Peter Uihlein has been a standout performer since his junior golfing days. He was named AJGA Player of the Year in both 2005 and 2007. He was a member of the 2009 Walker Cup team and won the 2010 U.S. Amateur.

After he won the 2011 Ben Hogan Award as the best collegiate golfer in the nation, he decided to turn professional.   

In 2012, he joined the European Tour’s Challenge Tour and it became a learning experience for the 22-year-old.

He made 13 cuts in his 15 Challenge Tour starts, had six top-10 finishes, but only earned €61,000.

Everything changed last year when he earned full membership to the European Tour by winning the co-sanctioned 2013 Madeira Islands Open in May.

He went on to collect eight top-10 finishes, earn €1.3 million and finish No. 14 on the Race to Dubai. He was named the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year on the European Tour and moved up to No. 65 in the world golf rankings.

His goal for next year is to move inside the Top 50 in the world, which would give him access to the World Golf Championship events, plus invitations to the Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship and the PGA Championship.

Prize money from these eight events could earn him enough to gain membership onto the PGA Tour or at least give him sponsor’s exemptions into PGA Tour events.

Uihlein has seen the world, played golf in some amazing locales and learned how to win on a major tour.

We will be seeing a lot more of young Mr. Uihlein in 2014.