Why Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup lead golf's under-30 list

Cameron Young sits at the top of Golf Digest's September 18 list of the 30 best golfers under 30, with Chris Gotterup immediately behind him. Their places still hold up against the Official World Golf Ranking published September 27: Young is third in the world and Gotterup seventh.

The age limit explains a conspicuous absence. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler turned 30 on June 21. Young, born May 7, 1997, is 29; Gotterup, born July 20, 1999, is 27. An age-filtered list can change when someone has a birthday even if his golf stays exactly where it was. Scheffler's absence from this one reflects the cutoff.

PGA TOUR records supply a strong case for Young's position. He won THE PLAYERS Championship in March at 13 under, finishing one stroke ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick. In May, he won the Cadillac Championship at 19 under, six shots clear of Scheffler. Those victories required different finishes: a narrow margin at TPC Sawgrass and a runaway at Doral.

The PGA TOUR's video below follows every shot of Young's Cadillac victory, giving the ranking a useful visual companion.

Gotterup has built his own run of wins. He took the Sony Open in Hawaii and WM Phoenix Open early in 2026, then added the John Deere Classic in July. His final-round 62 at TPC Deere Run erased a five-shot deficit and delivered a one-shot win, his third TOUR title of the year.

The OWGR measures results over a rolling two-year period. Ranking points retain their full value for 13 weeks before gradually declining, and players are ordered by their adjusted average points. That makes this list a snapshot of accumulated tournament performance. It does not predict which player will improve most over the next five years.

For anyone using the graphic to find golfers to follow, Young and Gotterup offer two starting points with recent winning performances to watch. Keep the September dates attached to the numbers: the weekly rankings and the age cutoff will keep moving.