There are 27 rookies on the PGA TOUR in 2021-22. 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 15 starts. The Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup and the Olympic Games count as one of the 15. Entering The Genesis Invitational, Cameron Young owned the best finish by a rookie this season – a co-runner-up at the Sanderson Farms Championship. You’re forgiven if you don’t remember. It was the just the second event of the season and the United States still was celebrating its Ryder Cup romp at Whistling Straits. Yes, there was that, but you know the old saying about never remembering who finishes second, well, unless it’s the Ryder Cup. (Sam Burns prevailed at the SFC.) Young went relatively quiet after that podium finish, too. In his next six starts, he cashed four times but only once for a top 25 (T20, Farmers). Furthermore, as the only rookie who recorded multiple top 10s in the fall, Hayden Buckley was the rabbit for the Rookie of the Year award. He also opened with a T12 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, so Buckley’s body of work had overshadowed Young’s close call. Sahith Theegala then elevated into the top spot in the Rookie Ranking with a close call of his own at the WM Phoenix Open, where he finished T3. That was just a week ago, but when you look for him below, you’ll see him slotted second … beneath Young. It was another week to remember, not just for Young but also for golf fans. With a field that the Official World Golf Ranking valued stronger than every tournament that wasn’t a major, a FedExCup Playoffs event, a World Golf Championship and THE PLAYERS Championship in 2021, Young belonged among the stars. Boosted by a tournament-low 62 in the second round, the 24-year-old recorded another co-runner-up finish, this time checking up two strokes short of Joaquin Niemann’s wire-to-wire performance. In addition to pacing all rookies in the FedExCup standings and having the top-two finishes of the season, he also co-leads in top 10s and low-rookie performances. Nine rookies competed at Riviera Country Club last week, including Alex Smalley. He was a last-minute last man in for Matt Fitzpatrick, who withdrew due to an illness. Smalley didn’t waste what always is a bonus for any rookie to crash this elite field. He opened with 69 and finished 72nd (of 75 who survived the cut). Elsewhere, six rookies teed it up at the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. Of the four who made the cut, Justin Lower was best with an eight-way T6. It was the first KFT event of 2022 in which any PGA TOUR rookies played. Typically, only those who have started slow want or need the playing time, but Chad Ramey didn’t balk. While it’s mildly unusual given his current FedExCup position of 121st, he made it count with a T28. As the PGA TOUR crosses the country for the start of the Florida Swing, this will be the first time in FedExCup history that every rookie will have gained entry in the field of The Honda Classic on merit. Because the tournament reserves tee times for only 144, the cutoff to play always has fallen in the graduate reshuffle category. Of the 27 rookies only Theegala is choosing to rest. LOW ROOKIE: Cameron Young, T2. Second time (T2=Sanderson Farms). CAREER-BEST FINISHES (AND TIES): Cameron Young, T2. Second time (T2=Sanderson Farms). * – In the field at The Honda Classic as of Feb. 20. NOTE: A player’s rookie season (“Rookie Year”) is defined as the season in which he becomes a PGA TOUR member (including Special Temporary Members) and plays in 10 or more events as a member or finishes in the Top 125 on the Official FedExCup Points List or qualifies as a Top 125 non-member, whichever occurs first. Further, for purposes of this definition, a new member (including Special Temporary Members) shall not be eligible to be a rookie if he has previously played in more than seven (7) Official PGA TOUR Money events as a professional in any prior season.
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