I have little doubt many of you are far bigger fans of and participants in golf than am I, and if so please know I’m more than a little envious. I’ve spent enough time in sports research to know full well that odds are you’re in a much better economic and lifestyle stage than am I; in fact, I’d bet my bottom dollar that was the case. Unfortunately, that specific wager is dangerously close to becoming a reality of late and were I somehow to lose it would only enhance those odds.
But it’s around this time of year when I tend to pay a bit more attention, if only out of envy for how and where the PGA Tour kicks off their season. As it has for a while, the first sponsored outdoor tournament (in the era of TGL, those qualifiers are necessary) will unfold the way FANSIDED’s Cody Williams eloquently waxed about it yesterday:
The Sony Open in Hawaii officially kicks off the 2026 PGA Tour season at historic Waialae Country Club. While it’s not a signature event, or a tournament that gives golf fans the biggest and best names across the board, we’re honestly just happy that golf is back on the PGA Tour. Nick Taylor returns as the defending champion at the Sony Open, but there are actually 20 of the Top 50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings teeing it up at Waialae this week. That includes Collin Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth, Ben Griffin, Russell Henley and several other notable players.
In ensuing weeks, we will get a veritable travelogue of venues in warm weather climates including arcs in Southern California, Florida and the Southeast that will make those in colder climes envious and yearning. These tournaments once included celebrity tie-ins to the likes of Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Andy Williams and Dinah Shore. If you remember them, you probably remember when they’d be covered live on broadcast networks in late afternoon time slots where if you were like me you’d stare outside your window and look at the visible breath eminating from the shivering passer-bys, knowing full well that even the groundhog was a few weeks away, and the kinds of days one could actually play a round even farther off.
Alas, not even mainstream ESPN is devoting such a platform to this weekend, though one of Versant’s crown jewels The Golf Channel will turn over its East Coast prime time to it. In ensuing weeks, at least coverage will be wider and the talent will show up–including some newbies and returnees.
Among the former, GOLF’s Justin Ray offered this primer:
(W)hat do the numbers say about potential breakout stars this year? And what statistics and trends point to potential bounce-back campaigns among veteran players?…Some names will ring familiar, while others sneak under the radar – but only for a short while longer.
PIERCESON COODY
Pierceson Coody has spent the entirety of his golf life walking in the tall shadow of expectation; he’s a third generation touring pro and grandson of 1971 Masters winner Charles Coody. The 25-year-old Texan has repeatedly met the moment by way of an ascent to the top of the World Amateur Golf Ranking, a team national championship at Texas and a trio of Korn Ferry Tour wins.
GARRICK HIGGO
You could give most golf fans 50 guesses as to who led the PGA Tour in birdie average last season, and they wouldn’t guess the right answer. It’s Higgo, who ascended from 159th in strokes gained total on Tour in 2024 to 22nd last year. That leap of 137 spots is easily the highest among qualifying players (second-biggest jump: Alex Smalley, up 115 spots).
RICKIE FOWLER
In 2025, there were exactly 100 players last season who had 30 or more qualifying PGA Tour rounds on either side of that divider. Among the list of players who improved their performance most in the second half compared to the first is Fowler, whose improvement of 1.45 strokes gained total per round is 7th-best among that group.
As for the old, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS’ Doug Ferguson updated us on a decision earlier this week that has more than a few well, teed off:
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, a decision that should have surprised no one. Brian Rolapp, only five months into his role as CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises, faced what he called a “unique situation.” Koepka wanted to return after four years on LIV Golf, where he pulled in more than $41.6 million in earnings — more than he made in nine seasons on the PGA Tour — to go along with a signing bonus Koepka had said was nine figures. Count the commas.
That led to emergency meetings, phone calls with key voices on tour, board approval of a path that let Koepka back in and finally a face-to-face meeting with the former captain of Smash GC. All of that was necessary. But the answer could be found last August when Rolapp was 18 days into his new job and introduced buzzwords like “scarcity” and “simplicity” while discussing his plans for significant — not incremental — change on the PGA Tour.
And USA TODAY’s Steve Gardner reported yesterday that at least one even more familiar face is pleased:
Brooks Koepka is returning to the PGA Tour, and Tiger Woods, for one, is ecstatic. “It’s incredible for all the fans,” Woods told ESPN on Tuesday night before his TGL match.
Just 24 hours earlier, the PGA Tour announced Jan. 12 that Koepka, who left LIV Golf last month, would be allowed back under a one-time Returning Member Program extended to former major champions from the past four years. Kopeka (sic), a five-time major champion and winner of the 2023 PGA Championship, is scheduled to make his official return at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego at the end of this month.
Maybe this will be all enough to attract viewers to the windows that will still occupy quality media real estate. Last week GOLFWEEK’s Adam Schupak provided an excellent primer to what lies ahead, including details of some new wrinkles that Rolapp is hoping to inject into the tour to provide more reasons beyond the spokes of the traditional Grand Slam. Ever since the PGA Championship relocated from August to May to create a seamless four-month arc between the Masters and The Open I’ve personally checked out in mid-July. The more reasons one has to embrace the new, the more likely Rolapp will be in keeping the sport relevant once his old employers at the NFL start up again.
I’ll do my best to at least keep my eye on this ball a while longer. But don’t bet YOUR bottom dollar on it.
Courage…