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Golf predictions: Forecasting the 2019-2020 PGA Tour Season

By Sam Ofman

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 15: Ian Poulter of England reacts after a putt on the eighth green during the second round of The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 15, 2019 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 15: Ian Poulter of England reacts after a putt on the eighth green during the second round of The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 15, 2019 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) /
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The 2019-2020 PGA Tour season begins Thursday with a Military Tribute at the Greenbrier. What does the new season have in store?

The PGA Tour “off-season” lasts for 18 days. 18 grueling, golf-deprived days. I don’t know how, but we’ve survived. The 2019-2020 season begins this Thursday in West Virginia, and while the return of fast-paced, hard-hitting links action may not force Antonio Brown coverage from the media spotlight, truly devoted golf fans couldn’t be more excited.

Rather than laying up with safe picks, I’m going for the green with my predictions for this season. There may be a few shanks in the process, but that’s why I made sure to use the word FOREcasting in the headline. Who needs another article predicting Brooks Koepka’s success? Did you really come to FanSided for the 50,000th Tiger Woods hot take? Of course not. You came here looking for someone with the guts to predict Louis Oosthuizen will win the FedEx Cup.

So that’s what I’ll do. 100/1 odds? Not a problem. Go get ’em, Oosty.

Let’s jump ahead to March because there’s no way you clicked this link for my insight on which anonymous Korn Ferry Tour graduate will make a strong debut in September.

The Players Championship

They call it the fifth major, but I get the feeling guys like Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar, whose biggest career victories came at TPC Sawgrass, would be happy to trade it in for a victory at one of the first four majors, the ones without ordinal qualifiers (You know, the ones that are actually majors). There’s a bittersweet quality to having your signature win on Tour be the Players. It’s simultaneously a badge of honor and a scarlet letter. Keeping with this theme, I’m picking Hideki Matsuyama to join the list of future Hall of Fame golfers to conquer the 17th green, if not a green jacket.

Prediction: Hideki Matsuyama

The Masters

Bryson DeChambeau delayed turning professional to focus all of his energy on winning the Masters as an amateur. It didn’t work out. Things move slowly in the South, and Augusta National is likely the most pretentious golf institution in America. Bryson, with his notorious pace of play and insufferable love of analytics, is a perfect match. It may be infuriating, but he’s my pick to win the Masters.

Prediction: Bryson DeChambeau

The PGA Championship

The golf world has never officially ranked the four majors. The Players has the honor of being the 5th major, but we’ve never officially assigned the shame of being the fourth major. By the power vested in me by the Internet, I pronounce the PGA Championship, officially, as the fourth major. The courses aren’t as memorable as the U.S. or British Opens’ tracks, and when I try to think back on recent winners all I can come up with is Henrik Stenson and Jimmy Walker. So who’s good enough to win a title but boring enough that the TV coverage wouldn’t feature them while they do it? Seeing as I already picked Louis Oosthuizen to win the FedEx Cup, I guess he’s the guy.

Prediction: Louis Oosthuizen

The U.S. Open

If I’ve learned one thing from watching golf the last few years, it’s that each new season brings a new cast of young kids I’ve never heard of that can compete with any seasoned pro. I’m picking one of these players to win the U.S. Open. Whoever you are, I’m picking you to shock the world. He may be a senior at Oklahoma State or some European wunderkind, there’s no way to know. All I know is that I’m the first one on the bandwagon. Good luck, anonymous future star, you’re going to win the U.S. Open.

Prediction: Anonymous Future Star

The British Open

Last year, we all tuned in to watch Rory McIlroy, playing at the height of his game, take home the Claret Jug on his home soil. But it wasn’t Rory who brought it home for the Northern Ireland faithful, it was Irishman Shane Lowry. This year, rather than see Justin Rose or Paul Casey celebrate in front of their countrymen, I’m following Lowry’s lead and looking for inspiration lower in the world rankings. Behold Ian Poulter, the best case scenario Champion Golfer of the Year for 2020.

Prediction: Ian Poulter

Next. Rory McIlroy's Year to Remember. dark

A year from now, when Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson have taken home all the hardware, please don’t remind me of my predictions that landed in the rough.

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