This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
It's so early in 2016 that not everyone has taken down their Christmas lights, the President has yet to give his State of the Union Address and the sting of another Bengals playoff meltdown has yet to subside, but there's already bad news for golfers: Jordan Spieth is ahead of last year's pace.
After Spieth won five tournaments in 2015, including two majors, to ascend to the top ranking in the world, the big question was: Could he put together another year of such lofty accomplishments? That's going to be tough, but in the very first tournament of 2016, he crushed an elite field by eight strokes on Sunday in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
Spieth wasn't even in the winners-only field last year; he was blanked in 2014 and didn't win last year until mid-March in the Valspar Championship. But he shot 66-64-65-67 to become the second golfer ever to shoot at least 30-under over a 72-hole tournament, one stroke behind Ernie Els' record 31-under at Kapalua back in 2003. Last year's champion, Patrick Reed, shot 22-under 270, a stroke better than his winning score of a year ago.
The Hyundai had its best field in years, perhaps because the third edition of the wraparound season is finally forcing golfers to rethink their schedules, or perhaps because it's the urgency of an Olympic year, or perhaps it's simply that all the young guns view this event as an honor and a privilege, unlike when Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and other mini-conglomerates routinely bypassed the PGA lid-lifter.
No. 3-ranked Rory McIlroy did skip the tourney, but he's still recovering from laser eye surgery. No. 2 Jason Day, No. 4 Bubba Watson, No. 6 Rickie Fowler and No. 8 Dustin Johnson were on hand; for their troubles, they were embarrassed by Spieth, none of them finishing within 10 strokes of the world No. 1.
Spieth will head overseas to Abu Dhabi and Singapore before making his next stateside starts, at Pebble Beach and Riviera in mid-February. The schedule is crazy-condensed this year to allow for golf's return to the Olympics in August. That will surely affect Spieth's planning, and maybe even his results, with three of the majors so bunched (the U.S. Open, Open Championship and PGA will be played in a seven-week stretch that also will include the WGC-Bridgestone).
So five wins and two majors may be too tall of a task for Spieth in 2016. Although after Kapalua, now he needs only four wins and two majors.
MONDAY TAKEAWAY
Patrick Reed
Reed did himself one shot better than last year, and all he got for his effort was a face full of Spieth's exhaust as he sped away from the field. But don't feel too bad for Reed; he hasn't finished worse than 10th in 2015-16, and is primed to improve upon his No. 10 worldwide ranking. Would a first major title surprise anyone?
Brandt Snedeker
Snedeker is an interesting case. He finished the year ranked 49th, a second straight sub-par season. Yet he fetched $35 in Sunday night's Rotowire League auction draft, the same as Zach Johnson and more than Jimmy Walker, Henrik Stenson and Matt Kuchar. Someone obviously expects a return to prominence for Snedeker, who got his year off on the right foot with a tie for third with Brooks Koepka, a shot behind Reed for the B-flight championship.
Brooks Koepka
Koepka "faded" from second to T3 playing alongside Spieth on Sunday, beginning the day five shots back and ending up nine behind. But he's a top-20 golfer and we'll see his name on a lot of Sunday leaderboards.
Rickie Fowler
Is this the year for Fowler to turn the Big 3 of Spieth, Day and McIlroy into the Big 4? He'd pretty much need a major to do that, which surely could happen. And many weeks on tour, his 20-under 272 at Kapalua would've been good enough.
Kevin Kisner
The hottest fall golfer maintained his top spot in the FedEx Cup standings, finishing solo ninth. It wasn't to the level that Kisner was at while recording all those runners-up last season before his maiden win at the RSM Classic in November, but his week showed that he could still compete in a big-time field.
Jason Day
Day hadn't played competitively in months after the birth of his second child and, for two days, it showed. But he followed up a 70-73 with a 69-65 to tie for 10th, to indicate it doesn't take long for him to find his game.
Bubba Watson
For all the talk about Fowler joining the Big 4, it's Watson who's actually No. 4 in the world. He tied for 10th with Day, Dustin Johnson, Jimmy Walker and Steven Bowditch, a mere 15 strokes behind Spieth. But of course he has the game to compete with any golfer in the world in a given tournament, especially if it's at Augusta.
Dustin Johnson
Many are predicting this will be the year Johnson finally gets his major. Though in fairness, many make that prediction every year. But Johnson got off to a decent start in 2016, tying for 10th and improving after an opening-round 73.
Justin Thomas
Thomas couldn't keep pace with his good friend Spieth, tying for 21st at 11-under, but you can't hold that against him during a week in which Spieth shoots 30-under. Two months ago, Thomas won his first PGA Tour event, the CIMB Classic, and should take the next step after his highly successful rookie season.
Graeme McDowell
McDowell found his game two months ago when he won the OHL Classic and a week later was solo third at the RSM Classic. But he tied for 29th at Kapalua, and that will happen more often to McDowell when he plays in deeper fields.
