Power rankings: Safeway Open

It’s like we never stopped playing golf! The PGA Tour season starts anew this week in Wine Country with the Safeway Open in Napa, Calif. Silverado Resort hosts for the third consecutive year, as Emiliano Grillo defends his first PGA Tour title, won here in a playoff last year over Kevin Na.

A number of top 50 players are in the field, looking to get their seasons off to a hot start.

Here are our top five players for this week:

1. Phil Mickelson — Alright, this might sound a little nutty, but Mickelson was brilliant at the Ryder Cup, and he’s now got nothing to worry about in terms of playing with Tiger Woods. Take the young’uns to the woodshed.

2. Paul Casey — Casey had a brilliant finish to his season, and he’s a guy who can keep the ball in play just long enough to make Silverado play short for him.

3. Emiliano Grillo — The defending champion took a win in this event last year all the way to the Tour Championship. Clearly has an affinity for Silverado.

4. Justin Thomas — J.T. was third here last year, and he finished a shot out of the Emiliano Grillo-Kevin Na playoff. A solid T-6 to end the season in East Lake after a strong playoffs.

5. Matt Kuchar — Kuchar crapped the bed on Singles Sunday at the Ryder Cup, but he was otherwise pretty effective at Hazeltine National.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.