Ones to watch - 2009

[FC Basher]

I'm going to give you Ollie Fisher as my golfer to watch in the New Year. He's 20-years-old and he's already showing signs of being able to contend. He lost in a play-off last year in Andalusia and he has got so much more to give. I believe that at 20 years of age, he is the most exciting prospect in the world.- Mark Roe

Anthony Kim

This American has been described as the new Tiger Woods and he did not disappoint in 2008 with wins at the Wachovia Championship and AT&T National. Kim proved to be a good each-way bet with six top-three finishes and he made the cut in 19 of 22 starts.

He will now look to take this Tour form into the Majors where he carved out a top 10 finish in the awful weather conditions at The Open in July. He is not afraid to mix it with the best as his emotional singles victory over Sergio Garcia demonstrated at The Ryder Cup.

Camilo Villegas

The Colombian dubbed ‘Spiderman’ for his sprawling poses on the greens to line-up putts, captured his first two PGA Tour wins in 2008. Villegas pocketed $7 million for his troubles having finished fourth at the USPGA Championship before a spectacular finish to the FedEX Cup playoffs. The South American landed the BMW and Tour Championships to finish second in the Cup standings.

His wire to wire win at the BMW Championship made him only the third golfer since 1934 to achieve this feat at this tournament. Like Kim, the Colombian will be looking to step on the gas in the Majors and he finished in the top 10 at the US Open - in June - to prove that he will be one to watch in the big ones.

Hunter Mahan

This feisty American is renowned for his ability to put together devastating rounds and he is now adding consistency to this. He demonstrated his knack of shooting low numbers with an impressive statistic of nine rounds of 65 or better in his last 11 starts on the PGA Tour. Mahan registered five top 10s in 2008 and he came within a shot of retaining the Travelers Championship. He was a captain’s pick for the Ryder Cup and did not disappoint with an undefeated record at Valhalla.

Geoff Ogilvy

The 2006 US Open champion is no respecter for reputations who added a second World Golf Championship win to his CV last season. Ogilvy ended Tiger Woods’ five-tournament winning streak with a dominant performance at the CA Championship. The Aussie did not rest on his laurels as he followed his Florida success with a tie for second at the Shell Houston Open in his next start.

Tim Clark

This diminutive South African has yet to win a PGA Tour event but he has come mighty close on a number of occasions. A sign of his consistency is the fact that he has pocketed over a million dollars for the last six seasons running and he came close to breaking 60 in the Deutsche Bank Championship but had to settle for a round of 62 in the end. Clark was the runner-up at the Invitational at Colonial to register a fifth second-place of his career.

Clark warmed up for the new campaign in the United States with an impressive playoff win at the Australian Open, where he included nine birdies in his final round.

KJ Choi

Expect a fast start to the new season by this Korean hero who scooped the Sony Open on his way to three top 10s from his first six starts in 2008. Choi did not run out of storm as he finished 10th in the FedEx Cup having ended the regular season with impressive performances at the final two playoff events. He kept himself busy during the ‘fun season’ with a win at the LG Skins in a competition that included Phil Mickelson.

[Beanie]

It'll be Oskar Henningson for me - winning Tour school in the manner he did is astonishing, and was in contention straight after on the full tour a couple of times, despite having played a huge amount of golf. After a break, I think he has a decent shout at winning a Euro tour event this year.

McIlroy should finally get his maiden win too - altho week on week he is far too short to back to do so.

[valuefinder]

Here are a few that I've pegged for wins at good prices this year:

Alexander Noren - Immense talent, big hitter and fantastic Iron player. Capable of going VERY low when the putter is on form.

Matthew Goggin - The performance in the open may have gotten the bookies attention but there will still be some big prices to be had on the PGA tour and trust me it won't be long until victory.

Oliver wilson - Amazingly, you can still get 40-50's on Wilson in certain middle of the road Euro tour tournaments. He has too many 2nd places to count and will win many times.

Bo van pelt was another but he's just won but the guy he beat in the playoff John Mallinger is a big talent.

Jeev singh - Super all round player, ball striking, putting, cool head, you name it, he has it and will be priced up big by the bookmakers

Thomas aiken - Bit of an enigma, never know what you're going to get. -7 1 day, + 7 the next but he's honing his skills and WHAT a talent. Winner 9 times on the sunshine tour, he will be also priced up big until he wins (which will be soon - maybe this week at the SAS Masters)

Nic

[valuefinder]

Steve Marino - I have him pegged for a nice windfall this year and he'll tide you over with places until he gets it. Great ball striker(length and accuracy off the tee) and no.1 in birdie making stats on the tour last year. Very straky player and still only in his 20's. Watch out for him.

Fabricio Zanotti - South American is going to win soon at a MASSIVE price

Watch for Ryan Palmer and Ken duke and Pat Perez towards the back of this year on the PGA tour.