With the Covid-19 pandemic forcing golfers from the course, ANDRE HUISAMEN looks at players who will have to kickstart their season again once golf resumes again.
Brooks Koepka
His knee injury certainly rained on his parade for being World No 1 for as long as possible. The three month-period that he spent on the sideline to make a fully recovery was followed by a number of sub-par performances on the European Tour and PGA Tour at the start of the year, which saw him relinquish his spot at the top of the Official World Golf Rankings to Rory McIlroy.
Dustin Johnson
Despite remaining fairly consistent on the Official World Golf Ranking, Johnson has failed to make any sort of worthy recovery to climb to the top again. The American held the top position in March last year but is currently in fifth, while he also occupies the 111th position on the FedEx Cup standings. Only two top-ten finishes so far this season on the PGA Tour will certainly not sit well with him.
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Xander Schauffele
2020 has also been a pretty slow start for Schauffele given the standard he set on tour last year. After winning the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January last year, Schauffele achieved a T2 at the Masters before going T3 at the US Open. Despite starting the season quite well, the 26-year-old has been struggling to hit the ground running this year with only one top-ten finishes, but he stills sits in a fairly strong position on the FedEx Cup standings in 12th.
Gary Woodland
Woodland also still holds a high World ranking in 18th place but would’ve bargained on a more ruthless approach to this season after claiming a maiden major title at the US Open last year. Currently 35th on the FedEx Cup standings, Woodland has been knocking on the door in some events on the PGA Tour so this season but hasn’t been nearly as clinical as he was last year.
Rickie Fowler
He will definitely be hoping for a better approach once the action returns after the coronavirus issue, because Fowler has been far from his best so far this season. He has twice missed the cut, at the Farmers Insurance Open and the Honda Classic, but has dropped down to 27th on the Official World Golf Rankings, while he is down in a disappointing 94th position on the FedEx Cup standings.
Dylan Frittelli
South Africa’s consistent performer, Frittelli’s start to the season and year has been nothing that he would’ve hoped for. He has missed three cuts so far, while even a top 50 finish in recent events has been somewhat of a struggle for him. The T18 finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational was his highest to date this year and hopefully he took some confidence from that performance.
Justin Harding
His win at last year’s Qatar Masters spelled big things for this season to come but Harding hasn’t really lived up to expectation yet. He started the year in 72nd position on the World Golf Rankings but has since then experienced a significant drop down to 111th. He has been struggling to find his motion on both the PGA and European Tours and will be hoping the break from golf can ignite his hunger and will again to perform well.
