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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
After a nearly seven-week hiatus, the 2024 PGA Tour season begins Thursday at the Sentry in Kapalua, Hawai’i.
The sport still remains divided, as the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund continue to hammer out the details of a potential alliance that would unify the fractured sport.
It will be difficult to ignore the division surrounding men’s professional golf this week, as defending champion Jon Rahm won’t be in Hawai’i to defend his title. On Dec. 7, the reigning Masters champion became the latest star to jump to the LIV Golf League. He signed a multiyear contract reportedly worth more than $300 million.
Here are the PGA Tour Power Rankings heading into the first tournament of the 2024 season:
A three-time winner in 2023, the reigning FedEx Cup champion seems poised to win his first major championship this year. He finished in the top 13 in each of the four last season, including a tie for second at the PGA Championship. He went 3-1-1 at the Ryder Cup, helping lead the European team to a 16½-11½ victory. Hovland is playing at the Sentry and has committed to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, WM Phoenix Open and the Genesis Invitational.
Despite his struggles with the putter in 2023, the world No. 1 golfer had 17 top-10 finishes in 23 tour starts without a missed cut. He picked up two more official victories at the Phoenix Open and the Players and won a record $21 million. Scheffler’s win at the Hero World Challenge proved his work with putting coach Phil Kenyon is paying off; he avoided a three-putt over 72 holes in the Bahamas.
Will it be a less stressful 2024 campaign for the four-time major champion? After stepping down from the PGA Tour policy board, McIlroy seems more committed than ever to ending his more than nine-year drought without a major title. McIlroy is skipping the Sentry again and will start the new year with two events in the Middle East: the Dubai Invitational on Jan. 11-14 and the Hero Dubai Desert Classic on Jan. 18-21. He’s the defending champion in the latter.
Homa picked up two more victories during the 2022-23 season, finishing first at the Fortinet Championship in September 2022 and in the Farmers Insurance Open in January 2023. He had a relatively quiet summer before a string of top-12 finishes in each of his past six starts in official tour events. He tied for 10th at The Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in England, his best finish in a major, and finished in the top 10 in each of the three FedEx Cup events. Then he picked up his first victory outside the U.S. at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa on Nov. 12.
Schauffele didn’t pick up a victory this past season but otherwise played spectacular golf. He had two runner-ups and 11 top-10 finishes in 23 starts. He didn’t miss a cut. Schauffele last won at the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open almost 18 months ago. The 30-year-old seems primed to win his first major championship in 2024. He has 11 top-10 finishes in majors in his career and didn’t finish outside the top 18 in his past seven starts in majors.
The normally stoic Cantlay found himself in the spotlight often in 2023. He was at the center of controversy at the Ryder Cup in Italy over reports that he wanted to be compensated for his appearance. Cantlay denied the reports. Then his caddie, Joe LaCava, had a dustup with McIlroy on the 18th green. Cantlay also is serving on the PGA Tour policy board for the first time and denied that he attempted to wrest control of the negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. He has gone more than 16 months without a victory.
Morikawa ended a 27-month drought without a victory on the PGA Tour by capturing the Zozo Championship in Japan on Oct. 22. The two-time major championship winner will return to Kapalua, where he squandered a 6-stroke lead at the start of the final round of the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions and lost to Rahm by 2. It tied for the largest collapse after 54 holes in PGA Tour history.
A year ago, the 24-year-old was getting ready for his final college season at Texas Tech. Now, he already has two worldwide victories; he won the Omega European Masters on the DP World Tour in September and the RSM Classic on the PGA Tour in November. The Swede went 2-2 at the Ryder Cup as a European team rookie. Aberg finished in the top 25 in eight of his 11 PGA Tour starts last season. He recently picked up veteran caddie Joe Skovron, who worked with Rickie Fowler and most recently Tom Kim.
The Englishman picked up his second PGA Tour victory at the RBC Heritage in April, then he ended a two-year drought on the DP World Tour by winning the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland in October. He battled a neck injury through much of 2023 but is expected to be healthy heading into this season.
Clark finally broke through with his first PGA Tour victory at the Wells Fargo Championship in May, then he stared down McIlroy and Fowler to capture his first major championship at the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club in June. Clark wasn’t done, as he tied for 15th at the BMW Championship and was solo third at the Tour Championship. He pocketed more than $10.7 million in on-course earnings last season.
Harman had his breakthrough moment in July when he captured The Open by 6 shots to win his first major championship. At 36 years, he was the oldest first-time major championship winner since Sergio Garcia won the 2017 Masters at 37. Harman tied for fifth at the BMW Championship and was 23rd at the Tour Championship.
12. Tom Kim
Kim labored through a bit of a sophomore slump last season before turning things around with a tie for second at The Open. With the help of swing coach Chris Como, Kim found his form late and won the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas for the second straight year on Oct. 15. He became the fourth-youngest golfer to reach three PGA Tour victories; only Gene Sarazen, Horton Smith and Tiger Woods did it at a younger age. Kim hired Daniel Parratt, K.H. Lee’s former caddie, to replace Joe Skovron.
The 44-year-old Glover enjoyed one of the most epic heaters in recent PGA Tour history when he won the Wyndham Championship and FedEx St. Jude Championship in consecutive weeks in August. He was only the third player in his 40s to win in consecutive weeks on tour in the past 25 years.
Bradley, 37, enjoyed quite a resurgence last season when he ended a more than five-year victory drought with two wins: the Zozo Championship in October 2022 and the Travelers Championship in June. He cooled off late in the season before tying for ninth at the Tour Championship.
Fleetwood, 32, came painfully close to winning his first tournament when he lost to Canada’s Nick Taylor in a four-hole playoff at the RBC Canadian Open on June 11. A six-time winner on the DP World Tour, Fleetwood has 22 career top-five finishes on the PGA Tour, the most by any golfer without a victory in the past 40 years. He is also the first player to earn more than $20 million in career earnings without a win.
The Englishman seems closer than ever to picking up another PGA Tour victory after piling up seven top-10s and 13 top-25s in 21 starts last season. He had just one missed cut and finished second at the Players and tied for third at the Wells Fargo Championship and RBC Canadian Open. His lone PGA Tour win came at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
A left wrist injury plagued Spieth for much of last season, when he didn’t win and had seven top-10s in 22 tour starts. He lost in a playoff to Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage. Spieth reinjured his wrist after the Ryder Cup, which led to a proper diagnosis: damage to the ulnar nerve, which controls movement in the forearm, hand and fingers. Spieth said he has addressed the injury through treatment and feels good about his form heading into 2024.
It was quite a 2022-23 season for Straka, who picked up his second PGA Tour victory at the John Deere Classic on July 9 and made his first appearance in the Ryder Cup. A native of Austria, Straka went 1-2 for the winning European team. He also had his first two top-10s in majors, a tie for seventh at the PGA Championship and a tie for second at The Open.
The 2022 PGA Tour rookie of the year didn’t find the winner’s circle last season. He came close again before losing to Sam Burns in the final match of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. He also tied for seventh at the Masters, one of his five top-10 finishes last season. Young will have a new caddie in 2024 after Paul Tesori moved to Brendon Todd’s bag, as first reported by Golfweek.
The Australian ended a five-year winless drought with his 13th PGA Tour victory at the AT&T Byron Nelson on May 14. It was Day’s first tour win in 105 starts since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship. Day also tied for second at The Open, his first top-10 in a major in three years.
21. Rickie Fowler
Fowler’s return from golf purgatory was complete when he outlasted Morikawa and Adam Hadwin to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic for his first PGA Tour victory in more than four years on July 2. He birdied the 18th hole on the final hole of regulation and the first playoff hole at Detroit Golf Club to get it done. It came two weeks after Fowler faded in the final round and tied for fifth in the U.S. Open.
Finau claimed two more victories last season at the Cadence Bank Houston Open in November 2022 and the Mexico Open in April. But then he had just one top-20 finish in his next 11 starts in official PGA Tour events, a tie for seventh at the 3M Open. Finau had been linked to LIV Golf but affirmed his commitment to the PGA Tour.
Burns secured his fifth PGA Tour win by taking the final WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, Texas on March 26. But it was otherwise a so-so season, as Burns had as many missed cuts (six) as top-10 finishes. He missed two cuts in majors and his best finish was a tie for 29th at the Masters.
The immensely talented Theegala claimed his first PGA Tour victory with a 2-stroke win at the Fortinet Championship in Napa, California, on Sept. 7. It came in his 74th start in an official tour event. He also tied for second at the 2022 RSM Classic, one of his eight top-10 finishes last season.
The Australian secured a PGA Tour card by tying for sixth at the Players and for fifth at the U.S. Open last season. He also tied for ninth at the Travelers Championship and for sixth at the Zozo Championship. On Nov. 26, Lee won the Australian PGA Championship, his third victory on the DP World Tour.