Players to watch in 2017

Where’s the Beef? In 2017, he’s on the PGA Tour. The 27-year-old, happy-go-lucky Englishman with the infectious smile and bovine nickname earned his card through his finish in the Web.com Tour Finals. He’s already chalked up a win on the European Tour and a top-10 finish in The Open, and he’s hungry for more success.

Not familiar with Park? She’s No. 10 in the Rolex Rankings, the only member of the top 10 who didn’t play primarily on the LPGA Tour in 2016. She was the leading money winner on the Korean LPGA Tour and made only seven starts in the U.S. LPGA. In those seven starts, though, the 23-year-old earned almost $700,000, enough to gain her entry into most 2017 events.

One of only five players to win the NCAA Div. 1 individual championship and U.S. Amateur in the same year, the 23-year-old former SMU star isn’t afraid to be different. And with his all-the-same-length irons and Matt Kuchar-meets-Sam Snead sidesaddle putting stroke, make no mistake - he IS different.

Still only 20, the Englishwoman is entering her fifth year as a pro. She was rookie of the year on the Ladies European Tour in 2013, the same year she became the youngest player in the history of the Solheim Cup. More recently, she won this year’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

The latest in the line of outstanding players from Spain, Rahm, 22, played collegiately at Arizona State, where he won 11 tournaments. He turned pro after the 2016 U.S. Open, and in his first event as a pro, the Quicken Loans National, he held or shared the lead for the first two rounds and wound up finishing third. For the season, he earned enough to secure his PGA Tour card.

Ciganda, 26, hails from Pamplona, the Spanish town famous for the running of the bulls. Ciganda’s game has been bullish since 2012, when she led the money list and was named rookie of the year and player of the year on the Ladies European Tour. In 2016 she won two LPGA events - the KEB Hana Bank Championship and the Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

Can’t quite place Hatton? He’s the guy who tied the St. Andrews Old Course record of 62 in October. He did it in the third round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on his way to his first win in the big leagues. The 25-year-old Englishman also had two top-10 finishes in 2016 majors - a T-5 in The Open and a T-10 in the PGA.

The daughter of a Korean mother and a Japanese father, Nomura grew up in Seoul until she graduated from high school. In 2011 she chose to take Japanese nationality. Nomura earned her first two LPGA victories in 2016, holding off Lydia Ko to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open by three shots, then crusing to a four-shot win in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.

South African Stone, 23, has been quick to make an impression. In his freshman year at the University of Texas, he won three times. In January 2016, making only his second start as a full member of the European Tour, he won the South African Open. In December, he added another win - by six strokes - in the Alfred Dunhill Championship.

One of the latest teen phenoms to play her way onto the LPGA tour is Nasa Hataoka. Hataoka, who will turn 18 on Jan. 13, tied for 14th in the LPGA’s final qualifying in Daytona Beach, Fla., which was good enough for a 2017 card. Hataoka won the Japan Women’s Open in October at age 17, becoming the youngest winner in the championship’s history.

With three European Tour wins, a fourth-pace finish in the Olympics and a 4-1-0 Ryder Cup record, the 24-year-old Belgian is one of the brightest stars on the golf horizon. At 6-foot-5, 187 pounds, he could be the Dustin Johnson of the European Tour.

Ewart Shadoff’s 2016 season could be regarded as a breakthrough in every category but one: The 28-year-old Englishwoman is still looking for her first win as a pro. But she had LPGA career bests in scoring average (70.86), earnings ($593,296) and cuts made (25 of 26).

At 28, Jamie Lovemark is borderline for being an “up-and-coming young talent.” But he does have talent. He has won twice on the Web.com Tour, once in 2010 and once in 2013.

Alison Lee’s most memorable moment in the LPGA has been, unfortunately, her involvement in “Gimmee-gate” in the 2015 Solheim Cup. She was the one who picked up the ball thinking her putt had been conceded by the Europeans, but it hadn’t. Lee is still looking for her first LPGA win, but she is only 21.

Along with his brother George, Wesley Bryan makes trick-shot videos. That’s all well and good, but Bryan, 26, can play, too. In 2016 he won three times on the Web.com Tour, earning an immediate promotion to the PGA Tour. At the end of the season, he was named Web.com Tour Player of the Year.