Power Ranking the PGA Tour Rookies for 2015

With the 2015 PGA Tour season winding down, it’s the perfect time to look back and assess this year’s rookie class power-ranking style.

From Patrick Cantlay (with his lone PGA Tour appearance) to Tony Finau and Justin Thomas (who have camped out near the top of leaderboards for months), all 27 rookies are analyzed and ranked in ascending order.

These power rankings are based on a combination of factors, including FedEx Cup points, number of made cuts and top-25 finishes, with allowances made for significant accomplishments (such as excellent play at the majors) that may not translate fully into points.

Now, let’s take a look at the PGA Tour’s freshman class (as defined by PGATour.com’s Rob Bolton) starting with No. 27 to see how everyone stacked up—and find out if Daniel Berger or Zac Blair was able to beat Finau and Thomas to one of the top spots.

Note: Per Bolton, “Patrick Rodgers, Cameron Smith and Danny Willett have Special Temporary Membership, but none qualified for the FedEx Cup playoffs.” Thus, their FedEx Cup rankings are projections.

FedEx Cup Rank: T-257

Patrick Cantlay started the OHL Classic at Mayakoba last November. He also made the cut at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba, thanks to a second-round 68, and finished 76th in the tournament.

There isn’t much else to say about the 23-year-old’s rookie season, as the summary above is the beginning, middle and end of Cantlay’s 2015 PGA Tour season. As a result, he ranks dead last among rookies in starts, with an impossible-to-beat one in that column.

Unfortunately for the former world No. 1 amateur golfer, injury setbacks proved to be a serious impediment to his professional career, meaning he is in danger of appearing on many "where are they now?" lists.

On the plus side, he never missed a cut this season, so there’s that for a modicum of positivity.

FedEx Cup Rank: 237

In eight attempts this season, Benjamin Alvarado has made only one cut (at the Puerto Rico Open, where he finished three under par).

That’s clearly not good. In fact, you’re probably asking why a rookie who has only made the cut 12.5 percent of the time ranks above Cantlay. Well, Alvarado turned that made cut into a tie for 22nd, which easily beats Cantlay’s best finish of 76th.

Might Cantlay have made more cuts had he played in more events? Maybe, but hypotheticals have little bearing on these power rankings, so Alvarado’s better top finish earns him a reprieve from the bottom rung.

FedEx Cup Rank: 229

Joe Affrunti made two cuts in four PGA Tour starts this season. He finished tied for 46th at the AT&T Byron Nelson in May and tied for 37th at the Barracuda Championship in August.

Affrunti spent much of the rest of this season on the Web.com Tour, but he didn’t fare much better there. Out of 10 starts, he only made one cut and withdrew once. Since they were not on the PGA Tour, those results neither help nor hinder his ranking on this list.

The fact that he made a pair of PGA cuts, though, pushes him ahead of Alvarado.

FedEx Cup Rank: 213

Carlos Sainz Jr. finished tied for ninth at the Sanderson Farms Championship in November of 2014, thanks to rounds of 70, 70, 69 and 69.

He is also the first rookie on this list to have made it to the weekend on three occasions this year. The impressiveness of that statistic is curbed, however, by the fact that it took him 20 tries to get his three. That’s a conversion rate of just 15 percent.

Still, Sainz is also the first rookie on this list to register a top-10 finish, so he earns his spot at No. 24.

FedEx Cup Rank: 206

Zack Sucher has made five cuts in 18 attempts this season. After missing five consecutive cuts at the end of 2014, he kicked off 2015 by taking 73rd place at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Sucher followed that up with another mostly barren spell, but he turned things around in mid-July with a tie for 44th at the John Deere Classic. Over the last two months, he made three cuts in five attempts and claimed his best finish of the year—a tie for 20th at the Barracuda Championship.

Sucher did not have a top 10 like Sainz, but two more made cuts and a higher FedEx Cup points total mean he beats him to the No. 23 spot on this list.

FedEx Cup Rank: 202

Byron Smith made eight cuts from 21 starts. His best finish of the season came at the Frys.com Open last October when he went eight under par and tied for 19th.

Smith finished 70th at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open one week later, but then he struggled through six missed cuts and a withdrawal.

He made five of seven cuts to complete this season’s final leg, but all those finishes were in the 50s and 60s. Smith can take away some positives from the consistency of that run. We’ll have to wait until the start of next season to see if he can sustain the momentum.

FedEx Cup Rank: 200

Placing Roger Sloan ahead of Bryon Smith on this list required some serious splitting of hairs.

Smith has one more made cut than Sloan, but Sloan had one fewer start this season. On the other hand, Smith’s best finish was a tie for 19th, while Sloan’s best was a tie for 18th at the John Deere Classic.

Ultimately, the tiebreaker was Sloan’s two-spot advantage on the FedEx Cup leaderboard (a seven-point difference). He also finished the season in (arguably) more impressive fashion with that result in the John Deere Classic, a tie for 48th at the Barbasol Championship and a tie for 37th at the Barracuda Championship.

Those factors give Sloan the No. 21 spot on this list—but it was a close call.

FedEx Cup Rank: 179

Here’s another player who just missed out on being one spot higher.

Jonathan Randolph captured his best finish in May when he tied for 20th at the Wells Fargo Championship. He had two more finishes in the top 30 this season: one at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open back in October 2014 and another at the Puerto Rico Open in March.

Overall, Randolph made 11 cuts in 25 attempts and is ranked No. 179 on the FedEx Cup points list. He never went more than three events in a row without making a cut on tour, which earns him points for consistency. Randolph also made three consecutive cuts at the Barbasol Championship, Canadian Open and Quicken Loans National.

FedEx Cup Rank: 182

Andrew Putnam slips by Randolph and into the No. 19 spot on this list, thanks to his tie-for-12th finish at McGladrey Classic last October. That, along with a tie for 25th at the Shell Houston Open, a tie for 33rd at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and a tie for 43rd at the Sanderson Farms Championship put him just inside the top 20.

Putnam made one fewer cut than Randolph, but he started two fewer events. From October to November 2014, Putnam also had an impressive streak of four consecutive made cuts. He also made two cuts from his final three starts, only missing the weekend at the Wyndham Championship after opening rounds of 74 and 68.

FedEx Cup Rank: 186

Oscar Fraustro may be ranked lower than Putnam and Randolph in FedEx Cup points, but he is also the first rookie on this list since Carlos Sainz Jr. to score a top-10 finish on tour this season.

Fraustro tied for ninth at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in November 2014 when he carded four consecutive rounds under 70. That was one week after he tied for 43rd at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

In 21 starts, Fraustro made only seven cuts. That puts him behind Putnam percentage-wise, but the notable achievement of a top-10 finish—coupled with a tie for 22nd at the Barracuda Championship and a tie for 26th at the Wyndham Classic to end the season—mean Fraustro takes No. 18 in these power rankings.

FedEx Cup Rank: 164

Mark Hubbard represents a significant step up in number of made cuts for a rookie on this list. From 25 starts, he managed to make it to the weekend 15 times (that’s four more made cuts than Randolph, the next highest so far on this list).

Hubbard’s best finish this season was a tie for 20th at the Humana Challenge in January, but his overall consistency earns him bonus points. He made six consecutive cuts from October 2014 to February 2015. He then made another five consecutive cuts from the end of May through the first half of July, where he tied for 24th at the John Deere Classic.

Those performances, combined with his No. 164 ranking in FedEx Cup points, put Hubbard at No. 17 in these power rankings.

FedEx Cup Rank: 135

S.J. Park embodies a significant jump up the list in FedEx Cup ranking at No. 135. He got there, in large part, because of his runner-up finish at the Humana Challenge in January, which landed him 167 points.

Though that was his only top-25 result, Park managed seven top-40 finishes this season. That includes a tie for 30th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, a tie for 31st at the Honda Classic and a tie for 33rd at the Valspar Championship.

Through 27 starts, Park made the cut 13 times. Though that’s below 50 percent, the pro from South Korea redeemed himself by making the most of those weekends. He’s far from perfect, but the fact that he made his made cuts count is why Park earns the No. 16 spot in these rankings.

FedEx Cup Rank: 132

Tom Hoge is the first rookie on this list with a pair of top-10 finishes—and they both came during his very strong final leg of the season.

He tied for 16th at the Barbasol Championship, tied for fifth at the Canadian Open, tied for 39th at the Quicken Loans National, tied for 10th at the Barracuda Championship and tied for 38th at the Wyndham Championship.

Earlier in the year, Hubbard also tied for 12th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Overall, he made 15 cuts in 26 starts, meaning he edges Park in that category (and beats him by a sizeable margin in top finishes).

FedEx Cup Rank: 141

Whee Kim may be ranked nine spots lower than Hoge in the FedEx Cup standings, but he also has one more top-10 finish to his name.

Kim tied for third at the Barbasol Championship and tied for eighth at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He also tied for 11th at the Quicken Loans National, tied for 21st at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and tied for 25th at the Shell Houston Open.

Overall, he’s made 13 cuts in 23 attempts. From the start of February to the middle of August, Kim did not miss any consecutive cuts on tour. He also had a streak of five consecutive made cuts from February through the end of April.

FedEx Cup Rank: 145

Blayne Barber doubled the next best number of top-10 finishes so far on this list by recording four this season.

He tied for ninth at the Sanderson Farms Championship in November and then tied for ninth again one week later at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. In April, Barber tied for eighth at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans before going on to tie for 10th at the Barbasol Championship.

He also tied for 12th at the Northern Trust Open, making it five top-25 finishes in total.

Barber may have made only 12 cuts in 26 attempts but, like S.J. Park, he also made the most of many of those weekends.

FedEx Cup Rank: 127

Cameron Smith only played in 13 events this season, but he made eight cuts. That’s a conversion rate of nearly 62 percent.

On top of that, he has five top-25 finishes and two top 10s—including a tie for fifth at the CIMB Classic and a tie for fourth at the U.S. Open. Aside from a string of four consecutive missed cuts over the winter, Smith only failed to play over the weekend on one occasion (the Memorial Tournament in June).

Though Barber may have more top 10s, Smith gets considerable bonus points for his results in the two major tournaments he entered this season (he also tied for 25th at the PGA Championship).

FedEx Cup Rank: 100

Patrick Rodgers has an even more impressive conversion rate than Smith when it comes to making the cut. He went 12-of-17 this season, which constitutes a success rate just north of 70 percent.

Rodgers also has two top-10 finishes in the form of a third-place finish at the Barracuda Championship and a tie for second at the Wells Fargo Championship.

Were it not for the fact that he was playing on tour with a Special Temporary Membership, he would have been ranked No. 100 in the FedEx Cup field and qualified for this year’s playoffs. That’s not too shabby for a rookie.

Rodgers would be ranked inside the top 10 were it not for his relatively small number of starts compared to those who did make the top 10.

FedEx Cup Rank: 83

Carlos Ortiz is the first man in these power rankings to break into the top 100 on the FedEx Cup points list. The young man from Mexico made 19 cuts in 29 attempts and collected nine top-25 finishes on tour.

Ortiz started the season with four consecutive made cuts that culminated in a tie for ninth at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. He also tied for 11th at the Farmers Insurance Open, tied for 15th at the Valero Texas Open, tied for 18th at both the Barracuda Championship and Shriners Childrens Hospital Open and took 19th outright at the Wells Fargo Championship.

He may not have those high-profile majors results like Cameron Smith, but the consistent quality he displayed throughout the season—as reflected in his FedEx Cup ranking—is worthy of a top-10 nod in the power rankings.

FedEx Cup Rank: 107

Adam Hadwin is outside the top 100 in FedEx Cup rankings, but he compensated with seven top-25 finishes and three top 10s.

His best result was a tie for fifth at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, followed by a tie for seventh at the Canadian Open (arguably his most high-profile start of the year).

Overall, Hadwin made 18 cuts in 30 starts (a 60 percent success rate), making him the second-most active rookie on this list (two starts shy of Zac Blair). That combination of sustained weekend play and trio of top 10s drops him just inside the top on these power rankings.

FedEx Cup Rank: 76

Scott Pinckney’s season is not yet over, as a tie-for-50th finish at The Barclays means he is currently set to start the Deutsche Bank Championship with his FedEx Cup ranking of 76.

He’s made 16 of 26 cuts so far this season. He also earned seven top-25 finishes and three top 10s. Pinckney’s best results were a tie for second at the AT&T Byron Nelson, a tie for sixth at the Puerto Rico Open, a tie for eighth at the Valero Texas Open and a tie for 12th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Between the start of the calendar year and the end of July, he never missed two cuts in a row. Pinckney did, however, recently miss back-to-back cuts at the Quicken Loans National and Wyndham Classic—but the fact that he righted the ship at The Barclays is a greater testament to his overall play this season than was that two-week blip in form.

FedEx Cup Rank: 116

Danny Willett may be only projected at No. 116 on the FedEx Cup points list, but even the most fair-weather fan of the PGA Tour has probably heard his name at least once this season.

Of his four top-25 finishes, Willett took third at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play and—most memorably—tied for sixth at the British Open at St. Andrews. In just 10 starts, the Englishman missed only three cuts (considering two of them were at The Players Championship and the U.S. Open, that’s forgivable).

Other notable finishes include a tie for 54th at the PGA Championship and a tie for 38th at the Masters.

Simply put: If Willett were a college football team, his strength of schedule would make him a lock for a prime-time bowl game, even with those three missed cuts serving as losses.

FedEx Cup Rank: 45

Zac Blair is another rookie currently still alive in the FedEx Cup Playoffs—and by a sizeable margin.

So far this season, the 25-year-old has eight top-25 finishes and two top 10s. Among them are a tie for fourth at The Barclays, a tie for sixth at the Sony Open in Hawaii, a tie for 11th at the Farmers Insurance Open and a tie for 12th at the Frys.com Open.

Blair has had more starts (32) than any other rookie on tour this year, and he’s qualified for the weekend on 18 of those occasions.

Though he doesn’t have Danny Willett’s high-profile finishes at majors to sparkle on his resume, his FedEx Cup points total—and continuing march through the playoffs—cement him firmly in the top 10.

FedEx Cup Rank: 113

Jon Curran is the second-to-last rookie on this list who falls outside the top 10 on the FedEx Cup leaderboard, but he makes up for it with a laudable five top-10 finishes.

He began the season with a tie for eighth at the Frys.com Open, he tied for 10th at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, he finished second in a playoff for the Puerto Rico Open title and he tied for sixth at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Curran would rate slightly higher in these power rankings were it not for the fact he only made 50 percent of the cuts through 28 starts. Still, the Massachusetts rookie’s five finishes near the top of the leaderboard mean he has definitely earned his spot in the top five.

FedEx Cup Rank: 101

Nick Taylor is this list’s final foray outside the FedEx Cup top 100. So how could he be ranked so highly? Well, he’s the only rookie to have a PGA Tour win this season, the Sanderson Farms Championship—and that has to count for something.

Sometimes an individual tour win receives less appreciation than it deserves. That is especially true when much of the media attention focuses on veteran players who have won multiple events already. However, when a rookie gets a win in his debut season, it's always an incredibly impressive accomplishment.

Since no other rookie managed that feat this year, Taylor deserves special recognition.

If that’s not enough to earn Taylor a top-five spot on this list, then there’s also the matter of his top-25 win at the Valspar Championship, where he tied for 24th. Furthermore, out of 28 starts, Taylor made 17 cuts, which puts him at a more-than-respectable 60 percent success rate for his rookie PGA Tour season.

FedEx Cup Rank: 54

Daniel Berger may have a marginally lower percentage of made cuts than Nick Taylor (14 out of 28), but the Florida native more than makes up for it with 10 top-25 finishes (including five top 10s) and a much-better FedEx Cup standing.

Berger took second in a playoff at the Honda Classic, tied for sixth at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and tied for 10th at the AT&T Byron Nelson, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

He could have ended the season better—there’s no mistaking that—but his sustained success from late October to the end of May proved Berger has what it takes to contend at the highest level.

FedEx Cup Rank: 32

Here’s another name even the casual golf fan may recognize.

Tony Finau is still alive and kicking in the playoffs, thanks to his outstanding rookie FedEx Cup 32nd-place ranking. He earned those points with 16 top-25 finishes on tour this season (and that includes five top 10s).

His best results were a pair of seventh-place ties at Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. Finau added to those with a tie for 10th at the AT&T Byron Nelson and at the PGA Championship, a tie for 13th at the Greenbrier Classic, a tie for 14th at the U.S. Open and a tie for 16th at The Barclays, among others.

Finau’s consistent finishes near the top secure him a place in the top five in these power rankings, but it was his play at the majors that got him to No. 2.

FedEx Cup Rank: 30

So who clipped Finau to the No. 1 spot for PGA Tour rookies this season? Who else but Justin Thomas.

The 22-year-old from Louisville had 14 top-25 finishes (including seven top 10s). He also made 21 cuts in 28 attempts—that’s a conversion rate of 75 percent.

Thomas’ top finishes were a pair of tied for fourth at the Quicken Loans National and Sanderson Farms Championship, but he also managed a tie for fifth at the John Deere Classic, a tie for sixth at the Sony Open in Hawaii and a tie for seventh at the Humana Challenge.

Though Finau has some top-majors finishes to his name, Thomas edged him in FedEx Cup ranking, highest finishes, made-cuts percentage and number of top 10s (an area where Thomas led all rookies). That’s why he’s the No. 1 rookie of the 2014-15 PGA Tour season.