The 2022 PGA Tour season came to a conclusion last week when Rory McIlroy climbed the leaderboard on Sunday to overtake the No. 1 player in the world and 54-hole leader Scottie Scheffler. With the victory, McIlroy became the only golfer to win the FedEx Cup title three times.
The 2022-2023 PGA Tour season begins in a few weeks, so let’s dive into some potential threats that could cause chaos during the 2022-23 campaign.
LIV vs. PGA
The ongoing antitrust lawsuit between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf isn’t going to go away any time soon. As the two sides battle it out in court, it’ll only cause further friction between the two circuits and most certainly cause some bad blood between players on both sides.
It is an unfortunate story during a time when the game of golf seems to be ever-growing. Regardless which side you stand on, the split between the two parties continues to grow, and golf fans are the only ones that will suffer.
Players Continue to Jump to LIV
Piggybacking off the first threat, the continued poaching of top talent from the PGA Tour will always be a threat. The lure of massive sums of money will eventually win over more talent, diluting the quality of play on the PGA.
With the announcement of a handful of new additions to the LIV, including the No. 2 player in the world, Cameron Smith, don’t be surprised if more top talent makes the move in 2023.
Tiger Woods has a Setback
Tiger Woods is expected to play next season in a limited capacity but see action in a handful of other events outside of just the majors. This will be big news for the PGA Tour, because when Tiger is on TV the ratings soar through the roof.
If Woods has another medical setback, causing him to miss time on Tour, it’ll be a major blow to the PGA Tour and its fanbase. Tiger Woods doesn’t move the needle, he is the needle.
Another Top Golfer Suffers an Injury
A Tiger Woods setback would be a major deal, but any of the PGA Tour’s top players missing time for an extended period with an injury would be a major threat to the season. A player like FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy or PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas missing action would be detrimental.
Many golf fans enjoy the game, whomever is on TV, but casual golf fans tune in when the top players are in action. Losing an elite player to injury wouldn’t be ideal for a Tour that’s already lost a chunk of quality players.
Certain Tournaments will Struggle to Persuade Top Talent
The PGA Tour announced in August that there would be drastic schedule changes made in the near future that’ll feature smaller field events with the best golfers in the world. This will be hard on some of the tournaments on the PGA slate to try and draw top talent into the field.
There is already a lack of top players in many events on the yearly schedule, and elevating the status of some tournaments will only cause the field of others to lessen.
