For the first time, golf’s greatest tour is coming to town for the inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic. While many of the game’s most prominent names will be playing at the Wells Fargo Championship, quality players and great stories abound.

As you gear up to attend, watch or follow the PGA TOUR’s Myrtle Beach Classic online, here are 20 (out of many) players you will want to pay special attention to.

● Matt Atkins earned a spot in the field by winning “The Q at Myrtle Beach,” but he isn’t a novelty act. He has made 25 PGA TOUR starts and is a past champion on the Korn Ferry Tour. He finished T38 at the Tour’s RSM Classic in November of 2023, so he is worth keeping an eye on.

● If you like to watch someone bomb the ball, make sure you are following Cameron Champ. A three-time Tour winner, Champ has struggled in 2024 but maybe this is the week he rediscovers his game.

● One of the stars of the hit Netflix series “Full Swing,” Joel Dahmen will be in search of his second career Tour victory at the Myrtle Beach Classic, and he will presumably be a fan favorite.

● Brandt Snedeker (pictured right) is a 9-time PGA Tour champion and by reputation one of the best putters in the world. Unfortunately, Snedeker was sidelined for nine months by a mysterious (and painful sounding) sternum injury, and he has struggled since his return 11 months ago. Is this the week Snedeker, who has 10 top 10 finishes in the majors, regains the form that helped him make two Ryder Cup teams?

● A three-time PGA Tour winner, Jhonattan Vegas has battled an elbow injury but a top 25 at the Corales Puntacana Championship may hint at better days in the Venezuelan’s future.

● Daniel Berger was on the fast track to stardom before being derailed by a back injury. Will this be the week the 4-time Tour winner and 2021 Ryder Cup team member rejoins the winner’s circle? After a T13 last week at the CJ Cup, where he posted three 67s and a 66, Berger may be poised for a breakthrough.

● Sixteen-year-old Blades Brown is on the short list of the world’s best junior golfers, and he is a player to watch. This kid has the look of a future star and the talent to turn into one of the week’s biggest stories.

● Charley Hoffman’s name is likely a familiar one. Hoffman’s once famous mullet is gone but he has two top 5s in 2024, including a runner-up finish at the WM Phoenix Open. He is hoping for win No. 5 this weekend.

● George Bryan, who fell agonizingly short of winning “The Q at Myrtle Beach,” is much more than a YouTube sensation. George was a three-time All-American at the University of South Carolina, and he made the cut in his only PGA Tour event at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

● Wesley Bryan, George’s brother, is a former PGA Tour winner and the runner-up Corales Puntacana Championship. Wesley should attract a nice gallery and could contend, despite missing the cut at last week’s CJ Cup. (George and Wesley Bryan pictured right)

● Bill Haas is a six-time PGA Tour winner and the 2011 FedEx Cup champ. He has a pair of top 10 finishes in the majors and his family owns a home in Pawleys Island, making him one of several players with ties to the area. Haas has struggled in recent years, but with 312 career cuts made and a T18 in Puntacana, perhaps he is ready to contend again.

● Michael Kim is a one-time Tour winner and one of golf’s best social media follows (go to X and follow him now). With a pair of top 15s in his last two starts, here is to hoping this Cal Berkeley alum is on the top page of leaderboard Sunday.

● The Ryder Cup is one of golf’s premier events and Robert MacIntyre helped the Euro’s rout team USA last September. A two-time DP World Tour champion, MacIntyre is looking to triumph on American soil.

● Second-year Tour player Justin Suh has struggled mightily this year but had four top 10s in 2023 and has the look of a future winner. If you can’t tell, we believe Suh will regain his form at some point.

● If you are looking for fireworks in the sometimes staid world of golf, follow Alejandro Tosti, a rookie who has game and a reputation for volatility (check out this piece from the Monday Q!).

● South African Erik Van Royen has won each of the last two years on Tour. Will he extend his streak to three at the Dunes Club?

● Kevin Kisner,(pictured right) a native South Carolinian, has drawn acclaim for his work in NBC’s broadcast booth but he hopes his play this week will earn him camera time in Myrtle Beach.

● Morgan Deneen is an assistant pro at the Dunes Club (yes, that’s the course the tournament is being played on), so he knows the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design better than anyone. The former Coastal Carolina walk-on turned star is a long shot to make the cut, but this is an underdog story worth monitoring.

● The highest ranked player in the field is Ryan Fox, who is No. 57 in the OWGR. If Fox’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he was on the first page of the Masters leaderboard in the opening rounds. While the New Zealander may not be a household name here in the States, he has 17 career wins around the world.

● In 2021 Ben Griffin, burned out from the mini tour experience, got a job as a loan officer. By the end of the year, he rediscovered his passion for the pro game and earned his PGA Tour card in 2023. Following a strong rookie season, he has made 10 cuts in 14 events this year and could contend.

Not every golfer playing in the Myrtle Beach Classic is a household name, but there are 38 former Tour winners in the field and a bunch of players hungry for their first, so expect quality action and plenty of engaging storylines to emerge.

(Top photo Dunes Golf & Beach Club by Golf Tourism Solutions)