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Safeway Open: Top 10 power rankings at Silverado for 2020

By Mike Randleman

NAPA, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 29: A general view of the 18th green during the final round of the Safeway Open at the Silverado Resort on September 29, 2019 in Napa, California. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
NAPA, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 29: A general view of the 18th green during the final round of the Safeway Open at the Silverado Resort on September 29, 2019 in Napa, California. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images) /
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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 05: Erik van Rooyen of South Africa plays his shot from the 15th tee during a practice round prior to the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park on August 05, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 05: Erik van Rooyen of South Africa plays his shot from the 15th tee during a practice round prior to the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park on August 05, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

Erik van Rooyen is among those shipping off to Winged Foot. His game has cooled down some since the restart, but there’s enough there to stay confident.

The 30-year-old South African is a former NCAA team national champion at Minnesota.

Van Rooyen grinded on the minor league tours before hitting a steady rise. He won on the Sunshine Tour and Challenge Tour in 2017.

He made four top-10s and kept his card as a European Tour rookie in 2018.

Last year was where he really came on the radar with a win at the Scandinavian Masters, as well as three runner-up finishes. One of those runner-ups was at the Turkish Airlines Open against some big names in the Race to Dubai Final Series.

EVR also made the cut at all three majors he played in, including T-8th at the PGA Championship and T-20th at the Open Championship.

He cracked the top 100 in the world spring 2019 and was in the top 50 by year’s end. Van Rooyen played well early this year. The highlight was T-3rd at the WGC-Mexico Championship, which was a key factor in earning him special temporary PGA Tour membership.

That allowed him to accept unlimited sponsor’s exemptions. That paired with his world rank opened the door to play in most any event he wished.

He hasn’t contended since the June restart, but he does have three top-25s against tough fields to build off of. These came at the RBC Heritage (T-21st), the Memorial Tournament (T-22nd) and WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational (T-20th).

It’s been a sprint of a last couple months with guys playing tons of events.

Van Rooyen wasn’t eligible to play in the FedEx Cup Playoffs unless he won, so he’s been hanging out since making the cut at the PGA Championship (T-51st).

He finished with only 30 measured rounds so is not ranked statistically last season on the PGA Tour. Those rounds do show a solid ball striking season with .341 strokes gained off the tee and .3 approach.

He averaged 4.55 strokes on par-5s and hits it 305.6 yards off the tee.

This is his Safeway Open debut.

I mentioned in the intro that there’s a good chance we see a first time winner at the Safeway Open.

Harold Varner III is one of the more household names without a PGA Tour trophy. The North Carolinian did beat some big names at the 2016 Australian PGA Championship. He finished T-3rd in the FedEx Cup Playoffs at the 2019 The Northern Trust and contended last month in his home state at the Wyndham Championship.

HVIII is knocking on the door. He comes to a comfortable venue in Silverado Resort. Varner has made all five cuts, finishing no worse than T-59th. He’s got three top-20s with a T-15th in 2016 (71-67-73-65), T-14th in 2018 (70-69-68-72) and T-17th in 2019 (72-69-67-71).

Varner was third in the 2019 field in strokes gained off the tee (4.752 total) and fifth in SG around the green (3.8). A poor week with his irons kept him from contending.

The former East Carolina University Pirate should be able to improve on that this time around. Varner ranked 28th in SG approach (.442 per round) last season. Mix in a rank of 17th in SG off the tee (.458) and 32nd SG around the green (.244) and there’s a lot to like.

Varner just needs to marry a hot putting week (-.215, 141st) with some better play on the weekend. He’s 13th in scoring average (69.32) but is 60th or higher the next three days.

Since June, Varner’s made six of nine cuts led by the high finish in Greensboro. He has five finishes of T-32nd or better.

Known as one of the more friendlier guys on Tour, there’d be a lot of folks who’d like to see him get it done in Napa.

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