9 PGA Tour Sleepers To Watch For In The 2017-’18 Season

By Alex Myers

From Brooks Koepka in 2015 to Jon Rahm in 2016, our annual sleepers* selections have warranted some serious pats on the back the past few years. And while so many young players recently have had success on the PGA Tour, there’s still a crop of others waiting in the wings for their shot. Here’s our list of the most likely up-and-comers to emerge and join the likes of Koepka and Rahm as tour stars during the 2017-’18 campaign.(*We define a "sleeper" as a player who has never won on the PGA Tour or qualified for the Tour Championship. This year we also decided to only include players younger than 30.)

Beau Hossler hits a shot during the second round of the Web.com Tour's Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship.

Photo by Michael Cohen/Getty Images

Ollie Schniederjans

Schniederjans was our prediction to win PGA Tour Rookie of the Year when he made this list last year. Yes, that's allowed. Why? Because we said so. Despite not quite earning that title (Xander Schauffele's Tour Championship title made him a no-brainer), the Georgia Tech product had an impressive first campaign with five top 10s, including a runner-up at the Wyndham Championship and a T-3 at Hilton Head. Expect -- at least -- a maiden PGA Tour title from this hatless wonder in 2017-2018.

Peter Uihlein

Seemingly destined for greatness since winning the 2010 U.S. Amateur, it took Uihlein longer than anticipated to earn his PGA Tour card. But now that he has it, we don't expect there to be much more growing pains for the 28-year-old who is already a winner on both the European and Web.com Tours. Uihlein is our pick to win Rookie of the Year.

Stephan Jaeger

He was "Mr. 58" before Jim Furyk became "Mr. 58." One week before, in fact, when Jaeger shot that incredible score at the 2016 Ellie Mae Classic on his way to a Web.com-Tour-record 30-under total. After narrowly missing out on his PGA Tour card at the end of that year, though, the German-born Jaeger played even better during the 2017 Web.com Tour season. He won two tournaments and finished seventh on the regular season money list, all while displaying a sense of humor that matches his golf.

Aaron Wise

The former University of Oregon standout turned pro after leading the Ducks to an NCAA championship as well as winning the individual title as a sophomore. In his first year on the Web.com Tour, Wise, just 21, earned his PGA Tour card by finishing 19th on the regular-season money list. Wise only posted two top 10s in 16 starts, but his wire-to-wire win at the Air Capital Classic, which included a pair of 62s to start is evidence that he can take it to another gear when he gets rolling.

Brandon Hagy

Arguably the longest hitter on the PGA Tour, Hagy showed signs of matching up the rest of his game with that prodigious power during his first full season. The University of California-Berkeley product only had one top 10 (A T-5 at the Canadian Open), but he also only missed nine cuts in 26 starts while racking up six top 25s and finishing 113th in the FedEx Cup standings to keep his card. To make the next jump, he'll have to improve those next shots after he crushes his driver. Hagy ranked just 169th on tour in strokes gained: approach-the-green.

Beau Hossler

Remember that high school junior who briefly held the lead at the 2011 U.S. Open at Olympic Club? Well, you're going to be seeing a lot more of this season now that he's earned his PGA Tour card for the first time. Hossler needed just 11 regular season starts on the Web.com Tour to finish in the top 25 of the money list to get full-time status on the big tour. Because he made eight starts on the PGA Tour last year he won't be eligible to win Rookie of the Year, but that technicality won't keep him from making an immediate impact at the highest level.

Marty Dou

The youngest player on this list, Dou, 20, also made history this past year by becoming the first Chinese golfer to earn a PGA Tour card (he was matched later in the season by XinJun Zhang). The diminutive Dou was just 84th in driving distance on the Web.com Tour, but 12th in birdies. An even more impressive stat is that Dou became the third-youngest winner in the tour's history. The only two players younger to win on the developmental circuit? Former World No. 1 Jason Day and reigning Players champ Si Woo Kim. Pretty good company.

Maverick McNealy

It's tough to have a more decorated amateur career than McNealy, whose standout Stanford resume included winning the Haskins and Ben Hogan Awards in different years while tying Tiger Woods' school record for career victories. And yet, McNealy thought about foregoing a career in professional golf to focus on business. Well, now that he's got that decision out of the way, watch for his name to surface on leader boards. The only problem is where since he'll enter this season with no status on any major tour. On the bright side, a 19-year-old Jordan Spieth found himself in a similar position in 2012 and he fared pretty well.

Keith Mitchell

The former Georgia Bulldog certainly lived up to that nickname in 2017 by bouncing back in the Web.com Tour Finals to earn his PGA Tour card after narrowly missing out in the regular season finale. He also showed plenty of grit when he got an opportunity to perform on the big stage. Mitchell Monday qualified for the Valspar Championship -- the first PGA Tour event of his career -- and finished T-11, the best performance by a Monday qualifier on tour all season.