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PGA Tour: Choosing a Favorite Golfer to Start Rooting for

By Christopher O'Day

NASSAU, BAHAMAS - DECEMBER 03: Tiger Woods of the United States and Jordan Spieth of the United States laugh on the practice range during round three of the Hero World Challenge at Albany, The Bahamas on December 3, 2016 in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
NASSAU, BAHAMAS - DECEMBER 03: Tiger Woods of the United States and Jordan Spieth of the United States laugh on the practice range during round three of the Hero World Challenge at Albany, The Bahamas on December 3, 2016 in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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Fantasy Golf Matt Jones
AVONDALE, LA – APRIL 27: Matt Jones of Australia plays his shot from the 16th tee during the second round of the Zurich Classic at TPC Louisiana on April 27, 2018 in Avondale, Louisiana. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

Dark Horse – Wait, Who?

Here are the players that make you check your phone, or hop online to figure out who they are. For every player that used to be in the single or top double digits in the PGA Tour rankings that has fallen, there are just as many fighting to crack the top 100.

The first guy on the list is someone that you may have had to do this with as recently as The Valspar. Matt Jones (235) finished T13, but made noise at the top of the leaderboard by shooting back-to-back 68’s during round two and round three. Jones has previously made a bit of noise on tour, actually winning the Shell Houston Open back in 2014, and was ranked 54th at the end of 2015.

Next up is Carlos Ortiz (280), who actually pulled down a top 10 finish at the Genesis this year, finishing T9. That finish alone vaulted him 88 spots up the World Golf Rankings. He also put together a great run on the Web.com Tour back in 2014, earning three wins, getting him all the way up to 121st.

Taylor Gooch (155) has made a huge ump up the standings this year. He started off ranked 337th heading into the 2019 season. With a 4th place finish at the Desert Classic, he followed it up with a T3 at The Farmers, shooing him from 346th to 153rd in two weeks. If that is a sign of things to come, Gooch will easily become someone you want to root for on his trek through the PGA Tour.

Martin Trainer (117) has made moves this year as well. He won the little brother event that was held at the same time as the WGC-Mexico, taking his first PGA Tour win at the Puerto Rico Open. Before the event he was 285th in the world. The win got him to 128th. Although it wasn’t as high profile, a PGA Tour win is still a win, and Trainer capitalized.

Lastly, we look to our neighbors to the North again, with Roger Sloan (262). After a rough finish to the 2018 PGA Tour season, Sloan has been playing quite well in 2019. He barely lost out at the Puerto Rico Open, finishing T2 to Martin Trainer(117). Add in a T12, T23, T30, and a T33, and Sloan has moved up the rankings over 200 spots this year alone.

My picks for you out of this group would be Taylor Gooch (155) and Roger Sloan (262).

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