This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
We're now just a month out from the rescheduled Masters as the PGA Tour's makeshift Las Vegas Swing ensues at the immaculate Shadow Creek Golf Course for the CJ Cup. A handful of veterans such as Stewart Cink, Hudson Swafford, Sergio Garcia and Martin Laird have all returned to the winner's circle throughout the fall series, but we'll take a look at additional trends as the field strength heats up in the desert.
VALUE RISING
A four-shot victory back home in England last week at the European Tour's BMW PGA Championship propelled Hatton to a career-best 10th in the Official World Golf Ranking. It's been quite an impressive 2020 calendar year for Hatton, highlighted by a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational back in early March before ultimately finishing seventh at the TOUR Championship in September, despite only making 11 total starts throughout the 2019-20 campaign. His 29th birthday celebration this Wednesday preceded a brilliant Thursday performance at Shadow Creek, earning first-round leader honors at the CJ Cup. After one round, he's leading the field in both SG: Approach and SG: Tee-to-Green.
Oosthuizen has gained an average of 4.5 strokes from tee to green per event over his last six starts, dating back to a T6 at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. During this span, he posted only one result outside the top-25 and collected a top-3 finish at the U.S. Open. Quality ball-striking continued in Round 1 at the CJ Cup, where he's
We're now just a month out from the rescheduled Masters as the PGA Tour's makeshift Las Vegas Swing ensues at the immaculate Shadow Creek Golf Course for the CJ Cup. A handful of veterans such as Stewart Cink, Hudson Swafford, Sergio Garcia and Martin Laird have all returned to the winner's circle throughout the fall series, but we'll take a look at additional trends as the field strength heats up in the desert.
VALUE RISING
A four-shot victory back home in England last week at the European Tour's BMW PGA Championship propelled Hatton to a career-best 10th in the Official World Golf Ranking. It's been quite an impressive 2020 calendar year for Hatton, highlighted by a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational back in early March before ultimately finishing seventh at the TOUR Championship in September, despite only making 11 total starts throughout the 2019-20 campaign. His 29th birthday celebration this Wednesday preceded a brilliant Thursday performance at Shadow Creek, earning first-round leader honors at the CJ Cup. After one round, he's leading the field in both SG: Approach and SG: Tee-to-Green.
Oosthuizen has gained an average of 4.5 strokes from tee to green per event over his last six starts, dating back to a T6 at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. During this span, he posted only one result outside the top-25 and collected a top-3 finish at the U.S. Open. Quality ball-striking continued in Round 1 at the CJ Cup, where he's sixth in SG: Off-the-Tee and 12th in SG: Approach after 18 holes.
Making a valiant effort for Special Temporary Membership on the PGA Tour, Zalatoris has rapidly risen to 57th in the OWGR thanks to a trio of recent top-10s at the U.S. Open, Corales Championship and Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. The 24-year-old Wake Forest product shouldn't have to do much more than make the cut in his next start to earn that temporary status for the remainder of the 2020-21 season. Through 10 measured rounds, Zalatoris ranks 17th in SG: Approach, 20th in SG: Off-the-Tee and 35th in driving distance. His next appearance will likely come at the Bermuda Championship later this month.
VALUE FALLING
Fowler has notched only one top-25 result in six starts dating to the Memorial Tournament, missing three cuts during this ongoing rough patch as well. Just this past week, Fowler failed to advance to Rounds 3 and 4 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open by six shots, ultimately losing 7.5 strokes on his approaches in just 36 holes at TPC Summerlin. Things don't appear to be getting any better this week at Shadow Creek, beginning his CJ Cup effort with five bogeys and a double during Thursday's first round en route to a two-over 74. If Fowler doesn't collect a win by the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February of 2021, it will be a two-year drought without a single victory.
A struggling fan-favorite much like Fowler, Homa has finished T52 or worse in six consecutive tournaments since the FedEx St. Jude Invitational, missing a quartet of cuts along the way. Since the PGA Tour's restart at the Charles Schwab Challenge back in June, Homa has missed the cut in eight of 12 showings. Especially worrisome is the fact that he's lost an average of 4.0 strokes from tee to green and 3.2 strokes on his approaches over his last five starts.
Aphibarnrat's last top-10 result came an entire year ago at the 2019 CJ Cup, and he also hasn't posted a single top-25 since last November's Nedbank Golf Challenge on the European Tour. He's missed seven cuts in 11 starts throughout his 2020 campaign, sliding to 225th in the OWGR. Aphibarnrat is looking at another potentially deflating performance this week at the Scottish Championship against a weak field where he carded a three-over 75 in Round 1.
INJURY UPDATE
Koepka, who tended to knee and hip injuries during a recent two-month absence, returned to competition Thursday at the CJ Cup with a two-over 74 while avoiding any health setbacks. Koepka also plans to play in the Houston Open in early November, so in addition to four guaranteed rounds at Shadow Creek, he'll have another chance to round back into form before the fall Masters.
