How the world’s top 10 are faring at the halfway mark of the WGC-Workday Championship
- Dave Tindall
- 27 February 2021
Nine of the world’s top 10 are competing at The Concession Golf Club this week but they’ve had extremely mixed fortunes over the first 36 holes and just two sit inside the top 10
Dustin Johnson has been the dominant force in World Golf Championship events in recent years but it's not going to plan so far for the World No.1 after two rounds of the WGC-Workday Championship in Florida.
The good news for DJ is that at least he has a chance to make his way back up the leaderboard this weekend. The tournament has no cut so everyone is guaranteed four rounds of action.
However, one player from the world's top 10 won't be around as No.7 Patrick Cantlay withdrew before a ball was struck.
As for the other nine, there have been contrasting fortunes to say the least. Far from being a shootout between those at the top of the OWGR, other names further down the rankings have come to the fore.
Cameron Smith (27th) and Billy Horschel (40th) share second place although the man out in front is a former World No.1, Brooks Koepka (12th).
.@BKoepka: -11 through 2 rounds; best 36-hole score to par since 2019 PGA Championship (-12, went on to win)
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) February 26, 2021
As for those in the top 10 of the world rankings, here's Planet Sport Golf's report card after two rounds.
Dustin Johnson (T54th)
DJ had three 6s on his card in a miserable first-round 77, two of those coming on par 4s. He played better in round two (69), although that wasn't hard, but there are still some areas of his game that are way below what we expect: namely, driving and putting. Of the 71 players taking part on the weekend (two of the original 73 have withdrawn), Johnson is 67th in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee and 69th in SG: Putting. He'll start round three a massive 13 shots off the lead.
Jon Rahm (T43rd)
Rahm put himself in great position with a first-round 68 but tumbled 36 places down the leaderboard on Friday following a sloppy 76 which featured six bogeys and a double. Everything was off but particularly his iron play. The Spaniard lost 3.234 on SG: Approach and from being nicely in contention Rahm is now 11 back.
Justin Thomas (T13th)
While Rahm went backwards, Thomas has forward momentum after responding to a 73 in round one with a 66 to jump 31 spots up the board. JT birdied half the holes on Friday and is now -5 overall after slipping to +4 early in his opening round. His SG: Approach numbers are superb (he's gained 7.051 shots to lie second in that category) and he putted well yesterday too. If he can straighten out the driver, the signs look good that he can continue his climb.
Xander Schauffele (T35th)
Not the day Schauffele was hoping for. A first-round 71 was okay but while plenty of others went low on Friday, the World No.4 could only manage an even par 72 after trading four birdies with four bogeys. The story on day two was that he struck his irons well (2.236 for SG: Approach) but putted poorly (lost 2.268 strokes to the field on the greens). As a result he's 10 behind the lead of Koepka.
Tyrrell Hatton (T35th)
Hatton's disappointing 73 on Friday means none of the top five in the world rankings are inside the top 10. Indeed, four of them are outside the top 30. A destructive run of two double bogeys in three holes did for the Englishman on day two and his birdie count of three just wasn't enough. He's returned positive figures on both days for SG: Approach and SG: Putting but he's down at 66th in SG: Around The Greens.
Collin Morikawa (T2nd)
At last, a big name challenging for the lead! Morikawa was only lurking after a first-round 70 but he made a significant charge on Friday with a joint-best-of-the-day 8-under 64. That fired him up 17 spots into a three-way tie for second and just one shy of Koepka's lead. The World No.5 ranks 1st in SG: Approach (7.162) and 1st in SG: Tee To Green (8.565) so far. If he can heat the putter up (and there were signs of that on Friday), then watch out.
Rory McIlroy (T13th)
McIlroy crashed out early at Riviera last week after rounds of 73-76 but he's just about in touch with the lead here - six back and in the top 15 - after laps of 69-70. However, there's still some loose stuff and he racked up three bogeys and a double in round two which halted any sustained push. He's in the top 10 for both SG: Off The Tee and SG: Around The Green but, through two rounds, McIlroy has lost strokes to the field on the greens (-0.011).
Webb Simpson (T5th)
Just two of the world's top 10 are in the top 10 on the leaderboard at halfway and Simpson is the other. A 66 gave the World No.9 a piece of the round one lead and Friday's 69 was a decent way to follow up although it meant he slipped two back. Simpson has made just two bogeys to this point (second fewest in the field) while he ranks 1st in SG: Around The Green and 2nd for SG: Tee To Green. The only flaw so far was his performance on the greens in round two as he recorded -2.410 SG: Putting.
Bryson DeChambeau (T20th)
Boom or bust sums up DeChambeau's tournament to this point. He was completely off the boil in an opening 5-over 77 but went 13 shots lower on Friday with a joint-best-of-the-day 64. That's some comeback. Nine birdies against a sole bogey catapulted him 44 spots to T20 and everything went up several notches. After losing 3.775 strokes Tee To Green on Thursday, he gained 3.554 on Friday. His putter got hot too (3.333 SG: Putting in R2).
Latest betting after round two
Paddy Power: 5/2 Brooks Koepka (-11), 13/2 Collin Morikawa (-10), 15/2 Tony Finau (-9), 8/1 Webb Simpson (-9), Cameron Smith (-10), 12/1 Patrick Reed (-8), Matthew Fitzpatrick (-9), Billy Horschel (-10), 28/1 Kevin Kisner (-8), 33/1 Rory McIlroy (-5)
