Who's Hot, Who's Not on the PGA Tour
So you're a golfer on the PGA Tour, and maybe you have $3 million allegedly on your Whirlpool's spin cycle, or maybe you just won the U.S. Open for your second consecutive major.
Maybe you're on the doorstep of double-digit wins and a bid in the Hall of Fame, or you're still ruminating over a missed putt that cost you a chance at major No. 1. As you can see, it pays to be in one camp over the other.
With two tournaments remaining before the Open Championship, there's time for some players to go from hot to not and vice versa.
For the time being, read on to see who's hot and who's not right now.
Not: Patrick Reed
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Last Result: Missed Cut at Travelers Championship
Patrick Reed has the talent to be one of golf's next great talents. That was on display Thursday and Friday at the U.S. Open when Reed had the same score as—and was justly paired with—Jordan Spieth. That was one Reed.
The other Reed, the one who shot a 76 on the U.S. Open's Moving Day, is the one we see right now. Following his flaccid finish at Chambers Bay, he missed the cut at the Travelers Championship.
"I feel like I've been hitting the ball really well," Reed said in Paul Doyle's Hartford Courant story. "I feel like I've been putting really well, it's just...it's hard to tell. I couldn't figure it out last week. I felt like I hit a lot of good putts that didn't go in; I felt like I hit some bad putts that shouldn't have gone in that did."
In his one trip to the UK for the Open Championship (2014), he missed the cut. Reed will get it together, but as of now, he's cool, and not the good kind of cool.
Hot: Luke Donald
2 of 10
Last Result: Tied for Seventh at Travelers Championship
Luke Donald needed a big result at the Travelers Championship to qualify for the Open Championship, and that's exactly what he got. Donald, a native of England, threw down four rounds under 70 in Cromwell (yet another tip of the English hat there) and earned himself a bid at St. Andrews.
"Obviously I thought about it the last couple of holes," Donald said in Kevin Maguire's ESPN.com story. "I knew I was in a good position. I was trying to make one more birdie really to be honest. Thirteen [under], I thought that would definitely secure one of those top four spots."
It hasn't been the greatest season for Donald on the PGA Tour. He only has two top 10s on the year and has had trouble even cracking the top 30.
Having secured a berth in the tournament of his native UK could spell a big effort from Donald going forward, maybe even matching that tied-for-fifth effort from 2012.
Not: Louis Oosthuizen
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Last Result: Missed Cut at Travelers Championship
If you draw a line through Louis Oosthuizen's back nine on Sunday at the U.S. Open, he is decidedly in the "not" category.
His past five events have seen two missed cuts, a withdrawal, a tie for 69th and that scintillating runner-up finish at Chambers Bay. That stretch of birdies on the back nine made you remember that the player affectionately known as "Shrek" is a two-time major tournament champion capable of rebounding.
Oosthuizen is one of the best on tour tee-to-green (23rd), and if he plays back to his U.S. Open form, he should be in prime position to contend for major No. 3.
Hot: Rory McIlroy
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Last Result: Tied for Ninth at the U.S. Open
Rory McIlroy has been hot since March.
The four-time major champ and defending Open Championship winner was last seen making a concerted push up the leaderboard at the U.S. Open. He ultimately flattened out, but he still reminded us that he remains the No. 1 player in the world, even if Spieth is stealing all the headlines.
His average finish in his past five tournaments is sixth, and that includes two major golf tournaments and wins in the Match Play and Wells Fargo Championship.
Look up and down the stat sheet for McIlroy. There are few, if any, true weaknesses. He sits in the top 10 in every statistical category except driving accuracy percentage (33rd) and strokes gained putting (67th).
That's his Achilles' heel, but it's something that's manageable for him. Once he rolls a few more putts, he'll remind people exactly who the No. 1 player in the world is.
Not: Dustin Johnson
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Last Result: Tied for Second at the U.S. Open
Perhaps it's unfair for Dustin Johnson to be called a "not" after finishing second in a major golf tournament, but that's the case with DJ right now.
When his par putt on the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open brushed past the hole and made a demigod out of Spieth, Johnson took a precipitous fall from hotness to notness.
Ewen Murray of Sky Sports wrote, "Next time, Dustin may think differently. There will certainly be a next time. The 30-year-old has turned his life around after drifting down the wrong road. Now a husband and father, Dustin has a sound base as well as some tranquility in his world. I have no doubt his time will come."
And maybe that will come at the Open Championship. He'll need to bury the memory of his mishaps in the majors, because the competition is far too deep to let opportunities roll just a few centimeters by.
Hot: Paul Casey
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Last Result: Second in a Playoff at Travelers Championship
Paul Casey's name rarely gets thrown around as a serious contender to win tournaments, and maybe that should change. He has just one win to his credit, but he's starting to hang around the top of leaderboards, and that could translate into more trophies.
Casey dropped a 65 in the final round of the Travelers and was then joined by Bubba Watson for what would be a two-hole playoff, which Watson won.
"There are always ifs and buts and could haves," Casey said in William S. Paxton's USA Today story. "But the goal was to give myself a chance to win, and I did that."
Casey finished in a tie for sixth at the Masters and stared down McIlroy in the Match Play before ultimately finishing in a tie for fifth.
Casey, a native Englishman, looks to win his "home" tournament, his first major and just his second win as a pro at St. Andrews.
Not: Tiger Woods
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Last Result: Missed Cut at the U.S. Open
Tiger Woods fell to No. 220 in the world following his embarrassing run through Chambers Bay. Much has been said/made of his latest swing adjustments/patterns, so there won't be any belaboring of that point.
He'll take his stab at the Greenbrier Classic this weekend in an attempt to find at least a fraction of the mojo he had just two years ago when he was 219 spots better in the OWGR.
You know the numbers. He's shot more rounds in the 80s (three) than the 60s (two). He can't hit a fairway. He can't hit a green. He can't roll a putt. This new swing better be worth it.
"I would say that he's just sorting things out," Rudy Duran, Woods' first-ever golf instructor, said in John Strege's Golf Digest story. "I have no problem believing he'll come back and win more tournaments. When he gets it sorted out, he'll be winning, and you're not going to be surprised when, say, he shoots a 65 in the British Open."
We'll have to see it to believe it.
Hot: Bubba Watson
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Last Result: Won the Travelers Championship in a Playoff
Bubba Watson reminded everyone how good he can be when his game is well-oiled. It was on display in Cromwell, Connecticut, for the Travelers Championship, as he won his eighth career tournament with the sinking of an eight-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole against Paul Casey.
"It's just about staying calm," Watson told Paxton. "That's what you have to do; you just breathe and walk slower, take some deep breaths and focus on the fact that no matter what you still come in second place."
Watson hadn't been playing great golf heading into the Travelers. He had finished in a tie for 38th at the Masters, a tie for 17th of the Match Play, a tie for 42nd in the Players and was, at last, cut from the U.S. Open.
That's an ice bath of poor finishes, but a win at the Travelers (his second) is heating up the pot as he readies for the Open Championship.
Not: Phil Mickelson
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Last Result: Tied for 64th at the U.S. Open
Phil Mickelson, who was once roiled in a potential insider training scandal in 2014, is allegedly tied to a sports gambling site rumored to be a money-laundering operation. It should be noted that Mickelson is not under investigation.
Mickelson must be listening to Notorious B.I.G.'s "Mo Money Mo Problems."
As reported by Mike Fish and David Purdum of ESPN.com, Gregory Silveira, "a sports gambling handicapper, acting as a conduit for an offshore gambling operation, pleaded guilty last week to laundering approximately $2.75 million of money that two sources told Outside the Lines belonged to Mickelson."
Then there's Mickelson's game, which, after the U.S. Open, is a bit stagnant. He failed to parlay his form from Augusta National Golf Club to Chambers Bay.
How will he fare at St. Andrews? This latest issue will be a huge distraction, and now he'll have to deal with an aggressive, tabloid-hungry UK press.
Hot: Jordan Spieth
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Last Result: Won the U.S. Open
There's no golfer this side of the moon hotter than Jordan Spieth. He just won his third tournament of the year and his second major tournament in a row.
The only people happier with Spieth's recent success are the folks at Under Armour. The company stands to be the new Nike of golf with the recent, and hopefully perpetual, success of Spieth.
Spieth hasn't been electrifying; he's simply been the steadiest, coolest hand when the pressure is at its highest. You can't teach it (ask Dustin Johnson). You can only admire it for what it is.
Can Spieth pull off the Grand Slam? After all, he's the only one who can and the first who will try after winning two majors since Woods in 2002.
"Oddsmakers want to set a line so an equal amount is bet each way, thus eliminating their risk," Sports Illustrated's Gary Van Sickle said (h/t Golf.com). "Spieth can definitely win at St. Andrews. It's Whistling Straits I'm not so sure about. I'd rate him 50-1, which is pretty low odds to win any two majors, anywhere.”
St. Andrews seems like the perfect course for him to manage.
Who's betting against Spieth?
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