For the most part, 2017 was a very good year for the PGA Tour. Sergio Garcia finally won a major and Brooks Koepka proved he belongs in the elite category by winning the U.S. Open. Jordan Spieth added another chapter to his exciting career by grabbing The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in memorable fashion. Plus, Justin Thomas, the Player of the Year, won five events, including the PGA Championship and the FedEx Cup.
With Rory McIlroy ailing, Spieth and Thomas have set themselves apart from the rest of the under-20 somethings and are just a little bit better than the rest of the crowd.
Another young guy, Hideki Matsuyama won two of the WGC tournaments in 2017. He started the year last fall by winning the WGC HSBC in China He finished the year with the WGC Bridgestone in Akron and had very good year.
Dustin Johnson was set to have a monster year. He won in Los Angeles and then added both the WGC Mexico and WGC Dell Match Play trophies to his collection. An untimely slip and fall down the stairs at the Masters put him out of action for several weeks. He did win again at the Northern Trust in the FedEx Cup playoffs, when blew away Jordan Spieth in the playoff with that massive drive over the water in the first playoff hole. That was the shot of the year and served notice to the rest of the golf kingdom that he is a force to be reckoned with.
Thomas and Spieth both had 12 top-10 finishes to lead the PGA Tour in that category. Thomas nipped his good buddy, Spieth by half-a-million bucks with total earnings of $9.9 million. Plus, Thomas collected $10 million for the FedEx Cup.
Spieth, however was the low man on the totem pole for scoring average with 68.8. Rickie Fowler was second with 69 and Thomas was third at 69.3.
Rickie Fowler continues to finish high on leaderboards and seems to be in contention every week, but his lone win of the year came at the Honda Classic back in February.
Two 22-year-olds that had spectacular years are Jon Rahm and Si Woo Kim.
Rahm was a force all year with a win at Torrey Pines, another in Europe and 11 top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour. He finished the year ranked No. 5 on the Official World Golf Ranking and could challenge for the top spot in 2018.
Kim won the Wyndham Championship in 2016 and added The Players Championship in 2017. His game is solid, although he does suffer with back issues that affect his play.
The pros played for purses totaling over $330 million, plus another $65 million in the FedEx Playoffs and bonus pool. The tour does not appear to be having any problem drawing sponsors to the game.
A continuing concern for the PGA Tour are the ever-decreasing television ratings. Live streaming on various smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices does appear to be strong, however.
The question is, Can Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, and Rory McIlroy, bring enough fans to the tv sets to keep the money train rolling?
It was a record year for young players under the age of 30. They won 30 titles out of the 53 events hosted by the PGA Tour in 2017.
Only six tournaments were won by players over the age of 39. Pat Perez, Jason Dufner and Henrik Stenson earned titles last year. All three are solid players, Stenson and Dufner have majors, but Perez may be the most interesting. He seems to be a late bloomer and has played his best golf over the past couple of years.
Matt Kuchar will join the over 40 set next year and he could be a force. He is always consistent, but will his near miss at The Open Championship, fuel a desire to win more next year?
The over 30 group won 17 events, but only one name sticks out, Dustin Johnson. He is one of the most athletic players on tour and has the fire power and mental game to dominate.
Other over 30 guys, Billy Horschel and Kevin Kisner won tournaments. Both are consistent players, but don’t expect to see either winning in bunches or major championships in the future.
Youth dominated the PGA Tour in 2017 winning in record numbers. With Phil Mickelson now over 45 and Tiger Woods’ future of returning to a PGA Tour event any time soon in serious doubt, the tour needs Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and a healthy Rory McIlroy to carry the marquee burden to keep the television sets tuned to golf on the weekends.
