“The toughest opponent is old man par.” So said Bobby Jones nearly a century ago. Times have changed.
Today’s young stars beat par with ease, routinely taking rounds deep into the red. They look for motivation in another opponent, but their greatest adversaries are also their peers.
“It’s pretty amazing what the young guys are doing,” Tommy Morrison said on a recent episode of GOLF’s Subpar podcast.
At 22, Morrison is a young guy himself who has rocketed to success since making his Korn Ferry Tour debut this year. He tied for 10th in his first start, followed that with a fifth and a runner-up finish before breaking through with a victory at the Evans Scholars Invitational. He added another runner-up finish the following week.
Morrison has watched plenty of his twentysomething peers make noise, too. Ben James shot a 61 in the final round of the Wyndham Championship to finish third. Michael Thorbjornsen captured his first PGA Tour win this month at the Rocket Classic. And then there’s Jackson Koivun, who won on Tour in just his third start as a professional.
Morrison said the youth movement didn’t surprise him, given how competitive college golf has become.
But seeing his peers actually go out and do it at the highest level is another matter.
“It has definitely inspired me,” he said. “Especially watching Frankie (Harris) shoot 59 and win.” That was at the Pinnacle Bank Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour earlier this month.
It’s not just the youngsters who are feeling motivated. Precocious showings of that kind have lit a fire under members of the Tour’s older guard, too.
Morrison recalled a recent conversation with Xander Schauffele, who told him, “I’d be lying if I said Jackson winning on Tour didn’t motivate me.”
For all their success, though, there’s still plenty left to prove. At the 2027 Masters, not a single player under 30 will have won a major. The youngest major champion in the field will be 30-year-old Collin Morikawa.
Morrison wouldn’t be surprised if that changes soon.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if a younger guy got it,” he said.
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