7 Questions to be Answered in the 2022 PGA Tour Season

When will Tiger Woods play next? Is this the year Rory McIlroy gets his fifth major? What's the deal with Jordan Spieth? Those are some of the questions John Hawkins wants to see answered in 2022.

So many questions, so much to wonder about….and not an easy answer to be found as the PGA Tour prepares for a 38-event schedule in 2022. 

Almost a quarter of the current season has been played, of course, but that was before the Omicron variant imposed a staunch prevent defense to derail the best-laid plans of other active sports leagues. More than 150 NFL players tested positive just two weeks ago, a number that has since climbed past 200. 

This is a golf publication, not a medical journal, but as we begin what is coincidentally  ordained as the Year of the Tiger by the Chinese calendar, the two ostensibly have become one and the same. Tour commish Jay Monahan has deftly piloted his organization through the first 22 months of the pandemic era — Jon Rahm’s forced withdrawal at the Memorial last spring remains the only incident worthy of a banner headline — but as we’ve come to learn, things can change very quickly.

To be clear, the Year of the Tiger doesn’t officially start until Feb. 1. Pebble Beach week. Given how the coronavirus originated in China, let’s hold off on any additional irony and hope the game steers clear of another COVID-related stoppage or heavy player absences. After all, a week without a golf tournament is just a lousy reason to pick up a snow shovel.

We’re off and running. Here’s a look at 2022 in a 12-ounce can.

1. Those 38 tournaments — is there anything new or different on the horizon?

Robert Cox of Rendezvous grills sausage during the FedEx-St. Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind in August :: Joe Rondone/The Commercial Appeal via Imagn

A bit of each, actually. The biggest news is the inclusion of the Scottish Open to the PGA Tour schedule, a move that has been in the works for more than a year. Fields will consist of members from both primary circuits. With its usual dates (the week prior to the British Open) and a $6 million purse — righteous bucks by Euro Tour standards —this has all the makings of a premium gathering. A major without the upper-class status.

In what could be interpreted as a sign of weakness regarding the FedEx Cup playoff structure, two of the three tournaments have been relocated once again. The postseason opener, which was held just outside New York City since the big-bang finale took flight in 2007, has been transferred to Memphis, home of Camp Ponte Vedra’s favorite courier. If it looks like a kickback and smells like a kickback, the $65 million ponied up by the Tour’s most important business partner will buy you a lot of cachet.

As for the second playoff tilt, which featured massive crowds and the most compelling final round in 2021, the move from Baltimore to Wilmington, DE is a true head-scratcher. Lord knows how many BMWs are made in Wilmington, but in the minds of those who oversee golf’s almighty empire, the title sponsor gets what the title sponsor wants.

2. What's the deal with the majors this year? 

St. Andrews / Photo: GolfFile | Thos Caffrey

The news here is the PGA of America’s decision to dump Trump — a reaction to last January’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol during the 45th President’s final days in office. Trump National Golf Club Bedminster — a course as spectacular as its name is lengthy — was deposed as host of May’s PGA Championship in favor of Tulsa’s Southern Hills. Translation: a highly regarded layout on the verge of staging its first major championship was replaced by a club that has held more PGAs than any other.

Speaking of veteran venues, The Country Club will become a grandfather for the 14th time at the U.S. Open. Nine U.S. Amateurs (men’s and women’s), a fourth U.S. Open and, of course, the 1999 Ryder Cup amass quite a portfolio for the Brookline, Mass. gem, but 32 years have passed since it last hosted a USGA gathering for the big boys. There are several thousand worse places to play a major than Boston. And that’s just in New England.

Oh, and the British Open heads back to St. Andrews. how’s that for back-to-back sites? Ruth and Gehrig didn’t make more history than those two.

3. What is likely to become the first significant casualty of COVID-19?

Aaron Rodgers, Jerry Kelly, Ho-sung Choi and Chris O'Donnell at the 2019 Pebble Beach Pro-Am / Kyle Terada-USA Today Sports

As previously mentioned, Pebble Beach is a mere month away, and if Monahan still knows how to manage a crisis, he’ll cut the amateur half of the field unless Omicron goes on vacation, which is highly improbable. It reduces the risk that comes with a large number of people gathered in close quarters. It also shrinks gallery sizes because so many spectators show up to watch movie stars and country singers. Monahan might decide to ban fans altogether in the first few months of the season. Everybody’s flying blind in these uncertain times.

4. If this is the Year of the Tiger, how often will we see Eldrick T. Icon tee it up in 2022?

Tiger's 2022 schedule could include only the majors / Jeremy Reper-USA TODAY Sports

Given how sharp he looked in the final two rounds of last month’s Bloodline Classic in Orlando, Woods obviously has a harder time walking to his ball than hitting it. What matters here is that Tiger is eligible for all four majors due to his triumph at the 2019 Masters. Unless he makes little or no physical progress over the next four months, I can’t imagine him passing up the opportunity to make more history. It’s a longshot — Woods winning, not just showing up — but I can see him playing in those four tournaments and nothing else.

Warriors don’t know how to quit. They head back to the gym and find a reason to believe.

5. Has Jordan Spieth conquered his ballstriking demons to the point where he can become a top-five player again?

His short-putting woes damaged his chances of winning more than once last year, not his crooked driving or inconsistent iron play. Spieth leapt from 82nd to 14th in the Official World Golf Ranking in 2021. Among name players, only Sam Burns (154th to 11th) made a greater climb, reason enough to think the three-time major champ can rediscover the form that made him a superstar so quickly. Top five? Spieth will need to win at least twice to make that happen, but he could have easily won two or three tourneys on the road to recovery in ’21.

Amazingly, the Golden Boy is averaging 309.3 yards off the tee this season—about 30 yards longer than in the early stages of his career. Good thing, too. In this power-crazed era, if you don’t hit it a mile, victories don’t happen for a while.

6. Will Rory McIlroy ever win another major?

Good question. No player has ever claimed four Big Ones by the age of 25, then endured such a puzzling, logic-defying drought, which now stands at 6 ½ years. Not only has McIlroy failed to pick up a fifth major, he hasn’t come all that close. Despite 13 top 10s since the 2014 PGA, his best chance came at the 2018 British, where he finished in a five-way tie for second, two strokes behind Francesco Molinari. For all the negative numerical vibes, however, there’s evidence to suggest McIlrebound is poised to make 2022 a memorable year.

He beat a quality field in Las Vegas 2-1/2 months ago, following up on a sloppy-but-still-a-victorious performance at Quail Hollow last May. He’s currently ninth in the OWGR, which is about five spots lower than a man of his talent should reside. More than anything, however, is how emotional McIlroy was during a live television interview after playing so poorly at the Ryder Cup. It took all he had to fight back the tears, a radical departure from the Mr. Happy Go Lucky of recent years, win or lose.

Greatness requires an inner fire. Northern Ireland’s finest appears to have found a flame.

7. Who will stand atop the World Ranking at year’s end?

Jon Rahm

The same guy who’s there now. Rahm is the complete package, a long and very accurate driver who rarely hits a lousy iron shot and makes superb use of what has become the world’s best short game. The burly Spaniard is also a student of his craft, far beyond a majority of his peers in terms of appreciating golf’s rich history, and he’s well on his way to making some himself.

Rahm’s competitive thirst used to manifest itself in those demonstrative tantrums and woe-is-me mindset, but he’s a changed man, and there’s no ceiling to his capability. He’ll win three times in 2022, one of them a major, and add another layer of credibility to the notion that he has a chance to become the greatest European player of all-time. Better than Seve. Better than Sir Nick. A connoisseur of the past , Rahm would never admit as much, but an extraordinary legacy is his for the taking.

Now if he can just avoid those negative COVID tests….