RIDGELAND, SC — Fifteen of the top 20 players in the world have gathered here for the CJ Cup, and it’s easy to see why.
Limited field with no cut.
Increased wallet.
And guaranteed points.
The latter factor is often repeated by players. This is the final season of the PGA Tour’s all-inclusive schedule, and the fall roster (nine official events) comprises one-fifth of the full schedule. It may feel like a sleepy season, but it has proven extremely important in achieving the Tour championship. “I don’t want to play at the back like I did in the last two years,” said Jordan Spieth. And if the top players only play once or twice in the fall, they might have guarantees of their time, too. Hence their appearances here.
But with the Tour ending the all-around era next fall, the elite player will soon be going into hibernation for…well…the first time in his golfing life.
It’s quite a change.
Complete start times from the CJ Cup in South Carolina
Top players have been screaming for years that they want some time off at the end of a long season and it has been one of the main talking points for the LIV defectors, even if it turned out to be sham as they chased world ranking points and other opportunities around the world. Brooks Koepka – who once claimed he doesn’t train before regular season events – said last week that it “kinda sucks” that the LIV schedule is ending and players have four months off. After two seasons plagued by injuries, he had finally regained his game.
“Every other sport has a pretty significant off-season,” Max Homa said, “and now everyone’s wondering what the heck is going to happen.
“Well, we can do whatever we want.”
So what does autumn 2023 look like?
Some will disappear from public view and reprioritize their private lives.
“Taking three to four months off is not a big deal,” said Billy Horschel, noting how players took an extended break with the spring 2020 COVID shutdown. “I realized I could do this. I could see what life would be like if golf wasn’t my number one priority. At the moment it still is and I have a wife and a family and they understand that golf often comes first, that it offers what we have and what they will have in their future. But it will be nice for many of us to put golf on the back burner and put other things first in our lives.”
Others will make long-overdue Swing changes or add new equipment.
Formal ups and downs during a tour season, but top players are always aware that they are trying to incorporate significant changes into their game so that their performance doesn’t falter and they spoil their shot at the legendary majors or the lucrative postseason. Spieth made his first start here in Congaree since his unbeaten performance at the Presidents Cup. He was a way for three weeks, but he wasn’t out. He didn’t put his rackets back. In fact, he felt like he’d broken through with his inconsistent ball strikes and returned to the court a few days after Quail Hollow with swing coach Cameron McCormick to devise a plan to continue this encouraging development. Her model for the rest of the fall: Seeing McCormick a few times a week, then playing with his buddies the other days. It doesn’t sound like a major mental or physical reset, but as Spieth said, “I’ve never gone more than a week without getting the itch to come back.”
However, everyone will repair their battered bodies.
Spieth’s easy laps in Dallas are less taxing than the wear and tear of the entire Tour season. There’s a reason other sports have special offseasons – athletes need time to recover. Sure, Tour players don’t take the same physical hits as a workhorse running back or a bloody power forward, but all that swinging and twisting and torquing at high speeds — it takes its toll. The increased demands on those battered bodies help explain why the peak years of some top players now seem to be coming earlier but ending quicker.
This will be Homas 21St Early in the calendar year – he’s “worked” less than half of the year – and yet it feels like he’s on the go non-stop. “I always say if we have a week off between events, it’s not really a ‘week off,'” Homa said. “A week at home is a lot more work than out here. That seems like a lot, but it’s actually less; It’s about getting ready because you still need to be feeling good by Sunday.
“And when you have a week off, it’s almost worse. If you have two weeks off, it feels like a week off because you can take a few days off the first week and not feel like you have to hit the wall.”
From a business standpoint, too, downtime makes sense for the A-listers.
“You have to give everyone involved a break,” said Horschel.
Rahm added: “Right now it’s a little watered down for lack of a better word. I would hate for the PGA Tour to reach the status of tennis where you don’t know of any other event unless it’s a major or you’re a hardcore tennis fan. I would hate for golf to get to this point. We have great events. I think it’s time for us to take action and do something special.”
Starting next year, the best players will compete in at least 17 events, including the Majors. These high-profile touring events will spend $20 million and essentially scream to the fans, These are the tournaments that matter. And with the season concluding with the Tour championship at the end of August, these stars can now go their separate ways. Anyone outside of the top 70 in points competes in priority fall events to determine status for the following year.
The leading Americans and Europeans will work to stay on deck with the Ryder Cup for the next month. But even after the matches in Rome, some will undoubtedly play in the devalued fall tournaments or chase performance fees overseas.
Homa will defend his title in Napa and add “an event or two anyway.”
Why?
“Hmm, why…?” he said. “Because I wouldn’t know what to do with myself for three months.”
Spieth said he might take some trips with friends to let go but also to stay competitive, like he did in May 2020 during the COVID shutdown when he married Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler for a few days and others at the Ohoopee Match joined club.
“It’s going to be nice to be able to step back, get more done in the gym, and then create a schedule that really aligns with everything we want to do to make the PGA Tour the best it can be from January through August.” , said he said.
Can Rahm win his second major in 2023?
Horschel could envision taking three months off, filling his days with range work and fitness sessions, yes, but also training his young daughters in cheerleading.
Rahm envisioned a scenario for the next fall where he only played twice at his home Opens in Spain and the DP World Tour finals in Dubai.
“Ideally,” he said, “it’s three to four months off. I don’t know if I could do it because I’ve never done it before, but it sounds fantastic on paper.”
Soon it will not only be hypothetical.
The seasons change.
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