Disclaimer: A code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.

It's all or nothing on the 18th hole, as I sit tied for the leaderboard and can smell victory with only a birdie needed to win on a par 4. I make my adjustments to account for wind speed and swing away, landing just off of the fairway in the rough.

It's not over yet though, as I recover and get the ball right on the green, but it's still going to be a difficult birdie putt. I line everything up and hit the ball just enough, sinking the birdie putt and winning the vaunted TOUR Championship. These are the types of moments that have defined my experience of HB Studios and 2K Sports' latest outing in PGA Tour 2K23.

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Mirroring his own comeback-filled career, Tiger Woods has returned to video games once again with PGA Tour 2K23. While there is no mode honoring Woods like the recent return of the Jordan Challenge in NBA 2K23, he is a fully playable golfer in PGA Tour 2K23 for the first time in years, and he even has the signature red polo. He is joined by a roster of 11 other professional golfers like Justin Thomas and Lydia Ko, which is about on par with recent games, but pales in comparison to the 20+ real golfers we had back in the EA Sports days.

Just like in PGA Tour 2K21, the courses are a mix of real ones - with three new ones added to the 17 of the previous game - as well as some original courses. The courses themselves are authentic representations of the real-life versions, recreating each hole and area for each of them with lots of love and care. HB Studios has already promised free post-launch DLC too, with additional courses like Pebble Beach confirmed.

As has been the case in the last few entries, PGA Tour 2K23 emulates the sport to near-perfection. Finding the right level of pre-swing adjustment to account for wind speeds and individual hole setups may seem daunting at first, but it just feels very relaxing once you get into the *ahem* swing of things. The moments of sinking that long putt after calculating the slope and angle of the green feel all the more rewarding, especially when it wins you a tournament. I just about lost my mind when I managed to sink a hole-in-one on the second hole of the Tahitian Escape course.

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PGA Tour 2K23 is reintroducing a fan-favorite feature from the EA Sports Tiger Woods games with the 3-Click swing input. Up until now, the go-to for the 2K iterations of PGA Tour has been the Swing Stick, which utilized the analog stick. Instead of pulling back the analog stick and then thrusting it forward with the Swing Stick controls, while also having to also keep it perfectly straight, the 3-Click style only requires you to press the same button three times - just hold X on PS5 to set power, then press it again to set the swing path, and then one last time to set the club face angle. The button presses with 3-Click allow for much more precision in your shots than with the Swing Stick.

The main attraction in PGA Tour 2K23 is the MyCareer mode, where you can create a golfer and play through their entire career. However, do not enter this mode expecting something akin to NBA 2K's massive MyCareer which features countless side quests and a big city to explore.

To start, you must select where you want to begin your career from four options: Q-School, Korn Ferry Tour, Korn Ferry Tour Championship, and PGA Tour. Starting on the lower end gives you more opportunities to gain XP before jumping to the PGA Tour, but there isn't a drastic difference in which one you pick here. In fact, the Rivals feature is locked entirely until you make it to the PGA Tour.

The PGA Tour allows you to choose Rivals to face off against for an event, which are split into tiers that have Tiger Woods at the very top. There isn't too much to the Rivals other than you get to see highlights of them throughout the 18 holes and then are given scores to decide the winner at the end of the event. A lot more could have been done here to flesh it out, such as adding in long-term rivals or storylines associated with them. It also doesn't help that two of the first three included rivals, Harold Varner III and Bubba Watson, had left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf prior to the release of the game.

Besides taking down the tiers of Rivals, your goal in MyCareer is to just keep playing well as you work toward qualifying for the TOUR Championship at the end of the season. This does not feature a drastic change from the previous entry, but there really doesn't need to be too much here beyond fleshing out the Rivals as that would take away from the gameplay here which is the most important aspect. Unlike in NBA 2K, having other tasks outside of golfing itself could feel ancillary to the core experience, so they instead build up the MyPlayer customization instead.

As for your MyPlayer, you have a decent amount of customization to craft just the type of golfer you want to be as you level yourself up. This starts with the Skills that allow you to upgrade your MyPlayer in the six areas of Driver, Wood, Hybrid, Iron, Wedge, and Putter. Depending on which areas you prefer to focus on, you can get different boosts by spending Skill Points that are earned by leveling up in the game. You can even reset your allocated Skill Points if your desired MyPlayer Skills build is not working out, though it comes at a cost of in-game currency. This currency is unfortunately the dreaded VC, but beyond the skill reset it's used mainly for cosmetics rather than being central to your character's growth like in the NBA 2K games.

On top of Skills, you also get to set your golfer's Archetype from one of five options. These change up your statistics such as Timing, Power, Putt Path, and more, while also providing said archetype's definitive strength and weakness. The nice thing is that you can just switch between these at any time in the main MyPlayer menu. Combined with the re-rolling aspect of Skill Points, you can really play around to find what setup works just right for you.

One of the more recent golf-related phenomenons has been the growth and success of Topgolf, a company with driving ranges that utilize electronically monitored golf balls as you try for high scores by hitting the ball into specialized targets. PGA Tour 2K23 very wisely decided to team up with Topgolf and have included it in the game as its own game mode.

Playing locally or online, you can compete in matches just as if you were at a real Topgolf location. You get 10 balls to hit at the various targets around the range, including a rotating glowing target that is worth double points. This is easily the most casual mode in the game, but that is what makes it so much fun. Not only does it help you practice your skills for other game modes, but it also can be very relaxing to just sit back and drive golf balls all around the range. For someone competitive like me, the online leaderboards in a mode like this are also quite enticing, as it keeps you striving to better your scores.

PGA Tour 2K23 continues to build on the foundation started in The Golf Club and once again delivers. The MyCareer mode's Rivals feature may not be as fleshed out as it could be, but the addition of the fan-favorite 3-Click control option and the casual Topgolf mode on top of the already stellar gameplay elevate the series to new heights with PGA Tour 2K23.

NEXT: NBA 2K23 Review