The PGA Tour is off this week as the best players in the world compete at Kasumigaseki Country Club in the 2020 Olympics. Read on below to see my prediction for who will win the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals, as well as my dark horse and player to fade.
Gold Medal: Collin Morikawa- Morikawa has been the man to beat of late, with 2 wins, 4 top 5’s, and 6 top 10’s in his last 11 worldwide starts, including a victory in the 149th Open Championship. Morikawa is 1st in Strokes Gained: Approach to the Green and Tee to Green and his game is firing on all cylinders right now. I predict that Collin Morikawa will bring home the Gold Medal for Team USA.
Silver Medal: Viktor Hovland- Hovland has had a great year on the PGA Tour, with a win, 6 top 5’s, and 12 Top 25’s in 20 starts. Hovland’s game has been pretty stellar as well, as he is 6th in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 9th in both Strokes Gained: Tee to Green and Total, and 19th in Strokes Gained: Approach to the Green. Hovland has rebounded nicely from his eye injury during the U. S. Open, with a victory at the BMW International Open and a T-12 finish in the Open Championship. Hovland will bring home the Silver Medal by the end of the tournament.
Bronze: Abraham Ancer- Ancer’s game has been rounding into form the past few months, with 3 top 5’s and 5 top 15’s in his last 8 worldwide starts. Anger has had a consistent 2021 to boot, with 12 top 25 finishes in 19 starts, with just 4 missed cuts during that stretch. Ancer ranks inside the top 31 in 4 of the 6 major Strokes Gained categories and seemingly has it all clicking at the moment. I predict Ancer will bring home the bronze this week.
Dark Horse: Kristian Krogh Johannessen- The pride of Drammen, Norway, Johannessen is an up and coming playing on the Challenge Tour. Ranked 297th in the world, Johannessen has put together a solid stretch of late, finishing in the top 15 in 8 of his last 16 worldwide starts, including 5 top 5 showings during that stretch. Teamed with fellow Norwegian Viktor Hovland, I believe Johannessen will carry on the momentum of his recent good play and bring home a top 30 showing this week.
Player to Fade: Gavin Green- Ranked 359th in the world, Green has been slumping, missing the cut in each of his last 6 starts and in 12 of his last 16 starts. Green may be representing Team Malaysia in the Olympics, but I don’t expect him to find his form anytime soon. Green will easily finish outside the top 30.