10 Golf Predictions for 2012

We all like to guess what will happen next.  That’s how betting establishments make their money.  

Some people are so compulsive that it’s a problem.  You know the kind.  The guy who will bet whether or not the chicken reaches the other side of the road.

The rest of us are just fantasy players.  We just like the fun of making an educated guess about the future.  So without further delay, here are the top 10 people, places, topics and things to keep an eye on in 2012.

10.  Black Clover Will Be Hot

No, not drugs.  Black Clover is a relatively new company with fun logos and a great motto: "Live Lucky."

There are hats in an amazing variety of colors with an even more amazing variety of colorful four-leaf clovers on them.  There are lucky golf bags, beanies, t-shirts, golf shirts, lightweight jackets, earbuds and even (gasp) lucky socks!  

Google it.

9.  The 73-degree Wedge Will Make News

73 degrees.  It makes you ask, what?  Are you sure?  Does it go straight up?  Does it go backwards over your head?  Was it invented by Phil Mickelson?  

Apparently, the 73-degree wedge by Feel Golf is very easy to hit, and let’s face it, guys who hit their 64-degree wedges a gazillion yards probably need a club that only goes a short distance. 

Supposedly, you can hit it three yards to 50 yards using a full swing.  As usual, the distance it goes will depend on the clubhead speed you can generate.

However there’s a catch: The grooves are non-conforming on the Feel Golf model, so not for USGA or PGA Tour events.  Can a conforming one be far behind?

8. Will Q-School Be Gone Forever?  Maybe.

Seeing how the players vote on this one will be interesting.  The choice is whether to have Q-School earn a card for the PGA Tour or only for Nationwide status. 

Will the players opt for the “I’m here; let’s raise the drawbridge” system to keep others from making it to the Tour via Q- School?  Or will they keep this nerve-wracking but equalizing system for playing your way into the highest level of professional golf?  

If Q-School becomes only a path for the Nationwide Tour, will more youngsters opt for the seven sponsor exemptions as a way in?  Will the Nationwide be a better predictor of success?  Will this new system cut out foreign players, who do not earn enough via the World Golf events or by winning majors?  

7.  Lexi Will Drive Interest

Lexi is not the Latin plural for Lexus.  Lexi is Lexi Thompson, newcomer and future superstar on the LPGA. 

She won twice in 2011, and depending on how many hall passes she can get, this soon-to-be 17-year-old may be as good for women’s golf as Nancy Lopez once was.  She comes from a family that eats, sleeps and breathes golf, and she seems to have a fearless attitude on the course.  

The LPGA already has three new tournaments.  Coincidence?  Plot?  Are the X-Files back?  Can Scully play golf?

6.  Danny Lee and Bill Hurley III—Next Nationwide to PGA Tour Stories

For totally different reasons, Lee and Hurley will be interesting to watch in 2012.  Both got to the PGA Tour through top-25 finish on the 2011 Nationwide Tour, a path that has proven successful for many of today’s PGA Tour winners. 

Lee, who is from New Zealand, won the 2008 U.S. Amateur, but winning that event has never been a sure predictor for success on the PGA Tour.  However, he won the 2009 Johnny Walker Classic, then perhaps tinkered too much with his swing and struggled for a while.  He seems to have turned the corner. 

Hurley graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2009.  He was a Lieutenant aboard a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Persian Gulf for part of 2010, where part of the mission was protecting Iraqi oil platforms.

He also worked on a cruiser headquartered in Mayport, FL and on a destroyer in Pearl Harbor, HI.  He played on the 2005 Walker Cup team.  

Let’s face it, hitting a golf ball is less pressure than dodging bullets in the Persian Gulf.  He should be fine.

5.  Bud Cauley

Cauley turned professional last spring after being a three-time All-American at Alabama. 

He played well enough on sponsor exemptions to bypass Q-School, along the lines of Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Gary Hallberg and Ryan Moore, who are the only other players to have gotten to the PGA Tour through the seven sponsor exemption route.  

4.  Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood Will Win on the PGA Tour, Maybe Even Majors

Both already have victories on the PGA Tour, so look for them to succeed again.  

Lee Westwood won in 1998, before his slump, and then again in 2010, after his resurgence.  He is one of those players who is often underappreciated.  He put a lot of effort into rising to the No. 1 spot, focusing on his fitness and on his game. 

If he spends enough time in the U.S., he may even win the major he covets, because he is willing to work hard enough to achieve his goals.  Look for Westwood to get over the hump at a course he plays well but says he doesn’t, like the TPC Stadium at The Players.   

Rory McIlroy just has so much natural talent that it’s virtually impossible to think of him not winning on the PGA Tour and winning big.  If he will win another U.S. major before he wins a British Open may be the only question. 

Last year, he showed he has the game for Augusta National, at least for 63 holes.

3.  The U.S. Open at Olympic Will Break Your Heart

The Olympic Club.  It gave us Jack Fleck beating Ben Hogan.  Billy Casper beating Arnold Palmer.  Scott Simpson beating Tom Watson.  Lee Janzen beating Payne Stewart. 

So you can take this to the bank: No matter who the favorite is on Saturday and even part way through Sunday, somebody else will win, because that’s what happens at Olympic. 

2.  The U.S. Will Win The Ryder Cup at Medinah

Young guys will dominate.  We will have had so many Europeans playing here in 2012 that they won’t be hated or feared.  Sergio will still chip in from everywhere because he can’t help it.  

However, Davis Love III has Fred Couples’ number on speed dial for pointers on how to get guys into team-victory mode.

1.  Tiger Woods Will Win His 15th Major

Woods’ best chances for a major victory in 2012 will be at The Masters and the British Open. 

That’s because the U.S. Open is at Olympic Club, which always punishes the crowd favorite, and the PGA is at what will be a sweltering Kiawah Island Ocean Course—a Pete Dye, demolition derby course that gave us thrills and chills in the 1991 Ryder Cup. 

Typically, Woods does not like or do well on Pete Dye courses.