‘Thunder Cub’ Michael Thorbjornsen Tracking To Be Golf’s Next Big Shot

If Michael Thorbjornsen were a thermometer, his current read out would be deliriously feverish. To be expected in the aftermath of recording the best finish by an amateur in a PGA Tour event in six years.

In late June the New Englander whipped the crowds at TPC River Highlands in to a frenzy when he ushered in a 20-foot birdie midway through the final round at the Travelers Championship to pull within a stroke of eventual winner Xander Schauffele. The collegiate star wasn’t quite ready for his Disney movie moment (Phil Mickelson was the last amateur to win a PGA Tour event back in 1991) though and would slide to a still not too shabby solo fourth-place showing.

Had he been a pro, the Stanford standout would have collected a check for $406,700 for his efforts, a thought that would certainly not be lost on Thorbjornsen as he ascended the leaderboard, but he has a very healthy perspective about it.

“I’m an amateur player and I know what I’m getting myself into. If I do play well, I know I’m not making any money and secondly in golf I’m not really playing for the money. I’m playing to win. I’m playing to be great. I’m playing so people know who Michael Thorbjornsen is, that I’m on the come-up and these guys should watch out for me in the next few years,” Thorbjornsen explains.

But it’s not like Thorbjornsen has yet to cash in at all on his growing cachet. He signed an NIL deal with Whoop, the Boston based fitness wearables company whose roster of golf ambassadors also includes Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and the Korda sisters, Nelly and Jessica.

He credits the Whoop strap’s sleep coaching feature for helping him log quality z’s and optimize his tournament preparedness.

“How I approach each and every day has changed, especially when it comes to sleep. I don’t want to wake up and see a poor sleep score and have my mindset of that day change so I’m trying to get to bed earlier,” Thorbjornsen says.

“I feel sleep is probably the most important thing for recovery and getting ready for the next day,” he adds.

Michael has been steadily rising up on the radar of those who track golf’s most promising pro prospects. The amateur’s enviable trophy haul includes the winner’s hardware for the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur, the 2021 Western Amateur and the 2021 Massachusetts Amateur where the young gun nailed twelve birdies on his opening 18 holes and then tied Brae Burn Country Club’s course record the second day of the tourney.

Growing up with a surname that snuggles a Norse God up to a bear, you better be able to summon power off the tee. ‘Thunder Cub,’ a nickname he picked up during his IMG Academy days, averaged 311.3 yards in driving distance over the six rounds he’s played on the PGA Tour this year. That tally would be good enough to crack the pro rank’s top twenty so he certainly isn’t lacking in the distance department.

Asked to pick the club in his bag that’s as trusty as his namesake Thor’s hammer in the Marvel comics and movies he doesn’t hesitate to choose the big stick.

“My Mjölnir is probably my driver because I feel very confident with it. I’m not the longest hitter out there but I’m above average when it comes to distance and being able to put it in the fairway a little past everyone else definitely helps to set up for a nice birdie. Once you hit the fairway off the tee it just makes the hole a lot easier,” Thorbjornsen says.

A dedicated student of the game who realizes he still has a lot to learn, Thorbjornsen is very attuned to the tips and guidance his mentors dish out. Some of the most poignant advice he’s received of late came from Collin Morikawa, one of his favorite players on tour, while they were playing a practice round together at the U.S. Open at Brookline.

“On hole No. 5 I asked him ‘what is one thing I can do to get better because I’ll do it, just tell me what it is and I’ll do it’,” Thorbjornsen relates.

Rather than just drop some inspirational pablum, Morikawa ruminated on the question and gave it careful consideration before offering up an answer.

Later during that round he told him he should acclimate himself to playing with PGA Tour players in order to elevate his comfort levels around them. He advised Thorbjornsen to get used to playing with the players he admires and looks up to the most, ostensibly to purge the nerves and any potential awkwardness from that equation.

“Play with them and get comfortable so that nothing out there will really bother, shock or make me nervous. I took that to heart and took that same mentality to the Travelers and got pretty comfortable out there. I may have lost a little bit of focus that last day but I’m still learning and that’s definitely one piece of advice that I’m always going to remember,” Thorbjornsen says.

The tools are certainly there for Thorbjornsen to find success and achieve his dreams at the next level whenever he decides to make that leap and turn pro, but there’s still plenty to learn as he continues climbing the amateur ranks.