The Desert Classic: Power ranking the top 10 golfers at PGA West

The PGA Tour is in the mainland for the first time in 2019 with the Desert Classic kicking off the West Coast swing.

Whatever the tournament is called, golf fans know one thing: This week’s newly named Desert Classic, still affectionately known to some as the “Bob Hope,” is  the annual opener to the West Coast swing in the continental United States.

Once a 90-hole event, the Tour mercifully reduced what’s now officially known as the Desert Classic presented by Workday to the standard 72 back in 2012. Since then, the strength of the field has gradually increased. That said, the field over in the Middle East for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the European Tour is much more star-laden. More on that in another article.

Some PGA Tour players who played both weeks in Hawaii will skip out on this week to rest for bigger upcoming events. Others, like Phil Mickelson, have bided their time to wait until the Tour was back in the familiar climes of California.

The Desert Classic, which is a pro-am, rotates three courses over the first three rounds at PGA West: Stadium, PGA West: Nicklaus and La Quinta Country Club. The Stadium gets the honor of closing out the festivities on Sunday.

All three courses are relatively short par-72s between 7,000 and 7,200 yards and not overly difficult. Since 2012, the winning score has been between 20- and 28-under. Different types of players have had success here from Mark Wilson to Jhonattan Vegas. Most players will have short clubs in hand on approach, so it usually comes down to who is dialed in with their irons and can make a few more 10-20 footers on these Bermuda greens than the next guy.

There are 156 players in the field vying to make the 54-hole cut. There’s no open qualifying for this event.

Let’s get to the top 10.