Karnak White

Nothing is quite as foolhardy as trying to ascertain what the new year will bring while it's still the old year. But that's what columnists get paid to do - generally make fools of themselves. So that's exactly what I will do while debuting as a fool - er, columnist - for GolfObserver.com

Photo: © Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images Could Tiger Woods ever match or beat Byron Nelson's 11 in a row streak?

• Tiger to reach 11 straight wins
  He's at six now in pursuit of Byron Nelson's 61-year-old mark. Tiger himself has already said it isn't a record, since he failed to win the HSBC World Match Play Championship in England and then stubbed his toe at the HSBC Champions in China followed by the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan. But the PGA Tour still considers the mark ongoing, since Woods won his last six he has played on the PGA Tour.
  
  From a near-impossibility, to a feat which at least is a blip on the radar, Byron's mark is once again (for the second time) within a driver's length of Woods. And Tiger will be favored each time he tees it up. However, he most likely would fail - if he fails - in the Match Play event. It's not very often that Tiger leads all four rounds of a stroke-play tournament, slowly but surely applying the squeeze until the final day when he wraps up yet another win.
  Probability: 10 per cent


• Annika to catch Whitworth's record of 88 victories
  

  Photo: © Al Messerschmidt & Pete Fontaine/WireImage Can Annika Sorenstam ever catch and pass Kathy Whitworths's 82 LPGA wins?

  One year ago, she seemed a reasonable probability to turn the trick. But in 2006 she took a step back. She's 36 years old now and still 19 wins short of tying the record. A winner three times last year, she still is a formidable opponent on the LPGA Tour. But at that rate Annika wouldn't capture the record for seven years, and the thinking here is that Sorenstam will be long gone by then.
  
  The rest of the LPGA women appeared to catch up with her last year. Lorena Ochoa doubled Annika's win output with six, and Karrie Webb roared back with five. With Cristi Kerr winning three times and tournament fields filled with a number of impressive young Asians, the tour appears to be much improved.
  Probability: 30 per cent
  




Photo: © Scott Halleran/Getty Images Lorena Ochoa

Ochoa will follow her 2006 season with another six wins
This seems like fairly good proposition. She finished in the top five in 11 of her last 12 events in 2006, with wins in three of her final four and a second place in the other.

Lorena emerged as the LPGA's top player this season, and she's still only 25. The scary thing for the rest of the tour is - she's still improving
Probability: 50 per cent




Photo: © Jim Rogash/WireImage The winning Presidents Cup team.

U.S. to win the President's Cup
This should be easy since the Americans have won here with regularity since the Presidents' inception in 1994. But the U.S. has just as regularly taken the gas in the other international competition, the Ryder Cup. And the Rest of the World team gets as big addition with the emergence of several stars from Australia and South Africa. The road gets much more difficult for the U.S. And this year, the venue will be Montreal, away from the cozy surroundings of Washington, D.C.
Probability: 40 per cent





Photo: © Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images Luke Donald and Sergio Garica are two of the young guns that should do good.

An under-30 American to win at least three tour events
This one looks rather dubious, since Lucas Glover was the only under-30 Yank who was in the top 10 in- well, top-10 finishes. But he had to play 31 times to achieve that. Nick Watney had six top-10s

However, there is a big, big difference between finishing an event in the top 10 and actually winning. Ben Curtis, who turns 30 in May, was the only under-30 American who won twice this season. Glover is a longshot possibility, or maybe J.J. Henry. But the international youngsters are still the most likely, led by Spain's Sergio Garcia, Australia's Adam Scott and England's Luke Donald.
Probability: 20 per cent




Photo: © Stephen Munday/Allsport Could the Champions Tour ever have a scene like this moment when Nick Faldo beat Greg Norman in the 1996 Masters?

Norman or Faldo to help rejuvenate Champions Tour
How low do you go in trying to figure the percentages? Greg Norman has an ongoing grudge going against Tim Finchem since the World Golf Championships were created (and maybe he should, considering the idea was originally his.) Nick Faldo is largely a media star these days - boy, how ironic does that sound? Both have been idle too long to make much of impact, anyway. These two stars of the '90s have slipped gracefully into other successful ventures.
Probability: 1 per cent

Back to top