21st



Woods actually drove the ball pretty well at Sawgrass and improved upon his Adv. Total Driving rank after the tournament. His putting was fairly stable, just slightly dipping. However, he had a dramatic fall off in his Short Game Play (shots from 0-20 yards off the green) as he wound up going from 23rd to 114th in that category in just 1-week. Essentially, he made it very difficult to get up and down anytime he missed a green.

While his wedge game has come under fire, it wasn’t a problem at Sawgrass as in one week he jumped from 156th in the Birdie Zone to 74th. His Safe Zone play was a hair worse than it has been, but he’s still ranking in the top-20 in Safe Zone play, which is excellent. He was more or less below average from the Danger Zone at Sawgrass, which saw his Danger Zone ranking go from 8th to 21st.

I still don’t think ballstriking is quite the issue for Tiger. And remember, it was roughly 5 weeks ago that he won at Bay Hill in dominating fashion with great ballstriking. I think the problem Tiger has had is that he can’t quite get everything to gel at the same time. At Sawgrass, a course he has never played all that well, his short game around the green really killed his scores. He may have been able to do more if his Danger Zone play was spot on, but it wasn’t and despite having a good tournament driving the ball and from the Birdie and Safe Zones, the combination of awful short game play and a poor tournament from the Danger Zone hurt him.

I will say that from what I notice, being laid off at the top of the swing appears to be a ‘death move’ for Tiger. He just cannot work his way around that move. He has hit it great when he’s either ‘neutral’ or ‘across the line’, but laid off is very bad for him. Lastly, I think he’s still ‘playing golf swing’ instead of ‘playing golf’ because he has struggled to get rid of those 1-2 very poor shots per round.

In all, I think he’s on the right track because his metrics have improved greatly. I honestly don’t think he’s too far away from another victory, soon.


Here’s how my picks for the Players did:

Steve Stricker: 33/1 – Missed Cut
Louis Oosthuizen: 40/1 – Missed Cut
Jim Furyk: 40/1 – t-25th
Graeme McDowell: 66/1 – Missed Cut
Chad Campbell: 150/1 – Missed Cut

Value Pick: Brendon De Jonge: 175/1 – t-15th

Here are my Byron Nelson picks:

Carl Pettersson: 28/1
Ryan Palmer: 35/1
Brian Davis: 40/1
Pat Perez: 80/1
Jonas Blixt: 80/1

Value Pick: Martin Flores (200/1)

ADVANCED TOTAL DRIVING




1. Bubba Watson
2. Graeme McDowell
3. John Rollins
4. Jason Dufner
5. Boo Weekley
6. Roberto Castro
7. Tiger Woods
8. Rory McIlroy
9. Hunter Mahan
10. Tom Gillis


177. Nick O'Hern
178. Tom Pernice Jr.
179. Tommy Biershenk
180. Billy Hurley III
181. Matt Bettencourt
182. Joe Ogilvie
183. Derek Lamely
184. Stephen Gangluff
185. David Duval
186. Ryuji Imada


PUTTS GAINED (VIA PGATOUR.COM)

1. Ben Curtis
2. Bo Van Pelt
3. Bryce Molder
4. David Duval
5. Luke Donald
6. Aaron Baddeley
7. Y.E. Yang
8. Michael Thompson
9. Brian Gay
10. Martin Flores


177. Patrick Sheehan
178. Chris Kirk
179. Ricky Barnes
180. Boo Weekley
181. Nick O'Hern
182. Heath Slocum
183. Chad Campbell
184. Greg Owen
185. Scott Brown
186. Scott Stallings


SHORT GAME PLAY

1. Steve Stricker
2. Kevin Kisner
3. Ian Poulter
4. Sean O'Hair
5. Jerry Kelly
6. Greg Owen
7. Patrick Sheehan
8. Jason Dufner
9. Mark Anderson
10. Bob Estes


177. Shaun Micheel
178. Jeff Maggert
179. Angel Cabrera
180. Michael Thompson
181. Cameron Beckman
182. Harris English
183. Gavin Coles
184. Robert Garrigus
185. Charlie Beljan
186. Gary Woodland


BIRDIE ZONE PLAY (75-125 YARDS)




1. Steve Stricker
2. Sergio Garcia
3. Padraig Harrington
4. Garth Mulroy
5. Jeff Maggert
6. Jason Bohn
7. Brendon de Jonge
8. Nick O'Hern
9. Carl Pettersson
10. Vaughn Taylor


177. Steve Wheatcroft
178. Matt Jones
179. Jonas Blixt
180. D.J. Trahan
181. Charlie Beljan
182. Jamie Lovemark
183. Stephen Gangluff
184. Jhonattan Vegas
185. Scott Stallings
186. Billy Hurley III

SAFE ZONE PLAY (125-175 YARDS)



1. Lee Westwood
2. Graeme McDowell
3. Steve Wheatcroft
4. Angel Cabrera
5. Jeff Maggert
6. Robert Allenby
7. Bo Van Pelt
8. Ian Poulter
9. Boo Weekley
10. Will Claxton

177. J.B. Holmes
178. Mark Anderson
179. Matt Jones
180. Derek Lamely
181. Andres Romero
182. Troy Kelly
183. Jamie Lovemark
184. Briny Baird
185. Henrik Stenson
186. Billy Hurley III


DANGER ZONE PLAY (175-225 YARDS)



1. Chad Campbell
2. Bubba Watson
3. Louis Oosthuizen
4. Gary Woodland
5. Bo Van Pelt
6. Kevin Stadler
7. Justin Rose
8. Steve Stricker
9. K.J. Choi
10. Nathan Green


177. Joe Ogilvie
178. Scott Stallings
179. Blake Adams
180. Henrik Stenson
181. Stephen Ames
182. Lee Janzen
183. Richard H. Lee
184. Steve Wheatcroft
185. Ryuji Imada
186. Nick O'Hern




3JACK