Justin Golba

Another amateur will win on Tour this year. More sponsor exemptions are being handed out, the talent pool is only growing, and college golfers are more ready than ever to compete immediately.

Sean Melia

On the heels of the big Blades Brown news, I’m going to get a little nuts here. Blades Brown will earn his PGA Tour Card this year for the 2026 year. Akshay Bhatia is the last amateur to become a professional at a young age. He was 17 in 2019 and played in the Sanderson. It took until a runner-up finish in the Puerto Rico Open in 2023 to earn Special Temporary Membership on the PGA Tour, allowing him to accept unlimited sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the season. Then, he won the Barracuda Championship in July 2023 to lock up his PGA Tour Card. 

Brown is incredibly talented and should be able to nearly max out his PGA Tour sponsors exemptions due to his SportFive Management connections. There are a handful of opportunities for him to earn status between Korn Ferry and also Q-School. He has the game to even snatch a win in an opposite-field event, considering SportFive runs a few of them. The Puerto Rico Open, Myrtle Beach Classic and the ISCO Championship could be incredible weeks for the 17-year-old.

Cameron Spraggins

The future of golf is getting younger—and 2025 will prove it.

More players than ever before will make the leap from college golf directly to the PGA Tour, setting a new standard for what it means to transition into the professional ranks. With the PGA Tour Accelerated program and PGA Tour University paving the way, young players have never had a clearer pathway to the sport’s highest level.

Take Gordon Sargent, for example. The Vanderbilt star has already secured his PGA Tour card through the Accelerated program and no college golf to return to. Meanwhile, Luke Clanton and Jackson Koivun are knocking on the door of the Accelerated threshold, each needing just three more points. Both players are strong candidates to earn their cards in 2025 and begin competing on Tour before the year’s end.

Adding to this youth movement, the 2025 PGA Tour University winner—currently led by North Carolina’s David Ford—is another likely addition to the PGA Tour lineup. With clearer pathways and greater opportunities, 2025 will prove that today’s top players are more prepared than ever for the professional ranks.

Amit Pandey

I’m excited about the potential for the Golf Creator Classic to become a regular event with PGA Tour backing. While the creators have spent years building strong connections with their audiences, I genuinely believe Bryson DeChambeau might be the driving force behind bringing YouTube golf into the spotlight and helping it find its place in the mainstream.

I’d love to see an Indian golfer secure a victory—whether it’s Rayhan Thomas on the Korn Ferry Tour or Avani Prashanth on the Ladies European Tour. The last, and so far only, Indian to win on the PGA Tour is Arjun Atwal, who famously came through the Monday qualifier at the Wyndham Championship and triumphed after 72 intense holes to claim the title in 2010.