The Sentry Tournament
With the 2024 PGA Tour season beginning in less than two days, the golf community has been taken for a bit of a ride the past month or so. Between Jon Rahm leaving for LIV coupled with a very weak fan experience across professional golf, it’s extremely important that the PGAT focus on the fan experience and their product this year. The 2023 golf season was filled with rough content, not the best fields, and broadcasts filled with too many commercials especially during the majors. Hopefully the PGAT can get off to a hot start this week in Hawaii.
In the past The Sentry used to only be compiled of the past seasons winners, however in the hopes to draw larger viewership it has been opened up to past winners along with the 50 players in the previous years FedEx Cup points race. In light of that change the tournament name has also been changed from The Sentry Tournament of Champions to just The Sentry. Personally I think this is a great move, fans want to see as much golf as possible and a field with only 30-40 players really limits the fan experience. Now with the widen field compiled over 60 players fans now have the opportunity to watch more golf for a longer period of time throughout the day. Fans will also have the opportunity to watch some fan favorites and some rising stars who didn't capture a victory last year. More specifically there are three players that should be on every fan’s radar, Tom Kim, Eric Cole, and Ludvig Aberg. Cole is likely to grab a win this year, last year he made 27-28 cuts, and 14 top top 25’s. Cole was knocking on the door last year also notching two runner up finishes. On top of that Cole has managed to move into the top 50 in the OWGR. I think this season we will see Eric Cole finish the job and capture his maiden victory and he’s got his first shot this week at The Sentry. Another up and coming young star is Ludvig Aberg. Ludvig is fresh out of college and has already made a name for himself. In just 11 events last season he made 10 cuts, eight top 25’s and four top 10’s along with a Ryder Cup debut and a DP World Tour victory in the fall. It’s not a matter of if this kid wins, it's a matter of when and how many. Lastly, fan favorite Tom Kim has positioned himself to have an even better year than he had last season. Last season Kim notched two victories along with nine top 10’s. Kim is also knocking on the door for the top 10 in the world. You could make a great case for Kim to win his first major this season.
The PGAT has a bright future with some of these young stars like Kim and Ludvig, however their main concerns should lie in their broadcast issues. It’s no secret the tour has made the fans suffer this past season, with losing star players and the horrendous broadcast. I hope that the tour focuses on ways to improve the fan experience because after all without the fans Golf isn’t the same and during Covid we’ve seen how bad fanless golf is. I think the one thing i'd personally like to see is more golf, during the broadcast viewers are locked in to the featured groups and that's it and many times those featured groups don’t even have the leaders. I'd like to see the tour show shots from a larger number of players throughout the broadcast. More golf equals more eyes watching. It's very simple. I'd also like to see the PGAT bring in analysts that actually know how to speak on camera. Everyone is built for TV, it's not easy and bringing random ex players in the booth doesn’t always work out, sometimes it makes the product worse. All and all better analysts, less commercials and more golf is what I'd personally like to see this year on the PGAT. (Mike)
I am so excited that the PGA Tour is back. It has been a long while since we have seen good, competitive golf. The break was well needed though as LIV and Jon Rahm dominated the golf headlines for all of the wrong reasons. While the LIV stuff will never go away, I do hope the focus this year is more on the golf and less about the BS out of the ropes. I think 2024 will be the most pivotal year that the tour has faced maybe ever. (Tyler)
In the past two, three months the landscape of golf has changed and right now we can’t really tell if it's been for the better or not. However there is one thing for certain, more players will continue to leave for LIV and both products will struggle. It seems that at this juncture in golf a merger is necessary or the PGAT will have to allow LIV players to compete on the PGAT again. Either way 2024 will be a pivotal year in golf. (Mike)
My pick for player of the year this year is Justin Thomas. There is no doubt last year was one of the worst of his career. Him making the Ryder Cup squad still looks like a very weak move. However, he is way too good to be down for long. I expect a massive year for JT that will include a major and three to four more wins. There is just no way a guy that is as good as him will have two down years in a row.
My pick for a player to turn into a household name is Min Woo Lee. He had a great fall and is a guy that can hit the ball a mile. He has some wins under his belt, but is needing to contend more in the big tournaments and I think that is exactly what he does this year. I do not believe he will win many or any big tournaments this year, but I do expect him to become a household name as he finds himself at the top of many leaderboards in 2024.
My bold prediction for the year is that Rory will finally win his career grand slam. I have changed opinions on Rory a lot over the last year as he seems to have been picked as the PGA spokesperson. I think a lot of the off course stuff impacted his play last year to some degree. Coming off a big Ryder cup win and a longer offseason than usual I expect him to play like we are all used to. His good play and mental reset will allow him to finally capture the career grand slam, something that has evaded him for years. It will be one of the better sports days of the year if and when Rory wins at Augusta.
Happy to be back talking golf this year and excited to see what storylines develop over the next few months. There will be plenty of unbelievable golf played this year and I am looking forward to some special courses throughout the year. (Tyler)