What has just happened on the PGA Tour for the first time since 2017 after Michael Thorbjornsen’s win
Follow us on Google Discover
Michael Thorbjornsen won on the PGA Tour for the first time in his career on Sunday.
Thorbjornsen, 24, triumphed at the Rocket Classic after shooting a superb final-round 63.
He has been knocking on the door for pretty much two years now, but he finally managed to get the job done in Detroit.
With his win at the Rocket Classic, Michael Thorbjornsen proved that he’s now ready to take a step up to the next level.
The 24-year-old is a PGA Tour superstar in the making, and that star quality in young players is exactly what is needed right now.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
By the time The Masters rolls around next year, there will not be a single major champion under the age of 30.
That has to change, and as things stand, there have been some really encouraging signs in that regard recently.
What has happened on the PGA Tour for the first time since 2017 after Michael Thorbjornsen’s win
Thorbjornsen’s win at the Rocket Classic one week after Jackson Koivun romped to victory at the 3M Open.
The future is very bright for the PGA Tour right now, with so many talented players proving that they are ready to win.
And Thorbjornsen and Koivun winning in back-to-back weeks was exactly what the PGA Tour needed.
The last time that two players aged 24 or under won tournaments in consecutive weeks was nine years ago.
Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau triumphed at the Greenbrier Classic and the John Deere Classic respectively back in July 2017.
Those two players have gone on to enjoy exceptional careers, winning 29 tournaments between them, including two major championships each.
The challenge now for Thorbjornsen and Koivun will be to go on and match the careers of players like Schauffele and DeChambeau.
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
They have already shown us that they’re capable of doing that, but nothing is guaranteed in professional golf.
You only need to look at what has happened to Matt Wolff over the past few years as a prime example of that.
Michael Thorbjornsen and Jackson Koivun are not guaranteed success
Back in 2019, Wolff won the 3M Open in what was just his third start as a professional on the PGA Tour when he was just 20 years old.
He then contended to win two majors in 2020, but came up just short at the PGA Championship and the US Open after he was beaten to the trophies by Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau.
However, Wolff has been on a slow decline since then, and the 27-year-old’s career trajectory should serve as a precautionary tale to the likes of Thorbjornsen and Koivun.
Since joining LIV Golf in 2022, Wolff has experienced all sorts of problems, recording just five top-10 finishes over the past four years.
He has suffered with numerous injuries, but worryingly, his attitude and application has been called into question on numerous occasions, notably by Brooks Koepka back in 2023.
“I mean, when you quit on your round, you give up and stuff like that, that’s not competing,“ Koepka told Sports Illustrated.
“I’m not a big fan of that. You don’t work hard. It’s very tough. It’s very tough to have even like a team dynamic when you’ve got one guy that won’t work, one guy is not going to give any effort, he’s going to quit on the course, break clubs, gets down, bad body language, it’s very tough.
“I’ve basically given up on him. A lot of talent, but I mean the talent’s wasted.“
Michael Thorbjornsen and Jackson Koivun will surely not follow in Wolff’s footsteps, but they must be aware of the potential pitfalls that lie in wait for them if they are not 100 percent focused and committed on improving at all times.
Join Our Newsletter
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
