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2022-23 PGA TOUR full-membership fantasy rankings: 51-100
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J.T. Poston’s Round 4 highlights from John Deere
NOTES: Age of Sept. 9, 2022 | An asterisk beside a salary indicates a bargain.
Rank | Player | Age | 2021-22 earnings | Status | Comment |
51 | Harris English | 33 | 305K* | Multi-year | When he returned in June after sitting out four months following surgery for a torn labrum on his right hip, salary leaguers were holding their breath that he wouldn’t waste this value, and he didn’t. Go get him. |
52 | Aaron Rai | 27 | 1.346M* | Top 125 | The Brit made it look easy as a rookie, proving that his talent travels. (Never take that for granted with DP World Tour transplants.) Then again, as one of the most efficient ball-strikers anywhere, it’s not surprising. |
53 | David Lipsky | 34 | 1.269M* | Top 125 | After a handful of cameo appearances on the PGA TOUR of the years, he transitioned nicely as a rookie and scattered eight top 25s. It’s what’s expected when the opportunity is earned by a veteran in his prime. |
54 | Matt Kuchar | 44 | 2.051M* | Top 70 | Because he’s not long off the tee and average with irons, it’s fair to worry if he can sustain value in his 40s. Asked and answered! First or second in several putting metrics to prove that he can handle the pressure. |
55 | Denny McCarthy | 29 | 2.882M | Top 60 | Because he’s among the best putters you’ll see, he’s expected to contend in shootouts, and he has. Best of all, he stays busy and now bounces off career-highs in top 10s (five), top 25s (12) and cuts made (22). |
56 | J.T. Poston | 29 | 3.292M | Top 30 | As late as the second half of June, he wasn’t a lock to keep his card, but then he went gangbusters. That’s so J.T. Frustrating and thrilling all in one. He delivers but let him come to you. That’s what a postman does. |
57 | Mackenzie Hughes | 31 | 2.276M* | Top 60 | If he didn’t play as often and/or didn’t always threaten to win at least a couple of times, he’d be a house of cards. Indeed, there are extremes to his profile, but the upside is exponentially more valuable. |
58 | Jhonattan Vegas | 38 | 1.097M* | Top 125 | Teased us in the first half of 2021-22 but disappeared and finished without a top 35 in his last eight starts. However, his game will age well, so invest in what it’s yielded over time. Good, smart piece. |
59 | Brendon Todd | 37 | 1.659M | Top 80 | It still defies belief how he clawed all the way back after the driver yips to win twice in the fall of 2019, but it’s a different kind of impressive that his game hasn’t abandoned him again. A steady complement. |
60 | J.J. Spaun | 32 | 2.951M | Top 60 | Golf, man. He turned a singular T2 in the 2021 KFT Finals into his career year on the PGA TOUR. It’d be one thing to “settle” for a breakthrough win (Valero), but he did damage with eight top 25s. Plays a ton, too. |
61 | Brendan Steele | 39 | 2.531M | Top 60 | He can be polarizing because he’s such a good fit so often, but his putter can have a mind of its own. Yet, when step back and look up, he’s delivered on exactly what you want in the long-term. |
62 | K.H. Lee | 31 | 3.347M | Top 30 | All he does is win tournaments at TPC Craig Ranch. His last two seasons were statistically even, but he’s more of a top-25 generator than he is a leaderboard hawk. His proclivity to play often is insurance. |
63 | Cameron Champ | 27 | 940K* | Multi-year | It’s an upset that he missed the Playoffs but he never could prove that the left wrist no longer was an issue, or any bad swing habits caused by it. Keep the faith because you can’t spell potential without potent. |
64 | Tom Hoge | 33 | 4.310M | Top 30 | Even seasoned veterans scuffle after a breakthrough title, as he did for the majority of the season after his at Pebble Beach, but he’s not past-prime and scorers don’t have a mechanism to fold forever. He’ll be fine. |
65 | Patrick Rodgers | 30 | 1.327M* | Top 125 | After the Nappy Factor was a non-factor early in 2021, he delivered on the expectation that he’d return to the Playoffs. He’s a machine whose game improves closer to the hole. Hope he falls to you. |
66 | Wyndham Clark | 28 | 1.544M* | Top 70 | It’s all coming together for one of the longest off the tee on TOUR, who also can win a putting contest. Set career-bests in starts (30) and cuts made (22) last season, and it still feels like he’s teasing us. |
67 | Kevin Streelman | 43 | 1.354M | Top 125 | Qualified for the Playoffs in every season since splashing in 2008, so he has a high floor, but he can be mischievous in the short-term, so keep the faith. Bonus is his interest in staying busy. |
68 | Matthew NeSmith | 28 | 1.539M* | Top 80 | Stripe show. Methodically rising and setting new baselines. You love to see it, especially at his age. His confident acknowledgment of resetting the mental approach at Copperhead was refreshing and inspiring. |
69 | Nick Hardy | 26 | 820K* | KFT Finals | An injured wrist derailed him for most of May, but he likely didn’t need the KFT Finals, anyway, because he also has four starts on a Minor Medical to earn just 0.536 FedExCup points and a promotion. Boom. |
70 | Alex Smalley | 25 | 1.631M* | Top 70 | It’s easy to connect his opportunity to get here to the sponsor exemption and T29 at the 2021 Wyndham, but he justified it time and again as a rookie with nine top 25s in 2021-22. Rattled not at all on weekends. |
71 | Taylor Moore | 29 | 1.751M* | Top 70 | The rookie parlayed a blistering conclusion on the 2020-21 KFT with a hot start here last fall. Endured the typical lull in the spring before reigniting in the summer, which also was predictable for this scorer. |
72 | Justin Rose | 42 | 1.426M* | Top 125 | As aligned with the career bell curve as any international star who plays infrequently. As always, the key is to let him come to you and refrain from oversaturating on others like him. Still presents occasional pop. |
73 | Kurt Kitayama | 29 | 2.547M | Top 60 | Once a fave among non-members, he scuffled with his first card before ranging for a trio of podium finishes among six top 20s in 2021-22. It’s the kind of firepower that generated the love in the first place. |
74 | Adam Svensson | 28 | 1.209M* | Top 125 | Boy, did he figure it out in his return season to the big leagues. Also carries a presence strongly suggesting that he’s here to stay. Overall game plays up on shorter tracks, but the Canuck is well-balanced. |
75 | Joel Dahmen | 34 | 1.712M | Top 125 | Another season, another sweet spot. Still in his prime and having the time of his life. He’s a sharpshooter from tee to green, so there will be lulls due to the putter, but there are zero worries for a reset and a repeat. |
76 | Troy Merritt | 36 | 1.906M | Top 60 | While he finds fairways and holes putts, his greatest attributes are what we can’t see, assets like patience, resolve and a grinder mentality. He maximizes his opportunities and he logs a busy schedule. |
77 | Rickie Fowler | 33 | 1.072M* | Top 125 | The Nappy Factor had minimal attachment last fall but it still laid the foundation to take pressure off. Yet, he had a career-low three top 25s and tied last season’s career high of nine MCs. Made changes, though. |
78 | Sam Stevens | 26 | 62K* | KFT Finals (Rookie) | Splashes with fellow Oklahoma State alum Austin Eckroat. Ended the KFT season 16-for-19 with nine top 20s. Also cashed in both PGA TOUR starts, including the U.S. Open. Polished for immediate impact. |
79 | Mark Hubbard | 33 | 1.179M* | Top 125 | A wholly enjoyable own because of the firepower and confidence he exudes. Clawed back from conditional status, so he should play a ton. Doesn’t necessarily send it off the tee, but he does everything well. |
80 | Michael Kim | 29 | 183K* | KFT | What a turnaround. His flourish in the last four months, including a solo seventh at the Barbasol, was reminiscent of how he took the title at the 2018 Deere. Unownable since, he’s among the sexiest on this year’s board. |
81 | Luke List | 37 | 2.734M | Top 60 | Finally picked off his breakthrough victory (at Torrey Pines), but his putter remains the wrench of better-laid plans, because he’s a video game of power and precision tee to green. It’s time to lay off in salary formats. |
82 | Adam Long | 34 | 1.364M | Top 125 | Ya gotta love a guy who doesn’t deviate from his model of turning cuts made into or retaining position inside the top 25 on weekends. Of his 60 career paydays across four seasons, 32 are top 25s. |
83 | Callum Tarren | 31 | 1.034M* | Top 125 | After opening 0-for-9 as a rookie last season, he had the last laugh with a summer surge. He fulfilled his profile as a tee-to-green worker, so that will keep his floor higher than others. Don’t be afraid. |
84 | Jason Day | 34 | 1.086M* | Top 125 | He’s fully exempt through 2024 but he made it interesting just to qualify for the 2022 Playoffs. Just one podium finish in the last four seasons and we’re lucky if he touches 20 starts. That salary value, tho. |
85 | Taylor Montgomery | 27 | 180K* | KFT (Rookie) | #PlayBetter. It’s the only option, so he did. Mr. 26th man-times-two in 2021 eliminated doubt in 2022 with nine top 10s. Led KFT in scoring and finished second in the all-around. T11 at Farmers, too. |
86 | Seonghyeon Kim | 23 | 51K* | KFT (Rookie) | Part of the pipeline of supremely impressive South Koreans who make it look easier than it is. Wins on JGTO and KPGA. Three of his nine KFT top 10s were podiums. Led in scrambling; fifth in the all-around. |
87 | Erik van Rooyen | 32 | 927K | Multi-year | Out indefinitely to open the season “due to a minor back injury.” If he returns quickly, he’s a bargain, and his second child is due in December. You’ll recall how the Nappy Factor was in play the first time. |
88 | Chez Reavie | 40 | 1.908M | Top 70 | Never the sexiest option on the board but, man, he gets the job done. And then he yields bonuses like the win at Barracuda. Because he’ll play ~28 times, including the invitationals, he will continue to contribute. |
89 | Emiliano Grillo | 29 | 2.094M | Top 60 | That was close. Until a co-runner-up at the Deere, he was poised to finish outside the top 150 in the FedExCup, but he lit fire with the putter and advanced to the BMW. Still among the best tee to green. |
90 | C.T. Pan | 30 | 1.313M* | Top 125 | No complaints about his baseline now that he’s proven. Still pre-prime and a workhorse about whom we never have to worry. Diversifying your roster with grind and guile over bomb and gouge is encouraged. |
91 | Greyson Sigg | 27 | 884K* | Top 125 | The Georgia product was a cut-making machine in the first half of his rookie season – he ended with 18 in 30 starts – but he wasn’t elevating. He’s too talented for that not to improve with the proper focus. |
92 | Dylan Frittelli | 32 | 1.194M* | Top 125 | We never mind global talents who like to play a lot. Remains a nice own for whom it’s time to elevate on the ladder, but his baseline is a return to the Playoffs, so go ahead and lean into the potential. |
93 | Will Gordon | 26 | -- | KFT Finals | A lot has changed for the former TOUR member (2020-21) who scuffled after a rapid ascent. A recent relocation to Sea Island can’t hurt, but the best thing about his last 12 months has been a full taste of KFT seasoning. |
94 | Davis Thompson | 23 | 73K* | KFT (Rookie) | From PGA TOUR University in 2021 to a steady rookie season on the 2022 KFT, he’s following through with his natural progression since cutting his teeth at Georgia. Already has nine TOUR starts as a pro. |
95 | Andrew Putnam | 33 | 1.920M | Top 60 | His skill set emerges on shorter tracks on which he can hit more scoring clubs. He finished 2021-22 strong and “spoiled” his salary value, but he’s among the busiest of the talents who probably don’t need to be. |
96 | Lucas Herbert | 26 | 2.558M | Top 60 | It might surprise you that, after his breakthrough win in Bermuda last fall, the first-year TOUR member added four top 15s in stroke-play competition, including two majors. Also led the TOUR in SG: Putting. |
97 | Russell Knox | 37 | 1.683M | Top 125 | The Scot is past-prime but he’s so accurate and experienced that the other side of the career bell curve should feel relatively flat even though what once was a balanced attack has left the putter behind. Busy, though. |
98 | Trey Mullinax | 30 | 2.172M | Top 60 | Not a surprise that he stuck, just the how of it. Sparked by his breakthrough victory (Barbasol), he opens as one of the most speculative stocks on the board because it had seemed that he exhausted the promise. |
99 | Hayden Buckley | 26 | 1.303M* | Top 125 | The darling among the rookies of the fall endured months of misfires before getting back on the rails in the last two months. He’s already among the best tee to green, but now he has experience. |
100 | Patton Kizzire | 36 | 985K* | Top 125 | The price tag is his wholesale value. You can’t lose but you may not be jazzed to take ownership. Still, commodities are building blocks like offensive lineman who keep the line of scrimmage headed in one direction. |