Weekly Fantasy Golf Recap: Thor Drops the Hammer

Michael Thorbjornsen left Stanford with a PGA Tour membership card already in hand. He had topped the Tour's University rankings for the 2023-24 season, earning instant membership. As the top collegiate golfer, one who had already shown flashes in PGA Tour events, a lot was expected of him right away.

You know, just like with Jackson Koivun last week. And with Collin Morikawa and Ludvig Aberg, both of whom also won pretty quickly after leaving college.

While Thorbjornsen continued to occasionally show more of those flashes, there were no wins. He didn't even make the playoffs last year.

But the feeling among most golf observers was that the ability and the potential were still there.

On Sunday, 65 tournaments and more than two years after turning pro, Thorbjornsen's ability and potential finally showed up on the same day. He rallied from four strokes down at the start of the day and then broke free from a six-way tie for the lead to win the Rocket Classic for his first PGA Tour victory.

Thorbjornsen shot the best round of the day – probably of his career, given the circumstances -- a bogey-free 7-under 63 that he punctuated with a 25-foot birdie putt on 18 to suck any remaining drama out of the tournament. Xander Schauffele shot 65, but that was two shots shy of a playoff.

And so, at the ripe old age of 24, Thorbjornsen admitted he felt massive relief.

"I'd be lying if I said no," he said. "I mean, it kind of got to the point a little bit of is it ever going to happen."

When you consider Thorbjornsen's pedigree, it really was a long time coming.

The Cleveland native won the 2018 Junior Amateur, which got him into the 2019 U.S. Open, where he made the cut at age 17. He finished fourth at the 2022 Travelers, 17th at the 2023 John Deere and, in his third pro start, runner-up at the 2024 Deere.

Koivun won his third pro start last week at the 3M Open, and Morikiaw and Aberg also won in their abbreviated first seasons on Tour.

But 2025 was pretty much a disaster for Thorbjornsen.  He missed the cut in 5 of his first 7 starts and – while he did snare another runner-up at the opposite-field tournament in the Dominican Republic and tie for fourth at the Rocket – he didn't make the playoffs.

This season was clearly better, highlighted by a T3 at Phoenix and a T7 at the Scottish Open.

For the past year, Thorbjornsen has been working with Morikawa's former caddie, J.J. Jakovac.  

"I feel like I've put myself in this position a few times now," Thorbjornsen said. "Obviously haven't been able to get it done. I mean, try, try, try again and hopefully the outcome's a little different. I just feel like today was much better. Obviously, I'm coming in with a better game, a better swing and just overall more control of the ball, which is the most important thing in golf."

Koivun won at age 21. Thorbjornsen is obviously a lot older but still very young. Not everyone matures at the same rate.

Thorbjornsen is now 38th in the FedExCup Standings, meaning he will most likely make it through at least two playoff events, which then would mean he'd get into all the signature events next year.

It doesn't mean his career will now take off, but it surely helps to get that first one out of the way – and that he'll be in the playoffs for the first time.

"I haven't really thought about it [the playoffs] yet," he said. "I think for the next few hours there's just going to be more people telling me like, oh, you're going to the Masters or, oh, this and that. I don't know, I'm still thinking about what I'm going to eat, I'm really hungry right now. Yeah, I mean, I don't know if I'm playing next week. The plan is to still go and play. Yeah, just to be in the playoffs first time is very exciting. Always great to be playing against the best players in the world. Q. Just one green missed.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Xander Schauffele
Schauffele hadn't had a top-10 since May. He had fallen to 11th in the Presidents Cup standings. He was always going to get picked, but finishing as runner-up for his best result of the season certainly puts a new spin on his 2026. He's not playing in the Wyndham, but he will qualify for all three playoff events.

Davis Riley
Riley was the 54-hole leader after brilliant rounds of 64 and 63 on Friday and Saturday. But he could muster only a 70 on Sunday for a solo third. That's his best showing of the season, and it moved him from 146th to 108th in the FedExCup Standings. He still needs another great week -- probably a runner-up -- to get into the top 70.

Rasmus Hojgaard
Hojgaard entered the week 125th in the standings yet 51st in Strokes Gained: Total. Something clearly was not adding up. He was playing better than he was scoring. This week, Hojgaard scored. He finished fourth. But he had a real chance to win, and now he needs another elite week at the Wyndham to get into the playoffs. He moved up to 103rd in points.

Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama had two top-10s in February and then none until tying for third last week and fifth this week. He has shot four rounds of 65 or better the past two weeks. This is what we'd call peaking at just the right time before the playoffs.

Matt Wallace
Wallace tied for fifth to give himself a realistic chance of qualifying for the playoffs with another good week at the Wyndham. He's now up to 80th in the standings.

Kris Ventura
Ventura has made only 6-of-17 cuts all season. But four tournaments ago, he was 2 for 15. He's made four cuts in a row, including this week's tie for fifth. He's 102nd in points -- he probably won't make the playoffs, but that's pretty good with only six made cuts.

Patrick Cantlay
Cantlay hasn't won since 2022. This was one of his best chances in the past four years. But after an opening 64, he settled into a tie for eighth. Cantlay will be one of captain Brandt Snedeker's toughest decisions for the Presidents Cup team next month. He clearly hasn't been among the 12th best American players, but he is among the most experienced in international competition.

Rickie Fowler
The Rocket pitchman and still a fan favorite, Fowler delivered with a tie for eighth. He's having a much better season than many people realize -- he's now 28th in the standings.

Cameron Young
After shooting a 61 on Friday to take the lead in the tournament, Young limped through the weekend at 68-70 to end in a tie for eighth. From that vantage point, it's disappointing. But he also now has two top-10s in a row heading into his title defense at the Wyndham.

Keegan Bradley
Bradley tied for 15th. That's a good week, one of his better ones all season, but he's still outside the playoff cutoff at No. 72 in points.

Michael Brennan
Brennan was among the cluster of players who had a hold of the lead on Sunday. In fact, he solo led for a bit. But he had two double bogeys over the final 12 holes, along with two bogeys, and he plummeted into a tie for 15th. Beginning the week at 106th in points, it really looked like Brennan would crack the top-70 by Sunday night. But when all was said and done, he moved up all of one spot – one measly spot – to 105th.

Jackson Koivun
Koivun wasn't going to win every week, no matter what social media had to say. He tied for 31st, which was at least good enough to keep him at 70th in the standings.

Jordan Spieth
Spieth tied for 31st to remain 55th in points. It will not be considered a good season for Spieth unless he reaches the Tour Championship. He has a lot of work to do.

Peter Malnati
Malnati opened with a 61 to burn 99.99999% of first-round-leader bettors. They probably took great pleasure in seeing him shoot 71-74–74 the rest of the way to tie for 68th.

Tony Finau
Finaiu was having a bad week through 54 holes. And then he turned it into a terrible week with a 77 on Sunday. He fell from 87th in points to 89th, and he is not looking good for the playoffs.

FEDEXCUP STANDINGS

After next week's Wyndham Championship, the top 70 on the points list will advance to the playoffs. Remember, after the playoffs, the race for the top 100 continues through the fall to secure PGA Tour cards for next season. Here's where things stand right now:

66. Ricky Castillo
67. Matti Schmid
68. Jordan Smith
69. Steven Fisk
70. Jackson Koivun
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71. Mac Meissner
72. Keegan Bradley
73. Andrew Putnam
74. Johnny Keefer
75. Jason Day

MISSED CUTS

Ben Griffin, Akshay Bhatia, Ryan Ruffels. There weren't that many missed cuts of note. Griffin began the week fifth in the President Cup standings. If he falls out of the six automatic qualifiers, there's no guarantee Snedeker will make him a captain's pick. … Outside of a mini two-week run at the U.S. Open (T17) and Travelers (T5), Bhatia has been bad for months. … Ruffles is the Australia YouTube golfer who got in on a sponsor invite. He missed the cut by two strokes.

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