Tag: PGA Tour University

Top three in PGA Tour University Class of 2025 standings grouped together at Williams Cup

The race for a PGA Tour card is heating up.

It’s shaping up to be the tightest race for a PGA Tour card in the history of PGA Tour University.

In 2023, Ludvig Aberg dominated his competition en route to becoming the first college player to earn a PGA Tour card via PGA Tour U. Last year, after dealing with an injury in the fall, Michael Thorbjornsen also had a relatively straight path to earning his card.

This time, it’s all up for grabs.

The race for the top spot in the PGA Tour University Class of 2025 standings has numerous players in position to earn a PGA Tour card, which is awarded after the final stroke-play round of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship. And this week, the top three players in the standings got a first-hand look at their competition in North Carolina.

The Tar Heels men’s golf team is hosting the Williams Cup at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, North Carolina, featuring some of the top teams from across the country in one of the last events this fall.

Included on those teams are some of the top players, like the top four in the PGA Tour University standings.

And Nos. 1, 2 and 3 were grouped together Sunday in the first round.

Auburn’s Brendan Valdes, North Carolina’s David Ford and Arizona State’s Josele Ballester played their opening 18 holes together in the Williams Cup. As if the three of the top amateurs in the world didn’t have enough pressure to perform for their teams, there’s also the competition for guaranteed job security straight out of college.

Arizona State’s Preston Summerhays is also competing, sitting at No. 4 in the standings. He debuted at No. 1 when the Class of 2025 rankings were announced this summer. Also in the field is Louisville’s Sebastian Moss, who’s No. 8.

Florida’s Ian Gilligan, No. 11 in the standings, made the cut this week at the PGA Tour’s Shriners Children’s Open, or else he’d also be in the field at the Williams Cup.

With roughly seven months remaining until one of them earns his PGA Tour card, every tournament, round and stroke matters. And at the Williams Cup, the top three are paired together have a little extra pressure than being a counting score for their team Sunday.

7 PGA Tour University alums earned their Tour cards this year on the Korn Ferry Tour

The 2025 PGA Tour season begins in January.

A little more than four months ago, Karl Vilips was completing his college career at Stanford.

He had a strong finish, placing T-8 at the NCAA Championship. It helped him earn conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour for the rest of the 2024 season thanks to his 10th-place finish in the PGA Tour University standings.

Fast forward to Sunday, and Vilips is moving on up again.

He was one of seven PGA Tour U alums to earn PGA Tour cards this year via the Korn Ferry Tour. The top 30 golfers in the KFT standings after the championship on Sunday earned their promotion to the big leagues, and Vilips was one of those who starred in recent months.

Other PGA Tour U alums who earned PGA Tour cards include John Pak, Quade Cummins, Noah Goodwin, William Mouw, Jackson Suber and Ricky Castillo. Vilips is the only one from the Class of 2024 to earn a promotion, and he’ll join Stanford teammate Michael Thorbjornsen on Tour.

Mouw, a Pepperdine product, had three T-2 finishes, two of those coming in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, and placed 10th in the season-long points race. Cummins earned his Tour card after three years on the KFT and finished in 11th in the standings.

Then there’s Vilips, who ended 19th in the standings after placing in the top 15 in his first four KFT starts. He also won the Utah Championship. Suber finished 37th on the points list last year, but a pair of T-2 finishes helped him move to 20th this time around.

Pak finished No. 1 in the Class of 2021 before an automatic PGA Tour card was awarded. Castillo, who won his KFT debut last summer, finished 26th in the standings. Goodwin was No. 30 in the standings, and he grinded through KFT Q-School last year and then had six top-10 finishes to earn his card.

The 2025 PGA Tour season begins in January.

Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen wins Cabo Collegiate, earns PGA Tour exemption

Thor is back.

Michael Thorbjornsen missed almost half a year because of a back injury, including not being able to compete in the U.S. Amateur and the Walker Cup last summer.

He returned this spring for Stanford, and it was a struggle in his first start, a T-71 at the Amer Ari. Then he looked more like the Thor college golf fans have come to know with a T-17 finish at The Prestige.

It’s his latest victory that’s proves he’s back.

Thorbjornsen won the Cabo Collegiate on Tuesday at Twin Dolphin Club in Mexico. He shot 10-under 203 for the victory, beating Ole Miss’ Michael La Sasso by a shot for the title. La Sasso shot 7 under in the final round, including a 5-under mark over his last five holes, to finish runner-up.

Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen at the 2024 Cabo Collegiate. (Photo: Stanford Athletics)

Meanwhile, for Thorbjornsen, the victory earned him a sponsor exemption into the PGA Tour’s World Wide Technology Championship, set for Nov. 7-10 at El Cardonal at Diamante in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

It’s also an important win in terms of the PGA Tour University standings. Last week, for the first time since the Class of 2024 rankings were released, Thorbjornsen lost his top position to Georgia Tech’s Christo Lamprecht. Now, it’s likely Thorbjornsen slides back into the top spot with only a couple of months left in the season.

The player atop the PGA Tour U standings at the end of the year will earn a PGA Tour card. Nos. 2-5 in the standings will get Korn Ferry Tour status.

Arizona State (19 under) won the team competition by nine shots, bouncing back from its 14th-place finish last week. Texas Tech (10 under) and Arkansas (2 under) were the only other teams to finish under par. Defending champion Vanderbilt placed fourth at 1 over.

ASU’s Preston Summerhays finished third at 8 under while Wenyi Ding and Josele Ballester tied for 10th at 3 under.

After back injury, top amateur Michael Thorbjornsen set to return at Hero Dubai Desert Classic

Thorbjornsen competed at the Dubai Desert Classic last year and finished T-20.

Michael Thorbjornsen, one of the best players in amateur golf, is set to make his return this week after an extended layoff because of a back injury.

The senior at Stanford will tee it up this week at the DP World Tour’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic, his first start since last summer at the Western Amateur, where he was one of 16 golfers to make match play. A week before the U.S. Amateur last August, Thorbjornsen announced he would miss the competition, as well as the Walker Cup, because of a stress fracture in his back.

Ranked fourth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Thorbjornsen received the exemption into the Dubai Desert Classic thanks to his ranking in the PGA Tour University standings. As the No. 1 player, he received an exemption into the field and will play alongside stars like Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and others at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Dubai Desert Classic: Photos

Last summer, he made four professional starts, including his third at the U.S. Open. He missed three cuts but finished T-17 at the John Deere Classic. Thorbjornsen also finished fourth at the 2022 Travelers Championship.

He competed at the Dubai Desert Classic last year and finished T-20, including a 64 in the third round. This is the third year the tournament has offered an exemption to the top player in the PGA Tour University rankings, with Sam Bennett (2022) and Ludvig Aberg (2023) earning the spots the previous two years.

As a junior, Thorbjornsen won the Fighting Illini Invitational and Pac-12 Championship. He was also tabbed 2023 Pac-12 Golfer of the Year and earned Golfweek First Team All-America honors.

PGA Tour University benefits expanding to reward five more players, D-II Player of the Year

PGA Tour University has been nothing short of successful, and the program is expanding its benefits to continue that momentum. 

PGA Tour University has been nothing short of successful, and the program is expanding its benefits to continue that momentum.

Five more Division-I collegiate golfers and the top player in Division II will be eligible to earn PGA Tour Americas membership through PGA Tour U starting in 2024, it was announced Tuesday.

Beginning with the Class of 2024, five more players – now 25 total – will earn performance benefits based on their finish in the PGA Tour U Ranking. Players who finish 11th-25th (previously 11th-20th) will earn exempt membership on PGA Tour Americas for the remainder of the current season, and they will be exempt into Second Stage of PGA Tour Q-School.

Additionally, starting in 2024, a junior or senior who wins the D-II Jack Nicklaus Award (National Player of the Year) will earn the same benefits as players who finish 11th-25th in the PGA Tour U. Such player may accept his performance benefits upon the conclusion of his collegiate career, meaning a junior who wins the D-II Jack Nicklaus Award may accept his performance benefits after his senior season.

“As PGA Tour University continues to grow, the pipeline from collegiate golf to the PGA Tour gets stronger,” PGA Tour University executive director Brendan von Doehren said. “The best collegiate players have shown they are ready to compete against the best in the world, and these enhancements to PGA Tour University ensure that at least five more deserving players will start their careers as members of PGA Tour Americas each year.”

Last year, Ludvig Aberg became the first player to earn a PGA Tour card as a result of finishing first in the PGA Tour U rankings. He won the RSM Classic to conclude the FedEx Cup Fall last month.

Now, more players are going to have opportunities to earn their cards other ways.

Michael Thorbjornsen leads PGA Tour University preseason rankings for Class of 2024

The future is now.

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Fall is quickly approaching, which means college golf is right around the corner.

The 2023-24 season is almost upon us, as plenty of the best amateurs in the game will tee it up in search of a national championship. This season, the NCAA Championship moves to Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, California, after three years in Scottsdale, Arizona.

With the new season also means new PGA Tour University rankings for the Class of 2024.

On Wednesday, PGA Tour U announced its preseason rankings for the Class of 2024. This will be the fourth year of PGA Tour U, with Ludvig Aberg finishing in the top spot last year and earning a PGA Tour card.

Stanford, Florida State and Vanderbilt each have three players in the top 25, and North Carolina has two. In all, the preseason top 25 includes players representing nine different countries: Australia, China, Denmark, England, Germany, Ireland, Norway, South Africa and the United States.

In partnership with the World Amateur Golf Ranking, PGA Tour U ranks players based on the last two years of their collegiate careers. Eligible tournaments include NCAA Division I men’s team competitions, official PGA Tour tournaments and select DP World Tour events. The ranking period for the Class of 2024 began Week 23/2022 and concludes May 27, 2024, following the final round of stroke play at the NCAA D-I men’s national championship.

The No. 1 player in the final PGA Tour U ranking next May will earn Tour membership, while Nos. 2-5 (fully exempt) and Nos. 6-10 (conditional) will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership. Additionally, players Nos. 6-20 will earn fully exempt membership for the North America Swing of PGA Tour Americas.

Here’s a look at the preseason rankings for the Class of 2024.

PGA Tour U grads Ludvig Aberg, Sam Bennett have hot starts in Detroit

There’s no fear in the eyes of the young guns.

There’s no fear in the eyes of the young guns.

Or in the case of Ludvig Aberg and Sam Bennett, the 23-year-old PGA Tour rookies who have burst onto the professional scene.

The duo carded matching 7-under 65s in the opening round Thursday of the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club. They sit T-2 after the morning wave. The recent PGA Tour University graduates, Aberg finishing first and Bennett fifth, have taken advantage of their early professional opportunities, and they’re not the only ones to do so in the past month.

“Thankful to be able to get some exemptions and take advantage of those,” Bennett said. “I don’t know how many points I need to get for special temp, anything like that. Just trying to have some fun.”

Bennett is playing this week on a sponsor exemption. It’s his fourth straight start since turning professional. He made the cut in every one but last week at the Travelers Championship. He’s fully exempt on the Korn Ferry Tour for the rest of the year and trying to earn enough points to earn a Tour card come next season.

For Aberg, he made history as the first PGA Tour U graduate to earn a Tour card out of college. He has finished in the top 25 in both of his professional starts, and Thursday was his third 65 in his past four rounds.

At one point in his round, Aberg was 9 under thru 16 after a chip-in eagle, but made consecutive bogeys to close his round.

“I will say my driver worked very well today,” Aberg said. “I hit a lot of fairways. On a golf course like this, you get a lot of chances when you do that, so I was able to have a few wedges coming in, took advantage of the par 5s.”

An added bonus for Aberg was playing alongside European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald. Aberg, from Sweden, is looking to possibly earn a captain’s pick for Marco Simone in Italy come September.

The hot starts for Aberg and Bennett are another sign the best amateurs can compete instantly once they turn professional. Although there’s an adjustment period to their new routines, there’s plenty of excitement for what’s to come.

“It’s just going to take a little time,” Aberg said. “I think being OK with being a little bit uncomfortable at times is going to be key. All in all, it’s super fun. It’s so much fun to play these events and I’m looking forward to playing a lot more.”

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Former college golf stars are winning in their professional debuts, and it’s not a surprise to their fellow pros

“It’s only going to get better.”

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NORMAN, Okla. — Rose Zhang started the trend three weeks ago. Adrien Dumont de Chassart followed her up the next week. Then, Ricky Castillo joined the party.

Three straight weeks. Three straight professional events won by a player making their debut straight out of college, and all in different situations.

Amateurs having immediate success straight out of college is nothing new, though there are more opportunities now for the top college players right after turning professional compared to the past, especially on the men’s side with PGA Tour University.

“I wish we would’ve had that back when I was in college,” former Oklahoma State golfer Kristoffer Ventura said Thursday after an opening 5-under 67 at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Compliance Solutions Championship at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club. “Those guys are really, really good, and they’ve just proven that. They took advantage of that opportunity. It’s only going to get better.”

Only 13 days after winning a record second NCAA individual title, Zhang won in her pro debut on the LPGA at the Mizuho Americas Open. The following week and 12 days after bowing out during the quarterfinals of NCAA match play, Dumont de Chassart won the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am in a playoff.

Then last week, Castillo, who was making his pro debut on the heels of winning the national championship with Florida, won the Wichita Open in a playoff, where he beat Dumont de Chassart and Kyle Jones.

Dumont de Chassart finished third in the 2023 PGA Tour U standings, which guaranteed him fully exempt Korn Ferry Tour membership for 2023, as well as an exemption to the final stage of 2023 PGA Tour Q-School. For Castillo, who was ninth in PGA Tour U, he had conditional Korn Ferry Tour membership for 2023, fully exempt membership on PGA Tour Canada for 2023, as well as an exemption to the second stage of 2023 PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.

However, Castillo’s win changed that. He sits inside the top 30 in the Korn Ferry Tour standings. At the end of the year, the top 30 get PGA Tour cards. For Dumont de Chassart, he’s sixth and almost guaranteed to earn a card.

“All these wins from PGA Tour U guys kind of speaks to the level of talent in college golf,” said Logan McAllister, who finished third in the 2022 PGA Tour U standings. “College is obviously not the same as professional golf, but the guys who are at the top can come out here and compete, and they’ve proved that.”

There have been plenty of changes to PGA Tour U, especially in the past year to combat the LIV Golf League trying to lure players for guaranteed money. Former Oklahoma State golfer Eugenio Chacarra is one who left college, and he even won a LIV event last year.

This year, the top finisher, Ludvig Aberg, earned a PGA Tour card and has membership for the rest of the 2023 and the 2024 season, though he will be subject to reshuffles in 2024. There were more incentives to stay in college and pursue PGA Tour opportunities after turning pro.

Last year’s No. 1 finisher, Pierceson Coody, has won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour and is eighth in points this year. He’s well on his way to eventually earning his Tour card, but he would’ve had it under the current rules.

“At first you’re frustrated because I missed it by a year,” Coody said. “But I am on a good path and doing the right things, and next year I plan to be on the PGA Tour. I turned down LIV, and then the next year, the No. 1 player gets a Tour card. It is weird to think about, but it is what it is and I’m in a good spot.

“As long as I keep my head there, I’m going to end up with a chance to do great things out there.”

Most of the recent PGA Tour U graduates agree that if the program had been around in the past, there likely would’ve been more stories of players turning professional and winning right away.

Michael Thorbjornsen, who is set to begin his senior year at Stanford in the fall, is playing in this week’s Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour on a sponsor exemption. He’ll be a part of PGA Tour U this season, and he knows how important it is for the college game.

“I think the younger guys are getting better and better, and I think it’s because we all see what opportunities are out there for us,” Thorbjornsen said. “PGA Tour U has created an unbelievable platform for us to perform our best and to have some sort of a pathway on Tour.”

There are more opportunities now than ever for college players turning professional, and they’re taking advantage.

“These young guys are hungry and ready,” said Rico Hoey, the 27-year-old who shot 7-under 65 on Thursday and played collegiately at USC. “I think it’s a great incentive to stay in school, but it’s really cool to see these young guys coming out and having success.”

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Why amateur Gordon Sargent has a pivotal weekend ahead at 2023 U.S. Open

There’s a chance Gordon Sargent could be on the doorstep of securing a PGA Tour card.

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Gordon Sargent has a big weekend ahead of him in Los Angeles.

There’s a chance he could be on the doorstep of securing a PGA Tour card.

Sargent, the top-ranked amateur in the world who’s set to begin his junior season at Vanderbilt in the fall, is sitting at 16 points in the PGA Tour University Accelerated standings. He has earned two points this week, one for making a start in the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club and another Friday after making the cut, moving closer to the 20-point threshold.

If Sargent gets to 20 points by the end of his junior year, he will earn PGA Tour membership. And there’s a chance he could do that before officially hitting a shot representing the Commodores this fall.

Sargent sits at even-par 140 after two rounds of the U.S. Open, tied for 30th. If he were to place in the top 20 come Sunday night, he would earn two more points. Then he’s only two points away, but barring something unforeseen, Sargent will earn those two points later this summer representing the United States on the 2023 Walker Cup team.

PGA Tour U Accelerated was created so high-achieving juniors, sophomores or freshmen could earn PGA Tour membership and become eligible for all open, full-field Tour events. Last month, Ludvig Aberg became the first golfer to earn a PGA Tour card through PGA Tour U, making his professional debut last week at the RBC Canadian Open.

And Sargent, the 2022 NCAA individual champion, is well on his way to becoming the first to earn a Tour card because of Accelerated.

Even if he didn’t finish in the top 20 this weekend, he could earn the remaining four points in numerous ways. He’s essentially a lock to make the Walker Cup team, so that leaves two points left to earn PGA Tour membership.

He could earn a point representing the U.S. in the 2023 World Amateur Team Championship, set for Oct. 18–21 in Abu Dhabi. He was a member of the team last year in France. There’s also three points available at the U.S. Amateur and two at the Western Amateur. Additionally, if he were to make a start in another major, that’s one point. Make the cut in a major or a PGA Tour event, another point.

And he’s going to tee it up in the Rocket Mortgage Classic in two weeks in Detroit, meaning he could get two points for making the cut and a top-10 finish.

It seems unlikely that Sargent wouldn’t get to 20 points before the end of his junior season. Nevertheless, it’s a big weekend for him chasing a PGA Tour card.

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Ludvig Aberg waited a year to turn pro, and he made PGA Tour history ahead of debut at RBC Canadian Open

“I’m super fortunate to be in this position, to actually get my Tour card.”

Ludvig Aberg has never been to Canada before this week. He doesn’t know much about the country. But one thing he does know?

“Hockey. Lots of Swedes playing hockey here.”

Aberg, a 23-year-old from Eslov, Sweden, is making his professional debut this week at Oakdale Golf and Country Club in Toronto, Ontario, at the RBC Canadian Open. It’s not his PGA Tour debut, as he has played twice this year, including a T-24 finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but he made history last week when his college career ended at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. 

Aberg became the first player in the Tour’s history to earn PGA Tour membership via PGA Tour University. 

“I’m super fortunate to be in this position, to actually get my Tour card,” Aberg said. “I’m just going to be prepared to play a lot of golf. Play as much as I can, get as many points as I can and kind of see where that takes me.”

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He will play alongside Matthew Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton, teeing off at 7:44 a.m. ET on Thursday in featured group coverage. 

Last year, Aberg has the opportunity to turn pro but passed it up. He decided to be patient and return to Texas Tech for his senior year. It paid off.

“One of the things that I didn’t really know was how the PGA Tour University program was going to develop,” Aberg said. “Obviously now looking back at it I was, I definitely made the right call. And, honestly, to be fair, I didn’t think I was good enough at that point, too. There was a few things that I wanted to still develop and get better at and improve on. I feel like I’ve done that. So I’m super fortunate to be here at this stage of my career, too.”

RBC Canadian Open: Odds | Photos

And get better Aberg did. He won the Haskins Award as the men’s collegiate player of the year. He became the first golfer in Big 12 Conference history to win consecutive individual conference titles, then he won the NCAA Norman Regional before a T-29 finish at NCAAs. He won four times this spring and heads into the latter half of the Tour season in great shape.

“The last couple of weeks has been pretty intense,” Aberg said, “but it’s something I’ve been preparing for for a long time and now it’s actually happening. So I’m super happy about that. I think as a competitor, you really look forward to playing those big events.”

Deciding to stay in school paved the path for Aberg to play in those big events right off the bat. And the program is something Aberg thinks will benefit the college game.

“I’m just fortunate to be kind of the first guy to take advantage of it, but I think it’s going to get better,” Aberg said. “I think more guys are going to be able to take advantage of it. I think it’s going to make college golf better. I think the incentive to stay in school, finish your degree and then all the opportunities that you can take advantage of. If someone told me two or three years ago that I would have status right out of college, I would be over the moon.”

Another talented college star made her professional debut last week. Rose Zhang, who won the individual NCAA title again and the ANNIKA Award for women’s player of the year for the second straight season, won the Mizuho Americas Open in a playoff. 

Aberg watched Zhang’s success and hopes he’s able to find some of his own just as quickly.

“Rose is unbelievable,” Aberg said. “She’s an unbelievable player, unbelievable person and what she’s done is pretty amazing. If I can do something along those lines, I think I’m doing pretty well.”