Woods’ battle for No. 1 among top storylines
This week’s Sony Open in Hawaii is the PGA Tour’s first fullfield event of 2020 and a starting point for what shapes up to be a memorable and demanding season.
Tiger Woods will look to defend his emotional win at the Masters in April. The annual trip to Augusta National Golf Club kicks off a major championship season that also will include Phil Mickelson’s return to Winged Foot at age 50, seeking to win the U.S. Open and avenge his crushing defeat there on the 72nd hole in 2006.
The PGA Tour’s wraparound schedule actually kicked off in September and included a dramatic comeback by the U.S. team last month at the President’s Cup in Australia. But the biggest events still remain for the sport’s world elite. They include the Olympics July 30-Aug. 2 in Tokyo and the Ryder Cup Sept. 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
Here are five storylines to keep an eye on going forward:
1. Tiger’s chase
Tiger Woods tied Sam Snead’s record 82 PGA Tour wins in the fall. Few doubt Tiger will pass The Slammer sometime this year. Much of the focus, though, will be on Woods’ pursuit of the ultimate record — Jack Nicklaus’ 18 grand slam titles — even if the quest is the ultimate long shot. Woods picked up No. 15 — and his first major win in 11 years — in stunning fashion at the Masters. He then did not finish within eight shots of the lead the rest of the 2018-19 season, hinting injury and age once again had won out. Following a minor clean-up procedure on his left knee, Woods won convincingly in Japan. He then might have been the best player of the 24 as he captained the U.S. team to a Presidents Cup comeback.
While Woods still has the talent and will to contend at the highest levels, it appears as if time and opportunity are running out on the 44-year-old. Expect Woods to play a limited schedule — 15 or 16 events, tops — in order to be at his best when he does tee it up. Even so, winning majors often requires a perfect storm. With the PGA Championship’s move to May, for example, the cool, damp weather at Bethpage Black eliminated Woods — and his balky back — as a threat. The weather during the PGA’s debut at San Francisco’s Harding Parking this year might be no picnic, either.
Whatever the case, 2020 will be a pivotal season to determine whether Tiger can get back on track to catch Jack. After all, only seven men 44 or older have won a major — and none of them two of golf ’s biggest prizes.
2. Youth movement
The young guns are getting younger. Woods’ success the past two decades continues to have a major influence on a generation looking to emulate his career. Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, both 26 and with 23 combined
Tour wins; 25-year-old Jon Rahm, a 10-time winner worldwide; and Bryson DeChambeau, 25 and a five-time winner on Tour, have set the bar pretty high for the golfers coming up just behind them.
Five players, in particular, stand out among the pack. Victories by Matthew Wolff and Joaquin Niemann marked the first time since 1931 two players under 21 years old won in the same year. Last July, Colin Morikawa, 22, won the Barracuda Championship, an alternate-field event played the same week as the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. No member of the Presidents Cup’s International team was more impressive than 21-year-old Sungjae Im of South Korea. The 2018-19 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year was 3-1-1 and defeated reigning U.S. Open winner Gary Woodland in singles. Viktor Hovland, 22, might be the best of the bunch and became the first player to win low-amateur honors at both the Masters and U.S. Open in the same season since Matt Kuchar in 1998.
The next step for each will be showing up and winning on the biggest stages.
3. Race for No. 1
World No. 1 Brooks Koepka and No. 2 Rory McIlroy appeared to spark a rivalry this past summer when they went head-to-head and split a pair of WGCs. Koepka dismissed the notion, pointing to his four major titles since McIlroy’s last of four, in 2014. The dynamic between them intensified when McIlroy’s peers voted him Player of the Year over Koepka.
Yet the battle for the world’s top spot does not shape up to be a two-man race in 2020.
After being plagued by a wrist injury much of last year, world No. 4 Justin Thomas won twice in the fall and then captured the Tournament of Champions last week for his 12th win on Tour — more than any player under 30. Rahm, at No. 3, is a rising star and on the short list of Masters favorites. Meanwhile, it is hard to count out former world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, who at 35 has plenty of great golf ahead of him after a so-so two-win season.
Koepka has held the top spot in the world rankings since May but also is coming off minor knee surgery. In the end, the days of undisputed No. 1s like Woods or Greg Norman appear to be a thing of the past.
4. Spieth no longer elite
Long known as the Golden Child, Spieth was at the top of the game two summers ago following a dramatic British Open win. His fall since then has been hard to fathom — and watch. The former world No. 1 and 11-time winner currently ranks 43rd in the world. Lately, Spieth rarely has performed even to that level.
Spieth’s magical putting touch — long the strength of his game — disappeared in 2018. He fixed his stroke last year and then saw his pinpoint iron play desert him. Never a long hitter by the standards of a professional game increasingly geared toward power, Spieth’s skill, grit and guile allowed him to work his way around a golf course and at times will the ball into the hole.
Those gifts surely remain within the 26-year-old, but turning things around will not be easy. While the talent and depth on Tour continue to increase, the ultra-intense Spieth’s biggest obstacle might be himself due to his shaken confidence.
5. Action-packed schedule
In 2020, the PGA Tour is putting to the test the notion of “too much of a good thing.” The condensed major championship schedule — with last year’s move of the PGA Championship to May — presented a challenge for players and organizers of middle-tier events. The game’s top players will be stretched even thinner this year while even more events will be left with few marquee names in the field.
The Florida Swing will kick off a seven-month period featuring the Players Championship, four majors, the Olympics, the FedEx Cup and the Ryder Cup. The travel demands alone will test even the most fit and focused players on the PGA and European Tours.
Consider: Two weeks after the British Open in mid-July, players will tee it up 5,900 miles and nine time zones away in Tokyo for the Olympics. The FedEx Cup kicks off 6,700 miles and 14 times zones away in Boston two weeks after the Games.