KAPALUA, Maui >> If for some reason you stopped watching golf the past few years because Tiger Woods just wasn’t himself, you missed the 20-something wave that has swept across the PGA Tour.
This new breed of golfers spawned by Woods when he was his young, dominant self are pounding the fairways around the world and establishing themselves in a way that makes tour commissioner Jay Monahan fall asleep with a smile on his face each and every night. Even he needs a program to keep all these players straight, and they say Monahan rarely forgets your name — ever.
But if you are just returning to the scene because Woods has regained some of his stature, don’t expect him to dominate this next generation the way he did his own because it’s not going to happen. Each week out here is another name you need to learn, and take your time because there’s a lot of them.
Guys like Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth are not just passing through. They have established themselves as multiple and major winners. They have been teeing it up together since junior and collegiate golf, and are likely to be around for a while before another generation of youngsters pushes them aside for their own fame and fortune.
Not to get ahead of ourselves but this is the natural order of things in the world of sports. People come and go so quickly here, it’s best to get involved so you can remain informed as to whom the new top gun could be this week. On Sunday, it was Schauffele hoisting a trophy at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. This Sunday at the Sony Open in Hawaii, it could be another 20-something demanding to be recognized for his accomplishments.
The casual viewer may need someone like Woods to make them watch on TV or attend a tournament in person. Those who follow the sport more closely each week at how this youth movement continues to march steadily down the fairway and toward the nearest green.
They get there with big drives, spinning approaches and a knack for reading a green like a bowler surveying his lane. These aren’t your daddy’s golfers, who weren’t all fit as a fiddle as this group of nutritionists and workout freaks. They spend as much time in the weight room as they do at the practice range, looking to add that extra yard or 2 on the fairway to get it that extra foot or 2 closer to the pin on the green.
Speaking of pins, you can leave them in while you’re putting. No, it’s true. You can also touch the sand with your club in the bunker or ground it in a hazard. It’s all part of a new rules package that went into effect at the first of the year. So, don’t start calling your local golf course or television station to alert tour officials of a possible infraction. Chances are, no one did anything wrong.
This week’s Sony Open is the first full-field event of the calendar year. In this new PGA Tour wraparound season, the Sony Open is the ninth event of the season. FedEx Cup points that will be totaled in August for the dramatic three-week finish for the $15 million afforded the winner started being tabulated in October. The PGA Tour season no longer starts in Hawaii, and the Players Championship has been moved from May to March to make way for the PGA Championship that has shifted from August to May.
Granted, this is a lot to take in if you haven’t been following along as closely as you should. For those of you planning to attend the Sony Open for the first time in a while, make sure you snag a program so you can familiarize yourself with many of the golfers teeing it up on Thursday. And you can thank Woods while you’re at it, the way the previous generation honored Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.
There’s a new breed of golfers out there plying their trade. And they are good. Very good. And they believe in themselves as much as or more than the ones who came before them. “Fore” might be the right word to use. Whatever it is, it keeps Monahan up nights smiling. Because the future is bright, my friend. See you on Thursday.
