The Next Breakthrough Stars
Professional golf careers can continue for a number of years.
By way of example, the oldest winner of one of the 4 Major Tournaments is Phil Mickelson who was approaching 51 years of age when he won the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island in 2021.
Realistically, professional golfers can expect to remain at the top of their game for a quarter of a century from their early 20s to mid-40s and possibly beyond.
Against the background of long careers at the very top, it can appear that the names at the top of the golfing ladder remain unchanged over very lengthy periods of time.
However, young golfers join the professional tours every year and the aim of this article is to attempt to identify the next breakthrough star into the very top ranks of professional golf.
The Current Leaderboard
Tiger Woods no longer dominates professional golf and the days when the favourite for an upcoming Major Tournament could actually be odds on are long gone.
At present the joint favourites for the 2024 Masters in April are Scottie Scheffler, World No. 1, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy with all 3 of them being just under 10/1 to win the tournament.
Current World No. 1, Scottie Scheffler, is only 27 years of age and he is a regular contender for the Majors having won the Masters in 2022, finished second at the PGA Championship in 2023, 2nd in the US Open in 2022 and 8th in the Open Championship in 2021.
We can expect that Scottie will continue to be a regular contender at the 4 Major Championships (plus the Players Championship in Florida which many consider as the unofficial 5th Major) for many years to come.
Jon Rahm is just 28 years of age and has already amassed 20 professional wins. Jon’s professional wins include 2 Majors, the 2021 US Open and the 2023 Masters.
It seems apparent that Jon’s career trajectory is still upwards and he will certainly be a serious contender at all Major Championships for years to come.
Jordan Spieth has now turned 30 years of age having turned professional in 2012.
He has amassed 3 Majors to date, the Masters and the Open in 2015 and the Open Championship in 2017.
He still awaits a victory in the PGA Championship to complete the Grand Slam of Majors, but his career seems to have stalled slightly and he certainly never came to dominate the world game as he threatened to do on winning the 2 Majors in 2015.
Nevertheless, Jordan will certainly continue to be a threat at Major Championships over the coming years, but his current standing is probably correctly reflected in the fact that he is currently over 20/1 to win the Masters Championship in 2024.
Rory McIlroy, who has amassed 34 wins to date, is still only 34 years of age. He has won 4 Majors to date including the PGA twice, the US Open and the Open Championship.
Rory’s last Major win was 10 years ago at this stage and there is enormous pressure on him in April each year for the Masters Championship as he bids to complete his Career Grand Slam.
There area signs that Rory has reversed his mini slump over recent years and that he is back on top form.
He will certainly be one to watch again in the 2024 Masters in April and in the preceding Players Championship in March 2024.
IN the view of this reviewer, Rory will certainly add to his current haul of 4 Majors over the coming years.
Brooks Koepka is just 33 years of age and has already won 5 Majors, winning the PGA Championship three times and the US Open twice.
Brooks joined the LIV Tour in 2022 and could well have added to his haul of Major Championships by now if had chosen to remain with the PGA Tour.
Following the outbreak of peace between the PGA and LIV Tours, Brooks can, however, look forward to competing once more in the Major Championships and it would certainly not be a huge surprise if he was to emerge as World No. 1 during 2024.
He is currently a very generous 16/1 shot for the 2024 Masters and he can certainly be expected to increase his total of 5 Majors over the coming years.
Other current top players likely to be in or around the leaders in upcoming Majors Championships include Cameron Smith, Colin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson (also returning from the LIV Tour) and many more.
With such a crowded field of top-class professionals at the very top of their game, is there room for young guns to break through into the top ranks over the coming period?
In the opinion of this reviewer, this breakthrough opportunity certainly exists, and we have examined the credentials of a number of potential breakthrough stars below.
1. Cameron Young
Cameron is from New York and is 26 years old. He turned professional in 2019 and has no professional wins from his 50 participations to date.
Cameron is, however, quite consistent and has made 37 cuts from his 50 events and he is currently within the top 25 in the World Rankings.
Also, while he has yet to win a Major, he has two Top-3 finishes in Major events having finished third in the 2022 PGA Championship and second in the 2022 US Open Championship.
Could 2024 be a breakthrough year for Cameron and could he break into the Top-10 world golfers?
It seems unlikely but Cameron’s consistency and record to date suggests that he may be one to watch.
It would, however, be premature to back Cameron at next April’s Masters at the current price of 33/1.
2. Kim Joo-Hyung
Kim Joo-Hyung is a South Korean golfer and only turned 21 in June of 2023.
Commonly known as Tom Kim, he has amassed 12 professional wins overall since turning pro back in 2018.
9 of Kim’s 12 wins to date have been on Asian Tours but he has also had 3 victories on the PGA Tour since earning his PGA Tour card in 2022/2023.
Kim is, in fact, the first golfer to have 2 wins on the PGA Tour before turning 21 years of age since Tiger Woods – this fact alone would mark him out as one to watch.
His record to date in the Majors at such as a young age would also mark him out – he finished 16th in the Masters, tied 8th in the US Open and tied 2nd in the Open during 2023.
Kim is currently ranked well within the Top 20 golfers, and it is suggested that the is definitely a golfer to watch closely heading into the 2024 season – he can be backed at up to 50/1 for the Masters in April 2024 and a relatively small investment on Kim in all upcoming Majors could pay handsome dividends if his odds remain as high as they are for the US Masters.
3. Austin Eckroat
Austin is a 24-year-old professional golfer who turned professional in 2021.
To date, he has made 21 cuts from 41 events but has no professional wins since joining the PGA Tour.
He did, however, finish tied for 10th place in the 2023 US Open and the stat that distinguishes him in his career to date is the fact that he tied the 9-hole record of 29 shots in the final round of the 2023 US Open.
One to watch going forward but investment in him as a potential Major winner would appear to be premature at this stage noting that he is currently ranked outside of the top 75 golfers in the rankings.
4. Sahith Theegala
Sahith is an American golfer – aged just 25 – he turned professional in 2020.
To date, he has 2 professional wins, one of which was on the PGA Tour. This first PGA Tour win came in September 2023 at the Fortinet Championship where he secured a two-shot victory.
Sahith won the Haskins Award, the Ben Hogan Award, and the Jack Nicklaus Award in 2020 – he is just the fifth golfer to win all three of these awards in the same season.
Sahith has made the cut 57 times from a total of 74 starts marking him out as a consistent performer.
Although he has no record of contending in Majors so far, he did finish in the top 40 in the US Masters, the PGA Championship and the US pen in 2023, finishing 9th at the Masters.
Sahith currently lies within the top 25 in the rankings. He is currently priced at 66/1 for the upcoming 2024 Masters and is regarded as one to watch as distinct from one to invest in in the short term.
5. Colin Morikawa
Colin is a US golfer, 26 years of age, who turned professional in 2019.
Having turned pro, Colin made the cut in his first 22 tournaments which is second only to Tiger Woods record of making his first 25 cuts – this stat alone marks Colin out as one to watch.
His PGA Tour victories include 2 Majors – he won the PGA Championship in 2020 and the Open Championship in 2021.
He is also the first American golfer to win the Race to Dubai on the European Tour and has been ranked as high as 2nd in the world.
Colin did not contend in a significant way at the 2023 Majors and he is currently priced around 20/1 for the upcoming Masters.
Definitely one to watch as is seems clear that Colin will add to his current tally of 2 Major Championships over the coming years.
6. Viktor Hovland
Viktor is a Norwegian golfer, 26 years of age, who plays on both the PGA and European Tours.
Viktor has the distinction of being the first Norwegian to win on the PGA Tour, winning the Puerto Rican Open in 2020 – he is also the first Norwegian to win on the European Tour winning the BMW International Open in 2021.
Viktor turned professional in 2019 and he has amassed 10 wins to date including 6 on the PGA Tour and 2 on the European Tour.
To date, he has made 88 cuts from 98 tournaments played.
Also, he has contributed to the European Team in the last two Ryder Cups and made a significant contribution to the European Team win in the Ryder Cup of 2023, being part of the pairing which delivered a record breaking 9&7 victory over Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka in the Saturday foursomes.
Viktor has yet to win a Major Championship. However, he did tie 2nd in 2023 in the US PGA Championship and tied 4th in the Open in 2022.
His best finish in the Masters was in 2023 when he finished 17th and his best finish in the US Open was back in 2019 where he finished tied 12th.
It seems clear, however, that Viktor is destined to win Major Championships having matured significantly as a golfer over recent years.
He can be backed at around 15/1 for the 2024 Masters and, although these odds might seem short for someone who has yet to win a Major, it is suggested that this price represents an attractive investment.
7. Sungjae Im
Sungjae is a South Korean professional golfer aged 25.
He turned professional in 2015 and has amassed 6 professional wins to date including 2 on the PGA Tour.
He is extremely consistent having made the cut 123 times in a total of 154 tournaments and he also became Rookie of the Year on the PGA Tour in season 2018/2019.
Sungjae’s first win on the PGA Tour came in the Honda Classic in 2020 and he also finished 2nd in the Masters in 2020.
Sugnjae has not really contested in a Major Championship since 2020 with his best finish being tied 20th in the US Open in 2023. His highest ranking came in 2021 when he was ranked at No. 16.
Sungjae has no wins on the PGA Tour since 2021 and, while he is certainly capable of contending in future Championships, including future Majors, he is not seen as one to back in the near future, currently being a 40/1 shot for the upcoming Masters.
8. Rasmus Højgaard
Rasmus is a Danish golfer, 22 years of age who turned professional in 2019.
He has amassed 6 professional wins to date although he has yet to win on the PGA Tour.
He hold the distinction of being the 3rd youngest winner ever on the European Tour and it is noteworthy that his twin brother Nicolai is also a professional golfer.
Rasmus also holds the distinction of being the first player born in the 2000s to win on the European Tour and the distinction of being part of the first pair of brothers to win on successive weeks on the European Tour, achieved in 2021.
Rasmus has yet to contend meaningfully in a Major Championship and, while he is certainly developing nicely as a professional golfer and while he is seen as one to watch, he is not currently seen as a golfer that merits investment from a Major Championship point of view.
9. Ludvig Åberg
Ludvig is a Swedish golfer, 24 years of age, who only turned professional in June 2023.
He currently plays on both the PGA and European Tours and he has already had 3 wins as a professional including one on the European Tour.
Ludvig finished as the best college player in the United States in 2022 and again in 2023. In season 2002/2023, he finished top of the PGA Tour University Rankings to earn membership of the Tour.
Ludvig won the be Hogan Award, the Haskins Award and the Jack Nicklaus Award in 2023.
Having only turned professional in the summer of 2023, Ludvig has not played in a massive number of tournaments as a professional.
However, he has a record of making the cut in over 70% of the competitions in which he has competed, which is a good indication of his consistency.
Also, in 2023, Ludvig became the first ever golfer to be selected to play in a Ryder Cup Team without having participated in a Major Championship.
He contributed to the Ryder Cup win by the European Team playing four times and winning twice.
Also, he will be remembered as part of the foursomes pairing with Viktor Hovland who delivered a record breaking 9&7 defeat to World no. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Brook Koepka.
European Ryder Cup Team Captain described Ludvig as a “generational talent” – while he has yet to compete in a Major Championship, he is definitely seen as one to watch, and he can be backed at up to 30/1 for the upcoming US Masters.
10. Matti Schmid
Matti Schmid is a German golfer 25 years of age who turned professional in 2021.
He plays on both the PGA and European Tours having won the European Amateur in both 2019 and 2020 – he was also the leading amateur at the 2021 Open Championship.
Matti won the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award in 2021 but he has yet to win as a professional with two Top 10 finishes to his credit to date.
However, he finished 2nd in the Andalusian Masters in 2023 and in seems clear that his first professional victory is not far away.
Matti has yet to contend meaningfully in a Major Championship and it would appear to be premature at this stage to think of him as a potential major Championship winner in the near future.
Nevertheless, his game has developed nicely and he is one to watch over the coming period and one who may have a significant upswing in the near future.
Predictions
Now that the era of Tiger Woods dominance is definitively over, it seems clear that we will not see a situation where the favourite for a Major Championship is an even money shot for many years to come.
Realistically, there are now multiple potential winners of any Championship including any Major Championships, and the current favourite for the upcoming Masters is around a 10/1 shot as distinct from the even money offering that became the norm at the height of Tiger’s career.
With such an open field for every Championship and with so many extremely talented golfers contending, it is certainly difficult to highlight anyone for particular attention.
However, the 10 golfers set out above are highlighted as ones who merit particular oversight.
While it may prove embarrassing to look back on this at a future date, the 3 golfers that I would highlight as meriting immediate consideration and possible investment at Major Championship times are:
Tom Kim
Viktor Hovland
Ludvig Åberg
