2. Ollie Schniederjans
Schniederjans, one of the younger players on this list, is in his second full year on the PGA Tour after an illustrious amateur career. A three-time NCAA All-American at Georgia Tech, he was a top collegiate golfer and spent time as the number one amateur in the world. He played in the U.S. Open and the Open Championship before turning pro, finishing tied for 12th at St. Andrews.
Last year, he finished top 10 in five of the 28 PGA events he competed in, and this year he is already at two top 10 finishes and five top 25 placements. Schniederjans, 24, is 47th in FedEx Cup season points and has a scoring average of 70.248, an improvement on the 70.704 average he finished within 2017.
He is performing well everywhere on the course. He is 34th in shots gained approaching the green, 23rd in shots gained around the green and 53rd in putting shots gained — those figures may not seem prodigious, but there are a lot of golfers on the PGA Tour, and performing that well across the board is impressive.
Putting is Schniederjans’s best attribute. He is 20th in putts per round, with 28.26, and he is one of the most efficient short range players in the PGA, avoiding three-putts at a high rate and holding a 33.94 birdie or better conversion percentage. Younger players who can putt better than they can drive are at a premium, and this is an area of skill that could put him over the age at Augusta.
He’ll have to put it together off the tee to make a run at the Masters; despite the 20th fastest clubhead speed on tour, he has failed to maximize his driving ability, and he misses the fairway too often. But Schniederjans is balanced elsewhere, and he can make up for misses off the tee by consistently holing putts.