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Arizona State's Preston Summerhays leads PGA Tour University preseason rankings for Class of 2025

cameron jourdan
·4-min read
Arizona State's Preston Summerhays leads PGA Tour University preseason rankings for Class of 2025

Fall is quickly approaching, which means college golf is right around the corner.

The 2024-25 season is almost upon us, as plenty of the best amateurs in the game will tee it up in search of a national championship. This season, the NCAA Championship returns to Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, California, where the Stanford women and Auburn men took home titles in May.

The new season also means new PGA Tour University rankings for the Class of 2025.

On Wednesday, PGA Tour U announced its preseason rankings for the Class of 2025. This will be the fifth year of PGA Tour U, with Michael Thorbjornsen finishing in the top spot last year and earning a PGA Tour card.

The preseason ranking includes players from 21 schools, and the four schools with two players are Arizona State, UCLA, North Carolina and Oklahoma. In all, the top 25 features players from eight countries: Cayman Islands, Germany, Mexico, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Thailand and the United States

In partnership with the World Amateur Golf Ranking, PGA Tour U ranks players based on the last two years of their collegiate careers. Eligible tournaments include NCAA Division I men’s team competitions, official PGA Tour tournaments and select DP World Tour events. The ranking period for the Class of 2025 began Week 23/2023 and concludes May 26, 2025, following the final round of stroke play at the NCAA D-I men’s national championship.

The PGA Tour U rankings do not include Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent, currently the top-ranked amateur in the world, because he already secured his PGA Tour card via PGA Tour Accelerated.

The No. 1 player in the final PGA Tour University Ranking next May will earn PGA Tour membership, while players Nos. 2-5 (fully exempt) and Nos. 6-10 (conditional) will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for 2025. Additionally, players Nos. 6-25 will earn fully exempt membership for the North America Swingof PGA Tour Americas in 2025.

Here's a look at the preseason rankings for the Class of 2025:

1. Preston Summerhays, Arizona State

Preston Summerhays plays a shot on the seventh hole during the first round of the 2023 World Wide Technology Championship at El Cardonal at Diamante in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico. (Photo: Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
Preston Summerhays plays a shot on the seventh hole during the first round of the 2023 World Wide Technology Championship at El Cardonal at Diamante in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico. (Photo: Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

Summerhays started his junior season with a win at the Sahalee Players Championship, which gave him an exemption into the PGA Tour’s Fortinet Championship the following week, where he made the cut and finished T-56. In the spring, he successfully defended his title at The Thunderbird Collegiate and went on to earn Golfweek second-team All-America honors. This summer, Summerhays finished T-2 at the European Amateur in Denmark, and the following week he helped the United States win the Palmer Cup in Ireland.

2. Omar Morales, UCLA

Amateur Omar Morales of Mexico stretches on the practice range during a practice round prior to the U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort on June 10, 2024 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Amateur Omar Morales of Mexico stretches on the practice range during a practice round prior to the U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort on June 10, 2024 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

Morales posted seven top 10s for the Bruins in 2023-24, including his second collegiate victory at the 2023 Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate. A native of Puebla, Mexico, Morales has qualified for the last two U.S. Opens, and he was runner-up at the 2024 Latin America Amateur Championship. At No. 13 in WAGR, Morales is the highest-ranked Latin player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

3. Brendan Valdes, Auburn

Brendan Valdes watches his tee shot on hole two during the round of 64 of the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills C.C. in Cherry Hills Village, Colo. on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. (Chris Keane/USGA)
Brendan Valdes watches his tee shot on hole two during the round of 64 of the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills C.C. in Cherry Hills Village, Colo. on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. (Chris Keane/USGA)

Valdes started his 2023-24 season with six consecutive top 10s and finished with nine, including a win at the Mossy Oak Collegiate and a runner-up finish at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional. At the NCAA Championship, he posted match play victories in the semifinals and finals to help the Tigers win their first NCAA Championship in program history. Valdes has qualified for the last two U.S. Opens, and he represented the United States at the 2024 Palmer Cup.

4. Calum Scott, Texas Tech

Leading amateur, Calum Scott of Scotland celebrates with the silver medal during day four of The 152nd Open championship at Royal Troon on July 21, 2024 in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Leading amateur, Calum Scott of Scotland celebrates with the silver medal during day four of The 152nd Open championship at Royal Troon on July 21, 2024 in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

This summer, Scott topped The Open Amateur Series based on his finishes in the St. Andrews Links Trophy (T-2), The Amateur Championship (T-5) and the European Amateur (4th), and that earned him a spot in The Open Championship. At Royal Troon, Scott was one of four amateurs to make the cut and he earned the Silver Medal as the low amateur (T-43). His junior season in Lubbock, Texas, included four top 10s, and his score counted in all 40 rounds for the Red Raiders.

5. Jackson Van Paris, Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt's Jackson Van Paris won the inaugural St. Andrews Links Collegiate on Tuesday. (Photo: Kevin Kirk)
Vanderbilt's Jackson Van Paris won the inaugural St. Andrews Links Collegiate on Tuesday. (Photo: Kevin Kirk)

A steady junior season featured six top-20 finishes, including a runner-up at the Mason Rudolph Championship, as Van Paris was named a Golfweek Honorable Mention All-American. He made his first PGA Tour start in March at the Puerto Rico Open, and he closed with an 8-under 64 to finish T-10. On the amateur circuit, Van Paris was runner-up at the 2024 North & South Amateur and he won the 2023 Sunnehanna Amateur.

Nos. 6-10

David Ford of the United States hits out of a fairway bunker on the sixth hole during the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Golf Course on March 08, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
David Ford of the United States hits out of a fairway bunker on the sixth hole during the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Golf Course on March 08, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

6. Jackson Buchanan, Illinois

7. David Ford, North Carolina

8. Ian Gilligan, Florida

9. Jose Luis Ballester Barrio, Arizona State

10. Phichaksn Maichon, Texas A&M

Nos. 11-25

11. Deven Patel, Virginia

12. Gray Albright, Florida State

13. Maxwell Ford, North Carolina

14. Stephen Campbell Jr, Oklahoma

15. Justin Hastings, San Diego State

16. Pablo Ereno Perez, UCLA

17. Algot Kleen, LSU

18. Nicholas Mathews, NC State

19. Andrew Goodman, Oklahoma

20. Sebastian Moss, Louisville

21. Tiger Christensen, Arizona

22. Zac Jones, BYU

23. Luke Sample, Duke

24. Nathan Franks, South Carolina

25. Jake Peacock, South Florida

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: ASU's Preston Summerhays leads PGA Tour University preseason rankings