Rahm, McIlroy, Koepka – 10 PGA Tour and LIV Golf players GolfMagic expects to shine brightest in 2024.
Now that 2023 is behind us, sportlite era is anticipating what looks to be an even more exciting and successful 2024 season for the PGA Tour and LIV Golf League.
Given the PGA Tour’s ongoing framework agreement with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), who knows exactly what the future of professional golf holds? What is certain, though, is that Jon Rahm has joined LIV Golf after a reported £450 million move earlier this month.
In a move that stunned the golf world, it’s fair to say LIV Golf is now a serious force to be reckoned with given they have at least five of the world’s best players in Rahm, Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson.
Here at GolfMagic, we think Rahm is going to have a barnstorming season following his shock move to the Saudi-backed circuit.
There will be huge pressure on the Spaniard’s shoulders to perform regularly following his signing fee, but we fully expect Rahm to live up to expectation in his debut LIV season.
As we discussed earlier this month in our ’24 weird, wacky and bold predictions for 2024′, we think Rahm is going to go very close to winning half of the 14 LIV Golf events during the course of the season.
We would not be surprised in the slightest if Rahm was to add to his two major titles in 2024, either.
In our list below, we highlight 10 PGA Tour and LIV Golf players we think will seriously raise their games in 2024.
Rahm is one of them.
Jon Rahm.
Make no mistake, 2023 was arguably Rahm’s best season to date on the PGA Tour with four victories higlighted by a second career major title at The Masters in April. Will Rahm’s form fall flat following his shock move to LIV Golf ahead of 2024, or will he be re-energised to move a step closer to the career grand slam by taking out either The Open or US PGA? Here at GolfMagic, we think Rahm is going to go wild on LIV Golf and take out at least five victories in the 14-tournament season. There will be pressure on his shoulders given his huge price tag to join LIV Golf, but this is the World No.3 we are talking about and a man who fully believes he is the best player in the world. We also fully expect Rahm to win another major to bring his tally up to three. Expect big things once more out of Rahm.
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy will bring an end to his major misery and pick up a fifth career major in 2024. You heard it here first. McIlroy may have last won a major coming up to 10 years now, but we are hugely confident he will get back on the major ladder in 2024. Why? Well McIlroy no longer has the strain of standing on the PGA Tour policy board as a director and we think he can now fully concentrate on his golf. The year of 2023 was a solid one for McIlroy with two victories and a successful defence of his Race to Dubai crown on the DP World Tour. But this is Rory McIlroy we are speaking about where majors are what matter most. While it might sound like something of a broken record now, McIlroy really will win a major in 2024. Let’s hope it comes at The Masters so he completes the career grand slam. A major win and four wins on the PGA Tour, especially now Rahm is no longer in his way. Mark it for 2024.
Cameron Smith
Cameron Smith had a fairly lacklustre 2023 season by his own high standards. Okay, he did win twice on LIV Golf, but he was the star man on the circuit all season before Rahm joined this month so he was expected to win fairly regularly. He also picked up two top-10s in the majors. But this is the 150th Open champion we are on about and a man who is easily one of the top five players in the world when he is firing on all cylinders. We fully expect Smith to raise his game in 2024 and be energised to tackle Rahm for bragging rights on LIV Golf. Don’t be surprised to see Smith win at least three times on LIV Golf in 2024 and contend much more in the four majors.
Scottie Scheffler.
Scottie Scheffler could have won just about every week he teed it up in 2023 if it wasn’t for a stone cold putter. The World No.1 still won twice on the PGA Tour last season (three if you count the limited field end-of-season Hero World Challenge) but he won’t be happy with that given he led just about every strokes-gained statistic going apart from on the greens. Scheffler has turned to renowned putting expert Phil Kenyon, who spoke to GolfMagic earlier this month, and we can see that relationship blossoming quickly in 2024. We fully expect Scheffler to sort out his putting woes and win at least four times on the PGA Tour. In similar circumstances to McIlroy, with no Rahm to contend with on the PGA Tour, we can see Scheffler taking full advantage of the situation.
Viktor Hovland.
You have to feel that now with a FedEx Cup and Ryder Cup heroics under his belt, the only big box left to tick on Viktor Hovland’s resume is a major championship victory. Hovland has come close in the four big tournaments of the year, none more so than a T2 at the 2023 US PGA, but his game is arguably the best in the world as we head into 2024. Great things await in the game for Hovland, who is without question the best golfer right now without a major title to his name. We can see Hovland winning at least three times on the PGA Tour and earning his maiden major in 2024.
Patrick Cantlay
Tucked in closely behind Hovland as the best player yet to win a major is without question Patrick Cantlay. How the American failed to win a single title on the PGA Tour in 2023 is anyone’s guess, but that changes in 2024. We can see Cantlay, who now assumes a huge player director role on the PGA Tour, winning at least twice on the PGA Tour next season. There does appear to be some sort of mental block for Cantlay when it comes to seeing out tournaments at the moment for one reason or another, but once he gets back winning regularly again on the PGA Tour we could easily see him taking out one of the majors. He might not be everyone’s cup of tea, largely down to how long he takes to get round a golf course, but we can see Cantlay turning it on a lot more now on the PGA Tour, especially like we have already said above with no Rahm to deal with in 2024. Cantlay is a classy player.
Bryson DeChambeau
Bryson DeChambeau should have been in the US Ryder Cup team in my view. He was one of the most in-form Americans to end the season, highlighted by that sensational 58 in the final round to run away with the LIV Golf Greenbrier. He then followed that up with another win in Chicago just to remind everyone why he should have been at Marco Simone. Anyway, that was Zach Johnson’s mistake and to Europe’s advantage. DeChambeau has dialled back his pursuit of shredding his body to the max and has concentrated more on getting his golf game back to where it belongs as one of the best in the world. We fully expect DeChambeau to win three times on LIV Golf in 2024. DeChambeau’s team tell us he has never driven the golf ball better than he is right now, and that can only play to his strengths this coming season. You will want to watch Bryson closely in 2024.
Brooks Koepka
Brooks Koepka is quite simply a man for the majors, and he once again proved that by taking out his fifth career major and third US PGA in 2023. He probably should have won The Masters, too, if it hadn’t of been for a final-round wobble to let Rahm in. However, it was a great season for him. Koepka also proved he does care about things on LIV Golf, too, as he won twice on the circuit last season. The big-hitting American’s game looks somewhere near his former World No.1 best again, and we would not be surprised to see Koepka win a sixth major. We fully anticipate Koepka will replicate his 2023 season in 2024.
Collin Morikawa
After Collin Morikawa gave up a sizable lead to Rahm in the final round of the year’s first event, the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, his 2023 campaign has all but stagnated. He did, however, cap off the year with a decisive six-stroke victory at the ZOZO Championship, and we believe that will serve him well come 2024. Although Morikawa’s short game and poor putting seemed to hinder him for much of the season, his team has informed us that the two-time major champion has been putting in a lot of work in the off-season. Morikawa should have no trouble winning two times on the PGA Tour in 2024 and strengthening his chances of winning a third major championship. He barely secured