2026 PGA Tour Sleepers
Hoey has been a bit of a late bloomer as it took him five years on the Korn Ferry Tour to graduate to the PGA Tour, and he's shown signs of elevating his game to having a breakthrough third season. The 30-year-old was lost on the greens for much of 2025, but he switched to a long putter to start the fall, and the change sparked four top-10s across seven events including a runner-up in Utah. The ball-striking numbers jumped off the page this season, as he and Scottie Scheffler were the only players on Tour to rank in the top 10 in SG: Off-the-Tee and Approach. He enters next year qualified for the first two Signature Events of the year, and I expect him to pick up his maiden win at some point throughout the campaign.
--Ryan Pohle
Maybe it's not right to call someone ranked No. 29 in the world a sleeper. But Penge is a virtual unknown to many U.S.-based golf fans. The Englishman will be on the PGA Tour for the first time, after being the best of 10 DP World Tour players granted dual membership after a banner season. Since ending 2024 ranked in the 400s of the OWGR, the 27-year-old Penge won three times, plus had a a runner-up and a solo third. It's fair to say the fields are weaker on the DP World Tour, but the runner-up was at the Scottish Open filled with
2026 PGA Tour Sleepers
Hoey has been a bit of a late bloomer as it took him five years on the Korn Ferry Tour to graduate to the PGA Tour, and he's shown signs of elevating his game to having a breakthrough third season. The 30-year-old was lost on the greens for much of 2025, but he switched to a long putter to start the fall, and the change sparked four top-10s across seven events including a runner-up in Utah. The ball-striking numbers jumped off the page this season, as he and Scottie Scheffler were the only players on Tour to rank in the top 10 in SG: Off-the-Tee and Approach. He enters next year qualified for the first two Signature Events of the year, and I expect him to pick up his maiden win at some point throughout the campaign.
--Ryan Pohle
Maybe it's not right to call someone ranked No. 29 in the world a sleeper. But Penge is a virtual unknown to many U.S.-based golf fans. The Englishman will be on the PGA Tour for the first time, after being the best of 10 DP World Tour players granted dual membership after a banner season. Since ending 2024 ranked in the 400s of the OWGR, the 27-year-old Penge won three times, plus had a a runner-up and a solo third. It's fair to say the fields are weaker on the DP World Tour, but the runner-up was at the Scottish Open filled with PGA Tour elites. He also tied for 28th at the PGA Championship. Penge more recently had a top-10 finish at Abu Dhabi in another stout field including Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Ludvig Aberg and Robert MacIntyre. The hardest adjustment for Penge may not be the golf, but acclimating to living and traveling in a different country.
--Len Hochberg
I think this might be unprecedented in the RotoWire Sleeper/Bust article history, but I'm going back to the same player I had this past year, which, as you might guess, means that Riley didn't exactly pan out the first time around. That said, he wasn't awful either, he was simply just about the same in 2025 as he was in 2024. That'll change in 2026, however. Riley started his career as a guy who played a lot and earned a lot of top-25s, but had few high-end finishes. The past two years he's relied on one big week each season, and lost his consistency. This year though, I think he's finds a balance and makes a run at East Lake
--Greg Vara
Landing atop the DP World Tour Top 10 to ultimately earn his PGA Tour card for the 2026 season, Penge won three times overseas in 2025, and he introduced himself to living rooms across the globe when he tied Rory McIlroy for runner-up honors at the Genesis Scottish Open in mid-July, which came just two months after Penge gained 10.9 strokes from tee to green en route to a T28 at the PGA Championship. Not only does Penge absolutely mash his driver off the tee, but the 27-year-old Englishman also ranked eighth on the DP World Tour in putts per GIR and 11th in GIR percentage this past season. On the strength of his finish behind only McIlroy in the Race to Dubai, Penge has already earned exemptions into the first two Signature Events of 2026, as well as THE PLAYERS Championship. So in addition to the majors later on, he harnesses access to several massive tournament purses right out of the gate, which is key for season-long fantasy purposes.
--Bryce Danielson
It was a very slow start to 2025 for the No. 1 player from the PGA Tour University Class of 2024. Once he figured things out, however, he was consistently putting his name on the leaderboard. Thorbjornsen racked up five top-10s and eight top-25s over his final 16 starts of the season, giving him some great momentum to go into 2026. Thorbjornsen's game is perfectly catered to modern day PGA Tour setups. He leads all players in total driving and ranks seventh in SG: Off-the-Tee. Thorbjornsen also led the Tour in GIR percentage. Those ball-striking numbers combined with his ability to pop the second half of the season with the putter was a big reason why he ranked eighth in birdie average. The last thing to come for most young players is the short game, but the rest of Thorbjornsen's bag has more than made up for it. This 24-year-old has superstar potential and it would be surprising if he didn't land his first PGA Tour win at some point in 2026. Thorbjornsen should also be in the mix for the Presidents Cup team if the U.S. side is serious about trying to develop young talent for the Ryder Cup.
--Ryan Andrade
2026 PGA Tour Busts
Kirk was locked into all the Signature Events this past season but that won't be the case next year, so he'll have the pressure to play well early on to continue to get in them. He's never been a long hitter, and when you combine that with struggling on the greens (153rd SG: Putting in 2025), it's easy to see the 40-year-old's best days are behind him. Kirk was able to win on shorter courses in 2023 and 2024, and almost made it three years in a row at the Rocket Classic but lost in a playoff. His solid summer might make some fantasy managers think there won't be a falloff just yet, but he also didn't record a top 10 until the end of June. I'll fade him in hopes of finding someone younger with more upside.
--Ryan Pohle
Remember the huge splash Clanton made when he arrived on the scene in 2024 while still an amateur playing at Florida State? Two runners-up and four top-10s in just eight starts. Ooh boy, just wait till 2025 when he turns pro! Well, 2025 arrived, and so did Clanton. But he didn't bring his A game to the PGA Tour. Or B or C game. In 18 starts, he missed seven cuts and managed only two top-25s. The most recent one came in March. When golf becomes a real job, things change. The weekly grind of travel sets in. It also doesn't help if you were ranked 160th in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and 148th in SG: Putting. After moving as high as 87th OWGR, Clanton is now well outside the top 150. The interesting thing was, his DraftKings prices and betting odds didn't truly reflect how bad he was playing. That's only a matter of time.
--Len Hochberg
I feel I need to clarify the term "bust" each year, as I'm often not looking for guys that will go in the tank, rather I'm looking for ones that won't perform nearly as well as they did the previous year. I don't expect Henley to play poorly this season, I just can't see him replicating his level from 2025. In his 13 years on the PGA Tour, Henley has never finished outside the top 100, most often landing inside the top 60, and his past two seasons have resulted in spots in the top 15 at season's end. That is great, he's a really good golfer, but he set the bar extremely high this past season, winning a Signature Event and over $14 million. He could still maintain a high level this season and not sniff those numbers, which is exactly what I'm expecting, a solid season, but nothing near what he did in 2025.
--Greg Vara
It feels uneasy to fade a seemingly rising 21-year-old that just paced the entire PGA Tour in driving distance on the way to likely winning Rookie of the Year honors, but Potgieter posted only four total top-25 results in 2025, and he either missed the cut or withdrew in 13 of 20 starts. Potgieter's spike-week ceiling flashed in a couple lesser events, as made evident by both his playoff loss at the Mexico Open and his playoff win at the Rocket Classic, but he struggled mightily on tougher tracks against stiffer competition. He's a fine putter and his power off the tee is an obvious advantage, but the rest of Potgieter's game really underwhelmed, ending the season ranked outside of the top-150 on Tour in each of GIR percentage, SG: Around-the-Green, proximity and scrambling.
--Bryce Danielson
Rose was an excellent story in 2025, nearly winning The Masters and then finally prevailing later in the season in the FedExCup Playoffs. He also made the Ryder Cup team for a seventh time at age 45 and finished 10th on the PGA Tour money list. A closer look at the numbers will tell a different story, however. Rose ranked 100th in SG: Total and 148th in scoring average. Things are going to revert to the mean in 2026, especially given his age and the fact that this isn't a Ryder Cup year.
--Ryan Andrade
