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Australia’s newest PGA Tour player Danny List’s journey is like no other, in fact, it is so remarkable that Tiger Woods stood up and took notice.
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The 26-year-old will make his debut on the leading US tour at The Genesis Invitational this week, starting in the early hours of Friday morning Australian time, as the recipient of the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption.
Sifford was the first African-American to play on the PGA Tour and every year since 2009, Woods has hand-picked a player who embodies diversity within golf like Sifford, for a potentially life-changing opportunity in the $US20 million event organised by the Tiger Woods Foundation.
Although, a good showing from List at Torrey Pines would be life-changing for not just him, but roughly 40 golf-keen children in Ghana.
List was born in Georgia in the United States, to an Australian father and a Ghanaian mother.
But he was raised in the capital of Ghana, Accra, on the African west coast, and was the only child in the area to swing a golf club.
The local course he grew up at, Achimota Golf Club, had sand greens, fairways that were more scrub than grass and there was no driving range for practice.
“Looking back on it, it seems a bit more unrealistic than it did to me back then,” List said.
“When I see the facilities where I grew up and learned on, there was no driving range, they’ve built one now, and the greens out there were probably running at a three or so on the stimpmeter.
“It definitely was not conducive to excelling at the game of golf.
“It was probably a case of ignorance is bliss.”
Those obstacles never bothered List however, and since he has made it to the professional ranks, his heart has been set on helping the new wave of golf-loving children in Ghana.
He set up the Danny List Foundation and is using his own jet-setting golfing journey as a vehicle to support their dreams.
“We’re involved with about 40 kids at the moment,” he proudly said.
“Whether we give coaching or a equipment to, and we have a few kids that are a bit older and getting to the age where they’re looking to get exposure, and get scholarships over to the US.
“We’re sending them over to England to get some more experience in their summer breaks.”
With such outstanding charity work, it is little wonder that List was Woods’ choice for this year.
It is quite a symbolic moment for List as Woods’ playoff victory at the 2008 US Open at the iconic San Diego venue is one of his earliest memories of watching golf growing up.
Any other year and he would not be teeing it up at Torrey Pines, the catastrophic California wildfires forced the tournament away from its usual home of Rivieria in Los Angeles.
He also may not have been there if not for an irregular move.
“I was actually just doing a bit of practice on the driving range. I was about to fly over to South Africa. Get a call from an unknown number, anyone who knows me knows I’ve never picked those up,” List said with a laugh.
“But yeah, for some reason, something told me I should probably answer this one. And fortunately I did.
“I was told that Tiger’s decided to give me the spot in the field. And, you know, just hearing the words like, oh, Tiger’s chosen you to play was a pinch me moment.”
During the practice days, List caught up with Min Woo Lee, who he knows well from his days in Perth, as well as rubbing shoulders with Adam Scott and Jason Day.
He spent countless hours at Cottesloe Golf Club honing his craft as young man, and stayed connected with Golf Australia’s national programs as he globe trotted.
In Western Australia, he even worked with Ritchie Smith, who coaches Lee and his two-time major winning sister Minjee, as well as world number six Hannah Green.
LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 12: Danny List of Australia is interviewed prior to The Genesis Invitational 2025 at Torrey Pines Golf Course on February 12, 2025 in La Jolla, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)Source: Getty ImagesIt was a difficult decision to choose which flag would sit next to his name on leaderboards, but Australia won out as the opportunities available in the sport in his father’s nation proved too enticing.
“I wish I could represent two countries at the same time, Australia and Ghana,” List said.
“I feel like my golf in Australia was where I could get a really good taste of what competition golf and proper conditions are like. Learning how to play in the wind among other things.
“I feel like Australia’s perfect conditions for any golf course. You can keep the greens fast, it can be windy. The climate is just conducive to having good golf courses, which it does.”
List also spent plenty of time in England and the United States.
As a teenager, he left Ghana to attend boarding school in Surrey after shooting an even par round to claim a winner takes all competition for a scholarship at Wellington College.
Homesickness was a challenge, but his game flourished, winning the European Junior Championship as a 14-year-old and winning England’s national high school championship in back-to-back years.
After high school, List headed back to the country of his birth to attend the University of Washington in Seattle, but opted to turn professional after one year.
It was in 2018 that he took the professional plunge, and List has grinded away ever since.
The world No. 1056 took starts on the PGA Tour of Australasia, PGA Tour Latinoamerica, PGA Tour Canada and Korn Ferry Tour where he could, but his big breakthrough came last year, six years into his professional career.
Two rounds of 63, including one on the final day, across the gruelling six-round DP World Tour qualifying school earned him his card for the formerly named European Tour this year.
It has been somewhat of a mixed start, on the secondary Challenge Tour, he produced a third-place finish at a tournament in South Africa earlier this month.
But he missed the cut at each of the Australian PGA Championship, the Australian Open, the Mauritius Open and the Qatar Masters.
In the first two rounds of his maiden PGA Tour appearance, List will play alongside Michael Kim, who finished tied second at last week’s WM Phoenix Open, and J. J. Spaun, who was the recipient of the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption in 2016 and is a PGA Tour winner, at the Valero Texas Open in 2022.
List is eager to test how his game compares to his playing partners and the many PGA Tour stars in action this week, and he believes he belongs at the level.
“Confidence is good. I’ve not really had the chance to stack my game up against some of these guys yet, but I like to tell myself I am a Tour player,” List said.
“I earned my spot on the DP World Tour, so I like to manage the nerves by telling myself I belong here, which I believe I do.”
