The MGM Tour’s 21st season opened with a new tournament, The South Bay Challenge. Gerry Vaughan, who along with P-Jay Fidler turned the big five-O, ended the Tour’s longest winless streak among active golfers. Chris Moawad made Tour history and Tim Joe, after 20 years on Tour, was crowned Player of the Year.
Tim Joe won the season opener for the 2nd year in a row.
Gerry Vaughan ended a 20-tournament winless streak; his first win since June 2017.
Moawad made Tour history, becoming the first golfer to 4-peat an event. He also became the first to 30 wins.
Match Play Invitational results
Moawad won a record-extending 5th Devil Ball title and became the first to surpass $100 in birdie pool earnings.
Tim Joe had a career day, carding a sub-80 round for the first time at the Masters.
Tim Joe made it 2 wins in a row, after winning the Griffith Observatory Championship for the first time.
Griffith Observatory Championship results
Doug Vargas won the Tour Championship for the 2nd time, 12 years after his first victory.
2023 Birdie Pool Earnings: Fidler ($20), D. Vargas ($11), Moawad ($8), Vaughan ($2), W. Vargas ($2)
TIM JOE WINS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Charter Tour member Tim Joe won Player of the Year for the first time in his career. He had never finished ranked higher than 4th. His 3 wins were a remarkable achievement considering he had just 5 wins total in his previous 20 seasons.
| CUR | PREV | PLAYER | EVENTS | POINTS | WINS | # OF TOP-3's | BEHIND LEAD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | T. JOE | 7 | 83.75 | 3 | 6 | |
| 2 | 1 | Moawad | 6 | 73.75 | 2 | 5 | -10 |
| 3 | 3 | Vaughan | 6 | 64.25 | 1 | 3 | -19.5 |
| 4 | 5 | W. Vargas | 6 | 62.25 | 0 | 3 | -21.5 |
| 5 | 4 | Witt | 7 | 59.75 | 0 | 3 | -24 |
| 6 | 8 | D. Vargas | 4 | 42.25 | 2 | 2 | -41.5 |
| 7 | 6 | Fidler | 4 | 34.75 | 0 | 1 | -49 |
| 8 | 7 | Stolz | 3 | 30 | 0 | 2 | -53.75 |
| 9 | 9 | Quiroz | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | -80.75 |