Tiering PGA Tour, LIV Golfers Ages 25 and Under

Given the lack of top-ranked players in the field and a concerted effort by tournament organizers to extend invites to up-and-comers, the John Deere Classic has carved out a neat identity as a showcase for the next generation of potential stars. Last year, Davis Thompson won in dominant fashion. We’ve watched Bryson DeChambeau and Jordan Spieth also win early in their careers. 

Since its both Deere week and a 20-year-old won on the PGA Tour last weekend, I figured it’s a fitting time to update my Top Pro Golfers Ages 25 and Under list. 

A few notes: 

I’ve tiered professional golfers only, not amateurs. Putting expectations on amateur golfers doesn’t feel right. Once you turn pro, fair game. Jackson Koivun is really good though… 

Age is a significant factor in this exercise. Is Aldrich Potgieter (20) playing as well as David Puig (23) right now? No, he isn’t, but being three years younger matters. 

Not too much has changed since I last did this exercise. Aldrich Potgieter, Pierceson Coody, and Chris Gotterup are additions to the board. Good to see a few young players taking jumps in their careers! Davis Thompson turned 26 and graduated from the board. He was the only removal. 

Spare me the Ludvig Aberg blowback. I’m tired of hearing it. He’s been in contention in both Masters he’s played. He won a signature event. Is he playing consistently well right now? No. But he isn’t overhyped. He’s a top-five-in-the-world level talent. 

Nick Dunlap is 21 years old. I am not going to downgrade him from where I had him tiered in January. Dunlap was an incredible amateur and won twice on the PGA Tour last year at age 20. He’s going through some serious struggles right now, but give him some time. Nothing remarkable should be expected in the short term, but he has plenty of time to get back on track. 

Top-seven finishes in three straight Korn Ferry Tour starts. Pierceson Coody is playing some solid golf right now.

Player Spotlight: Aldrich Potgieter

If you asked 1,000 people who watch golf intently to predict every young pro golfer’s career, I suspect 20-year-old Aldrich Potgieter would produce wide-ranging opinions. Some people think he’s going to be a great player; others think he’s a ball speed fraud. 

Last Sunday, Potigeter overpowered Detroit Golf Club en route to his first career PGA Tour win. On the Tour’s two selected measured holes for the week, he averaged 337 yards off the tee, five yards longer than anybody else in the field. Through six months of this PGA Tour season, Potgieter has played 14 tournaments where he has featured in three final groups and missed nine cuts, including MCs in weak fields like Myrtle Beach and Puntacana. 

Potgieter is a high-variance player because he nukes the golf ball. He has the fastest ball speed on Tour by a comfortable margin. When you launch a ball 340 yards through the air, a lot can go right and a lot can go wrong. On the three golf courses in which he’s played in final groupings – Torrey Pines, Vidanta Vallarta, and Detroit Golf Club – not much can go wrong off the tee. You can bomb away without fear of consequence. 

People who have followed me for a while know that I appreciate TPC San Antonio, especially for the off-the-tee challenge it presents. You cannot get away with hitting the ball long and offline in San Antonio. Here are two tee shots Aldrich hit on the par-4 fifth hole at this year’s Valero Texas Open. One drive gained 0.56 strokes on the field and the other lost 0.79 strokes. 

Those are high-variance shots. 

To be clear, variance isn’t inherently a bad thing. In fact, high variance is actually rewarded in professional golf. A win and a missed cut will get you further than two mediocre finishes from the perspective of Tour status, money, FedEx Cup points, Official World Golf Ranking points, etc. Generally speaking, golfers should get more comfortable embracing variance. It has benefits. A downside, though, is more weekends spent on the couch, especially when the other pieces of your game are raw like Potgieter’s are. He needs to improve his skill set to have success at the highest level. His short game is very poor and his distance control with his irons is very inconsistent. 

So what does all of this mean for Potgieter’s future? Well, he’s 20 years old. He has plenty of time to develop. His illustrious amateur career, including a win at The Amateur Championship in 2022, provides reason to believe he can become a great player. The pedigree is strong. I just wouldn’t expect consistent results from Potgieter over the short run, and he may have some issues on demanding golf courses that penalize errant misses. 

As represented in the graphic above, there are other young golfers for whom I have higher expectations than Potgieter, but if he begins showing signs of improvement with iron play and his short game, I don’t think it’s unreasonable for him to start looking more like a top 20 player in the world. 

Reader-Submitted Question

Reader: Do you have any thoughts on the 2026 LIV Golf schedule? 

Answer: Per Josh Carpenter of the Sports Business Journal, the schedule isn’t finalized but will “likely” end up as is displayed above.

My main takeaway is that it’s very difficult to play your best golf with that schedule. The stretch of South Africa (March 20-22) into the Masters (April 9-12) is pretty brutal. Play in South Africa, have two full weeks off, then play arguably the biggest tournament of the year? I understand that some players can add other tournaments like a DP World Tour event to their schedule in between, but that would also add a significant amount of travel. 

One of the PGA Tour’s best-selling points over LIV right now is its schedule. Every golfer likes to prepare for major championships differently. By having a tournament every weekend all year long, the PGA Tour schedule gives players optionality, which enables them to optimize their schedule to bring out their best golf. It’s a huge benefit. 

Overall, I don’t think LIV’s schedule looks that bad. It’s just very difficult to build a global schedule that balances travel with major championship preparation and going to host cities at ideal times of year. Hence why, throughout the history of golf, tournament organizers have struggled to lure top players around the world without appearance fees. Still, if I were a professional golfer prioritizing playing my best golf, I wouldn’t want any part of the LIV schedule. 

Moving forward, I’d be surprised if we see many talented American players aged 25-35 sign with LIV Golf. If you’re young and developing or if you’re over the hill, I can see the appeal of a multi-year guaranteed contract. However, the PGA Tour schedule is much more attractive for the competitive pro, especially if he is based in America. 

A global golf calendar is difficult to execute. 

Ok, that’s all for this week. Have a question you want me to answer next week? Email me at joseph@thefriedegg.com!