A slam for Scheffler? What's next for Rory? Storylines to watch heading into 2026 PGA Tour season

McIlroy is again starting the season in the Middle East, where he'll compete in this week's Dubai Invitational and next week's Hero Dubai Desert Classic. He isn't scheduled to play in the U.S. until Feb. 12-15 in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he's the defending champion.

Last season, the 36-year-old played in Australia, Dubai, India, England and Ireland. He teed it up in 16 PGA Tour events in 2025 and figures to play about the same number this year.

With one more victory in a major, Rory would match England's Nick Faldo's six, which is the most by a European golfer in the modern era. Another Race to Dubai title on the DP World Tour would also match Colin Montgomerie's record eight.

Can anyone challenge Scottie and Rory?

McIlroy and Scheffler have combined to win 23 times around the world over the past two seasons. They've clearly pulled away from the pack on the PGA Tour. Is anyone else ready to challenge them this season?

Defending FedEx Cup champion Tommy Fleetwood has climbed to No. 3 in the world, but even he knows there's still a wide gap.

"You know, challenging the top two players in the world, I'm not going to say that that's something that I'm not focused on and not interested in," Fleetwood said in Dubai on Wednesday. "Of course, you are and you want to see where you can get to, but that's a long road ahead. That's not going to happen next week or in a couple months' time."

Can younger players such as Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland and Cameron Young take the next step in their careers and become more consistent? Will Xander Schauffele, who won his first two majors in 2024, bounce back after a painful rib injury derailed much of his 2025 campaign?

"I think it's an amazing opportunity," Fleetwood said. "I really think Scottie and Rory, they already are but definitely when we look back at this time, those two are going to be very high up there in the greatest players of all time. To be the next guy at this current time, you know, that could change next week or in a month, whatever that may be. I just think it's very, very cool and very special, and I just love the fact that I am sort of in the mix."

What will Brooks Koepka do?

Koepka's return from the LIV Golf League -- and his reception from PGA Tour members -- will be one of the most watched developments on tour.

The five-time major champion is undoubtedly one of the best golfers of his generation. But his game seemed to be floundering in LIV Golf. He finished 31st in points last season. After failing to finish in the top 25 in each of the four majors in 2024, he missed the cut in three of four last season. He tied for 12th in the U.S. Open.

Will playing more frequently help him turn it back on? We'll begin to find out when he tees it up Jan. 29-Feb. 1 in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines outside San Diego. Koepka is scheduled to play the next week in the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale, too.

"I think it's great," Rickie Fowler said. "He's wanted to be back playing with us for quite a while, so I'm very happy that we're back in the position where we're at now. I think the guys that were involved on the board level and the players that are involved, I think they did a great job of figuring out how [to] make this happen."

Tiger Woods, who serves on the PGA Tour board of directors, said the tour worked to try to make it equitable for everyone involved. While Koepka is eligible to compete in full-field events and the Players, he'll have to earn his way into the eight signature events with $20 million purses. He won't take another golfer's spot, either. He will be added to fields.

"Yes, there are opinions from both sides," Woods said. "We're not going to satisfy everyone. We know that. But the whole idea is to make our tour better than what it was. With Brooks' addition to the tour, it does. It makes it a better place to play. Now, with players who have earned equity, and there are four more years of potential earning of equity for these players, the fact that they own the tour, if Brooks plays, it puts more money in their pocket. It's a win for everyone."

What will the future PGA Tour look like?

Woods and other members of the Future Competition Committee are looking ahead to 2027 and '28, as PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has pushed his vision for "parity, scarcity and simplicity" as a way to revamp the tour. In other words, the 2026 season might be the last time golf fans see 38 events during the FedEx Cup season.

While the changes might not come until 2028, future PGA Tour schedules figure to start later (after the Super Bowl) and finish earlier (before the NFL kicks off) and have fewer events and more off weeks. The goal, according to sources, is to get the tour back in the biggest markets in the U.S., while still playing at the most iconic courses.

"There's going to be some eggs that are spilled and crushed and broken, but I think that in the end we're going to have a product that is far better than what we have now, for everyone involved," Woods said at last month's Hero World Challenge.

The two tournaments in Hawaii are apparently in danger of being dropped because of logistical costs, as well as some other longtime tournaments.

Golfers who can win their first major in 2026

Tommy Fleetwood
Fleetwood no longer carries the burden of having never won on the PGA Tour after he captured last season's Tour Championship. He played as well as anyone outside of Scheffler last season, when he had eight top 10s and 15 top 25s in 19 starts. Fleetwood finished in the top four of each of the three FedEx Cup playoff events.

"I've had a lot of great results, and I think the big story was that I had not won on the PGA Tour," Fleetwood said. "I managed to get that one done, but I still felt like I wasn't doing anything. The question is, what was different? Like it was an amazing run of form and played great, but I never felt like I was doing anything that different. I was just playing -- that's the thing when you're playing really well, you're playing how you know you can play, and that's the key."

Ludvig Åberg
The free-swinging Swede had six top 10s and 11 top 25s and picked up his second PGA Tour victory at the Genesis Invitational last season. His iron play wasn't nearly as good as his rookie season, but he's too good not to turn it around. Åberg finished second and seventh in his first two starts in the Masters.

Russell Henley
At 36, Henley is playing some of the best golf of his career. Last season, he got his fifth PGA Tour victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and finished in the top 15 in strokes gained: total, tee to green, approach and around the green. He finished in the top 10 in each of the past two U.S. Opens and Open Championships.

Cameron Young
Young's pro career seemed to be floundering until he finally won on tour in the Wyndham Championship on Aug. 3. He finished in the top 11 in each of his last five starts in 2025. He has performed well in the majors with six top 10s in his past 15 starts in the big four, including a tie for fourth in the 2025 U.S. Open.

"It's high," Young said of his confidence. "I feel like I'm in a good place. I've kind of ticked some career boxes over the course of the last six, seven months, and to me it's really just a matter of building on all of the proof that I had before that my good golf is good enough to do all the things that I want to do in the game of golf. Yeah, so I'm really excited to get the season started and kind of hope to continue some of the momentum that I had [at] the end of last season."

Viktor Hovland
Only 28, Hovland has already won seven times on tour, including last year's Valspar Championship. He constantly tinkers with his swing, but when he's on, few are better at striking the ball. He has five top 10s in his past 13 starts in majors. He was solo third in the 2025 U.S. Open.

Comeback candidates

Jordan Spieth
The two-time major champion was working his way back from left wrist surgery last season. He showed signs of life with a tie for fourth in the WM Phoenix Open and for 14th in the Masters. He had eight top 25s and four top 10s in 19 starts. Spieth has won only twice in the past eight seasons and not since April 2022. It's time for him to lift a trophy again.

Max Homa
Homa was ranked fifth in the world in April 2023 and seemed like one of the game's next superstars. He has struggled mightily for much of the past two seasons, however, and missed the cut in nine of 24 starts in 2025. He's ranked 140th in the world now, but maybe a reunion with old swing coach Mark Blackburn will help turn things around. Homa has qualified for only the Masters to date.

Rickie Fowler
Fowler needed sponsor exemptions to get into the field in six signature events last season, which sparked controversy but helped him get into The Open and ultimately the FedEx Cup playoffs. He tied for sixth in the FedEx St. Jude Championship and for seventh at the BMW Championship. Fowler qualified for all eight signature events and the Players Championship this season.

Nick Dunlap
In 2024, Dunlap became the first amateur in 33 years to win on the PGA Tour in the American Express. He won again as a rookie after turning pro at the Barracuda Championship that same year. Last season was a disaster, however, as Dunlap missed the cut in 12 of 25 starts. He has fallen to 174th in the world.

Luke Clanton
The former Florida State star was a runner-up twice on tour when he was still in college in the John Deere Classic and RSM Classic in 2024. His first full season as a pro didn't go nearly as well. He had two top 25s in 18 starts and missed seven cuts. He's one of the longest hitters on tour off the tee (312.6 yards) and is solid with his irons, but needs to pick up his putting and work around the greens to contend.

On the mend

Tiger Woods
The 15-time major champion had his seventh back surgery Oct. 10, this one to replace a disk in his lower back that was causing pain and mobility issues. He said in early December that he had only started chipping and putting. After Tuesday's TGL match, he said he's progressed to hitting short irons. Will Tiger be ready for the Masters on April 9?

"I'm moving up to short irons, so that's about it," Woods said. "I need a little bit more than that to be able to play here. At my speed right now, I could probably play the Stinger hole. Just kind of roll it off the tee. But no, I'm progressing, which is nice. I'm getting there and getting stronger. It's just one of those things where it just takes so much time for the bone to heal and the bone to set."

Justin Thomas
The two-time PGA Championship winner had a microdiscectomy procedure to correct a disk problem that was causing hip pain in mid-November. Like Woods, JT said he'd only recently started chipping and putting again.

Sahith Theegala
Theegala seemed on the brink of breaking through in a big way in 2025, until an oblique and neck injury caused him to miss much of May and all of June. He's playing in Hawaii this week and says he's healthy. Ranked 120th in the world, the 28-year-old isn't currently in the fields for signature events or the majors. He has plenty of work to do.

Will Zalatoris
Zalatoris, the 2021 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, has battled back injuries for much of the past three seasons. He had a second surgery to repair two herniated disks in May and missed the rest of the season. One of the best ball strikers in the world when he's healthy, Zalatoris showed promise with a 15th-place finish in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa in early December.

Billy Horschel
An eight-time PGA Tour winner, Horschel had surgery on his right hip in May, which sidelined him for the rest of the FedEx Cup season and knocked him out of contention for the Ryder Cup team. He came back and played two events in the fall, as well as the Hero World Challenge and Grant Thornton Invitational. "Mr. TGL" has looked healthy in his first few matches in the indoor golf league.

Rookies to watch

Johnny Keefer
Keefer, a former Baylor star, was named the Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year and Rookie of Year after leading the circuit in top-five finishes (six), top 10s (nine), and top 25s (15) in 2025. He broke the KFT record for single-season scoring average (67.95).

Christo Lamprecht
In 2023, the former Georgia Tech golfer won the Amateur Championship and was low amateur at The Open. The 6-foot-8 South African led the KFT in driving distance (331.1 yards) last season.

Marco Penge
Penge, 27, won three times on the DP World Tour and tied for 28th at the PGA Championship last season. He was runner-up to McIlroy in the Race to Dubai, which earned him a PGA Tour card. He recently switched from Mizuno clubs to PXG.

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
Neegard-Petersen, 26, picked up his PGA Tour card by tying for third in the DP World Tour Championship. An All-American at Oklahoma State, he held off LIV Golf's Cameron Smith on the 72nd hole to win the Crown Australian Open in December.

Neal Shipley
Shipley is technically a first-year member and isn't eligible for the Rookie of the Year award. He made 10 starts during the 2024 season after he became the second golfer in the past 25 years to earn low amateur honors at the same year's Masters and U.S. Open.