Former child prodigy Vilips seals rapid PGA Tour rise

Australia's Karl Vilips has converted abundant promise and years of youthful toil into a rapid promotion to golf's biggest stage, the US PGA Tour.

Vilips, a 23-year-old Stanford University graduate, has played only 10 events on the secondary Korn Ferry Tour since turning pro in June.

Yet he emerged from the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship on Sunday with No.19 of the PGA Tour cards given to the top 30 on the season's points list.

Most of the work was long done after Vilips finished runner up in just his third tour event and then won the Utah Championship the next week after shooting 25 under.

Vilips' rounds of 75, 70, 71 and 70 left him tied 20th in the Tour Championship at French Lick resort in Indiana and now he's preparing for his rookie season on the PGA Tour in 2025.

While his rise from the Korn Ferry Tour was meteoric, Vilips' ascension to the PGA Tour has long been on the cards since his days as a child prodigy who won the US Kids World Championship twice at age seven and nine and the Callaway Junior Worlds at 10.

He studied in the US on scholarships since age 11 while building his golf game and, in a successful junior career, he won the 2017 Southern Amateur Championship while 15, and the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics gold medal.

He capped a strong college golf career by winning the Pac-12 Championship in May, a result which helped earned him partial Korn Ferry Tour status.

Vilips' Australian coach for the last four years has been Col Swatton, the mentor who helped Jason Day rise to world No.1.