Destined for greatness, Michael Thorbjornsen earns PGA TOUR card

Michael Thorbjornsen has seemed destined for this.

His accomplishments have been impressive, his gifts apparent. For years, the PGA TOUR has seemed like a logical conclusion.

His mother Sandra was a college golfer and his father Thorbjorn, an engineer who became enthralled with the science of the swing, became his coach. Their son showed preternatural ability as a toddler, won a Drive, Chip & Putt title at Augusta National and then the U.S. Junior at another major venue, Baltusrol Golf Club; he beat a future PGA TOUR winner, Akshay Bhatia, in the final match. Five years ago, he made a U.S. Open cut at Pebble Beach, the second-youngest to do so since World War II. And he contended at a PGA TOUR event two years ago while not eligible to collect the prize money for his fourth-place finish.

The success was fueled by physical attributes that fit the modern mold for success. He possesses the combination of distance and accuracy that offers an advantage over the competition from the outset of each hole. He was described as “fearless, long and flat-out good” by longtime TOUR caddie Paul Tesori, who was in Thorbjornsen’s group when he finished fourth at the 2022 Travelers.

But, even for those who seem predestined for the PGA TOUR, the road is rarely easy. The start of Thorbjornsen’s professional career will come just months after he was briefly bedridden while healing from ankle surgery and a stress fracture in his back, an injury that threatened the PGA TOUR card that had seemed his destiny for years.

“(Golf) is like life, basically,” Thorbjornsen said. “There’s so many different outcomes and possibilities out there, and you just have to take it. Whatever shot you hit, whether it’s in the water or on the green, you have to move on to the next one.”

Thorbjornsen is just the second player to earn a PGA TOUR card by finishing No. 1 in PGA TOUR University. He is guaranteed PGA TOUR status for the remainder of 2024 and all of the following year.

“I’ve been waiting for this my whole life,” he said.

Ludvig Åberg set a high standard for PGA TOUR U’s top player. The Swede was the trailblazer out of Texas Tech, the first to earn a path directly from college to the TOUR. His accomplishments have exceeded even the most optimistic projections. He already is the fourth-ranked player in the world, with wins on the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour and a spot on a victorious Ryder Cup team. He was runner-up in his major championship debut at this year’s Masters and finished T12at last week’s U.S. Open.

Thorbjornsen will begin his career with similar acclaim, having already finished in the top 20 in four events on the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour. Like Åberg, the driver is his calling card. “I’ve always enjoyed hitting it,” Thorbjornsen said of the club that sets him apart from his competition.

“When he’s on, there’s not many guys who can drive it better than him that have ever played, and I don’t say that lightly,” said Stanford head coach Conrad Ray, a collegiate teammate of Tiger Woods.

Thorbjornsen is the rare high-speed player who holds the club with a 10-finger grip. His swing has been shaped by his father, who became intrigued by the game when cable came to his hometown of Elverum, Norway, and started playing after a course was built nearby on land that had been cleared by a forest fire. Thorbjorn taught himself the swing and his quantitative mind complements his son’s athleticism.

“He … trusts me because I do the analytical part and he obviously is much better at executing than I am,” said Thorbjorn.

Thorbjornsen was less than a year old when he tucked a full-length club under his right arm and struck a golf ball by turning his torso. He first met Tiger Woods when he was invited to Atlanta as the top player in his age group for U.S. Kids Golf. The trip included a visit to the TOUR Championship, where Woods tossed Thorbjornsen a golf ball. It was adoration for Woods that inspired Thorbjornsen to attend Stanford. Their most recent interaction came at a TaylorMade media day about 18 months ago.

“You forget your name when you … go shake his hand,” Thorbjornsen said. “He said good playing, keep it up. So that right there is enough motivation.”

Thorbjornsen was last year’s Pac-12 Golfer of the Year after winning the conference championship and is a former winner of the Western Amateur, considered the second-biggest prize in amateur golf. His other collegiate victory came at Olympia Fields outside Chicago, a former venue for the U.S. Open and BMW Championship.

He has a game built for big courses, and big tournaments.

Thorbjornsen finished T20 at the 2023 Hero Dubai Desert Classic, one of the DP World Tour’s premiere events, after sharing the 36-hole lead. He finished 11th in the same event this year, his first tournament after being sidelined last fall.

His best result against the pros came in the same tournament where he is making his pro debut this week. As a native of Massachusetts and a resume that made him one of golf’s top prospects, he was a sensible candidate for a sponsor exemption into New England’s annual PGA TOUR event.

What happened next surpassed expectations, though. Thorbjornsen, then a 20-year-old who’d just completed his sophomore season at Stanford, shot 68-65-66 in the first three rounds to sit in seventh place, six shots behind leader Xander Schauffele. Thorbjornsen played a six-hole stretch in the middle of his round in 6-under par to get within one shot of the lead, eventually finishing fourth, four shots behind Schauffele. It was the second-best finish by an amateur in a PGA TOUR event since 2000.

“Stressful situations don’t seem to affect him as much as other players,” said Ray.

Thorbjornsen ranked sixth in both Driving Distance (310.4 yards) and Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (+4.56) that week, while also riding a hot putter. He gained nearly 10 strokes on the greens that week, leading the field.

Thorbjornsen resisted the temptation to turn pro. He was a first-team All-American in his final two seasons for Stanford, but the pain from a scooter crash during his sophomore year progressively worsened, as well. An X-ray last summer revealed a stress fracture in his back, forcing him to miss his final U.S. Amateur and the United States’ victory in last year’s Walker Cup at St. Andrews.

With the injury forcing him to rest, it also was an opportune time to have surgery on a loose bone and a tendon in his left ankle. He was bedridden for the first two weeks following surgery, then in a back brace and walking boot. He had to wait nearly two months before he could begin rehab for his back injury.

“He obviously, short-term, (was) devastated,” father Thorbjorn said. “And then you always think when you have these type of injuries, …'Will I ever come back? Maybe my body's not made for golf.’ And you ask yourself such questions.”

A gifted young athlete was forced to not only confront his athletic mortality but also watch as a PGA TOUR card potentially slipped from his grasp. Georgia Tech’s Christo Lamprecht, after making the cut at The Open over the summer, had a strong fall to supplant Thorbjornsen atop PGA TOUR U’s ranking.

Thorbjornsen had a strong comeback in Dubai, and then won his third collegiate start of the season. He was runner-up in his following two events, as well. Top-10 finishes at the Pac-12 Championship and NCAA Regional virtually locked up the No. 1 spot and ensuing playing privileges. His TOUR card became official when Lamprecht withdrew after the first round of the NCAA Championship.

Looking back, Thorbjorsen recognizes the benefits of the adversity that preceded his PGA TOUR card. It showed him the time and effort that a golfer must spend on his greatest asset, his body, and gave him time to work on his short game.

“I just have to recognize how lucky I am that I’m playing golf and golf is now my career,” Thorbjornsen said.

His moment is finally here.