Blog# 173 Review of 2024 Regular Season and projection for Fall Season 2024 & 2025

Blog# 173 Review of 2024 Regular Season and projection for Fall Season 2024 & 2025

Individual players accomplishments in 2024

1) Scottie Scheffler- The regular season concluded on September 1st on a positive note with Scheffler winning the Tour Championship by dominating the field as he has all year. He wins The Arnold Palmer and The Players back to back in March and  pocketed $9.5M. Then he goes on to win The Masters, Heritage, Memorial and Travelers making another $14.8M.  He wins the Gold Medal at the Olympics shooting the low score of 62 with 5 birdies on the last 7 holes in the medal round.  His 7th and final victory is at the Tour Championship highlighted by an eagle on 14 to seal the victory over Colin Morikawa who played very well.

2) Xander Schauffele wins his first major The PGA in May then his 2nd THE OPEN in July.

3) Keegan Bradly wins the BMW Tour Championship event after earlier in the season being named Captain of the Ryder Cup 2025 team which will be played Sept 26-29 2025 at Bethpage Black NY.  He has also been removed as Co-Captain of the Presidents Cup and named as a player on the team.  

4) Nick Dunlap became the first amateur to win a PGA event since 1991 by winning the American Express in January as a sophomore at Alabama.  He would have won $1.5M which was awarded to 2nd place finisher Christiaan Bezidenhout.  He immediately turned pro and won his second tournament The Barracuda at Tahoe where he won $720K.  He finished 5th at the St Jude and 31st at BMW but missed the final Tour Championship RD.  Since turning pro in January he has won over $3M.

5) Grayson Murray On Jan 7th he won the Sony Open making a 39’ birdie putt for a playoff win, his 1st since 2017.  He made public his struggle with drugs, alcohol & depression but won $1.5M to secure a place on the PGA TOUR.  However it was short lived as he did not play well through the Charles Schwab in May and after 3 late bogies on RD3 and he withdrew.

He then went to his hotel room and took his own life.  Maybe his poor performance triggered his tragic decision.  Peter Malinati gave a very moving TV interview on Sunday. 

6) Peter Malinati is #65 On 2024 FedX points & #85 OWGR.  He has only 2 PGA wins since 2014, the 2015 Sanderson and 2024 Valspar.  He wears a bucket hat no baseball cap.  He has won a total of $10M in 10 years so he is not a top player.  However if you see his emotional interview after the death of Grayson Murray you will become a fan.

7) Chris Kirk wins the first tournament of 2024 “Sentry Championship”.  He battled alcoholism and was very upfront with his problem.  Unfortunately it did not help Grayson Murray.

8) Billy Horschel is one of the good guys, and at 37 his game was downtrending.  Then he won The Corales Championship in this opposite-field tournament and it revived his career.  He went on to make the Tour Championship & Ryder Cup team. 

9) Bryson DeChambeau by far the best LIV player in the PGA Majors, 6th at The Masters, 2nd The PGA and wins The US Open.  Misses the cut+9 at THE OPEN, but 3 out of 4 not bad.

10) Jhonattan Vegas wins the 3M Open his first victory in 7 years.  He has battled injuries and it was great to see him get a win.

11) Max Grayserman an unknown, he shoots low final RD 63 and finish 2nd at the 3M Open.  He then blows a 4 shot lead with 5 to play at Wyndham Championship but he makes the Tour Championship where he is dead last #70 at the St Jude & BMW #49, but comes back to finish 33rd & 28th.  Watch out for him in the Fall and 2025.

FALL SEASON 2024

Currently the Fall Schedule is similar to Spring training and pre season football, basketball & hockey.  Of the PGA events from Sept 12 to Dec 15 only 4 have any meaning and they will have a limited field and reduced purses.  As in the past, only 5 to 10 key players show up.  

The fields are made up of new players & veterans trying to keep or regain their cards for 2025. 

The PGA event for Sept 12-15 Procore was treated as the 3rd tournament of the weekend.

It was covered by Golf Channel all 4 days starting a 6PM.  On Saturday & Sunday competed with college football and the NFL and with a field dominated by lesser know golfers.  

The final RD of the Procure drew only 69,000 viewers.

The Solheim Cup on Golf Channel Friday and NBC Saturday and Sunday was #1.  

The DPWT Irish Open was covered on ESPN+ Thur & Fri, but no TV on Sat&Sun.

There is no PGA event this weekend, but a decent field for this weeks DPWT.

Rory McIlroy has set up a match with he and Scottie Scheffler against LIV players  Bryson

DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka to be held in December in Las Vegas.  

LIV 2024 SEASON

The future of the LIV’s format is still in doubt.  Their TV coverage is unwatchable and the team format is ridiculous.  They have failed to attract young golfers and the future of their aging veterans like Bubba Watson who earned $1.9M and Phil Mickelson $2.1M is questionable.  Their highest on course earner was Jon Rahm $34.7M while Scottie Scheffler won $29.2M but with bonus’ & endorsements it could be over $70M.  LIV #50 Branden Grace won $1.8M PGA #50 Max Grayserman $3.2M.  The lowest paid LIV player was Wade Ormsby #58 $83K and lowest PGA player was Francesco Molinari #200 $149K.  No one knows what 2025 will bring between the 2 groups, but it appears that the PGA is doing fine in spite of LIV.

PREVIEW 

The BMW Championship at the Wentworth Club in England 

Par 72 Purse $9M same as last year.  The field will include 11 high profile PGA Players:

Rory McIlroy at 5/1, Tommy Fleetwood 10/1, Shane Lowry 12/1, Adam Scott 14/1, 

Billy Horschel 18/1, Aaron Rai 18/1, Robert MacIntyre 22/1, Rasmus Hojgaard 25/1

Matt Fitzgerald 25/1, Sepp Straka 30/1, Justin Rose 33/1.  One of thees 11 should win.  

FALL SEASON 2025

No schedule has been released except Ryder Cup September 26-29 at Bethpage Black NY.  

There may be major changes and a possible agreement between PIF/LIV & the PGA/SSG.

McIlroy has been very vocal about the need for an agreement between LIV&PGA.  He has  advocated a world inclusive involvement from the PGA which has the majority of its tournaments in the US.  The Fall season leaves open opportunities to schedule events outside the US.  McIlroy will play at least 3 DP world tour events and no PGA Fall events.