When the first tee shot in the Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship was struck at TPC Myrtle Beach in February 2016, the goal was simple: to make the tournament one of the best junior events in America.
With Johnson’s backing, the DJ World Junior quickly met its goal, but even the event’s most ardent supporters couldn’t have envisioned how quickly it would prove to be a showcase for a new generation of stars. As we prepare for the 10th annual DJ World Junior, here are some of the 54-hole tournament’s most prominent alums.
A junior prodigy who turned pro right out of high school, Akshay Bhatia (top photo) went from DJ World Junior winner to PGA Tour champion in just four years. He is now a two-time Tour winner and ranked No. 31 in the world. The lefty is regarded as one of the game’s rising stars and could find himself on the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team at Bethpage.
The 2021 DJ World Junior champ, Nick Dunlap’s (pictured right) ascent was faster than Bhatia’s. Playing on a sponsor exemption, Dunlap, then a player at the University of Alabama, stunned the golf world by winning the 2024 American Express Championship as an amateur. He turned pro last summer and validated his AmEx win with a triumph at the Barracuda Championship, an opposite field event. Dunlap is currently ranked 33rd in the world.
Alexa Pano (pictured right with Bhatia), who won the girls tournament in 2018 and 2019, is the event’s only two-time champion, and in 2023 she became the first DJ alum to win on the LPGA Tour, capturing the ISPS Handa World Invitational.
Luke Clanton, currently a junior at Florida State, never won the DJ but he had three top 10 finishes, and he is on the verge of earning his PGA Tour card. Clanton played in eight Tour events in 2024, recording four top 10s, including a pair of runner-up finishes. Despite being an amateur who has only played a handful of events, Clanton is currently ranked No. 93 in the world.
Jacob Bridgeman earned his card in 2024 and recorded 10 top 25s in 27 events, earning a return to the world’s best golf tour in 2025.
While those are the most prominent DJ alums carving out a spot for themselves in the professional game, they are hardly alone. Expect to see 2023 DJ World Junior champion Jackson Koivun, currently a sophomore at Auburn, on the tour as early as next year because he is likely to earn his card via the PGA Tour U program this year.
LIV Golf also plucked a pair of former DJ players – David Puig and Caleb Surratt – in its attempts to bring young talent to the breakaway circuit.
With the 10th annual DJ World Junior, which will again be played at TPC Myrtle Beach, just weeks away, the only certainty is that there will be future stars in the field.
