Across 29 DP World Tour events so far in the 2026 season, we have had 13 first-time winners, with those players accounting for 15 victories in total.
From David Puig in the season-opener to Stefano Mazzoli last time out, via mutiple winners and veterans breaking through, the DP World Tour's first-time winner's class of 2026 has a bit of everything.
Let's get to know them all a little better.
David Puig
Age: 24
Win: BMW Australian PGA Championship
Race to Dubai Ranking: 24
Ever since he made the cut at his home open as a 19-year-old amateur in 2021, the Spaniard has been on many people's radar and he has quietly gone from strength to strength ever since.
He made the cut on his Major debut at the 2023 U.S. Open and the following year registered back-to-back top fives on the Back 9 at the Open de España and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Two more top fives followed in the Middle East early in 2025 and, now becoming a Club de Campo Villa de Madrid specialist, Puig once again finished in the top ten at his home event.
His first 14 events had shown stellar potential and in his 15th at November's BMW Australian PGA Championship it all came to fruition as he followed in the footsteps of the great Seve Ballesteros to become just the second Spaniard to win the Kirkwood Cup.
The 24-year-old then registered two top tens in Dubai and a top 20 at the US PGA Championship represents his best Major finish to date.
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
Age: 27
Win: Crown Australian Open
Race to Dubai Ranking: 34
The Dane's breakout victory felt like it was a long time coming, which is astonishing considering it occurred in just his 42nd start.
The 2024 Road to Mallorca champion was winless on the 2025 Race to Dubai, yet he very much announced himself as a player to watch at the top of leaderboards, notching 11 top‑ten finishes before breaking through in the early stages of this season.
Neergaard‑Petersen spent 2025 establishing himself as one of the most polished rookies on the DP World Tour. His consistency kept him in the mix at several big events, and one of his standout moments came at the DP World Tour Championship, where he earned a place in the final group alongside Rory McIlroy. Though his late push - picking up five shots in his final five holes - saw him come up just short of winning the title, the composure he showed under Sunday pressure underlined just how quickly he was adapting to elite company.
His performance at Royal Melbourne at the Crown Australian Open then showcased the full breadth of his development as he held off Major winner and home hero Cam Smith to take a one-shot victory.
Since then he has made his Masters debut, finished in the top ten at The Open and a good finish to the season on the PGA TOUR could still see him make the FedEx Cup play-offs.
Jayden Schaper
Age: 25
Wins: Alfred Dunhill Championship, AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open
Race to Dubai Ranking: 6
Schaper’s rise from promising South African talent to genuine DP World Tour star saw him finally reach his potential in impressive style on the Opening Swing.
He collected nine top tens from 27 starts on the 2025 season as he truly established himself on Tour but the 2026 campaign has seen him take things to another level.
After years of knocking on the door, he finally claimed a maiden victory at the 2026 Alfred Dunhill Championship, producing a chip‑in birdie at the 16th and an eagle at the first extra hole to defeat defending champion Shaun Norris.
That victory unlocked something deeper: a surge of belief that carried him to another play-off triumph just a week later at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, where he holed out for eagle on the second extra hole to secure back‑to‑back wins and close out the year as one of the Tour’s most in‑form players.
2026 has brought a best Rolex Series finish wth a top five in Dubai and debuts at the US PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship and he is well on course to secure dual membership with the PGA TOUR.
Freddy Schott
Age: 25
Win: Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship
Race to Dubai Ranking: 30
They say that if at first you don't succeed, try try again and that is particularly apt for Schott.
Despite being just 24, it feels like the German has been around a while and that is because it is fair to say he has taken the scenic route to the top.
Coming from the same Düsseldorfer Golf Club as fellow DP World Tour star and good friend Marcel Siem, the six-time DP World Tour winner acted as a mentor to the teenage Schott and even had him caddie for him on Tour.
Schott turned professional in 2021 after some regional amateur success and won his first professional event on the ProGolf Tour at the FaberExposize Gelpenberg Open that same year.
His second victory came on the HotelPlanner Tour at the Frederikshavn Challenge - Presented by HESSEL as he finished ninth on the 2022 Road to Mallorca to earn his way onto the DP World Tour.
He lost his card in his rookie season but gained it straight back as he won Qualifying School Final Stage and while he once again failed to keep his playing privileges in 2024, two top tens in limited starts in 2025 saw him secure his card for 2026.
And he took full advantage in February, defeating Calum Hill and Patrick Reed in a play-off to win the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship for his first DP World Tour title.
He has since claimed one further top five at the Volvo China Open.
Casey Jarvis
Age: 23
Wins: Magical Kenya Open presented by absa, Investec South African Open Championship
Race to Dubai Ranking: 4
Another South African youngster and another player to have claimed two wins back-to-back, Jarvis is having an outstanding 2026.
He is the only amateur in history to win South Africa’s ‘Triple Crown’, the South African Amateur, SA Amateur Stroke play, and The African Amateur and was amateurgolf.com’s Men’s Player of the Year in 2020 aged just 17.
In April 2023 he equalled the lowest round on the Sunshine Tour, with a 59 at Dainfairn. He finished seventh in the season-long order of merit and was awarded rookie of the year for 2022/23.
The following year he graduated from the HotelPlanner Tour and after two solid seasons, he claimed his maiden DP World Tour victory in February with the help of a birdie-eagle finish at the Magcial Kenya Open presented by absa.
A week later, he won his second DP World Tour title on home soil at the Investec South African Open Championship - a result that earned him qualification for both the Masters Tournament and The Open Championship in 2026.
Incredibly he almost made it three in a row, finishing in a tie for second at the Joburg Open and while he has understandably struggled to maintain those remarkably high levels, debuts at the Masters and US PGA Championship have been followed by a tie for sixth at his maiden Open Championship - a best Major result.
Like Schaper, he looks certain to be playing internationally next season as a dual member.
Alex Fitzpatrick
Age: 27
Win: Hero Indian Open
Race to Dubai Ranking: 19
After a spell in the shadow of Major and Ryder Cup-winning brother Matt, the younger Fitzpatrick sibling has truly come into his own in 2026.
He made his professional debut at the 2022 Irish Open and the following season won the HotelPlanner Tour's British Challenge as he also finished high enough on the Race to Dubai to earn full playing privileges.
His first two seasons on Tour brought multiple top tens as he made the Play-Offs and in March of this year he claimed that first DP World Tour win at the Hero Indian Open.
Just weeks later he won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside Matt as the duo became the first pair of brothers to win on the PGA TOUR.
That secured him dual membership and he has since claimed four further top tens in the United States and currently sits 19th on both the Race to Dubai and FedEx Cup standings.
He made his debut in the US PGA Championship and U.S. Open in 2026 and will now be looking to earn an invite to the Masters to complete his Major set.
Mikael Lindberg
Age: 33
Win: Turkish Airlines Open
Race to Dubai Ranking: 15
The Swede's career may have been a slow burn but he is certainly making up for lost time in 2026.
He turned professional in 2013 but enjoyed only limited success on the Nordic Golf League until 2020 when he topped its Order of Merit with three wins.
A graduate of the HotelPlanner Tour in 2022, he could not keep his card in his maiden season but once again gained promotion in 2024.
This time he would stick around, with three top tens even helping him make the Play-Offs in the 2025 season.
After making his first seven cuts of the 2026 season and finishing third in China, his maiden win came at the Turkish Airlines Open, a victory that also helped him win the Asian Swing and earn a Major debut at the US PGA Championship.
Yurav Premlall
Age: 23
Win: Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship
Race to Dubai Ranking: 47
Rookie Premlall did not have a DP World Tour top ten to his name when he turned up at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship but everybody knew his name by Sunday night.
Long considered a prospect in South African golf, he lifted the Freddie Tait Cup as the leading amateur in his national open in 2021, the same year he also won the Nedbank Junior Challenge at the venue.
A winner on the Sunshine Tour for the first time in 2024 as he earned his place on the DP World Tour, he was 157th on the Race to Dubai when he arrived in Spain but changed his life in four days.
He was barely threatening the leaderboard after an opening 70 but went 64-63-63 to finish at 28 under and win by 14 shots, a DP World Tour record outside of the Major Championships.
He has not regiestered a top 25 since but will now be eager to make it all the way to season finale in Dubai.
Kota Kaneko
Age: 23
Win: Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol
Race to Dubai Ranking: 17
Another rookie to earn his card for 2026 via the DP World Tour's alliance with tours from around the world, Kaneko won the Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol in May.
He turned professional in 2020 and quickly made his way through the ranks in his homeland before winning twice on the Japan Golf Tour in 2025 to top the Order of Merit.
Made his first eight cuts including a top ten in Türkiye and then followed a Major debut at the US PGA Championship with a runner-up finish at the Soudal Open.
A week later he went one better in the mountains and headed into the summer break off the back of a debut in The Open Championship.
In the top 20 on the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World, he will now be hoping to emulate countrymen Ryo Hisatsune, Rikuya Hoshino and Keita Nakajima in earning dual membership.
Michael Hollick
Age: 39
Win: BMW International Open
Race to Dubai Ranking: 29
As a 38-year-old rookie, Hollick was already one of the stories of the season before he lifted the trophy at the BMW International Open.
Raised on a golfing estate, the game was in his blood from an early age and he won his first Sunshine Tour event in 2015, although nine years outside the top 50 on the Order of Merit would follow.
During that time he took up coaching as he took half a step back from the game but a win at the 2024 Zimbabwe Open would change everything.
He won again that season, claiming the final DP World tour card available and started this season with three top tens in his first four events, including one at the Crown Austalian Open that earned him a Major debut at The Open.
His form dropped off but returned in spectacular style in Munich as he became a first-time DP World Tour winner at the age of 39.
Tom Kim
Age: 24
Win: Genesis Scottish Open
Race to Dubai Ranking: NA
Tom Kim made his name at the Genesis Scottish Open and his victory in East Lothian earlier this month saw him come full circle.
After success on the Korean and Asian Tours, Kim’s third-place finish at The Renaissance Club four years ago truly announced him on the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR stage and within 15 months he was a three-time PGA TOUR winner, Presidents Cup player and on the cusp of the top ten in the world.
Fast forward to June 2026 and he was outside the top 150 with just two top tens across 2025 and 2026.
Then all of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, came a third-place finish at the U.S. Open and now he is a Rolex Series champion.
Steven Fisk
Age: 29
Win: ISCO Championship
Race to Dubai Ranking: NA
Fisk became a winner in just his fourth DP World Tour start as he won the ISCO Championship in a play-off.
He was a prolific winner for Georgia Southern University before turning professional in 2019 after the Walker Cup, playing most of his golf on the Canada Tour before moving to the Korn Ferry Tour.
A win at the Club Car Championship in 2024 helped him progress to the PGA TOUR where he won the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2025.
And his win at the third extra hole against Taylor Pendrith at Hurstbourne Country Club means he now has wins on the PGA and DP World Tours.
Stefano Mazzoli
Age: 29
Win: Corales Puntacana Championship
Race to Dubai Ranking: 39
The Italian impressed in the amateur ranks with the highlight coming in 2015 when he won the European Amateur Championship.
Four years later, he turned professional, picking up three victories in as many years on the Alps Tour before graduating to the HotelPlanner Tour in 2022. Since then, his results have continued to improve year-on-year.
In 2023 he finished 130th on the Road to Mallorca, in 2024 he finished 50th as he also scooped the Rookie of the Year Award on the Asian Tour, and then in 2025 he secured promotion to the DP World Tour by finishing eighth. He was a model of consistency throughout, incredibly making 21 of 22 cuts including eight top tens to book his place on Golf’s Global Tour via the HotelPlanner Tour.
Won his first DP World Tour title at the Corales Puntacana Championship in July 2026, a victory that earned him PGA TOUR playing privileges through to the end of 2027.
