The top golfers age 25 and under

There has been plenty of hype surrounding Champ, who is touted as the next young hot shot on the PGA Tour. Champ, who will turn 25 in June, has two pro victories on Tour, but they came during the fall portion of the slate. Still, Champ, one of the longest drivers on Tour, is likely in for more sustained greatness and popularity within the golf world.

The 25-year-old Englishman is currently 24th in the World Golf Ranking. He's won five times on the European Tour, including the 2016 DP World Tour Championship. He does not have a PGA Tour victory yet, but Fitzpatrick did finish tied for seventh at the 2016 Masters and posted matching T12s at the U.S. Open in 2018 and '19.

Just 23, Green has seven professional victories, but perhaps none bigger than at the 2019 Women's PGA Championship. The Australian also won the Portland Classic later in 2019, so the door is open for even greater success in 2020. Green is currently 21st in the Rolex Rankings, but we're thinking she rise higher as the season goes on.

Currently third on the LPGA Tour Money List, Japan's Hataoka, who turned 21 in January, won twice in 2018 and again last season. She lost in a playoff at this year's Tournament of Champions, so it seems like Hataoka is set to pick up where she left off in 2019. She's also currently ranked No. 5 in the Rolex Rankings. 

Only 22 years old, Henderson already has a remarkable nine LPGA Tour victories. No doubt that's the most by a Canadian golfer but also an indicator that Henderson is going to remain a force for a long time. One of those victories includes the 2016 Women's PGA Championship, so it's probably time for Henderson, ranked seventh in the world, to add another major title to her resume.

If there's one name on this list poised for a breakout, it's the highly touted Hovland, 22. The former Oklahoma State star and 2018 U.S. Amateur champion tied for 12th at last year's U.S Open. Then, just last weekend, the Norwegian earned that coveted first PGA Tour win with a one-stroke finish over Josh Teater at the Puerto Rico Open. It seems like only the beginning for Hovland. 

About to turn 22 in late March, Im is certainly someone to keep an eye on going forward. He's ranked 34th in the world and posted a victory on the Korean Tour last fall. Im also lost in a playoff at the 2019 Sanderson Farms Championship. The talented South Korean is still finding his way even though he's been a pro since 2015, but there is a lot of potential for his success to grow.

The 24-year-old native of Bangkok turned heads with a tie for 14th at the PGA Championship last year. Ranked among the top 40 golfers in the world, Jazz has won six times on the Asian Tour and totaled 10 victories as a pro. He may not play much in the United States, but Janewattananond is worth following throughout the world.

Jutanugarn, who won't turn 25 until November, has twice been named LPGA Player of the Year (2016, '18). She also topped the money list in each of those seasons and became the first golfer from Thailand — male or female — to win a major with her run at the 2016 Women's British Open. She also won the 2018 U.S. Women's Open and has 10 LPGA Tour victories on her resume. However, none came last season. 

The older sister of Ariya, Moriya squeaks in under the wire since she won't be 26 until July. Jutanugarn has just one LPGA Tour victory, coming in 2018, but she was the rookie of the year in 2013 and tied for sixth at the Evian Championship last season. The Jutanugarns are the only other sister act to win on the LPGA Tour aside from Annika and Charlotta Sorenstam.

Though Kim has cooled off a bit over the past couple of seasons, he's still worth keeping an eye as he approaches his 25th birthday in June. In 2016, Kim won the Wyndham Championship by five strokes at 21-under par. The next year he turned plenty of heads by winning The Players Championship by three shots. Don't think we've heard the last of Kim.

OK, it's not been an easy time of late for Ko, the phenom who became the world's No. 1 female golfer at age 17, but she has to be on this list. Ko, who will turn 23 in April, has 20 pro victories, including 15 on the LPGA Tour and two major titles. However, she has not won anywhere since April 2018 and currently ranks 46th in the world. Her break from famed golf coach David Leadbetter is well documented, and while her confidence both in the physical and mental aspect of the game is no longer there, many are hoping it will return.

The current No. 1 player in the world won't turn 25 until July, yet she's already won 17 pro tournaments, six of which have come on the LPGA Tour and four last year alone. Ko's stellar 2019, which included major victories at the Ana Inspiration and Evian Championship, earned her LPGA Player of the Year honors and more than $2.7 million earnings to top the money list.

Ranked second in the world and only a few months shy of her 22nd birthday, Korda truly has not wasted any time establishing herself as one of the game's best. The younger sister of fellow LPGA star Jessica Korda (who just turned 27), Nelly has posted all three of her Tour victories since October 2018. The only thing that's missing at the moment for Korda is a major title. That drought likely won't last much longer.

Though Lee, who will turn 24 in May, is still searching for that elusive first major title, she's won five times on the LPGA Tour and remains one of the more prominent faces on the circuit and throughout international women's golf scene. The former No. 1 world amateur player and Australian native last won in April and is eighth in the most recent Rolex Rankings. Let's hope that major drought ends soon.

Known more by a number (when she joined the LPGA Tour, there were five golfers with the same name or going by nearly the same name), Lee is the reigning U.S. Women's Open champion. To date, that's her only LPGA Tour victory, which she claimed by two strokes. That helped Lee, who turns 24 in May, earn 2019 LPGA Rookie of the Year honors. At the moment, she's ranked 10th in the world.

Li, who will turn 25 in August, has six professional victories to his name. Two of those wins came on the European Tour, and he also was a member of the International squad at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Australia. Li does a lot of things well, and it might be a matter of time before he starts to make noise when playing in the United States.

The LPGA Tour rookie, Maguire was a standout at Duke and spent 135 weeks as the world's top-ranked amateur golfer. There is plenty of hype surrounding her first season on the LPGA Tour, and it will be interesting to see how the 25-year-old native of Ireland handles all the pressure that tends to come with it. 

Morikawa, 23, did not waste any time cashing in on his newfound professional status last year. Shortly after turning pro, Morikawa tied for second at July's 3M Open. The same month, he tied for fourth at the John Deere Classic and concluded his stellar month with a victory at the Barracuda Championship. Talk about hitting the ground running.

Just 21, Niemann has popped up on a handful of these "next breakout stars" to watch lists of late. The Chilean, nicknamed "Joaco," has plenty of potential, even though there was a time when Niemann did not think he had what it took to even become a pro golfer. Niemann proved that not to be true by winning The Greenbrier in September. 

No doubt that Rahm is the most prominent male name on this list. And it's quite hard to believe that Rahm is only 25. He has 10 professional victories — three on the PGA Tour — and is currently the No. 2 player in the World Golf Ranking. The Spaniard has also posted three top-five finishes in major events over the past two seasons. Is this the year that he finally closes the deal with that first major triumph?

Scheffler, who will turn 24 in June, is trying to carry over his success from the Korn Ferry Tour over to the PGA Tour. The 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur champion, Scheffler is currently 23rd on the PGA Tour Money List with more than $1.5 million in the bank already this season thanks to four top-10 finishes and six within the top 25. 

There was not much known about Japan's Shibuno when she won the 2019 Women's British Open. Perhaps most remarkable about the feat was that Shibuno, 21, was not only playing in her first LPGA Tour event but also her first tournament outside of Japan. Shibuno remains on the LPGA Tour of Japan, where she won four times in 2019.

It's somewhat hard to believe that Thompson just turned 25. Maybe that's because she's posted 14 professional victories, 11 of which have come while a staple on the LPGA Tour. One of those wins includes the 2014 ANA Inspiration for her only major title to date. While Thompson has had some ups and downs on and off the links of late, she's still one of the best American golfers out there and currently ranks ninth in the world.

Another talented golfer from Oklahoma State, Wolff turned pro in June and claimed his first PGA Tour victory in July at the 3M Open. With that result, he became just the third player to win an individual NCAA championship and a Tour event in the same year. The others: Tiger Woods and Ben Crenshaw. Nice company.