Say hello to the European Challenge Tour, Qualifying School and Global Amateur Pathway rookie graduates looking to make an impact at Royal Queensland Golf Club.
A new season brings with it new events and new courses but most excitingly of all for golf fans, new players.
The DP World Tour offers many pathways to elite golf and the chance to be crowned Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year, with this year's crop of new stars looking certain to make a splash.
Here, we pick out ten new boys for you to keep an eye on as the season gets under way at the BMW Australian PGA Championship.
Oliver Lindell
Country: Finland
Age: 26
Pathway: Third on 2024 Road to Mallorca
A player who dominated junior golf in his homeland, Lindell made serene progress into the senior game, topping the ECCO Tour Rankings and finishing second on the Nordic Golf League Rankings in 2016 to earn his place on the European Challenge Tour. Recorded six top tens in his rookie season but only five in the next six years before enjoying a breakout in 2024. After a slow start to the season, he finished second at the Danish Golf Challenge and arrives in Australia off the back of eight consecutive top tens and four consecutive top fives including two runner-up finishes. He is still looking for a first win in a European Tour group event but it does not look to be far away.
Angel Ayora
Country: Spain
Age: 20
Pathway: Fourth on 2024 Road to Mallorca
Ayora turned professional after the 2023 Eisenhower Trophy and quickly made an impact, finishing in a tie for 21st on his professional DP World Tour debut at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open and a tie for 12th on his professional Challenge Tour debut at the SDC Open. A PGA TOUR debut would come as he made the cut at the Puerto Rico Open but it was on the Challenge Tour where he continued to shine. He registered three top tens before lifting the trophy at the Rosa Challenge Tour and finished the season with runner-up finishes at the Hangzhou Open and Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by the R&A to bring momentum into his maiden DP World Tour campaign.
Joel Moscatel
Country: Spain
Age: 26
Pathway: Tenth on 2024 Road to Mallorca
After turning professional in 2020, Moscatel played three seasons on the Alps Tour with a best finish of second before earning full Challenge Tour playing privileges by making the cut at the 2023 Qualifying School. He made a slow start to the campaign before registering a top ten in the UAE and following that with a first professional win at the Challenge de España. Another top ten followed in Denmark and just over a month later he was a winner once more and, although he could not claim the third annual triumph that would have earned him early promotion, he comfortably secured his card.
Pierre Pineau
Country: France
Age: 25
Pathway: 20th on 2024 Road to Mallorca
Another player to come from the Alps Tour, Pineau burst onto the scene in 2022 when he won the Challenge Tour's Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos while playing on an invite. Had a disappointing 2023 on the Challenge Tour but showed his promise in some early season DP World Tour events, finishing tenth at this tournament and 11th at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open. A picture of consistency in 2024, he made 24 Challenge Tour cuts in 28 events with eight top tens and while a slow finish to the season threatened his promotion chances, he held on for a DP World Tour card.
Alexander George Frances
Country: Denmark
Age: 27
Pathway: Fifth at Qualifying School Final Stage
Won the Danish National Stroke Play Championship in 2018, beating out Oliver Hundebøll and Hamish Brown who both finished in the top ten, while still studying at the University of Houston. Became a regular on the Nordic Golf League after turning professional, claiming two wins in the space of a month in 2023 as he narrowly missed out on a Challenge Tour card. Another two wins in 2024 saw him get his place on the Challenge Tour but he did not need it as he bookended Final Stage with rounds of 65 to take the fifth card.
Ryggs Johnston
Country: United States
Age: 24
Pathway: Eighth at Qualifying School Final Stage
A native of Montana, Johnston spent five years at Arizona State University, helping the Sun Devils to the Pac-12 title this year. Turned professional shortly after and competed on the PGA Tour Americas where he recorded a top-five finish at the Centreport Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open. He then came through all three stages of Q School, with a final three rounds of 65-65-67 helping him take the eighth card.
Corey Shaun
Country: United States
Age: 28
Pathway: 14th at Qualifying School Final Stage
After playing collegiate golf at UCLA, Shaun played in China, Canada - where he won the Forme Open at TPC River's Bend - and on the Korn Ferry Tour before making a second trip to the Qualifying School off the back of five missed cuts this summer. He lost a play-off at Second Stage but got into Final Stage as second alternate, admitting that had he been third alternate he probably would have headed back to the US from Spain. His patience paid off as he shot five rounds out of six in the 60s at INFINITUM to take the 14th card.
Danny List
Country: Australia
Age: 26
Pathway: 18th at Qualifying School Final Stage
Another player to come through all three stages of Q School, List - who plays under the Australian flag of his father - was raised in his mother's homeland of Ghana playing on courses where he admits "the greens would probably be likened to some pretty dodgy fairways in most of the world". He headed first to the UK and then the University of Washington, with injures interrupting much of his professional career so far, but he won the California State Open this year and a closing round of 63, a score he matched in round two, saw him come through Final Stage. List also has a foundation in Ghana, a charitable organisation that runs youth programmes, encourages player development and does community outreach work.
Jacob Skov Olesen
Country: Denmark
Age: 25
Pathway: 21st at Qualifying School Final Stage
Probably the best-known name on this list, Olesen became the first Dane to win The Amateur Championship this summer. He then made the cut at The Open, finished fifth at the Danish Golf Championship and made the cut at the Omega European Masters, all while still an amateur. As long as he kept his amateur status, he would play at the 2025 Masters, so he admitted he felt little pressure when he arrived at Final Stage searching for a card. The pressure looked to be on in the last round as he stumbled to a 73 but he graduated on the number and enters this week in the paid ranks, having surrendered his trip down Magnolia Lane.
Wenyi Ding
Country: China
Age: 20
Pathway: First on the Global Amateur Pathway Rankings
Regarded as a prodigious talent in the amateur game, Ding is no stranger to the DP World Tour, having made five appearances in 2023. He was playing at Arizona State University before leaving his studies to enter the GAP Rankings and quickly established himself at the summit with the help of victory at the illustrious Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, a third win of 2024. Turned professional after being assured of his card and finished 11th at the Hangzhou Open on the Challenge Tour in his paid debut, 12 months after finishing third at the Hainan Open in his first Challenge Tour appearance as an amateur.
