Six Players To Follow On The PGA Tour For 2019

SIX TO FOLLOW FOR 2019

As I did at the beginning of 2018 I have taken a look at 6 players on the PGA tour who I think will have a really positive year in 2019 and who I think it will pay to ‘keep on side’ at the right time.

These players are a mix of younger guys coming through and more established players, with the only link being that I think they will all have a year where they make a significant impact on the tour and either move on to the next level in their career, notch their first win or return to the winners circle after a blank year.

I have also looked to highlight some specific events which I think these players could produce the goods in.

Finally, it should also be said that for this piece I have deliberately chosen to look to focus on players who will hopefully reward us at some tastier odds in 2019 rather than the obvious suspects who will inevitably have their moments throughout the year.

So in no particular order other than alphabetical here we go.

1 – ROBERTO CASTRO

Starting the 2019 list off with a player who is yet to notch a PGA tour victory in six previous full seasons on the tour may well seem a risky strategy, however I have a strong hunch that this could be the year that the Texas native Castro finally makes his big breakthrough.

Roberto first joined the tour full time in 2012 and after a fairly unspectacular debut year he found his stride in his sophomore season when he made it all the way to the Tour Championship.

After failing to shine in 2014 & 15 the Georgia Tech grad perked up again in 2016 to record his most successful year to date, which saw him lose a play off to James Hahn at the Wells Fargo and once again make it to the Tour Championship courtesy of four top 10s over the season.

The following season to this was a massive let down for Castro and with no finishes higher than 20th all year he found himself heading back to the Web.com tour.

Whilst this was no doubt a huge disappointment to the Texan the year back at the lower level helped him rediscover his trademark ball striking skills and a run of four consecutive Top 10 finishes saw him regain his card at the first attempt.

Not the longest of hitters Roberto showed his all round game was back on track through the Web.com season by finishing in the top 10 in DA, GIR and Putting.
He then started of his 18/19 season by posting a top 5 finish at the Sanderson Farms event.

Now back in the big time and at 33yrs old coming in to what should be his ‘golfing prime’ years, I can see 2019 being a really solid year for Castro and I would not be at all surprised to see him finally pop up in the winners enclosure for the first time.

Events Most Likely To....

As Roberto is not the longest off the tee he is more likely to shine on shorter courses, which do not as a rule favour longer hitters and potentially reward his ball striking skills.

In addition to this we have seen from Roberto over the recent years that he tends to perform well on the same tracks he has produced the goods on before.

On this basis, whilst he is not normally someone to follow on the West Coast, he does have a good record in the AT & T Pebble Beach and as an event which carries the more relaxed atmosphere associated with a pro-am it could be a good opportunity for him to post that first win.

Roberto has shown a liking both to Quail Hollow and Sedgefield CC over the years so it is worth keeping an eye on him in the Wells Fargo and Wyndham Championship.

Finally, Castro now has two top 5 finishes at the Sanderson Farms event so assuming it is back on the schedule for the fall events that open up the 19/20 season [and also assuming Roberto keeps his card of course!] it is worth keeping him on side in Jackson, Mississippi.

2 – BRANDEN GRACE

The most established name to make the list this year is South African Branden Grace.

Whilst I am sure that 2018 will go down in Branden’s life as one of the most memorable yet as it saw the birth of his first son, there is no doubt that on a professional basis it was a disappointing one.

On the PGA Tour Grace’s best finish of the year, a 3rd place, came on the new links style course offered up by Trinity Forest Golf Club for the Byron Nelson. However after he posted this result in May he did not crack the top 20 again during the year.

Over on the European Tour meanwhile after a 5th place finish at Wentworth, again in May, Branden again produced nothing of note until a couple of higher finishes back on home soil in December.

There is no way of knowing for certain what lead to Grace’s poorer form over the past year, however one can speculate that the joy of becoming a Father for the first time and all of the life changing adjustments which go with this may well have had an effect on his game.

What is certain of course is that Grace is a proven serial winner who is too good a player not to bounce back from a lull in form like he had last year.

I am certain that Branden will be disappointed with how 2018 played out on the golf course and I can see him putting this right in a big way in 2019.

Events Most Likely To....

Branden is well known as a strong performer on links golf courses and this leads us to some obvious events to watch out for him in during the course of the up coming year.

Firstly Hilton Head has already proven to be a perfect fit for Grace with finishes of 7th, 1st & 11th in his three previous visits there, so he is a must for the RBC Heritage regardless of his performance the week before at Augusta.

Secondly, right on cue Grace found his game on the PGA Tour in 2018 when he pitched up for the Links style test at Trinity Forest Golf Club and he is again a must if he includes the Byron Nelson in his schedule this year.

Branden should get two opportunities to tee it up at Pebble Beach this year, firstly in the AT & T Pro Am and then again in the US Open in June.

Whilst I am not ruling out his chances in the AT & T it is the firm fast conditions that should [weather allowing] greet the field at Pebble in June that I feel will suit The South African more, and I am very keen on Grace’s chances to land his elusive first major on the Californian Coast at the US Open.

Finally should Grace not manage this feat he will have another opportunity under links conditions at Royal Portrush a few weeks later and he should certainly be considered for the British Open.

3 – PATRICK RODGERS

Patrick came on to the tour full time in the 14/15 season as a ‘can’t miss kid’ after a standout amateur career which saw him equal Stanford’s all time wins record of 11, which was previously recorded by Tiger Woods.

As a result many people expected the Indiana native to get a win under his belt and progress to the top echelons of the game very quickly, however whilst there have been some flashes of top quality play this hasn’t quite yet happened.

The 2017/18 season was a slightly disappointing one for Rodgers as after notching five top 5 finishes in the previous three seasons he was unable post anything better than 8th place throughout the season.

After the Wyndham Championship with his card secure Patrick chose to skip the opening Fedex play off event in order to get married and this basically spelled the end of his 17/18 season.

The 18/19 season started slowly for Rodgers however in his last event of the year, The RSM Classic, Patrick reminded us of his quality by catching fire over the weekend with rounds of 61 & 62 before just losing out in a play off to Charles Howell III.

Now in to his fifth full season on the tour my thought is that the 26yr old Rodgers can use his cracking finale to 2018 as a springboard to a more consistent 2019 and that this year will see him post his first PGA Tour victory.

Events Most Likely To....

In all honesty Rodgers is such a talented player, but to date on tour also such an inconsistent one, that it is hard to pin down any real pattern to when and where he is likely to produce his best golf.

At his best however he is the sort of player you could see winning in really strong company and therefore my hunch is that he will finally get over the line in one of the higher profile events played on a par 72 track such as The API, The Wells Fargo or The Memorial, all of which he has played well at before.

4 – SAM RYDER

The appropriately named Sam Ryder is quickly earning a reputation as one of the most consistent ball strikers on the PGA Tour.

A graduate of Stetson University in Florida Sam first plied his trade on the Mackenzie Tour of Canada for two seasons, earning a victory in his second year, which allowed him to graduate on to the Web.com tour.

Ryder repeated this pattern over the following two year,s notching a victory in his second year on the Web.com Tour at the Pinnacle Bank Championship, which helped him to then transition to the PGA Tour.

In his first full year on the PGA Tour after a sluggish start Sam posted three top 10s over the season including back to back ones at the John Deere and the Barbasol in July which helped him lock up his card.

During the 17/18 season Sam ranked 2nd for GIR and 22nd for DA however, as is often the case with strong ball strikers, his putter held him back.

Now in to his second full season on the PGA Tour the Florida native has already gone a long way to locking up his card with two top 5 finishes in his first five events in the fall, and if Sam now sticks to his past patterns 2019 may well see this improving player land his first PGA Tour title.

Events Most Likely To....

As a strong ball striker who was born, went to college in and still lives in Florida [near to Sawgrass] you would expect Ryder to be at his best in the Sunshine State, on courses which reward his strongest asset and where wind could be a factor.

On this basis I would suggest keeping a close eye on Sam in the four week Florida swing that we will have on the tour in 2019, which runs through The Honda Classic, The API, TPC and The Valspar.

In addition, whilst Sam should in principle be at his best on the Bermuda of Florida he has shown with his two top 5 finishes in the recent fall series events that he can produce the goods on the West Coast so he should not be discounted at venues like Torrey Pines or Pebble Beach for the AT&T.

No 5 – OLLIE SCHNEIDERJANS

Like one of our other picks Patrick Rodgers, Ollie Schneiderjans arrived on the PGA Tour with a reputation garnered in the amateur ranks, which lead us to believe that he would become a winner on the big stage pretty quickly.

Unfortunately though despite some sporadic big finishes in his first two full seasons on tour he has yet to get over the line.

In his first year in the big league the Georgia Tech grad posted five top 10 finishes, which included a best result of 2nd place at the Wyndham Championship, and this all resulted in a creditable 60th place finish in the Fedex Cup.

In his sophomore season however, after posting two top 10s by early February Ollie struggled relatively for the remainder of the year, and aside from finishing 5th in the opposite field event at the Barracuda the 25yr old did not have another top 25 finish on tour all year.

Now in to his third full season on the tour you have to believe that this hugely talented player and former world no 1 amateur will push on again this year.

One big plus for Ollie, which I am sure will be a big help to him to hopefully post his first win this season is that he has secured the services on his bag of Zach Johnson’s former caddie Damon Green.

Green and Johnson parted ways at the end of the fall series events and Ollie wasted no time in securing Green’s services.

Green is a hugely experienced Caddie who was on Zach’s bag for both of his Major Championship wins and this is sure to be of benefit to Ollie.

Events Most Likely To....

Since being on the tour Ollie has consistently shown his best stuff on shorter and/or coastal tracks.

One such track he has performed well at before is Waialae the host of the Sony Open. Throw in the fact that this is likely to be Ollie’s first outing with Damon Green by his side and it would not surprise me if the 25yr old gets his year of to a flyer.

In addition we should keep an eye on Ollie at the Farmers Insurance Open, The RBC Heritage and the Wyndham Championship.

Finally, lets not forget Ollie finished 12th in the British Open when still an amateur back in 2015, so if his season does go well and he makes it in to the field at Royal Portrush he could make some noise at a big price.

No 6 – AARON WISE

The final player to make our ‘six to follow’ for 2019 is superstar in the making Aaron Wise.

The 22yr old who originally hails from Cape Town has posted a win in each of his first three professional seasons as he has graduated from the Mackenzie Tour of Canada to the Web.com tour and on to the PGA Tour.

On the back of a standout amateur career big things were expected from Wise on the pro circuit and he has not disappointed to date.

When closing out his win at the AT & T Byron Nelson he comfortably held of Marc Leishman with a final round of 65 to secure a three shot victory in fine style.

After this maiden tour win Wise had an understandable lull for a short period missing his next five cuts, however he bounced back to finish 6th at the WGC Bridgestone and 5th at the Northern Trust two weeks later.

Now in to his second full season on the tour Aaron has already posted two top 15 finishes in two starts in the fall series events and I can see this hugely talented player pushing on in 2019 and posting at least one more win as he makes his way to the elite levels of the game.

Events Most Likely To....

Aaron is the sort of improving young player who it may well pay to keep onside in bigger events such as WGC’s and even the Major’s where his price will still be relatively juicy.

In his short career to date he has already won on the links style challenge of Trinity Forest & performed well at the coastal tests offered at the RSM, The Mayakoba & Pebble Beach.

He is certainly worth keeping an eye on therefore at these events again, as well as at the US Open.

I can also see Wise getting his 2019 of to good start with a bold showing at Kapalua in the Sentry ToC on a course which should suit his game.

Finally Aaron now resides in Vegas so it was no surprise to see him perform well in 2018 at the Shriners in his home town and in the desert at the CareerBuilder. He is therefore a man to keep an eye on in both of these events as well as in Phoenix at the Waste Management if he did decide to play there this year.