Well, I hope everyone has caught their breath from that PGA Championship. I will say that this past week was maybe the most fun I've had with a PGA Championship since at least Phil's win in 2021, with the craziness that started on Thursday with Garrick Higgo being late to his tee time and missing the cut because of the penalty, all the way up to Aaron Rai lifting the Wanamaker on Sunday.
Will people continue to quibble with the setup at Aronimink, and how the logjammed leaderboard was actually a bad thing because the greens didn't reward good shots as much as they should have?
Absolutely.
But I think the people who cast this off as a bad major because it wasn't a big name that won are kind of missing the point of how fun different tests from the normal PGA Tour setup can actually be a good thing. Congrats to Aaron Rai, a well-deserved champion of last week's championship.
All that said, it's time to move on, as the PGA Tour heads back to the Lone Star State at TPC Craig Ranch for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Defending champion Scottie Scheffler is back in the field for his home state event, as he looks to shake off a somewhat disappointing T14 at the PGA. Much like Scheffler, the rankings had a disappointing showing last week at Aronimink, but we'll hopefully be able to bounce back with a win this week.
Honorable Mentions: Pierceson Coody, Haotong Li, Thorbjorn Olesen, John Parry, Michael Thorbjornsen
9. Mac Meissner
TPC Craig Ranch is a very interesting course, in the sense that there is no real specialty that dominates at the course. All facets of the game are about as equally important to scoring around the Ranch as you'll see on Tour, and Mac Meissner's game sets up extremely well for this type of course.
Meissner is anywhere from above average to good in all aspects of the game in his DataGolf profile, and he's been playing well recently, with back-to-back top-10 finishes. The main catalyst has been improved putting performance recently, and I think we're purely in the throes of a hot streak with the putter that won't be quelled by TPC Craig Ranch.
8. Davis Thompson
Thompson falls into the same camp as Mac Meissner, but his hot streak has been going on just a bit longer. The 2024 John Deere champion has finished in the top-15 in three straight starts, including a T6 at the Zurich Classic.
Thompson has been looking to improve his short game, as that has been his downfall earlier in the season. Lately, the putting has improved to a point where he can actually be competitive in tournaments, which I expect to continue this week.
7. Rasmus Hojgaard
It's kind of crazy that, despite the Hojgaards seemingly being around forever, that Nicolaj and Rasmus are only 25. Rasmus, based on strokes gained alone, is having the best putting year of his career so far, and it's now really just a question of can he get everything else to click?
The Hojgaards have flipped courses, as Rasmus came out with the early success on the DP World Tour, but now Nicolai is seen as the more consistent option on a week-to-week basis. With things going in the right direction, I think this week could be a chance for Rasmus to finally break through and rediscover his early talents.
6. Matti Schmid
I truly never thought I would live in a world where Matti Schmid seriously contended at a major, and yet here we are. Schmid likes to have these two- to three-week stretches where he plays well, and then struggles for a month or two.
I am very aware that he could be gassed from trying to chase down Aaron Rai on Sunday, and that could mean he's just too exhausted to perform well this week. However, if he is up for the task, I think Schmid will be able to take everything he was able to do last week and bring it to his game this week in Texas.
5. Ryo Hisatsune
Ryo Hisatsune played better than his T35 finish would have led you to believe, as his strokes gained numbers should have led to a top-25 finish. This season has probably been the most consistently successful of Hisatsune's PGA Tour career, and he's going into a state where he has performed well in in the past.
In eight starts in Texas, Hisatsune has finished in the top 13 in four of those starts, so something about Texas lines up with his game. Especially after a T8 at Valero earlier this year, I like Ryo's chances of pulling off a good finish this week.
4. Brooks Koepka
I'll admit, I was a little hasty putting Brooks Koepka into the rankings for the PGA last week, as his T55 finish showed that his skill isn't quite there to contend in major championships. However, when it comes to regular PGA Tour events, I think Koepka can play right up there with anyone in the field.
He's shown enough flashes throughout the year to keep me roped in, and his putting last weekend wasn't actually that bad in its totality. You can argue he's too high on the list, but considering it's a weaker field this week, I'll lean on Koepka's pedigree.
3. Jordan Spieth
There was a moment on Thursday where Spieth was sitting at three under, and I did truly believe that we were going to see something special at Aronimink this past weekend. While we didn't get a new entrant into the club of career Grand Slam winners this past week, Jordan did put in a solid performance to finish T18.
The driver change really seems to be working for Spieth, and now it's just a matter of how we can get everything else to align for a tournament week. A return to his home state will do him well, and I think we can see a Spieth victory this weekend for the first time since 2022.
2. Si Woo Kim
I was very surprised by how much Si Woo Kim faded on the weekend at the PGA. For such a good ball striker, Kim just couldn't get anything to go his way on Saturday or Sunday, even with having a positive putting performance for the week.
However, Kim comes into this week sharing a sponsor with the tournament, and this has seemingly caused Kim to play better at the Byron Nelson, scoring top-15 finishes in the two years since CJ became the presenting sponsor. This is probably just pure "correlation, not causation," but it feels like something that should be noted for this week.
1. Scottie Scheffler
Just go look at any of the other rankings I've done in the last couple of months, and you'll see my thoughts on Scottie all laid out. Yes, 2026 has been frustrating, but he's the clear favorite in a weak field in his home state at a tournament where he is the defending champion. This is a week where a "Scottie vs. the field" betting market is fully justified. It might not be by eight shots again, but I'm sure his win will be by multiple shots once again.
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