There are 21 trophy balls to collect. To get all of the Trophy Balls, you have to beat the Tiger Challenge and play 50 events (2.5 seasons) in the PGA Career, including one perfect season where you place first in every tournament. You'll very likely get almost all of the other trophy balls while earning the other achievements and grinding out the 50 events, so really, just focus on doing that and then you can come back and clean up any leftover Trophy Balls you have left.
My recommended roadmap for this game is this:1. 100% the Tiger Challenge
2. Play a Perfect Season in PGA Tour. Your golfer will already be nearly maxed from the Tiger Challenge, and they'll very quickly become maxed within the first couple events. You must win every event, and you want to score under par in every round (rounds over par in simmed rounds do not count against you). You can simulate the first two rounds of every event to speed things up. If at any point you miss the cut in any event, dashboard the game before doing anything else. Reload the game and you will have another chance to sim the first two rounds of that tournament, since the game doesn't immediately save after simming rounds.
3. Once you finish your perfect season, start a new season and continue grinding rounds under par until you unlock Tracking Tiger Trophy Ball #11. At this step you should be simming the first two rounds of each tournament (and hoping you miss the cut), since every event you miss the cut will make progress toward Tracking Tiger Trophy Ball #10.
4. Once you get Tracking Tiger Trophy Ball #11, finish grinding events for Tracking Tiger Trophy Ball #10. At this step, simulate the first round of each event and then play the second round and intentionally miss the cut. That way you're only playing one round per event.
5. Clean up any Trophy Balls you still have not gotten. You will very likely only be missing two or three at this point.
If you want to complete this game the fastest and easiest, play on the easiest difficulty. To change difficulty, from the main menu, "Options" -> "Game Setup" -> switch difficulty to "EAsy Play." For my other game settings, everything else was set to "On" except for "Shot Clock." Whenever you play, keep track of all the par 5s you have eagled.
To check your progress, from the main menu, "Continue My Career" -> "My Records and Awards" -> "Trophy Room" use
or
to switch to the trophy ball section, then use the left stick to shuffle through the various trophy balls.
1. Bomb a 350 Yard Drive - When playing on the easiest difficulty with a maxed out golfer, if you're using the power boost (by rapidly tapping
during your backswing) and putting full forward spin on your drives (by tapping
and holding a direction on your left stick while your ball is in flight), you'll be getting 350+ yard drives practically every other hole.
2. Record 6 Birdies in a Row - You will very, very likely get this while playing through the main game. This game seriously becomes trivially easy when playing with a maxed out golfer on the easiest difficulty settings. If you still somehow haven't gotten this one after earning all other achievements, see #3. Eagles will not count, so if you have the chance for an eagle, be sure to waste a stroke before sinking the ball.
3. Record 4 Eagles in a Round - Once again, you'll very likely have this while going through everything else. However, here's the easiest way to get this, if you somehow haven't gotten it.
"Game Modes" -> "Traditional Game Modes" -> "Stroke Play" ->
to create a course. Create a course that is all par 5s. Put Riviera CC Hole 1 as your first hole and Riviera CC Hole 17 as your second hole to help with Trophy Ball #6. Once the course is setup, play through it with ideal conditions. What are ideal conditions?
Ideal Conditions:- Easy Tees
- Easy Pins
- Fast Green Speed
- Hard Green Hardness
- Very Fast Fairway Speed
- Short Rough Length
- Calm Wind
- Mulligans Off (Turning them on voids trophy balls)
You should easily be able to get four eagles.
4. Record a Hole in One - You very likely will have gotten at least a handful of hole in ones while playing normally. However, here's a method to grind hole in ones for the Tracking Tiger Trophy that requires you to get 19 of them (See Tracking Tiger Trophy Ball #1). "Game Modes" -> "Traditional Game Modes" -> "Stroke Play" -> Select Course -> Change settings to ideal conditions and set "Hole Select" to Par 3s.
The best holes I've found to hole-in-one are the par 3s at Turnberry, Ailsa, the par 3s at TPC Sawgrass, and Hole 15 from Firestone CC. The par 3s at St Andrews and Glenn Abby also aren't that bad. Holes with flat greens and cups near the back of the green are the easiest holes to hole-in-one, so if you notice any other par 3s with those conditions, you may want to take note of them for grinding hole-in-ones later.
Of course, you should go for hole-in-ones as often as possible while grinding events for the other trophy balls. I even went for some hole-in-ones on some par fours (though I never succeeded).
IMPORTANT: If the game gives you black bars after you've taken your shot, that indicates that the game MAY HAVE activated its auto-aim feature that exists on EAsy difficulty. Do NOT put any spin on your ball otherwise you may mess up the auto-aim and the ball may end up inches away from the cup, instead of landing in the cup. I also found that putting spin on your ball even before you take your shot (using the right stick) will mess up this auto aim feature. Eventually I just stopped putting spin on my balls during my approach shots so that I wouldn't potentially mess up the auto-aim feature, anymore, and I started getting chip-in shots and hole-in-ones much more frequently.
5. Record 12 Birdies in a Round - See Trophy Ball #3. Eagles do not count.
6. Record Back-To-Back Eagles - See Trophy Ball #3. Once again, this happened to me a handful of times just playing naturally, so just follow the roadmap and if you still don't have this one by the time you've done everything else, you can use the method described in Trophy Ball #3.
7. Sink a 55+ Foot Putt - You will almost certainly have this one while going for everything else. Once you fully understand how this game's putting mechanic works, it's not too hard to sink long putts with the assistance of the ideal putting camera. If you don't have it, just find a long, flat green, shoot your ball at the end of it, use the ideal putting camera, and sink that long putt. I did this very early on in this game during a Tiger Challenge challenge on a hole that I knew I was already going to lose. I even missed my first shot, so I putt my ball to the far end of the green again for another attempt!
8. Hit All Fairways in a Round - You need to play 18 holes without landing in any obstacles. If you don't have this one, Riviera CC and St Andrews are the easiest courses, or you could create a custom course. For this one and Trophy Ball #9, you do need to play a full 18-holes, so you probably won't get these until you start your PGA Season after you've finished the Tiger Challenge.
9. Hit All Greens In Regulation in a Round - You need to play 18 holes and land on the green on your shot that would be two under par. So par 3, you need to land on the green in one shot. Par 4, you get two shots to land on the green. Par 5, you get 3 shots. Riviera CC or St Andrews with ideal conditions + maxed out golfer will get you this trophy ball in no time.
10. Hit the pin - You'll get this going for Trophy Ball #4 or #12.
11. Eagle Every Par 5 in the game - If you press
twice when looking at your trophy balls, you can see awards for each of the 12 courses in this game. You'll have an award for each course which you've eagled every par 5. Unfortunately the game won't tell you which par 5s you've eagled if you've only eagled some par 5s in a course, so it's best to track this yourself. This is one of the most difficult trophy balls, but playing with ideal conditions with a maxed out golfer and easiest settings makes it much easier.
12. Chip in from 30 Yards - You'll get this one eventually just by pure luck. It's not hard at all and will be one of the first Trophy Balls you get. I think it may also unlock with Trophy Ball #4, but I'm not sure. As a general tip for chip shots, you want to take the green terrain into consideration. Flat greens are the easiest to sink chip shots. If the game gives you black bars after you've taken your shot, that indicates that the game has activated its auto-aim feature that exists on EAsy difficulty. Do NOT put any spin on your ball otherwise you may mess up the auto-aim and the ball may end up inches away from the cup, instead. The same principle applies when going for hole-in-ones.
13. Place 1st in All Tournaments in a Single Season - Not difficult at all, just a grind. You can make this a little shorter by simming the first two rounds of every event. If at any point you miss the cut, simply dashboard the game before doing anything else, and reload your save. Your save will be back before you missed the cut and you'll have another chance to sim the first two rounds and make the cut.
14. Complete the Tiger Challenge Game Mode - You'll have this one going for the other achievements. Specifically, this Trophy Ball will unlock when you unlock the "Beat Tiger" achievement.
15. Record an Eagle - See #3.
16. Record a Double Eagle - This is scoring 3 under par in a hole, so finishing in 1 shot on a par 4 or in 2 shots on a par 5. I got two double eagles in my first PGA Career season while playing naturally, so there's a chance you'll get this naturally. For that reason, once again, leave this Trophy Ball until after you've finished everything else. But here's a very easy way to get this that doesn't rely on getting a lucky chip shot:
"Game Modes" -> "Traditional Game Modes" -> "Stroke Play" -> "Riviera CC" -> Set settings to ideal conditions BUT change Holes to only par 5s and change Wind to "Gale Force."
The first hole is a 420 yard par 5. If you use the power boost, put topspin on your shot while it flies through the air, and get a lucky 15mph-20mph tailwind, you can drive the green. Most likely the wind will not be a tailwind and you will have to reset, but you should be able to get a good wind direction within a few resets. Use the putting camera to help sink your second shot. My second shot was a very easy 2ft putt for double eagle. All my skills were 110% or 106%, including power skill was 110%, power boost 106% (though I'm sure having this at 110% wouldn't hurt), spin 110%.
17. Win First Place in a Tournament - See Trophy Ball #13.
18. Finish a Round Under Par - Pretty self explanatory and very easy. This will be one of the first Trophy Balls you get. For this one and #19, you do need to play a full 18 holes, so you won't get these until you've started your PGA Career after you've finished the Tiger Challenge.
19. Shoot a Bogey Free Round - You cannot score over par on any hole in an 18-hole round. You will certainly have this one just by playing through the game.
20. Reach a Par 4 Green in One - Not too difficult at all. You'll almost certainly have this one since a maxed golfer can drive 350-400+ yards and some par 4s from easy tees are less than that.
21. Achieve 100% Game Completion - The holy grail trophy ball. I did a bit of research, and I don't think anyone really knows for sure how this game exactly tracks game completion. All I could find was speculation. I think this trophy ball (along with the 100% achievement) trophy will unlock when the number next to "Game Completion" (under "Continue My Career -> "My Records and Awards" -> "Player Resume") says 100%. I think increasing the other stats on that screen will increase the overall game completion percentage. Look at the various stats on that screen and see which ones you need to increase.
However, increasing all these stats to 100% can be very shortly summarized. You simply need to collect the other 20 Trophy Balls PLUS the 13 Tracking Tiger Trophies. If you do that, you should get everything else along the way. If for some reason you don't, you can return to the "Player Resume" page and see what you're still missing.
Here are the 13 Tracking Tiger Trophy Balls:
1. Surpass Tiger and Score 19 Holes in One During Your Career - This may be the last trophy ball you unlock. It's definitely a grind. I had 8 holes in one by the end of my first PGA Career season, so it's possible that you'll get this before you finish the 50 event grind (See Tracking Tiger #10), but I think most people will have to grind this. See Trophy Ball #4.
2. Lead the PGA Tour in 14 Categories in a Single Season - If you are playing well and winning every tournament, you'll be leading in basically every category. You can see the stats and rankings in "Continue My Career" -> "PGA Tour Season" -> "PGA Tour Statistics". This will unlock if you are leading in 14 or more categories at the end of your first season. It will not unlock mid-season. For all the statistics trophies, simulated rounds will not count against you.
3. Lead the PGA Tour in Par 3, 4, and 5 Birdies in the Same Season - Same as Tracking Tiger #2.
4. Beat Tiger's Birdie Average of 4.25 Birdies Per 18 Holes - Super, super easy. This will unlock at the end of your first season.
5. Make Every Cut in a Single Season - You'll get this going for Trophy Ball #13. This will unlock after your last round in the last event of the season, so don't panic when it doesn't unlock after round 2 of the last event of the season.
6. Finish an Entire Season Under Par in Every Event Played - You'll get this going for Trophy Ball #13.
7. Surpass the Record of 11 Consecutive Tournament Wins - You'll get this going for Trophy Ball #13.
8. Beat Tiger's Best Round of 13-Under Par - This will probably be the first Tracking Tiger Trophy you get. My best round was 22 under par, so it shouldn't be too difficult.
9. Beat Tiger's Scoring Average Record of 68.17 - You'll get this going for Trophy Ball #13. This will unlock at the end of the season.
10. Beat Tiger's 28% Winning Percentage (50 Event Minimum) - This is the huge grind. You need to play 50 events. The 28% Winning Percentage is super easy. During your perfect season, you'll already win 20 events. Even if you lose the last 30, you'll still be at 40% win rate. After you finish your perfect season, you actually want to miss the cut on tournaments because tournaments where you miss the cut DO COUNT. However, you cannot intentionally play the first and/or second round to miss the cut because you will mess yourself up for Tracking Tiger Trophy #11, so you have to hope you miss the cut through simming. There's not much more to say about this one. It's just a huge grind. Once you get Tracking Tiger Trophy #11, you can sim the first round and then miss the cut on the second round to start flying through events.
11. Beat Tiger's Par or Better Streak of 67 Rounds - You have to play 68 rounds where you do not score over par. You are allowed to score over par on individual holes, as long as you are under par for the overall round. You'll unlock this near the end of your second season, assuming you did a perfect season for your first season. If at any point when playing the career you ever have a terrible round catastrophe like hitting your ball into the water 6 times in a row (looking at you, John Daly 👀), be sure to dashboard so the game does not save. You do not want to lose your progress on this Trophy Ball.
12. Win 10 Events in a Single Year - You'll get this going for Trophy Ball #13.
13. Win More Than $9,188,321 in a Single Year - You'll get this going for Trophy Ball #13.
As a side note, I think the reason why the "Finish Everything" achievement unlocks early for some is due to a rounding error in the game's stats. I think you really only need to complete >99.5% of the game, and then the game will round your completion percentage to 100% and unlock the achievement. This is just speculation, however.
Another theory is that in the game progression stats page (called "Player Resume"), the game only thinks there are a total of 6 trophy balls for getting eagles on par 5 holes, even though there are really 12 trophy balls for getting eagles on par 5 holes. The game will credit you with as many trophy balls you really have out of 6 (i.e. if you have 8 trophy balls, it will read "Par 5 Eagles: 8/6") so it's possible that the extra progression here is prematurely increasing the overall game completion, causing the 100% Game Completion achievement / trophy ball to unlock early.
I hope this guide was helpful. Be sure to upvote it if it was. Happy hunting
