The Top 5 Most Underrated Players in Golf Today
As golf continues to expand around the globe and the level of parity in the game becomes more prevalent, the number of high-quality players has grown exponentially in recent years.
This makes it quite difficult for casual golf fans to keep track of which player is winning where when there are multiple tournaments taking place around the world during any given week.
As a result, numerous players have been able to quietly make their way toward the upper echelon of the game.
Many of these players hail from outside of the United States and tend to surprise American golf fans with their performance at the majors and the World Golf Championships.
Here are five players flying under the radar you may be hearing a lot more about during the 2016 season.
Danny Willett
Danny Willett created a brief blip on the radar of many golf fans last April when he finished third at the WGC Match Play at Harding Park.
But Willett’s performance at Harding Park was no fluke.
The 28-year-old Englishman has three wins in the past two years, including victories at prominent European Tour events such as the 2015 Omega Masters and 2016 Omega Dubai Desert Classic, as well as a joint-third-place finish at the recent WGC-Cadillac Championship.
Willett’s strong play in recent years has allowed him to climb to 11th in the World Golf Ranking, and he is topping the European Tour’s Race to Dubai standings.
In addition to what will likely be his first Ryder Cup appearance this September, Willett will be looking to build upon his 2015 major championship performance, which included a T6 finish at the Open Championship.
We have not heard a great deal about Willett in the U.S., but we can expect to see a lot more of him as the 2016 season rolls on and particularly this September at Hazeltine.
Patrick Reed
Two years ago, Patrick Reed made headlines by claiming he was one of the top five players in the world after his victory at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral.
Reed made the following statement to the Golf Channel upon walking off the 18th green at Doral back in 2014:
"I’ve won a lot in my junior career, did great things in [my] amateur career, was 6-0 in match play in NCAAs, won NCAAs two years in a row, got third individually one year, and now I have three wins out here on the PGA Tour.
I just don’t see a lot of guys that have done that, besides Tiger Woods, of course, and, you know, the other legends of the game. It’s just one of those things, I believe in myself and—especially with how hard I’ve worked—I’m one of the top five players in the world.
"
At the time, Reed was ranked outside of the top 20 in the world and had yet to even attend a major championship. Needless to say, Reed’s bold comments drew ridicule from the media and criticism from his peers.
While those infamous comments have loomed over him like a dark cloud for the past two years, he is now knocking on the door of becoming a top 5 player in the world.
Reed, who finished within the top 30 at all four majors last season, is 10th in the World Golf Ranking and moved to as high as ninth just a few weeks ago.
While Reed has shown some inconsistency in his last five events, combining two top-10 finishes with a missed cut, a WD and two other finishes outside of the top 50, he does have eight top-10 finishes in his last 12 events worldwide, and his general trajectory continues to trend upward.
Reed may have drawn a combination of smirks and eye rolls with his statement two years ago, but the 25-year-old Texan has kept on grinding and is within arm's distance of having the last laugh.
Branden Grace
Branden Grace has been quietly established himself as one of the top players in the world over the past 18 months.
He has won three times on the European Tour since December 2014 and finished in the top 5 at two out of the four majors last season.
The 27-year-old South African is currently ranked 12th in the World Golf Rankings, which is a jump of 71 spots in a little over a year, the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship.
Grace finished third in the 2015 European Tour’s Race to Dubai and is ranked third in the 2016 Race to Dubai.
Grace’s rare combination of power and putting touch allows him to ascend to the upper echelons of the game.
He is averaging just under 300 yards off of the tee on the European Tour, per the tour's official site, while also ranking fifth in putts per GIR.
Based on Grace’s recent performance, it would come as no surprise if he were able to add his name to the illustrious list of South African-born major champions at some point in 2016.
Marc Leishman
Marc Leishman has certainly been trending in the right direction within the World Golf Ranking.
The 32-year-old Australia finished off the 2011 season as the 171st-ranked player in the world and has since jumped 142 spots to his current ranking of 29th.
While Leishman’s game has been hampered with some inconsistencies over the past year, when he is on form, he clearly has the ability to win big-time events.
Leishman led the 2013 Masters after 18 holes and began the final round just two strokes off the lead, eventually finishing in a tie for fourth with Tiger Woods.
Last July, Leishman made it into a four-hole aggregate playoff at the Open Championship with Zach Johnson and Louis Oosthuizen before losing out to Johnson by three strokes.
Leishman has been knocking on the door of major championship titles for the past few years, and if he continues putting himself in contention on Sundays and builds upon his past experiences, one of these days that door might just open.
Andy Sullivan
Andy Sullivan won three times on the European Tour in 2015 and finished eighth in last year’s Race to Dubai.
And the Englishman has shown no signs of slowing down.
He has two second-place finishes in his last eight starts, both of which came at big-time European Tour events, the DP World Tour Championship and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
Sullivan recently embarked on a two-week stint over in the U.S., where he tied for 26th at the Honda Classic and tied for 17th a week later at the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
Sullivan has moved from 364th in the World Golf Ranking at the end of 2013 to 150th at the end of 2014 all the way up to his ranking of 30th. That is a climb of 334 spots in just a little over two years.
This climb in the World Golf Ranking has allowed Sullivan to qualify for the 2016 Masters, which will be his first appearance at Augusta National.
While Sullivan has not fared well at the majors yet, he is clearly building up the experience and confidence to begin making his mark at golf’s biggest events.
Sullivan will also more than likely be making his first Ryder Cup appearance this September at Hazeltine National Golf Club, as he is ranked third in the European Tour’s Ryder Cup standings.
At the age of 28, Sullivan is just coming into his prime. There could be big things on the horizon for him in 2016 and beyond.
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