THE PLAYERS Championship: top five TPC Sawgrass sleepers

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Apr 22, 2017; San Antonio, TX, USA; Ryan Palmer reacts after making a birdie putt on the 18th hole during the third round of the Valero Texas Open golf tournament at TPC San Antonio – AT&T Oaks Course. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /

Ryan Palmer

Official World Golf Ranking: 87

FedEx Cup Standing: 103

Best PLAYERS Finish: T-5, 2013

Go ahead and put Ryan Palmer in “deep sleeper” status for THE PLAYERS Championship. In 11 trips to TPC Sawgrass, Palmer has made the cut just four times, with a pair of top-25 efforts to show for it. That said, Palmer has made the cut three times in the last four years, and had his best finish – a tie for fifth – in 2013.

In 2016, Palmer finished tied for 23^rd and it looks like he’s finally getting more comfortable with experience.

When you look at Palmer’s stats this year, it’s easy to discount his chances. Palmer ranks just 204^th in strokes gained putting, and 62^nd in adjusted scoring. However, over the last month, he’s been playing far better than those numbers indicate.

In his sixth-place finish at Valero, Palmer ranked 24^th in strokes gained putting, and fourth in GIR percentage. The previous week at Hilton Head, he ranked fourth in strokes gained tee-to-green, but a few untimely bogeys (including five in the second round) held him back a bit.

Although Palmer and Spieth fell short in their comeback attempt on Sunday at the Zurich Classic, the elder Texan clearly got a shot in the arm in the team event. If he can keep the putter hot at Sawgrass, Palmer could find himself in position for a big win.

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