Storylines to keep an eye on for the 2019 golf season

Tiger Woods returned to good health and relevancy in 2018, making 16 of his 18 cuts on the PGA Tour, winning the TOUR Championship and finishing seventh on the money list. His impressive showings at both the the Open Championship and PGA Championship have many believing his first major victory since 2008 is in the cards this year.

While all eyes will be fixated on Tiger, rival Phil Mickelson has not gone completely away. His schedule is expected to be condensed, which should help the 48-year-old's game after winning his first tournament since 2013 last year. Does Lefty have a Tiger-like resurgence in him?  

Depending on who's saying what, there will be a sequel to November's one-on-one, winner-take-all match between Tiger and Phil at some point in 2019 — and possibly again beyond this year. Despite the issues with pay-per-view accounts and a somewhat clumsy format, those in the know claim the 2018 version was a success, leaving all parties apparently wanting more. 

There's been plenty of tinkering done to the 2019 PGA Tour schedule, which will conclude at the end of August instead of September. Perhaps the biggest news to come out of this is the PGA Championship moving from its customary August slot as the season's final major to May, a little more than a month after the Masters.

The 2019 FedEx Cup Playoffs will drop from four tournaments to three (Northern Trust, BMW Championship and the TOUR Championship). The TOUR Championship finale now will add even more intrigue to the playoff, with the winner of the event — which will have a weighted start based on ranking — also winning the FedEx Cup. Let's see how that goes.

Effective Jan. 1, a bevy of changes have been made to the Rules of Golf. Some of the more prominent ones: putting with the flag in, taking three minutes instead of five to find a lost ball, having 40 seconds to hit your shot and no longer receiving a penalty for a double chip. 

It will be hard for Brooks Koepka to top his ridiculously successful 2018 season. The PGA and PGA Tour Player of the Year repeated as U.S. Open champion then withstood the Tiger charge to win the PGA Championship as well. Considering Koepka has top-five major finishes in five straight seasons seems to suggest that trend will continue.

Washed up at 25? Hardly. But Jordan Spieth is in search of a rebound after failing to win a tournament in 2018. He led the Masters after the first round but ended up finishing third, and he tied for ninth at Carnoustie in July. In total, Spieth, whose putter failed him more times than not, had just five top-10 finishes on the Tour and was 32nd on the money list.

Every season has a breakout performer — the game's next budding star. It seems all signs point to 23-year-old Cameron Champ being that guy. Known for his length off the tee and interesting bio, Champ won the Sanderson Farms Championship in October and just finished tied for 11th at last week's Sentry Tournament of Champions on Maui.

Still branded with the tag of "best player never to win a major," Rickie Fowler will be at it again in 2019. He came close with a second-place finish at Augusta last season but placed outside of the top 10 in the next three majors. Now 30, Fowler hopes things really can get better with age.

The best women's golfer on the planet is poised to be even better in 2019. For the second time in three years, Ariya Jutanugarn earned LPGA Player of the Year honors after winning three times and making the cut in all 28 of her starts in 2018. Her season was highlighted by a playoff victory at the U.S. Open for her second career major title.

While word has come down that Padraig Harrington is slated to guide the 2020 European Ryder Cup Team, the U.S. still has a decision to make this year about its captain. Steve Stricker appears to be the popular choice , which makes sense considering he's from Wisconsin and the '20 event will be held at Whistling Straits. Fred Couples reportedly also is in the running along with David Duval. 

Next month, legend Johnny Miller will complete his final broadcast as NBC's lead golf analyst at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Later in February, Paul Azinger will fill Miller's role as well as continue his work with Golf Channel. We don't expect 'Zinger's openly opinionated nature to change. 

So the PGA Tour reportedly plans to conduct in-round interviews this season. Now that should be fun. We can just imagine the short, uninteresting answers we'll get from Justin Thomas or Tiger Woods after knocking an approach into the sand. Participation will depend on the golfer, but at least there's a chance for a verbal on-course blowup every now and then.

With Tiger Woods as captain, the U.S. will try to extend its winning streak at the Presidents Cup to eight in a row when competition commences at Royal Melbourne in Australia in December. Ernie Els will captain the International squad, which does not include golfers from Europe. In the 12-match history of the event, the International's lone victory came at Royal Melbourne in 1998.

The women's version of the Ryder Cup will see the Americans looking for a three-peat when the Solheim Cup is contested at Gleneagles in Scotland this year. For a third straight contest, Juli Inkster will captain the U.S. team, while Scotland's Catriona Matthew will lead the Europeans.

For the last three seasons, schools starting with the letter O have won the NCAA men's national championship. Oregon started the trend in 2016, followed by Oklahoma the next year then Oklahoma State after sweeping Alabama last season. The Cowboys, who are among the favorites again, will look to defend their title at Blessings Golf Club in Arkansas this season.

While the state of Oklahoma has been the epicenter of collegiate golf royalty for the men of late, Arizona is where the hardware's housed for the women. Arizona State won the national title in 2017, then rival Arizona made a seemingly improbable run to the championship last season. The last team to repeat as national champion was Duke when it won three in a row from 2005-07.

Last year, Francesco Molinari enjoyed the best season of his career, winning the Open Championship en route to being named the European Tour Golfer of the Year. Whether he remains the best in Europe again this season remains to be seen, but after going 5-0-0 to help his team drop the Americans at the Ryder Cup, we wouldn't bet against it.

With all the talk surrounding Tiger Woods' resurgence and Jordan Spieth's needed rebound season, let's not forget about another marquee name like Rory McIlroy. He won the Arnold Palmer in March for his lone PGA Tour victory but failed to produce a European Tour win for a second straight season. McIlroy did post top-five finishes at the Masters and Open Championship, but he has not won a major since 2014.

Like 2018, don't expect one golfer to dominant the top spot in the World Golf Rankings. Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas all battled for the No. 1 position in '18. That's currently what the top four looks like after Rose overtook Koepka this week.

Lexi Thompson is the lone American among the top 10 of the Rolex Rankings (No. 5 this week). Thompson endured a tough 2018, when she even stepped away from the game for a time. However, she won the Tour Championship in November and appears set to once again be a force on the LPGA Tour.

Lucy Li is one of the top amateur golfers in the world, but that status might be in jeopardy. The USGA is reportedly looking into whether she is violating her amateur status after appearing in a video for Apple. The 16-year-old Li, who qualified for the U.S. Open at age 11, is currently ninth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

There are not many big names eligible to play on the PGA Tour Champions when they turn 50 this year, but there are enough notable additions to spice up the roster. Two-time U.S. Open winner Retief Goosen will be 50 on Feb. 3, while both Shigeki Maruyama and Angel Cabrera both will hit the mid-century mark in September.

Among the hot topics throughout the entire sports world remains the likelihood of legalized gambling involving professional leagues, including golf. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is confident that when that time comes, pro golf would benefit, specifically from an interest standpoint that could potentially provide more interactive viewership.