The MGM Tour opens its 14th season Saturday in Manhattan Beach. The only significant change the golfers will experience this season will come in the Match Play Invitational, which now becomes a single day event. There will be the usual drama for the Masters Qualifier with just 2 spots available to 8 golfers. For those sporting long winless streaks (Rene Quiroz, 39; Tim Joe, 38; Gerry Vaughan, 32; Patrick Bird, 20; John Mann, 19) the new season offers a clean slate with 9 fresh opportunities to end their respective droughts.
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Nik Freitas
In his first full season on Tour Freitas showed he was among the top players on a consistent basis. He posted 4 top-3 finishes and won the season’s first major, the Match Play Invitational, in impressive fashion. He finished the year ranked 3rd, and with a year’s experience now under his belt, he looks primed to challenge for the top spot on Tour.
Ed Quiroz
With just 1 start (Griffith) Quiroz’s 2015 season looked to be a throw-away until he finished the year winning the season’s final major, the Tour Championship. He then followed that up with a win in the Tournament of Champions to become the first golfer in MGM Tour history to win those tournaments back-to-back. With a hint of brashness Quiroz expressed his eagerness for the 2016 season.
Travois Gordón
After what could best be described as a dream season (2013), and one that challenged the Tour’s best ever by a golfer, Gordón became just the 3rd Player of the Year in Tour history to go winless the season after winning the award. As defending Match Play champion he was eliminated in his first match, and he became the first defending champion in Masters history to finish last. But throughout his career Gordón owns a peculiar trend, alternating good seasons with bad. Even-numbered years tend to favor him, which should bode well for the former Player of the Year.
Walter Vargas
Vargas’s win in the Masters (the 2nd of his career) salvaged what would have been a forgettable season. He missed a total of 7 tournaments, including, for the first time, his beloved Survivor Challenge. The final 3 tournaments he missed were due to injury (elbow). He has already withdrawn from the season opener due to said injury, begging the question, When will the Tour see Vargas again and will he/can he be a contender?
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