There are plenty of unknowns in the state of golf right now. It goes beyond “who will win this week?” to “what tour will he be on?”
With that being said, there are some beautiful constants. There will be a golfer who wins each PGA Tour event. They will battle against golf courses familiar to us, and a field of elite golfers. The money you win from wagering will be just as green and spendable as ever.
With that, here are the 10 golfers who will make you money in 2024.
Ludvig Aberg
Let’s start with the easy one – Aberg already has a PGA Tour win, a DP World Tour win and was a member of a winning Ryder Cup team, all within the first three months of becoming a professional. His driver is a weapon, ranking second in strokes gained/off the tee last season, which will give him a solid baseline to separate himself from his peers. He’s built like the modern golfer and has already tasted success, so there’s no reason to think that’ll go away after picking up more experience.
Min Woo Lee
Sean M. Haffey
Lee had a stellar fall, winning the Macao Open and the Australian PGA Championship. He nearly went back-to-back by capturing victory at the Australian Open, but he settled for third, notching his fourth top-six finishes in a five-event stretch. Even more encouraging is how well he plays in big events. He had a T-6 at The Players, a T-5 at the U.S. Open and a T-18 at the PGA Championship all in 2023. He doesn’t back down from the spotlight, and his game continues to get better.
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Vincent Norrman
Chris Graythen
Norrman quietly captured two wins in 2023—one at the Barbasol Championship and another at the Irish Open. They may not have been front of mind for most golf fans, but they represent two ceiling performances within a six-event stretch. He’s a menace off the tee, gaining 0.54 strokes per round in that department—the 15th-best mark out of qualifying golfers, per RickRunGood.com. It’s unlikely he contends in some of the premier events, but he should be a contender in weaker fields.
Justin Thomas
Richard Heathcote
After a dismal 2023, Thomas is starting to look more like himself again. His four events from the Wyndham Championship to the Hero World Challenge all featured top-12 finishes. The most encouraging part is that he gained 9.29 strokes putting during that stretch, something that haunted him for much of this past season. I believe he’s a viable option to win early in the year and contend at the Masters—where he has six top-22 finishes in his past seven trips.
Will Zalatoris
Tracy Wilcox
I’ll be taking a “wait and see” approach on Zalatoris early in the year as he continues to recover from back surgery last season. Every rep will be critical as he gets back into playing shape, but I’m optimistic about his year as a whole. Zalatoris has been one of the best ball-strikers in the world during his career. Over the past 200 rounds, only seven golfers in the world have been better than Zalatoris. Their names—Scheffler, McIlroy, Hovland, Rahm, Cantlay, Conners and Morikawa. That’s certainly a list of names you’d like to keep company. If he can get anywhere near that stat profile again, he’ll make plenty of noise.
Akshay Bhatia
Orlando Ramirez
Bhatia has won each of the last two years and is seemingly getting better on a regular basis. His fall schedule was nearly flawless, missing just one cut in seven starts but making each of his final six. During that stretch, he posted three top-21 finishes and flashed brilliance at times. Still only 21 years old, Bhatia is playing the best golf of his life and hasn’t sniffed his ceiling yet.
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Alejandro Tosti
Jonathan Bachman
Golf might have themselves a new “bad boy” in Tosti, who was forced to withdraw from the Korn Ferry Tour’s Boise Open in August for a “disciplinary matter.” Despite that side of things, his game is incredible. He has the rare combination of power and finesse, ranking third in driving distance on the Korn Ferry Tour and third in putting average. He was the No. 1 birdie marker on that circuit, and he has plenty of experience getting into contention.
Matti Schmid
Quality Sport Images
It was an impressive fall for Schmid who played globally and played well at every stop. He finished runner-up at the Andalucia Masters and third at the Bermuda Championship. This is reflective of his improved stat profile that reveals a budding ball-striker. He’s gained strokes ball-striking in 10 of his past 11 measured events, per RickRunGood.com. If he improves his short game, he’ll be able to separate himself from his peers.
Tom Kim
Tracy Wilcox
From the U.S. Open on, Kim gained 1.58 strokes per round over 46 rounds. That was the sixth-best mark of any golfer in the world during that period. The only golfers who were better— McIlroy, Aberg, Hovland, Fleetwood and Ryo Hisatsune. During that run, he gained 0.76 strokes per round on approach (better than Hovland) and gained 0.71 per round putting (twice as good as Fleetwood). He’s quietly putting up elite stat profiles without enough people noticing.
Eric Cole
Rob Carr
It’s a little surprising that Cole hasn’t won yet on the PGA Tour considering how frequently he’s putting himself in contention. He had seven top-six finishes this past season without a trophy to show for it. He gained 1.13 strokes per round over 128 rounds, the sixth most of any golfer last season with at least 100 rounds. The five golfers ahead of him combined for 12 victories. It’s coming for Cole and your patience will be rewarded.
Rick Gehman, founder of RickRunGood.com and the RickRunGood YouTube Channel, is one of the industry’s leading experts on golf DFS and gambling. Gehman is co-host of the First Cut Podcast and appears regularly on the Pat Mayo Experience golf podcasts. Follow him on Twitter: @RickRunGood.