When Ludvig Aberg and Michael Thorbjornsen tee off in the final twosome Sunday at the Players Championship, they will share something in common—and it’s not just that they both chose Ponte Vedra Beach to be their home upon turning professional. Aberg and Thorbjornsen were the top graduates from the PGA Tour University program in 2023 and 2024, earning tour cards straight out of college (Texas Tech and Stanford, respectively) and giving them a solid foundation on which to begin their professional careers.
Coincidence? Perhaps. More likely, however, it’s a sign of validation for the six-year-old program that aims to provide pathways for successful college players while also rewarding those who remained in school (only college golfers in their fourth year of school are eligible for the benefits of the program each year.)
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Prior to the program’s inception in 2020-21, college coaches and players had lamented that unlike professional team sports, where top talent is drafted into the highest level of play, All-American golfers all essentially had to start over again upon turning pro, needing to reestablish their bona vides before being able to compete on the PGA Tour. In some cases, the road to success was quick and painless; in 2019, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff all earned PGA Tour membership less than a year after leaving school.
But for others, it was bumpier. Enter Brendan Von Doehren, a former college golf coach and senior director at the PGA Tour. In consultation with college coaches and tour officials, Von Doehren got the conversation going on a plan back in 2017, with much discussion centered around how to build the proper ranking to fairly identify and reward the top players. The tour ultimately chose a variation of the World Amateur Golf Ranking that includes only college events from the previous two years as well as PGA Tour starts, including majors.
Florida State’s John Pak finished first in the inaugural year of the program in 2021, with Texas’ Pierceson Coody coming out on top in 2022.
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The boost for Aberg in winning the top honor 2023 proved beneficial quickly when he went out and won the RSM Classic title that fall. The 26-year-old Swede added a second title the 2025 Genesis Invitational and twice played for the victorious European Ryder Cup teams.
Thorbjornsen, 24, has yet to claim a PGA Tour title, but he’s had two runners-up, two third and 10 top-10s in 43 PGA Tour starts as a pro. This despite also dealing with back issues in 2024 that kept his progress slow but steady. If not for knowing he had his tour card already secured, Thorbjornsen might have tried playing through the injury and potentially delaying his recovery.
“Hopefully,” Von Doehren noted back in 2020, “we have a class and the first few classes here where we see these guys take these opportunities and really push them forward.”
He was impressively prescient.
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The current PGA Tour U. program has expanded from the original format. The No. 1 ranked player at the end of the college season gets his PGA Tour for the remainder of the year and into the next season. Nos. 2-10 earn immediate Korn Ferry Tour membership, while Nos. 11-25 earn PGA Tour Americas membership.
There’s also been the addition in November 2022 of PGA Tour Accelerated, an avenue where top amateurs at any level of college can earn PGA Tour membership through a series of top finishes in college and pro events. Gordon Sargent and Luke Clanton are currently on tour thanks to that program, with Auburn’s Jackson Koivun, the No. 1 ranked amateur in the world, set to join the tour at the end of the spring season with the Tigers.
As new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp works in conjunction with the tour’s Future Competition Committee on a plan to overhaul the competitive structure of the PGA Tour moving forward, keeping open a direct path from college to the tour would seem to be a smart decision. The ability for new, fresh talent to earn their way on to the tour and make a name for themselves quickly can only benefit the overall health of the tour, which Rolapp has signaled as his top priority.
Should either Aberg or Thorbjornsen hold the golden boy trophy on Sunday after the final round, it will certainly validate the program’s creation. Even if they don’t, it’s hard to argue that the program hasn’t been successful in giving deserving talent a chance to shine.
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