Golf never really ends, it just takes a brief break. This year, it’s a grand total of one week. The actual number of days between PGA Tour events will be 11.
Before the 2021-22 seasons begins on Thursday in Northern California, a look back at the 2020-21 “super season” that saw 50 official events and six major championships played in roughly a 12-month period, and a look ahead to what’s coming now that the 11-day break between seasons is over.
Bryson’s world
No player made more headlines than Bryson DeChambeau. From his six-shot U.S. Open victory in September 2020 to his spat with Brooks Koepka — and that was just the beginning of the Bryson drama — DeChambeau was an overwhelming story in the season just completed.
He won his first major at Winged Foot, had a stirring victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, wowed fans with long drives, contended at the 2021 U.S. Open, lost in a stirring playoff at the BMW Championship and continues to approach the game from a different place.
But after his March win at Bay Hill, the headlines were mostly for other things. The spat with Koepka that began at the PGA Championship was the biggest one and is still ongoing. That led to on-course heckling and some verbal, social-media sparring between he and Koepka.
The final-round back-nine 44 at Torrey Pines when he had the U.S. Open lead was a shock. So, too, was his breakup with longtime caddie Tim Tucker on the eve of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He called out his equipment after an average first round at The Open, drawing a rebuke from sponsor Cobra. He tested positive for COVID-19, keeping him out of the Olympics — then made some controversial statements about why he didn’t take the vaccine at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, where he contended.
On the first day of the Northern Trust, DeChambeau shot even-par 71 — making just two pars. The next day he flirted with 59. And then he lost in a six-hole playoff at the BMW to Patrick Cantlay, hearing more catcalls on the course.
All the while, DeChambeau stopped talking to the media at the WGC event, due in part to the fallout from his COVID-19 comments. It was quite the year — good and bad — for DeChambeau.
Tiger’s accident
He didn’t hit a shot in 2021, and yet Tiger Woods still produced some of the biggest headlines — all because of a horrific car accident in February.
Woods was going to get a late start to the year due to another back procedure, but the seriousness of the accident put any and all golf talk on hold. Woods’ injuries to his right leg, ankle and foot were significant, and there have been no substantial updates in months. His long-term health is the more immediate concern compared to any competitive golf plans.
The Rahm-inator
Nobody dominated more and had less to show for it than No. 1-ranked Jon Rahm, who played as consistently well as anyone throughout 2021. His lone victory was a big one at the U.S. Open, where he birdied the last two holes to prevail.
That was just two weeks after a positive COVID-19 test following the third round of the Memorial Tournament. Rahm was forced to withdraw with a six-shot advantage.
Starting with the PGA Championship, where he tied for eighth, Rahm was not out of the top 10 the rest of the season except for the Memorial withdrawal. He also tied for third at The Open and tied for the lowest 72-hole score at the Tour Championship, where he is not given credit for a victory. He also had the lowest adjusted scoring average.
Hideki’s history
Hideki Matsuyama was not on many people’s list of potential champions at the Masters, mostly because he had not won on the PGA Tour for four years. But he forged ahead in the third round, built a big Sunday lead, then held on to win over Will Zalatoris. Matsuyama became the first Japanese male golfer to win a major championship.
Phil’s epic win
Phil Mickelson didn’t contend in a tournament for nearly a year before the PGA Championship. And he didn’t contend in another after. But he picked a great time to put it all together at Kiawah Island, where he got into the lead on Friday and stayed there through a hectic, frantic weekend that saw him hold off Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen to win his sixth major title.
Mickelson, at age 50, became the oldest major champion in the game’s history. The previous oldest was Julius Boros, who set the record at the 1968 PGA Championship. Mickelson won for the 45th time in his PGA Tour career.
Cantlay’s emergence
Patrick Cantlay made a huge statement toward the end of the season after always seemingly being so quiet, showing flashes but never quite coming through to the level expected.
He won the Zozo Championship last fall, then didn’t win again until the Memorial — where Rahm’s departure created a huge opportunity. He didn’t contend in any of the major championships, but he was consistently good enough to hang close in the FedEx Cup points race.
His victory at the BMW over DeChambeau was one of sheer will, where he continually made putts to stay alive and then finally cashed in with a birdie on the sixth extra hole. That moved him to the top of the FedEx standings, gave him a cushion going to Atlanta. There he held off Rahm to win for the fourth time in the season. On Tuesday, Cantlay was named PGA Tour Player of the Year.
Jordan’s resurgence
After some three years in golf’s abyss, Jordan Spieth bounced back in a big way in 2021. After missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, Spieth finished top four in three of his next four events and then won the Valero Texas Open the week before the Masters for his first win since the 2017 Open. He also contended at The Open and is 15th in the world. Spieth was an easy U.S. Ryder Cup pick for Steve Stricker.
Morikawa’s brilliance
Just 24, Collin Morikawa has won two major championships in just eight starts. He added a second this year at The Open, holding off Spieth at Royal St. George’s. He won the PGA Championship in 2020. He also added the WGC-Workday Championship early in the year and was No. 1 in FedEx points heading into the playoffs before cooling off.
DJ’s Quiet 2021
When he won the Masters in November, Dustin Johnson looked like he might never be beat. He had an amazing run in the fall and into the early part of 2021. And then he went quiet. Johnson had some nice results recently, but he missed the cut in his Masters title defense and again at the PGA Championship. He rarely contended after that although he did post a couple of late top-10s.
What about JT?
Justin Thomas won the Players Championship, putting on a ball-striking display in the final round at TPC Sawgrass where he shot 64. But it was his only victory. And he was barely a factor in any of the major championships. Thomas struggled with the fallout from an anti-gay slur he made at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, which led to losing an endorsement deal. His grandfather also died. It all seemed behind him when he won the Players, but Thomas could not manage another victory.
Old guys rule
In addition to Mickelson winning the PGA at age 50, Stewart Cink captured two PGA Tour titles at age 47 — his first since winning The Open in 2009. Cink also qualified for the Tour Championship for the first time since that year. Brian Gay, also 47, won the Bermuda Championship last November, his first win in seven years. Sergio Garcia also won at age 40.
Rory’s woes
Despite winning the Wells Fargo Championship, Rory McIlroy saw his world ranking drop from fourth at the start of the year to as low as 16th. He missed the cut at both the Players Championship and the Masters after bringing on a new swing coach, Pete Cowen. After his victory at Quail Hollow, McIlroy’s best finish was a tie for fourth at the Olympic Golf Tournament.
About the Olympics
The postponement of the Games and the subsequent restrictions that were put in place for the Olympics made for a good number of withdrawals and, unfortunately, a subdued atmosphere.
But those who took part said they were happy they went and glad for the experience. Americans Xander Schauffele and Nelly Korda won gold medals. On the men’s side, there was a seven-way playoff for the bronze that included Matsuyama in his home country, McIlroy and Morikawa. Rory Sabbatini, who about five years ago became a citizen of Slovakia, was the surprising silver-medal winner after shooting a final-round 61.
COVID-19
Real-world problems were part of the golf landscape, too. Given the situation, it was inevitable that players and caddies might get the coronavirus. Several high-profile players did. COVID-19 kept Rahm from playing the final round of the Memorial and also knocked him out of the Olympics. DeChambeau’s case took him out of the Olympics as well. Matsuyama tested positive at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and he decided not to travel to The Open in England because of quarantine issues. Garcia missed the fall 2020 Masters due to COVID-19.
But the tour nonetheless pushed on, slowly bringing back spectators earlier this year and changing testing protocols along the way. In 15 months of golf since the return in June 2020, the tour largely avoided big problems. There were no outbreaks associated with tournament events, and no events were canceled directly because of the coronavirus.
Premier Golf/Super League Golf
Rival golf leagues were again in the news, a subject that garnered considerable attention before the pandemic and came back in two different forms. The idea remains a big-money endeavor that would attract the top players with small fields, but likely meaning they’d have to renounce PGA Tour membership.
PIP
One way the PGA Tour has sought to strengthen its own position is by quietly instituting something called the Player Incentive Program (PIP). The idea is to reward players by engaging with the public and raising their profile through social media or other avenues. It is not directly tied to performance on the course. The program leaked earlier this year, and the pool of money is $40 million, with $8 million going to the leader based on a series of measurements. Commissioner Jay Monahan said those who would be enriched by the PIP would not be disclosed.
The Fall
The PGA Tour’s schedule begins this week with the Fortinet Championship, formerly known as the Safeway Championship. Cink is the defending champion but won’t be there because his son is getting married. After next week’s Ryder Cup, there will be eight straight tournaments leading to Thanksgiving, two unofficial events afterward, and then a short break before the schedule resumes again in January to run through the Tour Championship in early September.
New look
Some things will be different. The WGC-HSBC Champions in China has been canceled for the second straight year, meaning the Bermuda Championship will be a full FedEx event. It also means there will be just one World Golf Championship event on the schedule, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in March. The Mexico Championship is slated to become a regular event; and the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational will become the first of three FedEx Cup playoff events, replacing the Northern Trust.
The PGA Tour’s collaboration with the European Tour will see three co-sanctioned events — the Scottish Open, which is the week before The Open at St. Andrews, as well as the Barbasol Championship and the Barracuda Championship, both of which will be played opposite the tournaments in Scotland.
Next year’s PGA Championship will be played at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with the U.S. Open at the Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Once the first event of the new season begins on Thursday, there will be just 199 days until the first tee shots at the Masters.
Eli Lederman covers college football and recruiting for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2024 after covering the University of Oklahoma for Sellout Crowd and the Tulsa World.
USC secured the commitment of former Oregon defensive tackle pledge Tomuhini Topui on Tuesday, a source told ESPN, handing the Trojans their latest recruiting victory in the 2026 cycle over the Big Ten rival Ducks.
Topui, ESPN’s No. 3 defensive tackle and No. 72 overall recruit in the 2026 class, spent five and half months committed to Oregon before pulling his pledge from the program on March 27. Topui attended USC’s initial spring camp practice that afternoon, and seven days later the 6-foot-4, 295-pound defender gave the Trojans his pledge to become the sixth ESPN 300 defender in the program’s 2026 class.
Topui’s commitment gives USC its 10th ESPN 300 pledge this cycle — more than any other program nationally — and pulls a fourth top-100 recruit into the impressive defensive class the Trojans are building this spring. Alongside Topui, USC’s defensive class includes in-state cornerbacks R.J. Sermons (No. 26 in ESPN Junior 300) and Brandon Lockhart (No. 77); four-star outside linebacker Xavier Griffin (No. 27) out of Gainesville, Georgia; and two more defensive line pledges between Jaimeon Winfield (No. 143) and Simote Katoanga (No. 174).
The Trojans are working to reestablish their local recruiting presence in the 2026 class under newly hired general manager Chad Bowden. Topui not only gives the Trojans their 11th in-state commit in the cycle, but his pledge represents a potentially important step toward revamping the program’s pipeline to perennial local powerhouse Mater Dei High School, too.
Topui will enter his senior season this fall at Mater Dei, the program that has produced a long line of USC stars including Matt Leinart, Matt Barkley and Amon-Ra St. Brown. However, if Topui ultimately signs with the program later this year, he’ll mark the Trojans’ first Mater Dei signee since the 2022 cycle, when USC pulled three top-300 prospects — Domani Jackson, Raleek Brown and C.J. Williams — from the high school program based in Santa Ana, California.
Topui’s flip to the Trojans also adds another layer to a recruiting rivalry rekindling between USC and Oregon in the 2026 cycle.
Tuesday’s commitment comes less than two months after coach Lincoln Riley and the Trojans flipped four-star Oregon quarterback pledge Jonas Williams, ESPN’s No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in 2026. USC is expected to continue targeting several Ducks commits this spring, including four-star offensive tackle Kodi Greene, another top prospect out of Mater Dei.
Missouri quarterback Drew Pyne has entered the portal as a graduate transfer, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
Pyne is looking to move to his fourth school after stints at Notre Dame, Arizona State and Missouri. He’ll be a sixth-year senior this fall.
Pyne joined Missouri last year as a backup for senior starter Brady Cook. He earned one start, leading the Tigers to a 30-23 comeback win over Oklahoma while Cook was sidelined by ankle and wrist injuries.
Missouri brought in former Penn State quarterback Beau Pribulavia the transfer portal this offseason. He’ll compete with redshirt junior Sam Horn and true freshman Matt Zollers, the No. 86 overall recruit in the 2025 ESPN 300, for the opportunity to start this season.
Pyne, a former ESPN 300 recruit, began his career at Notre Dame and started 10 games for the Fighting Irish in 2022. He threw for 2,021 yards on 65% passing and scored 24 total touchdowns with six interceptions while winning eight of his starts.
After the Irish brought in grad transfer quarterback Sam Hartman, Pyne transferred to Arizona State but appeared in just two games with the Sun Devils before an injury forced him to sit out the rest of the season.
Pyne played 211 snaps over six appearances for the Tigers last season and threw for 391 yards on 60% passing with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
The NCAA’s spring transfer window opens April 16, but graduate transfers are permitted to put their name in the portal at any time. More than 160 FBS scholarship quarterbacks have already transferred this offseason.
There are slow starts, there are slumps, and then there is whatever Rafael Devers is going through.
The 28-year-old three-time All-Star for the Boston Red Sox has been one of baseball’s best hitters since 2019, posting three 30-homer seasons, three 100-RBI seasons and a whole bunch of doubles.
His first five games of 2025 have been a nightmare. It’s the early-season equivalent of dealing Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. Johnny Pesky holding the ball. Bucky Dent. The ball rolling through Bill Buckner’s legs. Aaron Boone. Just to name a few Red Sox references. Here’s how those games unfolded for Devers:
Game 1: 0-for-4, three strikeouts Game 2: 0-for-4, four strikeouts Game 3: 0-for-4, three strikeouts, walk, RBI Game 4: 0-for-4, two strikeouts, walk Game 5: 0-for-3, three strikeouts, two walks
He became the first player to strike out 12 times in a team’s first four games. And, yes, with 15 strikeouts through five games he shattered the old record of 13, shared by Pat Burrell in 2001 and Byron Buxton in 2017. Going back to the end of 2024, when Devers fanned 11 times over his final four games, he became the fourth player with multiple strikeouts in nine straight games — and one of those was a pitcher (the other two were a rookie named Aaron Judge in 2016 and Michael A. Taylor in 2021).
With Devers struggling, the Red Sox have likewise stumbled out of the gate, going 1-4 after some lofty preseason expectations, including an 8-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles in the home opener Monday. To be fair, it’s not all on Devers: Jarren Duran, Devers and Alex Bregman, the top three hitters in the lineup, are a combined 11-for-62 (.177) with no home runs.
But there is one question weighing heaviest on the minds of Red Sox Nation right now: What is really going on with Devers?
It’s easy to say his head simply isn’t in the right space. Devers made headlines early in spring training after the Red Sox signed Bregman, saying he didn’t want to move to DH and that “third base is my position.” He pointed out that when he signed his $331 million extension in January of 2023, the front office promised he would be the team’s third baseman.
That, however, was when a different regime was in charge. Bregman, a Gold Glove winner in 2024, is the better defensive third baseman, so it makes sense to play him there and move Devers — except many players don’t like to DH. Some analysts even build in a “DH penalty,” assuming a player will hit worse there than when he plays the field. While Devers eventually relented and said he’d do whatever will help the team, it was a rocky situation for a few weeks.
But maybe it’s something else. While Devers avoided surgery this offseason, he spent it trying to rebuild strength in both shoulders after dealing with soreness and inflammation throughout 2024. He didn’t play the field in spring training and had just 15 plate appearances. So maybe he is still rusty — or the shoulder(s) are bothering him.
Indeed, Statcast metrics show his average bat speed has dropped from 72.5 mph in 2024 to 70.3 mph so far in 2025 (and those are down from 73.4 mph in 2023). His “fast-swing rate” has dropped from 34.2% in 2023 to 27.9% to 12.2%. Obviously, we’re talking an extremely small sample size for this season, but it’s clear Devers isn’t generating the bat speed we’re used to seeing from him.
That, however, doesn’t explain the complete inability to make contact. Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters after the series in Texas that Devers had made alterations with his foot placement — but was having trouble catching up to fastballs. Following Monday’s game, Devers told reporters (via his interpreter) that, “Obviously this is not a position that I’ve done in the past. So I need to get used to it. But I feel good, I feel good.”
Which leads to this question: Does this historic bad start mean anything? Since the DH began in 1973, three DHs began the season with a longer hitless streak than Devers’ 0-for-19 mark, so let’s dig into how the rest of their seasons played out:
Don Baylor with the 1982 Angels (0-for-20). Baylor ended up with a pretty typical season for him: .263/.329/.424, 24 home runs.
Evan Gattis of the 2015 Astros (0-for-23). Gattis hit .246 with 27 home runs — not as good as he hit in 2014 or 2016, but in line with his career numbers.
Curtis Terry with the Rangers in 2021 (0-for-20). Terry was a rookie who ended up playing just 13 games in the majors.
Expanding beyond just the DH position, I searched Baseball-Reference for players in the wild-card era (since 1995) who started a season hitless in at least 20 plate appearances through five games. That gave us a list of … just seven players, including Evan Carter (0-for-22) and Anthony Rendon (0-for-20) last season. Both ended up with injury-plagued seasons. The list also includes Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, who was 0-for-24 for the Houston Astros in 1995. He was fine: He hit .302/.406/.483 that season, made the All-Star team and finished 10th in the MVP voting. J.D. Drew started 0-for-25 through five games with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2005; he hit .286/.412/.520, although an injury limited him to 72 games.
But none of those hitters struck out nearly as often as Devers has.
So let’s focus on the strikeouts and expand our search to most strikeouts through the 15 first games of a season. Given his already astronomical total, Devers is likely to rank high on such a list even if he starts making more contact. Seventeen players struck out at least 25 times through 15 games, topped by Yoan Moncada and Miguel Sano with 29, both in 2018. Not surprisingly, all these seasons have come since 2006 and 12 since 2018.
How did that group fare?
They were actually OK, averaging a .767 OPS and 20 home runs. The best of the group was Matt Olson in 2023, who struck out 25 times in 15 games, but was also hitting well with a .317/.423/.650 line. He went on to hit 53 home runs. The next best season belongs to Giancarlo Stanton in 2018, his first with the Yankees. He finished with 38 home runs and an .852 OPS — but that was a big drop from his MVP season in 2017, when he mashed 59 home runs. His strikeout rate increased from 23.6% in 2017 to 29.9% — and he’s never been as good.
Indeed, that’s the worrisome thing for Devers: Of the 16 players who played the season before (Trevor Story was a rookie in 2016 when he struck out 25 times in 15 games, albeit with eight home runs), 13 had a higher OPS the previous season, many significantly so.
As Cora argued Monday, it’s a small sample size. “You know, this happens in July or August, we’d not even be talking about it,” he said.
That doesn’t really sound quite forthright. A slump, even a five-game slump, with this many strikeouts would absolutely be a topic of discussion. Still, that’s all the Red Sox and Devers have to go on right now: It’s just a few games, nothing one big game won’t fix. They just hope it comes soon.