5 Under-the-Radar Golfers Who'll Become Household Names in 2016
In a certain sense, all golfers not named Tiger Woods have been "under the radar" for many casual sports fans for the better part of the past two decades. Perhaps the emergence of young stars like Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day have changed that a bit in recent years.
For our purposes, "under the radar" will refer to golfers who haven't had a great deal of exposure in PGA Tour coverage and whom the casual golf fan might not know.
We'll assume nominees for last year's Rookie of the Year are on the radar screen, so golfers like Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger won't be included here. Likewise, the pair of promising rookies who have already won on tour in this newly minted season: Emiliano Grillo and Smylie Kaufman.
Journeymen who are coming on strong late in their careers, such as Jason Bohn, have gotten too much exposure to be classified as "under the radar."
With all that in mind, here are five golfers who won't be under the radar for much longer.
Patton Kizzire
1 of 5
Age: 29
Turned pro: 2008
2015 season highlights: No. 1,548 in the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of 2014, Patton Kizzire is No. 76 this week. So in addition to finishing second at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, the guy must be playing some pretty good golf, right? Indeed! The Auburn alum won twice on the Web.com Tour last year in addition to finishing inside the top 10 in 12 of 23 starts.
Why he'll soon be on the radar: Given his propensity for hanging around the first page of the leaderboard in the minor leagues last year and his strong showing in his first start as a card-carrying PGA Tour member, the chances of Mr. Kizzire contending on tour this year are quite good.
Cameron Smith
2 of 5
Age: 22
Turned pro: 2013
2015 season highlights: Cameron Smith had a remarkable season last year, doing the unthinkable: earning his tour card by finishing inside the top 125 nonmember FedEx Cup points/money list after starting the season playing on sponsor's exemptions. Smith made eight of 13 cuts, including two top-10 finishes. At the U.S. Open, he tied for fourth at difficult Chambers Bay, a real show of mettle and ability.
Why he'll soon be on the radar: Now that he's less focused on the week-to-week of making enough money to qualify for membership, Smith can take a step back and work on dialing in his irons, which is the weakest element of his game. If he shores things up on that front, expect him to contend.
Patrick Rodgers
3 of 5
Age: 23
Turned pro: 2014
2015 season highlights: Playing without status, Patrick Rodgers impressively tied for second at the Wells Fargo Championship in May of last year. He made 12 of 17 cuts with a pair of top-10 finishes and locked up his card thanks to finishing inside the top 125 on the money list.
Why he'll soon be on the radar: The Stanford alum booms it off the tee (ninth on tour in driving distance last year) but is a tad wayward and fails to find as many greens as he should. He's a serviceable putter as well. With the raw materials and a season of good work under his belt, Rodgers is on the rise.
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Jamie Lovemark
4 of 5
Age: 27
Turned pro: 2009
2015 season highlights: The California native tied for 18th at the U.S. Open and tallied seven top-10 finishes in 22 starts on the Web.com Tour.
Why he'll soon be on the radar: With two respectable showings under his belt thus far in 2016, Jamie Lovemark is well on his way. He's already had one turn on the PGA Tour (2014), so he has the combination of a little experience and a lot of ability that less-seasoned Web.com Tour grads are lacking. He's an adept player from tee to green, picking up .733 strokes on the field last season and placing well in that category thus far this season.
Scott Piercy
5 of 5
Age: 36
Turned pro: 2001
2015 season highlights: Las Vegas native Scott Piercy won the Barbasol Championship and tallied five top-10 finishes in 28 starts in 2015. He finished third at the BMW Championship. The top-10 total was the highest number of his career. However, he remained "under the radar," as the Barbasol Championship is contested opposite the British Open, and thus news of his win was somewhat buried.
Why he'll soon be on the radar: Fully healthy again after an arm injury that plagued him for much of 2014, Piercy is on the rise. He doesn't lose strokes to the field either from tee to green or with the putter and is well-rounded, save for a lackluster short game. If you're looking for the next journeyman to make a move, consider Piercy.
All stats via PGATour.com.
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