The future of golf: Up and coming golf players to look out for

Although it is often the players with slightly more experience under their belt that tend to perform the best in the major golf tournaments, one of the things that makes pro-golf tours so exciting to watch is the rookie players that come seemingly from nowhere only to storm to the top of the rankings. For those of you looking to lock in the best golf odds in particular, these rookie players are particularly exciting as they often offer you the opportunity to win a wild card bet.

With that said, the inclusion of rookie players in major tours such as the PGA helps to keep the sport fresh and exciting and distinguishes it from other professional sports tournaments where the same few teams battle it out year after year.

Out of the many rookie players just making a name for themselves on the professional circuit this year, who are the best ones to look out for?

Cameron Young

Hailing from Scarborough, New York, Cameron Young is an American professional golfer who has already achieved considerable success in his short career so far. Cameron turned professional in 2019 following a collegiate stint at Wake Forest University. He has scored three professional wins since then and has featured on both the Korn Ferry Tour and the PGA Tour. Following a string of strong performances, Young was selected as a player on the US team in the 2022 Presidents Cup.

Davis Riley

Born in Mississippi, Davis Riley had a blazing career as a youth player. This included winning the Mississippi state title for four straight years, being named the All-USA Boys Golf Player of the Year by USA Today and making the final of the US Junior Amateur for two years in a row. Following this, Riley enrolled at the University of Alabama, where he secured a ranking as the best collegiate player in the country. Riley turned professional in 2019 and has already gone on to achieve considerable success so far. He joined the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020, earning his first win at the Pana Championship and a second at the TPC San Antonio Championship. He finished the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour in ninth place, which earned him a PGA Tour card.

Dean Burmester

Although he has been mixing in the pro-circles for some time already, Burmester has been putting in some solid performances over the last couple of years, which has raised his profile among pro-Tour watchers. Born in Zimbabwe but now representing South Africa, Burmester has already featured on the PGA Tour, European Tour and Sunshine Tour. He has won nine OWGR-sanctioned events, which has helped boost him to a ranking of 64th as of 2022.

Kyle Westmoreland

As the first United States Air Force Academy graduate to earn a PGA Tour card, there is understandably a lot of hype already beginning to build around this 30-year-old player. Westmoreland has already put in a string of notable performances in his short career so far. This includes carding a T9 at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, scoring a birdie on the Korn Ferry Tour Championship and five wins while still a serving member of the Air Force. Although he hasn’t had any major wins just yet, there is already a lot of hype building behind him. 

Austin Eckroat

Another player being closely watched by golfing fans is Austin Eckroat, a 23-year-old Oklahoman. Following a glittering career at Oklahoma State — where he made the second team all-American — Eckroat managed to score two T23 and two T25 finishes to earn a PGA TOUR card. His finishes in the 2022-23 season include a 64th place finish in the Fortinet Championship as well as a 48th place finish in the Sanderson Farms Championship. Not bad for a 23-year-old!

Sahith Theegala

Born in Orange, California, Sahith Theegala was a three-time NCAA All-American at Pepperdine University. In 2020, Theegala won the Haskins Award, the Ben Hogan Award and the Jack Nicklaus Award, being only the fifth person in history to win all three in the same year. Although his collegiate career was cut short by the Covid-19 Pandemic, this does not appear to have held back his burgeoning professional career. Theegala got started as a professional in 2020 and has been working hard to build momentum. He had a few PGA Tour outings in 2020-21 and earned a PGA Tour Card for 2021-22 following a number of top-10 finishes during the Korn Ferry Tour finals. Most notably, Theegala secured a first top-10 finish at the Fortinet Championship in September 2022, which has easily put his name in contention as one of the top new golfers to watch!