Pro Golf Now
Fansided

2021 The American Express: Top 10 power rankings

By Mike Randleman

Adam Hadwin hits out of the bunker on the 18th hole of the Stadium Course at PGA West during the Desert Classic, January 20, 2019.Desert Classic Sunday 14
Adam Hadwin hits out of the bunker on the 18th hole of the Stadium Course at PGA West during the Desert Classic, January 20, 2019.Desert Classic Sunday 14 /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
10 of 11
Next
Jan 19, 2020; La Quinta, California, USA; Abraham Ancer acknowledges the crowd after a putt on the 18th green during the final round of The American Express golf tournament at Stadium course at PGA West. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 19, 2020; La Quinta, California, USA; Abraham Ancer acknowledges the crowd after a putt on the 18th green during the final round of The American Express golf tournament at Stadium course at PGA West. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports /

You could make a strong argument Abraham Ancer is the best player on the PGA Tour without a win. It’s not for a lack of opportunities, however.

One of three runner-up finishes in four seasons came at the 2020 American Express. Ancer posted 68-67-66-63 to take solo second. His 24-under total would have been good enough to win or get into a playoff four of the previous eight years.

Andrew Landry outplayed him by two.

“Well, it was good shooting a low round like that when I needed to, shoot a very low one to have a chance,” Ancer was transcribed by ASAP Sports in 2020. “And I knew that and I knew the shots I had to pull off and that just gives me a lot of confidence.”

Ancer said he wished he piled up more birdies early on, but he played incredibly steady golf on each course. The former Oklahoma Sooner made just two bogeys and no doubles or worse.He was top 20 in each strokes gained category, including second in putting (4.757) and tee to green (6.648).

Desert courses suit Ancer’s game as he can generally get good rollout on his drives and strategize his way to good scores. Rain during the practice rounds may soften the course to his detriment, but a dryout is expected from Thursday to Sunday.

The 29 year old played both legs of the Hawaiian swing. His results seems backward as he finished on the upper half of the leaderboard (T-17th) at a big ballpark like Kapalua and missed the cut at a shorter Waialae.

Fortunately, Ancer’s proven he bounces back from off weeks. He hasn’t missed two cuts in a row since fall 2019. His last one came in August at the Northern Trust. Ancer didn’t play his best the next week at the BMW Championship, but he did what he had to do (T-33rd) to qualify for the Tour Championship.

His success at PGA West last year came on the heels of a T-38th at the Sony Open.

Ancer posted another solo second last spring at the RBC Heritage, hitting a whopping 65 of 72 greens in regulation. He went crazy low again (-21), only to be outgunned by Webb Simpson by one.

He added a solo fourth last fall at the Shriners and had a streak of three top-20s snapped last week.

Ancer has the makings of an International Team Presidents Cup stalwart for years to come. His ball striking has held up under the pressure more times than not. It’s time to see the putting back it up.

He should begin to hit his sweet spot having seen most PGA Tour courses multiple times in competition. That goes for the trio of courses here at The American Express that he’s coming to for the fourth time.

The first two go-rounds weren’t up to snuff, but he showed what he’s capable of in 2020.

Home/Golf Power Rankings