Take a look at the age of some of this year’s youngest PGA Tour winners:
PLAYER AGE TOURNAMENT WON Sean O’Hair 26 PODS Championship Andres Romero 27 Zurich Classic Trevor Immelman 29 The Masters Adam Scott 28 Byron Nelson Championship Anthony Kim 22 Wachovia Championship Sergio Garcia 28 THE PLAYERS Championship
The PGATour.com website lists Trevor, Kim and Garcia as recent youthful winners and then asks who is next. Once Tiger Woods returns, I think we’ll see a solid second half of the season from him. Tiger isn’t the young-gun on tour anymore. At 32 years old, he’s coming into what is typically considered the prime golfing years. We may be seeing a trend towards younger dominance on the PGA Tour. A player’s mid-20s may be the new mid-30s.
Next Young-Gun to Win?
Hunter Mahan, 26 years old, played well last year, winning once and having a successful showing at the Presidents Cup in Canada. He has made nine of fourteen cuts and finished in the top-ten twice this season. He almost seems too low-key to be a serious contender every week he plays. I’m not sure what to think really.
Colt Knost rocked the Amateur circuit last summer and just got his first win on the Nationwide Tour in last week’s Fort Knox Classic in Arkansas. I think we’ll see him soon on the PGA Tour.
I could always pick myself, but my 20s are flying by. At nearly-27, I’ve only got three full years remaining to get my game in shape for the PGA Tour, qualify, and get that elusive first win.
Oh, one can dream!