With Jon Rahm off to LIV and Rory’s game on sabbatical, Scottie Scheffler has become
Chairman of the Board at PGA Tour Enterprises (the new “for profit” entity engineered by PGA
Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan to counter the Saudi-backed start-up league.)
To say Scottie is off to a hot start in 2024 is a massive understatement. Scheffler has made the
cut in all 7 of the events he’s entered with 6 Top-10’s and 2 wins—including back-to-back at
Bay Hill and The Players. The only tournament where Scottie finished outside the Top 10 was at
the American Express back in January (T17).
Xander Schauffele is having one hell of a year with 6 Top-10’s in 8 starts and no missed cuts, but he is a distant 2nd in the 2024 PGA Power Rankings through last week at The Valspar. Wyndam Clark stands at third, following up his outstanding 2023 season (U.S. Open Champ) with 3 Top-10’s, including a win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. As you scan down the list of early season leaders, a number of new names jump out including Ludwig Aberg (No. 5), Jake Knapp (No.6) and Sahith Theegala (No. 7). Who are these new guys, and what can we expect from them in 2024?
Other than the greatest female golfer in history (Annika Sorenstam), Sweden has not generally been known for world class golf—although Stenson’s unforgettable duel with Phil at the 2016 Open Championship certainly shined some light in that direction.
Ludvig Aberg (pronounced oh-berg) won a host of junior events in Sweden, including the Annika Sorenstam Trophy, before heading to Texas Tech where he piled up accolades including the Ben Hogan Award (’21 and ‘22), Fred Haskins Award (’23) and the Jack Nicklaus Award (’23).
Since turning pro last year at the RBC Canadian Open, Ludvig has made the cut in 17 of 18 events with 7 Top 10’s and a win at the RSM Classic last November. At 24 years old, Aberg is a big guy (6’3”) and a fantastic driver of the ball who can also putt (1st in Total Driving and 7th in Putting last year)—a powerhouse combination. In his first appearance at The Players two weeks ago he fired 3 rounds of 67 for a T10 (8th), so it should be no surprise when you see his name on the leaderboard at The Masters in April.
Jake Knapp made some noise as an amateur 10 years ago in southern California, qualifying for the U.S. Open after just turning 21 in 2015—and then disappeared for the next eight years. Actually, he was honing his game on the Canadian Tour where he broke through for a pair of wins in 2019.
In 2023 Jake played the Korn Ferry Tour, and his game began to really kick in making the cut in 20 of 22 events with 10 Top 10’s in route to gaining his PGA Tour Card for the 2024 season—and he’s made the most it.
Knapp has missed the cut just once in 8 events with 3 Top-10’s including a win at the Mexico Open and a T3 at Torre Pines in The Farmers. He also followed up his win in Mexico the very next week with a T4 at PGA National in the Cognizant Classic—so he wasted no time basking in success.
The word is that Knapp was a bouncer during his time on the Canadian Tour, but since bouncers are generally pretty bulky and somewhat fierce looking, you have to wonder where Jake was working. In any event, you really have to pull for this young man—he’s certainly paid his dues.
Sahith Theegala just turned 26 years old in December, but he’s already recorded 17 Top-10’s on the PGA Tour including a win at the Fortinet Championship and a T9 at The Masters last year.
Theegala’s fast start on the PGA Tour comes on the heels of an outstanding college golf career at Pepperdine, where he was a 3-tme All-American while winning the Ben Hogan, Fred Haskins, and Jack Nicklaus awards in 2020
Thus far in 2024 Sahith has finished among the top 10 in 4 of his 8 starts, including a T9 at The Players two weeks ago. Currently Sahith stands at No. 10 in scoring and 7th in putting. Winning major championships is as much about grit and determination as it is pure talent, and Theegala is very long on both—look for Sahith to make some noise on the weekend at Augusta.
Texas Children’s Houston Open
Scottie Scheffler and Wyndam Clark are teeing it up this weekend at Memorial Park in Houston for the Texas Children’s Houston Open, so two of the top three in the Power Rankings will be battling it out. Tony Finau, the defending champion, is looking to make it back-to-back in Houston for his 7th career win on the PGA Tour. Peter Malnati, looking to maintain momentum after his emotional win at the Valspar last week, is also in the field.
36 Hole Leaders
- 1. Tony Finau (-9)
- 2. Alejandro Tosti (-7)
- 3. Thomas Detry (-6)
- 4 Scottie Scheffler and five others (-5)
Where To Watch
Saturday
1:00-3:30pm Golf Channel/Peacock
3:30-6:00pm NBC/Peacock
Sunday
1:00-2:30pm Golf Channel/Peacock
2:30-6:00pm NBC/Peacock
Memorial Park was originally designed by John Bredemus (1936) and most recently updated by none other than Tom Doak—a master of classic course restoration. One of the best Muni’s you will find anywhere, Memorial Park is among the rare group of modern-day courses that can provide a challenge to the greatest players in the world, and still be a ton of of fun for the weekend golfer.
Next Events
Next week the Tour heads to TPC San Antonio for the Valero Texas Open (April 4-7), and then to Augusta for The Masters (April 11-14).
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