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Safeway Open: Top 10 power rankings for Silverado CC

By Mike Randleman

NAPA, CA - OCTOBER 06: Brandt Snedeker plays his shot from the 18th tee during the third round of the Safeway Open at the North Course of the Silverado Resort and Spaon October 6, 2018 in Napa, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
NAPA, CA - OCTOBER 06: Brandt Snedeker plays his shot from the 18th tee during the third round of the Safeway Open at the North Course of the Silverado Resort and Spaon October 6, 2018 in Napa, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /
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NAPA, CA – OCTOBER 05: Joaquin Niemann of Chile plays his shot from the 12th tee during the second round of the Safeway Open at the North Course of the Silverado Resort and Spa on October 5, 2018 in Napa, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
NAPA, CA – OCTOBER 05: Joaquin Niemann of Chile plays his shot from the 12th tee during the second round of the Safeway Open at the North Course of the Silverado Resort and Spa on October 5, 2018 in Napa, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /

Does Joaquin Niemann have the talent to win this week? Yes, and perhaps by several shots like he did two weeks ago at The Greenbrier.

But does he have enough gas in the tank? We’ll see.

He’s making the cross country trek west to the Napa Valley (where the 20-year-old can’t even indulge in the region’s wine selection) for his third start in as many weeks. The Chilean lapped the field for a six-shot win in West Virginia and followed up with a sluggish T-54 last week at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Niemann is just too talented to leave out of my top 10 entirely. He showed a ton of poise in 2018 by collecting four top-10s on the PGA Tour to get his card for 2018-19.

Niemann hit a bit of a sophomore slump to start 2019 but began to heat up in June. Back-to-back fifth-place finishes at the Travelers Championship and Rocket Mortgage Classic were in the middle of a run of seven straight top-31 finishes as well as 11 in 12 starts.

It’s important not to draw too many conclusions from just a couple weeks, but if his putter stays even close to the pace it’s on in 2019-2020, watch out. He’s first on Tour at 2.197 strokes gained putting per round. Niemann was 141st at -.17 last season and was a modest .018 (no rank) in 2017-18.

Niemann, who should be a lock for one of four International team Presidents Cup picks, is making his second trip to Silverado. He finished T-83 (68-73-75) and was an MDF in 2018 in what was his first start in seven weeks.

Let’s see what he can do with some rounds under his belt leading in.

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