Michael Thorbjornsen is following in the footsteps of rising star, Ludvig Aberg after finishing on top of the 2024 PGA Tour University ranking and heading straight to the PGA Tour.
The Stanford University student completed his four-year career in California at the NCAA Championship last week, and while the most recent result did not put icing on Thorbjornsen’s cake as both he and Stanford missed Sunday’s 54-hole cut, the 22-year-old was still able to celebrate once the final putt had dropped.
His record over the past two years featured three college victories and four made cuts in professional events – the highlight of which was a fourth-place finish at the 2022 Travelers Championship near his home town of Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Thorbjornsen may now choose to accept PGA Tour membership upon turning professional, and he will be eligible for all open, full-field PGA Tour events for the remainder of the 2024 season and the 2025 season.
Reacting to his achievement, Thorbjornsen said: “PGA Tour U is, I think, one of the best programs in all of sports. What they’ve done, creating a pathway to the PGA Tour and to these different tours underneath it, it’s huge.
It’s starting to feel real 👏@MichaelT_1 is now the proud owner of a @PGATOUR card. pic.twitter.com/nqTp3wAROAMay 27, 2024
“It gives students and us golfers reasons to stay for four years, and you can’t really pass up on the opportunities that they present to you.”
Thorbjornsen – who was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Danish father Thorbjorn and Zimbabwean mother, Sandra Chiang – is the second PGA Tour U champion to make the immediate graduation up to the big league after good friend, Aberg in 2023.
Last year, Aberg became the first player to earn PGA Tour membership as the number one college golfer, and in his first year as a professional, the Swede won the DP World Tour’s Omega European Masters, competed for the European Ryder Cup Team and won the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic.
Speaking about Aberg, Thorbjornsen paid tribute to his predecessor. He said: “Ludvig, even though he’s been on tour for say a year now, he’s top 10 in the world, he’s done unbelievable things recently.
“We’re good friends, we competed a lot last year, so he’s someone I look up to but I’m also trying to beat him as well.”
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