There are 23 rookies on the PGA TOUR in 2017-18. This feature provides a subjective ranking updated weekly. The Rookie of the Year is voted by PGA TOUR members who make at least 15 starts. SNAPSHOT: The first doubleheader of the 2017-18 didn’t deliver any fireworks for the rookie class, but it could be one of those moments in time to which a couple of guys might reference later as a launch pad for the season. The World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions has been contributing to the FedExCup since the first wraparound season in 2013-14, but no rookies qualified for the first two editions. In the last three, 12 have competed at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, none faring better than Peter Uihlein on Sunday. His T5 is the first top 10 among rookies. That set includes non-members who were officially designated as rookies later in the same season. Contested concurrently at the Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi, the Sanderson Farms Championship crowned the first breakthrough champion of the season in Ryan Armour. He was a PGA TOUR rookie in 2007 when Brandt Snedeker captured the Rookie of the Year award. Twenty rookies at the first additional event of the season were paced by Ben Silverman. He tied for seventh, 10 strokes back of the winner. It’s the worst low-rookie result in the tournament since it was slotted into the fall portion of the schedule in 2015. Conrad Shindler was one of five to share the lead with an opening 66, but he scored 75-75-73 the rest of the way and finished T59. In his first-ever TOUR-sanctioned start, non-member Scott Strohmeyer was one of three to tie for fourth place at the SFC. With the equivalent of 68.333 FedExCup points in his bank, he’ll head to this week’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open atop the ranking for non-members who have yet to exhaust rookie eligibility. Daisuke Kataoka, who placed T15 at the WGC-HSBC, slots second on the list with 55.200 points.* – In the field at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions as of Oct. 22. LOW ROOKIE — WGC-HSBC Champions: Peter Uihlein (T5). Second time (T10, CIMB). LOW ROOKIE — Sanderson Farms: Ben Silverman (T7). First Time. CAREER-BEST FINISHES (AND TIES) — WGC-HSBC Champions: None. CAREER-BEST FINISHES (AND TIES) — Sanderson Farms: Ben Silverman (T7), Tom Lovelady (T18), Talor Gooch (T30), Ethan Tracy (T30), Adam Schenk (T43), Conrad Shindler (T59). * – In the field at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open as of Oct. 29. Through the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and Sanderson Farms Championship 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, the Top 125 on the Official PGA TOUR Money List or qualifies as a Top 125 – Nonmember, whichever occurs first. Further, for purposes of this definition, a new member (including Special Temporary Members) shall not be eligible for the PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year 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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