{"id":627433,"date":"2026-05-06T19:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T19:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/627433\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T19:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T19:36:12","slug":"the-five-which-players-must-improve-midway-through-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/627433\/","title":{"rendered":"The Five: Which players must improve midway through season?"},"content":{"rendered":"

2H AGO<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

5 Min Read<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Need to Know<\/p>\n

<\/a>*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]>\"Viktor<\/p>\n

Viktor Hovland taps in for birdie on No. 2 at RBC Heritage<\/p>\n

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A<\/p>\n

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Written by Paul Hodowanic<\/p>\n

The PGA TOUR regular season has inched past its halfway mark. The TOUR has played more weeks (16) than are left in the regular season (14). As that number dwindles, the pressure to perform will only ratchet up, particularly for those who have underperformed thus far.<\/p>\n

So who are those players? Which stars need a strong second half to play their way into the postseason, the TOUR Championship or Presidents Cup berths? <\/p>\n

There\u2019s a long list, but a few big names stick out.<\/p>\n

Bradley\u2019s play has improved of late, but the American is still making up ground after a post-Ryder Cup malaise plagued the beginning of his year. The most recent U.S. Ryder Cup captain missed three of his first five starts and had not notched a top-20 finish until he tied for 12th at the RBC Heritage last month. As a result, Bradley is on the outside looking in on the FedExCup Playoffs, albeit in need of just one good week to turn his fortunes.<\/p>\n

Bradley\u2019s best two weeks of the year came consecutively, finishing T21 at the Masters after rallying to make the cut with a flurry of late birdies.<\/p>\n

\u201cPutting the best I’ve putted in a long time,\u201d Bradley said at Harbour Town. \u201cReally just I’ve been playing good for the last couple weeks. I played a really nice final round at the Masters, and hitting the ball very nicely, driving it good and really rolling it nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Putting and approach player have been his biggest sore points midway through the season. He ranks 135th in Strokes Gained: Approach and 101st in SG: Putting. But if those areas are improving, as Bradley believes, the turnaround shouldn\u2019t be far away.<\/p>\n

*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]>\"Keegan<\/p>\n

Keegan Bradley sinks 27-foot birdie putt on No. 12 at THE PLAYERS<\/p>\n

There\u2019s reason to be more patient with Im than with some others on this list. This week marks two months since he returned to pro golf after a wrist injury kept him from competing at the start of the year. Working back into form takes time, though Im hasn\u2019t shown many signs outside of a one-week blip at the Valspar Championship. He finished fourth in Tampa Bay, but otherwise has not finished inside the top 40 in any start.<\/p>\n

Im was forecasted to be an integral part of the Presidents Cup International Team. He has been a consistent presence for the Internationals since 2019. When at his best, he\u2019s one of the premier ball-strikers on TOUR, but that has yet to surface this year. He ranks 139th in approach play this year.<\/p>\n

Finau has struggled to take advantage of his opportunities this year. The 36-year-old is without a top 10 this season, a drought that extends more than a calendar year (2025 The Genesis Invitational was his last). Right on the precipice of the top 70, making the postseason is not a lock either, which he has never missed in his career. If he misses the playoffs, it will also be the second straight year he failed to qualify for Signature Events.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the PGA Championship, which Finau is in line to miss for the first time in his TOUR career, unless he can turn it around at Quail Hollow Club. Finau is in the field at the Truist Championship thanks to a sponsor exemption and he will need to parlay that extra opportunity into a top finish to play the second major of the year. Traditionally, the PGA of America extends invitations to those inside the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Finau ranks 117th. Finau is also not exempt from the U.S. Open or The Open Championship, which have even stricter qualification requirements.<\/p>\n

\"Tony<\/p>\n

Tony Finau hits 160-yard approach to 5 feet, sets up birdie on No. 12 at Texas Children’s<\/p>\n

Hovland\u2019s season has been solid but unspectacular. For many, it would be more than adequate \u2013 60th in the FedExCup with four top 25s in nine events. But for a player who, less than three years ago, was considered the best golfer in the world, the bar is much higher than adequate.<\/p>\n

Of those four top 25s, his best is a T10 at the WM Phoenix Open. He\u2019s been in true contention just once on a weekend this year \u2013 second through 36 holes at the RBC Heritage before shooting 73-76 to fall outside the top 40.<\/p>\n

Simply, Hovland hasn\u2019t played to the bar he\u2019s set for himself in recent seasons. If you\u2019re searching for optimism, you can find it in how he\u2019s trended off the tee. He particularly struggled with his driver early this season, leading to a series of tinkering, but the Norwegian has found his groove in recent weeks. He\u2019s been well above average off the tee in his last four starts. If that continues, top results will inevitably follow.<\/p>\n

Clark\u2019s turnaround might already be in the works. The U.S. Open champion finished T21-T16-T20 in his last three starts, though he is not playing this week\u2019s Truist Championship, a tournament he won three years ago, nor did he play at the Cadillac Championship.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unknown why Clark has missed the previous two weeks. But assuming a clean bill of health, he has shown signs of improvement up and down the bag. He gained strokes in every category at the Masters, where he finished T21, the first time he\u2019s done that since a T4 finish at The Open Championship last year.<\/p>\n

What does Clark need to improve? His performance off the tee. He ranks outside the top 100 in driving this year.<\/p>\n

*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-11jnzpa>img,.css-11jnzpa>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-11jnzpa::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:66.66666666666666%;}]]>\"Image<\/p>\n

May 4, 2026<\/p>\n

Tony Finau betting profile: Truist Championship<\/a>Betting Profile<\/a>\"Image\"Image<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2H AGO 5 Min Read Need to Know *:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]> Viktor Hovland taps in for birdie on No. 2…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-627433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}