We learned a lot about the Tour Pro Mode in Rory McIlroy PGA Tour yesterday, including the inclusion of three potential backstories for your character. What we don't know is how big of an impact those back stories will play in your Golfer's career. The rest of the mode sounds pretty reasonable as well, but let's get some reactions from our writers.

What do you all think of Rory McIlroy PGA Tour's career mode?

Glenn Wigmore: This career offering definitely brings some requested features to the forefront — rotating apparel, fully customizable bags / club selection, quick rounds — but it does sounds like a fairly standard career offering. To be fair, some of what works in the NBA 2K franchise wouldn't transfer over to here, but the concept of picking your golfer's background appears to be quite embryonic. It's hard to see what impact any of that would really have on your "story," other than some modified attributes and a bit of commentary.

Honestly, the setup for the career mode sounds basic in the way that EA Sports UFC did, with an authentic but simplified qualifying process and some loose sense of career progression. The problem was that EA Sports UFC's career mode was lacking on depth and details. Hopefully that isn't the case here.

The ability to customize everything about your player is welcome, though, and being able to complete tournaments in one-quarter of the time that it would usually take is really appealing for those who just don't have the time. I'm optimistic that the XP system will be balanced in a fair way (ha!) to avoid users having to slog away for hours just to achieve some basic unlocks.

I really admire a lot of the things that The Golf Club did last year, and hopefully PGA Tour has learned some of those lessons as well — especially when it comes to difficulty, control and user-created content. E3 isn't far away now, so we'll be getting some hands-on time with this one then.

Ben Vollmer: PGA Tour has some awfully big shoes to fill in the customization part of their upcoming game, given how The Golf Club pushed all the right buttons in that department. With that in mind, it's good to see things like customizable bags and apparel being prioritized, along with RPG elements that should keep things unique.

Going along with what Glenn said, it's all a matter of how big of a role things like your golfer's background are. Will it get a mention or two as you play through a round, or will it figure in as a integral part of how you can build your character? I'm guessing the former, but it would be a nice surprise if EA is able to implement it in a way where it actually feels meaningful rather than just superficial - as things like player background tend to be, in sports games.

One thing that I found odd was the mention of skills having the ability to be switched around on a whim. Being able to edit your player's abilities before playing on a course doesn't seem like a bad idea (and hey, more options for the user is always a good thing), but something like that is far from realistic. I'd almost prefer having to live with your decisions, as some courses are tailor-made for specific skill sets. Again, this is easily avoidable since it seems customizable.

At the end of the day, golf fans can sit back and relax, because competition is finally back. It will be interesting to see how far EA pushes the customizable aspects of the mode, something I'm sure we'll have a better idea of after E3.

Chris Sanner: As the other two guys have said, the three back stories all sound interesting and could be a great way to have a varied experience playing the career mode. Everything, to me, hinges on that as far as how much longevity the gameplay has.

Another thing I definitely do like is the character customization options and the rotating equipment potential there. While The Golf Club nailed customization, I have a feeling EA will give that area of the game a good bit of polish as well (sans the course creation potential).

The rest of the mode sounds pretty standard fare. You'll earn XP to upgrade your golfer and try to get so good you dominate the tour. Nothing sticks out as far as what's being offered in that regard, but I am curious to see what kind of interactivity each tournament brings to the table. Are you going to know what's going on elsewhere? Are leaderboards going to update in somewhat real time? Will you be paired with fellow tournament leaders on the last day of events?

All good question we'll know more about in time. One final thing I definitely don't want to go unnoticed is the quick rounds feature. It will be interesting to see how the simulation logic works there -- as I have a feeling you'll likely always be somewhat in the mix with that, which seems a bit unrealistic. But I'll wait and see before passing judgement.