The PGA Tour kicks off its West Coast Swing this week with the 2022 The American Express. Read on below to see my prediction for who will win the tournament, as well as my predictions for who will finish in the top 10, my dark horse, and my player to fade.
Winner: Jon Rahm- Rahm’s game has been the cream of the crop dating back to last May, going T-8, W/D, 1, T-3, 3, T-9, 2, MC, 2 in his last 9 PGA Tour starts. Rahm came out firing on all cylinders at Kapalua and he brings that momentum into one of his better tournaments, having won here in 2018 and finishing 6th here in 2019. Sitting inside the top 10 in Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee, Approach-The-Green, Tee-To-Green, and Total, Rahm is poised to put together another solid performance and bring home the victory on Sunday!
Top 10: Patrick Cantlay- Like Rahm, Cantlay is playing some of the best golf of his career, with 3 wins and 7 top 15 finishes in his last 9 PGA Tour starts, including the Tour Championship. Cantlay has shot 19 straight rounds in the 60’s on tour and looks to continue that trend in The American Express, where he finished runner-up last year and T-9 in 2019. Cantlay will most certainly be in the hunt for the win on Sunday, but a top 10 finish is a guarantee.
Dark Horse: Adam Hadwin- Hadwin has had a mixed bag to start his season, with a T-6 finish at the Shriner Children’s Open, 4 finishes of 45th or worst, and 1 missed cut in 6 starts. However, Hadwin has played well in The American Express before, with a pair of runner-ups and 4 top 10’s in his last 5 starts. His stats also show potential, as he is ranked 31st in Strokes Gained: Putting and 45th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green. A win would be unlikely, but I predict that Hadwin will bring home a solid top 30 finish if he gets the putter rolling.
Player to Fade: David Lipsky- Lipsky has struggled this season, missing 6 straight cuts since his T-22 finish at the Fortinet Championship. Coming into the week ranked 194th in Strokes Gained: Putting, the odds are stacked against Lipsky in an event where you traditionally have to go low to win. Lipsky will easily miss the cut this week.