9. Rasmus Hojgaard
Originally the lesser of the two Hojgaard brothers, Rasmus is currently finding his form on the PGA Tour after finding success on the DP World Tour. Still only 23 years old, Hojgaard is seeing Torrey Pines for the first time in his career this week, and I think that his length off the tee this week will be an advantage for him, especially following a strong performance in Scottsdale. While there was a decent amount of Hojgaard's Sunday that showed some struggles playing in the last group and letting the nerves get the better of him, I think that there's enough talent in Hojgaard to overcome and lead him to a strong finish again at Torrey Pines.
8. Will Zalatoris
If you want someone who has the right skill set of being long off the tee, can put together some solid approach play, and likes playing both at Torrey Pines and in The Genesis Invitational, then look no further than Will Zalatoris. He built up so much scar tissue from his numerous close calls in majors, and really got unlucky with the timing of his injury issues. However, Zalatoris is back, he has bulked up a bit, and I think that he's ready to get back to truly contending on the PGA Tour again. Honestly, the biggest thing to figure out with Zalatoris is does he think this week is a big enough event for him to wake up for, or does he only save that next gear for the majors?
7. Hideki Matsuyama
Admittedly, I expected a little bit more out of Hideki last week in Phoenix, going back to the overweighting of previous course history at Scottsdale. Matsuyama has cooled off a little bit since his hot start in Hawaii this season, with the key issue being that Matsuyama's putter has started to run cold again. However, even though the tournament isn't being played at Riviera this year, Matsuyama likes playing this event, coming into this year's event as the defending champion. It would be malpractice for me to leave Matsuyama off the list for this week, but the Matsuyama love may need to take a bit of a break if we don't see a stronger showing this week.