After hearing Justin Thomas recently had back surgery and will miss the start of 2026, I found myself wondering how quickly time moves in professional golf.

J.T. used to be that young player everyone was excited about. As part of the famed 2011 high school class that included Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele, Daniel Berger and others, Thomas was one of “the kids” changing the face of golf in a (mostly) post-Tiger golf world.

Suddenly, Thomas is approaching his 33rd birthday.

He’s still a very good player—No. 19 in Data Golf and No. 8 in the Official World Golf Ranking—but his “star” status is based more on his past than his present. He has but one victory since winning the 2022 PGA Championship. His prime of being a Ryder Cup menace is already four years in the rearview.

Having had back surgery, Thomas seems a lot closer to a grizzled veteran than a young disruptor. And his peers I mentioned have been injured (or just plain struggling) a lot over the past few years, which only reinforces how golf eventually pushes a Tour pro’s body no matter how spritely they seem coming onto the scene.

This got me thinking about who the next Thomas, Spieth and Schauffele will be.

Where are those young stars who are winning early and often? Whom everyone is drooling over?

At the moment, they are being dominated by the game’s veterans.

The game’s best are mostly established vets

Let’s take a quick peek at everyone’s age within the top 20 of the Data Golf rankings:

Scottie Scheffler (29) Tommy Fleetwood (34) Rory McIlroy (36) Jon Rahm (31) Ben Griffin (29) Russell Henley (36) Xander Schauffele (32) Bryson DeChambeau (32) J.J. Spaun (35) Matt Fitzpatrick (31) Robert MacIntyre (29) Sam Burns (29) Viktor Hovland (28) Cameron Young (28) Ludvig Aberg (26) Patrick Cantlay (33) Keegan Bradley (39) Harris English (36) Justin Thomas (32) Harry Hall (28)

The average age here is nearly 32. Thomas is about to start his 12th full season on Tour but a few on the list are even more tenured than him.

When you look at major winners of the past four years, none of them is a capital “Y” young player aside from a 25-year-old Scottie Scheffler winning the 2022 Masters.

It’s true that golf has traditionally favored those in the experienced-but-not-ancient age range. And there have been many time periods where the top 20 players skew even older than they are now.

But what I want to focus on here is the lack of young talent emerging.

You could maybe call players like Viktor Hovland and Cameron Young an “infusion of youth”—but these guys have been around for a relatively long time now. They are rapidly closing in on their 30s, a threshold for not being labeled “young” anymore (as this 33-year-old writer knows).

Yes, we do have world No. 15 Ludvig Aberg. He’s potentially a top player in the world at some point over the next five years and beyond. You can call him young (26) and extraordinarily talented although his last two seasons have been a little underwhelming relative to expectations and he has only contended once in his eight major appearances.

There are a few players well below him in the rankings—guys like Rasmus Hojgaard, Chris Gotterup and Akshay Bhatia—who have won and have potential.

But where are the young superstars?

Were we spoiled by Rory McIlroy’s brilliance? He won four majors before the age of 26.

Were we spoiled by Collin Morikawa quickly grabbing two majors right out of college? And by Spieth’s historic peak coming just two years out of college?

It’s starting to feel that way.

A theory on why there are fewer young stars

I have a theory.

First of all, players have more of an incentive to stay in school now. They can earn money in college. These programs are so good at developing players that guys are in a great spot if they stay in school for all four years.

There is just no reason to rush.

By the time a player leaves college, he’s already approaching 23. If it takes a year or two to make it on Tour, a lot of their youth has (rightfully) been spent on development instead of winning right away. They are looking at long-term growth instead of immediate rewards.

At the same time, a lot of the top veteran players are currently in their prime.

There were a ton of young star players a decade ago when players such as Thomas emerged as part of the Tiger influence. Now those guys have grown up and are taking oxygen away from the youth movement of today.

One final factor: the depth of today’s PGA Tour is ridiculous. It’s become increasingly difficult to get your Korn Ferry Tour card, let alone make a name for yourself on the big Tour.

With fewer Tour cards being made available, young players may have a harder time establishing themselves and getting the necessary experience to feel comfortable.

Anyway, that is just my theory. I don’t necessarily see this as a problem—having a veteran core has a lot of advantages—but I’m interested in how the game might be evolving away from young phenoms making noise.

Am I crazy? Let me know below in the comments.

Top Photo Caption: Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth are veterans now. (GETTY IMAGES/Douglas P. DeFelice)

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