The Five: Which top young players are primed for first PGA Tour win in FedExCup Fall?

The Bank of Utah Championship has something in common with its winners: They’re all young and inexperienced. Still in its infancy, the tournament is entering its third year on the PGA Tour schedule.

Two isn’t enough to make it a trend, but so far the championship has identified a pair of young, enthralling talents. Matt McCarty won in 2024, fresh off a Three-Victory Promotion from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour. Then Michael Brennan, 23, won it in 2025 while still a PGA Tour Americas winner.

Will that trend continue this year? A myriad of young players in the field at Black Desert Resort are in good form and could make this phenomenon a full-on trend.

Here are five young players primed to win their first Tour event, whether it’s in Utah this week or at some point during the FedExCup Fall.

Ben James

The most recent PGA Tour University graduate has hit the ground running since turning professional in June. Jackson Koivun has rightly subsumed the spotlight, but James has already had multiple legitimate opportunities to win on Tour. For a young player, that’s all you’re looking for at this stage.

James finished runner-up to Jacob Bridgeman at the Biltmore Championship Asheville, James’ first start since he finished third at the Wyndham Championship right before the FedExCup Playoffs. That’s not the last of his close calls. James finished fourth at the Corales Puntacana Championship and was also in contention after 36 holes of the U.S. Open.

In a limited sample, James has already proven to be an elite tee-to-green player who has also putted well so far. If he qualified for PGA Tour year-long stats, he would be ranked inside the top 10 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green.

That recipe leads to wins. The 23-year-old may get his first quickly.

Johnny Keefer

The reigning Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year and Korn Ferry Tour Rookie of the Year has gone through fits in starts in his first season on the PGA Tour. Keefer missed nine cuts in the regular season and finished outside the top 40 in another seven events.

But the 25-year-old has shown he can contend and win when his game is on form. Keefer tied for third at the Texas Children’s Houston Open and matched that result at the Genesis Scottish Open.

Even through the ups and downs, he’s remained an elite ball-striking talent. He’s top 15 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and top 30 in approach play.

Keefer’s issue is putting, though there’s reason to believe he’s found a fix. Over the first six months of the year, Keefer put together just four weeks of above-average putting. That turned recently. He’s had a positive week of putting in five of his last six events, including a season-best performance in Asheville two weeks ago, leading to a T7 finish.

Keefer’s progression is common. While ball-striking talent often travels from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour, putting on ultra-slick greens with perilously positioned pins takes adjustment. Keefer struggled to adapt at first, and the stats show he’s starting to figure it out.

Rasmus Højgaard

Should playing in a Ryder Cup disqualify you from this exercise? Possibly! Did he make the list anyway? Well, you’re reading this. So, yes.

The 25-year-old Højgaard is still searching for his first Tour win to back up the handful of DP World Tour wins already on his resume. The Black Desert is a prime course fit for Højgaard to nab it.

Both Brennan and McCarty built their games around power. Højgaard has that in spades. The Dane ranks eighth in driving distance on Tour this year, and also ranks inside the top 25 in putting. If Højgaard can keep it between the lava rock in Ivins, he should contend.

Beyond his chances this week, Højgaard is in a tricky position. He begins the week ranked 110th in the FedExCup and needs a fall push if he hopes to maintain full playing opportunities in 2027. His talent is that of a player comfortably inside the top 100, and a recent fourth at the Rocket Classic is a reminder of that.

Kihei Akina

Given that neither McCarty nor Brennan had much Tour experience to speak of, Akina may fit the exercise best.

The 20-year-old is still an amateur, and he’s an elite one. Akina was part of the U.S. Walker Cup Team this fall and ranks ninth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. He won the Phil Mickelson Freshman of the Year award this past spring, given to the top first-year player in college golf.

Akina has dipped his feet into Tour waters before. He made his first Tour start as an 18-year-old at the 2024 Bank of Utah. He missed the cut, but made the cut in his first weekend at the Puerto Rico Open this spring. He tied for 16th. He made the cut in his only other Tour start this year at the Wyndham Championship.

The Utah native may not play another Tour tournament this fall, but he has the game to contend this week at Black Desert.

Neal Shipley

Until the Biltmore Championship, there was little reason to believe Neal Shipley would resurrect a dreadful rookie season. The 25-year-old was one of the most anticipated Korn Ferry Tour graduates but had failed to finish better than 38th in any of his 20 Tour starts during the regular season. He was 183rd in the standings at the start of the fall.

That flipped two weeks ago in Asheville, though. Shipley led for most of the tournament, ultimately finishing third as Bridgeman and James shot dueling 61s to surpass him.

Shipley vaulted to 135th in the standings, a needed bump that still has him well outside the top-100 threshold.

Was it the start of a materially new version of Shipley, or a one-week blip? The former low amateur at the Masters and U.S. Open has displayed the talent to become a PGA Tour winner. Is now the time?