The first two events of the PGA TOUR season are behind us, and the season kicks off in earnest with the traditional West Coast Swing, beginning this week at The American Express.

We’ve had one Signature Event, a runaway victory by Hideki Matsuyama, and one Full Field Event, a come-from-behind and improbable victory by Nick Taylor.

What did we learn from the first two weeks? And what questions did the Opening Drive leave us with as the TOUR heads stateside? The Five this week examines the biggest questions and answers as we say aloha to Hawaii.

Answer: Keegan Bradley making a Ryder Cup push is real

The incoming U.S. Ryder Cup captain has remained steadfast that he’s not settling for only a leadership role if he can help it. Bradley is pushing to qualify for the team on points and return to the event as a player for the first time since 2014.

We wondered how realistic that goal really was. Well, the first two weeks of the PGA TOUR season, while way, way too early to assess form, at least signal Bradley is going to make this more than a slow-season talking point. The American finished T15 at The Sentry and T6 at the Sony Open in Hawaii while continuing to openly discuss his hopes to play at Bethpage Black in September.

Bradley is up to 11th in the Official World Golf Ranking, an unprecedented level for a Ryder Cup captain in the modern era. Yet Bradley is still only 16th in the Ryder Cup points list. He will need to finish inside the top six to earn a spot, as he’s already said he would not select himself as a captain's pick.

Will the Ryder Cup have its first playing captain since 1963? There’s work to do, but Bradley is off to a hot start.

Question: When will we see Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth?

One absence was anticipated, the other was a surprise.

Jordan Spieth’s recovery from offseason wrist surgery was expected to take some time. That we haven’t seen him tee it up is not shocking, and it appears he’s already set a return date. According to an Associated Press report, Spieth plans to tee it up later this month at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Spieth would need a sponsor exemption to play, as he’s not currently exempt into any 2025 Signature Events.

The storyline that unexpectedly emerged shortly before The Sentry began, and continues into the West Coast swing, is when we will see world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler next. Scheffler injured his hand on Christmas Day due to an accident that left broken glass in his palm that required surgery to remove. Scheffler’s agent initially said Scheffler would be “100%” by The American Express this week, but Scheffler has since released a statement saying he would be unable to play. Scheffler now hopes to play the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in two weeks.

“I am still hopeful to begin my 2025 season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am,” he said on Instagram.

With the recovery process taking longer than previously believed, it’s fair to wonder when we will see Scheffler for the first time. Whenever he tees it up, it will be the start of a tough following act. Scheffler set copious records in 2024, winning nine times, including the Masters, THE PLAYERS Championship and an Olympic gold medal en route to a third straight Player of the Year award.

Answer: Nick Taylor is a top closer on the PGA TOUR

Any PGA TOUR pro will tell you consistency is what they’re after. They want as many bites at the apple as possible, hoping a few tournaments will go their way and they’ll nab some wins. It’s hard to do, and if you’re converting one out of every five attempts when in contention, you’re one of the best players in the game.

Nick Taylor has amassed a much gaudier record. He doesn’t contend often, but he wins when he does.

The Sony Open in Hawaii marked the sixth time in Taylor’s career that he’s entered the final round inside the top five. He’s won four of those six events.

“I enjoy being in those moments,” Taylor said. “For whatever reason my mind gets clear in those situations of the shot I'm just trying to hit.”

Taylor shot a final-round 65, holing out for eagle on the 72nd to force a playoff with Nico Echavarria. Both players birdied the first playoff hole, but Echavarria couldn’t keep pace as Taylor birdied the second playoff hole to win.

The win marks Taylor’s fifth career PGA TOUR title. He’s won in three consecutive seasons, all in playoffs. He won the 2023 RBC Canadian Open in a playoff over Tommy Fleetwood and last year’s WM Phoenix Open over Charley Hoffman.

“I just feel like I can rise to the occasion,” Taylor said.

And he does it better than most. It wasn’t a question many were wondering to begin the season, but we have an answer now: Nick Taylor is one of the top closers on TOUR.

Question: What trajectory are Viktor Hovland and Max Homa on in 2025?

It was an offseason of change for two of the top stars on the PGA TOUR.

Viktor Hovland changed coaches again, splitting ties with Joe Mayo. He revealed to the DP World Tour this week that he has begun to work with TJ Yeaton.

Coaching was just the start of Max Homa’s changes. He parted with longtime coach Mark Blackburn and started working with John Scott Rattan. He also switched clubs (Titleist to Cobra) and apparel (FootJoy to Lululemon) ahead of The Sentry.

That sets up an especially intriguing West Coast Swing for the two Ryder Cup players. Neither played particularly good or bad at The Sentry (Homa finished T26, Hovland finished T36). And no questions were going to be answered in a single week unless one of them won The Sentry.

That means their form will remain a lingering question into the future. Hovland is playing this week’s DP World Tour event in Dubai, while Homa will make his TGL debut on Tuesday night.

Answer: Echavarria and Hall start breakout campaigns immediately

At the beginning of every new season, we ponder what the golf landscape will look like in 12 months, and the stars of then that had yet to break out. Twelve months ago, Nick Dunlap’s rise was nothing but a dream tucked away in his native Birmingham, Alabama. Even something like Scheffler’s nine-win season would have sounded silly.

Nobody has made a splash to that effect yet, but the first two weeks of the new season have highlighted a few possible breakout candidates.

Harry Hall finished T8 at The Sentry and T10 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, the only player on TOUR to finish inside the top 10 in both opening events. Hall was on the shortlist of possible breakout players for some to enter the year. He won for the first time last year at ISCO Championship and has steadily improved in his two full seasons on TOUR. Hall’s biggest weakness in 2024 was his off-the-tee performance, which he cleaned up in the first two weeks across two very different courses. That will remain the biggest roadblock from Hall truly breaking out.

Echavarria, meanwhile, very narrowly missed out on his second win in six starts. The Columbian quietly put together a strong FedExCup Fall season, winning the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP to little fanfare, along with two other top 10s. That form has been maintained into the new year, finishing runner-up at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He would have won the event had eventual champion Nick Taylor not holed out for eagle on the 72nd hole to force a playoff.

Two weeks is far too small a sample size to declare Hall and Echavarria will sustain this pace, but they are the top breakout candidates thus far.