2026 PGA TOUR Season

Welcome back to another year of the Scottie Scheffler Tour. Since his arrival in 2020, he's been dominating the competition and has been the top points earner for the last four years. Pairing him with someone to even out the distribution is an impossible task. The only player close to his level is Rory, and he's light years away — which is why only three suckers (myself included) took him this year.

We're slowly starting to see the PGA TOUR act like a serious sports product. From the moment of LIV's inception, I've maintained it was the best thing to happen to golf. No longer could the PGA TOUR allow players to dictate policy, schedules, and qualifications. To survive against unlimited Saudi money, the TOUR had to become a cutthroat meritocracy.

Of course, this is taking longer than it should, as the TOUR first needed to throw money at the problem to stop the exodus. Now purses are more than doubled, players (mainly an injured Tiger) have received tens of millions in senseless Player Impact Program payments, and enough of LIV has aired on the CW to lose its intrigue.

Brooks Koepka is the first "star" to repatriate. By all accounts, his form is terrible right now, but he's still a great value in group 4.1. Bryson probably wants back in but will likely use Brooks' defection as leverage for an additional $200+ million. Jon Rahm is grumpier than usual, stuck with a long-term LIV contract.

The PGA TOUR is going to win this battle somehow, and we'll be better off as fans. I foresee the schedule reducing drastically from 35+ events to around 25. Most off-weeks will become smaller tournaments for players to qualify for the big events. More scarcity and monthly churn of lower-level players will produce more storylines and intrigue.

We aren't there yet... but it's coming.

The season kicks off today—a week late due to water issues in Hawaii. The Kapalua Tournament of Mostly Champions might be gone forever. Hopefully not, as the late-night prime-time viewing is a great way to get back into golf.

This week is the Sony Open, which has lost a lot of star power due to the schedule change. Russell Henley, JJ Spaun, Bob MacIntyre, and Ben Griffin are the only top-10 players in the field. I mean... what a list that was to type out.

Regardless, it'll be fun to watch late at night after football.

Good luck!