10. Denny McCarthy
The man who obliterated the recent Web.com Tour finals to acquire his 2018-19 PGA Tour card, has stayed hot into the fall series, especially in his last three starts.
A T7 finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship was followed up by a T15 at the Shriners Hospitals For Children Open, and while a T41 at last week’s Mayakoba Golf Classic does not look especially impressive, he did rebound from a poor first round to shoot a 7-under 64 on Friday.
The 25-year-old University of Virginia product had a mix of good and bad at Sea Island last year, chasing a round one 68 with a Friday 75, but he looks like a different golfer than the one who teed up here 12 months ago.
Odds: 50-1
World Rank: 169th
Field Rank: 41st
Last Six: 41, 15, 7, MC, 1, 13
9. Joaquin Niemann
The Chilean wunderkind celebrated his 20th birthday last Wednesday, and had some of his best stuff the following day, shooting a 5-under 66 in the first round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic. Unfortunately for Niemann, his game appeared to leave him the rest of the week, as he finished 71-73-69 to post a very disappointing T60.
Nobody doubts that Niemann has otherworldly talent, and the consensus is that he will win many tournaments in his career, but he has been very up-and-down in four events of the new season, leaving doubt about his chances in his first attempt at the RSM Classic this week.
Odds: 33-1
World Rank: 149th
Field Rank: 32nd
Last Six: 60, 10, 36, 83, 33, 71
8. Bud Cauley
An amateur star at the University of Alabama, the now 28-year-old Cauley is making his fourth start of the fall series, and the fourth start in his comeback effort, after he missed the second half of the 2018 PGA Tour season recovering from injuries sustained in a nasty car wreck.
A final-round 65 at the Shriners Hospitals For Children Open notched Cauley a T10 finish, and he stayed hot early in Mexico the following week, opening with rounds of 65 and 68 before a pedestrian weekend led to a T29 finish.
Cauley has been a bit up and down, but it appears the rust has been knocked off. This is an event he could really thrive in, which we saw last year when a second-round 63 was the catalyst to an impressive T8 finish.
Odds: 40-1
World Rank: 188th
Field Rank: 48th
Last Six: 29, 10, 46, MC, MC, 67
7. Zach Johnson
Usually one of the steadiest players on Tour, the two-time major champion was a shocking missed-cut in his season debut at last week’s Mayakoba Golf Classic.
A man who defines par, Johnson saw surprisingly few in those two rounds, carding seven birdies and an eagle, but also somehow notching four double-bogeys to keep him south of the cut line.
Expect better this week, as ZJ tees up in an event that he has played in all but one edition of (2013). Last year at Sea Island, he rode a 64-67 weekend to a T8 finish.
Odds: 40-1
World Rank: 63rd
Field Rank: 6th
Last Six: MC, 33, MC, 40, 19, 17
6. Kevin Kisner
In his season debut at last week’s Mayakoba Golf Classic, the man coming off a season with two runner-ups in elite tournaments (WGC-Match Play, Open Championship) was also a surprising missed-cut.
Kisner has been very hit-or-miss with his form in recent months, but he might have the best reason of anyone in the field to be confident: his six-stroke victory three years ago was bar-none the most dominant performance anyone has put together in the event’s eight years. Also helping is his T4 finish in last year’s edition, where he shot four rounds of 68 or better.
Odds: 28-1
World Rank: 34th
Field Rank: 2nd
Last Six: MC, 58, 24, 73, 12, 39
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