Golfers in 2022
2021 has been a weird year for golf pros and fans alike as travel schedules were disrupted and some tournaments were thrown into disarray. Towards the end of the year, things have calmed down somewhat with Team USA easily claiming the Ryder Cup and it becoming a little clearer which players will be major forces to be reckoned with in 2022.
Ahead of the Players Championship that takes place in mid-March 2022, we take a look at the stars who will no doubt be considered favorites for the big tournaments once Christmas and the New Year is in peoples’ rear-view mirrors. While some players are teetering on the edge of the cut every single week, there are others who are well versed in registering Top 10 finishes.
Rory McIlroy: Back to his best?
Back when Rory McIlroy first burst on the scene, this Northern Irishman was being touted as the next dominant force in golf. Twenty tour titles hardly demark a failed career but nor do they highlight him as someone who left the rest of the tour trailing like Tiger Woods once did. There is no doubt that amongst all the signing of bumper Nike contracts and dating glamorous tennis players, McIlroy took his eye off the ball and dropped back into the PGA pack.
Only now is McIlroy showing signs of clawing his way back to his best, confounding online tipsters and sportsbook odds to win the CJ Cup in Las Vegas and pick up a cool $1.75m to boot. What was even more pleasing to see from him was his bullish mood immediately after his big win as he declared himself capable of getting back to being ranked as the number 1 player on the planet. It is that sort of razor sharp focus that will be encouraging online bettors, such as those listed on Odds Checker, to wager sports free bets on him ahead of the Players, expecting him to maintain his momentum through the winter swing and deliver big for those bettors and fans who stuck with him through the hard times.
Patrick Cantlay: FedEx Cup winner
Patrick Cantlay was one of the most decorated amateurs the sport has ever seen and he has really begun to show what he is made of on the PGA Tour. This culminated in him taking down the 2021 FedEx Cup, due to claiming no less than 6 titles throughout the season. That run included impressively holding off the World number 1 player Jon Rahm at the Tour Championship.
Now, Cantlay looks set to make an assault on Rahm’s number 1 spot. At the time of writing, Cantlay sits fourth behind Collin Morikawa, Dustin Johnson and Rahm but all that will change if Cantlay just ups his game at the majors where he is yet to show his best form. As long as injuries do not hamper Cantlay’s progress, 2022 looks like being the year for him.
Hayden Buckley: A rookie who’s ready to graduate
There were 27 rookie players on the PGA Tour in 2021 and the one who was head and shoulders above the rest was Hayden Buckley. He did this by garnering an impressive FedEx Cup ranking of 14 as well as finishing fourth at the Sanderson Farms Championship and eight at the Shriners Open. While he is yet to win a tour title, it seems like it could only be a matter of time before the young twenty something is lifting PGA silverware above his head in 2022.
Sam Burns: Hot PGA property
As 2021 comes to a close there can be no doubt that Sam Burns is just about the hottest property on the PGA Tour, according to Golf. Most recently, he won the Sanderson Farms Championships with stellar scores of 68, 66, 65 and 67 and has been registering performances that have singled him out for praise from the likes of Phil Mickelson.
CONAN Daily 