Who's most likely to get their first TOUR win in 2021?

AVONDALE, La. — Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are a good team even when they’re playing for cash and not just a flag. Cantlay holed a 25-foot eagle putt early and chipped in from 40 feet for birdie late, while Schauffele contributed six birdies of his own, and their three straight birdies to close gave them a 13-under 59 in fourballs Thursday to lead the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. It set a tournament record since the Zurich Classic switched to team play in 2017, and the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup partners were willing to claim a piece of golf’s magic number. “I haven’t done it before. I don’t think Pat has, either. I’ll count it in my book,” Schauffele said. They had a one-shot lead over the team of Matthew NeSmith and Taylor Moore. The group at 61 included Robert Garrigus and Tommy Gainey, and Aaron Rai and David Lipsky. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and Ryan Palmer were five shots behind at 64. The second round moves to foursomes, and while alternate shot is the more difficult of the format, Cantlay and Schauffele have put together a 4-0 mark in their partnerships at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne and he 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. “It’s just the first quarter. We’re only one ahead,” Cantlay said. “But we are going into a format on Friday that we really like — I think Xander and I really like alternate shot. It’s one of our strengths for the week, and we’re really looking forward to it.” Moore was lucky to have much strength at all. He was in the emergency room Wednesday morning from food poisoning, got some fluids and nausea medicine and finally was able to keep some food down Thursday morning. “Just tried to finish every hole,” Moore said. “That was kind of a win within its own right.” Lipsky avoided the hospital, though he was involved in a car accident earlier in the week. Turns out there was a car in front of him that had broken down, and as Lipsky went to change lanes he said the driver behind him slammed on the brakes and hit him. “I’m all right. I think the other two drivers were fine,” Lipsky said. “Yeah, I was a little bit of a hectic beginning to the week.” Cantlay and Schauffele — who have gone on vacations together when they weren’t representing their country in the cups — were extremely effective on the greens. Only three of their 11 sub-par holes were from putts inside 10 feet. “We played really well, made a lot of putts today on a day that was a little tricky with the wind and didn’t birdie a lot of the same holes,” Cantlay said. “When you do that in this format, that’s really the key.” Equally impressive was the father-son duo of Jay and Bill Haas. The 68-year-old father had four of their seven birdies, three of them from the 15-foot range, in their 65.

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Jamie Lovemark … As contemporary Rickie Fowler continues to work at shedding the label as one of best active golfers without a victory in a major, the 30-year-old Lovemark, who had a similarly impressive amateur pedigree, is still chasing his first trophy in a PGA TOUR event. He’s 0-for-130 as a professional. Not that it’s getting in the way of a fine career. Since returning to the big leagues full-time in 2015-16, he’s posted 12 top 10s and another 13 top 25s. He’s coming off his latest, a T19 at the Travelers Championship where his putting was on point. Yet, that’s arguably the weakest component of his generally well-rounded attack and he’s currently 44th in strokes gained: tee-to-green and 46th in adjusted scoring. Tom Hoge … The Web.com Tour Finals grad hasn’t wasted a strong start to his third season on the PGA TOUR. After opening 8-for-8 with four top 25s, he’d added a pair of top 15s – the more recent a T13 at Muirfield Village to open this month – and sits comfortably at 71st in the FedExCup standings. He’s also T71 in strokes gained: tee-to-green with assistance from slotting fifth in proximity to the hole. Tyler Duncan … If you’re an avid fan of the PGA TOUR, you may recall that he held at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds of the season-opening Safeway Open before settling for a tie for fifth place. It was a classic carryover from the Web.com Tour Finals in which he went T24-T5-MC-T12 to secure his first TOUR card. Alas, that also remains his only top 10 in individual competition as a rookie, a designation that also has predictably resulted in one disappointment after another, but he’s righted the ship over the last two months. After the conclusion of the holiday break, the 28-year-old product of Purdue missed six straight cuts and nine of his first 10. However, since partnering with fellow rookie Adam Schenk for a T7 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Duncan is 7-for-7 to remain in control of his own destiny at 115th in the FedExCup standings. His strength is ball-striking, which caters to his consecutive cuts made streak extending at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. J.T. Poston … It’s rare when one PGA TOUR sophomore without a win playing on conditional status manages to finish inside the top 125 of the FedExCup standings, but both he (108th) and Trey Mullinax (74th) are getting the job done this season. Poston has scattered five top 20s in 15 starts, two of which in his last three. He ranks 37th in strokes gained: off-the-tee and 45th in greens in regulation. Jason Gore … Although TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm hosted a PGA TOUR event from 1987-2004 and in 2006, the record book reflects Nick Watney’s final-round 64 in last year’s Quicken Loans National as the course record. Indeed, it’s the lowest score in a TOUR event since the course was redone 10 years ago, but Gore owns a footnote in its history. In the opening round of the 2012 Neediest Kids Championship, he carded a 63, technically the lowest of four sanctioned tournaments, including the 2010 Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship. The following year, which was the second of two spins as host to the Web.com Tour, Gore placed T11. When he returned in 2017, he finished T13 at 3-under 277. That remains his only payday in his last 14 TOUR appearances dating back to July of 2016. After gaining entry as a sponsor exemption last year, look for him to make the most of the same invitation this week while smiling throughout.

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PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – There’s posters of Abraham Ancer all over El Camaleón Mayakoba Golf Course. He is the local hero this week, ranked 14th in the world and for the first time playing in his home country as a winner on the PGA TOUR – having captured the World Golf Championship-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in August. He’s also one of the favorites this week, thanks to three top-15 finishes in his last four starts in Mexico. The tight El Camaleon course, lined by penalty areas and thick mangroves, complements Ancer’s game well. He ranked in the top 10 in driving accuracy in both 2019 and 2021. A successful showing this week would carry extra weight, as the race is on for roster spots on Trevor Immelman’s International Presidents Cup team, which will face the United States on Sept. 20-25 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s a team Ancer desperately wants to be part of. “After I played in Melbourne (in 2019), I knew I wanted to be part of that team every time. I mean, it’s an unbelievable experience. You can’t really put into words what it feels like to play for a captain, a group of guys like that. It’s just extremely special,” said Ancer, who finished runner-up in this year’s Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow. “I’m going to bust my butt to make that team.” While Ancer already has Presidents Cup experience (he went 3-1-1 in 2019 and was arguably the Internationals’ MVP), countryman Carlos Ortiz – who will defend his first PGA TOUR title at next week’s Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open – is hoping to join Ancer on next year’s International Team. “One hundred percent, that’s one of my big goals,” said Ortiz, who finished T8 at Mayakoba last season. “I would love to play with a bunch of my friends (on the Presidents Cup). It’s just something I always looked forward to competing on and a lot of the work that I’m doing is to be part of that team.” While there’s been lots of talk about the American Ryder Cup team’s big victory at Whistling Straits, plenty of Internationals have not-so-quietly been making noise this fall. Sungjae Im, who matched Ancer’s 3.5 points at the 2019 Presidents Cup, won the Shriners Children’s Open last month. Then Hideki Matsuyama captured the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in his home country of Japan. And just last week, Lucas Hebert of Australia broke through for his maiden TOUR title at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. Im is on top of the International Team standings, while Ancer is fourth, Matsuyama is fifth, and Hebert catapulted his way to No.14 in the standings after his win a week ago in Bermuda. And the solid results from the International hopefuls have caught the eye of one of Team USA’s big stars. “I think the International side is only getting better and better,” said Justin Thomas, who has been a part of the winning American team in each of the past two Presidents Cups. “It’s not like you look at the team lightly no matter who’s on the team, just because Team U.S. may have more accolades and wins put together. … You go put me against Sungjae Im and I know he’s going to be extremely difficult to beat. Same with Hideki, same with so many guys on their team.” And while Ancer is leading the Latin American charge, don’t be surprised to see Latin golfers make a solid impression on Immelman and his assistants at Quail Hollow. There’s Mito Pereria of Chile (who won three times in the most recent Korn Ferry Tour season), his countryman Joaquin Niemann, and multi-time TOUR winner Jhonattan Vegas of Venzeula as part of this core group. “We push each other, we motivate each other,” said Ancer of the Latin America crew. “We see somebody in our friend group obviously playing really well, it motivates us knowing that we can play the same or maybe even better, you know. I think it’s unbelievable. “I feel like we’ve got the firepower to have more Latin guys on that team and it would be so much fun.” Ancer ended up ninth on the FedExCup standings last season, and, at 30, is entering the prime of his career as both a player and ambassador for the sport in his home country. He alludes to the impact Lorena Ochoa had on golf in Mexico (Ochoa won 27 times on the LPGA Tour and ascended to No. 1 in the world – the first golfer of either gender from Mexico to get to that point) and how he’s trying to keep the torch lit. “I was speaking only about Mexico, but us as a whole and Latin America has been growing tremendously,” said Ancer. “It’s been fun and I can’t wait to grow that even more even little by little. I feel like we’ve done a great job, but we’ve got to do better.” And perhaps that growth will mean more of a Latin American presence on the Presidents Cup moving forward.

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