Looking for a player to pick in your office pool? One strategy is to consider players who have had the most success in the months leading up to this week’s PGA Championship, the second major of 2021.
The entire PGA Championship field is broken down below according to the Golfweek/Sagarins and the Official World Golf Ranking. The left column, or the “heat index,” is a player’s ranking based on his play the past four months. That can help you pick a player who is trending.
So far in the 2020-21 Tour season, the average ranking of the winner heading into the week in which he won a PGA Tour event has been 89.35 in the Golfweek/Sagarins and 96.35 in the OWGR.
| Player | Heat Index | GW/Sagarin | OWGR |
| Jordan Spieth | 1 | 23 | 26 |
| Brian Harman | 2 | 12 | 47 |
| Joaquin Niemann | 3 | 9 | 29 |
| Paul Casey | 4 | 20 | 20 |
| Viktor Hovland | 5 | 3 | 11 |
| Xander Schauffele | 6 | 1 | 4 |
| Jon Rahm | 7 | 2 | 3 |
| Corey Conners | 8 | 16 | 39 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 9 | 14 | 31 |
| Charley Hoffman | 10 | 40 | 75 |
| Matt Jones | 11 | 30 | 56 |
| Will Zalatoris | 12 | 10 | 30 |
| Collin Morikawa | 13 | 24 | 6 |
| Cameron Smith | 14 | 21 | 25 |
| Brendan Steele | 15 | 52 | 82 |
| Daniel Berger | 16 | 7 | 16 |
| Webb Simpson | 17 | 5 | 10 |
| Abraham Ancer | 18 | 11 | 19 |
| Cameron Tringale | 19 | 22 | 66 |
| Chris Kirk | 20 | 33 | 63 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | 21 | 8 | 5 |
| Jason Kokrak | 22 | 39 | 35 |
| Ryan Palmer | 23 | 25 | 32 |
| Matt Fitzpatrick | 24 | 29 | 17 |
| Keegan Bradley | 25 | 45 | 73 |
| Tyrrell Hatton | 26 | 18 | 9 |
| Dustin Johnson | 27 | 4 | 1 |
| Justin Thomas | 28 | 6 | 2 |
| Adam Scott | 29 | 19 | 38 |
| Max Homa | 30 | 71 | 40 |
| Tony Finau | 31 | 13 | 14 |
| Sungjae Im | 32 | 36 | 23 |
| Scottie Scheffler | 33 | 31 | 24 |
| Christiaan Bezuidenhout | 34 | 44 | 41 |
| Alex Noren | 36 | 49 | 99 |
| Marc Leishman | 37 | 112 | 37 |
| Billy Horschel | 38 | 35 | 18 |
| Brendon Todd | 40 | 50 | 60 |
| Robert MacIntyre | 41 | 53 | 45 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | 42 | 43 | 28 |
| Patrick Reed | 43 | 17 | 8 |
| Stewart Cink | 44 | 55 | 43 |
| Rory McIlroy | 45 | 15 | 7 |
| K.H. Lee | 46 | 114 | 59 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 47 | 32 | 15 |
| Branden Grace | 48 | 135 | 92 |
| Kevin Streelman | 49 | 48 | 64 |
| Si Woo Kim | 50 | 38 | 50 |
| Sam Burns | 51 | 42 | 36 |
| Cameron Davis | 52 | 59 | 127 |
| Kevin Na | 56 | 47 | 34 |
| Charl Schwartzel | 57 | 85 | 109 |
| Emiliano Grillo | 58 | 51 | 76 |
| Talor Gooch | 59 | 62 | 72 |
| Shane Lowry | 60 | 64 | 48 |
| Russell Henley | 61 | 34 | 57 |
| Lanto Griffin | 63 | 66 | 61 |
| Matt Wallace | 66 | 58 | 52 |
| Bubba Watson | 67 | 57 | 55 |
| Zach Johnson | 68 | 27 | 121 |
| Steve Stricker | 69 | 68 | 240 |
| Lee Westwood | 72 | 79 | 21 |
| Patrick Cantlay | 73 | 28 | 12 |
| Sam Horsfield | 74 | 207 | 86 |
| Harold Varner III | 75 | 78 | 84 |
| Takumi Kanaya | 77 | 73 | 77 |
| Sergio Garcia | 79 | 65 | 46 |
| Thomas Pieters | 80 | 88 | 94 |
| Adam Hadwin | 82 | 86 | 107 |
| Wyndham Clark | 86 | 105 | 150 |
| Matt Kuchar | 88 | 69 | 49 |
| Harris English | 89 | 26 | 22 |
| Gary Woodland | 95 | 100 | 53 |
| Denny McCarthy | 96 | 80 | 163 |
| Victor Perez | 97 | 163 | 33 |
| Francesco Molinari | 98 | 113 | 144 |
| Danny Willett | 103 | 178 | 91 |
| Carlos Ortiz | 104 | 94 | 54 |
| Bernd Wiesberger | 106 | 76 | 62 |
| Justin Rose | 107 | 91 | 42 |
| Rikuya Hoshino | 108 | 139 | 69 |
| Aaron Wise | 118 | 134 | 136 |
| J.T. Poston | 119 | 102 | 88 |
| Mackenzie Hughes | 120 | 60 | 58 |
| Antoine Rozner | 125 | 133 | 74 |
| Jazz Janewattananond | 127 | 222 | 111 |
| Richy Werenski | 128 | 104 | 114 |
| Ian Poulter | 130 | 63 | 67 |
| Martin Laird | 131 | 143 | 101 |
| Sebastián Muñoz | 132 | 98 | 71 |
| Andy Sullivan | 136 | 92 | 70 |
| Thomas Detry | 142 | 107 | 98 |
| Phil Mickelson | 144 | 142 | 115 |
| Brooks Koepka | 146 | 82 | 13 |
| Jason Dufner | 151 | 146 | 409 |
| Rickie Fowler | 158 | 137 | 128 |
| Jason Day | 164 | 97 | 65 |
| Tom Lewis | 168 | 183 | 116 |
| Dylan Frittelli | 174 | 117 | 81 |
| Kevin Kisner | 177 | 77 | 44 |
| Chan Kim | 183 | 158 | 83 |
| Harry Higgs | 184 | 201 | 154 |
| Erik van Rooyen | 188 | 123 | 78 |
| Dean Burmester | 191 | 238 | 89 |
| Maverick McNealy | 196 | 145 | 104 |
| Kalle Samooja | 206 | 297 | 112 |
| Garrick Higgo | 218 | 229 | 51 |
| Tom Hoge | 219 | 166 | 113 |
| Kurt Kitayama | 231 | 327 | 106 |
| Byeong Hun An | 233 | 234 | 119 |
| Joel Dahmen | 234 | 96 | 68 |
| Cameron Champ | 246 | 152 | 95 |
| George Coetzee | 251 | 286 | 96 |
| Robert Streb | 253 | 262 | 125 |
| Jimmy Walker | 269 | 354 | 528 |
| Rasmus Hojgaard | 276 | 219 | 102 |
| Padraig Harrington | 279 | 216 | 257 |
| Peter Malnati | 290 | 199 | 174 |
| Brian Gay | 302 | 358 | 232 |
| Sami Valimaki | 307 | 265 | 100 |
| Jason Scrivener | 310 | 319 | 118 |
| Chez Reavie | 323 | 191 | 117 |
| John Catlin | 334 | 292 | 80 |
| Adam Long | 343 | 154 | 85 |
| Lucas Herbert | 344 | 255 | 97 |
| Martin Kaymer | 351 | 228 | 93 |
| Aaron Rai | 356 | 196 | 90 |
| Daniel van Tonder | 358 | 392 | 79 |
| Jim Herman | 371 | 281 | 143 |
| Hudson Swafford | 409 | 422 | 194 |
| Brandon Stone | 418 | 347 | 87 |
| Henrik Stenson | 453 | 372 | 130 |
| Daniel Balin | N/R | N/R | 1857 |
| Pete Ballo | N/R | N/R | N/R |
| Alex Beach | N/R | N/R | 1857 |
| Rich Beem | N/R | N/R | 1770 |
| Frank Bensel Jr. | N/R | N/R | N/R |
| Tyler Collet | N/R | N/R | 1857 |
| Ben Cook | N/R | N/R | 1174 |
| John Daly | N/R | N/R | 1857 |
| Mark Geddes | N/R | N/R | N/R |
| Larkin Gross | N/R | N/R | N/R |
| Derek Holmes | N/R | N/R | N/R |
| Greg Koch | N/R | N/R | N/R |
| Rob Labritz | N/R | N/R | 1770 |
| Brad Marek | N/R | N/R | N/R |
| Shaun Micheel | N/R | N/R | 1857 |
| Tim Pearce | N/R | N/R | N/R |
| Ben Polland | N/R | N/R | 1857 |
| Patrick Rada | N/R | N/R | N/R |
| Sonny Skinner | N/R | N/R | N/R |
| Stuart L. Smith | N/R | N/R | N/R |
| Joe Summerhays | N/R | N/R | N/R |
| Omar Uresti | N/R | N/R | 1857 |
| Brett Walker | N/R | N/R | N/R |
| Y.E. Yang | N/R | N/R | 672 |
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