Waste Management Phoenix Open: Power Rankings
Marc Leishman’s got this event on his schedule for the second year in a row. Perhaps he found something in the dirt in 2017.
After missed cuts in three of his first five starts at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Leishman tied for 22nd in 2017. He was in the 60s the first three rounds, including a third-round 65, but faltered with a 73 on Sunday.
That was a rare painful Sunday as he was able to hang on to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the BMW Championship in 2017. In fourth rounds last season, Leishman was 24th in scoring average.
Coming into the week, the Aussie continues to play the best golf of his career. He comes in off of a T8 against a tough field last week in La Jolla. He also lost in a playoff at the CJ Cup to Justin Thomas and picked up top-tens at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and Australian PGA Championship in recent starts.
His game is adaptable as anyone’s to wherever the Tour goes each week. Leishman finished inside the top 50 in all of the major strokes gained categories last season.
No longer a sleeper pick, it’ll be worth keeping an eye on if Leishman can continue to back up his ascent inside the top 20 in the world rankings.
The Webb Simpson renaissance is in full effect. The 32-year-old temporarily dipped following the long putter ban enacted in 2016, but he’s back with a vengance.
It’s not as if he fell off the face of the earth, but his steadiness atop the leaderboards dipped to a healthy dose of cuts, but not much more.
He’s now back in the world top 50 thanks to a runner-up finish and five more top-10s in 2017. If Simpson is to pick up his first PGA Tour win since 2013, doing so at the Waste Management Phoenix Open is a strong contender.
Since missing the cut in his debut in 2010, Simpson has done no worse than T14 in five starts. He succumbed to Hideki Matsuyama in last year’s playoff. The close call was still a turning point for Simpson who went on to play well the rest of the year.
"“I feel like two weeks ago I was pretty lost,” Simpson said in his post-tournament presser. “You know, I shot 5- or 6-under at Nicklaus to make the cut, the CareerBuilder, and I just felt terrible about my game. I went and saw Billy Harmon, and he really helped me out.”"
This week will be Simpson’s third start of 2018 after a T4 at the Sony Open and a T36 at the CareerBuilder Challenge.
A veteran like Simpson should be able to keep his nerves in check down the stretch. His steady short game (21st in strokes gained around-the-green) could make the difference this year as long as he doesn’t have to compete with Matsuyama’s stripe show.