Golf is just like any sport and is always on the lookout for its next big talent and we might well have found it in the form of Chinese sensation, Zhou Yanhan.
In a world of emerging golf stars, it’s always interesting to keep an eye on what is happening around the world.
As we know, Tom McKibbin won in Hong Kong this week and at 22, he is very much in the category of young up and coming golfer.
On the PGA Tour side of things, we see players like Akshay Bhatia, Aldrich Potgieter and Tom Kim all emerging as potential superstars.
However, over on the China Tour, we might have a young star emerging who could end up eclipsing them all in the form of 17-year-old, Zhou Yanhan.
Zhou Yanhan makes golfing history as he wins on the China Tour again
Winning any professional golf event is hard enough. Whether it be a PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LIV Golf, Asia Tour or anything else, winning is tough.
On the China Tour, though, we are seeing the emergence of a potential golfing superstar who is already leaving a huge mark on the sport.
Zhou Yanhan has now won nine events on the China Tour by the age of 17 after he won the Hongyun Lang Wanning Open this weekend.
Indeed, while the China Tour may not be as high profile as the rest, they are still events recognised by the OWGR and sitting in 352nd ahead of the tournament, Yanhan is now expected to climb towards the top 300.
For reference on just how impressive this is, Tiger Woods didn’t win on the PGA Tour until he was 20, while the last teenager to win on the PGA side of things was Jordan Spieth back in 2013, when he won the John Deere Classic as a 19-year-old.
Yanhan has now won four times in 2025, adding to the three events he won in 2024.
The youngest ever winners of a professional golf tournament
There have been some young winners in golf over the history of the sport and Zhou Yanhan is right up there in terms of being the very youngest.
However, he doesn’t quite get the honour, which instead goes to Atthaya Thitikul, who won the Ladies European Thailand Open as a 14-year-old.
Ryo Ishikawa also won on the men’s Japan Tour as a 15-year-old but beyond that, Yanhan is next in line.
The youngest PGA Tour winner is widely accepted to be Charles Kocsis who won the 1931 Michigan Open as an 18-year-old.
In terms of the majors, Old Tom Morris is said to have won The Open at just 17, while in the women’s game, Lydia Ko won the 2015 Evian as an 18-year-old as well.
For now, we’ll be keeping a close eye on Yanhan and if he can make it ten wins before he turns 18, then we might just have the next golf superstar emerging from China.
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