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Zozo Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Sherwood Country Club

By Mike Randleman

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - OCTOBER 27: Jesper Parnevik of Sweden makes a tee shot on the 14th hole during round two of the PGA Champions Tour 2018 Invesco QQQ Championship at the Sherwood Country Club on October 27, 2018 in Thousand Oaks, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
THOUSAND OAKS, CA - OCTOBER 27: Jesper Parnevik of Sweden makes a tee shot on the 14th hole during round two of the PGA Champions Tour 2018 Invesco QQQ Championship at the Sherwood Country Club on October 27, 2018 in Thousand Oaks, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /
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Oct 18, 2020; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Jason Kokrak poses with the CJ Cup trophy after winning the CJ Cup golf tournament at Shadow Creek Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2020; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Jason Kokrak poses with the CJ Cup trophy after winning the CJ Cup golf tournament at Shadow Creek Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /

There were tons of names I tossed around for the 10th spot: Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, Tommy Fleetwood, etc. They all have greater career pedigrees than the guy I went with.

I instead decided to reward the hot hand.

Jason Kokrak, 35, finally won on the PGA Tour in his 233rd career start last week at the CJ Cup. It was a fitting result for a player sponsored by Bet MGM that began the year with a meme-able Instagram post showing he was “all in” for 2020.

While this was Kokrak’s first win, there’s no doubt he belongs out here. The Xavier University product has kept his card since 2012 and has been one of the longer hitters on the PGA Tour.

The problem for him has always been on the greens. Kokrak has ranked outside the top 100 in strokes gained putting every season since 2014.

That all changed at the CJ Cup. The Las Vegas resident fared well on Shadow Creek’s greens to the tune of a field best 2.57 SG per round.

Rounds of 70-66-68-64 helped him to a two-shot win over Xander Schauffele. His 8-under Sunday score was low round of the day.

“I think I knew, I knew in my own mind that I was going to get it done, it was just a matter of time of me getting out of my own way and letting it happen,” Kokrak was quoted by Tee Scripts. “Because my game is right there with the best players in the world and I just need to continue to believe so and if the putting’s there for me, we’re going to be right there in contention.”

Kokrak has always had the ball striking on his side. He was 12th in the field in SG approach (.84), which put him in position to record a field best 28 birdies.

It wasn’t even his best driving week. He was closer to the middle of the pack in SG off the tee despite ranking ninth in that category last season.

Kokrak is at a career high 26th in the world rankings and is no fluke. He’s got top-17s in five of his last six starts.

Beating an even tougher field this week at the Zozo Championship is a tall task, but a short trip to LA will aid in Kokrak firing four more good scores at Sherwood.

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