Golf IQ Open Championship Player Guide - 2021

Abraham Ancer (bio)

Abraham Ancer Bio - (C) GOLFstats Inc. 2020

Ancer was born in McAllen, Texas but grew up in Reynosa, Mexico, where he lived until age 14. His parents are both natives of Mexico, and he has dual citizenship in Mexico and the United States. His father, Abraham Sr., got him started playing soon after he was born. There are pictures at the Club Campestre de Reynosa of Ancer in diapers holding a club. As soon as Ancer was walking, he was hitting golf balls. He played regularly at the Club Campestre de Reynosa, and the golf pros there taught him the basics of the game, but as he grew up, he was able to help himself and has never had a swing coach. He moved from Reynosa to Mission, Texas, for high school when he was 15. Despite going to school in the United States, he wasn't recruited for major college golf. So he played at Odessa College, a junior college, and then was recruited and went to the University of Oklahoma, from which he graduated in 2013.

During his one year at Odessa, Ancer was a first-team All-American and finished T-2nd at the Junior College National Golf Championship. At Oklahoma, he experienced his most success during his first year, winning twice while having the sixth-lowest scoring average in Oklahoma history of 72.03. He ended up second in all-time scoring average during his college years and ended up with the third-most birdies (352) in school history.

Ancer turned professional in 2013. In December 2014, he finished T-35th at the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying School final stage. Unfortunately, his father passed away from a heart attack in 2014, and didn't live long enough to realize Abraham's success.

2015 Notes: He played on the Korn Ferry Tour, finishing runner-up at the Brasil Champions in March and winning the Nova Scotia Open. In 25 events, he made 11 cuts and had those two top-10s, and was 11th in the regular-season race, which got him his PGA Tour card. At the Nova Scotia Open, was able to defeat Bronson Burgoon with a birdie on the second playoff hole.

2016 Notes: Struggled on the PGA Tour, playing in 19 events. He made only six cuts, with a best finish of T-18th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Ranked 190th in the final FedExCup race. Played in eight events on the Korn Ferry Tour and was 143rd on the money list. Best finish was T-14th at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open.

2017 Notes: He played on the Korn Ferry Tour and finished with a pair of top-10s in his first four events: T-5th at the Bahamas Great Exuma and 4th at the Panama Claro Championship. He also had a pair of runner-up finishes: Lost in a playoff with Lanto Griffin at the Nashville Open, then was 2nd again at the Utah Championship, one stroke behind winner Brice Garnett. He had his third runner-up finish at the WinCo Foods Portland Open, again to Brice Garnett, but this time was four strokes back. Secured his PGA Tour card for the 2017-18 season with a third-place finish on the 2017 Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Money List.

2018 Notes: Played in 30 PGA Tour events, making 20 cuts with five top-10 finishes. Ranked 60th in the final FedExCup standings. His first PGA Tour career top-10 result was a T-9th at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. He was T-8th at the Houston Open and had his best finish ever with a T-4th at the Quicken Loans, earning him a spot in the British Open, his first start in a major. He missed the cut, but the next week finished fifth at the RBC Canadian Open after opening with a first-round 73. Shot 66-65-67 to finish six behind winner Dustin Johnson. Played in three FedExCup playoff events. Finished T-7th at the Dell Technologies Championship, where he went into the final round with a one-shot lead but shot 73 to finish five shots behind winner Bryson DeChambeau. He ended his year by winning the Emirates Australian Open. Ancer did it with rounds of 69-69-65-69 for a five-shot victory, the biggest win of his career thus far.

2019 Notes: Played in 27 PGA Tour events, making 20 cuts with four top-10 finishes. Ranked 21st in the final FedExCup standings. Started the PGA Tour schedule with a T-5th at the CIMB Classic and a T-4th at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. After winning the Emirates Australian Open at the end of the 2018 calendar year, he didn't have another top-10 for 31 weeks, a T-8th at the Travelers Championship. Prior to that, his best finish was T-12th at the Players Championship. Entered the FedExCup playoffs 67th but moved up with a 2nd-place result at the Northern Trust, shooting a final-round 69 to finish one stroke behind winner Patrick Reed. That performance helped him to his best PGA Tour finish, clinching a spot in the Tour Championship and earning a berth with the International Team at the Presidents Cup. He finished T-28th at the BMW Championship and T-21st at the Tour Championship. With his dual Mexican citizenship, he played on his first Presidents Cup team, won his first three-team matches, halved his last team match, and lost his singles match to Tiger Woods for a 3-1-1 record.

2020 Notes: Played in 20 PGA Tour events, making 17 cuts with 4 top-10 finishes. Ranked 18th in the FedExCup standings. Was T-4th at the WGC-HSBC Champions, four shots out of the McIlroy/Schauffele playoff. Ancer finished T-8th at the Mayakoba Golf Classic. Fired a final-round 63 at The American Express to finish 2nd, two shots behind winner Andrew Landry. After the break, he shot a first-round 64 at the Charles Schwab Challenge and finished T-14th. Next week at the RBC Heritage, he finished 2nd, one stroke behind winner Webb Simpson. The next week, he was T-11th at the Travelers Championship. In the FedExCup playoffs, he missed the cut at Northern Trust, finished T-33rd at the BMW Championship, and T-18th at the Tour Championship.

2021 Notes: Played in 27 PGA Tour events, making 24 cuts with nine top-ten finishes. Was T-9th in the FedExCup standings. Finished 4th at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, three strokes behind the Laird/Cook/Wolff playoff. At the Masters in November shot 68-67-69 and was the second-round co-leader and T-2nd going into the final round. But with a final-round 76 fell out into a T-13th finish. Shot a final-round 66 to finish T-5th at The American Express. Had four subpar rounds at the Valspar Championship to finish 5th, five shots back of winner Sam Burns. At the Wells Fargo Championship shot a final-round 66 to finish 2nd, a shot back of winner Rory McIlroy. The final round included birdies at holes 15, 16, and 17 as he came within a whisker of making a birdie at 18, making him the first player ever to birdie Quail Hollow's "Green Mile." Shot 65 in the final round of the PGA Championship to finish T-8th. With a final-round 65, Ancer finished 4th at the Travelers, just two shots back of the English/Hickok playoff. Represented Mexico at the Tokyo Olympic Games, finishing T-14th. Won the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, defeating Sam Burns and Hideki Matsuyama in a playoff with a birdie on the second extra hole (No. 18). Became the fourth player from Mexico to win on the PGA Tour. Became the first player since Russell Knox at the 2015 WGC-HSBC Champions to earn his first Tour victory in a World Golf Championships event. Entered the final round trailing by 4 shots, shooting a 2-under 68 to get into the playoff. In the FedExCup Playoffs was T-64th at the Northern Trust, T-9th at the BMW Championship, and T-9th at the Tour Championship.

2022 Notes: He played in 18 PGA Tour events, making 13 cuts with 3 top-10 finishes. Ranked 98th in the FedExCup standings. Shot a final-round 65 to finish T-7th at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. Reached the quarterfinals and finished T-5th at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, defeating Collin Morikawa in the Round of 16 before losing to Corey Conners.

2023 Notes: Won the PIF Saudi International on the Asian Tour and beat Cameron Young by two shots. Was T-39th at the Masters, missed the cut at the PGA Championship, T-54th at the U.S. Open, and T-49th at the British Open. He was T-4th at the International Series England.

2024 Notes: Was T-36th at the International Series Oman.

Ancer owns a tequila brand, Flecha Azul, and a clothing brand, Black Quail Apparel, with his business partner, Aron Marquez. Working on the business is his escape from golf. Once he is done playing, he either hops on a call or flies to the distillery in Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico.

- World Rank: 68 - Born: Feb 27, 1991, McAllen, Texas - Age: 33y 10m 14d Back to Field

Click on any table column header to sort by that column
Outlook: One of those players that is trying to get more consistent and collect a lot of FedExCup points while getting into the top-ten about 20% of the time.
This Past Year: Another steady year for him as he made it into the top-30 for the second straight year.
Past Performance Results and Statistics
OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP (last 10 years) Open Championship Home Page
YearDateCoursePlaceScoreToPar1st2nd3rd4thMoney
2024Jul 21,2024Royal Troon Golf ClubT582941073757076$42,150
2023Jul 23,2023Royal Liverpool Golf ClubT49287372717173$45,933
2022Jul 17,2022Old Course at St. AndrewsT11277-1171687365$231,000
2021Jul 18,2021Royal St. George's Golf ClubT59282269717171$27,929
2019Jul 21,2019Royal Portrush G.C.CUT1442727200$0
2018Jul 22,2018Carnoustie Golf LinksCUT1497717800$0
2017Jul 23,2017Royal Birkdale G.C.DNP
2016Jul 17,2016Royal Troon Golf ClubDNP
2015Jul 20,2015Old Course at St. AndrewsDNP
OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP STATS (All)
Played In6
Rounds Played20
Avg Place63
Scoring Avg71.65
Low Round65
Wins0
Top 10s0
Top 25s1

Tournament Record (last 12 months) PGA TOUR Record - European Tour Record
DateNameTourCoursePlaceScoreToPar1st2nd3rd4thMoney
Jul 21,2024Open Champ MAJORRoyal Troon Golf ClubT582941073757076$42,150
Tour Statistics (Last 12 Mo)
Events Played1
Rounds Played4
Avg Place58
Scoring Avg73.50
Low Round70
Wins0
Top 10s0
Top 25s0
Recent, Major and Career Results
Events Played Avg Place Wins Top 10s%Top 10 Top 25s%Top 25 Cuts Made%Cuts Made Rds in 60s %Rds in 60sRds Played Rds Undr Par%Rds Undr Par Within 5%Within 5 Scoring Avg Money
Past 12 Months 3 64.33 0 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 2 66.7% 0 0.0% 10 1 10.0% 1 33.3% 73.10 $124,471
All Career Majors 17 51.94 0 2 11.8% 5 29.4% 12 70.6% 15 25.9% 58 18 31.0% 7 41.2% 71.90 $1,532,914
Total Career Results 145 49.91 1 25 17.2% 52 35.9% 103 71.0% 211 44.3% 476 270 56.7% 67 46.2% 70.10 $15,165,796
Note: All tables can be sorted by column clicking on the column headers. For "avg place", a missed cut or wd counts as a place of 100. "Within 5" is the number of times the player has entered the final round within 5 shots of the lead.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Game: Has turned himself from a poor putter to an above average one. Just the fact that he was 5th in 2020 in putting inside ten feet shows a drastic improvement considering he was 102nd in that same stat in 2019.

Needs to be more consistent and hit more greens.

Best and Worst Courses and Tournaments: The only course proving to be his favorite is El Camaleon home of the Mayakoba Golf Classic. He doesn’t seem to play well in Florida or Texas, has been ok at the Shriners Hospitals and the American Express.

Career Performance per Month
Events Played Avg Place Wins Top 10s%Top 10 Top 25s%Top 25 Cuts Made%Cuts Made Rds in 60s %Rds in 60sRds Played Rds Undr Par%Rds Undr Par Within 5%Within 5 Scoring Avg Money
January 15 52.00 0 2 13.3% 5 33.3% 10 66.7% 29 56.9% 51 40 78.4% 5 33.3% 69.30 $1,429,739
February 13 62.00 0 0 0.0% 2 15.4% 8 61.5% 10 23.3% 43 18 41.9% 4 30.8% 71.40 $519,189
March 13 41.85 0 1 7.7% 7 53.8% 10 76.9% 9 26.5% 34 15 44.1% 7 53.8% 71.50 $1,310,329
April 12 54.67 0 1 8.3% 3 25.0% 8 66.7% 9 25.0% 36 17 47.2% 5 41.7% 71.40 $550,080
May 17 47.76 0 4 23.5% 6 35.3% 13 76.5% 27 45.0% 60 32 53.3% 7 41.2% 70.30 $2,189,797
June 14 43.86 0 3 21.4% 6 42.9% 11 78.6% 24 48.0% 50 26 52.0% 6 42.9% 69.70 $1,856,970
July 11 60.45 0 2 18.2% 3 27.3% 7 63.6% 11 34.4% 32 14 43.8% 7 63.6% 70.70 $864,660
August 16 45.19 1 3 18.8% 6 37.5% 12 75.0% 33 58.9% 56 34 60.7% 9 56.3% 69.20 $3,466,195
September 6 40.17 0 2 33.3% 3 50.0% 5 83.3% 10 45.5% 22 11 50.0% 3 50.0% 70.10 $310,438
October 14 54.43 0 2 14.3% 3 21.4% 10 71.4% 21 43.8% 48 32 66.7% 6 42.9% 70.20 $948,341
November 13 47.85 0 5 38.5% 7 53.8% 8 61.5% 25 62.5% 40 28 70.0% 8 61.5% 68.90 $1,572,458
December 1 12.00 0 0 0.0% 1 100.0% 1 100.0% 3 75.0% 4 3 75.0% 0 0.0% 67.50 $147,600
TOTALS145 - 1 25 17% 52 36% 103 71% 211 44% 476 270 57% 67 14% - $15,165,796

Career Performance per Season
Events Played Avg Place Wins Top 10s%Top 10 Top 25s%Top 25 Cuts Made%Cuts Made Rds in 60s %Rds in 60sRds Played Rds Undr Par%Rds Undr Par Within 5%Within 5 Scoring Avg Money
Spring 42 47.90 0 6 14.3% 16 38.1% 31 73.8% 45 34.6% 130 64 49.2% 19 45.2% 70.90 $4,050,206
Summer 41 48.83 1 8 19.5% 15 36.6% 30 73.2% 68 49.3% 138 74 53.6% 22 53.7% 69.80 $6,187,825
Fall 33 49.24 0 9 27.3% 13 39.4% 23 69.7% 56 50.9% 110 71 64.5% 17 51.5% 69.70 $2,831,237
Winter 29 55.10 0 2 6.9% 8 27.6% 19 65.5% 42 42.9% 98 61 62.2% 9 31.0% 70.10 $2,096,528
TOTALS145 - 1 25 17% 52 36% 103 71% 211 44% 476 270 57% 67 14% - $15,165,796
Spring = March, April, May - Summer = June, July, August - Fall = September, October, November - Winter = December, January, February

Career Performance per Swing
Events Played Avg Place Wins Top 10s%Top 10 Top 25s%Top 25 Cuts Made%Cuts Made Rds in 60s %Rds in 60sRds Played Rds Undr Par%Rds Undr Par Within 5%Within 5 Scoring Avg Money
West Coast Swing 17 58.71 0 2 11.8% 4 23.5% 11 64.7% 22 37.9% 58 31 53.4% 5 29.4% 70.60 $1,305,478
Florida Swing 9 49.33 0 1 11.1% 4 44.4% 6 66.7% 9 30.0% 30 14 46.7% 5 55.6% 71.20 $870,600
New England Courses 16 43.31 0 6 37.5% 8 50.0% 12 75.0% 30 53.6% 56 31 55.4% 9 56.3% 69.50 $2,752,604
Texas Swing 16 37.56 0 2 12.5% 7 43.8% 15 93.8% 22 44.0% 50 26 52.0% 6 37.5% 69.90 $1,256,882
Desert Courses 8 43.13 0 3 37.5% 4 50.0% 6 75.0% 18 62.1% 29 23 79.3% 3 37.5% 68.70 $1,424,029
Ocean and Sea Courses 16 43.38 0 3 18.8% 8 50.0% 12 75.0% 26 46.4% 56 33 58.9% 4 25.0% 69.60 $1,414,577
TOTALS82 - 0 17 21% 35 43% 62 76% 127 46% 279 158 57% 32 11% - $9,024,171

Career Performance per Grass Type
Events Played Avg Place Wins Top 10s%Top 10 Top 25s%Top 25 Cuts Made%Cuts Made Rds in 60s %Rds in 60sRds Played Rds Undr Par%Rds Undr Par Within 5%Within 5 Scoring Avg Money
Bent Greens 57 47.70 0 12 21.1% 18 31.6% 44 77.2% 93 47.0% 198 108 54.5% 29 50.9% 70.00 $5,953,639
Bermuda Greens 56 51.21 1 8 14.3% 23 41.1% 37 66.1% 78 46.2% 169 108 63.9% 29 51.8% 69.90 $6,961,988
Paspalum Greens 12 31.67 0 5 41.7% 8 66.7% 10 83.3% 27 61.4% 44 30 68.2% 2 16.7% 68.90 $1,421,687
Poa Greens 19 66.26 0 0 0.0% 2 10.5% 11 57.9% 11 18.0% 61 21 34.4% 7 36.8% 72.10 $597,482
Fescue Greens 1 11.00 0 0 0.0% 1 100.0% 1 100.0% 2 50.0% 4 3 75.0% 0 0.0% 69.30 $231,000
TOTALS145 - 1 25 17% 52 36% 103 71% 211 44% 476 270 57% 67 14% - $15,165,796

Career Performance per Short and Long Courses
Events Played Avg Place Wins Top 10s%Top 10 Top 25s%Top 25 Cuts Made%Cuts Made Rds in 60s %Rds in 60sRds Played Rds Undr Par%Rds Undr Par Within 5%Within 5 Scoring Avg Money
Less Than 7000 yards 10 46 0 3 30% 5 50% 7 70% 21 60% 35 21 60% 3 30% 69.00 $979,901
Greater Than 7400 yards 41 51 0 5 12% 13 32% 30 73% 36 27% 134 65 49% 18 44% 71.00 $3,571,557