Michael Thorbjornsen’s picks for his own version of The Match

If you don’t but know the identify Michael Thorbjornsen, tell us that you simply heard it right here first.

The 21-year-old is at present competing collegiately for Stanford University, and his star is clearly on the rise.

Thorbjornsen received the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur, which gave him an exemption into the 2019 U.S. Open, the place he made the lower. And this yr, Thorbjornsen accepted a sponsor’s exemption into the 2022 Travelers Championship the place he completed 4th — the most effective end by an novice on the PGA Tour since 2016.

Thorbjornsen is at present within the midst of his junior yr at Stanford, and on this week’s episode of Subpar, he mentioned a spread of subjects with hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz, together with the gamers he would select to compete with and towards in his own version of The Match, which is returning with Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.

“I’ll take Rose [Zhang] on my team, and then we’ll put Rory on the other team, and Nelly Korda as his partner,” Thorbjornsen mentioned.

Zhang is a very impressed decide. She’s Thorbjornsen’s teammate at Stanford, at present in her sophomore yr, and the reigning World No. 1 on the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking. Zhang received the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the 2022 NCAA Division I Individual title. In quick: she, too, is a celebrity on the rise.

“The women’s golf team is probably the best team here at Stanford,” Thorbjornsen mentioned. “Rose being No. 1 in the world for three years in a row is quite an accomplishment. She’s younger than me, and that kinda makes me feel old. I learn so much from her. I think it’s really cool. I’m really excited to see how she does.”

During Subpar’s “Emergency 9” section, Knost requested Thorbjornsen who would win between Thorbjornsen and Zhang in a best-of-seven set of matches. Thorbjornsen didn’t hesitate.

“Me,” he mentioned. “In four or five. We normally play with each other, actually, against other people.”

“Oh, that’s fair,” Konst and Stoltz quipped in unison.

For extra from Thorbjornsen, together with what he would have finished with the $400,000 he couldn’t settle for on the Travelers Championship, try the complete interview beneath.

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As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of feminine varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everybody on the masthead. She can out-hustle them within the workplace, too, the place she’s primarily accountable for producing each print and on-line options, and overseeing main particular tasks, resembling GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview sequence, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in each within the journal and in video kind on GOLF.com.