This article is part of our Golf Draft Kit series.
All of this year's rookies are joining the PGA Tour from the Korn Ferry Tour, where they finished top 10 in points. Here's a rundown on the first-year tour players, ranked by 2020-21 projected earnings.
Will Zalatoris
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $425,000
The leader on the Korn Ferry Tour's points list has risen to a career-best 143rd in the Official World Golf Ranking thanks in part to nine top-10s in 15 starts on the KFT during the 2020 season, which included a win at the TPC Colorado Championship in early July. Zalatoris, a 24-year-old Wake Forest product, led the KFT in GIR percentage along the way while also ranking seventh in birdie average, fourth in total driving and first in total eagles. This combination indicates quite a bit of future fantasy upside if he's able to translate such quality ball-striking to the big-league venues.
Davis Riley
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $400,000
It didn't take much time for the three-time collegiate All-American from the University of Alabama to outgrow the Korn Ferry Tour as he notched a pair of wins at the Panama Championship and TPC San Antonio Championship in 2020. The 23-year-old tallied five top-10s and nine top-25s in 16 events to finish second on the KFT's points list at the conclusion of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. Riley also made a pair of cuts at the PGA Tour level during the fall series, placing 76th at the RSM Classic and T39 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. On the Korn Ferry
All of this year's rookies are joining the PGA Tour from the Korn Ferry Tour, where they finished top 10 in points. Here's a rundown on the first-year tour players, ranked by 2020-21 projected earnings.
Will Zalatoris
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $425,000
The leader on the Korn Ferry Tour's points list has risen to a career-best 143rd in the Official World Golf Ranking thanks in part to nine top-10s in 15 starts on the KFT during the 2020 season, which included a win at the TPC Colorado Championship in early July. Zalatoris, a 24-year-old Wake Forest product, led the KFT in GIR percentage along the way while also ranking seventh in birdie average, fourth in total driving and first in total eagles. This combination indicates quite a bit of future fantasy upside if he's able to translate such quality ball-striking to the big-league venues.
Davis Riley
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $400,000
It didn't take much time for the three-time collegiate All-American from the University of Alabama to outgrow the Korn Ferry Tour as he notched a pair of wins at the Panama Championship and TPC San Antonio Championship in 2020. The 23-year-old tallied five top-10s and nine top-25s in 16 events to finish second on the KFT's points list at the conclusion of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. Riley also made a pair of cuts at the PGA Tour level during the fall series, placing 76th at the RSM Classic and T39 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. On the Korn Ferry Tour, he was second in birdie average and first in all-around ranking.
Brandon Wu
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $325,000
A final-round 65 at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship allowed Wu to surge to a one-shot victory and climb to a career-best 202nd in the Official World Golf Ranking, while also securing a spot inside the top-10 of the KFT's points list. The win at Victoria National Golf Club came just two weeks after he tied for second at the Boise Open, marking his third top-10 in just six starts on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020. Among Wu's five appearances at the PGA Tour level during the 2019-20 campaign, he posted a T17 at the Houston Open and missed just one cut at the Workday Charity Open.
Lee Hodges
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $250,000
Hodges took home the title at the Korn Ferry Tour's 2020 Portland Open in early August to put the cherry on top of a successful KFT campaign that included five top-10s to just two missed cuts. He ranked top-5 among his peers in GIR percentage, ball striking and par-4 scoring average while also collecting the sixth-most birdies throughout the season. Hodges has made one career appearance at the PGA Tour level, tying for 54th at the 2018 RSM Classic.
Taylor Pendrith
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $225,000
Pendrith doesn't have a win under his belt in 2020 like the other names around him near the top of the Korn Ferry Tour Points list, but he went on a wild run this summer stringing together finishes of T3-2-T2-T2 from the TPC Colorado Championship through the Pinnacle Bank Championship. That's four consecutive top-3s before adding three additional top-25s throughout his last four starts to end the season. Pendrith, who won twice on the Mackenzie Tour in 2019, ranked fifth in driving distance and eighth in birdie average on the KFT.
David Lipsky
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $175,000
A win at July's TPC San Antonio Challenge accompanied by a T2 at the Portland Open contributed to Lipsky's positioning inside of the top-10 in the Korn Ferry Tour's points list. Lipsky ball striking throughout the 2020 campaign wasn't all that impressive as he ranked 52nd in total driving and 65th in GIR percentage, but he was sixth in birdie or better conversion and 16th in putting average. He possesses a decent amount of PGA Tour experience with 15 total starts since 2015, though he should still retain rookie eligibility ahead of the 2020-21 season.
Greyson Sigg
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $150,000
Sigg added his fourth top-10 of the 2020 KFT season at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship where a disappointing final-round performance kept him from forcing a playoff by just one shot. The former Georgia Bulldog finished the season third in all-around ranking and sixth in scoring average. Sigg missed the cut in his lone PGA Tour appearance this past season at the 2019 RSM Classic, however.
Paul Barjon
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $125,000
Barjon missed the cut in four of his last five starts to end the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour season just barely inside the top 10 of the points list, having earned three runner-up finishes as well as a third-place result earlier in the summer. Barjon impressively tied for 20th at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open on the PGA Tour, but none of his metrics were too noteworthy on the KFT this year.
Mito Pereira
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $50,000
Pereira's trio of top-10s throughout the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour season included a win at the Country Club de Bogota Championship and a third place at the Panama Championship in February. He cooled off a bit as the season wore on, but retained his position inside of the top-10 in the KFT Points list and finished fifth in par-4 scoring average.
