PGA TOUR Golf Power Rankings: Rory is Royalty at East Lake

The last tournament of the 2021-22 season is upon us. With only 30 golfers in the field, we’ve decided to rank all 30 and how we think they’ll finish without the starting strokes, similar to a typical PGA TOUR event.

Xander Schauffele has an excellent record at East Lake, finishing no worse than fifth in the tournament and shooting the low 72-round score in 2020. Still, Rory McIlroy receives top honors this week with how well he’s played in all the Majors this season and that he’s won this event twice in his career. No one has been better tee-to-green over the last 24 rounds, including last week, where he gained 10.56 strokes.

What’s the collective thought on Collin Morikawa this week? This season? With early career success, many will think he underachieved this year, with no wins. I’d argue near dubs at the U.S. Open (5th), the Masters (5th), the Genesis Invitational (2nd) and the CJ Cup (2nd) say otherwise. The PGA TOUR recently updated their Sentry Tournament of Champions eligibility to include the Top 30 in the FedExCup standings from the previous year’s entry into the tournament if they didn’t win, which includes Morikawa. The Cal-product has family in Hawaii, and the recent news may allow him to play (more) free and remind us that he’s a top player on TOUR.

Cameron Smith is a tough fade in any tournament, but the LIV rumors and a hip injury that kept him out of competition last week should have us a tad worried about his upside. It’s an awkward opinion to have for someone who won the Open Championship, the PLAYERS Championship and the Sentry TOC. Still, I’ll move him down a notch from his usual podium spot just outside the top-5.

Sungjae Im, Aaron Wise, Adam Scott and Matt Fitzpatrick all have strong possibilities of outperforming their pre-tournament expectations. Im and Wise are the ‘sleepers’ that could have the most upside this week. Im is first in bogey avoidance, and Wise is averaging 3.65 strokes gained through approach in the playoffs and 2.35 off-the-tee throughout the playoffs.

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