We’re restarting the PGA Tour season — here’s why | Monday Finish

Welcome back to the Monday Finish, where we’re headed to the cliffs. Pebble is back. Jordan Spieth is, too. To the news…

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GOLF STUFF I LIKE

Let’s start over.

When it comes to men’s professional golf, I’ve got some good news and some bad news. Always the bad news first, right? Let’s start there.

The most important individuals in the sport are missing in action. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler injured himself so seriously while making ravioli on Christmas that he’s missed a month of golf. World No. 2 Xander Schauffele has missed several consecutive starts, too, reportedly with a rib injury. World No. 3 Rory McIlroy was a compelling contestant in Dubai last week but hasn’t competed in the U.S. since the Tour Championship last August. World No. 4 Collin Morikawa was part of a wave of WDs ahead of last week’s Farmers Insurance Open — very possibly related to a nasty illness going around the tournament — while World No. 6 Ludvig Aberg played through it but spent much of Saturday’s round looking green in the face, wandering around the course like a gravely hung over bachelor-party golfer just trying to make it through the next deep breath.

And while World No. 9 Viktor Hovland has been gritting his teeth and playing through it, he suffered a broken toe right around New Year’s, kicking off his 2025 on the wrong, decidedly painful foot.

There are other faves you haven’t gotten to watch in a while. We haven’t seen Jordan Spieth tee it up publicly since the FedEx Cup playoffs. We haven’t seen Tiger Woods since the Open Championship.

There’s also the matter of LIV pros; some fan favorites like Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson have largely disappeared since the team championship in September, while two others — Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau — have taken to YouTube. Tyrrell Hatton has been barnstorming his way through the DP World Tour but remains barred from PGA Tour events, as does Jon Rahm, who is very likely still one of the world’s five best golfers.

As for that LIV-PGA Tour deal? I’m not sure how to feel at the moment other than shrug my shoulders. As I understand it, eventually, something will get done, and some agreement will get reached, first for Saudi PIF investment in the PGA Tour and then eventually some sort of cross-tour agreement. But you can’t just put the genie back in the bottle. We have LIV Golf now. More recently, we have the TGL. We have YouTube Golf, with all its boy bands, its 2v2s, its epic showdowns, its three-club challenges, all of which are good and fun and reaching new audiences — but the downside of all of these options is that it’s less clear than ever where we should be collectively focusing our golf-watching time. Our regularly scheduled weekly pro tournaments feel, for the moment, somewhat diminished.

That’s the bad news.

But the good starts now because we at the Monday Finish are starting things over. The sun is about to shine on the pro game again. Pebble Beach marks a fresh beginning to the golf season. We’re not taking away Hideki Matsuyama‘s victory on Maui, nor Nick Taylor’s at the Sony, nor Sepp Straka’s in the desert nor Harris English’s at Torrey. It’s just that now we’re really gonna get going. There’s only one football game left this year, which means golf can fill the weekend void, beginning with primetime competition at a crown jewel of American golf. The stars will be out: Scheffler is slated to make his 2025 debut, McIlroy will play for the first time on the PGA Tour this season and Spieth will, too. And Morikawa and Aberg — internal systems permitting — should be back and better, too. Last year, this event turned into a slop-fest and eventually a disappointing 54-hole washout. This year, things are looking up.

Our new season starts with a delightful appetizer on Monday night in the form of the best TGL showdown yet; if this thing is gonna work, it’s because Tiger vs. Rory in primetime arena golf is fun viewing. By Thursday we’ll be hungry for the real thing, for top pros keeping score, for competitive golf on the epic California coastline. Come Saturday, we’ll be eating up shots from CBS’ expanded drone tracers, marveling at that 6-7-8 stretch, at the drama of the par-5 18th. And Sunday will bring us what we can only hope is a competitive, high-wattage leaderboard the likes of which we haven’t seen at Pebble since the 2019 U.S. Open. Simpler times.

This kicks off what is essentially the stretch of golf on the PGA Tour. Post-football. Pre-majors. Pebble, Phoenix, Genesis, Bay Hill, Players Championship, things of that nature. If you like competitive golf, you probably like the majors the best. But this is where the good stuff begins. Getting to the meat of the actual golf season? That is, very literally, golf stuff I like.

WINNERS

Who won the week?

Harris English won the Farmers Insurance Open, emerging from a crowded leaderboard at Torrey Pines in what you could call a thrilling test of grit or a boring slog, depending on your mindset. Either way, terrific showing from English.

Alejandro Del Rey won the Ras Al Khaimah Championship on the DP World Tour, closing with three consecutive rounds of 66 en route to a four-shot win in which he held off former Arizona State teammate (and current LIV standout) David Puig in the process.

Sudarshan Yellamaraju won in the Bahamas on the Korn Ferry Tour; the Canadian lefty had an uneven 2024 on the KFT and now suddenly has an inside track on a 2026 PGA Tour card.

Daniel van Tonder won the SDC Open on the HotelPlanner Tour, which I’m mostly mentioning to inform you that that is the new name of what used to be the Challenge Tour.

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NOT-WINNERS

These guys are good, too.

Sam Stevens shot Sunday’s low round (68) to finish solo second, while Andrew Novak shot Saturday’s low round (66) and ultimately finished solo third. Each jumped inside the top 100 in the world and to his highest-ever world ranking.

Sungjae Im (T4) logged his second top-five finish in three 2025 starts. And Kristoffer Ventura, roommate (at least at one point) to fellow Norwegian Viktor Hovland, finished T4, his best result ever on Tour.

SHORT HITTERS

5 stories to launch the LPGA season.

This week’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions kicks things off for the LPGA in 2025.

1. How will Lydia Ko’s sequel go?

Her 2024 “fairy-tale” season began with a victory at this Tournament of Champions last year. Now that she’s a gold medalist, a major champion (again) and a Hall-of-Famer, how will Lydia Ko’s 2025 begin?

2. Where will Nelly Korda go from here?

The dominant World No. 1 had incredible highs but also serious lows in 2024. At her best, there’s clearly nobody better than Nelly Korda. After a seven-win season that changed the trajectory of her career, how often can she get to that top level this year?

3. What’s next for two young challengers?

Ruoning “Ronnie” Yin and Jeeno Thitikul are 22 and 21 years old, respectively. They’re Nos. 3 and 4 in the world, respectively. And they’re poised to keep moving up the golfing world. Neither is in the field this week, but when they’re back, what’ll happen?

4. Who’s taking over?

Whoever takes over as LPGA commissioner enters the sport at a fascinating time. It’s a boom era for golf as well as for women’s sports. But it’s an era of uncertainty in professional golf, where the ground continues to shift. Great power, great responsibility, great opportunity. Let’s hope they pick a good one.

5. What on earth is up with the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship?

This is specific to one stop, but what’s happening with Seri Pak‘s event? The second annual playing of the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship was scheduled for March at Palos Verdes Golf Club, but the LPGA’s communications team announced last week that it won’t go on as scheduled “due to the event underwriter failing to fulfill any portion of its payment obligations to the LPGA Tour for the 2024 and 2025 events”. In an Instagram post, Pak acknowledged the news but cautioned against damaging the reputation of those involved. It’s clear there’s more to the story here…

ONE DUMB GRAPHIC

We’re trending up.

ONE SWING THOUGHT

Lee Trevino’s hardest shot in golf.

The hardest shot in golf? Lee Trevino says it’s the punch-out from the trees. From last week’s Warming Up interview, which you can watch here or at the bottom of this article:

“The hardest shot in golf is when you get in the trees on the right and you can’t go down toward the flag and you gotta go across the fairway to lay up,” Trevino said. “The hardest shot in golf is to take a wedge or whatever club you are going to get out from under the trees to get to the fairway — and nobody would even think of this — and the hardest shot in golf is how hard do you hit that ball to clear the rough here, but then stop it before it gets into that rough [on the other side]?

“That’s the hardest shot in golf, besides a 60-yard bunker shot. You’ve got to get out of the trouble, and you are laying up, so you need the ball in the fairway, and people will hit it too low, never make it out of the rough. Or they hit it too hard and go into the rough on the other side. So this is something you have to practice. You can’t just go out on the driving range and hit golf balls. You have to have a purpose.”

ONE BIG QUESTION

How will Scottie look?

I know we’re rebooting the season, but it is a very big deal that World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler missed a month with an injury to his hand in a sport that is really quite hands-intensive. The bizarre nature of the injury — Making ravioli? Seriously? — distracts from the fact that Scheffler’s sequel to his outrageous 2024 has been delayed and possibly impacted. The question, then, is whether this is all behind him. Will he have to make any modifications, conscious or subconscious? Is he experiencing any pain? Or is he fully healed, business as usual, ready to move on?

We’ll see this week.

ONE THING TO WATCH

Jordan Spieth on the cliffs at Pebble.

It’s a few years old, but man, what a moment. Cannot believe he hit this shot. But also, of course, he did. Welcome back, Jordan.

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

I played 18 holes last week for the first time in 2025 and showed up, as I tend to during mid-week sneak-outs, about 10 minutes before my tee time. But one thing led to another, our group was delayed about 30 minutes and I ended up with time for a full range session pre-round. Guess what? I felt way better. I played way better. I literally warmed up. You’d think a guy who literally hosts an interview show about this exact subject would understand the value of a warm-up, but I need a reminder at least every six months — there’s a reason people show up early. It’s well worth the extra few minutes.

Get warm and stay warm, gang. We’ll see you next week.

Before you go, a quick request: If you like the Monday Finish, subscribe for free HERE to get it in your email inbox!

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.