There are still more questions than answers pertaining to the state of the professional game, the state of the top players' games and the state of the top players' health despite eight tournaments having already transpired in the 2025 PGA Tour season. With the Masters fast approaching -- less than two months away -- there is no better time than the PGA Tour's Florida Swing to see some of those quandries shake out.
Featuring four tournaments -- Cognizant Classic, Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Players Championship and Valspar Championship -- the Florida Swing has a way of exposing weaknesses in one's game and elevating those who are a class above the rest. The past three seasons, that has been world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
It's easy to forget that Scheffler started his winning ways only three years ago in 2022, but since then, this time of year has been circled on his calendar. Of his 13 PGA Tour victories, seven have come before the Masters, four courtesy of the Florida Swing.
This season has been different than the past two for Scheffler as he dealt with an injury, but the return to a friendly coast could bring a sense familiarity to his game and a sense of, "Oh, brother here go again," to the rest of the field.
Speaking of the field, the man closest to Scheffler in 2024 has mostly been a no-show in 2025. Xander Schauffele charts his path back from injury as three-time major champion Jordan Spieth continues to do the same. Schauffele leads the pack of spring breakers who will make their way south to Florida for what should be a revealing time for the game both inside and outside the ropes.
The season of Scheffler
The best player in the world across the first three months of the season has won the last three Masters -- Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Scheffler again. The two-time Masters champion still holds that clear distinction, but even he admitted there is still work to be done to fully return to the player he was before his Christmas Day ravioli incident.
"I think I feel pretty bad about where I'm at," Scheffler said following the Genesis Invitational. "It's not easy to come out here and play competitive golf at a high level and get right back to where I was last year, losing those weeks that I had at home where I couldn't do anything. I think some of that makes it even more impressive what Tiger [Woods has been] able to do off of his surgeries and long layoffs and just come out and compete with us is pretty miraculous.
"I'm trying to give myself a little bit of grace and some patience kind of getting back into the swing of things. I did some things in the last few weeks that I'm happy with and definitely some things that I need to improve on."
Scheffler is scheduled to defend his title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational where he has a T4 wedged between two wins over the last three years. Then he is back at The Players where he registered the first successful title defense in tournament history last season. His ball striking was not up to his usual standard on the West Coast -- particularly off the tee -- but don't expect that to last much longer. Once he finds his swing, he'll find the winner's circle.
Schauffele's return
Schauffele plans to tee it up for the first time this season at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after missing most of the early campaign due to a rib injury. Withdrawing for the American Express and forgoing a couple starts in his native San Diego at Torrey Pines, Mr. Consistent enters the third month of the year with question marks swirling around him.
The two-time major champion will only have two -- maybe three -- starts to get his feet underneath him before the Masters as he is likely to play The Players as well. An additional event could be added before Augusta National -- he did play in the Valspar Championship last season -- but that will largely depend on his health and there not being any setbacks along the way.
If Schauffele charts his schedule the same way he did in 2024, it will also mean he only has 13 tournaments before the FedEx Cup Playoffs. It's still early, yes, but he ranks No. 138 in the season-long race, and as the saying goes, "It's getting late early."
McIlroy's run up to the Masters
This time last season, McIlroy was in a full sprint towards the Masters and ultimately entered the year's first major championship out of gas. This season, he has made it a concerted effort to play less, and the early results have been solid as he picked up a victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am where his newfound patience was on full display.
That patience of his will be tested in Florida given the difficulty of the two golf courses he will play -- Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass -- and while he has won at both, success has been limited the last half decade. McIlroy has one top-five finish in Florida since 2021 with that coming at the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Spring breakers infiltrate Florida
The three men who used to share spring break vacation plans together now share a boat load of questions. Justin Thomas has ticked off the most boxes in recent years as the two-time major champion was the third-best player from a strokes gained perspective during the West Coast Swing behind only McIlroy and Scheffler. Will he finally reenter the winner's circle during a comfortable stretch on the calendar?
While Thomas isn't in the field at the Cognizant Classic, both Spieth and Rickie Fowler will play as they seek an avenue through which to qualify for next week's signature event at Bay Hill. Requiring sponsors exemptions at Pebble Beach and the Genesis Invitational, these PGA Tour favorites will need to start playing their way into these tournament on their own volition.
Spieth showed something at the WM Phoenix Open where he finished T4, but even more surprising may have been what Fowler did not show. The five-time PGA Tour winner found something in his game during the FedEx Cup Fall and quickly lost it after the calendar flipped to the new year. Will he find it again at a couple spots where he has won before or will the downturn continue?
The art of the deal
It seems like things are moving in the right direction when it comes to a potential deal between PGA Tour Enterprises and LIV Golf's financial backers, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, but that has been said one too many times since the initial framework agreement in June 2023.
President Donald Trump has gotten involved by playing golf and ultimately hosting both parties at the White House for a four-hour "working session" this past week that reportedly left the PGA Tour unsatisfied. The press release provided no real update in true Washington D.C. fashion.
Next on the docket, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan will be front and center at The Players holding his annual state of the tour address. He has been more visible this season compared to those prior as he played pro-ams at Pebble Beach and the Phoenix Open before answering questions at Genesis where he introduced "one tour" language into the conversation -- a phrase that begets far more questions that some believe will finally be answered when Monahan takes the stand at TPC Sawgrass.
