While the top players were at the WGC-Cadillac at Doral, the journeymen and stars of tomorrow were playing in Puerto Rico.

Second-year professional Scott Brown, from South Carolina, got his first tour win and pocketed the $630,000 first-place check.

Brown earned his 2012 PGA Tour card by finishing eighth on the 2011 Web.com Tour. In 24 events last year, he missed 16 cuts. He did have three top-10 finishes, however, earned $478,000 and finished No. 148 on the tour’s money list.

This gave him conditional status and his playing options on the PGA Tour were limited for 2013.

That will all change now that he is a PGA Tour winner. He will have a two-year exemption and will be able to pick and choose what events he wants to enter.

How quickly fortunes can change for a 29-year-old professional golfer from Aiken, South Carolina.

Youth was showcased at the Puerto Rico Open. 19-year-old Jordan Spieth finished runner-up to Brown. Spieth is the only golfer other than Tiger Woods to have won the U.S. Junior Amateur multiple times.

He attended the University of Texas and was a member of the team that won the 2011 NCAA Division 1 Championship. He was a highly decorated amateur player and won low-amateur honors for the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic Club.

He turned professional at the end of 2012 and his success in Puerto Rico will go a long way in helping him earn his PGA Tour playing privileges for next year.

23-year-old Peter Uihlein is another youngster with no PGA Tour status that had an excellent showing in Puerto Rico. He shot four rounds of 67-65-72-67 for 17-under par and a T-6 finish.

Uihlein’s father is the CEO of the Acushnet Company that owns the Titleist brand.

He has been playing on the Challenge Tour in Europe and this was his best performance on the PGA Tour.

Even though the Puerto Rico Open is an opposite field event, it gives us a glimpse into what young players may reach the top of the PGA Tour.