PGA Tour's A-Team Has Been Playing a Lot Of B-List Golf

Professional golf's stars — Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy — being replaced in the winner's circle by the likes of Sepp Straka, Tom Hoge, Luke List

ORLANDO, Fla. – The scoreboard never lies. Well, hardly ever. So here it is:

Hideki Matsuyama 2, U.S. Ryder Cup team 1.

You read that correctly. The reigning Masters champion has two victories in the current PGA Tour wraparound season. No surprise, he established himself as a star last year. The entire U.S. squad has one W combined -- Scottie Scheffler’s playoff victory in Phoenix.

You may not realize it’s already March or, even more startling, that the PGA Tour’s crazy wraparound season is near the halfway mark (without a major championship yet played). Since the tour is in the Florida Swing, that means we’re about to take the on-ramp to the entire major championship season that begins next month in Augusta.

So, a lot could change quickly. One green jacket practically guarantees a lot will change quickly.

But meanwhile, what happened to golf’s greatest stars? Where did they go? They can’t all be in the witness protection program, can they?

For instance: Joaquin Niemann has a victory. Jon Rahm doesn’t.

Tom Hoge has a victory. Bryson DeChambeau doesn’t.

Sepp Straka, Luke List and Hudson Swafford have victories. Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth and the other Ryder Cuppers (save Scheffler) don’t. If you had money on Hoge or List winning before Thomas or Morikawa, I’ll send my entire DraftKings.com account for you to “invest.” That’ll be my retirement account.

It appears that golf is in the process of minting new stars. That’s a good thing—once they become stars. Right now, they’re simply names the public isn’t familiar with and therefore some of their wins are about as sexy as a parka.

This from the Department of What Have You Done For Me Lately: If you count only points earned in the 2022 calendar year, the Official World Golf Rankings would feature Chile’s Niemann at No. 1, followed by Norway’s Viktor Hovland, Texas’ Scheffler, Australia’s Cameron Smith and California’s Patrick Cantlay. Rory McIlroy, despite winning the CJ Cup last fall, would be No. 23; Spieth No. 27; Brooks Koepka No. 35.

It’s the kind of ranking that makes an American Ryder Cupper want to ask, “Don’t you people know who I am?”

Just what kind of a golf year is this, anyway? The answer is, an unfinished one. It’s not that the game’s top players are playing poorly, for the most part. It’s that this latest batch of Flavors of the Month are playing well and winning while the bigger names are not getting it done.

“I haven’t even noticed,” said Sahith Theegala, a college star at Pepperdine University, who finished third in Phoenix and looks ready to break out and get his first victory soon.

Theegala has more patience and a longer view than the average golf fan, however. He could be correct. “I know four of the last five winners were first-time winners,” he said Wednesday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. “The stars are still going to have their time. They’re the top 10 guys in the world for a reason. It’s just a matter of time before they start winning. But that’s interesting.”

The apparent lack of marquee star power underscores a bigger issue for golf. It needs stars. Unlike Hollywood, which has more stars than sidewalks on which to commemorate them, golf has room for only so many stars and it’s tough to make room in a sport where top players enjoy careers and fame that can last several decades.

There are stars and there are stars, if you know what I mean. Let me categorize this universe.

The A-Team consists of the players who move the needle. That is, the players the public strongly care about to the point that the clickbait-chasing-media are forced to write them nearly every day they compete. It’s a short list. Tiger Woods—need I say more? Phil Mickelson—ditto. Bryson DeChambeau—he became The Show last year on the PGA Tour.

The A-Minus Team consists of the players the public knows and is somewhat interested in and are oh-so-close to being needle-movers if they won a few more majors. Rory McIlroy—he’d be an A-Teamer if his last major title was more recent than eight years ago although, to be honest, he’s such a refreshing personality he might be an A-Teamer anyway. Brooks Koepka—he had a nice run of four majors in three years – but his game slipped due to injuries. The image he wants to portray is as a badass, which is off-putting, and he’s had only one U.S. win in the last two years.

Jon Rahm—your U.S. Open champ from Spain is a nice guy with a quirky but deadly short backswing that fans haven’t had enough time to get to know. Jordan Spieth—a beloved young phenom who, if he puts together another inspired run, will be a beloved comeback story. Justin Thomas—a stud with all the shots whose lack of pizzazz can be overcome by winning more than one major.

Collin Morikawa—the best damn iron player on tour, has a PGA Championship and British Open title in his hip pocket, with a career and personality to envy. The public is still getting used to him. Patrick Cantlay—terrific clutch player who unfortunately appears to be perpetually scowling, even when he isn’t.

The B-Plus Team features the players whose fame factor is a cut below the aforementioned players. Viktor Hovland—all smiles, he’s won twice this season, and he’s from Norway, the home of golf. Xander Schauffele—won a gold medal, plays it so cool that he doesn’t excite the fans too much.

Dustin Johnson—the game looks too easy to be real and he rarely expresses emotion, either, and fans want a thespian. Cameron Smith—he’s got a mullet, that’s good enough. Matsuyama—he’s got a green jacket, American fans always take longer to fall for foreign-born, non-English speaking players. Rickie Fowler—he’s in more TV commercials than the GEICO gecko, people love him and he invented the color orange.

The next category is Everybody Else, more or less.

While Woods and Mickelson were the top guns of golf for two decades, they not only won a lot but they kept other players from winning and possibly building bigger, better resumes. It was hard to become a star while Woods blotted out the sun, for instance, just like it was difficult for any Republican to get attention for four years while President Donald Trump commanded every headline.

Back in golf, it seems like that Theegala knows his stuff. Golf’s better-known names will surely be back.

Rahm has played sparingly but did finish third in Hawaii. Morikawa has scored a pair of seconds, a fifth and a seventh. He’s playing steady golf. Cantlay has placed fourth twice. Schauffele was third in Phoenix. Johnson hasn’t looked as sharp as normal, true, and DeChambeau has been slowed by a wrist problem that is worrisome. Spieth had a shot at Pebble Beach but was overtaken by the underrated and underappreciated Hoge. Koepka made a charge at Phoenix, where he is a past champ, and finished third.

McIlroy, who won the 2018 Arnold Palmer Invitational, has been solid but not quite spectacular. In the Middle East, he finished sixth, 12th and third, then placed 10th at Riviera in the Genesis Invitational. With thick rough and major-championship conditions this week at Bay Hill, he’s one of the favorites. He might don the winner’s red cardigan, an ode to the revered late tournament host, a second time.

Should we be concerned that golf’s big names aren’t winning? Not yet. Except for DeChambeau, they seem as if they’re in good form and if they play well, the victories will come.

If not, and the recent wave of first-time winners continues, like Straka at the Honda Classic, then these new guys will become our new big names.

Either way, problem solved.

More Arnold Palmer Invitational Coverage from Morning Read

- Arnold Palmer was Great, Long After His Golf Skills Had Diminished
- Rickie Fowler is Trying to Find His Way Back
- Rory McIlroy Calls Phil Mickelson Saga 'Unfortunate'
- At 25-1, This Player Looks Ready for a Breakthrough Win at Bay Hill