After taking a nearly two-month holiday hiatus, the PGA Tour will return to action the first week of January with the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.
The last time we saw the boys in action, Adam Svensson earned his first win on Tour at the RSM Classic in November. Tom Kim earned his second career win a month before at the Shriners Children’s Open.
There were 12 first-time winners on Tour in 2022. Golfweek predicted two of them, while four won on other tours. So who do we have our eyes on for next year? From veterans to rising stars from the amateur ranks, here are 10 players who we predict will hoist a trophy on Tour for the first time in 2023.
Cameron Young
Young is in a similar spot as his good friend Will Zalatoris was when I picked him last year: it wasn’t a matter of if Zalatoris was going to win on Tour, but when. Same for Young. The 25-year-old finished runner-up on five different occasions last year, including in consecutive weeks at the Open Championship and Rocket Mortgage Classic. He also finished T-3 at the PGA Championship.
He doesn’t shy from the big moments, so don’t be surprised if he takes home a few trophies in the new year.
Sahith Theegala
Theegala is a return selection for this year and for good reason. So far this season he’s finished T-5 at the Zozo Championship and T-2 at the RSM Classic in his last start before the break. He also won the QBE Shootout earlier this month, an unofficial event, alongside partner Tom Hoge. The 24-year-old advanced to the Tour Championship last season and earned three top-five finishes, including a T-2 at the Travelers. Watch Theegala for three holes and you’ll see he has the distance and short game to compete with the game’s best. All he has to do now is close one out.
Harry Higgs
I begged the golf gods to make this happen for 2022, and I’m doing so again for 2023. The 31-year-old is a growing fan favorite on Tour and a Higgs victory celebration is something the fans deserve.
Kurt Kitayama
This year could be Kitayama’s coming out party. The 29-year-old has won professionally twice on the European Tour in 2018 and 2019 but just hasn’t broken through on the PGA Tour yet. That said, he has been close. Last season he finished runner-up twice and third once and recently finished runner-up at the CJ Cup in October.
Maverick McNealy
Bringing back another from last year’s list because McNealy is too talented to not win, simple as that. After tying Tiger Woods and Patrick Rodgers for most wins in Stanford history with 11, success at the next level has been few and far between (with a lot of missed cuts in the middle). This season, McNealy has four top-20 finishes in six early starts. If he keeps this form up, a win may be on the horizon.
Tommy Fleetwood
Fleetwood’s due for a win on the PGA Tour, right? He finished T-4 in October at the CJ Cup and won his sixth DP World Tour title in November. Don’t be shocked if Fleetwood’s picks up his first win on Tour to make his case for the European Ryder Cup team.
Davis Riley
A two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner in 2020, Riley came close to nabbing his first victory on the PGA Tour earlier this year at the Valspar Championship, where he lost to Sam Burns on the second playoff hole. He earned additional top-five finishes last season at the Charles Schwab Challenge and in consecutive starts at the Mexico Open and Zurich Classic of New Orleans. This season, however, has been a mixed bag of results. The 25-year-old has made the cut in six of his seven starts, but has earned just two top-25 finishes.
Thomas Detry
Detry hasn’t missed a cut in his first five starts of the new season and has logged a pair of top-10 finishes, including a runner-up showing at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. He didn’t miss a cut in five Tour starts last season, either. He’s a consistent player, and that kind of game travels. Mix in a couple low rounds and that’s the recipe for a win.
Ludvig Aberg
The player who finishes atop the PGA Tour University rankings will earn a Tour card for the rest of the season, and right now that’s Aberg. The 23-year-old Swede has been a star for Texas Tech over the last few years and won the 2022 Ben Hogan Award as the nation’s top college player. He might not start his career with a win as early as the likes of Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff, but he’s certainly good enough to win.
Austin Greaser
No. 2 in the PGA Tour U ranking is Greaser, the 2021 U.S. Amateur runner-up and leader of the North Carolina Tar Heels, who were quarterfinalists at last year’s NCAA Championship. He made the cut at the 2022 U.S. Open and can keep up with the professionals in the distance and competitive departments. Give him a chance at the next level, and he’ll be in the mix.
