Karl Vilips
Australian professional golfer (born 2001)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Karl Vilips (born 16 August 2001) is an Australian professional golfer and PGA Tour player. He won the 2025 Puerto Rico Open.[1]
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Australia| Karl Vilips | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Personal information | |||
| Nickname | Koala Karl | ||
| Born | 16 August 2001 Jakarta, Indonesia | ||
| Sporting nationality | Australia | ||
| Residence | Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. | ||
| Career | |||
| College | Stanford University | ||
| Turned professional | 2024 | ||
| Current tour | PGA Tour | ||
| Former tour | Korn Ferry Tour | ||
| Professional wins | 2 | ||
| Number of wins by tour | |||
| PGA Tour | 1 | ||
| Korn Ferry Tour | 1 | ||
| Best results in major championships | |||
| Masters Tournament | DNP | ||
| PGA Championship | CUT: 2025 | ||
| U.S. Open | CUT: 2023 | ||
| The Open Championship | DNP | ||
| Achievements and awards | |||
| |||
Medal record | |||
Amateur career
Vilips played for the international team at the 2017 Junior Presidents Cup. He represented Australia at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires together with Grace Kim, and won the boy's individual gold.[2]
Individually, he won the 2017 Southern Amateur and was runner-up at the 2019 Rolex Tournament of Champions, the 2020 Junior Players Championship and the 2023 North and South Amateur.[2]
Vilips attended Stanford University between 2021 and 2024, and played with the Stanford Cardinal men's golf team. He was named to the 2021 All-Pac-12 Newcomer Team and 2023 All-America honorable mention. He won the Pac-12 Championship as a senior.[3]
Professional career
Vilips turned professional after graduating in 2024 and joined the Korn Ferry Tour, where he was runner-up at the NV5 Invitational and won the Utah Championship.[4] He was named as the Korn Ferry Tour Rookie of the Year for the 2024 season.[5]
Vilips finished 19th in the rankings to graduate to the 2025 PGA Tour. In his rookie PGA Tour season he won the Puerto Rico Open, three strokes ahead of Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, in only his fourth start.[6]
Personal life
Vilips' father, Paul, has a YouTube channel which documented Karl's journey as a golfer since he was age 7. Hence Vilips is known as the "original YouTube golfer". Vilips gave credit to the YouTube channel for his success, as it helped fundraise him to participate in many junior golf tournaments as a kid, which resulted in him getting golf scholarships which propelled him to success in professional golf.[7]
Amateur wins
- 2016 Junior Orange Bowl International
- 2017 Polo Golf Junior Classic, Southern Amateur
- 2018 Wyndham Invitational
- 2024 Pac-12 Championship
Source:[2]
Professional wins (2)
PGA Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 Mar 2025 | Puerto Rico Open | 65-67-66-64=262 | −26 | 3 strokes |  Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen |
Korn Ferry Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 May 2024 | Utah Championship | 67-62-64-66=259 | −25 | 2 strokes |  Matt McCarty, Joe Weiler |
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | |||
| PGA Championship | CUT | ||
| U.S. Open | CUT | ||
| The Open Championship |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
Results in The Players Championship
| Tournament | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | CUT | CUT |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
Team appearances
Amateur
- Junior Presidents Cup (representing the International team): 2017
- Summer Youth Olympics mixed team (representing Australia): 2018