It’s hardly breaking news that 2020 scored “Needs Improvement” in most areas of its yearly review. But I’m an optimist, and when I gaze out across the golf world, I’m far more bullish on the year to come. Why? How? Let’s get right to it.
1. More golf buddies
In April of 2020, rounds were down 42.2% year over year, according to the NGF. But after that, golf took off. In May, rounds were up 6.2%. In June, July and August rounds were up 13.9%, 19.7% and 20.6%. In September, October and November rounds were up 25.5%, 32.2% and — wait for it — 57.5%! More of your friends are playing golf. That means fun things for 2021. We love new golf buddies.
2. More golf
Working from home has normalized the emergency nine. Morning nine before work? Lunchtime nine between meetings? Evening nine before sunset? Yes, yes and extra-yes. Those emails can wait. (If my bosses are reading, this part is satire.)
Staff picks: For golfers on the go
Shop Now
3. More road trips
It still might be a little while before all your golf buddies feel good about hopping a plane to your favorite golf destinations, but there’s a silver lining: This will be the perfect chance to try out every course within driving distance that’s been sitting on your bucket list. 2021 will be a great year to keep buying local and supporting small businesses, and golf courses fall squarely within those categories.
4. More golf courses
This includes these 14 mouthwatering new or reimagined delights, but it also includes any golf course that might be new to you. I’ve got Gold Mountain in Bremerton, Wash., circled on my bucket list, but that’s far from the only course I’m dreaming of.
5. Lower scores
I believe in you! I believe in me! This is the year we get into a solid rhythm, commit to a consistent play-and-practice schedule, get help in the areas we need it and bring that handicap down to where we know it belongs. New Year, new us.
6. Olympic fever
I love watching golf and I love watching the Olympics, so you won’t have to work hard to convince me to tune in for 72 holes in Tokyo. At the same time, I hope this is the year golf realizes just how much more fun a team match play competition would be on the world stage.
7. Solheim Cup earmuffs
We got a sneak preview of the Inverness Club this summer. We got a sneak preview of the team’s best players, too. Danielle Kang and Nelly Korda leading the U.S. team against their European rivals is reason enough to watch, but a potential star-spangled Yealimi Noh earmuff sighting should put you over the top. Speaking of which …
8. Ryder Cup rain gear
Every two years, the U.S. and European teams seem to outdo themselves with increasingly outlandish patriotic cold-weather duds for the Ryder Cup. Let’s hope that continues at Whistling Straits. Oh, and they’re going to play a match, too! This really feels like the year the U.S. team can’t lose, which means it’s reasonably likely that this is also the year Marcus Kinhult, Matthias Schwab and the gang take it to ’em.
9. Dustin Johnson’s reign
Now that he owns a green jacket, will we get to see King Dustin in all his glory in 2021? Or is sustained dominance just too difficult in today’s game? Either way, it’ll make for compelling viewing.
How Dustin Johnson became the golf superhero 2020 needed
10. Jin Young Ko on the throne
For much of 2020, it looked like there might be a changing of the guard atop the women’s game. Danielle Kang and Sei Young Kim each staked worthy claims, while Nelly Korda led golf’s next wave and Inbee Park reminded us she’s damn hard to beat, too. But then Jin Young Ko returned and — in just four starts — earned the LPGA’s biggest check with a resounding victory at the CME Group Tour Championship. How does she follow that up?
11. Bryson DeChambeau’s next chapter
We all know the arc — or, in this case, the shape — of Bryson DeChambeau’s transformation up to this point. But what happens now?
12. Tony Finau, unleashed
The Puerto Rico Curse is broken, thanks to Viktor Hovland. The Year of Finau is coming at us, one 200 mph driver at a time. We hope.
13. Annika Sorenstam’s potential comeback
The GOAT turned 50 in October, and she hinted at a potential return at this coming year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open, which will be held at Brooklawn Country Club in Connecticut. Sorenstam walked away from the game at age 37, while she was still a winning force. Her presence alone would bring a ton of intrigue to the third playing of the event.
14. Michelle Wie West’s potential comeback
Wie West has said that she thought she’d retire from full-time competitive athletics when she had kids — but when she had her daughter, Makenna, in June, her perspective changed. “Now my goal is: I really just want to show her that I can play at the highest level,” she told Fortune. We want that, too. Oh, and her swing looks better than ever:
15. Jordan Spieth’s potential comeback
Is this the year?
16. Shane Bacon on TV
It’s been a year of turmoil for Golf Channel, which lost a number of talented employees as a result. But we’re particularly excited to see the debut of Shane Bacon and of Golf Today, which — if it works like we hope it will — will serve as a bridge between the action that’s happened and the action yet to come. With Golf Channel vet Damon Hack at his side, I’m psyched to see what Bacon does with the new role.
17. John Wood on TV
Another big acquisition for Golf Channel/NBC Sports: veteran caddie John Wood. He’d caddied most recently for Cameron Champ and Matt Kuchar and joined our own Tour Confidential roundtable every Monday morning. Few caddies are more dialed into the Tour world than Wood, and fewer still have his worldly perspective. He’ll be a terrific analyst.
18. Bones Mackay living the dream
If golf had an equivalent to Tony Romo, it would be Jim “Bones” Mackay, Phil Mickelson’s ex-caddie, who went from the top levels of the caddie game straight to the top levels of on-air analysis when he joined the NBC crowd three years ago. But Mackay has it better than Romo ever did, because he keeps sneaking out for some (lucrative!) caddying spot starts during his off-weeks.
He notched a win on Justin Thomas’ bag at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, a solo third at the Memorial with Matt Fitzpatrick and a made cut on Jimmy Walker’s bag at the Masters. For Bones’ sake, we hope he keeps living the dream into 2021.
19. The Masters in the spring
Look, I enjoyed pumpkin-spiced Augusta National at least as much as the rest of you. But I think we’ll enjoy it even more in its natural position as golf’s rite of spring. The azaleas are calling.
20. The Open Championship, period
The women played on across the pond this summer, but we dearly missed the men’s edition of golf’s most fun major championship. Royal St. George’s will be a welcome sight indeed when golf’s traveling circus arrives in mid-summer.
21. A revamped Muirfield Village
You’ll recall that the end of last year’s Memorial Tournament paralleled the end of Caddyshack, with construction crews basically dropping sticks of dynamite in the fairways before the final putts dropped as Jack Nicklaus directed the action. And it was still arguably the toughest weekend of the year on Tour before any renovation. Just how hard is the redone Muirfield Village going to play — and just how much fun will it be to watch?
Showstoppers: 14 new (or renovated) layouts we can’t wait to check out in 2021
22. Torrey Pines nostalgia
The 2008 U.S. Open was one of the most noteworthy golf tournaments in the history of the game. It’ll be fun to head back to the site of Tiger vs. his-body-and-also-Rocco-Mediate. Let’s hope you don’t get tired of watching highlights of that one particular putt. …
23. U.S. Open theme music
I know, we got the U.S. Open back on NBC this year, too. But when the U.S. Open is contested in its usual spot on the sporting calendar in 2021, that “In Celebration of Man” drop at the beginning of the broadcast will hit particularly hard.
24. Wolff vs. Hovland vs. Morikawa
The PGA Tour’s youngster trio each enter 2021 inside the top 15 in the world, with Morikawa (No. 7) just ahead of college teammates Viktor Hovland (No. 14) and Matthew Wolff (No. 15). Who leaves 2021 in the top spot? And can they each stay ahead of young gun dark horse, the unsung Scottie Scheffler?
25. A reset Rory McIlroy
There was nobody hotter in the world pre-pandemic than Rory McIlroy. As gold coins from winning the 2019 FedEx Cup were still settling in his bank vault, McIlroy ripped off a ridiculous stretch of PGA Tour results in the leadup to his Players Championship defense: 1-T3-T5-5-T5. He reclaimed the world No. 1 title in the process.
But after the pandemic, McIlroy found the top five just once. The good news for next year? That top-five came in his most recent start at Augusta National. I’m already aching for his next shot.
26. Tiger Woods
He’ll never fly under the radar, exactly, and we’ll probably all lose our damn minds like we always do before Tiger Woods’ next start (most likely at the Farmers Insurance Open), but for now, it feels like our expectations are, for once, in a healthy spot. Woods is a 15-time major champion and also happens to be a 45-year-old Tour player. The superstardom of the former and the realities of the latter can coexist.
He did birdie five of his final six holes on the PGA Tour in 2020, so maybe that’s a good sign? …
Tiger Woods’ 10 was a disaster, but his response was more important
27. Major championship expectations
Is it completely fair to judge golfers by their major championship performance? Maybe not, but this is sports! With that in mind, it’s time to ask who needs a major the most in 2021: Jon Rahm, cementing his status as top-tier champ, Rickie Fowler, tying together his career, or Justin Thomas, taking his legacy to the two-major level?
28. Tommy Fleetwood’s first U.S. win
It has to be coming this year, right?!
29. Abraham Ancer’s first Tour win
In 2020 Ancer slipped inside the world top 20, grew a fantastic mullet and played in the final group at the Masters. In 2021, he’ll pick up his first PGA Tour win.
30. Lydia Ko’s next chapter
She didn’t quite win in 2020, nor did she leap to the top of the Rolex Rankings, but Lydia Ko flashed plenty of game and remains arguably the LPGA’s most compelling figure. In 13 starts post-pandemic, Ko made 13 cuts, logged six top-10s and finished in the top 20 in all four major championships. It’s always a good time to remind you that she’s still just 23 years young.
31. The Match — with Patrick Mahomes?
Several iterations in, The Match series has dialed in on something really fun to watch. We’ve dialed back our expectations and learned to enjoy the ride, even if we’re not planning to plop down pay-per-view money for the next one. If Mickelson and Mahomes are both involved, as teased, I’m in.
10 surprising winners from The Match 3 (besides Phil and Barkley)
32. The distance race
Feel free to call it whatever you want. Chasing Bryson. Need for Speed: PGA Tour edition. Golf’s great reckoning. There will be no hot-button topic more hot-buttony than the distance golf’s very best players are pummeling their pellets in 2021 — and we’ll be dialed into every yard, for better or worse.
33. Whatever Phil Mickelson’s currently scheming
Surprise us, Lefty.