How Golf Could Look by The Year 2030

Mystic Derek here! I have dug my crystal ball out of the cupboard, dusted it down, sat down in a darkened room and had a look into the future.

And here are some predictions to take us up to the year 2030. 

Don’t take this too seriously and please don’t bet your life savings on any of these predictions:

Featured Content

By the year 2030, Ludvig Aberg will have won at least six majors - and will have completed the career grand slam.

Rory McIlroy will claim the Race to Dubai title for the 10th time (some things never change).

Sergio Garcia announces that he wants to captain Europe at the 2031 Ryder Cup. Oh Sergio, you never fail to make us laugh!

We will be told that there is going to be a meeting in December 2030 and on the agenda will be peace talks between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. By now, many of LIV’s original ageing players have collected their walking sticks and disappeared into the night to count their money. And winners of routine PGA Tour events bank a cheque for $5m. If you win a Signature Event you receive $20m.

Bernhard Langer wins his 70th Champions Tour title at the age of 72 - and announces he is going to play in The Masters one more time after seeing Fred Couples win the tournament in 2029 at the age of 69.

One of the major club manufacturers will announce the launch of a set of clubs that can hit the ball without the need for a golfer to hold them. The takings in clubhouses around the world go through the roof as golfers programme their clubs to start the round and collect them two hours later as they complete 18 holes. Golf ball sales plummet because these new clubs hit every shot arrow-straight. 

The PGA Tour’s plans to crack down on slow play are working - the average tournament round now takes only six hours to complete. Rory McIlroy is fined $100,000 for completing a round in four hours and 10 minutes, with the PGA Tour accusing him of not taking the round seriously.

Rules designed to reduce the distance the ball flies have come into place - Marco Penge leads the DP World Tour driving distance table with an average drive of 368 yards. That worked then! Not a single player on either the PGA Tour or DP World Tour averages less than 300 yards from the tee. Augusta National announces plans to increase the length of the course to 8,750 yards!

The powers-that-be announce yet another change to the World Handicap System.

The rule-makers will finally allow relief if your ball lands in a divot in the fairway. They also announce that if your ball lands in a footprint in a bunker you can lift the ball, rake the sand and replace the ball. Golfers around the world have to read this twice because the words "rule-makers" and "common sense" do not often appear together in the same sentence.

Golf clubs around the world announce that they are doing away with joining fees. 

The R&A announce that women will be able to play in The Open Championship from the year 2031.

By 2030, a male Chinese golfer will have won a major in America. But tariffs imposed by President-for-life Donald Trump mean that his prize money is so heavily taxed that he ends up out of pocket.

Tiger Woods announces his latest comeback from injury and insists he can still add to his major tally, which still stands at 15.

Charlie Woods wins his first PGA Tour event - the 2030 Genesis Invitational. He is presented with the trophy by his father, with tears running down his face.

Scottie Scheffler celebrates his eighth successive year as world number one after winning the 2030 Masters and US Open. His major tally now stands at 10. Rory McIlroy insists that he can still replace Scheffler at the top of the rankings after seven years as number two. Scheffler has now won 60 times on the PGA Tour.

Hold the front page - Rickie Fowler wins a tournament!

Jordan Spieth arrives at The Open Championship and tells us all that he has finally sorted out his driving. He says: "I have been working with 86-year-old Butch Harmon and I have never in my entire career hit the ball this straight." He starts his challenge by hitting his opening drive out of bounds.

Your correspondent plays his first round of golf in a disabled scooter, still hoping to reduce his handicap to 12 by the end of 2030.

Related Content

25 Things That I Want to Happen in Golf in 2025

Are These Things You Would Change About Golf Today

Things That Have to Change in Golf in 2025

The Things That Golfers Would Change at Their Golf Club

Old Fashioned Golf Club Rules That Need to Go