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Highest-Paid Golfers 2021: Sponsors Drive Woods, Mickelson and McIlroy

The U.S. Open tees off Thursday at San Diego’s Torrey Pines with $12.5 million in prize money on the line, including $2.25 million for the winner, the biggest purse among golf ’s four major championships.

Golf prize money has exploded since Tiger Woods burst on the scene in 1996. The PGA Tour will dole out more than $400 million this year, quadruple the tally from a quarter-century ago. But for the superstars of the sport, the biggest paydays still come off the course.

Woods is the highest-paid golfer over the last 12 months with $62.2 million. Back surgery and a devastating February car accident limited Woods to only seven events, and his prize money was a mere $191,000. Yet Woods continues to be a master pitchman as brands look to align themselves with the 15-time major winner. He counts more than a dozen brands in his endorsement portfolio, led by Nike, TaylorMade, Hero MotoCorp and Bridgestone and he’s earned more than $1.5 billion off the course since turning pro, versus $121 million in PGA Tour prize money.

Woods signed a multi-year pact in early 2021 with Take-Two Interactive Software’s 2K franchise for its golf videogame. He was previously the face of Electronic Arts’ PGA Tour game franchise from 1998 to 2013. He also extended his agreement with Monster Energy at the end of last year.

Golf offers a wildly attractive demographic for sponsors—the median household income for the sport’s TV viewers is roughly $75,000 and tops football, baseball and basketball, according to Nielsen. Those fans buy equipment, apparel, watches, financial services and cars with that disposable income. Corporate hospitality is another critical component of the golf sponsorship space.

“We find a lot of sponsors want to get involved with golf because they have the ability to tap into these C-suite level of executives that they want to do business with,” said Octagon’s Ross Chouler, who is the agent for Xander Schauffele, No. 6 in the Official World Golf Rankings and one of the favorites this week.

Golf’s top 10 earners made an estimated $300 million over the last 12 months, and only 29% was from prize money. But the PGA Tour wants to enrich these stars even more through its recently launched Player Impact Program , a $40 million bonus pool for the players who generate the most interest in the sport.

“This is a recognition that there is value that the top players in the game are bringing beyond their singular performance that week,” Phil de Picciotto, founder and president of Octagon, said. “But they have to perform over the course of their careers in order to get the stature that causes other people to follow them as personalities.”

Woods scored the highest on the Tour’s algorithm during 2019, followed by Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler. Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Justin Rose and Adam Scott round out the top 10. The payouts for the top performer in 2021 will be $8 million, with $6 million for the runner-up and the next eight due $3 million or $3.5 million. Fowler, Rose and Scott were the only ones from above not among the top 10 by total earnings during the past 12 months.

Sportico’s earnings estimates include prize money, endorsements, appearance fees, licensing and golf course design work in the 12 months ending May 31 based on conversations with golf industry insiders. Below are the top 10.

1. Tiger Woods: $62.2 million

Prize money: $191,000; Off-course: $62 million

Woods is not playing as he recovers from injuries sustained from his car accident, but he will be a story all weekend as the winner of the last Open at Torrey Pines, where he defeated Rocco Mediate in 2008 in sudden death after an 18-hole playoff. Woods revealed after the event he played with a stress fracture in his tibia. It was his last major win until the 2019 Masters.

2. Phil Mickelson: $46.1 million

Prize money: $4.1 million; Off-course: $42 million

“Lefty” pulled off a run for the ages last month to win the PGA Championship and become the oldest major champion in golf history. The win was worth $2.16 million, his richest PGA Tour purse, but a fraction of the $9 million he won for an exhibition versus Woods in 2018.

3. Dustin Johnson: $40.8 million

Prize money: $24.8 million; Off-course: $16 million

Leading the Official World Golf Rankings and winning the Masters triggered lucrative sponsor bonuses for the two-time major winner, who also chased a big appearance fee in Saudi Arabia in February. Johnson scored the biggest payday of his career in September, $15 million for winning the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup.

4. Rory McIlroy: $32.8 million

Prize money: $4.8 million; Off-course: $28 million

McIlroy is a principal of venture capital firm, Symphony Ventures, based in Dublin. The firm’s investments include insurance, tech and healthcare, and it recently invested in virtual healthcare startup LetsGetChecked. His career prize money of $56.5 million ranks sixth all-time.

5. Jordan Spieth: $29.6 million

Prize money: $4.6 million; Off-course: $25 million

Spieth rebounded this year with his first victory since 2017, a win at the Valero Texas Open. His endorsement game remains strong through partnerships with Under Armour, AT&T, Titleist, Brightspot, NetJets, Rolex, Club Champion and Full Swing.

6. Justin Thomas: $20.3 million

Prize money: $13.3 million; Off-course: $7 million

The Kentucky native ranks second in the world currently, and his 14 PGA Tour wins are the most for any player under the age of 30. His biggest sponsorships are with Titleist, FootJoy, Citi, Woodford Reserve and NetJets.

7. Bryson DeChambeau: $17.9 million

Prize money: $8.9 million; Off-course: $9 million

DeChambeau has been the talk of the Tour the past year for his play, analytical approach, hulking physique and feud with Brooks Koepka , who landed just outside the top 10 earners. The defending U.S. Open champion has more than a dozen endorsement partners, including Cobra, Bridgestone, Rocket Mortgage and DraftKings.

8. Xander Schauffele: $17.3 million

Prize money: $10.3 million; Off-course: $7 million

The FedEx Cup has been good to the San Diego native. He pocketed $5 million in 2019 for finishing second and another $4.5 million last year when he tied for second. Schauffele’s main sponsors are Callaway, Adidas, Aon and Hyland. Software firm Hyland is running a promotion where the win gets a swing tutorial from Schauffele and his coach-father, Stefan.

9. Jon Rahm: $16.9 million

Prize money: $10.9 million; Off-course: $6 million

Rahm is the favorite to win the U.S. Open, with DraftKings giving him 10-1 odds (DeChambeau, Johnson and Schauffele are next at 15-1). The Spaniard switched his clubs from TaylorMade to Callaway in 2021 under a multi-year deal.

10. Hideki Matsuyama: $15.4 million

Prize money: $5.4 million; Off-course: $10 million

Matsuyama’s Masters win in April made him the first Japanese player to ever win a men’s golf major. Sponsorship opportunities in his golf-crazed country could be worth as much as $600 million for the historic win.

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The same high standards are embraced by the PGA TOUR’s TPC Network of clubs, where the PGA TOUR’s strategic marketing partners lend their support by creating unique opportunities for members and guests; providing operational and infrastructure support through products and services that enable the clubs to exceed quality and service benchmarks at every turn; and by facilitating partnerships that help TPCs bring to life the PGA TOUR’s “Together, anything’s possible” charitable mission.

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How the PGA Tour’s new sponsorship matchmaking service aims to enrich players

The PGA Tour is trying to use its expertise in the sponsorship space to benefit players.

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The PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program (PIP) has received a good deal of media attention ; its Player Partnerships program, not as much — yet.

The former was devised to reward players who bring the most interest to the Tour, measured in terms of social media and traditional media; Phil Mickelson claims to have won the inaugural 2021 PIP prize (in the form of an $8 million bonus), pipping Tiger Woods ($6 million). (The Tour says official results will be announced only to players in mid-February, because of lag time in reporting.) The goal of the partnership program? Help players to maximize their off-course earnings by promoting them to sponsors.

To better understand the Tour’s motivations for launching the program, how it works and how it’s been received, GOLF.com spoke to Dan Glod, the PGA Tour’s senior vice president, player partnerships. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

When did Player Partnerships launch?

The concept of what we’re doing now has been something we’ve been considering for years. Everything was approved to move forward at our spring 2020 board meeting … and then we learned of Covid, which literally happened at the Players Championship . Because of Covid and the disruption to the world and our business, we didn’t really get underway until this past January.

Walk us through what Player Partnerships does, and why.

We are a membership-based organization, so we work on the behalf of our players. At the PGA Tour, we’ve always been focused on driving what we call on-course earning programs like the FedEx Cup and the Comcast Business Tour Top 10. Now we’re looking at how we’ve been successful in the other areas of our business and applying the same process with our players.

Money Game: For today’s pros, corporate sponsorships go way beyond dollars and cents

And when we looked at sponsorships — title sponsorships, our official marketing partnership business, supporting our local tournaments in the sponsorship world — we felt that with the same discipline and rigor we could take the success we had in those areas and support our players as an extension of their management team, that we could work with players’ agents and managers to help drive more off-course sponsorship revenue .

Just to emphasize: as an extension of the player’s management team. The players are all independent contractors, so we have no intention or interest in being managers or agents. We just want to work with their teams.

It’s a value-add situation.

Yeah. We wake up every day and think about how we can create new opportunities for our members. Collectively, as an organization, we have a lot of different folks touching a lot of different sponsors, brands that are potentially interested in partnering with the PGA Tour.

And oftentimes those conversations get to, “Hey, we’d love to sponsor some players.” We had a lot of intelligence around sponsorship availability and those types of things. But until this new team and division were created, we didn’t have a great way of connecting those dots. Over the last year we’ve really built up that area so that we can connect the dots when those conversations happen.

Different players obviously have different resumes in terms of accomplishments, social-media reach, and so on. There’s a difference between a player with four wins and 40,000 Instagram followers versus 40 wins and 4 million followers. How did you aggregate that information?

We’ve been developing that process throughout 2021. We have a very good understanding through analytics of the value that our membership is developing for their sponsors. By “value,” I mean media duration and exposure for those brands.

So, we can tell you up to the minute or week-to-week how much Player X is delivering for all his sponsors, and we can break that out as to how much they delivered for a hat sponsor or a shirt sponsor or a golf bag sponsor.

As it relates to the actual market value, I would say that the process is underway. This is working with the players and their management teams to get a better understanding of Player X — maybe how much is a certain location (e.g., hat or left shoulder) valued at in the market.

We have to be respectful, because a lot of that information is confidential. But if we’ve got a player with a shirt sponsor and they’re working on a renewal, or maybe there’s a prospective sponsor, we want to make sure that the agent and the manager and the player are getting maximum value.

In some cases, we might have that conversation and say, “Boy, is this a good deal!” But in others we say, “If you saw what we know in the marketplace and where your player sits, they’re more valuable.” We’re working with the manager and the agent to maximize the value for those sponsorships.

We want to make sure that the agent and the manager and the player are getting maximum value. Dan Glod, senior vice president, player partnerships, PGA Tour

And the Tour sees no direct financial benefit from this — it’s just a service to members?

Do you have to stay agnostic about players, or are there times where you go, “Oh, company Z, we have the perfect guy for you!”?

We let the brands determine that. What we’ve built is what we would call a criteria filter. Let’s say we’re talking with a certain category of sponsor, and they say, “We’re interested in doing something with players.”

Well, the first filter we run is, how many of our 225 or so players have that category open? Depending on the category, that filter could cut the list in half. Then what we do is a discovery discussion with the brand — things like, “What are you looking for? What is your budget?”

When I say, “What are you looking for?” that’s a big question. It could be a certain age demographic. It might be a certain geographic market. It could be down to just authentic interests. Does the player really like this type of product? If it’s financial, is he really into finance? If it’s spirits, is he really into that particular spirit?

Budget is another filtering process. Do you have $100,000 to spend? $1 million? More? All this brings the universe down to some number, and that number could be as few as 10-12 or as broad as 100.

Phil Mickelson jokingly thanks ‘all the crazies’ as he claims new prize

We reach out to the manager and the agent and say, “Hey, we’ve identified this brand, in this category. Is your player interested? Is it something he’d want to pursue?” So, we’re not in the business of picking a player for a brand. We’re just here to assist and consult and give the best intelligence to a brand, and then connect the dots to the players as quickly as we can.

You mentioned the intelligence you have in terms of how much value players bring. Is it, “Player X’s hat was visible this week on broadcast television for 1 minute, 12 seconds,” and so on? How detailed is the intelligence, and what’s involved in gathering it?

Yeah, it’s exactly what you just described. We’re using, broadly, the same metrics that were built to develop the Player Impact Program (PIP), but we’re applying them across all our membership. So, we’re tracking brand exposure in PGA Tour broadcasts down to just how you described it — X number of seconds, X location, X brand — and we populate that across the entire season. We’re also measuring, broadly defined, social media engagement. We have that as a metric.

We also have a player’s global media mentions. If you happen to mention Bubba Watson in your article, we’re going to track that. We also work very closely with Google and Google Search. It all gives us a broad, “How often is a player searched?” And then we also use Q Score just for overall awareness.

You put all those kinds of metrics together, and you start to paint a really good picture. If a brand were to say to us, “We’re looking for a player who’s under age 30, has this category available, has regularly appeared in PGA Tour broadcasts, has a social media following of X, Y and Z on certain platforms, and lives in the Northeast,” or whatever, we’d put it back to our data analytics team, and the more information we get from a brand the more specific we can be on a recommendation.

Almost all the stuff you’re talking about is automated and technology-driven — you don’t have people watching TV with stopwatches, right?

Yeah. We’ve got an amazing group of folks, I’ll just broadly call them data analysts, who have built these systems so that it happens in real-time, it’s fully automated. That includes available inventory. If a brand in a certain category came to us interested in sponsoring a player, we know which players have the category available, because we built and maintain a system where we can key that in. We didn’t have that a year ago. It’s really transformed the way we approach this business.

Not just the PIP: The PGA Tour has incentivized social media for years

Safe to assume that agents and managers, once they hear that you’re not trying to take any money out of their pockets, are quite pleased about all this stuff? Has there been much pushback?

I think the more time that we spend with agents and managers, and the more they fully understand why we’re here, why this group’s been created, we’ve gotten a tremendous amount of engagement from players and managers, across the whole membership spectrum.

Some are top, top, top players, others have just gotten their PGA Tour card, and everyone in between. Anytime there’s a new initiative, anytime there’s a change, early on there will be some questions, like, “What are you doing here?”

But now that we’ve been doing this for a year and have had the opportunity to spend time with our players and their management teams — we’re very busy, let’s put it that way. That leads me to believe that everybody’s pretty happy. I’m sure there are one or two that will always be questioning, but for the lion’s share we’re in a really good spot with them.

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With Money, Sponsors and Rival Golf Tours, It’s Hard to Keep Everyone Happy

Players from the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the upstart LIV Golf series will all be competing at this week’s BMW PGA Championship in England.

By Paul Sullivan

Editor’s note: The BMW PGA Championship has suspended play because of the death of Queen Elizabeth II . The tournament will resume on Saturday.

All but a half dozen professional golf tournaments — out of hundreds of events held each year — rely on a marquee sponsor and dozens of other co-sponsors to pay millions of dollars for each event to happen.

There are a few notable exceptions: the Masters, the United States Open, the P.G.A. Championship and the British Open.

But even an event as prestigious as this week’s BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, England — one of the top events on the DP World Tour — relies on the German carmaker plus another dozen sponsors, like Zoom, Rolex and Hilton, to fund the event, pay the players and have something left over for charity.

There’s just one problem. The BMW PGA Championship will have more than a dozen players from the rival Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf series in the field, including fan favorites Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood and several players that could win the event like Kevin Na, Patrick Reed and Martin Kaymer.

Unlike the PGA Tour, which has suspended members who have joined LIV and barred them from playing in PGA Tour events , the DP World Tour has a slightly different policy. Members who qualify for tournaments, like Wentworth, based on their world rankings or other criteria, are allowed, for now, to play in the event.

Given the amount of money sponsors pledge to an event on the DP World Tour, the PGA Tour or any of the other tours around the world, they want something in return. Corporate perks and television coverage for sure, but they also want great players to create compelling drama. That’s what happened in the final round of the Tour Championship on the PGA Tour on Aug. 28, when Rory McIlroy beat his playing partner, Scottie Scheffler, by one stroke to win the FedEx Cup, the PGA Tour’s season-long points competition. (Southern Company, Coca-Cola and Accenture are sponsors of the Tour Championship, not to mention FedEx, who as a season-long sponsor of the PGA Tour contributes a large part of the $18 million first-prize check.)

And having a winner from LIV Golf creates a difficult situation for sponsors and the DP World Tour itself, which is a strategic partner of the PGA Tour but has allowed LIV players to compete.

Before the tournament even started, the LIV presence at Wentworth was criticized by top tour members like the U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who called the LIV presence “disappointing.” Billy Horschel, who won the BMW PGA Championship in 2021, said the LIV golfers shouldn’t be allowed to play on the DP World Tour at all: “They decided to go play on that tour and they should go play there.”

Its sponsor has remained neutral. “The focus of the BMW Group is to host a world-class event and provide a premium experience for players, fans and enthusiasts at all our sport engagements,” said Tim Holzmüller, a spokesman for BMW Group Sport Engagement.

Great players bring in fans and television viewers at home. And a battle between a LIV golfer and a PGA or DP World Tour member would certainly juice ratings. But what happens afterward for sponsors would be hard to say.

The traditional measure of a tournament is its “strength of field,” which is important to ensure sponsorship dollars are well spent. In layman’s terms, the term refers to the quality of the players committed to playing the event. And for sponsors, the bigger the stars the bigger the audience.

The DP World Tour says its marquee event has a strong roster of players.

“The field for this year’s event is projected to be significantly stronger than last year’s event,” said Steve Todd, deputy media communications director for the DP World Tour, noting that three top-10 players are in the field — McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Fitzpatrick. The last time that happened was in 2019 — the last BMW PGA Championship unaffected by the pandemic.

Todd added that there were plenty of fan favorites to draw in viewers and satisfy sponsors.

“The field also features defending champion Billy Horschel and a number of Ryder Cup players including Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Justin Rose and Francesco Molinari, all of whom have strong records in the tournament and are particularly popular with the Wentworth crowds,” he said. “Also playing is [Ryder Cup] European captain Luke Donald, who won the event back-to-back in front of his home English fans in 2011 and 2012.”

Westwood, a three-time winner of the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai and a winner on the PGA Tour, is now a LIV golfer who is playing at Wentworth this week. He said he didn’t believe it made any difference who won.

“Everyone playing at Wentworth has qualified to play by right,” he said in an interview. “It’s the strongest field at the BMW PGA Championship for years.”

He added: “If a LIV golfer wins, then he’ll be the person that’s played the best and will fully deserve it. I don’t think the public in general are bothered what tour people play on. They just want to see the best players play great golf.”

Andrew “Chubby” Chandler, a longtime agent for players on the DP World Tour, said the competing tours at Wentworth “adds a lot to the event both in star names and intrigue. I don’t see a problem if a LIV golfer wins at Wentworth. I think it possibly shows what might have happened if the [DP World Tour] could have accepted all the LIV golfers as full members when it was suggested four months ago.”

The tournament also comes just weeks after the PGA Tour made significant changes on how it operates that may not align with what the DP World Tour is doing.

For one, top players on the PGA Tour need to commit to 20 events, which could be challenging for European players. The Tour has also created so-called elevated events with greater prize money. Both are meant to get the top players competing against each other more often.

McIlroy said that sports fans want to see the best in the game when they tune in to watch, drawing a comparison to U.S. football fans wanting to see Tom Brady at quarterback if they’re watching a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game.

Yet the up-and-coming players are being given a $500,000 draw against their PGA Tour earnings to help them compete. This goes for both U.S. players who have made it to the PGA Tour and international players who have qualified through the DP World Tour rankings. In other words, it’s helping to end the economic disadvantage that young players have in golf that they don’t in other professional sports.

“It’s comparable to how other leagues approach their athlete compensation,” said the PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan at a news conference. “For rookies, coming out here and knowing that that’s payable on day one we think will help put those rookies in a better position to compete because they can invest in the infrastructure they need to succeed.”

(Players who miss the cut also get a $5,000 stipend to help cover their expenses.)

The PGA Tour’s August announcement also has given LIV players fodder to play both sides of the debate, since what it means for the tour’s partner, the DP World Tour, wasn’t mentioned.

“The goal for the DP World Tour is finding a way to get the top Europeans that play on the PGA Tour to come back and play in Europe more often, not just the odd big one or two tournaments where they get appearance money,” Westwood said. “This is all going to be made harder by the new concept that Jay [Monahan] announced that is designed to guarantee 20 strong fields in the U.S. with not much thought given to the DP World Tour and other tours. It’s an odd decision considering the new ‘strategic alliance’ supposedly in place.”

But a PGA Tour official who was not authorized to speak because of ongoing litigation involving LIV Golf said the strength of fields on the tour remains strong even without the players who have left.

And that, at the end of the day, is what some observers believe companies want. “Sponsors,” Chandler said, “want the best fields at their events so BMW will be pleased.”

Paul Sullivan , the Wealth Matters columnist from 2008 to 2021, is the founder of The Company of Dads , a work and parenting site aimed at fathers. He is also the author of The Thin Green Line : The Money Secrets of the Super Wealthy and Clutch : Why Some People Excel Under Pressure and Others Don’t. @sullivanpaul More about Paul Sullivan

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The top 100 players on the PGA Tour, ranked

How did the PGA Tour's best players spend their "winter breaks?" Relaxing? Working on their games? A little of both? These are the questions we'll be asking beginning at this week's Sentry Tournament of Champions, as the tour resumes the 2021-22 season in Maui. Ahead of that, our Golf Digest staff spent its winter break coming up with our second annual ranking of the top 100 players on tour. To gather our list, we looked through the prism of what we expect from players in 2022 while acknowledging their form and feats from the recent past. Below is our collective answer.

For clarification, this list is specific to those who play on the PGA Tour. This is why you won’t see players like Victor Perez or Min Woo Lee, both fine talents who spend most of their time on the the European Tour. Obviously a handful of players compete on multiple circuits; we judged these jump balls as best we could.

Here then are the top 100 players on the PGA Tour, from No. 100 to the top spot.

100. Andrew Landry

Age: 34 / owgr (as of jan. 3, 2022): 187 / ’22 fedex cup (entering sentry toc): 40.

Landry came out on the business end of the 2020-21 “super season,” missing the cut in half of his starts and turning in a lone top-25 finish. Four MCs in six fall starts doesn’t look much better. But top-10s in those two made cuts this past autumn (T-4 at Sanderson Farms, T-7 at Mayakoba) give hope that a turnaround is ‘round the corner. — Joel Beall

99. Taylor Pendrith

Age: 30 / owgr: 229 / ’22 fedex cup: 47.

Canadian rookie has one of the most impressive moves you’ll see anywhere—think Matthew Wolff meets Jim Furyk, with 190-mph ball speed. There’s a good chance he finishes top five in driving distance when the dust settles. —Dan Rapaport

98. Jason Day

Age: 34 / owgr: 126 / ’22 fedex cup: 196.

It seems like eons since the talented but injury-prone Aussie was one of the most dominant players in golf. Coming off his worst season since 2012, when he hadn’t yet fully rounded into the form that made him a force in 2015-16, Day appears at a crossroads at age 34. Just four top-10s dotted an unremarkable season that saw him fail to reach the second round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the first time. He has fallen out of the top 100 in the world, and most of his struggles appear to be with his usually reliable putting, where he dropped to 95th in strokes gained. His tee-to-green game (37th SG) still shines, so there is something to build on. Or rebuild on. —Dave Shedloski

MORE: How Jason Day is rediscovering his game with an assist from a 9-year-old

97. Denny McCarthy

Age: 28 / owgr: 180 / ’22 fedex cup: 30.

If one man could ever disprove the old adage, “You drive for show and you putt for dough,” it’s this guy. McCarthy has twice led the PGA Tour in strokes gained/putting, yet he’s still searching for his maiden victory. That being said, he’s made some decent dough with $4.3 million in earnings in four seasons, and he’s started this campaign by making more with four consecutive made cuts. —Alex Myers

96. Hudson Swafford

Age: 34 / owgr: 163 / ’22 fedex cup: 118.

It's extremely difficult to bring up Swafford without noting his eerie physical similarity to college teammate Harris English, and we'll be the latest to fail. To his credit, he takes it in stride, and plods steadily along in a career that reads as "journeyman" on the surface, but does include two tour wins, including his latest in September 2020 in the Dominican Republic. It's a fact of life that Swafford is going to miss cuts, but as he proved last season, he can miss a bunch (17) and still post a high FedEx Cup finishing position (36th). — Shane Ryan

Jared C. Tilton

95. Adam Schenk

Age: 29 / owgr: 156 / ’22 fedex cup: 37.

The man with the most unfortunate name in golf hit anything but a shank over the last eight months. Since the RBC Heritage, Schenk has finished T-18 or better five times, including three inside the top four. Should he keep it rolling into 2022, there are ample low-key, early-season events for the former Purdue Boilermaker to pick off a maiden win. —Christopher Powers

94. Adam Hadwin

Age: 34 / owgr: 150 / ’22 fedex cup: 126.

The streaky Canadian—he missed three straight cuts during three stretches in 2021—can put it all together at times. Hadwin had three top-eights last season but the short hitter rarely produces a charge on the weekend. He averaged 70.38 on both Saturday and Sunday—91st for both days on tour. —Tod Leonard

MORE: Complete top 25 of Golf Digest’s Newsmakers of 2021

93. Luke List

Age: 36 / owgr: 152 / ’22 fedex cup: 28.

List is the only player from the last decade to have led the tour in driving distance for the year and never won on tour. Most other to lead in distance, like Bubba, Bryson, DJ, and Rory, also have majors. List can hammer the ball, and his tee-to-green numbers will always be elite with that asset. But his putting has been historically poor—if you look at one of those Data Golf charts measuring five skills, the shape List delivers is more of the rare triangle than some form of pentagon. But hey, you just need one hot week with the putter and you can pull the Cameron Champ and pick off a win or two. —Brendan Porath

92. Henrik Norlander

Age: 34 / owgr: 162 / ’22 fedex cup: 49.

The Swede finished fourth at Sanderson Farms in the fall, spurred by a final-round 64. Though he turned pro in 2011 after helping lead Augusta State to back-to-back NCAA team titles, this is just Norlander’s fifth season on the PGA Tour, alternating between the Korn Ferry and Challenge Tours in between. His strength is his iron play: Norlander ranked 27th last season on tour in strokes gained/approach. — Stephen Hennessey

91. Robert Streb

Age: 34 / owgr: 120 / ’22 fedex cup: 45.

After winning the 2020 RSM Classic, Streb played 23 events the rest of the 2020-21 season and missed more cuts than he made (12 to 11) with just three top-20 finishes. The fall was better, though, with two top-10s, and having a card through 2023 means he doesn’t have to sweat things out this season. That has to be somewhat liberating after finishing outside the top 125 in 2018, 2019 and 2020. —Ryan Herrington

90. Troy Merritt

Age: 36 / owgr: 106 / ’22 fedex cup: 52.

When you hear discussions about how the tour is looking out for its rank-and-file members, Merritt is the player they’re talking about. He’s proven he can win (he’s done it twice), made more than $11 million and has played well enough to keep his card for nine straight seasons. Yet for as consistent a career as that is, he’s never gotten to the Tour Championship. Can 2022 be different? Perhaps … he finished the fall ranked 14th in SG/approach the green and 34th total, which rank as career bests if extended through an entire season. —R.H.

89. Aaron Rai

Age: 26 / owgr: 100 / ’22 fedex cup: 59.

Perhaps known best by American golf fans for his iron headcovers, Rai made a name for himself in the U.S. in 2021, nearly winning on the Korn Ferry Tour in his first start. It was a painful runner-up finish—needing just an up-and-down to secure victory he instead took four strokes, missing a playoff—but the KFT result in Boise secured his PGA Tour card for this season. The Englishman missed his first three cuts on the PGA Tour but finished the year with three consecutive top-20s. — S.H.

Steve Dykes

MORE: This pro’s reason for using iron headcovers will make you feel pretty bad about making fun of him

88. Brendan Steele

Age: 38 / owgr: 101 / ’22 fedex cup: 20.

The Sultan of the Safeway Open had a “down” 2021, if you consider it purely on FEC finish, which was 105th. But he still made almost $1.4 million, so he was making cuts and cashing checks, which he’s done all his career. Steele has the length to hang on the modern tour, and he’ll pick and choose his venues where he knows he can pop after several years on the circuit. —B.P.

87. Davis Riley

Age: 25 / owgr: 362 / ’22 fedex cup: 111.

Cruelly, the former Alabama star was third on the Korn Ferry points list in 2020, but didn’t get promoted when the season was extended due to the pandemic. Riley forged on with seven top-10s, including two wins, that got eventually got him onto the PGA Tour for 2021-22. The new season has been a rollercoaster—four missed cuts, countered by a T-7 in Bermuda. The flat stick in a hinderance: Riley is 131st in SG/putting. —T.L.

86. Chris Kirk

Age: 36 / owgr: 96 / ’22 fedex cup: 97.

Between 2011 and 2015, Kirk ripped off four wins and earned a spot on the 2015 U.S. Presidents Cup team. The six years that followed were tough both on and off the course for Kirk, who opened up about his battle with alcoholism in 2019. Since then he’s found his golf game again, winning a Korn Ferry Tour event in 2020 and collecting eight top-16 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2021. Perhaps 2022 is the year he ends what is now a six-plus-year victory drought. —C.P.

85. Lanto Griffin

Age: 33 / owgr: 111 / '22 fedex cup: 42.

We haven't fully checked the record books, but it seems likely that Griffin is the one-and-only PGA Tour winner to be named by his hippie parents after a spiritual master (in this case, "Lord Lanto, a Chohan of the Second Ray of Illumination"). It took him years to reach the PGA Tour, but a win at the 2019 Houston Open gave him serious traction, and after holding on to the top 100 last season, he's off to a big start with two top-10s in the fall. And fun fact: Thanks to those hippie parents, Griffin has never eaten red meat. —S.R.

MORE: Lanto Griffin—from broke to the PGA Tour in five months

84. Matt Kuchar

Age: 43 / owgr: 116 / ’22 fedex cup: 91.

One of the game’s top earners for more than a decade, Kuchar has cooled down with only one top-10 in each of the past two seasons. The nine-time tour winner was always able to get around a lack of distance, but that’s getting harder to do these days—especially with an eroding iron game. Kuchar ranked 108th and 98th in SG/approach the past two seasons, and is currently 184th. —A.M.

Alex Goodlett

MORE: Even Matt Kuchar is chasing speed with his swing

83. Bubba Watson

Age: 43 / owgr: 85 / ’22 fedex cup: nr.

Because he remains one of the longest hitters, and because he can create shots, and because he puts himself out there with genuine emotion, Watson still is a compelling and competitive presence on the PGA Tour. To return to legitimate threat, the lithe left-hander needs to shake off that middle-aged putting stroke, because being 149th in SG/putting (minus-.210) last season nullified an encouraging 36th position in SG/tee to green (plus-.751)—which explains his paltry 3.59 birdie average. And though he had just five top-10 finishes in 22 events, he only missed four cuts (plus one WD), and he qualified for the playoffs for the 15th time, one of just six players with perfect attendance in the FedEx Cup era. Watson and longtime caddie Ted Scott have split amicably, but maybe a new voice will get him to a 13th career win. —D.S.

MORE: In new book, Bubba opens up about the struggles he kept to himself

82. Adam Long

Age: 29 / owgr: 143 / ’22 fedex cup: 36.

Started this wrap-around season with four straight top-25 finishes to set himself up nicely in the FedEx Cup race. Don’t let the name fool you—he ranked only 88th in driving distance last season. —D.R.

81. Jhonattan Vegas

Age: 37 / owgr: 82 / ’22 fedex cup: 56.

Vegas enjoyed a career revival in 2020-21 thanks to three runner-up finishes, a performance he carried over into the fall (fifth in SG/off-the-tee, 17th in SG/tee-to-green). That this is a Presidents Cup year should provide extra incentive for Vegas. The International team has depth for the first time in, well, forever, yet most of those names are young and unproven. Vegas—who won his singles match at the 2017 Presidents Cup—will be 38 when the biennial match kicks off at Quail Hollow, and would give captain Trevor Immelman a steady, likeable veteran presence on the squad. —J.B.

Mike Ehrmann

80. Pat Perez

Age: 45 / owgr: 280 / ’22 fedex cup: 192.

Perez has historically used the fall to jumpstart his seasons, but this autumn was none too kind (five starts, three missed cuts, a WD and a T-44). Turning 46 in March, it’s fair to wonder how much gas Perez has left in the tank. Yet the man has been a model of consistency, missing the playoffs just once in its 15-year existence … and that once was due to an injury that sidelined him for seven months in 2016. The 2021 super season was another solid campaign for Perez, making the cut in 21 of 32 starts and finishing 53rd in strokes gained. He’ll need the West Coast Swing to right his wrongs, but it’s a safe bet to see Perez once again come playoff time. —J.B.

79. Emiliano Grillo

Age: 29 / owgr: 92 / ’22 fedex cup: 114.

Sometimes, the PGA Tour rookie of the year award is a harbinger of greatness. For Grillo, the 2016 winner, it hasn’t quite turned out that way, though he remains a terrific ball-striker who’s seen success in weaker-field events. —D.R.

78. Joel Dahmen

Age: 34 / owgr: 93 / ’22 fedex cup: 46.

A season with three top-10s doesn’t sound all that great, except that when one of them is your first PGA Tour win in your 12th year as a professional, it’s everything. So Dahmen, winner in the Dominican Republic, has that going for him, which is … well, you know … nice. One of the shorter drivers of the ball, Dahmen has to do other things well. Hitting fairways is one where he did fine (ranked 22nd). Getting to the greens and then operating on them, not so much, and on that last item, the 34-year-old Washington native gave up way too much ground at 164th SG/putting (minus-.344). —D.S.

Kevin C. Cox

MORE: How Joel Dahmen got his mind right before his first PGA Tour win

77. Lee Westwood

Age: 48 / owgr: 37 / ’22 fedex cup: nr.

Oh, what could have been in 2021 as Westwood played his way into the final pairing in back-to-back events (Bay Hill and the Players) before finishing runner-up in both. Sadly, reminiscent of his long list of close calls in majors throughout his career. Westy’s OWGR remains rather lofty based on those two finishes as well as winning the 2020 Race to Dubai title on the European Tour, but a T-21 as his best performance since March indicates he’s headed on a different trajectory now as he closes in on his 49th birthday in April. —A.M.

76. Cameron Young

Age: 24 / owgr: 135 / ’22 fedex cup: 26.

Search for Cameron Young on Wikipedia, and the first hit is a G-League NBA player; check the World Ranking, and Young is the fifth-most famous Cameron, after Smith, Tringale, Davis and Champ. And yet the Wake Forest grad is brimming with raw potential, and even more importantly, he's a winner: He earned his card on the strength of back-to-back wins on the Korn Ferry Tour last season, and though he ran hot-and-cold the rest of the season, he nearly won his second PGA Tour event at Sanderson Farms. The son of the head pro at Sleepy Hollow Country Club, Young is still untested, but he has a nose for trophies. —S.R.

MORE: 7 unsung heroes of the PGA Tour fall season

75. Sahith Theegala

Age: 24 / owgr: 382 / ’22 fedex cup: 85.

Theegala is not yet on the level of some of the other studs in his age group, but his appearance in this ranking is a prediction that he will be soon. He didn’t rewrite the Korn Ferry Tour history books in the 2020-21 season, but his consecutive top-six finishes in the final two KFT Finals events saw him earn his PGA Tour card for the 2021-22 season. There will be growing pains, no doubt, but we’re betting on the crazy-talented 24-year-old from Pepperdine to introduce himself to the casual golf fan in a big way in 2022. —C.P.

Sam Greenwood

74. Cameron Davis

Age: 26 / owgr: 78 / ’22 fedex cup: 151.

The Aussie has been trying to live up to the promise he showed in capturing the 2017 Australian Open, beating the likes of Jordan Spieth and Jason Day. Davis finally delivered on the Fourth of July by outlasting Troy Merritt in a five-hole playoff to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He also had a third in The American Express, but posted only one other top-10. Davis is a big hitter (19th in driving distance), but not strong with the irons (120th in GIR). —T.L.

73. Tom Hoge

Age: 32 / owgr: 110 / ’22 fedex cup: 27.

An established regular on tour, Hoge has moved beyond “No, what is it?” status. That’s the reply Tiger Woods gave in 2015 when he was asked if he would recognize Tom Hoge, who would be his playing partner the next day at the Wyndham (presumably Tiger thought the inquisitor was referring to a sandwich of some sort). Hoge will likely make some 30 starts and make around as many cuts as he misses, relying on hot stretches with his below-average putter that occasionally bump him into contention. —B.P.

72. Matt Wallace

Age: 31 / owgr: 80 / ’22 fedex cup: 48.

Wallace had five top-10 finishes across the PGA Tour and DP World Tour in 2021, including a T-4 at the Zozo Championship in the fall. He held a share of the 54-hole lead at the Valero Texas Open, falling short to Jordan Spieth despite Wallace putting on a ball-striking clinic, gaining 15.3 strokes to the field tee-to-green. — S.H.

71. Ian Poulter

Age: 45 / owgr: 57 / ’22 fedex cup: t-141.

The Brit turns 46 on Jan. 10 and with no Ryder Cup to aim for in 2022, the question is what kind of motivation does he have. To wit, he missed three cuts in four tour starts after Whistling Straits last fall. The most cuts he’s missed in any season on tour since 2005 is four. That said, he has posted 39 top-10s in 92 tour starts from 2017-21. —R.H.

70. Harold Varner III

Age: 31 / owgr: 95 / ’22 fedex cup: 64.

There might not be any player on tour who more of his peers are pulling for to get that first win than Varner, the North Carolina native is that well liked. But the journey to win No. 1 continues to have its rocky moments as Varner struggles to sustain momentum after posting solid first rounds. The good news? In 2021, he had a career-best 10 top-25s, along with his first top-three finish (T-2 at Harbour Town). And as a new dad to baby Liam, there’s some new incentive to succeed in 2022. —R.H.

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69. Charley Hoffman

Age: 45 / owgr: 76 / ’22 fedex cup: 92.

Entering his 17th year on tour, Hoffman has been a model of consistency—keeping his card every year since 2006. The San Diego native had five top-10s last season, including a runner-up at the Valero Texas Open (where he closed with rounds of 66-65-66) and a third-place finish at Colonial, adding to an impressive résumé in the Lone Star State: 14 career top-10 finishes and 30 top-25s. —S.H.

68. Alex Noren

Age: 39 / owgr: 71 / ’22 fedex cup: 126.

After getting hot in the playoffs and nearly making it to Atlanta, 2021 was a rebound season of sorts for Noren, who once ascended into the top 10 in the world and made a Ryder Cup team. Noren’s majors record is rather underwhelming after 30 career starts, and his tee-to-green deficiencies relative to the modern elite players will continue to make breakthroughs at many of those setups a challenge. — B.P.

67. Cameron Champ

Age: 26 / owgr: 83 / ’22 fedex cup: nr.

We don’t yet know what Champ’s season is going to look like because a wrist injury forced him to shut things down after just one start in October. He must be hugely disappointed, considering Champ—who was third on the tour in driving distance (317 yards)—won for the third straight year in July at the 3M Open. It’s the putter that holds Champ back from contending more; he was 188th in SG/putting in 2020-21. —T.L.

66. Keith Mitchell

Age: 29 / owgr: 89 / ’ 22 fedex cup: 31.

Mitchell owns one of the more impressive non-major wins in recent memory, defeating both Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler by one stroke at the 2019 Honda Classic. He hasn’t followed it with another trophy, but a trio of recent top-five finishes (Wells Fargo, 3M Open, CJ Cup) would lead one to believe that the former Georgia Bulldog isn’t likely to be just a one-win wonder. —C.P.

65. Keegan Bradley

Age: 35 / owgr: 86 / ’22 fedex cup: 84.

The peak of Bradley's career so far came in 2012, when he came into the Ryder Cup as a major champion and teamed with Phil Mickelson to electrify the Chicago crowds for the first two days. He's only 35, but the fall from those heights was definitive, and he's only managed a single win since. Still, he hasn't gone away, and on the strength of four top-10s last season, he put himself in position to make the Tour Championship and prove that even though that initial surge to stardom was part mirage, he's still a very good professional golfer. —S.R.

64. Garrick Higgo

Age: 22 / owgr: 61 / ’22 fedex cup: 160.

The talented South African has been piling up wins at an impressive rate, no matter what tour he plays on. After winning on the European Tour in back-to-back months, Higgo captured his first PGA Tour title at Congaree in June, just weeks after turning 22. He enters 2022 outside the top 50 in the OWGR, but it doesn’t appear like he’ll stay there for long. —A.M.

63. Branden Grace

Age: 33 / owgr: 70 / ’ 22 fedex cup: 105.

There is a reason that Grace’s best SG stat is around the greens: He doesn’t hit many of them, averaging just 64.47 percent last season (144th on tour). But when he does have a week like he did at the Puerto Rico Open, where he was T-3 in the field after finding 57 of 72 (79.2 percent), the South African veteran does OK. In fact, he won his second tour title there and first anywhere in five years. Hey, that was one more win than countryman Louis Oosthuizen, the hard-luck loser of 2021 majors. Grace posted three other top-seven finishes, including runner-up at the Wyndham. He tends to make the most of his opportunities. —D.S.

62. Kevin Streelman

Age: 43 / owgr: 77 / ’22 fedex cup: 128.

Not someone you’d stop to watch on the driving range, but he’s kept his tour card for 15 years and has made more than $23 million. Picked up his first major top-10 in 26 tries at the PGA Championship at Kiawah. —D.R.

MORE: Kevin Streelman was the other underdog at the 2021 PGA

61. Aaron Wise

Age: 25 / owgr: 64 / ’22 fedex cup: 22.

The rookie of the year in 2018 went sideways in his second and third years on tour but bounced back in a big way during 2020-21, racking up nine top-25 finishes on his way to reaching the second stage of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Wise carried that fine display to the fall with three top-15s in five starts thanks to a stout tee-to-green game. If he can tighten up his short game (no better than 132nd in SG/putting the past three seasons) the former NCAA champ could be on the precipice of a breakout campaign. —J.B.

60. Rickie Fowler

Age: 33 / owgr: 87 / ’22 fedex cup: 43.

The 2021 super season was a super nightmare for Fowler. He had just one top-10 against nine missed cuts in 24 starts, failed to qualify for the Masters and U.S. Open, and he did not make the postseason for the first time in his career. But Fowler did contend in the fall at the CJ Cup in Vegas, ultimately coming in T-3 (his first top-three finish since the 2019 Honda Classic) to show the obituaries are premature. To keep the momentum going into 2022, Fowler will need to shore up his short game. Historically one of the better putters on tour (even ranking first in SG/putting in 2017), Fowler fell to 126th in the category last season. —J.B.

Gregory Shamus

59. Brian Harman

Age: 26 / owgr: 59 / ’22 fedex cup: 189.

Somewhat limited due to his lack of length but Harman makes a boatload of cuts. Manages his game extremely well and ranked inside the top 30 in both SG/putting and around the green in 2020-21. —D.R.

58. Ryan Palmer

Age: 45 / owgr: 47 / ’ 22 fedex cup: 108.

In the long history of great Texas golfers, Palmer wouldn’t garner much attention, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been a very good player for a very long time. The four-time tour winner is sinewy strong, averaging 304.6 yards off the tee last season (38th) while ranking 49th in SG/off the tee. That will keep you relevant. He remains a decent putter (89th SG), also helpful. The only category where he lost strokes was around the greens. —D.S.

57. K.H. Lee

Age: 30 / owgr: 63 / ’22 fedex cup: 66.

We’ll be rooting for the former “husky boy” to achieve his stated goal of becoming the “sexiest golfer in the world” in 2022, unless he already claimed that title in your view. In 2021, Lee captured his first tour win, triggering another run of firsts in the coming year, where he’ll start inside the top 100 for the first time in his career, play his rookie Masters and, potentially, earn a Presidents Cup bid. The next step is making his first cut at a major championship, where his record is markedly inexperienced and thin (four starts, four missed cuts). —B.P.

56. Seamus Power

Age: 34 / owgr: 73 / ’22 fedex cup: 25.

It sounds unbelievable, but prior to Power’s win at the Barbasol in July, only four players from the Republic of Ireland had won a PGA Tour event. That was the cherry on top of an incredible summer for Power, whose World Ranking skyrocketed from the 400s to top 70 on the strength of that win and six other top-20 finishes. At the RSM Classic, the final event of the fall, he posted a T-4, giving warning that his meteoric rise in the summer was a beginning, not an end. —S.R.

55. Cameron Tringale

Age: 34 / owgr: 51 / ’22 fedex cup: 13.

Even if you’re a casual golf-watcher, chances are you’ve seen Tringale’s name at the top of the leader board upwards of a million times over the last handful of seasons (he has 15 top-25s since November 2020). That has yet to translate into a win on the PGA Tour, but chances are if he continues to put himself in position to win he’ll get there sooner or later. —C.P.

MORE: You won’t believe how many tour pros have made $10M without winning

54. Stewart Cink

Age: 48 / owgr: 52 / ’22 fedex cup: 199.

Yes, Phil Mickelson rightfully grabbed the headlines by being the oldest major winner, but Cink notching two wins in a seven-month span, at 48, was arguably just as impressive. Remember, he won the Safeway Open by going 65-65 on the weekend and opened his title week in the Heritage with back-to-back 63s. For anybody, that’s playing your behind off. The iron play was fabulous, ranking Cink at 34th in SG/approach. He’s going to have to drive it better to be factor this year; in four events, he’s 104th in distance and 176th in accuracy. —T.L.

Patrick Smith

53 . Harry Higgs

Age: 30 / owgr: 138 / ’22 fedex cup: 69.

A social-media darling, and for good reason, as Higgs brings character, humor and flavor to a tour with one too many mayo sandwiches. At 30, his career progression has been steady and stable, what we used to see as the norm in a prior era. He’s worked his way up with success, and wins, at each level, and 2021 came with a top-five finish in his first (and still only) major championship. —B.P.

52. Phil Mickelson

Age: 51 / owgr: 33 / ’22 fedex cup: 174.

What a glorious year for Lefty, who become the oldest major champion in golf history by outdueling major slayer Brooks Koepka at Kiawah Island. He also added four victories in six starts on the PGA Tour Champions in his first season, becoming just the second player to accomplish the feat, joining Jack Nicklaus. The question is whether the senior success and that major magic will translate into more consistency in regular PGA Tour starts, where he had just one other top-20 showing outside the PGA win in the 2020-21 season. — S.H.

MORE: 101 things that happened to Phil Mickelson in 2021

51. Russell Henley

Age: 32 / owgr: 55 / ’ 22 fedex cup: 38.

You think of Henley as older than 32 given the fact he’s already playing his 10th season. He’s been a consistent performer during that time, finishing inside the top 100 in the FedEx Cup ranking every year. Yet he’s only qualified for the Tour Championship twice (2014 and 2017) and hasn’t won since April 2017. So is Henley’s biological clock ticking? Perhaps. He’s learned to live with the fact he isn’t the longest player out there, but that means he needs to figure out a way to shore up his short game if he hopes to have more than a solid career. —R.H.

50. Sergio Garcia

Age: 41 / owgr: 45 / ’22 fedex cup: 73.

What’s left for Sergio, who has his major and his stellar Ryder Cup record and turns 42 on Jan. 9? In 2018 and 2020, he was outside the top 125 on the FedEx Cup points list, only to bounce back with solid seasons in 2019 and 2021. Interestingly, the Spaniard hasn’t shot a round over par on the PGA Tour since the first round of The Northern Trust in August. Ended the fall with a T-7 finish in Mexico, which certainly provides a positive vibe heading into the new year. —R.H.

49. Shane Lowry

Age: 34 / owgr: 44 / ’22 fedex cup: 203.

The 2019 Open champion had six worldwide top-10s in 2021, plus a T-12 in defending his title at The Open. The Irishman had several career-best finishes last year: at the PGA Championship (T-4), the Memorial (T-6), The Players (eighth) and the Masters (T-21). — S.H.

Warren Little

48 . Justin Rose

Age: 41 / owgr: 42 / ’22 fedex cup: 103.

It’s been a disappointing past two-plus seasons for this former World No. 1. In 33 starts, Rose racked up just five top-10s with a T-3 at the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge being his best result. Still in tremendous physical shape (just check his Instagram feed), a final-round 65 at the RSM Classic in the last official round of 2021 to finish T-12 indicates he has more good golf left in him—even if it happens less frequently. —A.M.

47. Mito Pereira

Age: 26 / owgr: 98 / ’22 fedex cup: 21.

Still a mystery to most American fans, the Chilean could make a big splash in ’22 if his trajectory continues. The Texas Tech alum earned a battlefield promotion from the Korn Ferry Tour with three wins in 2021, including back-to-back victories in June. Since then, Pereira has three top-10s on the PGA Tour and finished just off the podium in the Olympics. The stellar iron player has already competed seven times for 2021-22 and has four top-30s and only one missed cut. —T.L.

46. Kevin Kisner

Age: 37 / owgr: 43 / ’22 fedex cup: 203.

“This ain’t no hobby” and “they give away a lot [of $$] for 20th,” two of Kisner’s famous quotes, seem to be opposing ideas, but they actually sum up his PGA Tour existence perfectly. Golf is not a hobby for Kisner (he’s among the 50 best in the world at it), but he knows his skills are limited to shorter, shot-maker’s golf courses. He pops at those spots, like Harbour Town, Sedgefield and Detroit Golf Club, then happily takes his T-23s in the events where distance matters greatly. He knows who he is and makes no apologies for it, making him a fan favorite. —C.P.

45. Maverick McNealy

Age: 26 / owgr: 68 / ’22 fedex cup: 12.

It's easy to fly under the radar when you're still looking for your first professional win, but McNealy was one of the more quietly impressive players on tour last year, rising from 166th in the World Ranking at the start of 2021 to 69th at the end. Second-place finishes at Pebble Beach and Napa are the highlights, and he became more consistent as the season went along, making seven straight cuts to reach the BMW Championship. At 26, it's clear that McNealy is beginning to enter his prime. —S.R.

44. Tommy Fleetwood

Age: 30 / owgr: 40 / ’22 fedex cup: 95.

Now in his 30s, Fleetwood doesn’t quite fit the “Young Gunz” category anymore, but he still has a lot of golf in front of him. That being said—and not to sound too much like Paul Azinger—it has to be disheartening that this five-time European Tour winner has yet to break through in the U.S. More alarming is the only time he came close last year ended with a Sunday 77 at Bay Hill. Already with a T-7 in Vegas and still one of the game’s best ball-strikers, we expect to see his name on more leader boards in 2022—even if it’s not all the way on top. —A.M.

43. Erik van Rooyen

Age: 31 / owgr: 66 / ’ 22 fedex cup: 138.

The South African enjoyed a rookie season that included a victory and a spot in the Tour Championship, thanks to consecutive top-five finishes in the Playoffs, so it stands to reason that expectations will be much higher in the coming year. He certainly has room for improvement, with a stat sheet that shows his best category was SG/putting (64th). Van Rooyen missed the cut in all three majors in which he competed and fell short of the weekend in 11 of 27 starts, so more consistency should be a stated goal in 2022. —D.S.

42. Lucas Herbert

Age: 26 / owgr: 41 / ’22 fedex cup: 9.

Secured his card through the Korn Ferry finals and promptly earned some job security by winning his third starts as a PGA Tour member in October at the Bermuda Championship. The Aussie has a great chance to make this year’s Presidents Cup team. —D.R.

41. Sebastian Munoz

Age: 28 / owgr: 60 / ’22 fedex cup: 19.

Munoz doesn’t do anything that particularly jumps out. In that same breath, the man possesses view weaknesses. See ball, hit ball, keep ball in play. It’s an equation that’s paid dividends: Thanks to a T-4 at the Zozo and a third at the RSM, Munoz begins 2022 inside the FedEx Cup top 20. Should he stay in the discussion for a trip to East Lake, it may be enough to snag a spot on the Presidents Cup team. To solidify his spot on the International squad, as well as make the jump into the next echelon of tour players, Munoz needs to keep the bigger numbers at bay: He ranked 131st in bogey avoidance last season. Improving his putting from inside 10 feet (111th in the category last year) will go ways towards that goal. —J.B.

Tom Pennington

40. Adam Scott

Age: 41 / owgr: 46 / ’22 fedex cup: 62.

Scott has advanced to the Tour Championship just twice in the last seven seasons. Part of that stems from his penchant for playing a light schedule (he’s only played more than 20 events once in his career), yet his performance in those limited appearances, while good, has trended the wrong direction with age. Nevertheless, Scott did post a T-5 at the CJ Cup in the fall, and a golfer’s 40s are no longer the purgatory they once were on tour. With the Presidents Cup on tap this year, don’t be surprised if we see a revival from the former Masters champ. —J.B.

39. Si Woo Kim

Age: 26 / owgr: 53 / ’22 fedex cup: 44.

Hard to believe he’s still three-plus years from 30. Hasn’t quite delivered on the top-10 potential he flashed in winning the 2018 Players at 21, but he’s got three wins and is coming off his most consistent season yet. —D.R.

MORE: The 31 biggest rules issues of 2021

38. Mackenzie Hughes

Age: 31 / owgr: 39 / ’ 22 fedex cup: 11.

A strong fall campaign, highlighted by a T-4 at the Zozo and second at the RSM, augers well for the Canadian veteran. Hughes did just enough during the 2020-21 campaign to make it to the BMW Championship despite losing more than half a stroke to the field in SG/total. Four top-10s, including T-6 at The Open, and adding a T-15 finish at the U.S. Open sure helped. His relative lack of power always will make things challenging, but the last few years Hughes has gotten the putting-for-dough thing nailed down (including 15th in SG, ninth in total putting last season). —D.S.

37. Matt Fitzpatrick

Age: 27 / owgr: 24 / ’22 fedex cup: 154.

The Brit has made a steady climb up the OWGR despite not winning yet on the PGA Tour. Already a seven-time champ in Europe, however, he clearly has what it takes to close out golf tournaments—especially those played in difficult scoring conditions. “I’d love to tick that off,” Fitzpatrick told Today’s Golfer in October. “But I’m not a rookie anymore. I’m 27. In my own mind, I know I’ve got to start competing in the big events so my name is up at the top of the leader board more often.” We couldn’t agree more, Matt. —A.M.

Quality Sport Images

36. Paul Casey

Age: 44 / owgr: 27 / ’22 fedex cup: 152.

The veteran Brit must have discovered the fountain of youth, and we're not saying that just because of his boyish face. Firmly in his mid-40s, he made 18 of 20 cuts on tour last season, posted seven top-10s, made yet another Ryder Cup, and is the oldest man inside the world top 30. His consistency is a marvel, and so is his approach game—in 2020-21, only Morikawa was better on SG/approach. —S.R.

35. Webb Simpson

Age: 36 / owgr: 28 / ’22 fedex cup: 54.

In comparison to 2018, 2019 and 2020, when Simpson enjoyed a career resurgence after going five-plus years without a win, 2021 was a down season for the former U.S. Open champ. And yet, he still had five finishes of T-9 or better in 21 starts, three of them coming at three of his favorite tour courses—Harbour Town (RBC Heritage), Sedgefield (Wyndham) and Sea Island (RSM Classic). You can pencil him in for top-10s at those stops again in 2022, and we should expect much more from this prolific winner who still has plenty of good golf left in him. —C.P.

34. Matthew Wolff

Age: 22 / owgr: 30 / ’22 fedex cup: 7.

He’s so young, but this still seems like a critical season for Wolff. Will he better handle the pressure that came with his early success and then sidelined him for a mental-health break in ’21? The early returns are positive, with Wolff finishing second, T-5 and T-11 among his first four starts of the 2021-22 season. The putter has been a huge strength (12th thus far in SG), and he’s fourth in SG overall. That’s impressive for a guy who was fourth in driving distance last year (315.9), though he needs to keep it more on the short stuff; Wolff was 189th in accuracy. —T.L.

MORE: Matthew Wolff details depths of his mental health struggles

33. Corey Conners

Age: 29 / owgr: 38 / ’22 fedex cup: 87.

Your favorite flusher’s favorite flusher became the trendy description of Conners in 2021, a breakout year for him with multiple appearances on major championship leader boards and a trip to Atlanta for the Tour Championship. If we’re judging just based on tee to green, he could have been argued as a top-10 player in the world. What happens around and on the green makes it a bit more adventurous, but he’s too skilled in all-too-important areas of the game to not expect a bucket of more top 10s and a likely Presidents Cup spot representing Canada in 2022. —B.P.

32. Carlos Ortiz

Age: 30 / owgr: 54 / ’22 fedex cup: 16.

Ortiz edged a crowded leader board to earn his first PGA Tour title at the 2020 Houston Open, becoming the first winner from Mexico since 1978 (Victor Regalado). He contended for a third straight year at Mayakoba in his home country but finished four strokes behind winner Viktor Hovland. — S.H.

31. Tyrrell Hatton

Age: 30 / owgr: 22 / ’22 fedex cup: 125.

The Englishman would likely place higher on this list if European Tour results weighed heavier: He won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and finished runner-up at the Alfred Dunhill Links in 2021. But Hatton had just one individual top-10 on the PGA Tour last year, a runner-up at Congaree. — S.H.

30. Billy Horschel

Age: 35 / owgr: 23 / ’22 fedex cup: 167.

Has some ground to make up in the FedEx Cup standings after playing just one PGA Tour event in the fall (T-33 at Mayakoba) while moonlighting on the European Tour. Still, he’s finished outside the top 50 only one since 2012 so there’s not much reasons to sweat it. A victory in the BMW Championship at Wentworth in September after a win at the WGC-Dell Match Play in March suggests Horschel has the game to win big events. But that record in majors—one top-15 finish and just two top-20s in 31 starts as a pro—is something that he would like to remedy. —R.H.

29. Talor Gooch

Age: 30 / owgr: 32 / ’ 22 fedex cup: 1.

There was no hotter player on the tour this fall than the former Oklahoma State golfer. He carded five top-11 finishes in six starts including an “at last” breakout win at the RSM Classic to jump top the FedEx Cup ranking entering 2022. And this all happened despite ranking 149th in SG/off the tee (-.124). That’s been typical of Gooch in his four years on tour; he has never ranked better than 107th and always finished with a negative number. If he could shore up his driving, he has an iron game that will get him to the Tour Championship for the first time in his career. —R.H.

Cliff Hawkins

MORE: Talor Gooch finishes excellent fall with breakthrough win

28. Marc Leishman

Age: 38 / owgr: 36 / ’22 fedex cup: 18.

Leishman bats it around as well as anyone on tour, and while he may have been inconsistent week-to-week last year, the year-over-year results speak for themselves. He’s got five wins in the last five years and finished inside the top 30 of the OWGR in five of the last six. He’s a reliable, professional golfer with a couple top five finishes already in the fall portion of the season. —B.P.

27. Louis Oosthuizen

Age: 39 / owgr: 11 / ’22 fedex cup: 117.

The South African is coming off a tremendous campaign, but there’s the nagging feeling that he missed out on something truly special. Oosthuizen tied for second in the PGA Championship and then held the Sunday back-nine lead in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines before succumbing to Jon Rahm’s charge. He also had a T-3 in The Open. Oosthuizen is the consummate “putt for dough” player—ranking No. 1 in SG/putting in ’21 while being 101st off the tee. —T.L.

MORE: Louis Oothuizen is not wondering ‘what if’ about major misses

26. Max Homa

Age: 31 / owgr: 35 / ’22 fedex cup: 6.

Homa, once a Korn Ferry Tour grinder who struggled his first few seasons on the PGA Tour, has come into his own in his late 20s and early 30s. He’s now a certified winner, with three victories between 2019 and 2021, two of them in big-time events (Wells Fargo at Quail Hollow, Genesis at Riviera). No longer just the funny golfer on Twitter, Homa now lets his clubs do the talking, though he’s still pretty hilarious when he logs on to the bird app. —C.P.

25. Joaquin Niemann

Age: 23 / owgr: 31 / ’22 fedex cup: 55.

Plainly put, it's time for Niemann to win again. In the last calendar year, he's had six top-10s on tour, another in the Olympics, and came agonizingly close to winning his second career title at both the Sentry TOC and the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He lost in a playoff each time, but his World Ranking steadily improved throughout the year. Before a rocky finish to the fall, he had missed exactly one cut in 13 months, and even though he's still very, very young, he's ready to move from the upper echelons of the tour to the upper, upper echelons. —S.R.

24. Kevin Na

Age: 38 / owgr: 29 / ’22 fedex cup: 199.

Incredibly, this guy already has two decades of being a pro in the books. More amazing, though, is the fact he’s coming off the best season of his career. After winning just once in his first decade on tour, Na enters this year on a four-season winning streak. And after entering his name into the Ryder Cup conversation, perhaps he’ll finally get to wear the red, white and blue at this year’s Presidents Cup. —A.M.

23. Patrick Reed

Age: 31 / owgr: 25 / ’22 fedex cup: 29.

After winning his ninth tour title in January at the Farmers Insurance Open and occupying the top 10 in the World Ranking for the first half of 2021, Reed was hardly a factor the rest of the season. The falloff, and an untimely illness that landed him in the hospital, cost the so-called “Captain America” a spot on the record-setting U.S. Ryder Cup team. The guy’s short game and putting (seventh in SG/around the green, fourth in SG/putting) still prove to be lethal, but it’s right to wonder how long the former Masters winner can stay among the top Americans while his greens in regulation figures continue to deteriorate. —D.S.

MORE: Patrick Reed confronts his image and his critics

22. Will Zalatoris

Age: 25 / owgr: 34 / ’22 fedex cup: 67.

Fell one shot short of becoming the first since 1979 to win his first Masters appearance and holds the rare distinction of winning rookie of the year despite not being a full member of the PGA Tour. Now in his first FedEx Cup-eligible season, he’ll be keen to back up his breakout season with a first tour victory. —D.R.

21. Sungjae Im

Age: 23 / owgr: 26 / ’22 fedex cup: 3.

It’s frankly amazing that Im has logged more than 100 starts on tour … and he doesn’t turn 24 until March. A strong start in the fall (highlighted by a win at the Shriners followed by a T-9 at the CJ Cup) has Im poised for another stellar season. Despite his youth there’s little to nitpick with his game; the next step for Im would be for a bit more consistency at the big events—following a runner-up at the 2020 Masters, he failed to crack the top 15 at the majors or Players in 2021—but, again, he’s just 23. He seems odd to earmark Im as a potential breakout candidate given his success, yet with the Presidents Cup on tap along with some major venues that fit his game (cough, cough Southern Hills), the fledgling star is not far from gaining full-blown leading-man status in the sport. —J.B.

MORE: Sungjae Im (aka the Birdie Machine) was the perfect fit to win in Las Vegas

20. Abraham Ancer

Age: 30 / owgr: 17 / ’22 fedex cup: 63.

He has a lone win to his name. Don’t let that fool you; this cat can ball. Ancer is coming off a career year, finishing the regular season sixth in the FedEx Cup and ranking 12th in scoring and 15th in strokes gained. The output is especially impressive considering Ancer is one of the shortest hitters on tour (157th in distance), although he more than compensates by hitting more fairways than a John Deere (fifth in accuracy). It is fair to wonder if the lack of pop has held him back at majors, with just one top-10 finish in 11 starts; conversely, it could also just be a matter of reps, and his second-shot prowess (23rd in approach), ability to rack up red figures (20th in birdies) while keeping the big numbers off the card (fifth in bogey avoidance) should make him a formidable figure at one of golf’s big four … and soon. —J.B.

19. Cameron Smith

Age: 28 / owgr: 21 / ’22 fedex cup: 33.

The Aussie flashes one of best short games on tour, even if he’s still prone to a foul ball off the tee, like the one that sealed a playoff loss to Tony Finau at The Northern Trust. Cruised into the Tour Championship on the strength of perhaps his best year as a professional. —D.R.

Stacy Revere

18. Harris English

Age: 32 / owgr: 12 / ’22 fedex cup: nr.

Dismissing his dismal fall performance (two missed cuts and a WD), English enjoyed his best year in 2021 with a pair of wins and a fourth-place finish in the FedEx Cup regular-season standings. He rose to a career-best 10th in the World Ranking. At 32, he’s in the prime of his career, and the Georgia native has shown he knows how to score—and win—despite stats that don’t necessarily impress. He’ll go as far as his putter (12th SG/putting) takes him. —D.S.

17. Daniel Berger

Age: 28 / owgr: 19 / ’22 fedex cup: nr.

The man who won the first event of the COVID restart in 2020 added another victory at Pebble Beach in 2021 to make that four in his PGA Tour career. Berger also had a pair of top-10s in majors and played (well) in his first Ryder Cup after being one of Steve Stricker’s captain’s picks. Interesting didn’t make a start in the fall season. It’s unlikely he’ll ever reach the level or status of fellow Class of 2011 stars Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, but being the third wheel among that group isn’t too shabby. —A.M.

16. Jason Kokrak

Age: 36 / owgr: 20 / ’22 fedex cup: 8.

A victory at the Houston Open in the fall gave the big-hitting, 6-foot-4 Ohio native his third title in a 13-month span, adding to wins at Colonial (2021) and Shadow Creek (2020)—after going winless in his first 232 starts on the PGA Tour. The biggest difference-maker for the 36-year-old? His putting. Kokrak ranked sixth last season in strokes gained/putting. Compare that to his ranks in the previous five seasons: 151st; 103rd; 110th; 175th; 154th. — S.H.

15. Hideki Matsuyama

Age: 29 / owgr: 18 / ’22 fedex cup: 4.

As the game of golf gets increasingly global, there are fewer barriers to break, but Matsuyama shattered two huge ones when he became the first Asian-born golfer to win the Masters, and the first Japanese man to win a major. The rest of his season was decidedly average, which is understandable, but with a fall win at home at the Zozo Championship, he's riding into 2022 with major momentum. We could be looking at another career year. —S.R.

Atsushi Tomura

14. Jordan Spieth

Age: 28 / owgr: 14 / ’22 fedex cup: 141.

The former World No. 1 finally ended his post 2017 Open Championship “slump” in April, winning the Valero Texas Open just one week before the Masters. A T-7 at Augusta, plus a solo second later in the summer at The Open, served as definitive proof he was all the way back. A fourth major title will effectively silence any doubters left, and the 2022 majors schedule, which includes two of his favorite haunts (Augusta, St. Andrews), sets up quite nicely for him to check off that box. —C.P.

13. Tony Finau

Age: 32 / owgr: 15 / ’22 fedex cup: 169.

Finau shook off the King Kong-sized gorilla on his back when he gutted out a playoff win in August’s Northern Trust to win for the first time in 142 starts. He had eight runners-up in that span, and at least we don’t have to hear the laments that he can’t close. A slow starter, Finau ranked 116th in first-round scoring average (70.92) in ’21, but he was a Friday monster, averaging 68.60 (second). —T.L.

12. Brooks Koepka

Age: 31 / owgr: 16 / ’22 fedex cup: 172.

He remains golf’s best big-game hunter on the men’s side, with three more finishes T6 or better at the majors in 2021. An MC at the first, The Masters, came largely due to a knee injury he probably should not have been playing on yet. Given he admitted early last year that there were dark times rehabbing and his knee may never be 100 percent, injuries will continue to be a concern in 2022. But set aside the season-long numbers or holistic rankings, he’s the best at performing when it matters most and we’d need to see a year of total flops for that title to change. —B.P.

MORE: Brooks Koepka doesn’t hold back in our poolside interview

11. Scottie Scheffler

Age: 25 / owgr: 13 / ’22 fedex cup: 14.

An impressive Sunday singles victory over Jon Rahm at the Ryder Cup built Scheffler more equity as he tries to grab what feels inevitable—a first win on the PGA Tour. But the longer it takes, the trickier it will be fending off questions of why it hasn’t happened yet. Let’s just remember, the guy is only 25 and he’s already had 17 top-10 finishes in just 57 starts. He had two top-five finishes in the fall despite not ranking in the top 50 in any major strokes-gained category. When his game gets in gear at some point this spring, it’s hard not to think the inevitable comes to pass. —R.H.

10. Sam Burns

Age: 25 / owgr: 10 / ’22 fedex cup: 2.

The former college POY at LSU in 2017 had a breakout year in 2021, winning his first two career titles and holding the lead after the most rounds of any player on tour. After starting the year 154th in the World Ranking, he finished 11th, the biggest jump of any player in the top 50. Burns leads the tour at the winter break in SG/tee-to-green after being ninth in SG/putting in 2020-21, showcasing the versatility within his game. Just missed making the U.S. Ryder Cup team, but we have to think he’s a likely candidate for Davis Love III’s Presidents Cup squad. —R.H.

9. Dustin Johnson

Age: 37 / owgr: 3 / ’22 fedex cup: 194.

Spring 2021 was not kind to the 2020 Masters champ—DJ had just one top-10 finish from February through June. But the 24-time PGA Tour winner had top-10s in four of his final six starts of the season and then punctuated his 2021 with a flawless 5-0 performance at the Ryder Cup. If DJ wins this season (which we’d expect to happen), he’d have a victory in his first 15 seasons on tour. Only Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer boast a higher total (17). —S.H.

8. Bryson DeChambeau

Age: 28 / owgr: 5 / ’22 fedex cup: nr.

PIP metrics and trophies aside, he is arguably the tour’s top superstar (non-Tiger category) thanks to a swarm of curiosity and tumult that extends to a larger audience outside the golf corner of the world. He once again led the tour in driving distance and drama in 2021. His all-gas, no-brake focus on the tee ball has yielded resounding results in its first couple years. He led the tour in SG/off-the-tee again in 2021, and the difference between his average and second place was the same as second all the way to 18th. Given the offseason social-media videos replete with speed training, expect the same in 2022. —B.P.

MORE: Bryson vs Brooks feud dominated golf chatter but was it good for the game?

7. Xander Schauffele

Age: 28 / owgr: 5 / ’22 fedex cup: 112.

The Olympic gold medal and a stellar first appearance in the Ryder Cup certainly defined a memorable season for Schauffle, but there’s more work to be done. Namely, to get that first major win to salve the sting of six top-fives in the Big Four. For the second straight appearance, Schauffele contended deep into Masters Sunday, but was beaten by a hotter player. In trying to win for the first time since early 2019, he had seconds in the CJ Cup, Farmers and Phoenix, and he contended (T-7) in his home major, the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, despite a short-lived switch to an arm-lock putting grip. Few players on tour can match Schauffele’s consistent all-around attack. In 2020-21, he was 41st in SG/off-tee, 14th in approach and 16th in putting. —T.L.

6. Viktor Hovland

Age: 24 / owgr: 7 / ’22 fedex cup: 5.

With three wins—plus an OWGR-counting victory at the Hero World Challenge—before age 25, the young Norwegian has seemingly already delivered on all the promise he displayed in winning the 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach. The one area that continues to hold him back, though, is chipping, which he once claimed he “sucked” at. Should he continue to make slight improvements around the greens, his ceiling is second only to Collin Morikawa among the tour’s rising stars. Oddsmakers tend to agree, as Hovland is +550 to win a major in 2022 on the DraftKings Sportsbook. —C.P.

5. Rory McIlroy

Age: 32 / owgr: 9 / ’22 fedex cup: 9.

Since 2014, the dominant strain of discourse around McIlroy has been when or if he'll win another major, and it will continue to be so forever, if necessary. The story is the same—his putting just isn't good enough, and to win majors as a below-average putter, you need to be an approach genius like Collin Morikawa, which Rory is not. Still, he's now won twice on tour in the last year, including his October win at the CJ Cup, his putting is improving, and maybe—maybe—he's ready to take the leap again. —S.R.

4. Justin Thomas

Age: 28 / owgr: 8 / ’22 fedex cup: 32.

It was a strange 2021 for the American star, who found himself mired in controversy and in the first prolonged slump of his career. After losing his Ralph Lauren deal in January and winning the Players Championship in March, Thomas didn’t record another top 10 until the FedEx Cup Playoffs. But two top fives in those three events followed by another two at the Mayakoba and Hero indicate he’s got his game in better shape. And as we saw with his five-win campaign in 2016-2017, few are capable of going on bigger heaters. —A.M.

3. Patrick Cantlay

Age: 29 / owgr: 4 / ’22 fedex cup: nr.

After seeing his career derailed by a back injury for more than two years, Cantlay finally has assumed what many thought should be his rightful place among the elite of his age group by winning four times in the 2020-21 season, capturing the FedEx Cup and winning Player of the Year honors. He showed no real weaknesses in his game, ranking no worse than 30th in the key SG metrics and finishing third in SG/total. The only things left for the laconic California native is to add his name to the column of major winners and to rise to World No. 1, and who thinks he won’t eventually achieve those goals? —D.S.

2. Collin Morikawa

Age: 24 / owgr: 2 / ’22 fedex cup: 15.

In the past year, he’s taken “The Leap” from great young player to perhaps the finest player on Earth. His record through 60 professional starts—six wins, two majors, 24 top 10s—has drawn some (unfair) Tiger comparisons; so has his habit of closing out tournaments with relentless, bogey-free rounds. Among a historically great group of 30 and younger Americans, he currently stands alone at the top. —D.R.

1. Jon Rahm

Age: 27 / owgr: 1 / ’22 fedex cup: nr.

The numbers are staggering. Fifteen top-10s versus one missed cut in 22 starts last season. Second in SG/off-the-tee, eighth in approach and first in SG/overall. First in birdie average AND bogey avoidance. Yet those numbers fail to illustrate the most impressive figure of all: the “1” that replaced “0” in Rahm’s major total, shedding the label of backdoor finisher by closing out the 2021 U.S. Open with vigor. Though Rahm technically had just one win to his name—if “just” can describe his breakthrough at Torrey Pines—he tied for the lowest score over four days at East Lake during the Tour Championship and held a six-stroke lead through 54 holes at the Memorial before a positive COVID-19 test knocked him out of the event, in the process solidifying his claim as the sport’s top dog. —J.B.

Donald Miralle

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Pga tour champions president miller brady tackles tiger in two years, how he snared a new playoff sponsor and paul azinger in the booth, share this article.

KONA, Hawaii — Miller Brady points out in the distance at the Pacific Ocean as another stunning sunset unfolds and says, “Look, there’s a whale spout. It’s right in line with that palm tree.”

It never gets old for Brady, president of PGA Tour Champions, to start the new season at Four Seasons Hualalai, home of the Mitsubishi Electric Championship. This is the 28 th consecutive year the senior circuit has kicked off the year here in paradise and the 17 th in a row for Brady, who is in his sixth year leading the Champions Tour and embarking on his 25 th year with the PGA Tour, the last 18 with the over-50 crowd.

“I had the chance to go to the regular tour a couple different times,” he said. “But I just sort of like this niche.”

It’s a niche playing for some $67 million this season, and its top players don’t need signature events or bloated FedEx Cup points to show up. A couple hours later, nearly all the stars of senior golf will attend the pro-am draw party and make their way to the stage when emcee Dave Marr III calls their name.

“It’s one of the coolest pictures you’ll see,” Brady said.

During a wide-ranging conversation, Brady shared why he’s bullish on the future for PGA Tour Champions, the back story on the change in title sponsor for one of its three playoff events and prepping for Tigermania at 50.

PGA Tour Champions : Key storylines as 2024 season kicks off

GWK: So how does it feel to be the president of the best tour in golf?

Stephen Ames (R) of Canada poses with the winner trophy with Miller Brady, PGA Tour Champions President following the final round of the Trophy Hassan II at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam on February 11, 2023 in Rabat, Morocco. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)

MB: You know, I don’t know if it’s the best tour, but it’s the only tour without a ton of drama right now.

We’re here, and we’re on an island playing golf. I told my team, look, there’s a lot going on in the world of golf right now. We have a really good thing going let’s not get distracted by all that other noise because there’s nothing we can do. We can’t control any of that. So, let’s stay on our island, control what we can control really, which is our title sponsors, our tournaments, our players, and the overall product, that’s all we can control.

GWK: On the 2024 schedule, how did the new Charles Schwab Cup playoff event in Little Rock, Arkansas, come about?

MB: Simmons Bank is going to be title sponsor. They also sponsor an event on the Korn Ferry Tour. I met their CEO a couple years ago, in St. Louis, at our tournament when he was playing in the pro-am. He’s also friends with Ken Duke and Glen Day on our tour, and he said, I think I want to bring a Champions Tour event to our hometown of Little Rock. I said, that’s great, I don’t really have anywhere on the schedule right now. If something opens up, let’s have a conversation. To be honest, he wanted a regular season event not a playoff. And so a little background, TimberTech was our sponsor in Boca Raton as our second playoff event.

They wanted to renew but they wanted to renew for a shorter term than what we asked for and the same dollars, and I just felt like our tour is better than that right now. So I said, we’re gonna move on. I felt strongly that I had Simmons Bank. So I went back to their CEO and said, Will you do a deal to be our playoff sponsor? And he was like, ‘Absolutely, we’re in.’ So we did a five-year deal with Simmons Bank. Those are the right markets. We’re not good when we played in Sherwood in L.A. Wrong market, too big.

But when we play in Birmingham, Alabama, Des Moines, Iowa, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, those markets work really, really well for us.

At the end of the day, our tour serves a significant purpose for the overall organization. We’re lifting the overall brand and markets where the PGA Tour is never going to play. The PGA Tour is never going to go to Sioux Falls but our brand is there and I think it helps everybody. So I think those are the right markets for us.

GWK: The PGA Tour made quite a few new demands of its tournaments, including increased contributions to prize money. Are there any similar demands on the PGA Tour Champions to help the bottom line but potentially hurt charitable giving by tournaments?

John Huston tees off on the first tee box during the first round of the PGA Tour Champions Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club in Phoenix. (Photo: Ben Jared/PGA Tour via Getty Images)

MB: No, not at this time. You know, our goal is to continue to improve all the events that are under our umbrella by every means possible, so making sure that the player experience is as good as possible to add the experience is just as good. That’s been important for us. Our team focuses on making sure that every single tournament does something to improve the caddie experience from the previous year. We’re announcing that we have an official caddie hat sponsor, $500,000, that’s not insignificant. So little things like that. I’m not going to require these tournaments to have porta potties every other hole.

GWK: Except for your major championships, 54 holes has been the trademark of PGA Tour Champions since its inception. Were you surprised when LIV came out with only 54-hole events? Did you see it as senior tour lite?

A tee marker is displayed prior to the LIV Golf Invitational – Miami at Trump National Doral Miami on October 18, 2023 in Doral, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

MB: I think there are some people that maybe tried to make that connection a little bit, but I haven’t given that much thought. Whatever they’re doing they’re doing; it doesn’t affect anything that we do.

GWK: Do you see a way for Phil Mickelson or others who went to LIV to ever play on the Champions Tour again?

Greg Norman greats Phil Mickelson on the first tee during the final round of the LIV Golf Bedminster golf tournament at Trump National Bedminster. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

MB: Sure, but I think that we’re probably in a wait-and-see mode like the regular tour on what happens with the overall partnership with SSG and PIF. Once that gets figured out, is there an overall pathway back to the organization, and should ours be the same for a Lee Westwood or Phil? We haven’t sat down to really think about them. I’d want to make sure that our players will embrace them, right? Because if not, it’s not worth the headache. Because our players all greatly appreciate their second lease on life. There’s no other professional sport where you can do what these guys are doing. They’re playing for over $67 million throughout the year. Pretty good.

GWK: Now that Paul Azinger is no longer broadcasting, do you have any indications he'll play some events at age 64?

Paul Azinger celebrates his winning shot at the Memorial Tournament in 1993. Azinger

MB: No, I don’t think he will. I saw Paul at the World Champions Cup (In December). I think it’s still pretty raw. It’s the whole way it went down. At the right time, I want to go see if maybe he’ll jump in the booth here. Why not? But the money’s vastly different. He has to want to do it. So I’ve got to find the right time. If I’m with him, just to say, hey, do you want to do a couple events? It’s too raw now.

GWK: Tell me about some of the players turning 50 this year and how much you expect them to play?

MB: Well, we’re in a little bit of a lull, which isn’t fair to those that are turning 50. But you know, we went through a really strong period where there was Ernie Els, Jim Furyk and Darren Clarke and Justin Leonard, these really strong names and they came out and they won and I think that helped us. This next two years is a little quiet from strong name recognition. So, I continue to focus on the guys that are the bigger names.

GWK: What preparations have you've started to make for Tiger turning 50?

Tiger Woods smiles before he plays his shot from the first tee during the PNC Championship at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club. (Photo: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports)

MB: I knew that was coming.

I took our entire team, anyone who touches the product, middle of the year last year and we gathered and started a whiteboard of what ifs, the craziest things, whatever it was, you know, come up with it. Because it’s not too early to just think through everything. So we’ve done that, we’ve had conversations at the annual meetings with all of our tournaments about it. You know, you hear comments from time to time about how he can’t wait to have a golf cart. He has conversation with Steve Stricker or Ernie Els or some of these other guys. You know, they’ll come back and tell me they’ll say he’s looking forward, which is great. What does that mean? I have no illusions that he’s going to come out here and play 15 times. If he plays four times, that would be fantastic, if he plays 10 times that would be even better.

GWK: How do you see the metrics differing if Tiger commits to 5-10 events vs if he chooses not to play even the majors at 50?

MB: The TV side will be interesting. In hindsight, I wish that we would have held back the rights for this tour or at least had an option to get out of our current deal. No one at the time had the foresight way back when the deal was done and say, Hey, wait a second. Let’s carve that out. That would’ve been great. We’re locked in for the’same length of time as the PGA Tour.

But will our ratings go up? Absolutely. Could I see NBC and Golf Channel wanting to put an event on the network? Yeah. Tiger would have to commit early enough for us to make that happen. If he commits on the Friday before, we’ve had this conversation with tournaments, they won’t be prepared for it: ticket sales, which turns into an issue with your security, your transportation shuttles, concessions, everything. That was part of that white board that we did.

GWK: Have you had any talks with Tiger or his team about his intentions?

MB: I’ve had a conversation with (Mark) Steinberg, just more than anything just to educate them. We had a great conversation about the Champions Tour: how many events we have, the markets where we play, majors, some of the courses where we play early, a little bit about our cart policy. I don’t see Tiger ever wanting to file for ADA otherwise he would have done that already.

GWK: Do you receive similar complaints about lack of event access by bottom-rung players as we’ve heard from PGA Tour rank-and-file?

MB: The challenge is that we only play 78. It’s actually harder to come out here and stay out here if you didn’t have a really good career on the regular tour. Look, you’re always going to have some guys that think that either we should put more spots into our Q-School and more spots into our Monday Qualifiers but that’s not what drives us. We have just over 10 percent access for the event qualifiers and Q-School. That to me is plenty.

GWK: What are the biggest challenges with PGA Tour Champions currently?

MB: For me, we’re in a really good spot, we’re fully sponsored. We’re a B2B product, that’s what we are. TV is sort of secondary and ancillary for the sponsors. It is still important, but it’s not the driver. We’re not on network television. It’s trying to gain more notoriety and exposure for how good out tour is. People think we play these 6,500-yard golf courses and these guys aren’t really good. We average over 7,000 yards and these guys are really damn good. No offense to the regular tour, but they’re much easier to work with. If I ask a guy to come to a dinner with me, they’re going to do it as long as it works with their schedule, they’re gonna do it and they don’t ask to get paid because they understand they’re doing their job in order to have a place to play.

GWK: What would need to happen to spike interest in your product?

MB: I think Tiger can help with that, that’s the easiest solution, right? Having more events on network television would help but there’s no magic answer there. As long as our sponsors continue to see value in what they do when we play then it must be working.

GWK: What did you learn from the limited amount that Phil played that will help when Tiger turns 50?

MB: Phil had a small spike in crowds, but it’s nowhere near what Tiger will do. I think we learned a little bit about what the media is going to want.

GWK: Has there been a consideration to hold events Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or some other non-traditional slots in order to catch a larger potential TV audience?

MB: The Golf Channel would love nothing more than for us to play Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It would take the right market. You’d need the title sponsor to be on board. You can do a pro-am on the weekend but will you be able to sell hospitality tents on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday? That’s the tournament’s biggest fear. Probably five years ago, we approached two or three different tournaments with this idea. They looked at it. They decided the risk wasn’t worth it.

GWK: Why is 50 still the right age for eligibility to join PGA Tour Champions?

MB: We looked at it extensively as an organization and we looked at it with in concert with the player directors on the regular tour two or three years ago. We were open to its because to be honest with you there’s been some push to lower it.

My response to that after looking at it, the guys that are going to move the needle out here, when they’re 48 the big names are still competitive on the regular tour, and they’re not going to come out here. At 48 I think Jim Furyk was still ranked in the top 10 in the world. I don’t need to lower the age for other journeymen, that doesn’t help us sell our product and it may push out a Tom Kite. While Kite may not be competitive anymore, he’s fantastic in the pro-am and he’s a Hall of Famer. So I don’t need to bring in a 48 year old who’s going to push out a big name. Now I may be told I have to do that at some point. But at least right now, everyone appreciates that it’s not something we should do.

GWK: What do you say to people that feel the tour is a dated concept and wish it would just go away?

MB: My response is why? We serve a purpose in the world. We have a great price point significantly below what a PGA Tour title is if you want to be a title sponsor in golf you can get into it with our tour and if you want to grow to the regular tour like 3M did, great, but you can still be a title sponsor. We generate over $40 million in charity in the markets where we play. We’re playing in markets where the regular tour isn’t going. I think that helps professional golf, helps the PGA Tour brand. We serve a really good purpose and we’re more financially solvent now that we’ve probably ever been.

GWK: Does the PGA Tour still underwrite the Champions Tour to a large degree?

MB: The Tour used to provide an annual subsidy to this tour. That went away two years ago. We still have our television rights fee, we draw down on that, official marketing partners that we draw on. You could probably argue do we get the right allocation or should that allocation be split differently? It was important for me over the past – call it 10 years since I was the COO – to stop having tournaments that we had to give an additional subsidy. If you can’t stand on your own then you’re gonna go away. We’re better than that and we’re stronger than that and we’ve made sure our tournaments operate in the right way.

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Pendrith wins CJ Cup Byron Nelson, his first PGA Tour title

With a one-shot lead on 18, Ben Kohles has a disaster chip and missed par putt, leading to Taylor Pendrith getting his first win on the PGA Tour. (1:00)

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McKINNEY, Texas -- Taylor Pendrith tried his best to ignore Ben Kohles ' final-hole meltdown, focusing on the eagle putt that the Canadian thought he might have to make even to force a playoff as he walked toward the 18th green.

Several stunning minutes later, a 3-footer for birdie gave Pendrith his first PGA Tour victory.

Kohles overtook Pendrith with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 for a 1-shot lead, then bogeyed the 18th after hitting his second shot into greenside rough. Already in shock following two chips from the rough -- the second with his feet in a bunker -- Kohles missed a 6-foot putt that would have forced a playoff.

"Wasn't really trying to pay attention to what they were doing, although it really mattered, obviously," Pendrith said. "I feel for Ben. He played really, really good today, especially down the stretch. I've been on the other side of it a couple times, and it sucks. But it's golf. It's a hard game."

Pendrith shot 4-under 67 for a 23-under 261 total at the TPC Craig Ranch. The 32-year-old won in his 74th career PGA Tour start.

Playing just north of his birthplace of Dallas, Kohles shot 66 to finish a stroke back. The 34-year-old, who plays out of North Carolina and is winless in 68 starts, was the only player to bogey the 18th Sunday.

"Honestly, hadn't seen any rough like that all week," said Kohles, who moved to North Carolina when he was 10. "Just needed a little bit more umph on it. Did so many good things this week, and I'm just going to keep reminding myself of that and try to get myself back in this position."

Alex Noren , a Swedish player also seeking a first PGA Tour victory, was another stroke back. He wowed the crowd on the stadium hole at the par-3 17th with a tee shot to 2½ feet, but followed that birdie with a par knowing he probably needed an eagle on 18. Noren shot 65 and was alone in third at 21 under.

Aaron Rai and first-round leader Matt Wallace of England were at 20 under along with the South Korean pair of S.H. Kim and Byeong Hun An . Rai and Kim shot 64, An 65 and Wallace 68.

Pendrith, the third-round leader, and Kohles were separated by just 1 shot or tied most of the day. After Kohles made a 20-footer to take the lead on 17, Pendrith's par putt rolled all the way around the cup and went in.

"It just curled in, that putt, on the last second there, which was unreal just to give me a chance," said Pendrith. He had set it up with a chip from an awkward stance, with his heels hanging over the lip of a bunker, after saving par with another testy putt at the par-4 16th.

The victory qualified Pendrith for the PGA Championship in two weeks and next year's Masters. He's also in the next three $20 million signature events, starting next week with the Wells Fargo championship. Kohles and Noren also played their way into Wells Fargo with their Nelson showings.

With Wells Fargo and the PGA coming in the next two weeks, just three of the top 30 in the world ranking were in the field.

Jordan Spieth , the highest at No. 20, missed the cut for just the second time in 12 appearances at his hometown event. Defending champion Jason Day (22nd) and Tom Kim (23rd) didn't contend, with Day finishing 1 shot behind Kim at 9 under.

Jake Knapp , the second-round leader who three years ago was working as a security guard in his home state of California, shot 70 to finish at 19 under. Knapp and Wallace were the only players in the top eight with a previous PGA Tour win.

The start of the final round was pushed back 2½ hours because of overnight rain, and pairings turned into threesomes going off both tees with the players allowed to lift, clean and place shots in the fairway.

Wallace appeared to start a charge by chipping in for birdie at 12, the toughest hole of the week, and getting another birdie at the par-4 13th. A three-putt bogey on the par-3 15th stalled him out.

Rafael Campos , a 13-year journeyman from Puerto Rico who has spent most of his career on satellite tours, birdied five of the first six holes starting on the back nine to make the turn at 29.

The 36-year-old cooled off on his second nine before making a 48-foot putt from off the green for eagle on the par-5 ninth for a 63 that put him at 18 under.

Taiga Semikawa , a 23-year-old from Japan playing on a sponsor exemption, also finished at 18 after a 64.

Kris Kim , a 16-year old amateur making his PGA Tour debut, had a rough finish as the youngest to play a final round on tour in 10 years.

Playing his final nine on the front, the son of South Korean-born former LPGA Tour player Ji-Hyun Suh had four bogeys and shot 73 to finish 6 under.

Kim, who is from England, played on a sponsor exemption from the South Korean company and tournament title sponsor CJ Group.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Taylor Pendrith gets 1st PGA Tour win at Byron Nelson after final-hole collapse from Ben Kohles

Taylor Pendrith reacts after sinking his putt on the 18th hole to win the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Ben Kohles reactsafter missing a putt on the 18th hole during the final round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Taylor Pendrith reacts after sinking a birdie from the sand on the sixth green during the final round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Ben Kohles hits onto the 18th green during the final round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Taylor Pendrith holds up the champion’s trophy after winning the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Taylor Pendrith blows on his golf ball before setting up for his tee shot on the fourth hole during the final round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Taylor Pendrith hits from the sand on the sixth green during the final round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Ben Kohles hits a tee shot on the second hole during the final round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Matt Wallace, of England, hits a tee shot on the second hole during the final round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Jake Knapp hits a tee shot on the second hole during the final round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Taylor Pendrith, center, holds his son Hayes after winning the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

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McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Taylor Pendrith tried his best to ignore Ben Kohles’ final-hole meltdown , focusing on the eagle putt that the Canadian thought he might have to make even to force a playoff as he walked toward the 18th green.

Several stunning minutes later, a 3-footer for birdie gave Pendrith his first PGA Tour victory.

Kohles overtook Pendrith with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 for a one-shot lead, then bogeyed the 18th after hitting his second shot into greenside rough. Already in shock following two chips from the rough — the second with his feet in a bunker — Kohles missed a 6-foot putt that would have forced a playoff.

“Wasn’t really trying to pay attention to what they were doing, although it really mattered, obviously,” Pendrith said. “I feel for Ben. He played really, really good today, especially down the stretch. I’ve been on the other side of it a couple times, and it sucks. But it’s golf. It’s a hard game.”

Pendrith shot 4-under 67 for a 23-under 261 total at the TPC Craig Ranch. The 32-year-old won in his 74th career PGA Tour start.

Playing just north of his birthplace of Dallas, Kohles shot 66 to finish a stroke back. The 34-year-old who plays out of North Carolina is winless in 68 starts.

Taylor Pendrith gestures after sinking a birdie putt on the first hole during the final round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

“Honestly, hadn’t seen any rough like that all week,” said Kohles, who moved to North Carolina when he was 10. “Just needed a little bit more umph on it. Did so many good things this week, and I’m just going to keep reminding myself of that and try to get myself back in this position.”

Alex Noren, a Swedish player also seeking a first PGA Tour victory, was another stroke back. He wowed the crowd on the stadium hole at the par-3 17th with a tee shot to 2 1/2 feet, but followed that birdie with a par knowing he probably needed an eagle on 18. Noren shot 65 and was alone in third at 21 under.

Aaron Rai and first-round leader Matt Wallace of England were at 20 under along with the South Korean pair of S.H. Kim and Byeong Hun An. Rai and Kim shot 64, An 65 and Wallace 68.

Pendrith, the third-round leader, and Kohles were separated by just one shot or tied most of the day. After Kohles made a 20-footer to take the lead on 17, Pendrith’s par putt rolled all the way around the cup and went in.

“It just curled in, that putt on the last second there, which was unreal just to give me a chance,” said Pendrith, who set it up with a chip from an awkward stance with his heels hanging over the lip of a bunker, after saving par with another testy putt at the par-4 16th.

The victory qualified Pendrith for the PGA Championship in two weeks and next year’s Masters. He’s also in the next three $20 million signature events, starting next week with the Wells Fargo championship. Kohles and Noren also played their way into Wells Fargo with their Nelson showings.

With Wells Fargo and the PGA coming in the next two weeks, just three of the top 30 in the world ranking were in the field.

Jordan Spieth, the highest at No. 20, missed the cut for just the second time in 12 appearances at his hometown event. Defending champion Jason Day (22nd) and Tom Kim (23rd) didn’t contend, with Day finishing one shot behind Kim at 9 under.

Jake Knapp, the second-round leader who three years ago was working as a security guard in his home state of California, shot 70 to finish at 19 under. Knapp and Wallace were the only players in the top eight with a previous PGA Tour win.

The start of the final round was pushed back 2 1/2 hours because of overnight rain, and pairings turned into threesomes going off both tees with the players allowed to lift, clean and place shots in the fairway.

Wallace appeared to start a charge by chipping in for birdie at 12, the toughest hole of the week, and getting another birdie at the par-4 13th. A three-putt bogey on the par-3 15th stalled him out.

Rafael Campos, a 13-year journeyman from Puerto Rico who has spent most of his career on satellite tours, birdied five of the first six holes starting on the back nine to make the turn at 29.

The 36-year-old cooled off on his second nine before making a 48-foot putt from off the green for eagle on the par-5 ninth for a 63 that put him at 18 under.

Taiga Semikawa, a 23-year-old from Japan playing on a sponsor exemption, also finished at 18 after a 64.

Kris Kim, a 16-year old amateur making his PGA Tour debut, had a rough finish as the youngest to play a final round on tour in 10 years.

Playing his final nine on the front, the son of South Korean-born former LPGA Tour player Ji-Hyun Suh had four bogeys and shot 73 to finish 6 under.

Kim, who is from England, played on a sponsor exemption from the South Korean company and tournament title sponsor CJ Group.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

How players qualify for 2023’s events with elevated purses

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The top players competing together more often - guaranteed.

That’s what fans can expect as the TOUR today finalized the list of events that top players have committed to participate in next year.

The TOUR’s top players will compete for elevated purses of at least $20 million across these events, and fans will be the beneficiaries. Recognizing how important it is for fans to know where their favorite players will be competing, the top players in the TOUR’s Player Impact Program will feature in up to 20 events – 12 PGA TOUR events with elevated purses, including the three FedExCup Playoffs events, the four majors and THE PLAYERS, and three additional FedExCup events of their choosing.

The field criteria for these designated events remain unchanged for 2023, formed via their traditional eligibility criteria. It’s the commitment from the TOUR’s top players to guarantee their appearance in these events that is unprecedented. A fan who buys a ticket to Bills-Chiefs, for example, knows he or she can expect to see Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes under center for their respective teams. Now TOUR fans can enjoy that same level of certainty when Jan. 1 rolls around, knowing, for example, where FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy or world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will be playing.

Here’s a look at how players earn their way into these designated events (excluding the majors and THE PLAYERS):

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Jan. 5-8, Plantation Course at Kapalua Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii No. of players: TBD

• Winners of PGA TOUR cosponsored or approved tournaments in 2022 calendar year, whose victories are considered official • Winner of the 2021–22 FedExCup • Top 30 finishers and ties from the 2021-2022 FedExCup Playoffs & Eligibility Points List

WM Phoenix Open

Feb. 9-12, TPC Scottsdale (Stadium Course) Scottsdale, Ariz. No. of players: 132

Eligible players in the 132-player field are those players in the PGA TOUR’s priority ranking , except that the following shall not be eligible: • One sponsor exemption from among the current season’s Top Finishers of the Korn Ferry Tour category • One sponsor exemption from among the current season’s membership • One “unrestricted” sponsor exemption • One open qualifier • Current PGA National Professional Champion

Genesis Invitational

Feb. 16-19, Riviera Country Club Pacific Palisades, Calif. No. of players: 120

Eligible players in the 120-player field are: • Winners of The Genesis Invitational in the last five years (2018–2022). • Winners of Masters Tournament, THE PLAYERS Championship, U.S. Open, The Open Championship and PGA Championship in the last five years (2018–2022). • Winner of the FedExCup from 2018/19–2021/22 seasons.. • Winners of WGC-Mexico Championship and WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational from 2020 and 2021. • Winners of WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play from 2021 and 2022. • Winners of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and the Memorial Tournament in the last three years (2020–2022). • Winners of PGA TOUR cosponsored or approved tournaments, whose victories are considered official, since the previous season’s The Genesis Invitational. • Winner of the 2022 U.S. Amateur Championship (NOTE: Such player may turn professional and still be eligible for the exemption.) • Current PGA TOUR members who were playing members of the last named U.S. and European Ryder Cup teams (2021). • Current PGA TOUR members who were playing members of the last U.S. and International Presidents Cup teams (2022). • The top 125 players from the 2021–22 FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List . • The top 10 players from the 2022–23 FedExCup Points List through the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am • 12 sponsor exemptions, restricted as follows: - Two from among the current season’s Top Finishers of the Korn Ferry Tour category - Two from among the current season’s PGA TOUR membership - Eight “unrestricted” • If necessary to complete a field of 120 players, those players below 10th position from the current FedExCup Points List through the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, in order of their positions on such list.

Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard

March 2-5, Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge Orlando, Fla. No. of players: 120

Eligible players in the 120-player field are: • Winners of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard prior to 2000*, and winners of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in the last five years (2018–2022). • Winners of Masters Tournament, THE PLAYERS Championship, U.S. Open, The Open Championship and PGA Championship in the last five years (2018–2022). (Note: THE PLAYERS and The Open were not contested in 2020.) • Winner of the FedExCup from the 2018/19–2021/22 seasons. • Winners of WGC-Mexico Championship from 2021 • Winners of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational from 2020 and 2021 • Winners of WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play from 2021 and 2022 • Winners of The Genesis Invitational in the last three years (2021–2023) • Winners of the Memorial Tournament in the last three years (2020–2022) • Winners of PGA TOUR cosponsored or approved tournaments, whose victories are considered official, since the previous season’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. • Playing members of the last-named U.S. Ryder Cup team (2021) • Current PGA TOUR members who were playing members of the last-named European Ryder Cup team (2021) • Playing members of the last-named U.S. Presidents Cup team (2022) • Current PGA TOUR members who were playing members of the last-named International Presidents Cup team (2022) • The winner of the 2022 U.S. Amateur Championship. (NOTE: Such player may turn professional and still be eligible for the exemption.) • Winner of the 2022 Arnold Palmer Award (Rookie of the Year). • The top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking through The Genesis Invitational (Monday, February 20, 2023). • Life members of the PGA TOUR • 18 sponsor exemptions, restricted as follows: - Two from among the current season’s Top Finishers of the Korn Ferry Tour category. - Eight from among the current season’s PGA TOUR membership. - Eight “unrestricted”. • Up to two foreign players designated by the Commissioner • The top 70 players from the final 2021–22 FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List . • Members in the Top 125-Nonmembers category whose points on the non-WGC FedExCup Points List for Non-members for the previous season equals or exceeds the amount of FedExCup points earned by the player finishing in 70th position on the final 2021–22 FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List • The top 70 players from the 2022–23 FedExCup Points List through The Genesis Invitational • Either the current winner of the PGA Section Championship or the current PGA Section Player of the Year where the tournament is played, as determined by the Section • If necessary to complete a field of 120 players, those players below 70th position from the 2022–23 FedExCup Points List through The Genesis Invitational, in order of their positions on such list * - Winners prior to 2000, who are not otherwise eligible for the event, will be added to the starting field and must maintain a scoring average no greater than three strokes above the field average for the rounds of golf in which they have played in the season prior to be eligible in this category. A player who loses his exempt status for failing to meet the scoring average provision may regain exempt status immediately by finishing three strokes or less above the field average for the rounds of golf in which he has played in official money events during the current season, excluding official money team events.

World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play

March 22-26, Austin Country Club Austin, Texas No. of players: 64

Eligible players in the 64-player field are: • The top 64 available players to a floor of 100 from the Official World Golf Ranking, as of the Monday one week prior to the week of the tournament (March 13, 2023)

RBC Heritage

April 13-16, Harbour Town Golf Links Hilton Head Island, S.C. No. of players: 132

Eligible players in the 132-player field are: • Winners of RBC Heritage prior to 2000*, and winners of RBC Heritage in the last five years (2018–2022). • Winners of the U.S. Open or PGA Championship prior to 2005 who played in a minimum of 15 PGA TOUR cosponsored or approved tournaments in the 2021–2022 season, provided however the Commissioner shall have the discretion to waive such 15 event minimum if a player otherwise eligible pursuant to this eligibility criteria did not play 15 events in the prior season as a result of an injury and would have qualified for a medical extension if he had applied for one and Winners of the U.S. Open or PGA Championship in the last five years (2018–2022) • Winners of the Masters Tournament in the last five years (2019–2022) • Winners of THE PLAYERS Championship from the years 2018 & 2019 and 2021–2023 • Winners of The Open Championship in the last five years (2018–2022) • Winners of the WGC-Mexico Championship from 2021 • Winners of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in the last three years (2021-2023) • Winners of the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational 2020 and 2021 • Winners of The Genesis Invitational and the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in the last three years (2021–2023) • Winner of the Memorial Tournament in the last three years (2020–2022) • Winner of the 2022 U.S. Amateur Championship. (NOTE: Such player may turn professional and still be eligible for the exemption.) • Winner of the FedExCup in each of the last five seasons (2018-22) • Playing members of the last-named U.S. Ryder Cup team (2021) • Current PGA TOUR members who were playing members from the last-named European Ryder Cup team (2021) • Playing members of the last-named U.S. Presidents Cup team (2022) • Current PGA TOUR members who were playing members from the last-named International Presidents Cup team (2022) • The top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking through the completion of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play/Corales Puntacana Championship • Eight sponsor exemptions, restricted as follows: - Two from among the current season’s PGA TOUR membership - Two from among the current season’s Top Finishers of the Korn Ferry Tour - Four “unrestricted” • Up to two foreign players designated by the Commissioner • Either the current or prior year winner of the PGA Section Championship or current or prior year winner of the PGA Section Player of the Year where the tournament is played, as determined by the section • PGA TOUR members who use an exemption for the 2022–23 season as one of the leaders (either top 25 or top 50) on the Official PGA TOUR Career Money List • Life members of the PGA TOUR • The top 125 players from the 2021-22 FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List • Members in the Top 125-Nonmembers category whose points on the Non-WGC FedExCup Points List for Non-Members for the previous season equal or exceed the amount of FedExCup points earned by the player finishing in 125th position on the 2021–22 FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List • PGA TOUR members from the current Tournament Winners category • The 20 players who are leading on the 2022–23 FedExCup Points List through the Valero Texas Open • Five players, not otherwise eligible, who are leading on the 2022–23 FedExCup Points List through the Valero Texas Open • If necessary to complete a field of 132 players, PGA TOUR members from the 2022–23 priority ranking of eligible players, after the Top 125 Non-Member category, in order of their positions on such list, including the Top 10 from Previous Tournament category. * - Winners prior to 2000, who are not otherwise eligible for the event, will be added to the starting field and must maintain a scoring average no greater than three strokes above the field average for the rounds of golf in which they have played in the season prior to be eligible in this category. A player who loses his exempt status for failing to meet the scoring average provision may regain 38 exempt status immediately by finishing three strokes or less above the field average for the rounds of golf in which he has played in official money events during the current season, excluding official money team events.

Wells Fargo Championship

May 4-7, Quail Hollow Club Charlotte, N.C. No. of players: 156

Eligible players in the 156-player field are those players in the PGA TOUR’s priority ranking .

Memorial Tournament presented by Workday

June 1-4, Muirfield Village Golf Club Dublin, Ohio No. of players: 120

Eligible players in the 120-player field are: • Winners of the Memorial Tournament prior to 1997* and winners of the Memorial Tournament in the last five years (2018–2022). • Winners of THE PLAYERS Championship in the last five years (2019–2023). • Winners of the Masters Tournament in the last five years (2019–2023). • Winners of the U.S. Open in the last five years (2018–2022). • Winners of The Open Championship in the last five years (2018–2022). • Winners of the PGA Championship from 2018–2023. • Winner of the FedExCup from 2018/19–2021/22 seasons. • Winners of the WGC-Mexico Championship from 2021. • Winners of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play from the last three years (2021-2023). • Winners of the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational from the years 2020 and 2021. • Winners of The Genesis Invitational and the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in the last three years (2021–2023). • Winners of PGA TOUR cosponsored or approved tournaments, whose victories are considered official, since the previous season’s Memorial Tournament. • Playing members of the last-named U.S. and European Ryder Cup teams (2021). • Playing members of the last-named U.S. and International Presidents Cup teams (2022). • Winner of the 2022 U.S. Amateur Championship. (Note: Such player may turn professional and still be eligible for the exemption.) • Winner of The 2022 Amateur Championship conducted by the R&A. (Note: Such player may turn professional and still be eligible for the exemption.) • Up to four players selected by the tournament from among the money leaders on the DP World Tour, Asian Tour, Australasian Tour, Sunshine Tour and Japan Golf Tour official money lists. • Up to fourteen sponsor exemptions, restricted as follows: - Six from among the current season’s PGA TOUR membership. - Two from among the current season’s Top Finishers of the Korn Ferry Tour category. - Six “unrestricted”. • The top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking through completion of the PGA Championship • The top 70 players from the 2021–2022 FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List . • Members in the Top 125-Nonmembers category whose points on the Non-WGC FedExCup Points List for Non-Members for the previous season equals or exceeds the amount of FedExCup points earned by the player finishing in 70th position on the 2021–2022 FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List. • The top 70 players from the 2022–2023 FedExCup Points List through the completion of the PGA Championship • The Division I College Player of the Year from 2022 (the Jack Nicklaus Award), as selected by the Golf Coaches Association of America. (Note: Such player may turn professional and still be eligible for the exemption.) • If necessary to complete a field of 120 players, PGA TOUR members beyond 70th position from both the 2022–2023 FedExCup Points List through the PGA Championship and the 2021–2022 FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List on an alternating basis beginning with the current season FedExCup Points List and in order of their positions on such FedExCup Points List (i.e., 71st player from current season’s FedExCup Points List, 71st player from prior season’s FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List, 72nd player from current season’s FedExCup Points List, and so on) * - Winners prior to 1997, who are not otherwise eligible for the event, will be added to the starting field and must maintain a scoring average no greater than three strokes above the field average for the rounds of golf in which they have played in the season prior to be eligible in this category. A player who loses his exempt status for failing to meet the scoring average provision may regain exempt status immediately by finishing three strokes or less above the field average for the rounds of golf in which he has played in official money events during the current season, excluding official money team events.

Travelers Championship

June 22-25, TPC River Highlands Cromwell, Conn. No. of players: 156

FedEx St. Jude Championship

Aug. 10-13, TPC Southwind Germantown, Tenn. No. of players: 70

Eligible players are: • The top 70 players plus ties from the 2022–2023 FedExCup Points List through the Wyndham Championship

BMW Championship

Aug. 17-20, Olympia Fields CC (North) Olympia Fields, Ill. No. of players: 50

Eligible players are: • The top 50 players plus ties from the 2022–2023 FedExCup Points List through the FedEx St. Jude Championship

TOUR Championship

Aug. 24-27, East Lake Golf Club Atlanta, Ga. No. of players: 30

Eligible players are: • The top 30 players plus ties from the 2022–2023 FedExCup Points List through the BMW Championship

IMAGES

Pin on I ♥ Branding!
PGA Tour Happy With Current Stable Of Title Sponsorships
Partners & Sponsors
PGA Tour 2K21 Career Mode: How to Get Sponsors With Contract Offers
2023 Barracuda Championship final results: Prize money payout, leaderboard and how much each
PGA Tour 2K21 Career Mode: How to Get Sponsors With Contract Offers

COMMENTS

PGA Tour maintains sponsor roster of 52 brands, its largest on record
The PGA Tour renewed or extended 20 deals (including title sponsors) over the past 13 months, according to Brian Oliver, the Tour's EVP/corporate partnerships. The 2023 season has three new partners in Pacific Life (life insurance), Bushmills (whiskey) and Discover South Carolina (tourism). FedEx is the tour's longest-tenured sponsor.
Top 25 PGA Tour Sponsors
Top 25 PGA Tour Sponsors. BY Adam Beach. Jun 18th 2008. Read all comments. 1. If you ever wondered what company sponsors the most golfers on tour then this list is for you. We have put together a list of the Top 25 Company Sponsors. A few surprises on the list are: #13 Ben Hogan, #17 Fidra Golf, #22 Southwest Greens. Rank.
PGATOUR.COM
As part of the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10, a $10 million bonus is shared among the top 10 finishers. ... The firm is an Official Marketing Partner of the PGA TOUR and sponsors The Grant Thornton ...
Highest-Paid Golfers 2021: Sponsors Drive Woods, Mickelson and McIlroy
The PGA Tour will dole out more […] Skip to Navigation ... Golf's top 10 earners made an estimated $300 million over the last 12 months, and only 29% was from prize money. ... Sponsorship ...
PGA TOUR Partners
Our Partners share a tradition of excellence. As one of the most recognized and trusted brands in professional sports, the PGA TOUR prides itself on delivering superlative quality and integrity in everything we do. From creating exciting fan experiences during competition by the best players in the world and helping to perpetuate the rich ...
Top Brands on Tour
Top Golf Club Brands on PGA Tour. Club and equipment brands played by the top players on Tour Top Brands For Each Equipment Type. Top Driver Brands on Tour; Brand # of Players; Titleist: 50: PING: 31: Callaway: 28: TaylorMade: 25: Srixon: 5: See all Drivers on Tour >> Top Iron Brands on Tour; Brand # of Players; Titleist: 79: Callaway: 42: PING ...
SBJ Unpacks: PGA Tour maintains its deepest sponsor roster
The PGA Tour renewed or extended 20 deals (including title sponsors) over the past 13 months, according to Brian Oliver, the Tour's EVP/corporate partnerships. The 2023 season has three new partners in Pacific Life (life insurance), Bushmills (whiskey) and Discover South Carolina (tourism). FedEx is the tour's longest-tenured sponsor.
Highest-Paid Golfers 2021: Sponsors Drive Woods, Mickelson and McIlroy
Woods scored the highest on the Tour's algorithm during 2019, followed by Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler. Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Justin Rose and Adam Scott round out the top 10. The payouts for the top performer in 2021 will be $8 million, with $6 million for the runner-up and the next ...
About Us
The 2024 PGA TOUR Season marks the 18th edition of the season-long race for the FedExCup and a return to a calendar-year schedule. Contested from January to August, the 2024 FedExCup Regular ...
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Travelers extends title sponsorship of PGA TOUR event through 2030
Extension will make Travelers the tournament's longest-running title sponsor. HARTFORD, Conn. - The Travelers Companies, Inc. and the PGA TOUR today announced that they have reached an ...
Southern Company renews as Proud Partner of the TOUR Championship
Leaderboard Watch + Listen News FedExCup Schedule Players Stats Golfbet Signature Events Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 Aon Better Decisions DP World ... as the three Proud Partners of the PGA TOUR ...
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The PGA Tour and FedEx have one of the longest running corporate sponsorship deals in pro sports. A look back at the history of the format change the Tennessee-based shipping titan ushered in.
Accenture joins the TOUR Championship as a Proud Partner
ATLANTA - The PGA TOUR today announced Accenture as a Proud Partner of the TOUR Championship - joining Coca-Cola and Southern Company - in an agreement that begins with the 2022 tournament and extends through 2027. ... This sponsorship marks continued momentum in Accenture's biggest brand move in a decade with the October 2020 launch of ...
Golf's 50 highest-paid players
Bonus money includes in-season and season-ending performance money (e.g., FedEx Cup, Aon Risk Reward, Comcast Business Tour Top Ten), Player Impact Program awards for 2022 and sign-on payments for ...
BMW PGA Championship Brings Players From PGA Tour, DP World Tour and
(Southern Company, Coca-Cola and Accenture are sponsors of the Tour Championship, not to mention FedEx, who as a season-long sponsor of the PGA Tour contributes a large part of the $18 million ...
PGA Tour season under way with 45 official marketing partners
By Austin Karp 9.22.2021. The PGA Tour started another season last week. and the Tour now has 45 official sponsors/marketing partners. Five sponsors are still in their rookie year in '21 with the PGA Tour -- Amazon Web Services (cloud provider), Maestro Dobel (tequila), Tito's (vodka), TruGreen (lawn care treatment) and Velocity Global ...
PGA of America Partners
The PGA of America is one of the world's largest sports organizations, composed of PGA of America Golf Professionals who work daily to grow interest and participation in the game of golf.
The top 100 players on the PGA Tour, ranked
Age: 25 / OWGR: 362 / '22 FedEx Cup: 111. Cruelly, the former Alabama star was third on the Korn Ferry points list in 2020, but didn't get promoted when the season was extended due to the ...
Comcast Business and PGA TOUR at THE PLAYERS® Championship
In 2021, Comcast Business entered into a relationship with the PGA TOUR to become the Title Sponsor of the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10. The competition celebrates the top performers at the end of the FedExCup Regular Season. For the 2024 season, the total prize money will double to $40 million, rewarding the top finisher with $8 million.
Byron Nelson's title sponsor brings new flavor to local institution
CJ Cup Byron Nelson's title sponsor brings new flavor to a beloved local institution. The media could not be loaded, either because the server or network failed or because the format is not supported. McKINNEY, Texas — K.H. Lee has won twice on the PGA Tour deep in the heart of Texas, but should he ever win the Masters, he has already thought ...
PGA Tour Champions Presidents on Tiger Woods, sponsors and more
January 19, 2024 8:39 am ET. KONA, Hawaii — Miller Brady points out in the distance at the Pacific Ocean as another stunning sunset unfolds and says, "Look, there's a whale spout. It's right in line with that palm tree.". It never gets old for Brady, president of PGA Tour Champions, to start the new season at Four Seasons Hualalai ...
2024 PGA Tour
The top 50 in the previous seasons FedEx Cup standings are eligible for all signature events, along with leading players during the season to date and in recent tournaments, tournament winners, PGA Tour members in the top 30 of the Official World Golf Ranking, and sponsors exemptions. Leading players in the previous season's fall events are ...
TOUR Championship: Sponsors
PGA TOUR. PGA TOUR. Sponsors. Proud Partners. Southern Company. Building the future of energy. Learn How. Coca-Cola. Inspiring moments of optimism and happiness. See How. Accenture. Let there be change.
Pendrith holds nerve to win maiden PGA Tour title
Canadian Taylor Pendrith held his nerve with a birdie at the final hole to win his first PGA Tour title at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas. Pendrith trailed Ben Kohles by one shot approaching the ...
PGA TOUR launches PGA TOUR Enterprises, new program that transforms
PGA TOUR players will have the opportunity to receive over $1.5 billion in immediate and future equity. New enterprise funded through investment partnership with Strategic Sports Group.
Pendrith wins CJ Cup Byron Nelson, his first PGA Tour title
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Taylor Pendrith gets 1st PGA Tour win at Byron Nelson after final-hole
Taiga Semikawa, a 23-year-old from Japan playing on a sponsor exemption, also finished at 18 after a 64. Kris Kim, a 16-year old amateur making his PGA Tour debut, had a rough finish as the youngest to play a final round on tour in 10 years.
How players qualify for 2023's events with elevated purses
No. of players: 120. Eligible players in the 120-player field are: • Winners of The Genesis Invitational in the last five years (2018-2022). • Winners of Masters Tournament, THE PLAYERS ...