Nothing hits home like the first professional win in a golfer’s life! Most pro players hone their skills from childhood, fighting relentlessly through the amateur level to get noticed and get a shot at the major league. Earning a professional tour card is no mean feat, and holding your own against the best golfers on the planet to clinch your first pro title is unbelievably glorious. Every year produces first-time winners whose efforts finally pay off, rewarding them with the much-awaited maiden trophy and the spotlight in golfing circles. Below, we look at pro golfers who experienced breakthroughs in 2024.
Golfers Who Recorded Maiden Wins in 2024
PGA TOUR
Nick Dunlap
This is arguably the most heroic entry on this list! Dunlap had been one of the most promising amateur golfers of the last few years, clinching the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2021, the U.S. Amateur in 2023, and topping the WAGR. In January 2024, the American shook the golfing world after winning The American Express, becoming the first amateur in 33 years to win a PGA TOUR tournament since Phil Mickelson. He turned pro a week later and, in July, posted his second PGA TOUR win and first as a professional at the Barracuda Championship.
Matthieu Pavon
Matthieu Pavon earned PGA TOUR membership for the 2024 season after a remarkable finish in the 2023 European Tour season’s Race to Dubai rankings. The player wasted no time, and in January 2024 floored Nicolai Højgaard to win the Farmers Insurance Open, becoming the first French golfer to win on the PGA Tour since 1907.
Jake Knapp
After stints on the PGA Tour Canada and the Korn Ferry Tour, Jake Knapp earned his much-awaited 2024 PGA Tour card. Determined to succeed, the American went all in to clinch the Mexican Open in February 2024, hitting just two fairways in the final round. Knapp became the first PGA Tour golfer to hit two or fewer fairways in his final round and win since 1983.
Austin Eckroat
Austin Eckroat had a promising 2023, finishing runner-up at the AT&T Byron Nelson in Texas and T10 in the U.S. Open, where he tied the nine-hole record of 29 in the final round. The player’s breakthrough came in 2024, winning the first title in March at the Cognizant Classic, and following with a second win in November at the World-Wide Technology Championship.
LPGA Tour
Lauren Coughlin
Lauren Coughlin has had a spectacular 2024! After her husband quit his job in March to caddy for her full time, the golfer found her competitive edge, narrowly missing the Chevron Championship title a few weeks later. In July, the American golfer clinched her first LPGA Tour title at the CPKC Women’s Open and then topped it up with a win at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open in August. In November, Coughlin won the Rolex First-Time Winners award.
Linnea Strom
Linnea Strom has steadily risen to the top, being the Symetra Tour’s 2018 Rookie of the Year and finishing runner-up in the 2022 Madrid Ladies Open and 2023 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. The Swedish golfer found her footing in 2024, clinching the ShopRite LPGA Classic in style after shooting a final round 60, second only to Annika Sörenstam’s 59 at the 2001 Standard Register PING.
Bailey Tardy
Bailey Tardy earned her LPGA Tour card at the end of 2022, and then came close to winning the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open, eventually finishing T4. In March 2024, her efforts paid off when she beat Sarah Schmelzel by four strokes to lift the Blue Bay LPGA, her first title on the tour. In November, the golfer won the Rolex First-Time Winners award.
DP World Tour
Rikuya Hoshino
Rikuya Hoshino had an impressive run on the Japan Golf Tour, winning six times, including bagging the Fujisankei Classic twice. After joining the European Tour, Hoshino found his breakthrough in 2024, claiming his maiden title at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
Jesper Svensson
After turning pro in 2019, Jesper Svensson played in the Nordic Golf League, winning the 2020 Race to Himmerland, and the Challenge Tour, where he won the 2023 B-NL Challenge Trophy. The Swedish golfer then graduated to the European Tour, finishing runner-up twice before finally bagging his maiden title at the Porsche Singapore Classic in March 2024.
Keita Nakajima
Japan has been consistently producing spectacular golfers lately, and one name to watch is Keita Nakajima. The golfer turned professional in the fall of 2022 and, shortly after, finished T12 at the PGA TOUR’s Zozo Championship. In 2023, he won thrice on the Japan Golf Tour in his rookie season. Nakajima’s peak moment came in March 2024 when he won the Hero Indian Open, his first victory on the European Tour.
Final Verdict
Every historic journey starts with one step, and the first-time winners listed above have planted their first seed in the path of greatness in 2024. A first win equally comes with pressure as the whole golfing world now views you as royalty, and we certainly hope that the players stay hungry and keep soaring in their careers.