Two of Australia’s most promising golfing talents have arrived on the sport’s biggest tours, earning promotion on the same day.
Karl Vilips completed a rapid-fire rise to the PGA Tour for 2025 while Cassie Porter earned a card to play the LPGA Tour next year.
Both Vilips and Porter clinched promotion on Monday (AEDT) via their respective US secondary tours following the season-ending tour championships, having shot up the rankings with mid-year victories.
Vilips, a 23-year-old Stanford University graduate and former child prodigy, has played only 10 events on the Korn Ferry Tour since turning pro in June.
Porter, 22, graduated in her second season on the Epson Tour, having turned pro at age 18.
“I am really struggling to believe it,” said Porter after securing the 10th of 15 available LPGA Tour cards. “I have dreamed about this since I was a little girl.”
Vilips emerged from the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in Indiana with the 19th of the PGA Tour cards given to the top 30 on the season’s points list.
Most of his work was done well beforehand as he finished runner-up in 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.
His ascension to the PGA Tour has long been on the cards. He won the US Kids World Championship twice, at age seven and nine, and the Callaway Junior Worlds at age 10.
Vilips 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 the partial Korn Ferry Tour status he quickly parlayed into much more.
Vilips’ Australian coach for the last four years has been Col Swatton, the mentor who helped Jason Day rise to world No.1.
Porter won the Epson Tour’s FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Michigan in June and had three top-10 finishes.
She finished tied 17th in the Tour Championship at Indian Wells, enough to climb one spot in the standings and crack the top 10 on the points list.
She was excited to join the burgeoning ranks of Australians on the main tour.
“They have paved such an amazing path for all of us,” said Porter. “All we want to do is follow in their footsteps.
“Hannah, Minjee, Gracie (Kim), Steph (Kyriacou) …and Gaby (Ruffels) winning three times on the Epson Tour last year, they are all amazing role models.”
