Franks Ranked No. 24 in Preseason PGA TOUR U Rankings

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Rising senior Nathan Franks debuted at No. 24 in the PGA TOUR University’s preseason rankings for the class of 2025 on Wednesday the organization announced. A 2024 PING All-Southeast Region selection, Franks is coming off the best season of his career in 2023-24.

He logged a 70.86 scoring average in seven stroke play starts with the first two wins of his career as well at the Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate (Feb. 3-4 and the Schenkel Invitational (March 15-17). The Roebuck, S.C., native missed the team’s next four tournaments due to injury and returned for the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional (Mary 13-15). He paced Carolina with a T-12^th finish at 1-under for the tournament. Franks rose 15 spots up the leaderboard in the final round thanks to a 66 (-6). He was bogey free at 8-under with two holes to play before catching a pair of tough breaks the final finishing holes.

As a sophomore in 2022-23, Franks led the Gamecocks with a 71.97 scoring average. He had a trio of top-five finishes in 11 stroke play starts highlighted by a T-4^th finish at the 2023 General Hackler Championship.

Franks, an accounting major, has also excelled in the classroom earning All-America Scholar Recognition from the Golf Coaches Association of America the last two seasons. He has appeared on the SEC Academic Honor Roll three times and earned Academic All-District honors from College Sports Communicators in 2022-23.

In partnership with the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®), PGA TOUR U ranks players based on the last two years of their collegiate careers. Eligible Tournaments include NCAA Division-I men’s team competitions, official PGA TOUR tournaments and select DP World Tour events. The Ranking Period for the Class of 2025 began Week 23/2023 and concludes May 26, 2025, following the final round of stroke play at the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf NCAA Championship.

The No. 1 player in the final PGA TOUR University Ranking next May will earn PGA TOUR membership, while players Nos. 2-5 (fully exempt) and Nos. 6-10 (conditional) will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for 2025. Additionally, players Nos. 6-25 will earn fully exempt membership for the North America Swing of PGA TOUR Americas in 2025.

Since the first class graduated in June 2021, 16 PGA TOUR University alumni have combined for 24 professional victories. After finishing No. 1 in the Class of 2023, Texas Tech’s Ludvig Åberg became the first PGA TOUR University graduate to earn immediate membership on the PGA TOUR, and in his first year as a professional, he posted two wins worldwide and represented Europe at the 2023 Ryder Cup. Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen earned his PGA TOUR card by finishing No. 1 in the Class of 2024, and in his third pro start, he finished T2 at the John Deere Classic

All-American Ryan Hall (2018-22), who currently competes on the Korn Ferry Tour, finished No. 11 in the final PGA TOUR U rankings in 2022.

PGA TOUR University Preseason Ranking

Class of 2025

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