PGA Tour in Review: Has Covid-19 Made an Impact?

With only a handful of tournaments left in the 2019-2020 PGA season before the FedEx Cup Playoffs and the road to East Lake begins, we look back at what might be one of the most interesting years in sports period. Cancelled schedules across most major sports left a gap we all were looking to fill, luckily the PGA tour was able to provide some relief getting back underway in Mid-May with a couple friendly competitions in support of Covid-19 relief. Since the PGA has made their return to the course we have not been left without excitement, even with the new restrictions on fans attendance we still are fired up to watch the finally groupings coming down eighteen on Sunday.

No Fans; No Problem

As sports across North America continue to resume we see the cameras rolling, the athletes competing, but one thing we are not seeing are the fans in the crowd, and this is most apparent in the golf world where fans flock to surround tee to green to watch the elite swing the clubs, yelling “In the hole” on every 400-yard tee shot. We may not all know the pressures of playing in front of thousands of fans, but with this new age of golf maybe we are seeing a more competitive rounded game throughout, elite players who are used to playing in front of bigger crowds no longer have the advantage going into Sunday. We are only a couple weeks removed from watching a 23-year-old just off his rookie season, victorious against one of today golf’s biggest names after a lengthy 3-hole playoff. Not to discredit his performance in the slightest but we do have to question how these younger players would hold up with all eyes on them going down the stretch.

Now to say that the lack of fans has been all good for these players; that a day on the course is just any other day of golf would be far from it. A big factor that the pros now are challenged with are the courses physical attributes, no longer are the roughs matted down from fans walking, or the grand stands catching the wayward shots keeping the ball from unplayable lays. Golf courses have the ability to be played at their hardest because it truly is player versus course with no outside interference. We are interested in seeing who takes advantage of the course as it is being played and maybe we will continue to see new golfers thrive in this new age of professional golf.

Coming in Hot

Colin Morikawa

I know it may not be a household name like Woods or Mickelson but let’s give it some time and see because the way this kid plays makes you wonder are we about to see something spectacular. After making his professional debut in 2019 at the Canadian Open Morikawa started his career with 22 consecutive cuts made, only second to Tiger Woods 25 cuts made to start his career. An early win at The Barracuda Challenge in the 2019 season set Morikawa up for what is turning out to be a very strong showing in 2020, sitting in 7th on the FedEx Cup points list, Morikawa took the off time and seems have prepared himself for a run at the title. A playoff loss to Daniel Berger at the first event upon the PGA tour returning looked to have fire him up and a within weeks took the top spot in at the Workday Open giving him his second career win. We should just take note that he has more event wins than missed cuts in his first years on tour. Now I am not saying go put all your money on Morikawa to shock the golf world, but we should be aware that he is here and with this play will likely be in this position fighting for the title for many years to come.

Webb Simpson

With his second victory of the Season in June at the RBC Heritage following his Waste Management Open victory pre-Covid, Webb has set himself up for a good run at the FedEx Cup Championship. Sitting second in points we must ask ourselves, can the 2011 FedEx Cup runner up spark a little magic and come out on top? With the stiff competition we are seeing his win a few weeks back will give him the boost needed to make a run for the title in hopes of taking that number one spot.

Justin Thomas

With names such as McIlroy and Simpson trailing right behind you it cannot be the most comfortable position to be in. But looking at the return to golf if one player is handling it well it is JT. Thomas has come back from the off time with 3 Top 10 finishes and 1 Top 20 finish. When you are a former FedEx Cup Champion you know what it takes to get it done and once again Thomas is out in front ready to get this party started. Are we going to see him cruise to his second title or are there a few spoilers waiting to creep in and steal that spot away from him?

Rory Mcilroy

After 6 consecutive Top 5 finishes leading into the pandemic, Rory has not seen the same success now that we are back underway. With the four tournaments he has entered he hasn’t been able to crack the Top 10, with his best finish a tie for 11th at the Travelers. But if there is a player that can strike at any point it is Rory, I would not get to comfortable at the top with this man sitting only a couple spots behind you. Rory has had 5 career Playoff event wins and let’s not forget he is a 2-time champion already and with Tiger Woods being the only other 2-time FedEx Cup Champion I am sure he would love to be the only 3-time champion.

2019-2020 Schedule

An interesting change to the PGA schedule has left players battling out the 2019-2020 season with only the PGA Championship Major on the line, both the US Open (Sep 17 – 20) and the Master Tournament (Nov 12- 15) were pushed into the fall of the 2020 -2021 season. Meanwhile, for only the 4th time in the long history of The Open Championship it has been cancelled indefinitely for 2020. Putting that into perspective the last time the Open Championship was Cancelled was 1940 - 1945 due to World War II and after a 5-year absence resume in 1946, we saw Sam Snead winning his one and only Open Championship. Looking at the remaining schedule we have been able to watch, there has not been disappointment with 6 events in, we have seen a different winner in each contest drawing closer to the playoffs. Even with the pandemic putting a damper on the middle of the season these athletes have not allowed that to slow down some late season heroic. Players looking to improve their spots in the point before elimination begins, or those looking from the outside hoping to snag a last-minute spot.

We have four events left until we get to North Carolina and I know I for sure am excited to see how this all unfolds.