7-1; -19.38pts Pre-tournament plays: LAY 20pts liability Hudson Swafford 75 1st Brandon Stone 350 mc Andrew Loupe 310 mc Ryo Ishikawa 250 50th Johnson Wagner 190 mc Aaron Wise 300 34th Geoff Ogilvy 190 25th Easy to oppose a player who has just one top-10 finish in the last two years and none in the last 12 months; Swafford finished 13th last week, but would be a very likely challenge for this title Stone won twice in South Africa last year, but this is his first start in a non-major on the PGA Tour so this should be a difficult introduction to pro-am-style golf on this Tour Loupe finished 3rd here last year and was important in securing his best-ever finish on the FedEx Cup (113th), but he has been struggling with a thumb injury and this will be his first start since August when he ended his season with 15 missed cuts in his last 17 starts Playing on a Major Medical Extension after back injury ended his 2015-16 at the Phoenix Open, he has finishes of 50th and mc so far this season and looks unlikely to retain his Tour Card let alone challenge for this title Wagner missed the cut here last year and has missed his last four cuts, so looks a very different player who last won on this Tour in 2012 Sponsor's invite, Wise, did finish 10th in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, but his other finishes this season have been mc-mc-55th so he is not yet ready to challenge for this title when experience is so important in the pro-am format Ogilvy does have the experience and that is enough to see him playing this season on a Top-50 career money list exemption, but with a best-finish of 20th in this event, he looks unlikely to challenge this week Pre-rd4 play: LAY 20pt liability Anirban Lahiri 140 25th Lahiri has a very good record in India, but on the PGA Tour he has a best finish of 5th in 35 starts. For someone who sits outside the top-10 and is six shots off the pace, that history on this Tour doesn't suggest that he will be a likely challenger today.
|