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5 storylines to watch in the 2020 PGA Tour season

By David Salituro

MEDINAH, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 18: Tiger Woods of the United States plays his shot from the fifth tee during the final round of the BMW Championship at Medinah Country Club No. 3 on August 18, 2019 in Medinah, Illinois. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
MEDINAH, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 18: Tiger Woods of the United States plays his shot from the fifth tee during the final round of the BMW Championship at Medinah Country Club No. 3 on August 18, 2019 in Medinah, Illinois. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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With last season now in the rear-view mirror, the 2020 PGA Tour season begins on Thursday with several intriguing storylines to pay attention to

Before Rory McIlroy could even figure out what to do with his $15 million FedEx Cup prize, the PGA Tour is back.

If it seems like not too long ago that McIlroy was winning the Tour Championship to close out the 2019 season, that’s because it was. The offseason lasted all of three weeks and ends on Thursday with the start of A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier, the first official event of the 2020 PGA Tour season.

As experienced veterans and rookies both prepare to begin their season, several storylines will dominate the headlines between now and when McIlroy returns to East Lake to defend his title next August. From an emerging rivalry between the two top players in the world, to three young guns looking to make their mark on tour, here are five things to watch for on the PGA Tour in 2020.

1. How much will Tiger Woods play?

The 2019 PGA Tour season had 46 official events, but for many casual golf fans, only one of them mattered.

Tiger Woods’ victory at the Masters was the highlight of the season and one that will be remembered long past 2019. But for the soon-to-be-44-year-old Woods, it was the lone bright spot on an otherwise lackluster year on tour.

Woods played in just 12 events, finishing in the top 10 four times. The Masters was not only his lone win of the season but also the only time he was really in contention at an event. In his last four events, he was 21st at the U.S. Open, missed the cut at the Open Championship, withdrew from the Northern Trust and finished 37th out of 70 players in the BMW Championship.

The golf world saw little of Woods after his triumph at Augusta National. He took a month off after the Masters before missing the cut at the PGA Championship. He again took a month off after the U.S. Open, the accumulating rust leading to another missed cut at Royal Portrush. He only played 11 competitive rounds in the last two months of the season.

Throughout the year, Woods continued to insist that this is the new normal for him. He feels like he played too much in his comeback year of 2018, when he teed up in an event 18 times. He was determined to cut back on the number of events he played in 2019. He did just that, but unfortunately, the amount of time he took off didn’t allow him to build up any rhythm.

The goal for Woods now is to find a balance. He played too much in 2018 but probably played too little in 2019. The right schedule for him lies somewhere in between, and he’ll spend 2020 trying to figure out what it is. His next scheduled event is the Zozo Championship in Japan near the end of October. Where he plays after that remains one of the biggest question marks of the 2020 season.

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