The 2021-22 PGA Tour schedule is well underway, and, once again, it’s happening under the lingering cloud of the coronavirus pandemic. While spectators have long returned to the course to see the best players in the world navigate some of the greatest courses on the planet, COVID-19 obviously remains a hurdle to overcome. Cameron Champ has withdrawn from the Sentry Tournament of Champions recently because of a “breakthrough” case of COVID. We’re sure this won’t be the last such incident, but things have calmed down since the surge of the Omicron variant. Hopefully we will have more normal and better days.

Arguably the biggest question heading into the 2022 golf season is when – or if – Tiger Woods returns to competitive play? It’s approaching a year since that terrible car crash in February 2021, in which Woods suffered a serious leg injury that essentially ended his full-time competitive golf career. However, Woods returned to the course at the end of 2021, playing with his son Charlie at the PNC Championship. Yet when he actually competes in a tournament alone, anyone can guess. The Masters? Memorial? US Open? In 2022 at all? We just don’t know. But of course we will be watching closely.

Naturally, the Tiger Watch will be front and center in 2022. But it’s also worth keeping an eye out for Rory McIlroy. He’s still among the top 10 golfers in the world, but hasn’t won a major since 2014. McIlroy is a four-time major winner and only needs to don the green jacket to complete golf’s grand slam. Why should golf fans believe McIlroy is capable of winning another major? Because he was PGA Player of the Year in 2019, won two tournaments in 2021 and tied for seventh at the US Open last season.

Speaking of Mickelson, it will be interesting to see if his PGA status takes a hit following disparaging comments from Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. Meanwhile, Monahan continues his bid to push the PGA Tour forward amid talks of another, and potentially more lucrative, 10-event professional golf league with questionable ties to Saudi Arabia and led by legend Greg Norman, providing a rival to the old guard. Both are certainly worth noting if developments arise. If anything, it’s worth a little drama.

Each season we try to determine which PGA golfer has the best chance of winning his first major championship. In 2021, Hideki Matsuyama (Masters) and Jon Rahm (US Open) finally got rid of this monkey. So which beginner will get it in 22? The easy money could be on Patrick Cantlay. The reigning PGA Player of the Year has won three times in 2021, including the BMW and Tour Championship to win the FedEx Cup title. Cantlay hasn’t made the top 10 in a major since 2019, but he’s also one of the best golfers in the world.

Speaking of major championships, Tulsa’s Southern Hills will host the 2020 PGA Championship May 19-22. The tournament was originally to be hosted by Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey, but was scrapped following the Jan. 6, 2021, uprising at the United States Capitol. The PGA of America and the Trump Organization reached a settlement after the twice-impeached former president complained about the move and his company called the decision to move the event a “breach of contract.” restrictive”. Expect to hear a lot about this controversy leading up to the event.

In 2017, famed Scottish club Muirfield, which dates back to 1744, voted to finally allow women into its membership order. The process was not so pleasant to get to this point, but it was a long overdue point of progress. In August, the course will host the AIG Women’s Open Championship – marking the first time female golfers have competed in a major tournament at the historic course. Muirfield has hosted the Men’s Open Championship 16 times. Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist is the defending Open champion.

While women’s golf is ushering in a new era of sorts with Muirfield hosting the AIG, a real end of the era will take place in April. The Chevron Championship, formerly known as ANA Inspiration, one of the five major tournaments on the LPGA Tour, will be played one last time at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., this season. The tournament, founded by beloved entertainer Dinah Shore in 1972, and where the winner jumps into Poppie’s Pond, will move to the Houston area in 2023. The tournament, played in the Coachella Valley desert, is as much a part of the women’s game than the golfers who helped build the LPGA Tour.

This has the potential to be a banner year for the LPGA Tour. It will certainly be the richest. The world’s best female golfers will compete for a total purse of $85.7 million – the biggest total in Tour history. According to the LPGA, nine of the 34 official tournaments have increased their purse money this year. The 2022 season schedule includes international stops in Singapore, Thailand, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Canada, China and Japan.

It was the whole 2021 season for American Nelly Korda. She has won the LPGA Tour four times in the 2021 calendar year, including the PGA Women’s Championship in June. Then, in September, Korda made the US Solheim Cup team and won gold as the medalist in the Women’s Olympic Golf Tournament in Tokyo. With all of that, Korda started the 2022 season as the No. 1 ranked female golfer in the world.. It would be a tall order to think that Korda will be so successful on the Tour this season, but there may not be a more confident player on the LPGA Tour than Korda. Sure…

… Jin Young Ko of South Korea, currently number 1, could also feel good about himself and his game. Why not? In 2021, Ko won the LPGA Tour five times, topped the money list with over $3.5 million in earnings, and won Tour Player of the Year for the second time. times. It is one of the most beautiful individual seasons in the history of the Tour, and one for anyone, including Ko, at the top. The rivalry between Ko and Korda will also be one to watch in 2022.

What was once a nice little rivalry between two of golf’s brightest young stars has turned into sour grapes between Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau. From slow play to “Brooksy” to Ryder Cup makeup and “The Match,” this is a rivalry made more for Hollywood than the PGA Tour. While the dynamic between these two was entertaining, how much more do we really need to see? After all, these guys are adult professionals and role models for many. Maybe it’s time to grow up.

Another notable story from 2021 worth following this year is whether Jordan Spieth really made a difference. With a win at the 2021 Texas Open, the three-time major winner won his first PGA Tour event since 2017. He also finished tied for third at the Open Championship tied for second at the Masters and finished sixth on the ’21 PGA Tour Money List. Spieth currently sits 15th in the world golf rankings, leading many pundits to believe he could be even better in 2022.

After winning the delayed Ryder Cup in 2021, USA have the chance to extend their dominance in Presidents Cup play this season. The Americans have won the last eight consecutive Presidents’ Cups and haven’t lost the event since 1998. The Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, will host this year’s event Sept. 19-25. Which is normal since Davis Love III, originally from North Carolina, will be captain of the United States. South African Trevor Immelman will lead the international team.

As the 2022 calendar year begins, Spaniard Jon Rahm is currently atop the world golf rankings. Will this be the case at the end of ’22? This season, perhaps like no other in recent memory, features a host of elite golfers worthy of vying for the World No. 1 title. Collin Morikawa (#2), Patrick Cantlay (#4), and Dutchman Viktor Hovland (#3) are some of the game’s rather young stars who should be in the running, while old hats like Dustin Johnson (#9), Justin Thomas (#8) and even Rory McIlroy (#6) will be in the conversation.