Doug Ghim hasn’t won on the PGA Tour, yet he ranks 2nd in greens in regulation and 13th in strokes gained total this season. His putting climbed from 177th on Tour in 2025 to 89th, and that jump explains why a good ball striker finally has results to match. As of September 30, 2026, Ghim sits 93rd in the FedExCup with seven Fall events left to protect his 2027 status.
Quick Answer: Doug Ghim is a 30-year-old American PGA Tour pro from Illinois who lives in Las Vegas. His career PGA Tour earnings total $9,571,665 with no wins. For live scores and this week’s tee times, the PGA Tour leaderboard beats any article, including this one.
Quick facts
Bio pages for tour pros disagree with each other more often than you’d expect, so each row names its source.
| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Born | April 16, 1996, Des Plaines, Illinois | Wikipedia |
| Age | 30 | PGA Tour |
| Grew up | Arlington Heights, Illinois | Wikipedia |
| High school | Buffalo Grove High School | Wikipedia |
| College | University of Texas, degree in government | Golf Monthly |
| Turned pro | 2018 | PGA Tour |
| Home | Las Vegas, Nevada | Wikipedia |
| Height | 5’9″ | PGA Tour |
| PGA Tour wins | 0 | PGA Tour |
| Best finish | 2nd, 2024 Shriners Children’s Open | NBC Sports |
| Career-high world ranking | 90th, November 3, 2024 | Wikipedia |
| World ranking now | 156th | PGA Tour |
| FedExCup rank | 93rd, 439 points | PGA Tour |
Height is the one row where sources split. Golf Monthly lists 5’7″ and the PGA Tour lists 5’9″, so this page goes with the Tour’s number.
Nationality, parents and the road from Arlington Heights
Ghim is American. He plays for the United States, grew up in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and graduated from Buffalo Grove High School. His parents, Jeff and Susan, each moved from South Korea to the United States at different times and met in Chicago, according to Golf Monthly. A US flag and a South Korean flag both sit in his Instagram bio.
Jeff picked up golf as an adult and taught young Doug with hundreds of hours of backyard drills into a tennis net, according to a 2017 U.S. Amateur report in the Houston Chronicle. Jeff later carried his son’s bag in the semifinal at Riviera. Golf Monthly calls Ghim’s swing self-taught.
Ghim won the 2011 Illinois State Junior Amateur, then went to the University of Texas and earned a degree in government.
Low amateur at Augusta and a 4-0 Walker Cup
Ghim’s amateur record explains why people expected more from his pro career. In 2017 he reached the final of the U.S. Amateur at Riviera and lost to Doc Redman in a playoff. That run earned him invitations to the 2018 Masters and U.S. Open.
He also won the 2017 Pacific Coast Amateur and went 4-0 at the 2017 Walker Cup. At the 2018 Masters he made multiple eagles, became the only amateur to make the cut, and finished tied for 50th at 8 over to take low amateur honors. That May he reached No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, and the Ben Hogan Award followed.
Ghim turned pro before the 2018 Travelers Championship. A 10-foot putt at the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Championship earned his first PGA Tour card, and he has made 115 cuts in 191 starts since. Zero wins understates him. A 13th-place rank in strokes gained total is a top-15 season by the best single measure of a player’s full game.
Doug Ghim’s 2026 stats
These are PGA Tour numbers through the Biltmore Championship Asheville on September 20, 2026. Strokes gained comes from 56 measured rounds.
| Stat | 2026 number | Tour rank | What it says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strokes gained: total | +0.999 | 13th | Gains about a full stroke a round on the field |
| Strokes gained: off the tee | +0.587 | 8th | His best weapon |
| Strokes gained: approach | +0.178 | 63rd | Above average, not elite |
| Strokes gained: around the green | +0.265 | 23rd | Short game holds steady |
| Strokes gained: putting | -0.031 | 89th | Near neutral, up from 177th in 2025 |
| Greens in regulation | 71.34% | 2nd | Hits more greens than every player but one |
| Proximity to hole | 34 ft 1 in | 5th | Approaches finish close |
| Driving distance | 306.4 yds | 74th | Long, not a bomber |
| Club head speed | 115.62 mph | 103rd | Ranks well below his distance rank |
| Driving accuracy | 64.60% | 28th | Keeps it in play more than most |
| Scoring average | 68.87 | 2nd | Raw, before course difficulty |
| Adjusted scoring average | 69.989 | 21st | Adjusted for course difficulty |
| One-putt percentage | 38.89% | 105th | Where the putter still lags |
Ghim’s game starts in the fairway. He gains 0.587 strokes a round off the tee, and from the fairway his approach shots finish 29 feet 7 inches from the hole on average, 8th on Tour. From the rough that number balloons to 48 feet, 107th.
That 18-foot gap is the most useful number on this page for your own game. On a tight hole, the club you can keep in the fairway beats the club that goes farthest.
Notice the gap between his 5th-ranked proximity and his 63rd-ranked strokes gained approach. Proximity doesn’t adjust for distance, and strokes gained does. My read: his driving leaves him shorter approaches than most players face, and proximity rewards that while strokes gained doesn’t.
His 68.87 scoring average ranks 2nd on Tour. Adjust for course difficulty and it becomes 69.989, good for 21st. Both rank well, and the 1.1-stroke difference shows his schedule ran easier than the Tour average.
Saturday is his soft spot. His third-round scoring average of 70.00 ranks 93rd, while his first-round average of 68.61 ranks 3rd and his second-round average of 68.39 ranks 6th. Fourteen rounds is a small sample, so watch Saturday before you call it a leak.
How the putter went from 177th to 89th
In 2025 Ghim ranked 10th on Tour in strokes gained tee to green and 177th in strokes gained putting, according to RotoWire. He closed that year with two top-15 finishes and started 2026 with conditional status. Now his putting sits at -0.031 strokes per round, 89th. Rick Gehman of the PGA Tour wrote on September 29 that the entire improvement over 2025 comes on the greens.
He still isn’t a good putter. He makes 88.6% of putts inside 10 feet (65th), 3.33% from beyond 25 feet (148th), and one-putts 38.89% of holes (105th).
With ball striking this good, average putting is enough to contend every week. Ghim’s closing 62 at the Biltmore Championship Asheville on September 20 is the low round of his 2026 season.
Distance without elite speed
Ghim averages 306.4 yards off the tee, 74th on Tour. His club head speed of 115.62 mph ranks 103rd. He ranks 29 spots higher in distance than in speed, and 16th in total driving.
Most golfers chase speed first. I’d chase contact first. A driver you hit in the middle of the face at a launch that fits the head does more for your carry than a couple of extra miles per hour you can’t repeat.
Check your own carry numbers against our golf club distance chart by skill level, then spend a range session on strike location before you touch your swing speed.
What’s in the bag
GolfWRX photographed Ghim’s clubs at the Wyndham Championship in early August 2026. Tour bags change often, so treat this as a snapshot.
| Club | Setup | Related 2026 number |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Titleist GTS2, 10 degrees, SureFit C1, Mitsubishi Diamana BB 63 TX | Distance 74th, club head speed 103rd, total driving 16th |
| 3-wood | Titleist GTS3, 15 degrees, SureFit D1, Diamana BB 73 TX | No 5-wood or hybrid between it and the 7-wood |
| 7-wood | Titleist GTS3, 21 degrees, SureFit D1, Diamana BB 73 TX | 36 ft 9 in proximity from 200 to 225 yards, 11th |
| Irons | Titleist T250 (4-iron), T100 (5 to 9), Project X Rifle 6.5 | Greens in regulation 71.34%, 2nd |
| Wedges | Vokey SM11 46-10F, 50-08F, 54-12D, WedgeWorks 60-L, Project X Rifle 6.5 | Scrambling from 20 to 30 yards 64.15%, 3rd |
| Putter | Scotty Cameron Phantom 9R Prototype | Strokes gained putting -0.031, 89th |
| Ball | Titleist Pro V1x | Club head speed 115.62 mph |
A 21-degree 7-wood behind a 15-degree 3-wood gives Ghim a high-launching option for long approaches, and he ranks 11th in proximity from 200 to 225 yards.
Ghim plays a Titleist Pro V1x, a firm tour ball that suits a 115 mph swing. If your speed sits well below that, our golf ball compression chart shows which ball fits.
The PGA Tour’s player page shows Titleist as his only partner. Golf Monthly’s March 2025 update also named Nike and MGM Resorts, so treat those two as unconfirmed for 2026.
This bag isn’t for everyone. Titleist T100 irons are compact players irons that punish off-center strikes, and a golfer who misses the middle of the face by half an inch will give up distance and direction on every miss. Don’t buy them because Ghim plays them.
Career earnings, season by season
Doug Ghim has earned $9,571,665 in official PGA Tour money across 191 starts, according to his PGA Tour profile as of September 30, 2026. His best season came in 2024 at $2,435,308, per Golf Monthly. This year he has $1,330,396 through 19 starts.
| Period | Official money | Source or note |
|---|---|---|
| 2019/20 | $187,442 | Golf Monthly |
| 2020/21 | $1,282,807 | Golf Monthly |
| 2021/22 | $1,347,458 | Golf Monthly |
| 2023 | $1,437,263 | Golf Monthly |
| 2024 | $2,435,308 | Golf Monthly, his best season |
| 2025 and unlisted events | $1,550,991 | Career total minus every other row |
| 2026 so far | $1,330,396 | PGA Tour, 19 starts |
| Career | $9,571,665 | PGA Tour, 191 starts |
Across his career that works out to about $50,100 per start and $83,200 per made cut. In 2026 the figures climb to $70,021 per start and $95,028 per made cut. Official money counts prize money only and leaves out endorsements.
Both of Ghim’s 2026 top-10s were ties for sixth. He and Jeffrey Kang finished at 27 under at the Zurich Classic, worth $185,250 to Ghim, and a 17-under 267 at the John Deere Classic paid him $297,000. His lowest round on Tour is a 60 at the 2025 RSM Classic.
Why every net worth number is a guess
Nobody has verified Ghim’s net worth. Celebs Lives estimates $1 million to $5 million, and SurpriseSports says $4 million. Neither shows a calculation.
Prize money and net worth are different things. Golf News Net reported in April 2026 that the standard caddie split runs 5% of winnings for a made cut, 7% for a top 10 and 10% for a win, and TheStreet put weekly base pay between $1,500 and $4,000. At a flat 5%, Ghim’s $1,330,396 in 2026 winnings would cost about $66,500 in caddie pay before the weekly base. His actual deal isn’t public, so treat that math as an illustration.
Tour pros pay their own travel, lodging and staff, and they owe tax on the rest. Ghim lives in Las Vegas, where Nevada charges no state income tax, but other states tax what he earns inside their borders.
I’d ignore any net worth figure for a tour pro that doesn’t show its work. The $9,571,665 is real, but it’s gross prize money, and it leaves out endorsement income that only Ghim and his sponsors can see.
What Ghim is playing for this fall
The PGA Tour’s groupings for Thursday, October 1, have Ghim playing with Peter Malnati and Vince Whaley in the opening round of the Bank of Utah Championship at Black Desert Resort in Ivins, Utah. Live strokes belong on the PGA Tour leaderboard, which updates shot by shot. A static page can’t.
He sits 93rd in the FedExCup with 439 points, and a top-100 finish after the RSM Classic in November keeps full status for 2027, according to the PGA Tour. Seven Fall events remain, including this week’s. Ghim has finished in the top 20 in five of his last seven starts, and Gehman’s column counts 22.1 strokes gained tee to green across his last 12 rounds.
Quick answers
How much has Doug Ghim earned in his PGA Tour career?
His PGA Tour profile shows $9,571,665 in official money across 191 starts as of September 30, 2026. That covers prize money only.
What is Doug Ghim’s net worth?
No verified figure exists. Public estimates run from $1 million to $5 million, and none shows its math.
Is Doug Ghim married?
Nothing public confirms a marriage as of September 30, 2026. Golf Monthly’s 2025 profile said he was dating his girlfriend, and her name stays out of this article because she isn’t a public figure.
What is Doug Ghim’s nationality?
American. Ghim is an Illinois native who plays for the United States, and both of his parents moved to the country from South Korea.
Where did Doug Ghim go to high school?
Buffalo Grove High School in Illinois, before he moved on to the University of Texas.
Has Doug Ghim won on the PGA Tour?
Not yet. His best finish is second, one shot behind J.T. Poston at the 2024 Shriners Children’s Open.
What clubs does Doug Ghim play?
Titleist woods, irons and wedges, a Scotty Cameron putter and a Pro V1x ball, per GolfWRX’s photos from August 2026.
Who are Doug Ghim’s parents?
Jeff and Susan Ghim, who each moved from South Korea to the United States and met in Chicago. Jeff taught his son the game in the backyard.
Where Ghim goes from here
Doug Ghim’s fall hinges on fairways and putting. He wins strokes off the tee and with his irons, and his putter now costs him almost nothing. Keep both steady and he holds his card. Track your own fairway hits and approach lengths for a month, then match the miss to a fix in our golf problems and solutions guide.