2021-22 Rookie Ranking

There are 28 rookies on the PGA TOUR in 2021-22. This page provides a subjective ranking updated weekly. The Arnold Palmer Award winner is determined in a vote by PGA TOUR members who make at least 15 starts. The Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup and the Olympic Games count as one of the 15.

With the finalists for the Arnold Palmer Award for the 2021-22 PGA TOUR season due to be released on Monday, the next class of hopefuls to be the 2022-23 Rookie of the Year was determined on Sunday at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance.

Justin Suh captured victory by two strokes at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Indiana. He’ll be a first-time PGA TOUR member in 2022-23, but he won’t be rookie (explained below).

Officially, 12 of the 25 graduates of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals will be rookies. Adding to the 16 who finished among the top 25 in KFT Eligibility Points during the regular season, the class will be 28 strong. Coincidentally, the closing class of 2021-22 also totaled 28, with Tom Kim as the only midseason addition via his victory at the Wyndham Championship.

Fully exempt status north of the KFT reshuffle category is reserved for the leader in KFT Finals points and the leader of combined points of the KFT regular season and the Finals. Suh swept both, and there were no three-time winners on the KFT in 2022, so he will be positioned alone in his category.

Suh also earned the traditional exemption into THE PLAYERS Championship in 2023, and as announced at the top of year, Suh will receive the inaugural exemption into the 2023 U.S. Open for leading the combined points list.

Below are the incoming PGA TOUR rookies grouped by how they graduated from the KFT. They are listed alphabetically.

KFT REGULAR SEASON

Tyson Alexander
Erik Barnes
Trevor Cone
Harrison Endycott
Ben Griffin
Harry Hall
Seonghyeon Kim
Brandon Matthews
Taylor Montgomery
Vincent Norrman
Augusto Núñez
Kevin Roy
Davis Thompson
Trevor Werbylo
Kevin Yu
Carl Yuan

KFT FINALS

Dean Burmester
Eric Cole
Thomas Detry
Nicolas Echavarria
Austin Eckroat
Tano Goya
Brent Grant
Philip Knowles
Matti Schmid
Sam Stevens
Kyle Westmoreland
Carson Young

Suh and MJ Daffue will be first-time PGA TOUR members in 2022-23, but they will not be members of the rookie class of 28 because each exceeded seven TOUR starts during the 2020-21 season. Both earned the TOUR cards via the regular season on the KFT.

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 or qualifies as a Top 125 non-member, whichever occurs first. Further, for purposes of this definition, a new member (including Special Temporary Members) shall not be eligible to be a rookie if he has previously played in more than seven (7) Official PGA TOUR Money events as a professional in any prior season.