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Ea sports pga tour 23 review: beautifully realistic golf.

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EA Sports PGA Tour is focused on getting the most detail-oriented, technologically possible approach for a realistic golf video game. Developer EA Orlando & EA Madrid and publisher Electronic Arts acquired exclusive licensing to include the top golf tournaments. The Masters Tournament, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open Championship, and The Open are all represented, along with the Augusta National Women's Amateur, the FedExCup, and many more.

In a Screen Rant PGA Tour interview , developers talked about what went into the course design process to make EA Sports PGA Tour as realistic as possible with the 30 courses currently available. The game is designed to feel incredibly immersive from the ground up and is genuinely photo-realistic on machines that are capable of handling the highest graphic settings.

Related: Every Course In EA Sports PGA Tour

EA Sports PGA Tour is stunning, and on the highest graphics settings, even the crowds along the sides of each course can feel realistic. The physics are crafted to take into account the slightest changes in the environment, swing controls, and more with a mind-blowing amount of things to tweak to get each shot just right. Unfortunately, this also creates a very steep learning curve for any casual players of the game, without a lot of leeways given when an amateur is truly an amateur.

Just as in a real-life golf career, as a player improves their golf game, they get to progress through different championships and events. EA Sports PGA Tour offers different ways to work on practicing, whether through trying to play through the Korn Tour, attempting to beat Challenges that the game sets up for players, grabbing a friend for some of the many multiplayer modes, or simply working on beating a player's own score in Stroke play.

The sports announcers in EA Sports PGA Tour are highly entertaining. Though it can be discouraging to hear the announcers making comments when things are going poorly during a round, the voice-over work is very smooth and features a large enough library of commentary that repeated statements are uncommon. This can help bring a person into the game and adds a lot to the immersion.

The Challenges mode within EA Sports PGA Tour offers several unique snapshots from games where a player is placed in a certain situation, often with a backstory of a real-life occurrence that event came from, and then are given three criteria they must accomplish to complete the Challenge.

Physics and environmental data were all closely analyzed in creating EA Sports PGA Tour , even to ensure that the ball behaves with next-gen responsiveness. When a shot is made, whether a long drive or a short putt, the ball will spin, bounce, dribble, and roll just as it would in real life on that course. Golf swing mechanics are applied based on the players' own movements with the controller, and according to developers, the use of EA Sports Pure Strike technology with PGA Tour ShotLink and TrackMan data gives a highly accurate result of what would have happened on a real golf course.

Considering how much of the player character is seen throughout the game, both in cut scenes and in lining up every shot, EA Sports PGA Tour should have made more options for character design. The women's hair in particular is poorly created considering the impressive technology used everywhere else. Currently, there seem to also be some bugs in registering swing mechanics with a controller joystick, which can be game-breaking with the amount of precision necessary for EA Sports PGA Tour . While hopefully that will be corrected with updates, at the time of this review, it made an already challenging game nearly impossible.

EA Sports PGA Tour is an absolutely beautiful and immersive golf game with a very realistic feel. The game can be quite demanding on even some of the better systems, so PC users should be forewarned to check the requirements and be ready to turn down graphic settings. It is a challenging game, but still a lot of fun and is a great foundation for players to become better with the ability to see true growth happening as they continue to practice, as long as the player has enough patience to get there.

Source: EA SPORTS PGA TOUR/YouTube

EA Sports PGA Tour is available now for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Screen Rant was provided with a Steam download code for the purpose of this review.

Our Rating:

• 3 star games
• EA Sports PGA Tour 23

EA Sports PGA Tour Review - Hit The Links

• First Released Apr 4, 2023 released

EA returns to the world of golf with a challenging and rewarding title that's let down by a couple of inconsistencies and an underwhelming swing mechanic.

By Richard Wakeling on April 12, 2023 at 10:55AM PDT

EA Sports PGA Tour is unlike any other golf game I've played. It still features familiar elements from the series' past--back when Tiger Woods was front and center--such as slow-motion heartbeat moments and climactic power shots. But after an eight-year hiatus from the world of golf simulation, EA has returned to the fairway with a more demanding recreation of the sport that's as much about feel as it is mastering the game's robust mechanics. With 30 courses covering all four majors--including The Masters at Augusta National--EA Sports PGA Tour has a plethora of golfing action to sink your teeth into. It's just a shame there are a few notable issues in critical areas that hold it back from greatness.

The first of these is the game's swing mechanic. If you've played a golf game before, the actual act of swinging a driver or 5-iron will be familiar. You pull down on the analog stick to bring the club back, then push forward again to unleash your shot. This has been a staple in golf games for a number of years now, and there aren't any alternatives at the moment--not until a three-click system is implemented in a later update. The issue with EA Sports PGA Tour is that there's a slight delay between your input and the on-screen visual. Your swing isn't 1:1, so there's an uneasy disconnect where you never quite feel like you're in total control. The general malaise of each swing doesn't help matters either, with the slow, clunky pacing and frustrating lag making it difficult to nail the timing and power of each shot. I eventually grew accustomed to these idiosyncrasies over time, but it never feels quite right and fails to capture the satisfaction that hitting a 300-yard tee shot should achieve.

To compound the issue, EA Sports PGA Tour also lacks any sort of meaningful tutorial. There are tooltips that pop up and cover the basics the first time you play, but these brief snippets barely scratch the surface of everything going on under the hood. Instead, the game has a suite of challenges that happen to include a Coaching Academy. This is the best place to start, even if these challenges still neglect to offer any tips or feedback to help you along the way. What you get is a variety of contextual situations covering different aspects of the sport, from putting downhill to dealing with elevation changes and the multitude of shot types on offer. There's a lot of trial and error involved, but the repetition of replaying each situation does give you a greater understanding of how everything works. It's not a very user-friendly approach, but it sets expectations and is genuinely helpful in an unconventional way, even if it might prove frustrating for some. Plus, completing these challenges also earns you XP that can be used to improve your created character.

EA Sports PGA Tour's career mode sits front and center, starting off with your no-name golfer competing in the qualifying school before moving on to the amateur Korn Ferry Tour. The ultimate goal is to reach the PGA Tour, which can be done either by winning one of the many four-round courses or by placing highly enough in the Korn Ferry rankings come season's end. You can expedite this process by opting for a quick play mode where you only need to play a few holes rather than an entire round, but I think playing full rounds is the way to go. That's mostly because it gives you ample time to fine-tune your skills, learn the courses, and gain a better understanding of the game's mechanics. There's also a palpable sense of progression that comes from leveling up your golfer. Earning XP lets you build your skills in driving, approach play, short game, and putting, while progressing each attribute also unlocks more shot types, giving you additional options when preparing to send the ball careening toward the green.

Fortunately, the Coaching Academy includes challenges for each of the game's myriad shot types, giving you the opportunity to see how each one functions before playing competitively. There's value in understanding the differences between a runner, spinner, or knock-down shot, but knowing when to utilize each one essentially comes down to a matter of feel. In this respect, EA Sports PGA Tour resembles the sport of golf more accurately than any other game. There are a number of variables at play for every single shot, to the point where there's a real thought process behind each swing. You have to choose the right shot type and club for each situation, adjust for wind and elevation, judge how much power you need to put into the swing, and account for the distinct ways each course plays--tweaking your shot shape depending on the shape of the fairway and lie of the bunkers. The game helps to some degree by displaying relevant information such as wind speed and distance, but then you're left to your own devices. This can be frustrating, particularly early on when you're still learning the ropes and your golfer's attributes aren't up to snuff, but once everything clicks, EA Sports PGA Tour plays an engrossing game of golf that can be incredibly rewarding.

Much of this is down to the courses themselves. Every single one of the 30 officially licensed courses is staggeringly beautiful and offers an authentic attention to detail, whether it's Liberty National and its view of the Manhattan skyline, the waves crashing against the sand at Pebble Beach, or the alligators lurking in the water at TPC Sawgrass. Almost every course is iconic on some level, and they've all been faithfully rendered and recreated, right down to individual blades of grass. The absence of a course designer is a tad disappointing, but unlike PGA Tour 2K23, it's not something that feels like a necessity because there are already so many 18-hole delights. The courses are the game's main character, providing the kind of variety and depth to stave off any tedium. Mastering a golf game's mechanics is usually the key to success, but EA Sports PGA Tour's courses demand much more from you. Each one plays differently, whether it's the roll of the green or the width of the fairway impacting your decision-making. It genuinely feels like you're playing against the course rather than the shot meter.

The physics model, which is built around the official TrackMan data for ball tracking and swing analysis, is excellent for the most part. However, there are some inconsistencies when it comes to ball rollout. On The Old Course at St Andrews, for instance, the rollout is overly extreme to the point where the ball will roll uphill at pace, even through heavy rough. This forces you to account for situations that shouldn't really occur. Once you land on the green, putting is also equally aggravating for different reasons. Each green contains a grid that uses moving beads to show you the direction of the break. The problem is that sometimes this data is inaccurate and the break is opposite to what the beads are showing. The putt reader alleviates this somewhat by showing the ideal path to the hole, but this is also misleading at times. With no reliable way to gauge the breaks, putting is a lesson in irritation that will only be rectified if these issues are fixed in future updates.

Outside of career mode, EA Sports PGA Tour also features various tournament options for use in online matches against the community. If you want to play against friends, however, stroke play is the only option, and there's a disappointing lack of alternating play for those who want to see each other tee off. A range of daily, weekly, and seasonal tournaments give you another chance to earn XP and items like club specs and in-game cash for a limited time before they're refreshed, so there's an incentive to keep coming back. That in-game cash can be spent in a store of rotating items including various cosmetics, which holds some appeal because the character creator is extremely barebones. Outfitting your golfer in branded clothing can be fairly costly, though, which is explained by the inclusion of microtransactions for those who would rather buy the in-game currency with real money. This isn't a surprising move, but it doesn't exactly vibe with the serene mood.

After almost a decade away from the sport, EA's return to the golf course is a promising one. The range of shot types, courses, and tangible variables make for a methodical and tactical game of golf that's both challenging and rewarding. It stumbles by barely introducing players to its robust mechanics, while a laggy swing and inconsistent putting are notable flaws on what is otherwise a fantastic golf sim. EA Sports PGA Tour represents a solid re-entry for the series and lays down a sturdy foundation for an auspicious future.

• Leave Blank
• Each shot must be carefully considered, taking into account a number of variables
• All 30 courses are wonderfully recreated and each one feels distinct
• Offers a tough but satisfying simulation of golf that's close to the real thing
• The lack of tutorials makes for a rocky start
• Swing mechanics are delayed and create a disconnect
• Putting information is frequently misleading

About the Author

Richard Wakeling

• @richardwakeling

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EA Sports PGA Tour Review

2023 marks the first year since 2015 that golf fans have been treated to an EA Sports video game, with Rory McIlroy PGA Tour having been released in June of 2015.

The game features an abundance of aesthetically pleasing golf courses with fantastic graphics and a loaded roster of elite golfers. Augusta National is a playable golf course for the first time in a video game since 2011 and doesn’t disappoint. The tricky green complexes, sloping fairways and pink azaleas make gamers feel like they’re playing in The Masters.

Swing Mechanics

The swing mechanics in the game are a bit tricky to figure out. It took me quite a long time to get a grasp of where I needed to pull the analog stick back to when making a full swing. My approach shots when over the green almost every time forcing me either to club down or make an abbreviated swing.

There are a great deal of new shot types which add realism to the game, but it can be a bit overwhelming trying to figure out which shot to use when the basic swing is so hard to get right to begin with. For advanced players, the abundance of shot types should be a welcome benefit.

The difficulty of the swing and figuring out how to use all of the different mechanics to play a round of golf was most definitely the biggest drawback of the game. Simply put, it will take a lot of time and effort to master EA Sports PGA Tour and those looking to pick it up quickly are in for a disappointment.

Career Mode

Career Mode is far and away the best part about EA Sports PGA Tour. While it’s certainly a grind to build your player’s stats and XP up enough to be competitive in the events, it’s worth the struggle. The game has all four of the majors, which is fantastic and truly gives the player incentive to improve and play well.

The choices of new clubs and gear is expansive and offers all of the big brands, but gaining the XP to purchase them in conjunction with the difficulty of the game can be frustrating.

Career Mode also offers players an option to play alongside a computer controlled professional player, which gives the tournament a much more authentic feel. However, playing alongside a pro slows the pace of play down considerably. There’s an option for players to choose Quick Play” which speeds up the round and only gives players the chance to play the most important shots of the tournament. However, there isn’t an option to change a tournament to two or three rounds instead of four.

The Verdict

The Career Mode is enough to make EA Sports’ return to the golf game world successful. Access to all four majors, the ability to play at historic courses like Pebble Beach and Augusta National, and the deep roster of stars makes this game worth buying.

The swing mechanics and overall difficulty of the golf simulation will be tough for players to adapt to, but patience and determination will pay off. Once the time is put in to master the swing and different shot types, the experience feels like the real thing.

EA Sports PGA Tour 2023 is a great start to golf video games on next generation consoles, but there is undoubtedly room for improvement for the series in the future.

Score: 8.1/10

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After reports emerged last month that Rory McIlroy and his wife, Erica, were in the process of a divorce, it appears that the couple has mended fences.

According to The Guardian , the divorce petition that Rory filed in court last month has been voluntarily dismissed.

McIlroy told The Guardian, “There have been rumours about my personal life recently, which is unfortunate. Responding to each rumour is a fool’s game.”

“Over the past weeks, Erica and I have realised that our best future was as a family together. Thankfully, we have resolved our differences and look forward to a new beginning.”

McIlroy now seems fully focused on capturing his elusive 5th major championship this week at Pinehurst No. 2.

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Last week, Mexican Carlos Ortiz emerged victorious at LIV Houston. The win was his second in Houston as a professional, as he won the Vivint Houston Open on the PGA Tour back in 2020.

After his brilliant performance, Ortiz said he believes he should be playing in this week’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, despite missing out on qualifying.

“I’ve been playing great. It’s a shame I doubled the last hole to miss the qualifier. It hurt a lot.”

The 33-year-old then referred to himself as “one of the best players in the world right now”.

“I think with time, we’re going to get back into the Majors because I know that I’m one of the best players in the world right now, and I deserve to be there. But the way things are happening right now, it’s kind of hard.”

Ortiz came agonizingly close to qualifying in Dallas last week but made double bogey on his last hole to fall out of the potential spot.

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Jon Rahm in race against time for U.S. Open after worrying update following toe injury

LIV Golf star Jon Rahm was forced to withdraw from the second round of LIV Houston last week due to a toe injury.

The injury appeared to be painful for the Spaniard, who apparently had a cut which turned to an infection between his toes.

Jon Rahm clearly dealing with some kind of injury here. Was getting his foot worked on just minutes before teeing off, and now visibly in pain after this shot. Makes you wonder how long he’s been dealing with this. pic.twitter.com/We8FZCRdv0 — Tee Times (@TeeTimesPub) June 7, 2024

After he was visibly in pain on Friday during the round, Rahm attempted to play on Saturday and made it six holes prior to withdrawing.

According to “Ten Golf”, Rahm was not on the grounds of Pinehurst No. 2 for the U.S. Open on Monday and is not expected to arrive Tuesday either.

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Rahm has struggled in the majors this season. He finished T45 at the Masters and missed the cut at the PGA Championship.

It’s still unclear whether or not he will attempt to play in the U.S. Open.

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Ea sports pga tour initial review: hands-off with ea's golfing return.

We've been given a tour around some of the Tour. Here's what we've learned so far.

It's been a fair old while since Electronic Arts dabbled with golf. Even though it was the gaming home of the PGA Tour since the start of the 90s, we've not had a new game from EA Sports since 2015's Rory McIlroy.

In the meantime, HB Studios and 2K Games have capably filled the gap, first with The Golf Club and snagging their own PGA Tour licensing in latter days.

Now though, EA is about to return to the fairway with a new addition to the franchise. And, it's looking like it'll carry on exactly where it left off, albeit with a fair few modern bells and whistles thrown in for good measure.

We've been privy to a hands-off demo of the game and a walkthrough of its features by some of the developers. Here's how it's looking so far.

EA Sports PGA Tour

With 30 courses planned for launch and all the major tournaments, including the Masters at Augusta, EA Sports PGA Tour is shaping up to be a thorough title for enthusiasts and casual gamers alike. From what we've seen so far, it's also looking superb thanks to the adoption of the Frostbite Engine. We can't wait to get our own hands on it soon to see if it's up to par.

• Stunning course mapping
• Great attention to detail
• 30 PGA Tour courses to play on
• All the majors
• Too soon to tell

EA Sports PGA Tour is the publisher's biggest golf game yet. It is exclusive to current-generation consoles - PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S - and PC, which means there have been few compromises on graphical fidelity. From what we saw streamed in an online demonstration, anyway.

The development team has switched to Frostbite for the graphics, which not only renders player models (real-world and created) in great fidelity - much like the latest FIFA, Madden and NHL games - but it presents the 30 included courses in sometimes photo-realistic detail.

That's because every course was mapped using multiple methods - by helicopter using LiDAR technology, through high-resolution camera drones too, and by taking thousands of photos on the ground. Augusta even gave the developer access to its tree health system, which accurately maps every flowerbed, tree and other types of flora to ensure they are placed in exactly the same position in the game as in real life.

Impressively, this level of minute detail doesn't just help the look of the game but the feel. The bumps on the ground are in the exact same spot - as are the imperfections on the fairways and greens. And so, we were told, that when a ball interacts with the course, it will move across these minor spots in the same way it would for real.

That is further improved through the use from two other third-party data sources - the PGA Tour's ShotLink and TrackMan - which not only gave the team real-world mechanics for ball movement, thanks to storing many thousands of shots from the PGA Tour itself, but also player motion and behaviour that has provided the animation specifics for each licenced professional in the game.

EA calls its new stroke engine Pure Strike and it enables gamers to take shots in a more fluid, natural way.

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing

The gameplay that we viewed showed a new swing arc that is used for the accuracy and power of a shot. The power is determined by a small line on the arc that you meet during the backswing (using a thumbstick). The speed of the follow-through is important too and reminds us a little of the mechanics in PGA Tour 2K23. However, EA hasn't gone full simulation with its effort. There is still the option for boost and other gamified elements of its previous titles in the series.

One major new feature is that, as well as club selection, you also get the choice between types of shot each time - from a pool of 20. And each club in your bag will have their own assigned shot types that you can customise. In previous years, the clubs from different manufacturers would have their own stats - this is gone, but the shot types can still make one driver feel different to another, say. You can adjust depending on your play style, therefore, which is inspired by the pro golfers and their experiences on the real Tour.

It's this mix of realism and fun that we're looking forward to testing more when we get our own hands on the game.

We were also told that the old three-click shot method of yesteryear will make a return as a playable option, but wasn't active for our demo.

Putting has changed a bit this time around - perhaps even more so than the main shot system. You get a suggested line to give you a decent read of a green (although that can be turned off in settings) but the putting meter is certainly different to before. You have a smaller swing overlay that suggests power and works more like the main shot arc. Again, it's something we have to try for ourselves before we can give you more on how it works.

Licenced to thrill

Perhaps the most impressive part of EA Sports PGA Tour for us so far is the amount of licenced content in the game. The 30 courses, the clothes, clubs and shoes, the different tournaments, including all the majors, and a healthy selection of PGA and LPGA professionals to play as and against. There is also a great cast of commentators that use dynamic phrasing to make the presentation feel just like a TV broadcast. They've even recorded unique voice clips for points of interest on course that you may never hear - such as if you bounce a ball off a specific fence, which cues a sentence about that actual event.

As well as the licenced players, you can also create your own, of course, with an in-depth editor and the choice to set him onto the path of greatness by either entering amateur tournaments first, the Korn Ferry Tour, or the PGA Tour itself. And, if you want to play as a woman, the Amundi Evian Championship is there for the taking too.

In short, EA is ensuring that while it has taken a seven-year leave of absence from golf, it is coming back with its most expansive offering yet. It's certainly not doing things by half.

First impressions

It's hard to give a genuine opinion on a game we've not physically played ourselves, but everything we've heard and seen so far shows much potential. We've really enjoyed 2K's rival title (and still do), but can't help admitting that we've missed the traditional EA Sports PGA Tour games over the last few years. Plus, we're really looking forward to playing in The Masters at Augusta and this will provide the only opportunity to do so. We await it with bated breath.

EA Sports PGA Tour will be available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC from 24 March 2023.

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EA SPORTS™ PGA TOUR™ Deluxe Edition

About This Game

• The world’s most exclusive courses — The tee is yours at 30 courses, including some of the world’s most exclusive, designed in stunning quality with Frostbite™ so you can enjoy more of golf’s finer details than ever before.

System Requirements

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10
• Processor: Ryzen 5 1600 / Core i5 6600k
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: Radeon RX 570 /Geforce GTX 1050 Ti
• DirectX: Version 12
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Storage: 100 GB available space
• Processor: Ryzen 7 2700X /Core i7 6700
• Memory: 12 GB RAM
• Graphics: Radeon RX 5700 XT / GeForce RTX 2060 Super

Conditions & restrictions apply. See ea.com/legal for details.

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EA Sports PGA Tour Review (PS5) – Swing When You’re Winning

Sebastian Hawden / April 26, 2023

EA Sports PGA Tour PS5 Review. Grab your driver, don some funky trousers and let’s hit the course in PGA Tour: Road To The Masters, the latest in EA’s long-running golf sim franchise. I’ve had a long history with these games, and needless to say they have had their ups and downs along the way, so let’s see how this latest one shapes up.

I have fond memories of me and a few friends crowded around my kitchen table playing PGA Tour 97. We all loved every second of it. The beauty of the course, the serene mood and the tactical nature of tackling each hole’s puzzle was something we all adored. Plus destroying friends on the course is always entertaining, especially when they land a shot into the drink!

PGA Tour (PS5) – A Good Walk Spoiled

Par for the course.

So, PGA Tour, focuses mainly on the sport’s four major events. Along with these big events the game comes with about 30 courses, of which there is a nice variety as well as tournaments you can enter – which is one of features that matter here. It’s like tracks in racing games; you need fresh scenery and course layouts to keep things exciting.

This entry to the PGA series is also chock full of modes, challenges and gameplay types to keep any golfer occupied for a while. There are online tournaments, online matchups, friendly games and challenges. However, the career mode and how its structured is what really won me over – I could not stop playing the damn thing.

Role Playing Golf

What made it so addictive is the slight RPG nature of proceedings. You create your character using one of the worst character creators I have ever seen (more on that later) and you go off on your journey to become the number-one golfer in the world. The issue with this is you need to improve both your stats and skills in the game to get there and it was glorious.

I started out with rubbish stats and the skillset to match but over the course of many fairways, hundreds of drives and putts of all varieties I brought it back around. I got better at the game and at the same time, as my golfer participated in events, I could improve his stats, unlock new shot types and pick up new equipment. I found this very rewarding, extremely interesting and much better than the last career mode I played in a PGA Tour game.

I did have a slight foray into the multiplayer side of things and everything worked as you expect. I like the simultaneous play, no waiting for folks to take their shots and rounds flew by. The connectivity and gameplay were smooth and very entertaining. I imagine this would be great with friends using microphones with a few beers and shouting obscenities at each other.

In terms of mechanics, I particularly enjoyed the amount of customization and options there were for tailoring this golf experience to your liking. You can change your swing difficulty and type, and the developers have even added the old-school three-click swing from the older games. This version of PGA Tour can be played by most people, no matter their skill level. Inclusivity is awesome!

A Golf Game For All

I also really enjoyed the putting mechanism in this game. The combined effects of a green grid and putting preview line made most putts easy to read. This means that most putts I missed were my fault. I hit it too hard or did not read the undulations correctly. Nowhere is this more prevalent than judging your power, I rarely overhit or underhit putts and when I did it was my swing that was to fault, rather than the game presentation of the green’s ups and downs.

From a presentation standpoint the game looks fantastic at times. Apart from my character model, which I still hate, I really enjoyed strolling through PGA Tour’s meticulously crafted golf courses. Lush greens, lovely lakes and fabulous shrubbery surround every round you play, making for a graphically-pleasing experience.

On the sound front, it’s pretty much the same thing. The commentary, even though it repeats sometimes is overall pretty solid, witty and entertaining. We have a few golf experts onboard, and their commentary really fits what is happening on screen and really makes each round feel like an authentic PGA event. The music was a bit lacking but let’s be honest, no one plays a golf game for its soundtrack.

A Character Creator From A Distant Past

I did have a few issues with this game, it’s not all sunshine, fairways and rainbows. The character creator for example is tosh. I could only pick from a few faces and the amount of customization I could do could fit on the back of a post-it note. It was so poor and it really set me off on the wrong foot when I first started up the game.

I also had a few weird camera shenanigans, which fortunately seem to have been fixed with the latest patch. In any case, there were a few shots where buildings or other obstructions at the side of the course would completely obscure my character. I could not judge my swing, prepare my shot or anything. These were rare issues and I haven’t encountered them since the last patch.

Well Under Par

PGA Tour is a brilliant golf sim. It can be tailored to any playstyle and skill level. The career mode is both rewarding and addictive, watching your skills and character get better over time is brilliant. The multiplayer options are well implemented and the amount of content, modes and things to do is vast. Yes, there’s a niggly issue or two but overall, this game is the best PGA Tour outing for years. FORE!

PGA Tour is now available on PS5, PS4, PC, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One.

Review code kindly provided by publisher.

The Final Word

As golf games go, this is the most fun I have had in a while. It's a massive improvement over recent years' titles. The career mode is both addictive and rewarding, it's full of contact and the presentation is both cinematic and beautiful. A few issues will not get in the way of what I think is the best golf sim around at the moment. Let's hit the greens, people!

EA Sports PGA Tour

OpenCritic Rating

Top Critic Average

Critics Recommend

EA Sports PGA Tour Trailers

EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Career Mode Trailer

EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Course Reveal Trailer

EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Official Gameplay Trailer

EA Sports PGA Tour Screenshots

Critic reviews for ea sports pga tour, metro gamecentral.

Slick, high-tech, and impeccably well designed; this is the best golf game of the modern era and the new standard for others to aspire to.

Read full review

Game Informer

EA Sports PGA Tour captures the intricate nuance of golfing. However, the systems struggle with what a user can reasonably decipher from a mere analog stick, leading to a frustrating experience. EA Sports PGA Tour is a game at odds with whether it wants to compete with rival 2K’s realism or veer closer to its own more arcade roots, and in the process, lands its first drive on this new round in the rough.

EA returns to the world of golf with a challenging and rewarding title that's let down by a couple of inconsistencies and an underwhelming swing mechanic.

As a comeback, EA Sports PGA Tour performs well enough to compete with PGA 2K23 on fairly even footing. The inclusion of all four majors, the solid ball physics, the wider arsenal of shots, and the long list of official courses are impressive, though the presentation can be flat, laggy, and rough. If EA decides to turn this into an annualized sports franchise, the next installment will need to revamp the character creator and rework the user interfaces. Despite the game's flaws, though, I can still see myself casually playing it throughout the year alongside other sports games like MLB The Show 23. It’s been a while since we’ve seen two established developers battle each other within the same sport, and I’m all for it. At the very least, golf games will be made all the better from the competition.

EA Sports PGA Tour is a good golf simulation that marks the return of the series after years of absence from the green, even if EA Tiburon hasn't managed to make a "hole in one" despite offering satisfying gameplay. The realization of the courses and the physics of the ball is truly remarkable, while the pleasant visual appearance clashes with some technical defects linked to an imperfect use of Frostbite. Overall, EA Sports PGA Tour is an enjoyable gaming experience, designed primarily for golf enthusiasts.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Hardcore Gamer

The most welcome aspect of EA SPORTS PGA TOUR is the PGA aspect itself.

God is a Geek

EA dazzles with its re-entry onto the fairways with EA Sports PGA Tour, which is comfortably the best golf game in years.

The controls can be tough to get the hang of, but the visuals are stunning, the commentary impressive and the play itself gives you all the challenge and realism you could want

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EA Sports PGA Tour – Road to the Masters Review | A Master in the Making?

EA Sports PGA Tour Road to the Masters – the golf game presumed to make a strong comeback after being MIA for the last eight years. Speculations were that this title was meant to come in, use the latest tech, come up with new initiatives, and knock its competitors out of the park. So, did it exceed expectations?

Features such as the Puke Strike, Ball Behavior, the long list of Pros, exclusive golf courses, game modes, and more were all meant to set this one apart following its worldwide release on April 7. Adding pressure to the release of Road to the Masters was the brave decision to make the game exclusive to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC, while excluding the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. From this, you have to ask… Did they accomplish what they set out to do by excluding other platforms?

With this review, Prima Games will discuss the gameplay, graphics, pros and cons, and more. The discussion will also cover if EA Sports PGA Tour is a game changer in the golfing simulation world; if it perfectly stroked past its counterparts; if it’s worthwhile investing all your time in; or if it’s none of the sorts.

Sit back, grab a coffee, and enjoy the read. Hopefully, it’s not like the suffocating silence you experience before making a long 40ft putt, and it’s more like the release of cheers around the golf course after a long successful drive for a Greens In Regulation.

EA Sports PGA Tour Gameplay and Features

EA Sports PGA Tour Gameplay has a few clean swings and missed hits. EA’s hit-and-miss involves the in-game experience, what to make of the user interface and many other factors. 

Let’s start with playing golf. 

Playing Golf

Yes, many out there feel the new swing mechanics of Road to the Masters left EA in the rough. However, I liked it more than I hated it and quickly became accustomed. With the developers ready to introduce the 3-Click Swing mechanics soon with their next major update, there’s an option for all, making the game more enticing.

To find out more about EA’s latest update, you can read: EA Scores a Hole-in-One With Latest PGA Tour Fixes and Additions .

The gameplay is fantastic if you enjoy being a professional athlete. However, the UI is lacking in-game, and there’s a need for more assistance and tutorials. Once your first tutorial’s done, you’re on your own. It’s like swinging closed eyes and hoping for the best. 

The same can be said for the grid and guide for putting. There should have been an added feature: darkened areas where there are huge slopes and lightened areas with less slope. It would help you fare better in the short game, and having this as a map addition in the game would have been nifty. It would help eliminate using the putting guide and assist all players in identifying slopes better — a quicker way to get accustomed to all of the courses, allowing you to work on your strengths and weaknesses.

The lack of assistance does, however, influence practicing more by doing all the game’s challenges. One has to admit, rehearsing shot after shot gets your game going which, in turn, is a tremendous positive for the game. If you’re fresh to golfing and any golfing simulator, the Coaching Academy in the Challenges game mode will be your best friend and where you need to head first.

To sum it all up, playing golf in EA Sports PGA Tour is not user-friendly, but you can master your craft quite quickly to swing like a pro.

Related: All EA Sports PGA Tour – Road to the Masters Shot Types Listed

Something to Celebrate and Something to Improve on

The main hub is clear, straightforward, and easy to navigate around. Despite some glitches that occurred because of bugs in the early days of its release, it was pretty easy to maneuver around — a great UI experience, hands down.

Upgrading Your Player in Road to the Masters

Probably the most straightforward upgrading system I’ve ever used. Plain and simple describes it best. The upgrading points could use some improvements, though. With only two points for levelling up, I’ll be 65 by the time I win the Master with a fully upgraded self-created Pro.

“ Where there is an unquestionable shortage in one area, another area weighs in heavily and comes to save the day. “

The biggest letdown is the editing and player creation. A high flop by the dev team here. Limited options, no face scan, and nothing new. For a team like EA, this is a department where they excel and usually deliver.

Apparel Equals Fire In EA Sports PGA Tour

Where there is an unquestionable shortage in one area, another area weighs in heavily and comes to save the day. The apparel in the game lifted my mood on the editing front, and honestly, all the options you have for equipment and clothing to choose from are fire.

A big ups to EA for including such an incredible catalogue of exclusive drip. Supposing you can’t play like a pro, at least you can dress up and look the part! 

Exclusive Courses In-Game

From Augusta National to Teeth of The Dog, the 30 courses in EA Sports PGA Tour are winners. The attention to detail of the grass, water, bunkers, and trees makes for a fantastic view. Playing in 4K certainly has its touch of realism in the PGA Tour.

For decades, we’ve seen EA triumph over their rivals in many, if not all, sports titles in one crucial area. That is, having all the licences and agreements for players, stadiums, courses, etc. Having the rights to the exclusive courses in Road to the Masters sets the bar high for all of their counterparts. It’s, again, a winning factor for them.

The courses will also make or break you, asking different questions and making each hit, stroke, drive, and putt a unique situation. Brilliant!

Related: EA Sports PGA Tour – Road to the Masters: All Golf Courses Listed

EA Sports PGA Tour Graphics

Other than a few moments where the ball is missing just before you swing, the audio playing at the wrong time, and other minor glitches with the fans and delay, the EA Sports PGA Tour graphics are phenomenal.

Playing Road to the Masters on PS5 has been a great experience and something I enjoyed, but only once I started getting used to the game’s mechanics. The massive downfall is the Pro players who look “similar” rather than like-for-like to their real-life figures. It’s not the end product just yet, and work needs to be done.

The cutscenes overview of the courses is the best way to admire the precise detail of all the golf courses and structures. The TrackMan data, Fluid Swing Mechanics, Ball Behavior, many Shot Types, and Course Dynamics all aid the graphics and make for a better and smoother golfing game experience.

Related: EA Sports PGA Tour – Road to the Masters Pure Strike Explained

Concluding Thoughts on EA Sports PGA Tour

With this one, if I were to sum up EA Sports PGA Road to the Masters into one analogy, I would say: If this were an 18-hole round of golf, EA got an excellent few birders, one or two eagles, but there were undoubtedly bogeys. 

Was the comeback strong? Yes, It indeed was. The Pure Striker, Flued Swing Mechanics, and Ball Behavior make for a real-life golf experience. The courses are fantastic to play on, and their abundance in the game makes for a timeless title. The online modes make the game even more timeless, something many are happy about, not just me. Without it, golf can be a lonely place.

“ You restart, restart, restart, you get a bogey, you’re disappointed with yourself, and you restart again. You make a top, top shot; you‘re running around the house celebrating and thanking the crowd for their support. “

Though, much work must be done on making the title more story-driven and following something like FIFA when you play as Alex Hunter, the fictional character, on a journey to become a professional footballer. Or when you sit in on negotiations during transfers. These ideas could be implemented into the game for a more simulated experience, maybe by separating this from Career Mode and giving it its own title: Story Mode.

To find out more about the various game modes in Road to the Masters, you can read:  All EA Sports PGA Tour – Road to the Masters Game Modes

It’s Just Straight-Up Golfing

This is where EA Sports PGA Tour does excel over its counterparts. The swinging, response to the joystick, bounce of the ball, how you can manipulate the shot, the many shot types, immersion, everything seems to be in tuned and seamless. That alone sanctifies a strong comeback for EA into the golfing gaming world. 

Believe it or not, the game has an alluring feel about it. You want to get all the stars in each challenge. You restart, restart, restart, you get a bogey, you’re disappointed with yourself, and you restart again. You make a top, top shot; you‘re running around the house celebrating and thanking the crowd for their support. You consider your strategy every step of the way. It is all definitely “ In the Game!” in this one.

If you’re into sports games that allow you to live the thrills, chills, disappointment and excitement of a professional sportsman, I highly recommend this game. If you’re an action-packed junky that enjoys end-to-end action, this game is way too quiet and passive for you. The true meaning of the gentleman’s game comes to mind when playing EA Sports PGA Tour Road to the Masters.

• Looks incredible realistic
• User-friendly HUD
• Limited editing options when creating a pro
• Little golfing aid and assistance
• Slow upgrade system

A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review. Reviewed on PlayStation 5.

EA Sports PGA Tour game review

Published: 22 June 2023 Last updated: 26 June 2023

After eight years out of the game, EA Sports are back on the virtual fairways with the visually stunning PGA Tour 2023 game.

EA Sports have spent nearly a decade away from the game of golf, which left many gamers and golf lovers skeptical of what the 2023 PGA Tour game would bring to the table. Since 2015 it seems EA Sports have had their thinking caps on, finding new tech to innovate their game, including real-life golf data and shot tracing analysis.

The challenging, realistic gameplay is thanks to a range of game mechanics that set PGA Tour 2023 apart from the rest of the field. ShotLink data, which has tracked and recorded every professional golf shot since 2001, partners up with Trackman and innovative Pure Strike gameplay to give players more than 20 shot types to personalize how they play the game.

With full customization, players will get the chance to make their very own mini-me before nurturing them to success and enhancing the crucial skills needed to win on the PGA Tour. They’ll take on the best golfers in the world in the bid to become a Major champion, sliding the Green Jacket over their shoulders, or lifting the Claret Jug aloft on the 18th green at the Home of Golf.

EA Sports PGA Tour: Key Gameplay Features

• Home of the Majors

PGA Tour 2023 is the exclusive home of the Majors, including the Masters Tournament, the PGA Championship, the US Open, and The Open. You’re able to compete in the PGA Tour’s best events in the season-long chase for the FedExCup and conquer the top Amateur Championships around the world.

The world’s most exclusive courses

The tee is yours at 30 courses, including some of the world’s most exclusive, designed in stunning fidelity with Frostbite so you can immerse yourself in visual beauty and more of golf’s finer details than ever before.

Pure Strike powered by ShotLink

Powered by official PGA Tour ShotLink and TrackMan data, Pure Strike gives golf fans all the tools they need to realistically attack every hole on every course the same way the pros do. It incorporates the three parts of every golf swing which is highly accurate to a player’s backswing length and speed of follow-through.

True-to-Life Course Visuals

EA Sports PGA Tour presents the most realistic visuals in any golf game thanks to state-of-the-art equipment, depicting courses exactly as they appear in real life. Creating precise renderings of clubhouses, iconic vegetation, bridges, tee markers, rock formations, and other on-course elements offering players life-like visual experiences of their favorite courses.

The Players Championship and FedExCup Playoffs

The Players Championship and all three events of the FedExCup Playoffs will be in the game, and players can earn in-game FedExCup points in Career Mode for the opportunity to compete in the playoff events. As part of the career mode, top golfers at the end of the year will be given the opportunity to win the FedExCup.

Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and The Amundi Evian Championship

In partnership with the LPGA, players can compete at The Amundi Evian Championship, one of the LPGA Tour’s five Major Championships, and have the opportunity to play as several female athletes. TG columnist Iona Stephen is part of the EA commentary team as the first female on-course announcer in the game, bringing her experienced insights from both playing professionally and working in golf broadcasting. 

Your career, your way

Create and customize a golfer, then develop your skills so you can master each course and learn to attack every hole like a pro. Enhance your skill set for driving, approach, short game, or putting, depending on your style, then compete to become a Major champion, and take on the PGA Tour’s best events in the season-long chase for the FedEx Cup. 

• Course Dynamics

‘Unique Course Dynamics’ backed by a rigorous course tuning process from tee to green ensures no two golf courses play the same. Every fairway, green, and rough is meticulously scanned, handcrafted, and uniquely tuned to simulate the individual nuances of different courses and terrain variables like undulations, ground cover, and grass type.

• Ball Behavior

‘Revolutionized Ball Behavior’ delivers next-gen responsiveness so once your shot lands, the golf ball spins, bounces, dribbles, and rolls as it would in real life.

Utilizing ShotLink powered by CDW, the PGA Tour’s proprietary real-time scoring system since 2001, golfers will authentically be replicated with accurate player ratings, skills, and magnified true-to-life in-game events. 

TrackMan Data

Insights implemented by TrackMan, a world leader in 3D ball flight measurement and swing analysis, is a critical component to authentic gameplay utilizing a myriad of stats including club tuning, flight trajectory, landing position, and much more.

EA Sports PGA Tour 2023 Game

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X | S, PC

Best Golf Video Game

The gameplay is crisp and the new ball mechanics, which see the ball react to the clubface, and roll differently depending on spin and landing areas on the course, really are impressive. Hard and mistimed low golf shots will bounce fast and run through the fairways or greens, with high soft shots landing and spinning.

As in real life, putting can be the most frustrating and unforgiving thing in the game. With little to no help, reading putts can be so difficult, especially when the putting guide doesn’t always seem accurate to the hole!

Having a game that is so realistic is fantastic but a bit of leeway for beginners in an easier game mode would be great. You have the challenge section, which I love, but when it comes to quick play, there are no real arcade modes for someone wanting to relax with mates. All of that said, when you do master the game it becomes a lot easier and more enjoyable!

What EA Sports have achieved is a game that’s perfect for gamers and golfers who love career modes and are in it for the long haul. You’re able to use your pro in every game mode, whether you’re competing against the pros to win a Major or trying to beat challenges from The Masters, which makes the experience unique.

The customization feature makes the game very personal to each player which I found great, but there could be more skin, hair, and facial feature options. Customized players’ on-course reactions are also a little static when compared to the already available players.

Overall, this is a great return to the world of golf games for EA and after a few updates/patches I’m sure the game will be even better. If they can add another mode aimed at beginners and casual gamers with some more guidance and faster-paced arcade modes, it would bump the rating up further.

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About the author

Will Shreeve-Peacock Golf Equipment Writer

Will Shreeve-Peacock is a golf equipment writer for todays-golfer.com, specializing in golf shoes, GPS watches, rangefinders, and training aids.

He has a degree in journalism from Sheffield Hallam university and four years of experience working in golf retail with  American Golf.  Will was part of the sales and fitting team, making him the perfect man to review golf equipment.

Trained by a range of manufacturers, including  Titleist  and  TaylorMade , to enhance his product knowledge, Will has all of the skills required to recommend the perfect equipment for amateur golfers.

Will started playing golf more than a decade ago at Thorney Lakes Golf Club, Cambridgeshire and is now a member at Burghley Park Golf Club in Stamford, Lincolnshire. His handicap index is 5.8, largely thanks to his scratch-standard short game.

Away from golf, Will enjoys going to the gym, cooking, spending time with his friends, and watching his beloved Manchester United.

Will uses a  Cobra LTDx Driver ,  Cobra LTDx 3-Wood ,  TaylorMade P790 2-iron ,  Callaway X Forged 18 Irons (4-PW) ,  Wilson Staff Model Wedges (52°, 58°) ,  TaylorMade White smoke IN-12 Blade putter  and the  TaylorMade TP5x Golf ball .

When he’s not testing golf shoes, he chooses to wear FootJoy Hyperflex or Under Armour Charged Phantom. He uses a Shotscope Pro L2 rangefinder and his favorite ever training aid is the PuttOut Pressure Putt Trainer and mat.

You can contact Will via  email  or follow him on  Twitter  here.

EA SPORTS™ PGA TOUR™

• PS Plus required for online play
• In-game purchases optional
• Supports up to 16 online players with PS Plus
• Online play optional
• 1 - 4 players

What is EA SPORTS PGA TOUR?

Experience the exclusive home of the Majors

EA SPORTS PGA TOUR is the only place you can tee up at the Masters Tournament, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open Championship and The Open Championship.

Compete in the PGA TOUR's best events in the season-long race for the FedExCup. Conquer the top Amateur Championships, including the Augusta National Women's Amateur™, the U.S. Amateur™ and other elite international amateur events.

Buy EA SPORTS PGA TOUR on PlayStation Store

Deluxe Edition

• 1500 PGA TOUR POINTS
• PGA TOUR XP Bundle

EA SPORTS PGA TOUR key features

Pure Strike

Utilizing official PGA TOUR ShotLink powered by CDW and TrackMan data, Pure Strike gives you all the tools you need — including a set of 20 Shot Types — to realistically attack every hole on every golf course, the same way the pros do.

With Pure Strike, golfer-specific tendencies are combined with unique Course Dynamics and revolutionized Ball Behavior for the premier golf gameplay experience, resulting in unique golf swings with a fluid feel and realistic outcomes on every shot. 

Choose from a set of 20 Shot Types strategically during your round. Each Shot Type utilizes different club types, and each produces different Ball Behavior, so you can attack every course like a pro.

Course Dynamics

Backed by a rigorous course tuning process from tee to green, lifelike Course Dynamics ensure no two golf courses play the same. Every fairway, green and rough is meticulously scanned, handcrafted and uniquely tuned to simulate the individual nuances of different courses and terrain variables.

Ball Behavior

With three ball flight trajectories (high, medium, low), revolutionized Ball Behavior delivers next-gen responsiveness between your club, the golf ball and the golf course. Once your shot lands, the ball spins, bounces, dribbles and rolls as it would in real life.

The world’s most exclusive courses

Play at 30 courses including 28 of the world’s most prestigious tracks and two fantasy courses. Designed in stunning quality with Frostbite™ so you can enjoy more of golf’s finer details than ever before.

Immerse yourself in the stunning visual beauty and photo-realistic detail of pristine, bucket-list golf courses around the globe. Featuring unique Course Dynamics, test your skills and face the same challenges as the pros on every golf shot.

What courses are featured in EA SPORTS PGA TOUR?

• Augusta National
• The Old Course at St Andrews Links
• Pebble Beach
• The Los Angeles Country Club
• Southern Hills
• TPC Sawgrass
• Wilmington Country Club
• TPC Southwind
• TPC Scottsdale
• Whistling Straits
• Quail Hollow
• Torrey Pines
• The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort
• Chambers Bay
• Banff Springs
• Liberty National
• Harbour Town
• The Riviera Country Club
• Top of the Rock
• Bandon Dunes
• Evian Resort
• Teeth of the Dog
• Wetlands (fantasy course)
• Lighthouse Pointe (fantasy course)

Your career, your way

Create and customize a golfer and take on the PGA TOUR's best events in the season-long chase for the FedExCup. Develop your skills through unified RPG progression so you can master each course and learn to attack every hole like a pro on your way to becoming a Major champion.

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Explore a range of incredible sports games out now or coming soon to PS4 and PS5.

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EA SPORTS PGA TOUR

Contents  .

• EA SPORTS™ PGA TOUR™ FAQs

EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Deluxe Edition x Madden NFL 23 Pre-Order Offer

When will EA SPORTS PGA TOUR be released?

The game launches worldwide on April 7, 2023.

What courses will be available to play in EA SPORTS PGA TOUR?

When EA SPORTS PGA TOUR launches, fans will have the opportunity to play at 30 courses including 28 of the world’s most prestigious tracks, and two fantasy courses.

• Augusta National
• Pebble Beach
• The Country Club
• Southern Hills
• TPC Sawgrass
• Wilmington Country Club
• TPC Southwind
• TPC Scottsdale
• Whistling Straits
• Quail Hollow
• Torrey Pines
• Kiawah Island Ocean Course
• Chambers Bay
• Banff Springs
• Liberty National
• Harbour Town
• Riviera Country Club
• Top of the Rock
• Bandon Dunes
• Evian Resort
• Teeth of the Dog
• Wetlands (fantasy course)
• Lighthouse Pointe (fantasy course)

Will EA SPORTS PGA TOUR have all four majors?

Yes! EA SPORTS PGA TOUR is the exclusive home for all four major tournaments including the Masters Tournament, the PGA Championship, U.S. Open Championship, and The Open Championship.

Will EA SPORTS PGA TOUR have any LPGA events?

Yes, EA SPORTS PGA TOUR will include LPGA events including the Evian Championship, where golf fans can play as and against LPGA athletes.

Will EA SPORTS PGA TOUR include the FedExCup Playoffs?

Yes, EA SPORTS PGA TOUR will include all three legs of the FedExCup Playoffs at host courses and implementation of the FedExCup Playoffs into career mode.

What pro golfers will be available to play against or as in EA SPORTS PGA TOUR?

• Scottie Scheffler
• Jordan Spieth
• Hideki Matsuyama
• Xander Schauffele
• Patrick Cantlay
• Nelly Korda
• Jessica Korda
• Lexi Thompson
• Jin-Young Ko
• Danielle Kang

For more, check back through the spring for additional content releases.

Will EA SPORTS PGA TOUR have a career mode?

Yes! Golf fans can compete at other big events such as THE PLAYERS Championship and FedExCup Playoffs, as they strive to build a legendary career.

What platforms will EA SPORTS PGA TOUR be available on?

EA SPORTS PGA TOUR will be available to play on PlayStation®5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via the EA App, Steam and the Epic Games Store.

What additional content will be available in EA SPORTS PGA TOUR?

At launch, the game’s exciting 'Road to the Masters' content will deliver players the prestige of competing in the Masters Tournament, plus additional experiences exclusive to Augusta National. The game will also include coaching challenges, designed in collaboration with the PGAA Education and Player Development departments, that teach skills valuable not only in game, but also in the real world. Fans will be able to participate in multiple amateur events, including the U.S. Amateur created in partnership with the USGA.

Will crossplay appear in EA SPORTS PGA TOUR?

We are always trying to bring you the best golf game on the market with EA SPORTS PGA TOUR, which we know includes a variety of features like crossplay. At launch, crossplay will not be a feature that appears in-game, but we are constantly evaluating the possibility of this feature appearing post-launch.

There are a variety of ways you’ll be able to play with your friends in online modes throughout the game. Cross-Platform progression is available for your created golfer so you can save your gear, outfits, and achievements to access your created golfer across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.

When will the Masters be playable in EA SPORTS PGA TOUR?

The Masters at Augusta National will be available to play at launch with any purchase of the deluxe or standard edition of the game. You’ll get 30 courses to play at launch, including the host courses of the 2022 men’s major championships.

What is the current live service timeline?

The 2023 major courses including Oak Hill, Los Angeles Country Club, Royal Liverpool as well as Olympia Fields as a part of the FedExCup series and Marco Simone for the Ryder Cup will be released prior to each major championship.

We will also be releasing updates alongside golf’s biggest moments like The Majors, FedExCup and Ryder Cup with compelling new content tied to current and historic golf moments for players to enjoy.

The game will launch with Road to the Masters and will include a variety of Masters-themed Challenges.  We’ll share more details about the live service timeline after launch.

Why is this game only available on current gen (PS5, Xbox X|S, and PC) gaming systems?

EA SPORTS PGA TOUR’s high-fidelity visuals and gameplay are only possible with  PlayStation 5 and Xbox X|S consoles as well as some PCs, so the game was developed with this in mind.

What is the fps for EA SPORTS PGA TOUR?

On PC, EA SPORTS PGA TOUR can run at 30 fps, 60 fps, or unlocked framerate. Consoles (Xbox X|S and PS 5) will run 30 fps.

We understand that some players have a strong visual preference for higher framerate in their video games and we’ve heard community feedback surrounding the fps of the game on console. As a result, we’re examining the ability to add it into the game in the future.

What impacts your shot?

There’s a reason players and caddies talk before their shot to best achieve success on the course so you’ll experience this in the pre-shot decisions you’ll have to make for a great shot. The challenge of your shot appears in a split between pre-shot decisions like club and shot types, with swing execution and placement based on course dynamics. This way you’ll be thinking more “golf” and less “golf swing” only.

A variety of factors like club and shot type all impact your shot but most of all, course dynamics and ball behavior like wind, altitude, terrain reactions, ball dribbling, and more will impact your shot. The full list of aspects that impact your shot are listed below

• Slope of the terrain
• Velocity & spin reduction from adverse terrain (like rough)
• Golfer, club, and ball attributes
• Power boost
• Swing execution
• In-flight Spin Control
• Ball Reactions depending on terrain type and course Conditions
• Ball dribbling

What game modes (online and offline) are available in-game?

Online game modes:

Online game modes support simultaneous play for up to 16 players and include the following game mopeds.

• COMPETITIVE mode is ranked matchmaking to test your skills in numerous game types including 9 and 18 hole rounds.
• SOCIAL mode allows you to play against similarly skilled players online in a more relaxed  unranked environment, offering multiple ways to play such as 9 and 18 hole rounds.
• PRIVATE MATCH mode allows you to group up with your friends and play online together with full control of gameplay and round settings allowing you to fully customize your round.

Offline game modes:

• If you just want to dive in quickly and play a round, QUICK PLAY is exactly what you’re looking for.  Quick play can also be played as local multiplayer (couch co-op) with up to 4 golfers offering varying ways to compete such as match play, skins, alternate shot rules, and more.
• CAREER MODE is an offline mode that will be playable at launch (but will require an online connection). You’ll hear more about that during our career mode deep dive in the coming weeks.
• CHALLENGES provides bite-sized experiences of various lengths. Ranging anywhere from a 4 hole challenge to recreating a golfer’s hot streak from a recent PGA Tour event, to single shot challenges where you, for example, are given 5 opportunities to hit a specific shot, challenges are short yet difficult moments for you to grow your skills and earn rewards. Within Challenges mode, there’s “PGA Coach Skill Center” which is a great way to learn more about game mechanics, shot types, and the game of golf in general.
• TOURNAMENTS provides limited-time tournaments for players to go in by themselves and submit a score to a global leaderboard that other users are also submitting to. From here, the game gives you a final rank that is paid out in rank points based on finishing position. Most of it is stroke play, where the number of holes can be variable. Ongoing seasonal events throughout the pro golf calendar can also alter the tournaments for different settings on different courses.

How can I customize gameplay to my personal preferences?

EA SPORTS PGA TOUR features a variety of gameplay styles from arcade settings that assist you with a putting grid, power boost, and spin control to simulation settings that remove all assistance for a true-to-life gameplay experience.

Is there weather available in-game?

There are a variety of factors that impact gameplay on the course including altitude and wind. Courses in traditionally cloudy areas like The Old Course at St. Andrews will appear cloudy while sunny courses like The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island will appear bright. Other weather conditions will not affect gameplay or appear in-game.

Will there be a 3-click swing option in-game?

We know that the 3-click swing is important to the community and as a result of early community feedback we are planning to include this swing in an early title update after launch.

How can I learn more about EA SPORTS PGA TOUR?

Follow us on  Twitter  and  Instagram  to stay updated with the latest announcements and updates including golf courses, other features and more.

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Pre-Order the EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Deluxe Edition from January 19, 2023 - April 6, 2023 11:59pm ET and receive an entitlement of Madden NFL 23 along with the other EA SPORTS PGA TOUR pre-order and deluxe edition benefits.

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• Players who pre-order the EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Deluxe Edition on PlayStation5 or Xbox X|S will receive Madden NFL 23 All Madden Edition.
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Once you pre-order the EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Deluxe Edition by April 6, 2023 at 11:59pm ET, the copy of Madden NFL 23 will be available via the following methods based on where you pre-ordered from. As part of this offer, Madden NFL 23 will be playable starting April 7, 2023.

• PlayStation & Xbox Users: Madden NFL 23 will automatically entitle to your account on April 4, 2023. If it does not show up right away, manually search for Madden NFL 23 on the storefront and download from there directly.
• PC Users: Must manually download Madden NFL 23 on or after April 7, 2023 by going to the library and selecting to download Madden NFL 23.

When does this offer end?

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As part of the EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Deluxe Edition, players can start playing Madden NFL 23 on April 7, 2023.

What do I do if I’ve pre-ordered the Standard Edition and want to upgrade to the Deluxe Edition?

If you have already pre-ordered the EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Standard Edition, you will need to cancel your pre-order and then pre-order the EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Deluxe Edition.

EA SPORTS PGA TOUR has partnered with Arccos, golf’s #1 on-course performance tracking platform for golfers, to offer players a unique experience.

The game will feature an Arccos branded QR Code linking to an activation site where players can register for free Arccos sensors and a 45-day free trial membership to the Arccos Caddie app. Arccos Caddie, which is powered by Artificial Intelligence, offers golfers automatic shot tracking, personalized analytics, and insights for every game facet and club in their bag. It also provides a range of innovative features, including an A.I.-powered rangefinder, smart club distances, and caddie advice for every golf hole in the world. Arccos helps golfers play smarter and shoot lower scores, with new members lowering their handicap by an average of 5.71 strokes in their first year using the system. To learn more, log on to EA SPORTS PGA TOUR and check out the activation site at easports.arccosgolf.com .

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WATCH: Sepp Straka sinks hole-in-one at Pinehurst during 2024 U.S. Open for first ace of PGA Tour career

Straka's good fortune followed one of the worst breaks of the championship.

Sepp Straka's iron play has been dialed in during the second round of the 2024 U.S. Open. So dialed, in fact, that the smooth-swinging Austrian made the first hole-in-one of the championship from 194 yards on the par-3 9th. Straka's ace at Pinehurst No. 2 marks the first of his PGA Tour career, and it couldn't have come at a better time as his name hovered near the projected cutline in the year's third major championship.

Ace alert! 🙌 No issue with the flagstick this time for @seppstraka . 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/8pySzBFpha — U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 14, 2024

Catapulting himself to 2 over for the championship, Straka has found new life at the U.S. Open as he navigates the back nine at Pinehurst. Straka's name fell on the wrong side of the projected cutline early Friday because of his iron play. Striking the flag stick with his approach into the par-4 3rd, Straka received perhaps the worst break of the evet when his ball ricocheted off the pin and flew back into the greenside bunker.

Straka put a triple-bogey seven on the card and added a couple bogeys to continue in the wrong direction. Following a few nice pars, Straka cashed in big time on the par-3 9th to get back to 2 over. After opening his U.S. Open with an even-par 70, the 31-year-old appears likely to play himself into the weekend.

Now THAT is a tough break 😔 pic.twitter.com/qQAFchfHeo — U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 14, 2024

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What happens when you allow a scramble-golf duffer onto a pga tour course, share this article.

I didn’t play from the tips.

The championship tees and the 7,200-yard distance they create at TPC Wisconsin were decidedly not on the menu. This was due to several factors, most of which begin and end with the fact I am not good at golf and my bag only holds so many balls. Regardless, my modest work covering the sport allowed me a sneak preview of the PGA Champions Tour’s newest stop.

My golf game exists in fractions of a second. That space between a well-struck drive and the moment physics catches up to allow it to soar like a broken eagle, tailing hard to the right right before crashing into the woods. It’s the thought I have the proper line on a putt before ripping it 12 feet past the hole. It’s my one good iron shot per round that makes me feel like I might just be improving (I am not).

After ensuring my personal embarrassment would not be a problem for the PGA officials visiting Madison, I grabbed my clubs — a mishmash of the finest irons the 1990s had to offer and some woods picked out from garage sales and secondhand stores — and headed to the course.

The day began with a light breakfast and a couple of question and answer sessions. Club owner Dennis Tiziani touted his commitment to growing women’s golf. He also admitted he’s already dropped $22 million turning a “pretty good” course into a championship caliber one, rebranding the city’s Cherokee Country Club with the TPC name. He estimated there was at least $5 million more to be spent.

A big chunk of that went to working around Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources regulations for a course built on Cherokee Marsh, an active 5,000-acre wetland. Madison takes its green spaces seriously, so anything encroaching on protected land — especially one as resource-needy as a golf course — is going to fall under a massive spotlight of scrutiny. We’d get to see how the club mixed sport and nature soon.

Next up was PGA Tour veteran and local legend Steve Stricker, who lives close enough to the course to drive his custom red Ryder Cup golf cart over and play whenever he’d like. Stricker is here after lipping out a four foot putt to lose the American Family Championship in a playoff the day before. I have never related more to him as a golfer.

Coincidentally, my only round of golf this year came at his old home course. Edgerton Towne Country Club is a lovely public track 40 minutes south of Madison. It can be played for less than $50 on a weekend and hacked through en route to bogey golf and the quiet buzz of five beers on a hot day. It has a 250-yard par four with a steep enough dropoff that no one on the tee quite knows where the hole is and you’re not allowed to play until the group in front of you has rung a large bell signifying they’re off the green. TPC Wisconsin offers none of these things.

What it does promise, per Stricker, is pain. Not in those words exactly, but yeah .

Trees have given way to native wetlands, so instead of losing your ball in the woods you’ll have to scare off a colony of box turtles to look for it. The ground has been turned over and raised so several feet of glacial sand lie under the turf — a sentence that meant nothing to me at the time but promised concrete firm greens despite a spring with enough torrential downpours to turn my backyard into a mushroom farm. Sand traps are everywhere, some of which are so new they don’t show up on the course maps yet, merely waiting to ambush the scramble golfer who hardly ever plays these shots (me. That’s me).

I asked Stricker how he balanced the influence of a national brand (TPC) with his Wisconsin roots and where it shows on the course. Expecting a reference to the incorporation of the wetlands, I instead got the most Wisconsin answer possible.

It’s the final stretch of holes, where families will be able to get together and watch next year’s American Family Insurance Championship with a cold beer. Judging by the tap list inside — not a macro-brew in sight but instead a heavy Badger State bent with brews from New Glarus, Hop Haus, Titletown and Stricker’s own Strick9 pilsner from Stevens Point’s District 1 Brewing (terrible name, pretty good beer) — this is more than mere lip service.

I got the distinct feeling I would need several of those to cope with my hot garbage golf game. Well, onto the course.

I am paired up with two local sports media members who, happily, are taking things as seriously as I am. After we, to a man, blast our tee shots into a marsh, we decide on gentleman’s rules. This roughly translates to “hit as many as you want.” I shank another ball into the fescue, mark down a five and wonder how far away the beer cart is.

Total Balls lost : Two

A proliferation of sand traps — at least three per hole, from what I can tell — means I get to do some real Phil Mickelson stuff with my lob wedge. By this I mean losing bets, as I try to carry a 60 yard gap over water and get maybe halfway there. The next ball is chunked into the junk.

A third hits the green exactly where I’d planned, bounces like it hit concrete and rolls off the back with prejudice. I look for a ball mark and find nothing but a surface hard enough to play pickup basketball on.

This is the allure of a championship course. The greens are like putting on your driveway. My chip back lands at the fringe, then races downhill past the hole for a putt I have zero chance making. I write a frowny face on my scorecard.

Total Balls lost : Five

The thing to realize about a championship course is there’s almost no such thing as a straight fairway. Almost everything runs diagonally, leaving even wide landing zones whittled down to a surgical proposition. When you do come across what appears to be a straightforward hole, Stricker finds unsubtle ways to tell you off for merely being good at golf and not great. The 16th hole, with its fairway bunker dead center at 250 yards, is a wonderful middle finger to one of three good tee shots I hit all day.

This one’s a “no fairway” hole rather than a bunker hole; a deceptively straight start takes a lightning bolt zig-zag right where most folks’ drives would land, making this “land your jet on the aircraft carrier” tough. In theory, this shift right should help me. But after slicing the hell out of my first five drives I blast one dead straight and wind up left next to a water hazard. Several balls dot the shores, unplucked from their shallow graves to remind you rich folks play here.

I reload with a couple lake balls, which come in handy after I assume I’m about to short-arm an approach shot out of that rough and instead send my ball over the green and near a family of sand hill cranes. Take care of my tiny hard egg, bird friends.

Total Balls lost : Six

The upside of rock hard fairways is that on the rare case you hit a solid drive the ball runs as if you’ve cranked one off the cart path in Microsoft Golf. I smash a drive from the 520-yard tees to set up a 210-yard approach to set up an eagle, wistfully realizing I just used up my annual 300-plus yard drive on a day with nothing at stake. This depression overwhelms me as I slice a fairway wood out of bounds to the right and settle for a double bogey.

Total Balls lost : Eight

I connect my phone to the Bluetooth display and play Weezer’s Pinkerton album as I drive up to the tee. I briefly consider whether I am the first man to do this at a TPC, then realize I am surrounded by white dudes in their 40s and understand this cannot possibly be the case.

I need a par here to break 50 (while cheating heavily). I double bogey the hole.

Total Balls lost : Nine

While searching the fescue for my ball, a black water snake slithers out from the shore. Cool, cool. Looks like I’m dropping one.

My playing partner uses this as inspiration and birdies what is easily the finest snake hole outside of Pawnee, Indiana. I write down a six, discounting my score due to amphibious distraction. Just like the pros!

Total Balls lost : 10

One of the staffers who has been helping us along the way jokingly asks if I’m under for the day. Just my blood alcohol content, it turns out. Having failed my way through high school golf with one of Rhode Island’s worst teams (thanks for all the free rounds, Valley Country Club!) I kinda grew to hate golf. But as an adult I realized you could drink six beers on the course and write whatever the hell you wanted on the scorecard, which makes things much more interesting.

Today I only have the latter. And I’m still gonna struggle to break 100. Looks like it’s time for a Strick9 (once the round is over and I’m officially off the clock because I am a valued employee of Gannett and its subsidiaries and of course we would never have a beer while working, thank you for understanding).

This long par three is playing at roughly 200 yards, which is just enough to remind me I have two drivers and two three-woods in my hastily assembled bag but nothing to fill the void between them and my four iron. I pick out a rescue wood I’ve never quite known how to hit and proceed to smash my tee shot 250 yards… vertically.

It has all the horizontal distance to clear the ladies tees and that’s it. Sometimes the smart play is to lay up.

I then top my second shot into the hazard.

Total Balls lost : 11

One thing to know about TPC Wisconsin is it’s only two miles from the Dane County Regional Airport. That doubles as the state’s Air National Guard headquarters, so Monday’s round has been dotted with inadvertent flyovers. This sounds like it would be a distraction, but A) the constant hum of jet engines isn’t especially disruptive on a second-to-second basis and B) as long as you don’t have to live underneath their flight path, fighter jets are cool as hell.

I lean in to unintended display of patriotism at 16 and crank one to the left and beyond Stricker’s unofficial “[expletive] you” bunker in the middle of the fairway. I tip my cap to the pilot screaming overhead at 500 miles per hour. He does not recognize my appreciation. Crestfallen, I blast my second shot into a different sand trap to the right of the green.

Total Balls lost : 12

This short par three gives me the opportunity to use the only club in my bag that’s been operating with any consistency. Needless to say, I chunk my wedge and wind up in the dry marsh in front of the green. While looking for my ball I hear the group of golf journalists behind me shout “YOU KNOW THEY SELL THOSE BY THE DOZEN.”

So on top of learning about the course, I’m also getting a lesson on antique golf heckles. Great, helpful, thank you. I slink up to the fringe and finish out my three putt to double par.

Total Balls lost : 13

My final iron of the day is my first good one, as I get the feel, the flight and the line I’d hoped on an eight iron from 140 yards out. It lands at the front of the green and… bounces and rolls 60 feet past the pin.

PGA greens, man.

Upon reflection, it appears both my carded score (51-47 for a tidy but unimpressive 98) and number of lost balls are skewed lower than the actual total. But that’s fine, no one here was going to disqualify me for signing the wrong scorecard. This course whipped my butt, but it wasn’t without the rewarding moments that make us keep coming back to golf.

TPC Wisconsin finds ways to punish you for everything. For slicing your shots. For keeping the ball too low. For keeping it too high (the mostly tree-less atmosphere lends to lots of gusty winds).

It stings you for not being long enough off the tee. For being too long — my playing partner crushed his drive on the 16th hole, a short par four where it looked like he had an eagle putt but instead spent two fruitless minutes searching the fescue behind the green. This is a championship course, and anything less than precision leads to a sliding scale of outcomes that get exponentially worse the sloppier you are.

Still, you see the vision behind each hole. You learn how to navigate greens that make you feel like you’re putting on a parking garage even after a rainy weekend. You soak in the native wetlands and the animals that come with it — cranes, snakes, toads and turtles. If you’re lucky, you even get to marvel at F-35s giving you the opening day treatment while you stand wide-eyed like a toddler staring down construction equipment.

I played terrible golf at TPC Wisconsin. I won’t be among this year’s wave of membership applicants. Still, I appreciated the hell out of being there and getting to hear the process and cost behind rising from good to great.

And make no mistake, TPC Wisconsin is a great course. It’s probably a lot more fun when you’re actually good at golf.

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Top 50 players at Pinehurst No. 2, ranked by best chances of winning U.S. Open

The best golfers in the world have arrived at Pinehurst No. 2 for the U.S. Open, so we ranked the top 50 players.

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This year’s U.S. Open includes 156 golfers from around the world, including 16 amateurs and 13 from LIV Golf . Some players earned exemptions based on various criteria, while others played their way into the championship via final qualifying.

Regardless of their path, Pinehurst No. 2 awaits them for golf’s most vigorous test.

The 124th U.S. Open has a loaded field with dozens of top players, all of whom have intriguing storylines. So let’s check out the top 50 players, ranked by who has the best chance of winning the U.S. Open.

This list has been updated since Jon Rahm , originally ranked 10th, withdrew from the championship.

Top 50 Players at U.S. Open, ranked:

50. j.t. poston.

J.T. Poston has had an up-and-down season, mainly due to his inconsistent ball-striking. He posted three top 10s early in the year, including at Riviera. But since then, he has only one top-10 finish: a tie for 5th at the RBC Heritage. Despite that, he arrives at Pinehurst after two solid starts at Colonial and at the Memorial.

49. Will Zalatoris

Two years ago, Will Zalatoris had a chance to force a playoff with Matt Fitzpatrick at Brookline , but he missed a putt on the 72nd hole by a hair. He then sat out most of last year due to a back injury and finally returns to the U.S. Open, hoping to build on his success from 2022. But his shaky short game may prevent him from doing so.

48. Victor Perez

The Frenchman is one of the better iron players on the PGA Tour, as evidenced by his solid ball-striking performance at the Memorial last week. If not for two closing bogies, he would have fared better than a tie for 12th. Perez also tied for 3rd at the RBC Canadian Open the week before.

47. Erik van Rooyen

Erik van Rooyen is 19th on the PGA Tour in overall strokes gained. He is also a solid putter. But the flat stick abandoned him last week at the Memorial, where he tied for 42nd. Still, van Rooyen has made five straight cuts dating back to the beginning of April.

46. Nick Taylor

Nick Taylor’s clutch win in Phoenix led many to think that he would take that next step. But he has only posted one top 10 since then. He missed the cut at both the Masters and the PGA Championship. He also failed to make the weekend in his two previous U.S. Open starts.

45. Ryan Fox

Could another Kiwi win at Pinehurst No. 2? Perhaps. His last start came at the RBC Canadian Open, where he tied for 7th. He also held off some of the biggest stars in Europe at last year’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

44. Harris English

The former Georgia Bulldog tied for 18th at Valhalla, but he followed that up with a pair of missed cuts at the Memorial and Muirfield Village. Nevertheless, putting is his strong suit, so he may turn in another solid U.S. Open finish. He tied for eighth last year and finished in the top five in both 2020 and 2021.

43. Lucas Glover

It’s hard to believe that Lucas Glover conquered a rain-soaked Bethpage Black 15 years ago. Alas, Glover last played in the U.S. Open in 2020, tying for 17th at Winged Foot. His two wins last year earned him an invite back to Pinehurst No. 2, where he missed the cut in 2014.

42. Mackenzie Hughes

Mackenzie Hughes has an excellent short game, but he has produced inconsistent results. Look no further than the last four weeks: Hughes tied for 6th in Charlotte, missed the cut at the PGA Championship, tied for 7th in Canada, and then missed the cut at the Memorial.

41. Tom Hoge

One of the best ball strikers on the PGA Tour, Tom Hoge arrives at Pinehurst No. 2 looking to make a name for himself. He has two top-10 finishes this year, both of which came in Signature Events.

40. Adam Hadwin

Last week, Adam Hadwin finished in solo 3rd at the Memorial, thus earning an invite to The Open. His best attribute may be his short game, but he did rank second in strokes gained, approaching the green last week at Jack’s Place. At least Hadwin did not get pummelled by a security guard on the Sunday before the U.S. Open—unlike last year.

39. Cameron Young

Cameron Young has defined inconsistency in 2024. He began the season with a strong showing in Dubai and has four more top 10s to his name, including a tie for 9th at Augusta. But his short game and his putting have kept him from contending week in and week out.

38. Robert MacIntyre

Robert MacIntyre has returned to the United States, as he opted to skip the Memorial to celebrate his first PGA Tour victory at home in Scotland. His father will not loop for him this time around, but that should not diminish any of the Scotsman’s confidence.

37. Keegan Bradley

Keegan Bradley arrives in North Carolina fresh off a tie for 43rd at the Memorial. But his poor finish can be attributed to a terrible third and final round, in which he carded rounds of 78 and 80. Before that, Bradley tied for 2nd at Colonial, thus indicating his game is in a decent place.

36. Sungjae Im

Sungjae Im missed the cut at both the Masters and the PGA Championship but has had five solid performances since the beginning of April. Im won the Woori Financial Group Championship Korea before tying for 4th at the Wells Fargo. He has the game to contend if he can roll it like he did at the Memorial last week.

35. Jordan Spieth

It has been all downhill for Jordan Spieth since his solo 3rd finish at The Sentry. He has missed five cuts since The Players while recording only one top 10 in that span. Spieth has not putted well either, and all signs point to him struggling again this week.

34. Denny McCarthy

Denny McCarthy’s game translates perfectly to Pinehurst No. 2. He is not a big hitter by any means, but he might be the best putter out of any player in the field. His best finish at the U.S. Open came two years ago at Brookline, where he tied for 7th.

33. Min Woo Lee

Min Woo Lee is one of the most entertaining players in golf. He is terrific off the tee but struggles at times with his irons and with his short game. Despite that, Lee tied for 5th at last year’s U.S. Open. Perhaps he can ‘cook’ a little more Min Woo magic this time around.

32. Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Fresh off a 4th place finish at the Memorial, Christiaan Bezuidenhout arrives at Pinehurst No. 2 full of confidence. He is also one of the best putters on the PGA Tour and has recorded nine top-25 finishes this season.

31. Alex Noren

Since the Cognizant Classic, Noren has finished in the top 25 in nine events. That includes a tie for 12th at the PGA Championship , which can be attributed to his exquisite ball-striking and terrific short game. The Swede could turn some heads this week.

30. Si Woo Kim

An excellent ball striker with a fantastic short game around the greens, Si Woo Kim has the game to contend at Pinehurst No. 2. But his problem is his putting. He ranks 162nd on tour in strokes gained putting but 4th in strokes gained, tee to green. Go figure.

29. Brian Harman

Since narrowly losing out to Scottie Scheffler at The Players, Brian Harman has not had his best stuff. He missed the cut at Augusta but then tied for 12th at Hilton Head. He has made four straight cuts since, with his best finish coming at Colonial, a tie for 24th.

28. Dean Burmester

Dean Burmester has not played in a U.S. Open since 2019, when he missed the cut at Pebble Beach. But he most recently tied for 12th at Valhalla, showing that he can compete among the very best. The big-hitting South African also won LIV Golf Miami earlier this year.

27. Jason Day

The 2015 PGA Champion has a tremendous short game, and considering that Pinehurst is laid out on sandy soil—not dissimilar to the courses seen in his native Australia—you have to think Day will feel comfortable on No. 2. He tied for 4th here in 2014.

26. Byeong Hun An

It seems like Beyong Hun An is due for a big victory. He has four top 5 finishes, two of which came in Signature Events. He also tied for 16th at Augusta but tied for 43rd at Valhalla. An is a terrific iron player with plenty of length but struggles on the greens.

25. Shane Lowry

Shane Lowry almost made major championship history at Valhalla, coming close to shooting an epic 61. But he recently shot an abhorrent 85 at the Memorial, so who knows how the Irishman will fare at Pinehurst.

24. Tom Kim

Two weeks ago, Tom Kim posted his best finish of the season, a tie for fourth at the RBC Canadian Open thanks to a final round 65. But he could not carry that momentum to the Memorial, where he tied for 43rd. He made the cut at both majors this year but was never a factor in either.

23. Sahith Theegala

Perhaps this is the week for Sahith Theegala, who had a solid showing at Valhalla except for his final round. He most recently tied for 12th at the Memorial, despite a sub-par putting performance.

22. Sam Burns

Sam Burns did not make the cut at the Masters and the PGA Championship, the latter of which saw his putter seal his fate. But he has posted two respectable finishes since then: a tie for 10th in Canada and a tie for 15th at the Memorial.

21. Tony Finau

Tony Finau has not been a factor at either major this year, but he has turned in solid performances elsewhere. At any rate, it all comes down to the putter for Finau, who is one of the world’s best iron players.

20. Sepp Straka

Sepp Straka missed the cut at Valhalla but has posted two top-five finishes since then at Colonial and at Muirfield Village. He is one of the most accurate players from tee to green, which always bodes well in a U.S. Open.

19. Corey Conners

Corey Conners has not missed a cut all season, with his best performance coming in his home country at the RBC Canadian Open. He tied for 6th that week thanks to a solid putting performance. If he can continue to putt well at Pinehurst, watch out. He’s one of the best ball-strikers on tour.

18. Tyrrell Hatton

Tyrrell Hatton turned in a solid performance at Augusta but did not contend at Valhalla, tying for 63rd. He has not been a factor in any LIV Golf event, but everyone knows he has the talent to break through in a major.

17. Wyndham Clark

Outside of his tie for 3rd at Harbour Town, the reigning U.S. Open champion has looked lost since missing the cut at the Masters. Clark arrives in North Carolina fresh off two more missed cuts at Valhalla and Muirfield Village. He also called Pinehurst No. 2’s greens “borderline,” referencing their difficulty bordering on an unfair level.

16. Max Homa

Max Homa contended in a major for the first time at Augusta but came up short. He has not played particularly well since then, although he did tie for eighth at the Wells Fargo Championship.

15. Justin Thomas

Since missing the cut at Augusta, Thomas has tied for 5th, 21st, 8th, and most recently, 23rd at the Memorial. He played well in front of his hometown crowd at the PGA Championship, but for Thomas to win at Pinehurst, he will need his putter to show up.

14. Russell Henley

Perhaps the most underrated—and least talked about—player in the world right now, Russell Henley has had a solid season. His only missed cut came at The Players, but he has four top 10s to compensate for that. Henley also tied for 14th at the Los Angeles Country Club a year ago.

13. Matt Fitzpatrick

Fresh off a bounce-back performance at the Memorial, Matt Fitzpatrick arrives in the Tar Heel State with a scorching hot putter. If the flat stick continues to cooperate, the Englishman could win his second U.S. Open in three years.

12. Cameron Smith

You would think Cameron Smith’s game will translate well at Pinehurst No. 2, a course that features some of the most challenging greens in the world. But he just posted an 8-over 80 at LIV Golf Houston. Still, he has three top 10 finishes in majors since Oak Hill last year.

11. Patrick Cantlay

The former UCLA Bruin has had a strange season. He lost his mojo down the stretch at Riviera, did not contend at either major, and most recently missed the cut at the Memorial. Cantlay did tie for 3rd at the RBC Heritage, though.

10. Hideki Matsuyama

Since racing past everyone to win the Genesis Invitational, Hideki Matsuyama has quietly put together some solid results. He has three top 10s, including a tie for 6th at The Players. He tied for 8th at the Memorial, too.

9. Tommy Fleetwood

Tommy Fleetwood seems due for a major championship, as he is one of the most talented players without one. He is a terrific iron player and has a solid short game, so perhaps this is the week.

8. Viktor Hovland

After missing the cut at the Masters, Hovland has turned things around. He finished solo 3rd at Valhalla and most recently tied for 15th at Muirfield Village. The Norwegian looks like a top player again, like he did in all of 2023.

7. Brooks Koepka

Brooks Koepka prides himself on performing in major championships but has yet to show up this season. Knowing his pedigree, that could very well change this week.

6. Ludvig Åberg

After posting a solo 2nd in his major championship debut at Augusta National, Ludvig Åberg missed the cut at Valhalla. A knee injury may have affected that, but now he looks healthy going into Pinehurst No. 2, a course that suits his game perfectly.

5. Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy has three worldwide wins in 2024, but his season seems somewhat unfulfilling. A win at Pinehurst would change that, and he obviously has the game to do so. But it all comes down to the putter for McIlroy.

4. Bryson DeChambeau

Although he did not play up to his standards at LIV Golf Houston, DeChambeau tied for 6th at the Masters and lost to Xander Schauffele by a stroke at Valhalla. He is one of the best players in the world right now.

3. Collin Morikawa

Collin Morikawa has come close so many times this year. A win has to come soon, but at least he is playing much better now than he did earlier in the season. He almost beat Scottie Scheffler at Jack’s Place and now arrives at the U.S. Open with an added chip on his shoulder.

2. Xander Schauffele

Xander Schauffele has the complete game to win back-to-back majors. He has no notable flaws, but avoiding mistakes at Pinehurst will be critical. He will also have to stay patient, like he did at Valhalla.

1. Scottie Scheffler

If you think anyone else should sit in this spot, you have not watched any golf in 2024. Scottie Scheffler is in a tier of his own, arriving at Pinehurst No. 2 with extremely low odds not seen since Tiger Woods in his heyday.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

Next Up In Golf

• Sepp Straka’s U.S. Open hole in one is perfect Pinehurst redemption story
• Golf Talk Today: U.S. Open Rd. 2 Tee Times, Pinehurst causes carnage
• U.S. Open Day 1 Winners, Losers: Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay lead; Phil Mickelson falters
• An authentic Bryson DeChambeau details “diabolical,” mentally exhausting day at U.S. Open
• Rory McIlroy posts strong, disciplined U.S. Open start; has history on his side
• Jon Rahm’s U.S. Open replacement taking full advantage of opportunity at Pinehurst

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2024 US Open: Expert picks, PGA Tour field rankings and fantasy golf tips

T he 2024 US Open is the PGA Tour event this week, and we're back with our PGA Tour field rankings and expert picks for the tournament at Pinehurst No. 2 in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

Every week, we share our PGA Tour player rankings, and they are agnostic of competition. Whether you're playing in a fantasy golf leagues, betting on golf, or competing in a DFS (DraftKings, FanDuel) event, our picks highlight the top PGA Tour golfers to watch this week from our 2024 US Open rankings.

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2024 US Open Tournament preview

The US Open is this week, and the USGA has brought the national championship back to Pinehurst. The No. 2 course is fantastic, and it will offer a ton of challenge on the approach and short-game.

2024 US Open Tournament rankings: Top 10 teams

1. Scottie Scheffler : There's no debating who is the best player in this field. It's just a debate of whether Scheffler will have anything bizarre happen to him.

2. Xander Schauffele : Schauffele is a better iron player than McIlroy and has a better short game, hence the nod here.

3. Rory McIlroy : If Rory hits a ton of greens this week, he has a great chance, but the short game required to survive at No. 2 is tricky.

4. Collin Morikawa : Morikawa has been striking the ball so well the last few months, and he has managed to give Scheffler a good run for his money.

5. Ludvig Aberg: I worry that I'm prematurely declaring the young Swede back, but I liked what I saw at Muirfield Village.

6. Viktor Hovland : Hovland's title defense at Muirfield Village got off to a great start, but then he shrunk down the board on the weekend.

7. Tony Finau : This venue should work well for a guy that can struggle mightily with putting, and then add in that Finau has been playing well his last three times out.

8. Max Homa : Homa did not close well at Muirfield Village, but there was enough there for me to worry not so much about his form.

9. Sahith Theegala : I love Theegala's imagination, and he has to be willing to use that kind of creativity at a place like No. 2.

10. Sungjae Im : I think I'm ready to believe in Sungjae again, as he's been strong in three of his last four starts. His short game seems to be improving.

The post 2024 US Open: Expert picks, PGA Tour field rankings and fantasy golf tips first appeared on Golf News Net .

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Pepper pong is the ‘next pickleball’ — and it’s bringing people together: ‘i call it isolation kryptonite’.

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Get ready to spice up your life — Pepper Pong could be the perfect social game for space-starved New Yorkers in need of a mental boost .

The all-comers welcome, no table-required version of ping pong can be played just about anywhere — on a car hood, or even in a cramped apartment — and some fans are even referring to the pastime, created to stave off loneliness and depression , as “the next pickleball.”

“It’s so much more fun than real ping pong, and it’s so much more useful because you can play on any surface,” creator Tom Filippini told The Post.

All you need for this back-and-forth affair is a portable, plastic net that can adapt to any flat surface and three types of weighted, Nerf foam-style balls — each designed to bounce with different velocities.

The 50-year-old said he and his family have played unofficial versions of the game for over a decade.

“You don’t need that huge table, or the second mortgage that is required these days to make space for it,” the Denver dad said.

Colored green, yellow and red — and named after peppers ascending in heat, red being the spiciest, or, rather, the most difficult, they can be swapped in and out during play.

Due to their heft, each of the balls will bounce in a more controlled manner than table tennis players will be used to — players need not worry about wind or chasing after serves gone awry.

‘Optimistic about life’

An avid ping-pong player, Filippini came up with the idea while in treatment and battling an addiction to alcohol .

Finding himself in an extremely lonely state, he was looking for ways to connect with others.

The spark came after seeing the rehab facility’s beat-up and worn-out table that could no longer be played on.

“I was becoming optimistic about life and what I could do,” he explained. “As I got clean and sober, I sort of said, hey, why wouldn’t I just invent this game?”

During the pandemic, Filippini began marketing a $70 gameplay set, complete with four paddles. He’s sold over 10,000 so far.

As the game brought light into his life, the same has apparently happened for others.

“We do specifically receive emails directly related to how my story resonated with customers,” he said.

Pepper Pong has also incredibly caught on in the realm of professional sports. PGA golfers like Chris Kirk , who has also struggled with addiction and left golf for treatment in 2019, is a fan.

“I had so many bad memories of sitting in hotel rooms [alone] and not really wanting to be there,” Kirk told The Post ahead of playing in the US Open.

“I see it a lot with many other guys and people that I am friends with. You see them at the golf course and then you know they’re just going back to the hotel by themselves, living that sort of lonely lifestyle,” he said.

Upon Kirk’s return to the sport around seven months later, he realized how harmful isolation was to his mental and emotional well-being.

So, Kirk came up with the idea of renting houses with many of his good friends on tour. With that, came the introduction of Pepper Pong, which Kirk’s wife gifted him, to blow off steam.

“It’s a great distraction to get your mind off the pressure we feel playing out here.”

Kirk remembered a few times that the game made being on tour feel more like the ultimate boys trip — such as during the Genesis Invitational at Rivera Country Club in Los Angeles last February.

Accompanied by Sepp Straka, J.T. Poston and Danny McCarthy, the foursome was confined to “a teeny little dining room, just trying not to crash into the walls,” but made the cramped space work to play doubles against one another.

It was “just a blast,” he recalled.

Another time while at Pebble Beach in Monterey, California, Kirk, Straka and Brian Harman were cooped up inside when a severe storm rolled through and killed their power. It did little to stop their bonding thanks to Pepper Pong.

“We were stuck in the house and there were trees down all over the place. So the three of us pretty much took turns, playing on and off all day,” he said.

“To be able to have that, where you’ve got a close group of friends, you’re able to have at least part of your day where you can get your mind off of some of the stress and, get away from some of the loneliness that comes that can come with this profession, it’s really awesome.”

Bringing people together

While the game might have been borne out of hardship, the main thing to know is that it’s really fun, Filippini said. He’s seen, time and again, how it gets families — from young to old — off their phones and moving around.

Best of all, everyone can physically keep up — something that gets harder and harder with age.

“Pepper Pong is sort of a mechanism through which people can connect. They’re on their feet, maybe sitting on the floor, and they’re talking, playing, laughing, competing and having fun.”

“I call it isolation Kryptonite.”

CJ Meunier of Verona, New Jersey, is one of the recent converts to the sport.

“We bought it and fell in love with the game,” the engaged teacher, who regularly plays with his fiancee, told The Post.

The happy couple, who recently moved in together, said they had had to forfeit some of their hobbies due to the small, shared space they now call home.

In the past few months, Pepper Pong has been a lifesaver, they said.

“I got into pickleball a lot over the last two summers and obviously when the weather gets cold, you’re not going out to play pickleball,” Meunier, 34, said.

“But this is the one game where you can move around a little bit — and we’re competitive.”

As warmer weather sets in, Meunier said he’s bringing his Pepper Pong set to the NYC suburb’s highly crowded pickleball courts — the perfect spot to start up a side game and meet some new people, while waiting for a turn.

“I could even see this being the next pickleball,” he said.

Meunier bringing the game set to his local pickleball court is the type of anecdote Filippini loves to hear — he said that Pepper Pong has a unique power to bring people closer together. Sometimes, even when they already know each other.

“There are not many things I can do with my almost 80-year-old mother, but we can play Pepper Pong together,” he said. “Anyone can play — [it’s like] a deck of cards.”

Frank Pinto of Franklin Square, Long Island, said he’s used Pepper Pong to bond with his 23-year-old son Shane Pinto, a hot shot center for the Ottawa Senators who spends much of the year far from home.

“We’ve created some good laughs along the way. I just can’t beat him anymore,” Pinto, 55, told The Post. “Finding things to connect on as they get older is important and it’s good to capture those moments. It keeps us connected.”

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Short game especially important for Woods at Pinehurst

Tiger Woods speaks to media prior to the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

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PINEHURST, N.C. -- When Tiger Woods arrived at Pinehurst last week, it was his first time on the property in nearly two decades.

He had not been back since finishing second to Michael Campbell in the 2005 U.S. Open, an upset sandwiched between Woods’ victories in that year’s Masters and Open Championship.

Woods finished two shots behind the New Zealander who won his lone PGA TOUR title that week, making six birdies in the final 15 holes to put pressure on Campbell. But bogeys on 16 and 17, the latter a three-putt from 25 feet, proved to be the difference in a week when Woods’ putter held him back.

He also lost by two in the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, finishing in a tie for third behind winner Payne Stewart and Phil Mickelson. The putter was costly once again, as Woods missed a 3-footer on 11 and 5-footer on the 17th hole.

Tiger Woods on having son Charlie with him at Pinehurst for U.S. Open

So much has changed since Woods last competed here. The course underwent a dramatic renovation more than a decade ago, with acres of rough being removed in favor of sandy areas replete with native plants. What once was lush and manicured is now rustic and raw.

Woods was in his prime when he played Pinehurst -- winning more than half his majors between his two appearances here -- but now is in the twilight of his competitive days as he nears 50. Just completing four rounds has proven to be difficult for Woods in the wake of multiple surgeries. Woods has always had the fortitude to compete even when his body does not agree, and he said his fitness is improving. But, like his past performances here, his short game will be the difference.

“Fitness is always a part of it,” Woods said in his Tuesday press conference. “I did a little bit of work on chipping and putting. But nothing can simulate what we have here this particular week, the amount of little shots and the knobs and run-offs, and either using wedges or long irons or woods around the greens or even putter. There's so many different shots that you really can't simulate unless you get on the property. That's one of the reasons I came up here last Tuesday, to be able to try and do that.”

Though this Pinehurst looks dramatically different than the one Woods last saw, its trademark greens remain the same and will require the creativity and imagination that Woods loves to see in courses. It’s the reason Augusta National and St. Andrews resonate so deeply with him and something he has tried to replicate in his own design work.

Players will use everything from fairway woods to wedge shots around the greens this week. More options also require more preparation, something that Woods’ body doesn’t allow him to do much. The Genesis Invitational in February is his only start in 2024 outside of the majors, and he had to withdraw from that one after only 24 holes because of the flu.

Woods made the cut at the Masters, and was only two shots outside the top 10 at the halfway point, but finished last among players who made the cut after struggling to 82-77 on the weekend. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship, plagued by struggles around the greens. The majority of the strokes he lost to the field came on and around the greens.

The penalty for misplayed shots around the greens is especially harsh this week. “I foresee just like in '05 watching some of the guys play ping-pong back and forth,” Woods said. “It could happen.”

Pinehurst’s relatively flat terrain and this week’s warm weather work in Woods’ favor. And he even has an extra set of eyes to help him, his son Charlie, who is on-site this week after competing in last week’s Florida Amateur (Charlie missed the cut after shooting 70 to qualify for the tournament). Charlie had yet to be born the last time Woods competed here.

“I trust him with my swing and my game,” Tiger said. “He's seen it more than anybody else in the world. He's seen me hit more golf balls than anyone.”

Sean Martin is a senior editor for the PGA TOUR. He is a 2004 graduate of Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. Attending a small school gave him a heart for the underdog, which is why he enjoys telling stories of golf's lesser-known players. Follow Sean Martin on Twitter .

Shaken by Grayson Murray’s death, golfers open up on tour challenges

Players share the frustrations, challenges and loneliness that accompany the pro game.

PINEHURST, N.C. — There might be a swing coach on a driving range or a caddie helping to read the greens — not to mention a few hundred fans lining the fairways excitedly bearing witness, smartphones aloft and recording all the action. But when it comes time to address the ball, the tee box at a pro event can feel like the loneliest place on the golf course. The whole sport, in fact, can be isolating, a maddening solitary activity where the rewards are too often fleeting and the failures overwhelming.

“The unfortunate thing for what we do is, it is so lonely and it’s very difficult,” said Wyndham Clark, here this week as the defending U.S. Open champion. “Too often I think players, including myself, get tied up so much in score and outcome, and the game of golf is so frustrating and so hard. There are those really lonely times when you miss the cut, you throw your clubs in the car, you drive off, and you’re very pissed off.”

More than ever, players are talking openly about the frustrations, challenges and loneliness that are staples of professional golf. The past few weeks have highlighted some of the mental health challenges faced by professional golfers.

With the U.S. Open set to begin Thursday at Pinehurst No. 2, the world’s best players are still reeling from the sudden loss of one of their own. Last month, Grayson Murray, a 30-year-old PGA Tour member, died by suicide hours after withdrawing from the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth. Murray had been open about his struggles with depression, anxiety and alcohol over the years.

“We’re not designed to live this life on our own,” Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked golfer, said in a eulogy. “We all carry a lot more baggage than we let on — myself especially.”

Three days later, Lexi Thompson, a 29-year-old LPGA star, surprised the golf world when she announced plans to retire at the end of the season , citing in part the mental health “battles” and the pressures faced by life on tour.

“A lot of people don’t know what we go through,” she said. “The amount of training and hard work that we put ourselves through, it’s a lot.”

Golf long has been considered a mental test as much as a physical grind, and while those around the sport admit they don’t have all the answers, many are ready to ask the questions.

“It’s great that people are talking about this,” said Julie Elion, a licensed sports psychologist who works with Clark. “I mean, there are some bad stories that brought us to this point. But it’s good that people are willing to have some tough conversations.”

Elion is there for all of the in-between moments: meeting with Clark after a round, perhaps, or before a practice session. On Tuesday, during his practice round at storied Pinehurst No. 2, Clark sidled up to Elion as he made his way from the 11th green to the 12th tee box, and the two had a lighthearted chat as he idly swung his putter. Her goal is to be a calming force for her players, a visual reminder of the mental goals they’ve set.

“I’ve been in many low spots where you have some negative thoughts which you don’t ever want to have,” Clark said. “Golf can do that to you. You got to do your best to not let it do that.”

Elion also works with Justin Thomas and Max Homa, among others, and is well-acquainted with the demands of life on tour: the travel, the performance struggles, the myriad demands. Clark notes that the highlights fans see — the booming drives, winding putts and joyful trophy presentation — represent just a tiny fraction of a golf tournament.

“In reality, I’d say, 80 percent of the field storms off pretty pissed off after a lot of the rounds,” he said.

Murray’s suicide is not as much a wake-up call for the golfers on tour as it is a reminder. Smylie Kaufman, a former tour pro, said that for players, the season can be a blur of flights and hotels, leader boards and missed cuts. Players are removed from their families all the while, juggling internal and external pressure.

“It’s very easy for every single shot that you hit to attach emotions to it,” Kaufman said.

Gary Williams, the golf analyst, has seen from up close how players struggle to adapt to life on tour. A recovering alcoholic, Williams was familiar with Murray’s struggles and also his recovery.

In a recent interview, Williams noted that all the time a pro golfer spends alone can be particularly dangerous for someone in the throes of addiction.

“That is what the disease wants: It wants you isolated,” he said. “It wants you alone in your thoughts, and those thoughts can then get sideways very, very quickly.”

Elion urges some of her players to travel with roommates on the road, a caddie or maybe a friend. She fears what happens when the hotel room door closes and a player has idle time to replay bad shots, dwell on failures or scroll through social media toxicity. In announcing her retirement, Thompson noted that “social media never sleeps.”

Depression and anxiety also can lead to substance abuse, a cycle that is hardly new on tour and certainly an issue across other sports and industries. At the peak of his playing career in 2000, Notah Begay III was arrested and charged with aggravated DUI — a second DUI offense — and spent seven days in jail.

“It’s hard,” said Begay, now an NBC analyst. “We were raised in an era where if you admit your weaknesses or you admit that you’re having deep, dark thoughts, which a lot of us often have surrounding performances, personal issues and whatnot, it’s viewed as a weakness.”

Compared with some other sports, golf has been fairly progressive in addressing mental health. Renowned sports psychologist Bob Rotella started working with PGA Tour golfers 40 years ago, and many of the top players count a mental or performance coach as part of their teams. But the job has evolved. Many of today’s mental coaches on tour are just as focused on mental health and well-being as they are performance, and Elion said the two are intimately connected. Troubles at home can affect a golfer’s performance, just as frustration from a bad round can linger long after a player walks off the 18th green.

Tour officials say they’re trying to line up resources to help players in all areas, though some on tour note that while there usually are physical therapists or masseuses on-site at a tournament, players have to work harder to access mental health resources.

Speaking with reporters one day after Murray’s death, Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, said he reached out to Murray after a since-deleted 2021 Twitter post in which Murray said the tour did nothing to help him with his addiction.

“Over the last several years, I spent a lot of time with him because I wanted to understand what we could do in his estimation, in his opinion, to help everybody else out here,” Monahan said. “We’ve made a number of advancements along those lines, and it’s become a real point of focus and emphasis.”

The tour employs a medical adviser and maintains a mental health task force. It has a mental health support line available for players and their families and also helps connect players with mental health care providers or counseling services.

Murray’s death sparked a dialogue that started last month and continues this week at the U.S. Open.

“I think it’s important that we don’t sweep this under the rug as an organization, as a game, as athletes,” Begay said, “because we’re human beings as well.”

Danny Funt contributed to this report.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is just like us at golf, except a whole lot better | Oller

The No. 1 golfer in the world looked like the rest of us Saturday at the Memorial Tournament . For one hole. 

When Scottie Scheffler duck-hooked his tee shot at No. 9 into a tree, over a chain link fence and into the woods, many of the shocked spectators at Muirfield Village Golf Club shared the same thought: “He looks like me.”

When Scheffler re-tee'd and hit his penalty shot into the right rough, you could almost hear the crowd cackle: “Feels familiar.”

And when Scheffler chopped out of the deep rough, his golf ball running through the fairway into more rough, amateur hackers everywhere nodded in agreement: “Been there, done that.” 

Finally, Scheffler found the green, 14 feet from the pin. He two-putted for a triple-bogey 7. Many of us would have 3-putted for an 8, but you get the idea. 

What differentiates golf from most other sports is that the separation between the pros and us feels both tantalizingly close and incredibly far. Those who play the game for a living occasionally hit clunkers and sometimes fail to get out of the sand. We can relate.

So when Scheffler yanked his tee shot at No. 9, well, welcome to the club, bub. He also fired a bunker shot over the green and into the water at No. 5, but the ninth was the real eye-opener.

We don’t think that way with other sports. No one watches LeBron James shoot an airball and boasts, “I can guard him.” And only a fool sees Shohei Ohtani strike out and brags “I would have hit that pitch.” 

Ah, but PGA Tour players always get the last laugh. Sure, they hit stray shots and miss 4-footers, but mostly their level of expertise is hard to fathom.

The average amateur high-handicapper is amazed at the skill of a scratch golfer when the two are paired together at a public course; that scratch player cannot believe how well the club pro hits it around; few club pros ever get a sniff of making it on the lower-level pro tours.

These guys are really, really good

Those mini-tour guys can only dream of competing on the Korn Ferry Tour, which ranks right below the PGA Tour. The majority of Korn Ferry players never qualify for the PGA Tour. A PGA Tour “journeyman” would clean an amateur’s clock, every time, but then struggles to compete against the top 10 players in the world.

Those top 10 are the cream of the crop, but even among them, there is clear separation. And his name is Scheffler.

That’s right, the same guy who pulled his drive at No. 9 into New Albany is so much better than anyone else at the moment, and it’s not even close.

Adam Hadwin, who entering Sunday’s final round is in a three-way tie for second, four shots behind Scheffler, marveled at Scheffler’s game. 

“He’s as solid as they come,” Hadwin said. “He’s the No. 1 player in the world for a reason. He’s far and above the No. 1 player, I believe, especially after watching today.”

Hadwin trailed Scheffler by three shots through eight holes but had to feel he had a chance when the triple bogey at No. 9 dropped the 27-year-old Texan back into a tie at 8-under par.

“Obviously, a couple holes there where some things didn’t go his way,” Hadwin said. “But the way he started and the way he – the sound that he hits it with and the ball flight and the shape of the shots – I don’t expect him to lose this golf tournament. One of us is going to have to make a run tomorrow.”

Scheffler, who declined to be interviewed, except by Golf Channel and the Associated Press, proved his mental makeup at No. 10. A blowup hole like No. 9 sometimes derails an entire round, but he bounced back with a birdie at No. 10, then birdied 12 and 15 before finishing with a bogey at 18.

“It was a slight pull, nothing drastic,” Scheffler said to Golf Channel of his drive at the ninth, adding he was proud of the way he rebounded on the back nine.

His career is rallying, too. Scheffler turned pro in 2018 but did not join the PGA Tour until 2020. It took him a year to get up to speed, but since 2021, his game has gone into overdrive. In 123 starts he has 10 wins and 54 top-10s. Four of the wins have come during the past three months.

Such is Scheffler’s dominance that he is favored to win every time he tees it up. Golf has not seen this kind of mastery of the sport since Tiger Woods. 

But, please, tap the brakes on comparing the current world’s best to the best ever. Through his first 123 starts, Woods won 33 times and had 79 top-10s. Truly incredible stuff. So amazing that when compared to Tiger, Scottie really does look like the rest of us.

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