What a year it was in 2014 for Aussie golf! Let us cast our thoughts to the year ahead and make some outlandish predictions

Closer to home the PGA Tour of Australasia saw 15 tournaments contested, in four countries for more than AU$7.8million in prize money.

15 individual Professionals from four countries won titles which included eight first time champions.

With 2014 done and dusted it’s time to cast our minds forward to 2015.    

1. Forget the Year of the Sheep in the golf world 2015 will be known as the Year of Youth.

We predict that the Majors will be won by players under the age of 30. We wouldn’t be surprised to see players like Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth taking out golf’s biggest titles.

2. Jordan Spieth will return to defend his Australian Open title

While we are on the young guns we are predicting that when he returns he will be inside the top-3 in the World.

3. Jarrod Lyle will retain his PGA TOUR card

If there is one prediction we hope comes true more than the rest it’s this one; Jarrod Lyle will retain his PGA TOUR card by meeting the medical requirements. This would truly close the chapter on that difficult period in Jarrod’s life.

4. Adam Scott to have a baby girl

Adam Scott shared some exciting news this summer; he and his wife Marie are expecting their first child. So in good Aussie tradition we are going to take a guess and predict that they will have a baby girl, born on the 15th January which weighs a healthy six pounds.

5. A Kiwi to win the New Zealand Open

We are tipping that a New Zealander will win the New Zealand Open for the first time since Mahal Pearce in 2003. There are plenty of very talented Kiwi players on the PGA Tour of Australasia at the moment including Michael Hendry and Ryan Fox. We think it’s their time to shine at home.

6. Matt Griffin to win on the Japan Tour

With five professional victories under his belt and a shiny new Japan Tour card in his pocket we are thinking 2015 is going to be a big year from Matt Griffin. We are even going so far as to say he will win on the Japan Tour in his debut season.

7. Appelby and Allenby to finish inside top-50 on the FedEx Cup

We saw Geoff Ogilvy get back into the winner’s circle in 2014 and we think he will be joined by Stuart Appleby and Robert Allenby in 2015 with the pair both finishing inside the top-50 on the FedEx Cup.

8. An Aussie to win on the Web.com Tour

We said this last year too but we think the Aussies and Kiwis will have a huge season on the Web.Com Tour with three to five players qualifying for the 2015/2016 PGA TOUR season. We also think that James Nitties and Aron Price will be leading the charge by each winning in 2015.

9. Marcus Fraser to win on the European Tour

2014 might have been a year of injury for Marcus Fraser but since making his return to competitive golf at the end of the season he was very impressive. We are tipping that he will have a win on the European Tour in 2015 and get back inside the top-100.

10. Marc Leishman to claim the Claret Jug…

We have said that it will be the Year of Youth and under 30’s will win the Majors however if someone is going to upset the apple cart we think it will be Marc Leishman who turns 32 next year. We will even go so far as to say it will be at The Open and we will see him sipping a few beverages out of the Claret Jug.

11. Cameron Smith to win his first professional victory

This is possibly one of the easiest predictions we have made but Cameron Smith will recorded his first Professional victory in 2015. This year on the PGA Tour of Australasia he had three top-10 finishes in six starts while on the Asian Tour he had seven top-10 finishes in nine starts, he is going to be a true star!

12. Dodt to finish inside the top-60 Race to Dubai

Since losing his European Tour status Andrew Dodt has been hard at work getting back to his best. He won the 2014 QLD Open and regained his status in Europe via Qualifying School for next year. We think 2015 will see him back to his winning best and he will finish inside the top-60 in the Race to Dubai.

13. A female to win a PGA Trainee Championship title

From our international Tour stars to the future stars of Australian golf we believe a female PGA Trainee will win either the prestigious Rich River or National Futures Championship. There are some top quality females players coming through the PGA Trainee Program in 2015 and we think one of them will upstage the boys.

14. Murdaca to finish the Low Amateur at the Masters 2015

Antonio Murdaca rose to prominence this year by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur. This ensures his place at The Masters in 2015 where we think he will follow in the footsteps of Oliver Goss and finish the Low Amateur.

15. Tiger to return to form…

It’s not a list of predictions without a Tiger to get back to his best tip. But we think we will see resurgence of Tiger in 2015. We predict he will get back inside the top-10 with two or more wins.

Related Links

Feature: PGA predictions for 2014 01.01.14
Review: 2014 Predictions how we fared 28.12.14