This Season’s Most Surprising Golfers On The PGA Tour

This season hasn’t been without its share of drama and controversy for the PGA Tour. While LIV Golf has been an unwelcomed surprise for Jay Monahan & Co., each week has provided us with some great battles, disappointing finishes, and exciting victories.

The World’s best players continue to dominate fields, and win some majors along the way. Golfers like Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, and Patrick Cantlay have all picked up where they left off in 2021, all remaining in the top-10 in the FedEx Cup Standings, exactly where they finished last season.

But what’s so enjoyable about this Tour is that we’re introduced to a new group of talented players, taking that next step into stardom.

With that being said, let’s look at 3 golfers that are surprising the golf world with their performance this season so far:

The PGA Tour’s Most Surprising Players This Season

Max Homa

Homa, the 31-year-old American, has shown vast improvement this season, displaying his consistent play and ability to compete on the big stage.

The World No. 28 is currently ranked 6th in the current FedEx Cup Standings, thanks to his 2 victories at the Wells Fargo Championship and Fortinet Championship this season.

Last season, Homa finished 35th in the FedEx Cup Standings with 1 victory, so his improvement is notable. There’s nothing too flashy with his game, but he excels in his ability to shoot consistently low (13th in Strokes Gained Total), so watch for him to continue this upward trajectory.

Sam Burns

Burns may have made the biggest jump out of the three, currently ranked 2nd in the FedEx Cup Standings behind fellow American Scottie Scheffler. A big jump from his 18th place finish last season.

The World No. 9 has been electric this season, showing his fiery and competitive personality each time he competes on Sundays. He has 3 victories to show for it already this season, most recently at last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge in a playoff win over, guess who, Scottie Scheffler.

Ranked 8th in Strokes Gained Total and 10th in Scoring Average, his game has improved tremendously and he has certainly cemented himself as one of the best in the world right now.

Will Zalatoris

Zalatoris, the young American, simply loves to compete on Sundays. The World No. 14 has yet to win this season, but he already has 6 top-10 finishes and 8 top-25 finishes, good for 4th and 8th on Tour respectively.

This has led to him climbing to 13th in the FedEx Cup Standings so far, a big improvement from last season when he wasn’t even able to rank.

For a smaller guy, Zalatoris can pound the ball, he ranks 17th on Tour in Driving Distance, which in turn helps him lead the Tour in Strokes Gained Tee to Green (1.748).

Two seasons ago no one knew who Zalatoris was, but now he seems to find himself on our television each week with crazy shots and impressive finishes. The future seems very bright for the young 25-year-old.

It’s clear that we are watching a wave of talented young golfers entering the PGA Tour and immediately dominating.

While guys like Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland were expected, these other three have also made headlines with their determination and exceptional play.

As the season continues, watch for these golfers to continue to compete amongst the best as we inch closer to the FedEx Cup playoffs.