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EA Sports PGA Tour Review

2023 marks the first year since 2015 that golf fans have been treated to an EA Sports video game, with Rory McIlroy PGA Tour having been released in June of 2015.
The game features an abundance of aesthetically pleasing golf courses with fantastic graphics and a loaded roster of elite golfers. Augusta National is a playable golf course for the first time in a video game since 2011 and doesn’t disappoint. The tricky green complexes, sloping fairways and pink azaleas make gamers feel like they’re playing in The Masters.
Swing Mechanics
The swing mechanics in the game are a bit tricky to figure out. It took me quite a long time to get a grasp of where I needed to pull the analog stick back to when making a full swing. My approach shots when over the green almost every time forcing me either to club down or make an abbreviated swing.
There are a great deal of new shot types which add realism to the game, but it can be a bit overwhelming trying to figure out which shot to use when the basic swing is so hard to get right to begin with. For advanced players, the abundance of shot types should be a welcome benefit.
The difficulty of the swing and figuring out how to use all of the different mechanics to play a round of golf was most definitely the biggest drawback of the game. Simply put, it will take a lot of time and effort to master EA Sports PGA Tour and those looking to pick it up quickly are in for a disappointment.
Career Mode
Career Mode is far and away the best part about EA Sports PGA Tour. While it’s certainly a grind to build your player’s stats and XP up enough to be competitive in the events, it’s worth the struggle. The game has all four of the majors, which is fantastic and truly gives the player incentive to improve and play well.
The choices of new clubs and gear is expansive and offers all of the big brands, but gaining the XP to purchase them in conjunction with the difficulty of the game can be frustrating.
Career Mode also offers players an option to play alongside a computer controlled professional player, which gives the tournament a much more authentic feel. However, playing alongside a pro slows the pace of play down considerably. There’s an option for players to choose Quick Play” which speeds up the round and only gives players the chance to play the most important shots of the tournament. However, there isn’t an option to change a tournament to two or three rounds instead of four.
The Verdict
The Career Mode is enough to make EA Sports’ return to the golf game world successful. Access to all four majors, the ability to play at historic courses like Pebble Beach and Augusta National, and the deep roster of stars makes this game worth buying.
The swing mechanics and overall difficulty of the golf simulation will be tough for players to adapt to, but patience and determination will pay off. Once the time is put in to master the swing and different shot types, the experience feels like the real thing.
EA Sports PGA Tour 2023 is a great start to golf video games on next generation consoles, but there is undoubtedly room for improvement for the series in the future.
Score: 8.1/10
19th Hole
‘Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight’ – LPGA pro offers candid take following rough AIG Women’s Open finish

An opening round of 77 left LPGA pro Jenny Shin with a mountain to climb at last week’s AIG Women’s Open.
However, fighting back with rounds of 69 and 67, Shin found herself six shots off the lead and just outside the top 10 heading into Sunday as she went in search of her first major victory.
Shin, who won the US Girls’ Junior at just 13, couldn’t back those rounds up on Sunday, though, and after playing her opening nine holes of the final round in level par, she then bogeyed three holes coming home to slip down the leaderboard and eventually finish T23.
Taking to X following the final round, Shin offered a frustrated and honest take on how she was feeling, posting: “Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish.”
Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish
— Jenny Shin (@JennyShin_LPGA) August 3, 2025
Shin has made 11 cuts in 13 starts on the LPGA Tour this season, but has been plagued by frustrating Sunday finishes throughout the year. Shin ranks 102nd on tour this year out of 155 for Round 4 scoring in 2025.
Miyu Yamashita won the 2025 AIG Women’s Open with a composed final round of 70 to win her first major of her career by two strokes.
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How a late golf ball change helped Cameron Young win for first time on PGA Tour

Cameron Young won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his first victory on the PGA Tour.
Young dominated all weekend at TPC Sedgefield, running away from the pack to win by six strokes and put himself in contention for a Ryder Cup pick in September.
Ahead of the event, the 28-year-old switched to a Pro V1x prototype golf ball for the first time, following recent testing sessions with the Titleist Golf Ball R&D team.
Interestingly, Young played a practice round accompanied by Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s Director of Tour Research & Validation, at TPC Schedule early last week with both his usual Pro V1 Left Dot ball and the new Pro V1x prototype.
Per Titleist, by the second hole Young was exclusively hitting shots with the Pro V1x prototype.
“We weren’t sure if he was going to test it this week, but as he was warming up, he asked to hit a couple on the range,” Pitts said. “He was then curious to see some shots out on the course. Performance-wise, he was hitting tight draws everywhere. His misses were staying more in play. He hit some, what he would call ‘11 o’clock shots,’ where again he’s taking a little something off it. He had great control there.”
According to Titleist, the main validation came on Tuesday on the seventh hole of his practice round. The par 3 that played between 184 and 225 yards during the tournament called for a 5-iron from Young, or so he thought. Believing there was “no way” he could get a 6-iron to the flag with his Left Dot, Young struck a 5-iron with the Pro V1x prototype and was stunned to see the ball land right by the hole.
“He then hits this 6-iron [with the Pro V1x prototype] absolutely dead at the flag, and it lands right next to the pin, ending up just past it,” Pitts said. “And his response was, ‘remarkable.’ He couldn’t believe that he got that club there.”
Following nine holes on Tuesday and a further nine on Wednesday, Young asked the Titleist team to put the ProV1x balls in his locker. The rest, as they say, is history.
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Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’

Rickie Fowler fired an opening round of one-under par on Thursday at the Wyndham Championship, as the Californian looks to make a FedEx Cup playoff push.
Fowler is currently 61st in the standings, so will need a strong couple of weeks to extend his season until the BMW Championship, where only the top 50 in the standings will tee it up.
Heading into the final stretch of the season, Fowler has made an equipment switch of note, changing into new iron shafts, as well as making a switch to his driver shaft.
The 36-year-old revealed this week that he has switched from his usual KBS Tour C-Taper 125-gram steel shafts to the graphite Aerotech SteelFiber 125cw shafts in his Cobra King Tour irons, a change he first put into play at last month’s Travelers Championship.
Speaking on the change to reporters this week, Fowler made note that the graphite shafts offer “something that’s a little easier on the body.”
“I mean, went to the week of Travelers, so been in for, I guess that’s a little over a month now. Something that’s a little easier on the body and seemed to get very similar numbers to where I was at. Yeah, it’s gone well so far.”
Fowler has also made a driver shaft change, switching out his Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73 TX for a UST Mamiya Lin-Q Proto V1 6 TX driver shaft in his Cobra DS-Adapt X, which he first implemented a couple of weeks ago at the John Deere Classic.
However, according to Fowler himself, the testing and potential changes are not done yet.
“Probably do some more testing in some different weight configurations with them once I get some time. Yeah, I feel like we’re always trying to search, one, to get better but are there ways to make things easier, whether that’s physically, mentally, whatever it may be. So yeah, I thought they were good enough to obviously put into play and looking forward to doing some more testing.”
Fowler gets his second round at TPC Sedgefield underway at 7.23 a.m ET on Friday.