Both PGA Tour 2K23 and EA Sports PGA Tour have been out for many months and have proven to be enjoyable golf games, each with their own unique style. PGA Tour 2K offers many golf courses thanks to the course designer feature while EA’s game gives folks the majors, including Augusta National, home of The Masters.
But with EA having the rights to the majors, will we ever see one in PGA Tour 2K? There’s no way to know if we’ll see it happen anytime soon but it’s fun to speculate which big tournament would make it into the game first. Sure, we could say that maybe they get all four in the game, but going by history this has not usually been the case.
When the Tiger Woods PGA Tour games first introduced the majors back in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, it wasn’t the whole gang it was just one, and that was the US Open. That year saw the iconic Bethpage Black make its way into the game. Then when EA inked the historic deal with Augusta National to bring The Masters into the game with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12, the rest of the majors joined in as well.
But with the US Open willingly becoming the first major to be featured back in the day, I think history could repeat itself if 2K can somehow connect with the USGA. The USGA has generally always been big on the whole “grow the game” thing, and although other golf organizations are like that as well, they were the first to really jump in on the mainstream gaming train.
Now, to be fair, the other three majors could still be open to the possibility as well — even The Masters since they’re trying to be a little more “hip” these days. That said, The Masters would still undoubtedly be the toughest to get.
But after the US Open, I could see The Open being the next best option. This is because of how much Tiger Woods (who’s the face of PGA 2K) loves The Open Championship. In fact, he has stated that it’s his favorite major. Now, we don’t know how much say he has in what he’d like to see in the game but there’s a decent chance that The Open would be really high on his list, although I’m sure he’d love to see all four majors in the game.
But if the US Open were first, then 2K would likely bring in some more current and past US Open host courses to go along with ones like Pebble Beach, Torrey Pines, and Pinehurst. It would be neat to see courses like Oakmont, Merion, Bethpage, and Erin Hills in the game.
Yes, there are some excellent community-designed variations of these tracks in the game but it’s always nice just to see the official ones as well. Or perhaps 2K can take the community variations and add them to the MyCareer schedule for the US Open each season in rotation.
Having at least one of the majors, whether it’s the US Open or one of the other three, would definitely add a bit of spice to the MyCareer experience. I give 2K credit for trying to come up with their own fictional majors (the Legends Championship, Northwest Open, HB Championship, and Royal Championship) but it just doesn’t quite have the same satisfaction as the true majors.
Even if it’s just one major, it’ll help bring that excitement of major championship golf to a game that otherwise has a really solid PGA Tour schedule. And just seeing things like the broadcast presentation, the signage, and everything surrounding a major would make things feel special.
