2024 Golf Draft Kit: Rookie Watch

2024 Golf Draft Kit: Rookie Watch

This article is part of our Golf Draft Kit series.

A new crop of rookies is ready to join the PGA Tour by virtue of finishing top-25 in either the Korn Ferry Tour regular season or Finals.

Below is a rundown of the first-year Tour players, ranked by 2024 projected earnings.

Golfer2024 ProjectedOutlook
Adrien Dumont de Chassart$2,000,000Almost immediately after posting a T7 individual finish while leading the University of Illinois to the Match Play portion of the 2023 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship alongside fellow PING First-Team All American Tommy Kuhl, Dumont de Chassart found himself hoisting hardware upon the conclusion of his Korn Ferry Tour debut, winning the BMW Charity Pro-Am in a playoff in June. The 23-year-old Belgian advanced to a playoff the very next week at the Kansas Wichita Open before placing T2, and he didn't finish any worse than T10 until his seventh KFT start. He ended the 2023 KFT campaign with a somewhat limited 11-event sample, but he paced the Tour in both scoring average and birdie average, nonetheless. It wouldn't be surprising to hear "ADdC" at the forefront of the eventual 2024 Rookie of the Year conversation.
Pierceson Coody$1,800,000A decorated amateur career preceded the former University of Texas standout's smooth transition to professional golf in 2022, given he's already won thrice through his first 33 Korn Ferry Tour starts. Two of his KFT victories came this past season in 2023, landing atop the podium at both The Panama Championship and the Price Cutter Charity Championship on

A new crop of rookies is ready to join the PGA Tour by virtue of finishing top-25 in either the Korn Ferry Tour regular season or Finals.

Below is a rundown of the first-year Tour players, ranked by 2024 projected earnings.

Golfer2024 ProjectedOutlook
Adrien Dumont de Chassart$2,000,000Almost immediately after posting a T7 individual finish while leading the University of Illinois to the Match Play portion of the 2023 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship alongside fellow PING First-Team All American Tommy Kuhl, Dumont de Chassart found himself hoisting hardware upon the conclusion of his Korn Ferry Tour debut, winning the BMW Charity Pro-Am in a playoff in June. The 23-year-old Belgian advanced to a playoff the very next week at the Kansas Wichita Open before placing T2, and he didn't finish any worse than T10 until his seventh KFT start. He ended the 2023 KFT campaign with a somewhat limited 11-event sample, but he paced the Tour in both scoring average and birdie average, nonetheless. It wouldn't be surprising to hear "ADdC" at the forefront of the eventual 2024 Rookie of the Year conversation.
Pierceson Coody$1,800,000A decorated amateur career preceded the former University of Texas standout's smooth transition to professional golf in 2022, given he's already won thrice through his first 33 Korn Ferry Tour starts. Two of his KFT victories came this past season in 2023, landing atop the podium at both The Panama Championship and the Price Cutter Charity Championship on the way to a final standing of sixth in the points list. Despite cooling off throughout the latter stages of the season with his 2024 PGA Tour card essentially locked up, Coody still finished fourth on the KFT in total driving and sixth in holes per eagle. The nine-percent win rate obviously won't follow him to the next level, but Coody is definitely one of the more intriguing young prospects among this year's class of graduates.
Alejandro Tosti$1,500,000A final-round 62 directed Tosti to a three-stroke win at the Korn Ferry Tour's Pinnacle Bank Championship in August, and he would ultimately finish the 2023 season with 10 top-10s to just four missed cuts across 23 events. Sacrificing precision for power off the tee, Tosti ranked third on the KFT in driving distance, which helped him to a KFT-best 28.81 par-breaker percentage and 24 total eagles. He also made the cut in all three of his appearances at the PGA Tour level this past season, most notably tying for 10th at the Mexico Open. The Argentinian might not factor into shallower season-long formats in 2024, but he profiles as a potential dart throw in daily fantasy contests.
Parker Coody$1,100,000Coody recorded a trio of top-5s during a four-event stretch on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023 from The Ascendant through the Pinnacle Bank Championship, which ultimately allows him to join his twin brother, Pierceson, as a PGA Tour rookie in 2024. Parker ranked 11th on the KFT in both total driving and GIR percentage this past season, guiding him to a 4.51 birdie average. Coody also made the cut at the AT&T Byron Nelson in May, where he fired a final-round 64.
Jake Knapp$1,000,000Knapp managed to finish 13th on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour points list despite ending his campaign without a single top-3 result, but he enjoyed one of the steadier seasons imaginable with just two missed cuts in 22 starts while racking up 15 top-25s and 10 top-10s. The former UCLA Bruin ranked second in driving distance, second in scrambling, fourth in putting average and fifth in total birdies, showcasing quite an impressive all-around game. He's made just four career appearances at the PGA Tour level, but Knapp's KFT metrics should put him on the deep sleeper radar.
Jacob Bridgeman$1,000,000Bridgeman closed out his 2023 KFT campaign with four straight top-20s from the Albertsons Boise Open through the Korn Ferry Tour Championship to solidify a 14th-place finish in the points list, earning a PGA Tour card for the first time at 23 years old. The Clemson University product racked up 14 top-25s and six top-10s on the KFT this past season, while ranking No. 1 in scrambling, second in par-4 scoring and fourth in total birdies. He also made two starts on the PGA Tour, ultimately making the cut at both the Fortinet Championship and The RSM Classic during the 2022 fall series.
Joe Highsmith$900,000A key member of Pepperdine University's NCAA Championship team in 2021, Highsmith earned All-American honors twice before racking up 10 top-25s during his first full Korn Ferry Tour season in 2023. He tied for third at the KFT Championship on the heels of a T2 at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship, and he finished the year ranked third in total driving and ninth in par breakers.
Wilson Furr$900,000Furr's 2023 Korn Ferry Tour campaign was highlighted by a T7-T2 stretch at the HomeTown Lenders Championship and the AdventHealth Championship, but he also racked up six top-25s across his final seven outings, closing with a T6 at the KFT Championship. The 25-year-old University of Alabama product averaged an impressive 320.0 yards off the tee this past season, while also ranking third on the KFT in total eagles.
Rico Hoey$800,000Hoey's maiden Korn Ferry Tour victory arrived not long after he began the 2023 season with top-10 results in half of his first 10 outings, eventually winning the Visit Knoxville Open in late May. The former University of Southern California standout becomes a PGA Tour rookie at 28 years old, and his patience could pay off in a big way if the driver continues to cooperate. He paced the entire KFT in total driving and ranked fourth in par-5 scoring throughout the 2023 campaign, but the putter remains a concern.
Mac Meissner$800,000Meissner, who qualified for the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club this past June, closed out his 2023 Korn Ferry Tour campaign with 17 cuts made across 22 starts. He notched 10 top-25s, including a T2 at the Panama Championship, and he ranked 16th among his peers in GIR percentage.
Norman Xiong$700,000A member of Team USA's loaded 2017 Walker Cup team alongside names such as Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa and Will Zalatoris, Xiong's illustrious amateur career included both a Jack Nicklaus Award and a Haskins Award as the nation's top collegiate golfer in 2018. The former Oregon Duck has since won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour, with his most recent victory coming this past September at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship to surge into the top-30 in the points list late in the 2023 season. However, Xiong ranked just 121st on the KFT in GiR percentage and 111th in par-4 scoring average.
Patrick Fishburn$600,000Fishburn becomes a PGA Tour rookie at 31 years of age after posting 10 top-25s on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023, including a runner-up effort at the NV5 Invitational. He paced the entire KFT in GIR percentage this past season, guiding him to the sixth-best scoring average.
Tom Whitney$600,000Whitney began his 2023 Korn Ferry Tour campaign with top-6 results in three of his first seven starts, and he would finish the season with six total top-10s to land 21st in the points list. The Air Force veteran ranked 10th on the KFT in birdie average, 15th in par-4 scoring and 20th in GIR percentage.
Max Greyserman$500,000The former Duke Blue Devil remains winless through his first 91 career starts on the Korn Ferry Tour dating back to 2019, but he's a first-time PGA Tour card earner after finishing ninth on the KFT points list in 2023, thanks in large part to runner-up efforts at The Ascendant and the Pinnacle Bank Championship. Greyserman ranked top-10 on the KFT in both par-5 scoring and scrambling this past season, making 18 of 24 cuts along the way.
Chandler Phillips$500,000The 5-foot-9 Texas A&M product ranked 118th or worse in total driving and GIR percentage on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023, but he rode a hot putter to the No. 10 spot in the KFT points list, thus becoming a PGA Tour rookie in 2024. Phillips missed more cuts (12) than he made (11) on the KFT this past season, but he also tallied five top-10s and a win at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic.
Kevin Dougherty$500,000Dougherty has appeared in a whoppoing 133 Korn Ferry Tour events since the start of the 2018 season, but he's finally headed to the PGA Tour after notching a pair of top-3 finishes and five top-10s on the KFT in 2023. He's been one of the KFT's longest hitters for years, and that power off the tee helped him rank fourth in eagle rate this past season.
Jimmy Stanger$400,000Stanger, who last appeared in a PGA Tour event at the 2019 Mayakoba Classic, won the Korn Ferry Tour's Compliance Solutions Championship this past June to essentially lock up his card and rookie status for the 2024 season. He recorded only two other top-10 finishes on the KFT during the 2023 season, though he also ranked top-5 in both total driving and par-4 scoring. However, Stanger missed the cut in four of his last six starts, and he placed no better than T30 during this closing stretch from the Utah Championship to the Korn Ferry Tour Championship.
Ryan McCormick$400,000McCormick leaned on a hot putter en route to accumulating the third-most birdies (385) on the Korn Ferry Tour this past season, posting four top-10s and 10 top-25s along the way. He ultimately ranked fifth on the KFT in putts per round (28.54), but McCormick's ball striking is a concern as he ranked 99th in driving accuracy and 120th in GIR percentage.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bryce Danielson
Bryce covers the PGA for RotoWire and provides input on the golf cheat sheet. He also contributes to the coverage for NFL, NBA and other sports.
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