Editor’s note: This article was first posted on X and has been lightly edited for clarity.

The 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season begins this Sunday at The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island. It's the first of 25 events on the Tour across seven countries and 15 states. The top 20 on the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Points List will earn 2027 PGA TOUR membership.

Here's a look at 10 players to watch in the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season.

1. Blades Brown

The youngest 2026 Korn Ferry Tour member at age 18, Brown began 2025 with zero status but finished No. 68 on the season-long standings to secure full status for this year. Brown's mom Rhonda played in the WNBA and hit the league's first three-pointer in 1997. Brown is a Nashville, Tennessee, native and pickleball enthusiast.

2. Mitchell Meissner

After finishing 21st on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List to miss his first PGA TOUR card by one shot, the 29-year-old Meissner eyes redemption in 2026. He swings right-handed but putts left-handed, and his younger brother Mac is a third-year PGA TOUR pro.

3. James Nicholas

The New York native holds full Korn Ferry Tour status for the first time at age 28 after finishing 64th on the 2025 season-long standings. He curates his own YouTube channel (JamesNicholasGolf), and he was a safety on the Yale football team as a college freshman.

4. Barend Botha

The South Africa native held the 54-hole lead at the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Championship but narrowly missed his first PGA TOUR card. Botha, 24, played collegiately at the University of Toledo and won twice in 2024 on PGA TOUR Americas to earn his first Korn Ferry Tour card.

5. Bryson Nimmer

The South Carolina native, 29, earned his first Korn Ferry Tour title at the 2025 Tulum Championship at PGA Riviera Maya. Nimmer played collegiately at Clemson, following in his dad Tony Nimmer's footsteps as a Tiger, and was a baseball pitcher and third baseman as a kid.

6. Justin Hastings

The Cayman Islands native, 22, won the 2025 Latin America Amateur Championship and competed in three majors last season, including a made cut at the U.S. Open. Hastings played collegiately at San Diego State and competed on PGA TOUR Americas last summer after turning pro.

7. Camilo Villegas

The 44-year-old Colombia native is a five-time PGA TOUR winner, including the 2008 TOUR Championship, and has made 442 career TOUR starts. Villegas and his wife Maria founded the Mia's Miracles Foundation to honor their late daughter Mia, who passed away from cancer in 2020 after battling tumors on her brain and spine; the foundation supports children facing medical challenges and their families.

8. Derek Hitchner

The Minnesota native finished sixth on the 2025 PGA TOUR Americas season-long standings to earn his Korn Ferry Tour card after a summer that included frequent Sunday battles with Michael Brennan, who is now a TOUR member after winning the Bank of Utah Championship in October. The Pepperdine alum enjoys ping pong, chess and fly fishing.

9. Julian Suri

The globetrotting Northeast Florida native finished No. 23 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, including a win at the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank and Intermountain Health, to narrowly miss his first PGA TOUR card. Suri, 34, played college golf at Duke and has also won on the DP World Tour and Challenge Tour. He's also a lifelong Jacksonville Jaguars enthusiast.

10. Ian Gilligan

After finishing No. 4 on the 2025 PGA TOUR University Ranking to earn Korn Ferry Tour membership, Gilligan is geared up for his first full season as a pro. The native of Reno, Nevada, battled a rare form of lymphoma as a teenager and was declared cancer-free in 2019.