The 2024 golf season is kicking into high gear, and fans will have their eyes on various golfers. Whether you are a fan of the Professional Golfers’ Association or the new LIV Golf Tour, there are more exciting players in the sport than ever. Today, let’s look at five players that will impact the 2024 season, specifically on the PGA Tour.
Viktor Hovland
For serious golf fans, Hovland is already a household name. However, despite great success last season and ending the season as the 4th ranked player on the tour, he still lacks what will make him an elite player: His first major championship. Among players without a major, Hovland entered last season among the BetMGM Sportsbook favorites to win his first. He came close but couldn’t quite get there, tying for 2nd place at the PGA Championship and finishing in the top 20 of every major.
Hovland showed dramatic improvements on the greens last season and is poised to take home a major championship in 2024. Further, at just 26, Hovland is a player who could quickly become one of the faces of golf in a contentious time for the sport. He has committed to the PGA Tour and could help the tour rebuild in the face of the LIV Golf controversy. If he finally gets that first major championship, he will be the first Norwegian golfer to win a major. Keep an eye on Hovland, not only to win a major championship but to be the world’s #1 ranked golfer by the end of the season.
Ludvig Aberg
At just 24, Ludvig Aberg has been a phenomenon for some time. Ranked as the top golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for nearly eight months before turning professional in 2023, Aberg already has a PGA Tour and European Tour. Where Hovland has slowly been building towards a significant championship, Aberg is the type of talent that could win a major championship in his first appearance without surprising anybody. He is set to make his major debut this year and could, without question, be in contention come Sunday.
Does this sound too optimistic for Aberg? Consider that the Swede became the first player ever to be selected for the Ryder Cup before participating in his first major championship and just the second to make a Ryder Cup team the same year he turned professional. He won his first PGA Tour tournament in record-setting fashion a month later. After recording back-to-back rounds of 61, he finished the weekend with a 72-hole-score of 253, tying the PGA Tour scoring record held by Justin Thomas. It might take Aberg some time to become a superstar, but it’s just as likely that he will be a superstar from the jump.
Pierceson and Parker Coody
If you are doing the math at home, there are six golfers to watch on this list. But how could we not include the first set of twins to hold PGA Tour membership in over 40 years as a pair? Pierceson and Parker Coody finished ranked #6 and #25 on the Korn Ferry Tour, respectively, after the former Texas Longhorns won the 2022 Division I NCAA Team Champions.
Pierceson was the top college prospect in 2022, holding the #1 PGA Tour University rankings. Parker has a different notoriety, but both come from pristine golf lineage. Their grandfather, Charles Coody, won the 1971 Masters, defeating Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller. Keep an eye on the twins this upcoming season.
Xander Schauffele
At 30 years old, Xander Schauffele is the oldest player on our list. A seven-time PGA Tour winner, the American is chasing his first major tournament win alongside Hovland. However, he has had a ton of success at those tournaments. He has 11 top-10 finishes at major tournaments and put together a 62 opening round at the U.S. Open that saw him in a tie for the lead on day one. However, he struggled down the stretch and couldn’t bring home his first major championship. That top-10 finish was his sixth career top-10 finish in only seven U.S. Open appearances. Few players have performed better at major championships and have nothing to show for it than Schauffele. Expect him to give them another run for their money in 2024.
Cameron Young
This former PGA Tour Rookie of the Year entered 2023 with sky-high expectations, but the results landed flat. Young was left off the Ryder Cup team and is still looking for his first PGA Tour win. While he played well at times, finishing the season with top-10 finishes at the Masters and Open Championships, his lack of winning made last season a bit of a disappointment. In 2024, 26-year-old former Wake Forest Demon Deacon should have a chip on his shoulder and make waves on the tour.
Who Didn’t Make The List?
Each player listed enters the season with expectations or hype that aren’t matched by many. However, other great players are to watch for, including established winners like Scott Scheffler and Rory Mcllroy and up-and-comers like Justin Suh and Ryo Hisatsune. Stars are all over the tour this season, so you will want to attend all of the action.
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The funny thing about Xander is every year we say the same thing, it’s Xander’s year, his play’s looking up, he keeps getting top 10s, etc., etc. But, just like Tommy Fleetwood or Tyrell Hatton, or even Rory if you want to group him with them, he never wins anything of consequence. It’s an unfortunate part of professional golf that winning is so sparse, difficult, and yet so important all at the same time, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen. That’s the case for Xander. As for Ludvig, I think he may be a little overhyped, but he is just so good off the tee that his standard of play is going to be high no matter what, it’ll be interesting to see how his anecdotal weakness of his approach game fared for the duration of a full season.