PGA Tour stock report: Martin Kaymer trending up, Rory’s Friday struggles continue

Fresh off an eventful Players Championship, the PGA Tour heads to Texas this week for the HP Byron Nelson Championship. Newly minted Players champion Martin Kaymer will be in the field at the Byron Nelson and it’s safe to say his stock is trending up following his impressive showing at TPC Sawgrass. Kaymer, however, isn’t the only former No. 1 player in the world in the report this week.

Martin Kaymer

The par-saving putt on the 17th that led to him winning the Players was probably enough to reserve a spot on this list for Kaymer, but his play has been trending up as of late. It’s easy to forget that Kaymer once rose to the No. 1 spot in the world. The 2010 PGA Championship winner struggled to maintain that form and his play dropped off considerably. He eventually fell out of the top 40 in the World Golf Rankings. He’s spent considerable time working with his coach, Gunter Kessler, and has begun to show the form of old recently.

He entered the Players Championship off back-to-back top-25 finishes and his caddy, Craig Connelly, said things began to trend back up last month, via The Guardian:

“Something clicked in the break between Doral and Houston,” Connelly says. “Martin played lovely at Houston despite missing the cut, which was all about putting. Then he made the cut at the Masters and took that on to Hilton Head and Charlotte.

“So I did see this coming; you just hope the big day eventually is going to arrive. For it to come in such a massive tournament was obviously perfect.”

Kaymer is now coming off his second PGA Tour win and first since the 2010 PGA Championship. With his form returning, he could be a contender to add another major championship victory to his resume.

“We still have three majors left this year,” Kaymer said. “I’m not saying that I’m thinking about it now, but there’s still a lot of golf left this year that I would like to participate in on the weekends.”

Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial

The longest-running PGA Tour stop at one site, the Colonial is one of the most notable events of the year. The tournament typically draws a solid field, but could get a late boost this year. Soon-to-be No. 1 player in the world Adam Scott is considering adding the Crowne Plaza Invitational to his schedule, according to PGATour.com.

“I think I need to play a little bit; potentially might play some more golf rather than go to the range and kind of free up on the golf course,” Scott said.

The Crowne Plaza Invitational is reportedly the likely addition to his schedule and would give event’s field a nice boost. Scott is expected to overtake the No. 1 ranking in the world this week, even though he isn’t playing in the Byron Nelson Championship. If that is indeed the case, he would head to Colonial as the newly-minted No. 1 player in the world, a nice selling point for the tournament.

Case Cochran

Case Cochran has never played in a PGA Tour event, so how did he make a PGA Tour stock report list? Well, Cochran will be making his Tour debut at the Byron Nelson Championship and he qualified for the tournament in style.

Cochran hit a 7-iron off the tee at the 152-yard par-3. He played the ball under the wind and hit it right on line, but was unable to see the pin from the tee box. He and a dozen or so other people headed to the green, unaware the qualifying was already complete because Cochran had aced the shot:

“I punched it under the wind and it looked like it landed in front of pin,” said Cochran, “but we couldn’t see it. There were about 15 people on the tee watching us and that’s it. On the green, there was no reaction because there was nobody there.

“As I walking up, I’m still in grind mode thinking about making a good stroke and a good putt. I walk up and there’s no ball and a ball mark five feet in front of the hole.”

Not a bad way to earn your PGA Tour debut.

Rory McIlroy on Fridays

Rory McIlroy hasn’t won yet this year, but he’s still having a very good season. He’s played in eight events and finished in the top 25 each time, including six top-10 finishes. He’s finished no worse than a tie for eighth in his last four events. McIlroy, however, might be having a phenomenal season if it weren’t for some second-round problems. Rory has carded a round in the 60s 13 times this season, but just once in the second round. Here’s a closer look at his round-by-round scoring in his eight stroke play events this season:

If you remove McIlroy’s second rounds, his scoring average would drop to 69.4, best on Tour. Considering how many times he’s been close this season, the second-round issues may have cost him a win, possibly multiple wins. Why issues on Friday? That’s anyone’s guess. More than likely, it’s merely a coincidence that most of his struggles have come in the second round. Regardless, McIlroy is very close to the No. 1 player in the world form from earlier in his career.

Richard H. Lee’s short game

PGA Tour pros hit bad shots all the time. Most of the time, those shots are bad by PGA Tour standards, but would be more than acceptable for your average weekend hacker. Other times, the shots are bad by any standard. Richard H. Lee’s adventure on the 17th green on Sunday was a good example of the latter.

Lee managed to land on the island green safely, but his ball was up against a thick cut of rough. He attempted to chip out with a wedge, only to get the club stuck in the rough and barely make contact with the ball. Now a few inches away from the rough, Lee tried a putter ... only to have the exact same result. Two strokes, to move about a foot:

Television ratings

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: PGA Tour television ratings drop off the grid without Tiger Woods. That was once again the case last week and while lower ratings were expected, it was a very rough week for the Players Championship. A year ago, the the final round of the Players drew one of its highest ratings in years, thanks largely to Woods contending and eventually winning on Sunday. This year, with no Woods, the final round drew the lowest rating in more than 15 years:

While Woods’ absence was certainly a factor, it wasn’t the only reason for the decline. Phil Mickelson missed the cut, Adam Scott was a non-factor and Rory McIlroy wasn’t in contention, even though he surged up the leaderboard on Sunday. A long weather delay on Sunday didn’t help matters either. Regardless, the continually declining television ratings are not a good trend for the Tour.