2026 Season Preview
The year of Spieth's return to glory
It’s a bummer The Sentry was canceled this week. It’s normally one of my favorite events on Tour — the views at Kapalua are unreal, and it’s the ultimate birdie fest to kick off the season while most of the US is having awful January weather. A few photos floating around on social media show the course in incredible shape, which just makes the cancellation sting even more knowing they could have played.
What’s even worse is the rumor mill suggesting this could be the last year the Tour plays in Hawaii. If that’s true, we may never see the best players in the world tee it up at Kapalua again which is a shame. The course is absolutely still on my bucket list.
Anyways since there is no Kapalua this week this is the official 2026 season preview. Enjoy!
Biggest Surprise
Yep, 2026 will be the year of Jordan Spieth’s return to glory. Jordan Spieth has now had his 3rd kid and is ready to re-focus on golf. My bold predictions for him: rekindles the old feelings at Birkdale and wins The Open this year.
Most Dominant
Tommy Fleetwood becomes the number one golfer in the world and the most dominant player on tour. Fleetwood finally got that monkey off his back winning the Tour Championship this year which propels him to a dominant season on tour including the PGA Championship.
Scottie stays great as usual but does not win player of the year. He wins The Masters and the Dallas Tournament at TPC Craig Biggio, but otherwise has a down year compared to 2024 and 2025.
Biggest Falloff
Rory McIlroy has an extremely down year continuing his hangover from The Masters and Ryder Cup. He becomes extremity bitchy with the media all year and 2026 goes to waste. His TGL team does really well though.
Biggest Loser
Anyone on LIV. LIV looks to have had a a terrible offseason with Brooks Koepka leaving and potentially being re-instated on the tour. Bryson seems to be one foot out door unless he gets a contract worth half the GDP of Saudi Arabia. Rahm has to be kicking himself for signing such a long contract with LIV.
Hey, at least they have Sergio!
Breakout Player
Marco Penge will be the rookie of the year of the PGA Tour. Although this isn’t that surprising given he was one of the best in Europe this year. Luke Clanton has a very good year and makes the Tour Championship this year as well now that he is settled as a pro.
Best LPGA Player
Nelly Korda comes back ready to play with a gear reset and not as much pressure to backup the historic 2024 she had. Nelly is one of the keys to bring eyes to the LPGA Tour and they need her to have a great season.
International Players to Watch
David Puig of The Fireballs has a breakout year on LIV and plays well in a few majors and European Tour events. This causes him to leave LIV in 2027 and find a way back to full time on the European Tour and the PGA Tour.
Gear Predictions
Taylormade Qi4D is the driver of the year
Wilson has the best irons of the year
Vokey SM11 stays dominant but Taylormade MG5 gains ground
Ping stays the accuracy king
Scotty Cameron gets rid of the chainlink after this year
Fujikura Ventus continues to dominate the tour
Major Tournament Predictions
The Players: Tommy Fleetwood
The Masters: Scottie Scheffler
PGA Championship: Tommy Fleetwood
US Open: Brooks Koepka
The Open: Jordan Speith
Presidents Cup: Team USA
Other Notable Events
Dustin Johnson retires from golf in 2026 and becomes a professional fisherman
Cam Smith returns to form and wins 4 times on LIV plus competes in majors
Cam Young wins 3 times on the PGA Tour
Jon Rahm gets so frustrated with LIV he leaves in 2027
Brandel Chamblee says words
-MZ