Weeks: Nine things to watch for in 2019

1. New rules

The new rules of golf come into effect on Jan. 1, and with them come a need for understanding changes, especially for those who make a living playing the game. For instance, tapping down spike marks now is permissible. And a player who hits the ball twice with one swing will no longer be TC Chen’ed. It only counts for one stroke. Dropping the ball is done at knee height while putting with the flagstick in is allowed. My favourite is players will no longer be able to have their caddies align them on the tee (I’m looking at you LPGA).

While many pros have read over the new rules, you can be sure there are those who haven’t opened the new compendium. And to that end, I wonder who will be the first professional to make an incorrect interpretation and be penalized or possibly disqualified. Watch for it.

2. New schedule

The new PGA Tour schedule comes into full play mode with the turning of the calendar. The Players Championship is back to March, the PGA moves to May and a three-event season finale is all done before Labour Day.

While there’s been lots of focus on the revised schedule, what hasn’t been determined is who will play where and when. A number of pros have had to move away from their usual calendar of Tour stops due to where they now fall. For instance, Adam Hadwin will skip Torrey Pines in favour of playing the SONY Open, primarily so he doesn’t have to make five consecutive starts on the West Coast. Look for some familiar faces in unusual places as the season moves on.

3. RBC Canadian Open date

The new date for the national championship will likely result in a different look to the field when the tournament is held at the Hamilton G&CC in June. While any date is better than the stop before the Open Championship, the new spot on the calendar isn’t perfect.

The tour will go from the PGA Championship to Colonial to Memorial to Canada to the US Open.

The American championship is also followed by a player favourite, the Travelers Championship. It’s likely that most players will drop either Colonial or Canada during this stretch and some might not play at all between majors. Still, expect a better field than in past years. It’s possible one or two big names who haven’t played the tournament in the past or at least recently will tee it up. At the very least, defending champion Dustin Johnson will be there.

4. RBC Canadian Open locations

This year’s Open will be contested over the historic course at Hamilton G&CC, a much-loved locale when it hosted in the past. After that, it appears St. George’s G&CC, not loved quite as much but still a good locale, will welcome the tour in 2020 (although there are still some delicate details such as getting Islington G&CC to agree to being a range once again and bringing the city of Toronto into the fold so some streets can be closed off). But after that?

Hamilton will be the site again in 2023 and St. George’s in 2024. Mississauga G&CC, which Golf Canada hoped would be in for 2021, has been ruled out by the PGA Tour which means there’s a very good chance the tournament could go back to . . . yup, Glen Abbey. That is, of course, as long as ClubLink hasn’t bulldozed it by then.

As one person involved in the process told me: “There just aren’t enough good sites around.”

5. Canadians in the majors

Right now, the only Canadian male golfer qualified to play a major is Mike Weir at Augusta. While there are nine Canadians with some level of status on the PGA Tour, they’ll need to do some work to play one or more of the Big Four.

All four tournaments have their own way of determining who gets to play, but the bottom line is simple: if the Canadian golfers want to tee it up in major championships, they need to play well and do it quickly.

For example, to get into the Masters, the task is straightforward: win or be inside the top 50 in the world ranking by April 1.

It’s no easy task, but look for a few Maple Leaf flags flying at majors this year.

6. The Olympics

When the PGA Tour season kicks off in Hawaii, it will be just over 18 months until the Olympics in Tokyo. Those Games will mark the second iteration of golf since it was re-introduced to the Olympic family in Rio in 2016.

Last time around, many of the top male stars took a pass on competing, only to have the tournament come off as a huge hit.

That means you can expect to hear a lot of talk about jockeying for spots on Olympic teams and questions about playing for a country. Rory Sabbatini, for instance, has taken out citizenship in Slovakia, his wife’s home, with the intent of playing the Olympics.

Could Tiger Woods be a 44-year-old Olympian? Will Brooke Henderson be a gold-medal favourite? Expect lots of golf-in-the-Olympics talk to surface in 2019.

7. The distance debate

On the PGA Tour in 2018, 60 golfers averaged 300 yards or more off the tee. A decade earlier, that number was just 13. In 2019, the focus on how far players hit the ball will continue and quite possibly intensify. The United States Golf Association and the R&A, golf’s governing bodies, are currently studying the issue while ball manufacturers are fighting back, producing their own research. With young players such as Cameron Champ averaging a jaw-dropping 328 yards through the fall schedule, matters may be coming to a head sooner rather than later.

8. Tiger and Phil

Remember the excitement, laughs and great shot-making we all experienced during The Match, that made-for-pay-per-view extravaganza with Phil Mickelson taking on Tiger Woods? No, me neither. But we’re going to get more. The two stars have reportedly signed on to do it all over again in 2019 and then again in 2020. The format for the next one hasn’t been determined but look for the two aging buddies to team up against some younger foes. Or perhaps each will add a partner and continue the battle. I like Phil and Tony Romo against Tiger and Steph Curry.

9. Brooke, Brooke and more Brooke

After her remarkable year in 2018, the expectations on Brooke Henderson to do something even more amazing will be high – and realistic. A major? A repeat at the CP Canadian Woman’s Open? Getting to nine career wins to become the Canadian golfer with the most victories? All possible, perhaps even probable. As she heads into her fourth full season on the LPGA Tour – yup, just her fourth – it’s going to be fun to watch her go.