When 2024 began, Karl Vilips was in college. Now, he’s on the PGA Tour.
In between, he graduated from Stanford, dominated the Korn Ferry Tour and advanced to the highest level of professional golf. How he did so earned him Korn Ferry Tour Rookie of the Year honors, it was announced Wednesday.
Vilips, 23, turned pro after a No. 10 finish in the 2024 PGA Tour University Ranking. He started playing on PGA Tour Americas, making two starts before his Korn Ferry Tour debut in July on a sponsor exemption at The Ascendant. Vilips held conditional Korn Ferry Tour membership, played his way into The Ascendant with a runner-up finish in the Korn Ferry Tour member division of a qualifying tournament, through which the event awarded four of its five sponsor exemptions.
He then posted back-to-back top-25s in his first two Korn Ferry Tour starts, followed by a runner-up finish at the NV5 Invitational and a win at the Utah Championship. The Australian won the Utah Championship at 22 years, 11 months, and 19 days of age, making him the second-youngest winner on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024, only behind South African Aldrich Potgieter. Vilips and Potgieter were the only rookie winners on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024, in addition to being the only Korn Ferry Tour rookies who earned PGA Tour membership for the 2025 season.
Vilips made 10 starts as a rookie and finished No. 19 on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour points list. Vilips tallied seven top-25s in his 10 starts.
