We have reached the final week of March, which means that Opening Day is right around the corner. This particular author will be present and accounted for when the first pitch is thrown for the Houston Astros on Thursday. Some are wondering whether any PGA Tour party members will be as well with the Texas Children’s Houston Open going on at the same time.
The Tour’s schedule has indeed moved to the Lone Star State with the Florida Swing now fully over. There were some incredible moments and big-time shots, not to mention a Players Championship won and a legacy altered. It all happened so fast and so slow that I was unsure whether or not it was the Florida Swing or season 2 of Severance.
As things ramp up to The Masters we need to tie a bow on an important part of the calendar. In that spirit here are our winners and losers from the Florida Swing.
Winner: The literal winners!
Being matter of fact here a congratulations is in order for each of Joe Highsmith (Cognizant Classic), Russell Henley (Arnold Palmer Invitational), Rory McIlroy (The Players) and Viktor Hovland (Valspar) as they were the literal winners from the Florida Swing.
Russell’s win at the API was a serious shot in the arm for his career and may have catapulted him to a spot on this year’s Ryder Cup team. Winning signature events can have that impact.
Rory’s win we’ll get to in a minute, but winning the Tour’s landmark event and doing so in a playoff where you finally come in clutch for the first time in a while… that was a big deal.
Finally, no disrespect to Joe Highsmith here, for Viktor Hovland to break through after crawling through some serious sludge was a turn that nobody saw coming. Seeing him in the winner’s circle reminded us that he is pretty good at this stupid, stupid game.
Winner: Rory McIlroy specifically
The Players is not a major obviously, but it goes without saying that there is some major-related pressure and notoriety that comes with it. Rory McIlroy won it and that he did so after having to sleep on the thought of a playoff for a night shows some growth.
We have seen Rory come so close so many times in recent memory that it was fair to wonder if he would ever win a big tournament ever again (not really, but you get the point). McIlroy is of the stature where it is fair to demand this from him in the majors specifically and we have yet to get there this season, but don’t those feel more possible now?
The idea that Rory could win a major this year and maybe even finally win that one feels like something you can legitimately say out loud with confidence. He has elevated his game, which is impossible to really think about, and seems properly polished and positioned to do whatever he wants as we move forward.
Winner: Masters storylines
The idea of Rory McIlroy winning The Masters feels real and within reach. If he were to pull it off then I have no idea what would happen to the internet.
But Rory is far from the only good story going on the march to Augusta. Scottie Scheffler has yet to win this season, more on that in a bit as well, but still carries an air of inevitability. The signature events have given birth to some big storylines this season already, including Ludvig Aberg who could win a major championship for the first time in his career.
Xander Schauffele’s return from injury has dampened that a bit, but Justin Thomas is playing really well right now. Tommy Fleetwood continues to lurk and even Shane Lowry has been having some close calls as of late.
The Masters always delivers an incredible story, and right now, its would-be characters are setting themselves up to be a part of it all.
Loser: Jordan Spieth
One of Augusta’s most famous characters in recent history had a bit of a tough go in the Sunshine State if we are being honest. Jordan Spieth may have finished in the top 10 at the start of it at the Cognizant (T9), but he finished 59th at The Players and T-28 at Valspar. These are not results befitting of his reputation.
What’s more, these are not results befitting of someone who should be getting sponsor’s exemptions into signature events. Spieth sort of publicly whined about not getting one for the API, which was not a great look for him. Consider that we are less than a month away from the three-year anniversary of his most recent win (2022 RBC Heritage).
It is time for Jordan to turn it up a notch. It has been time. It is past time.
Loser: Collin Morikawa
This one is a bit subject to interpretation, but like Jordan Spieth did… Collin Morikawa made some negative headlines as he passed through Florida.
What feels like forever ago, Collin came up close in the API against Russell Henley. He was in command down the stretch and left the door open, and then, before he knew it, he was finishing in solo second. Emotions can run high in sports and clearly did for Collin as he didn’t do media after the event, something that he took a lot of heat for in the week leading up to The Players.
Interestingly, Morikawa doubled down on ducking the media. He noted that he did not feel like talking after losing, and while he is certainly entitled to make his own decision on this kind of thing, the reality is that history is written by the winners, and Collin hasn’t held the pen himself in quite a while. These things get overlooked when you hold trophies up, and they look different when you don’t.
From a golf perspective, Morikawa has been coming really, really close as of late. He hasn’t finished outside of a T17 at all in 2025.
But is that enough to change opinions? We will see as April arrives.
Loser: Scottie Scheffler, relatively speaking
Let me be very clear: I am in no way doubting Scottie Scheffler or saying he is not playing the best golf in the world. But golf is a funny game in a lot of ways and one of those is that you do a lot more losing than you do winning.
If we define losing in golf as finishing anywhere but first, that seems fair, then this logic tracks. Consider that Scottie Scheffler has done more losing to this point in a season here in 2025 than he has done since 2021. Seriously!
Scheffler did not win at all in 2021 and then fully arrived in 2022. He had three victories entering The Masters that year, which he obviously won, including two that came before mid-March.
A year later, in 2023, Scheffler had two titles through The Players, an event that he won for the first time that year. Last season, Scheffler repeated at Ponte Vedra right after winning at Bay Hill. This all means that his lack of victories to this point this year is a very rare thing for him.
More than anything or anyone, I trust that Scottie Scheffler will figure things out. It is just funny and interesting that he is winless to this point. It is almost as if golf is hard!
