Meet the 7-year-old Australian golfer who could play in the FedEx St. Jude Championship one day
Memphis' annual PGA Tour event − which may or may not still be going by its current name, the FedEx St. Jude Championship − is still going strong. Leading the field is Riaan Ayoobi, a young Australian with a pure stroke and an unbridled love of the game.
It's a poetic, full-circle moment for Riaan. A pseudo-homecoming of sorts. Because, in 2025, then 7 years old, Riaan saw his first PGA Tour event in person at TPC Southwind. Already an accomplished youth golfer, Riaan's visit to Memphis with his mother and father only further cultivated his already ambitious dreams of professional golf stardom.
Of course, it's impossible to forecast whether things will play out that way for Riaan. But for everything the FedEx St. Jude Championship stands for (locally, nationally and globally), it also gives youngsters like Riaan a tangible connection to the game − one that could serve as a spark. Or, one that could illustrate to them a reasonable bridge from where they are to where they want to be.
"I love it, because it's fun," Riaan said Aug. 8.
With his father, Shadab, by his side by the 18th green, Riaan told stories of the golfers he met the day before. Scottie Scheffler. Tommy Fleetwood. Rickie Fowler. Fellow Australians Jason Day, Cam Davis and Min Woo Lee.
A true student of the game, Riaan proudly proclaimed that Scheffler, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player are his four favorites. Riaan posed for a photo at Scottie Scheffler's Chicken Shack − the "Happy Gilmore 2"-themed concession stand.
In all, he rubbed elbows with more than 50 of the 69 golfers in Memphis this week. The only reason Riaan made the trip to the Bluff City is because he and his family were already in the United States for the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship, a tournament that was played at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.
Riaan, who is a member of Yarra Yarra Golf Club in Victoria, placed 44th out of 105 at the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship. He placed 22nd at the same event in 2024. He has a 33-handicap and has developed a voracious appetite for the game.
One that has been plenty satiated during his time in Memphis. His father says Riaan is on the course "morning to evening" every Saturday and Sunday. But Shadab isn't quite ready to start picturing his young son playing among the greats down the road.
"I don't know, it depends on him and how he does as he gets older," said Shadab. "He has that setup, that support around him, but I don't know, when he's 14, what he does."
But, undoubtedly like many of the kids who show up in Memphis each year, Riaan is full of confidence that it will be him aiming for birdies at TPC Southwind eventually.
"I started playing when I was maybe 3 (years old) with plastic clubs around the house," he said. "I'm having so much fun. I will be back."
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com, follow him @munzly on X.
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