EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

[DarthRambo]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

That is a funny post brother lol. I don't have any advice for you, and I don't know if you play real golf as well, but you just described my life experience with real golf and this f'ing game. I love it all, but...why do we do this? What, *exactly*, is wrong with us?

Honestly us old school gamers just enjoy challenging ourselves purposely more than your average gamer in today's world lol.

Wife and two kids and third due soon I haven't played real golf in a couple years at least. I want to get lessons so bad but just haven't found time yet. Definitely happening one day though.

For my career I decided to punish my rookie PGA tour golfer by skipping the next two events. So no Torrey Pines or Pebble Beach. He saved his money up from doordashing and Jimmy John's delivery, and some possible donations from his parents. He has been in Phoenix for the last week preparing for the Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale.

I like this cause the pressure is really on to finish well to get FedEx points, and more importantly, not get cut.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

[golfnut67]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

Honestly us old school gamers just enjoy challenging ourselves purposely more than your average gamer in today's world lol.

Wife and two kids and third due soon I haven't played real golf in a couple years at least. I want to get lessons so bad but just haven't found time yet. Definitely happening one day though.

For my career I decided to punish my rookie PGA tour golfer by skipping the next two events. So no Torrey Pines or Pebble Beach. He saved his money up from doordashing and Jimmy John's delivery, and some possible donations from his parents. He has been in Phoenix for the last week preparing for the Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale.

I like this cause the pressure is really on to finish well to get FedEx points, and more importantly, not get cut.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

Another laugh out loud post. I can't help but think that your Korn Ferry player is a lot like your real life haha. That's part of the reason we do this silly ****e.

I've always just jumped right into the Tour, both 2k and this one. I'm thinking I may wanna do the Q School and Korn Ferry thing for the first time ever. More true to life. I'm a musician, so I get the road life aspect that you're talking about. Taco Hell and 3am check ins at hotels for me and my very dear wife. It might be fun in a sick, self deprecating way. Therapeutic maybe.

More self punishment, even in the escapist, "get away from it all" gaming world.

Why not?

[mdgoalie37]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

So I'm in my rookie year on the Tour. I've won or had top 10 finishes in my first few tournaments as I've approved at the game. I was also adding specs and skill points regularly. I was using Finesse and Pick shots. Basically anything I could to score pretty well. I eventually won a couple more and have a second place finish, by one stroke. Basically I was getting too good and consistent.

A few weeks ago I made some adjustments, I get rid of some skill points and the putting line. I made some of the settings a bit harder though I've kept my specs. I stopped using the Pick completely and only use Finesse (silver) if the game selects it. I'm #1 in the FedEx Cup standings, by over 1000 points. I'm ranked 4 in the world after winning at Chambers Bay in a multi-round playoff. I skip the next tournament to bring up...the Masters.

Hole 1 - double bogey. Rut-ro. This feels different.
Double bogey 5, a couple birdies and a rough back nine. Finish +6 to be in the 70's. I have a lot of work to do to make the cut.

My plan is to keep what I have now to complete my 'phenom' rookie season, Masters notwithstanding, then switch to Simulation difficulty in season 2 to see if there is a sophomore slump.

[mdgoalie37]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

Second round at Augusta was a little better, +2 I believe. Missed the cut obviously, my first missed cut on the pro tour. I finished +8, fortunately I wasn't in last place.

You need to be so precise on the approach shots or your ball will roll forever off the green. Also, I had never missed a putt from a foot or closer - I missed four of those at the Masters.

[Dawgfan1]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

Made it to the Players Championship! Since missing the cut at Torrey I managed a surprise top 5 finish at Pebble (-6 in the first round and -7 in the last but +1 the other two rounds), a top 20 finish at Scottsdale (-8, T13), and okay placements at Riviera (-1, T22) and Bay Hill (+3, T34). Man Bay Hill is so tough lol, only made the cut there and at Riviera by a couple strokes. I'm 22nd in the FedEx Cup and 68 on the OWGR, only about 20 places from qualifying for the Masters. Shot a first round 69 at Sawgrass so I think a good finish here should get me close to that top 50.

A few notes now having played several tournaments:
- The simulation of the top 10-15 finishers at each tournament is about realistic, but going down the leaderboard the scores seem to get higher and higher compared to real life (i.e. the top 50 cutoff at the irl Phoenix Open from 2019-2023 was between 1-7 under, in my tourney it was +3). The highest total scores after 4 rounds seem to be much higher than in real life, I wonder if the scoring algorithm does not adjust its round 3 and 4 scores to correct for the worst scorers being cut cause those that just made the cut seem to score about as bad in rounds 3 and 4 as the worst scorers do in rounds 1 and 2. Imo it's a bit too easy to finish in the top 25-50 rn. I adjusted my CPU scoring to 60% but I haven't noticed a big difference so far.
- For the first go at it the AI pairings are a pretty solid base imo. I've seen a decent variety of rounds but I'd like to see some really good rounds at times (-5 or better). The best I've seen is -3, the worst was +1 until the last two rounds when Cantlay shot a +10 on the 4th round at Bay Hill and Speith at +9 at Sawgrass. Hopefully I don't see those again for a while.
- Many have said it before but man the commentary is so good. The way Rich and Frank speak about each tournament, the next one, and how my player's round and tournament and season is going while sounding seamless and smooth is one of the best things about this game. When I shot a -7 at Scottsdale round 1 and started round 2 in 2nd place they mentioned my prior good finishes and the need to play well the whole week to get my first win. They started off the Players by talking about me making the cut at Bay Hill and not finishing great but getting good experience on a tough course. It's great immersion and makes my career feel tailored to my experience rather than single generic lines that could broadly apply to anyone.
- Difficulty has been good, I limited myself to 1 practice swing on drives (par 4s and 5s) and putts to make those a bit harder and I think it's done the trick. I have a 70% FIR and 60% GIR this season, decent stats for that (GIR is low but not awful).
- Also please fix the bug that has the past event results not showing.

[Pepster]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

Scoring is certainly a lot better than in 2k23 (jeez... the scoring in that game...) and I think the career mode is pretty good. BUT...

They really should fix it so that I'm not playing alone when I'm leading a tournament going in to the last round. This isn't a major thing but, whenever it happens, it makes me screw my face up at the screen. I mean, why?? That's an easy thing to fix.

They really need to take the tee-off times away from the leaderboard. Because - although I don't want it to - my brain will realise that I teed off at 9:00 and, after 14 holes, the 10:30 group still hasn't started. Professional golfers can't play in under two hours. Again, it's not a big thing, but it makes me screw my face up.

Similarly, players play in 3balls during the first two rounds of a tournament, and don't go out in leaderboard order in the second round. The Tiger Woods games knew this a decade ago.

These are all small gripes. It's certainly the best golf game in a long time but it isn't the leap forward I'd hoped for. And, having griped for a bit, my current career mode is fun. I missed the cut in the Masters and US PGA then managed to blow a 3 shot lead with 7 to play in the US Open. Watching the wheels come off as I went double bogey, bogey, bogey was quite the experience.

With a tiny bit of tweaking, career mode could be really great.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

Figured I'd get my career mode story going in here, as I just got the game recently.

Started out playing in the US Am, playing each event with 4, quick rounds. I bumped up the AI to 65. After struggling a bit in round 1, I started to balance things out in round 2, and made a charge on the weekend. I finished 2 shots behind the winner, so no immediate qualification for the US Open and the Masters for me.

Off to Korn Ferry Q-School at Bay Hill.

Same 4 quick round setup, but I bumped AI difficulty from 65 to 70. First two rounds were again an exercise in treading water, but I ended up at 1-under at the halfway point. Stayed in contention thru the third round, and then had a really fun 4-hole stretch to close out the event. I played Holes 15-18, and was 3 shots back to start. I birdied Holes 15 and 16, and parred Hole 17, to leave me at -4 as I teed off on No. 18, one shot off the leader. Put my approach shot to about 20 feet, giving me a decent look at a birdie to tie, but watched the putt go past the cup on the low side. Another second place finish...

However, a top-5 finish in Q-School means I get to skip past the Korn Ferry Tour and start off in the PGA Tour! I am going to adjust some more settings and boost the AI a bit more now that I am playing with the big dogs. I plan on playing 4 quick rounds for all events, except for the majors where I will play 4 full rounds. And I am planning on playing with an AI partner only in the final round.

And I am starting to work my way through sponsorship challenges, trying to get more gear for my player. I am hoping to "house rule" a scenario where I choose one sponsor for the season, and work my way thru their challenges for that year. I am going to try to restrict use of gear to only that brand, if possible. I am thinking of going with TaylorMade to start off with, as I bought their cool British Open bag from the shop last night...haha

[Dawgfan1]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

Scoring is certainly a lot better than in 2k23 (jeez... the scoring in that game...) and I think the career mode is pretty good. BUT...

They really should fix it so that I'm not playing alone when I'm leading a tournament going in to the last round. This isn't a major thing but, whenever it happens, it makes me screw my face up at the screen. I mean, why?? That's an easy thing to fix.

They really need to take the tee-off times away from the leaderboard. Because - although I don't want it to - my brain will realise that I teed off at 9:00 and, after 14 holes, the 10:30 group still hasn't started. Professional golfers can't play in under two hours. Again, it's not a big thing, but it makes me screw my face up.

Similarly, players play in 3balls during the first two rounds of a tournament, and don't go out in leaderboard order in the second round. The Tiger Woods games knew this a decade ago.

These are all small gripes. It's certainly the best golf game in a long time but it isn't the leap forward I'd hoped for. And, having griped for a bit, my current career mode is fun. I missed the cut in the Masters and US PGA then managed to blow a 3 shot lead with 7 to play in the US Open. Watching the wheels come off as I went double bogey, bogey, bogey was quite the experience.

With a tiny bit of tweaking, career mode could be really great.

Agreed with all this... many small issues I have with the tee times in this game. The tee times should be leaderboard order on the 3rd & 4th rounds only, first 2 rounds should be the same set of pairings in 3s and the 2nd round group order should be the reverse of the 1st round. When an odd # of players make the cut the lowest remaining place should be playing alone then everybody else goes out in pairs so that 1st isn't alone. With the AI pairings, for rounds 2-4 the tee time should be based on whichever golfer (between me and my AI golfer) has the LOWER score, not higher, so that when you're in the lead you're always teeing off last even if your pairing is in 10th. Also if there are possible AI pairing players directly above and below you on the leaderboard, the game should not default to the AI player below you so that you don't find yourself in 2nd after 3 rounds and paired with 3rd instead of 1st for the final round, removes a lot of suspense and excitement from that.

I agree with the issue on pairing times and it seeming like you're finishing a round in 2 hours, although I do like seeing the tee times on the leaderboard and think it adds a nice touch. But yeah, usually 2 groups will be on par 4s and 5s at a time and it's never 1 per hole like this game simulates. It might be hard to simulate that properly though, I'd prefer them addressing the other issues first. If there is one thing this game does better than TW14 in this area, it's the 1st round tee times. TW14 always had me in one of the last pairings in round 1 and one of the first in round 2, I like that this game has much more variety to that.

[Pepster]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

Agreed with all this... many small issues I have with the tee times in this game. The tee times should be leaderboard order on the 3rd & 4th rounds only, first 2 rounds should be the same set of pairings in 3s and the 2nd round group order should be the reverse of the 1st round. When an odd # of players make the cut the lowest remaining place should be playing alone then everybody else goes out in pairs so that 1st isn't alone. With the AI pairings, for rounds 2-4 the tee time should be based on whichever golfer (between me and my AI golfer) has the LOWER score, not higher, so that when you're in the lead you're always teeing off last even if your pairing is in 10th. Also if there are possible AI pairing players directly above and below you on the leaderboard, the game should not default to the AI player below you so that you don't find yourself in 2nd after 3 rounds and paired with 3rd instead of 1st for the final round, removes a lot of suspense and excitement from that.

I agree with the issue on pairing times and it seeming like you're finishing a round in 2 hours, although I do like seeing the tee times on the leaderboard and think it adds a nice touch. But yeah, usually 2 groups will be on par 4s and 5s at a time and it's never 1 per hole like this game simulates. It might be hard to simulate that properly though, I'd prefer them addressing the other issues first. If there is one thing this game does better than TW14 in this area, it's the 1st round tee times. TW14 always had me in one of the last pairings in round 1 and one of the first in round 2, I like that this game has much more variety to that.

Yeah, I forgot that about TW14 - it was really annoying. For the first round, it always felt like everyone else had finished, and then in the second no-one else had started. It made the first two rounds very empty.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

Just finished my first season of career mode. Had an absolute blast...some highs, some lows, but always immersive and entertaining.

I play on a customized difficulty - Hard swing and putting settings, use no zoom cam, I have the green grid on, but no beads, putting aim is at the cup, and I have no tracer arc or swing meter on.

I have career mode AI difficulty set to 85.

I won 3 events: the Genesis Invitational, The Players Championship, and the Tour Championship - meaning I finished as FedExCup Champion!



I played pretty well in the majors, too...I was in the top 10 in The Masters, the PGA, and The Open. I did not do so well at the U.S. Open...finishing that event at T26.

The BMW Championship and the Tour Championship were super nerve-racking. I had great battles with Maverick McNealy and Sungjae Im. McNealy beat me by 1 at Olympia Fields, and I bested Sungjae by 2 at East Lake, even though we were tied going into the 16th Hole.

I missed cuts at the Farmers Insurance Open and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

My season summary is as follows:

FedExCup Final Rank: 1 (going into the Playoffs, I was ranked 10 in the FedExCup Standings)
Events Played: 24
Scoring Average: -8
Victories: 3
Major Victories: 0
Top 10 Finishes: 11

[golfnut67]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

Great read!

But it makes me feel like a real chump. It's your first season, you won 3 events, including at East Lake. I'm 300 hours in, I'm always in the top 10 or 5 for cup standings, and I never win the cup lol. I've won The Players back to back seasons, and a couple of other events, but I'm always horrible at all of the Majors aside from The Open. I always shoot well and am in contention every time (4 seasons).

How did you get so good so quickly? haha

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

Great read!

But it makes me feel like a real chump. It's your first season, you won 3 events, including at East Lake. I'm 300 hours in, I'm always in the top 10 or 5 for cup standings, and I never win the cup lol. I've won The Players back to back seasons, and a couple of other events, but I'm always horrible at all of the Majors aside from The Open. I always shoot well and am in contention every time (4 seasons).

How did you get so good so quickly? haha

I have good weeks and bad weeks...while I made the cut at Evian in France in my first season, I finished in something like 50th place. I shot a round of +6 at Torrey Pines in my most recent event, even as a 92 overall golfer.

Then other weeks, I just make some good putts and get good bounces. My best score is a 62, I believe, so I'm not firing rounds of 59 or 58...haha. I needed to play out of my mind in the final round at that season's BMW Championship, and I still finished 1 shot back. And it took another big-time final round to eek out a win at East Lake, where I was tied with Im going into the last 3 holes.

I love how realistic it feels...in terms of scoring and such. If I put myself in a good position, I have a chance on the weekend. But some weeks, I am right on the cut line and fighting just to make it to Saturday.

[bigkev]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

Almost feel like my golf game, sometimes I make a lot of putts, other round I can't buy a putt.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

Just had a laugher at the U.S. Open in my second season. I won by 11 shots at The Country Club for my first career major, having a 10-shot lead entering the final round. I finished at -17, with second place coming in at -6.

This is with AI turned up to 88 and playing on basically as difficult of settings as you can.

Interesting, since I failed to make the cut at Augusta earlier in the year.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: EA Sports PGA Tour: How is your Career Mode going?

Just had a laugher at the U.S. Open in my second season. I won by 11 shots at The Country Club for my first career major, having a 10-shot lead entering the final round. I finished at -17, with second place coming in at -6.

This is with AI turned up to 88 and playing on basically as difficult of settings as you can.

Interesting, since I failed to make the cut at Augusta earlier in the year.

Bumping up the AI difficulty to 95, as I just won The Open Championship by 14 shots over Corey Conners...