In the second edition of the Player Spotlight series, we’re highlighting Michael Thorbjornsen.
For whatever reason, I’m really drawn to him as a player. He’s already one of my favorites on Tour, so there may be some bias in my expectations, but in my opinion he is a star in the making. I’m buying up all the available stock on him. I’m calling it now: future multiple-time Tour winner, future major champion, future Ryder Cupper. He has the skill set to be great.
It’s also worth highlighting, because it’s pretty bizarre, but he uses a baseball grip and always has. I’ve tried it a couple of times at the range, and I genuinely don’t understand how he plays such high-caliber golf with it. Everyone has their own unique feels, I guess, but it just seems impossible. Anyways….
Path to the PGA Tour
Michael Thorbjornsen, the 24 year old American, is in his second full season on the PGA Tour. He turned professional in June 2024 and, like David Ford, was a recipient of a PGA Tour card upon leaving college at Stanford. He earned his card by finishing as the No. 1 ranked senior in the 2024 PGA Tour University rankings.
As mentioned in the previous spotlight, PGA Tour University launched in 2020 as a pathway for top college golfers to earn status on the Korn Ferry Tour. In 2022, the program was revamped. The most significant change awarded the No. 1 senior in the final PGA Tour University rankings a fully exempt two year PGA Tour card upon turning professional. Thorbjornsen became the second recipient under the revamped format, following Ludvig Åberg of Sweden, who was the first in 2023.
Junior Golf
Thorbjornsen, who grew up in Massachusetts, attended IMG Academy in Florida during the early years of his high school career before returning home for his senior year in 2019.
As a junior golfer, Thor won the 2018 PING Invitational in wire-to-wire fashion. His most notable achievement, however, came later that year when he captured the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur at Baltusrol Golf Club. The U.S. Junior Amateur features the top amateur golfers in the world aged 18 and under.
During his run at the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur, Thorbjornsen won his Round of 64 match 3 and 2, Round of 32 match 7 and 5, Round of 16 match 3 and 2, and then defeated current PGA Tour winner Joe Highsmith 4 and 3 in the quarterfinals. He won his semifinal match on the third playoff hole and advanced to the 36 hole final against now two time PGA Tour winner Akshay Bhatia. Thor won the championship match 1 up. Bhatia was 3 up early in the final before Thor clawed his way back, taking his first lead on the 32nd hole and never surrendering it. It is worth noting that both the U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Amateur finals are contested over 36 holes.
Because of his victory at the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur, he earned a spot in the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where he made the cut at just 17 years old.That performance made him one of the youngest players ever to make the cut at a U.S. Open. His standout junior career also earned him selections to the 2018 U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team and the 2019 U.S. Junior Presidents Cup team.
The summer before beginning his college career, he also advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2020 U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes. He ultimately lost 1 up to American Aman Gupta in the quarterfinals. A fun fact from that week is that his good friend and now PGA Tour winner Karl Vilips caddied for him.
College + Amateur Golf
During his time at Stanford and throughout his amateur career from 2021 to 2024, Thorbjornsen continued to build on the success he had as a junior. He recorded five wins during that stretch, including three collegiate victories.
Most notably, he won the 2023 Pac 12 Men’s Golf Championship by shooting four consecutive rounds in the 60s. He finished at 15 under par, winning by two strokes over Colorado’s Dylan McDermott. During his college career, he rose as high as No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Thorbjornsen finished his time at Stanford with a 70.40 career scoring average, trailing only two former Cardinal standouts who are now PGA Tour players, Patrick Rodgers and Maverick McNealy.
He was named Pac 12 Golfer of the Year in 2023 and earned Ping All-America First Team honors in 2023 and 2024, along with Second Team honors in 2022. In his senior year, he was a finalist for both the Jack Nicklaus Award and the Fred Haskins Award. As a junior, he was a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award.
During this period, Thorbjornsen was also a member of the 2022 Arnold Palmer Cup team and was selected for the 2023 U.S. Walker Cup team, though he was unable to compete due to injury.
The Walker Cup is often described as the Ryder Cup for amateur golfers. It features Team USA versus Team Great Britain and Ireland and has been contested every two years since its inception in 1922. The Palmer Cup, on the other hand, is an annual collegiate competition between a United States team and an International team, with each side consisting of 12 men and 12 women.
Journey on PGA Tour so far
Michael Thorbjornsen has yet to win on the PGA Tour, but after a recent near miss, it feels like only a matter of time before he breaks through. Watch out.
He first made a name for himself on Tour in just his third start, while still an amateur, at the 2022 Travelers Championship, where he finished solo 4th.It was his first non major Tour start, and he outperformed a stacked field that included Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, and Tommy Fleetwood. It was an early sign that he had the game to compete with the very best. He made a few more starts as an amateur, with his next best result being a T17 at the 2023 John Deere Classic.
Fast forward to the summer of 2024, when Thor turned professional after finishing first in the PGA Tour University rankings and immediately joined the Tour. Just like during his amateur days, he did not take long to appear on a Sunday leaderboard. In only his third start as a pro, he finished T2 at the 2024 John Deere Classic, a course where he had already found success as an amateur. He shot 24 under par for the week, including a final round 63, and recorded his first runner up finish on Tour. It was an extremely impressive performance for a newly turned pro.
The remainder of his 2024 season had its ups and downs, with a mix of missed cuts and lower finishes, but he still managed to record two additional top tens during the Fall Series, finishing T8 at both the Sanderson Farms Championship and the RSM Classic. It was a strong close to what was technically his rookie season and provided valuable experience heading into 2025, including playing in the penultimate group on Sunday at the RSM.
His first full season in 2025 did not start well. He seemed to lose the momentum he had built late in 2024, missing six of his first nine cuts, with T39 being his best finish among the three events where he made the weekend. During that stretch, he struggled across multiple areas of his game, losing strokes putting in seven of nine starts, losing strokes off the tee in four of nine, and losing strokes on approach and around the greens in five of nine.
His season turned around in his tenth start at the Corales Punta Cana Championship, where he recorded the second runner up finish of his career. He finished one shot behind Garrick Higgo and had a legitimate chance to win.
That result sparked a consistent stretch of golf. He went on to make 15 of his final 16 cuts in 2025. Highlights included a T4 at the Zurich Classic alongside his good friend Karl Vilips, a T4 at the Rocket Classic where he finished one shot short of a three man playoff, T14 at the ISCO Championship, T13 at the Procore Championship, and a third place finish at the Baycurrent Classic in Japan. At Baycurrent, he played in the final group with Xander Schauffele and shot a closing 64, once again putting himself in position to win. He capped off the run with a T7 at the RSM Classic.
During that stretch, he also qualified for the PGA Championship for the first time. Up to that point, he had only competed in a few U.S. Opens, so this marked his first major outside of that championship. He finished T41 but was in contention through 36 holes. Heading into the weekend, he sat T7, just four shots off the lead. Although he faded over the weekend, he demonstrated the ability to compete on a major stage. It was the only major he qualified for in 2025.
Early in the 2026 season, Thorbjornsen has shown flashes of brilliance mixed with some inconsistency. He finished T18 at the Farmers Insurance Open, where a cold putter likely kept him from contending more seriously. He then had his closest call yet at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.On Sunday, he took the outright lead with an eagle on the par five 15thand appeared to be in control with only three holes to play. Unfortunately, he bogeyed both the 16th and the drivable 17th after hitting his tee shot into the water. He ultimately finished T3, missing a playoff by one shot.
Since that near victory, he has posted two disappointing results, finishing near the bottom of the field at the no cut AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am and missing the cut at the Cognizant Classic. The hope is that he can reset quickly and regain his form.
Win or not, he is hovering around the top 50 in the world rankings. As we inch closer to the Masters, if he remains inside the top 50 a few weeks before the cutoff, he will receive his first invitation to Augusta and tee it up at the 2026 Masters.
As a fan I’m hoping for big things out of Thorbjornsen
