7 Golfers Who Need to Get Hot Immediately to Contend for the FedEx Cup
We're closing in on the FedEx Cup playoffs as players shore up positioning at the Wyndham Championship.
We'll take a look at the big-name golfers who have varying degrees of work to do to make a serious run at capturing the FedEx Cup (and the $10 million annuity!).
So what do the big names need to do to heat things up?
Read on to find out.
Phil Mickelson
1 of 7
FedEx Cup ranking: 51
2015 Top-10 finishes: 3
How he can get hot
Phil Mickelson showed signs of life at Whistling Straits where he fired weekend rounds of 66, 69 to finish tied for 18th.
He's 188th on tour in greens in regulation, hitting just 61.59 percent of putting surfaces in the recommended number of strokes this season.
At 10th on tour in birdies, it's clear that it's the bogeys that are hurting Mickelson this year. More greens in regulation ought to yield fewer of those and give him the opportunity to make more runs at victory.
Sergio Garcia
2 of 7
FedEx Cup ranking: 31
2015 Top-10 finishes: 4
How he can get hot
Entering the FedEx Cup playoffs off a pair of ho-hum finishes at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship, Sergio Garcia needs a shot in the arm to make a playoff run.
Putting, as has often been the case in his career, has been the Spaniard's issue this season. A year after finishing tied for 61st in strokes gained: putting, Garcia is 134th in the stat this year.
He's also lacked accuracy off the tee in recent events, and his GIR numbers haven't been impressive. Couple this with poor putting, and it's no wonder Garcia hasn't cracked the top 30 in his last two starts.
A couple of weeks off to tighten things up should go a long way for the Spaniard.
Hunter Mahan
3 of 7
FedEx Cup ranking: 71
2015 Top-10 finishes: 3
How he can get hot
Hunter Mahan, who won a FedEx Cup playoff event last season, enters this year's playoffs following three mediocre showings. He finished tied for 63rd at the RBC Canadian Open, 72nd at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and tied for 43rd at the PGA Championship.
Mahan has simply played terrible golf from tee to green this year: He's 147th in strokes gained: tee-to-green. He's shorter and less accurate off the tee this year than he was last, which puts him behind the eight ball.
Mahan looks like he really needs to go back to the drawing board with coach Sean Foley to find something workable ahead of the playoffs if he's going to make a serious run.
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Tiger Woods
4 of 7
FedEx Cup ranking: 187
2015 Top-10 finishes: 0
How he can get hot
Astoundingly, at the time of this writing, Tiger Woods is tied for the lead at the Wyndham Championship. With Woods likely needing a win to make it into the playoffs, he's presently handling his business in that regard.
Obviously, assuming a Woods victory, he has done the most important thing to get into the playoffs.
With a missed cut at the PGA Championship, it looked to be the same story for Woods, with poor driving severely handicapping his play. He was losing 1.26 strokes to the field with his play from tee-to-green this season entering the Wyndham.
Straitening out his driving, then, is still the priority for Woods. He's been very good with his irons at short Sedgefield Country Club, however, hitting 80 percent of greens in regulation through two rounds.
Adam Scott
5 of 7
FedEx Cup ranking: 91
2015 Top-10 finishes: 3
How he can get hot
Most recently, Adam Scott missed the cut at the PGA Championship with uninspired rounds of 75, 76.
Not surprisingly, it is the Australian's putting that has plagued him this season. Scott is 19th on tour in strokes gained: tee-to-green and 172nd in strokes gained: putting.
If he can't putt better, Scott can't make a serious cup run.
Ian Poulter
6 of 7
FedEx Cup ranking: 59
2015 Top-10 finishes: 4
How he can get hot
Ian Poulter has missed two of his last three starts. Worse still, two of the three tournaments were major championships.
Poulter is 120th on tour in proximity to the hole and 46th in birdies. He's 50th in strokes gained: tee-to-green, while his putting number remain good.
He hasn't hit 60 percent of greens in regulation in either of his last two starts. Like other golfers on this list, Poulter needs to get dialed in to make a playoff charge.
Luke Donald
7 of 7
FedEx Cup ranking: 124
2015 Top-10 finishes: 2
How they can get hot
Luke Donald tied for 43rd at the PGA Championship after tying for 74th at the RBC Canadian Open.
Donald is neither long nor accurate off the tee, which has resulted in, not surprisingly, the failure to hit many greens in regulation (he's 144th in the statistic).
Having to rely on his normally good putting, Donald has broken down in that area as well: He's 89th in strokes gained: putting.
Donald's game is a mess. He likely won't make it past the first playoff event, which might be good, as his game clearly needs a total reboot.
All stats via PGATour.com
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