Golf Thanksgiving: Five things we’re thankful for from 2017

Before 2013, the PGA TOUR season came to a distinct close at the TOUR Championship. The Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup held strong in their place immediately following the traditional “end” of the golf year, and that was pretty much that until January. Sure, there were a handful of events, but there’s a reason they called it the “Silly Season”.

Five years ago, at the Frys.com Open (now the Safeway Open), the top-ranked player in the field at CordeValle was then No. 30, Hideki Matsuyama. Even having a player ranked that highly was considered an aberration, as most of the world’s top golfers had gotten accustomed to taking two or three months away.

These days, though, the “offseason” is almost nonexistent. Several of the world’s top ten players made their rounds through the Asian and West Coast swings in October and November. From the Safeway Open to the RSM Classic, and everything in between, we get eight more meaningful tournaments when we would otherwise be left jonesing until the New Year.

How important is the “Fall Series” now? Last year, it took 365 points to reach the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Seven of eight winners, including rookie Austin Cook, have already surpassed that threshold, as have four others – Tony Finau, Chesson Hadley, J.J. Spaun and Whee Kim. Ryan Armour, who won the Sanderson Farms Championship opposite the WGC-HSBC, needs just nine more points to get there.

Listen, I love football and basketball as much as anybody else, but I’m always happy with more meaningful golf tournaments. And for that, I’m thankful.