2019-20 Rookie Rankings

Note: There are 21 rookies and one rookie-eligible Special Temporary Member on the PGA TOUR in 2019-20. This page provides a subjective ranking updated weekly. The Arnold Palmer Award winner is determined in a vote by PGA TOUR members who make at least 10 starts. The Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup and the Olympic Games count as one of the 15.

If you ever needed proof to explain how minute the difference of talent is across two rounds of a PGA TOUR event, whip out the results of the 2020 3M Open.

Many of the most notable struggled. After Dustin Johnson withdrew one round in with a sore back, Brooks Koepka, Tommy Fleetwood, Paul Casey, Bubba Watson, Lucas Glover and Charley Hoffman all missed the cut at TPC Twin Cities. While that kind of thing happens every week, consider that five rookies who ranked outside the top 185 in the FedExCup made the cut. That kind of thing doesn’t happen every week.

Of the 17 rookies in the field, including Special Temporary Member Will Gordon, who missed the cut, only six made it to the weekend. They were led by Bo Hoag, who was coming off a mildly successful career/life achievement for making the cut at his hometown Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Hoag started the week in Minnesota at 131st in the FedExCup. Now he’s on the inside range to qualify for the Playoffs.

The inaugural 3M Open was much kinder to its 22 rookies in play. Matthew Wolff secured membership and established himself as a rookie with victory in 2019. Of the 13 in all who made the cut, eventual rookie Collin Morikawa (T2), Wyndham Clark (T5), Joey Garber (T7), Sungjae Im (T15), Adam Svensson (T15) and Chase Wright (T23) posted top 25s. This year’s runner-up, Adam Long, missed the cut by four as a rookie last year.

Tom Lewis is among those enduring a tough 2019-20, but a T32 at the 3M Open lifted the Englishman a modest seven spots in the FedExCup. While he still has quite of bit of work left in very little time to participate in the Playoffs, he did pass a checkpoint of sorts when he struck his tee ball on the par-4 first hole to begin his opening round at TPC Twin Cities. It officially signified that he had made his eighth start of 2019-20. That means that he cannot qualify as a rookie in a future season.

Loyal readers of this weekly recap may remember in June when I wrote that the PGA TOUR is unsure how it will handle the Rookie of the Year race in 2020-21 and if there even will be voting for the Arnold Palmer Award. Since all job are secure next season and, because only Lewis hadn’t eclipsed seven starts at the time of the hiatus, only he could have retained rookie eligibility. Like Gordon qualifying as a rookie this season, non-members still could qualify in 2020-21, but most seasons have only one or two who become eligible.

Speaking of Gordon, he was among the victims at the 3M Open, but he remains safe to earn fully exempt status for the 2020-21 season.

Fellow non-member Erik van Rooyen also missed the cut to drop to 4-for-9 on the season. He slipped to 115th among members with his equivalent of 258.962 FedExCup points. Until he’s no longer on the top-125 bubble, he will remain omitted from the table below. Barring a withdrawal or disqualification, the South African is guaranteed to pad his total at this week’s World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational because there is no cut in the tournament. He’ll follow with an appearance at the PGA Championship.

LOW ROOKIE: Bo Hoag, T12. Second time (previous: T9=Sony).
CAREER-BEST FINISHES (AND TIES): None.

* – In the field at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational as of July 26.
# – In the field at the Barracuda Championship as of July 26.
^ – Will Gordon has Special Temporary Membership but is ineligible for the FedExCup Playoffs unless he wins a tournament. He will qualify as a rookie once he totals 10 starts or finishes inside the top 125 of the FedExCup with his non-member equivalent of points. The value in parentheses in the FedExCup Rank column reflects where he would rank among members.