Cam Young

Cam Young has solidified himself as one of the top 4 players in the world with his dominant victory at Doral. Cam came out hot during the first round and never really looked back all week. There was a moment on Saturday where someone was within two strokes, but otherwise it was never really a competition.

Cam Young has all the traits to become one of the best players in the world over the next 5 years and is finally finding some confidence with his flat stick, which has skyrocketed him up the OWGR. Cam will be a threat every time he tees it up because it feels like his game fits any course and especially major setups.

I saw a few things on the internet today talking about the over/under on major championships at 2.5. I personally think that is too many to give him when he hasn’t won the first yet. Yes, we have seen him perform under pressure at The Players, but if he can prove he can hit the shots coming down the stretch at a place like Shinnecock with a US Open on the line, I would be more willing to have the over 2.5 conversation. Majors are hard to win and winning 3 majors happens for very few golfers.

The undisputed top 4 players in the world:

• Scottie

• Rory

• Matt Fitz

• Cam Young

Doral & Cadillac Championship

What a horrific week for the PGA Tour. They have so much momentum currently with LIV seemingly falling apart after this year (maybe sooner), and they put out probably one of the worst products of the entire year. The course looked like it was in terrible condition and no better than a Florida muni. The fans looked sparse at best and there was zero juice in the tournament all week (maybe not their fault with Cam dominating). They had Trump show up late on Sunday, which brought some buzz, but otherwise this was a failed return for the PGA Tour and Doral. They either need to figure out how to make Miami feel big and important or abandon ship.

Nelly Korda

Nelly has won for the second week in a row in Mexico at Mayakoba. Nelly is truly dominating the women's game right now and might be in better form than she was in 2024, where she won 6 times. There is a real chance Nelly wins an in-season grand slam this year if she can keep up this play. I think a part of the success she has had is choosing her own schedule. She decided to sit out the spring Asian swing, which has set her up to be well rested and sharp.

LIV Golf

LIV seems to be cooked in all aspects. They officially notified their players and employees that they only have PIF funding through the end of the year, and they hired some external consulting company that specializes in restructuring companies. Reportedly, Bryson and Jon Rahm have both reached out to the PGA Tour to talk about a path back.

I really think the PGA Tour is going to leave people behind in this transition. I think Bryson and Rahm have some pull, but other players are going to have a really tough time finding their way back to the tour.

It’s unfortunate to see LIV finally fall apart, and I think there is a space for team golf somewhere in the fall season to get people’s eyes to the TV.

Rankings!

• Nellys is growing closer to Rory & Scottie

• Cam Young is great, nothing more yet.

Sorry for the weak hiatus, there were some busy days at the Width & Angles HQ.

🎙️ Listen to our new podcast! New episodes every Tuesday.

The Fitzpatrick Brothers Win in NOLA

Matt & Alex Fitzpatrick win in NOLA, making for one of the best stories of the year. Matty Fitz is obviously one of the top three players in the game right now and just stared down Scottie Scheffler last week at the RBC Heritage in a playoff. This, however, was a completely different type of pressure, with his younger brother (Alex) having a PGA Tour card on the line down the stretch. Alex won about a month ago in India on the DP World Tour, but earning a PGA Tour card is a life-changing event.

They came into the day with a handful of strokes to play with, but on the back nine that quickly got erased with a few errant swings. There were a few key shots before the epic bunker shot on 18 that Matt pulled off to seal the win. Alex hit an amazing flop shot on 13 from behind the green to give Matt an easy par putt. He also hit a laser on 17 into a tough green. Although Matt didn’t make the putt, it gave them a stress-free par and a chance to win on 18 with a birdie.

On the bunker shot, it was about a 30-yard shot to a back pin, where any mistake long would have made a playoff a real challenge. Matt hit the perfect shot to a foot, setting up an easy tap-in for Alex to secure the win. With this victory, Alex earns:

• A full PGA Tour card through 2028

• Signature event exemptions through 2026

• PGA Championship exemption

Zurich Championship

What is the future of the Zurich Championship with the new PGA Tour? I think the Zurich really has something with the team event format they’ve created. They’ve absolutely found a way to stand out among non-signature events, and I’ll be the first to admit I watch this more than any other non-signature event.

I think the Tour would be smart to make New Orleans a signature event that keeps the team aspect but elevates it so all the biggest players show up. You could get pairings like:

• Scottie & Burns

• Rory & Shane

• Tommy & Justin

• Jordan & Justin

• Fitzpatrick brothers

• Young & Xander

• etc.

Nelly Wins The Chevron Championship

Nelly Korda dominates The Chevron Championship in wire-to-wire fashion to win her third major. It feels like she has fewer majors than she should at this point in her career. She’s a generational driver of the golf ball (Rory & Nelly are the two best in the game right now) and a great iron and wedge player.

I think the piece that has held her back is the putter, and when she makes those 5–10 foot putts (like this week), she wins big. It was interesting to see her go back to a blade from the Spider - one of the rare cases where a player actually got worse after switching to a Spider. I hope Nelly continues to dominate, because when she’s in contention, a lot of new eyes tune in.

The Chevron Championship

It’s unfortunate to see how corporate decisions have diluted this tournament, as it has moved to its third venue in just a few years. This event has the potential to become the women’s version of The Masters. If Memorial park doesn’t pan out there’s a real opportunity for a great club in the South to step in and give it a permanent home. Colonial could be a great venue if they don’t get a siggy on the PGA Tour.

Rankings!

• Nelly might be Scottie-esque?

• Matty Fitz moved up to great from good

• Charlie Hull moved from Great to Good: need to see more

Rory

Rory Daniel McIlroy wins back-to-back Masters championships, showing the world that he is not done winning majors and solidifying himself as the best European golfer in history. Freddy Couples said it best after Thursday when he said Rory might never lose another Masters again. There is a real possibility that, between Rory and Scottie, we can predict the next five years of Masters champions. It wouldn’t be a bad bet.

Rory doesn’t make it easy to win, and I think that’s why we connect with and identify with him more than we do with Tiger—or even Scottie, to some extent. Rory blew a six-shot lead on Saturday, where there were some very obvious nerves as the gravity of the moment set in. Once he figured it out on Sunday and got himself a two-shot lead on the 18th tee box, he did what we would all do and hit the mega-right ball into the next fairway. He is equal parts Tiger and Spieth combined into one and it is can’t miss TV.

If there’s anything we should take away from this week, it’s that Rory is unlike any other athlete of our time. The best athletes to ever exist are extremely unemotional and mostly unavailable. They don’t share their thoughts more than they have to and don’t usually express emotion except at the Super Bowls of their careers. Rory has been one of the most emotional and available golfers of all time, which is why there is such a chorus of support. The comparison I would go with is someone like Brady or Tiger, who always had people rooting against them. It feels like when Rory gets into contention, everyone is rooting for Rory.

I think this could be the second major act for Rory. If you remember back to the early 2010s, he won majors in handfuls, and I feel like after this second Masters, we could really see a steady flow of major chances for Rory over the next 2–3 years.

Scottie

Scottie shot 74 on Friday and then was clearly the best player over the weekend, going bogey-free and still getting beat by one. Even his B-game is good enough to be in the thick of it at the Masters. Scottie will eventually find his A-game again and go back to winning tournaments and majors by a handful of strokes.

I also believe Scottie probably lost a shot or two having to play with Li Haotong who made a 10 on 13.

Justin Rose

If Justin Rose’s career finishes without a green jacket, it will be one of the most unfair endings to a career outside of Greg Norman. He plays Augusta so well and seems like one of the classiest guys out there and just needs to figure out the putting.

I’ll be rooting for Justin more than any other golfer in majors going forward. I truly hope that, with all the work he has put in well into his 40s - and not taking the bag from LIV like some of his uncompetitive peers - he gets one.

Cam Young

It was going to be nearly impossible for Cam Young to back up such a great round on Saturday with another low one on Sunday to win the Masters. Interestingly enough, he only needed to basically shoot even par to win.

I think we are still early in the Cam Young experience from a major championship standpoint. He absolutely has the game for long, tough golf courses, and I think it is only a matter of when not if he wins a major. It might be smart to throw a bet on him for the U.S. Open at Shinnecock, given the course.

Augusta & The Masters

This was my first time ever attending the Masters, and I will say that it was one of the best days of my life. I have been a golf fan since middle school and have watched the Masters for as long as I can remember. It has always been a bucket-list event for me, and I was lucky enough to make that happen this year.

The biggest thing I took away from this week was understanding where players are on the property when a tee box or green is shown. A few notes:

• 7 green is more elevated than I realized

• It is hilly but not as dramatic as I thought it would be

• 13 is the most beautiful green site in the world

• 12 does not look like a fun tee shot

• 18 is very narrow

• Egg Salad > Pimento > Chicken Salad

The rope hate, gnome culture, and Masters haul videos are getting out of hand. The Masters has an interesting problem on its hands. Over the last few years, it has leaned into internet/barstool golf culture, which feels like it has cheapened the product a bit. It will be interesting to see where it goes next—they will either lean all the way in or go back to the roots of true fans who understand what Augusta and the Masters are all about.

Bryson and LIV

Tyrrell Hatton might be the best player on LIV right now. He always seems to show up in the biggest events and outshines his counterparts nearly every time.

• Jon Rahm: he is the Dak Prescott of golf - he was good at one point and now just pads his stats with garbage time birdies

• Bryson: The dude gets in his own way so way, why bring up building your own clubs? You know if you play bad they are going to ask about it

• Cam Smith: Doesn’t seem to care. Wasted talent.

• Sergio: A Joke. Revoke the jacket - 2017 didn’t exist.

• Joaquin Niemann: Wasn’t there.

Equipment

• Rory switched back from the Qi4D to the Qi10 3 wood this week

• Scottie is still playing the Qi10 driver

Rankings!

• Rory and Scottie together

• Cam Young moved to Great

• Bryson moved to Jordan Spieth

Thoughts on Tiger

I really hate what happened this weekend with Tiger. Love him or hate him, he’s one of the best to ever play the game. I hope he’s finally able to get the help and peace that he needs. It goes to show that none of the all-time greats in sports never retire peacefully; they all do it in their own unique way.

Houston Open

I usually try to be somewhat funny and witty in this newsletter, but this week I want to take a different tone with Gary Woodland. What Gary has come back from over the last three years is truly incredible. I can’t imagine going through brain surgery and then dealing with the PTSD that followed, which was revealed just a few weeks ago. Unreal stuff - I’m not crying, you’re crying.

Gary beat one of the Højgaards (I think Nikolai) and Min Woo Lee by five strokes to dominate the week. He played like the Gary who won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 2019, taking over the tournament and overpowering the course with his insane driver setup (more on that later). I really want Gary to be a part of this new PGA Tour over the next few years. I feel like every week announcers make the winner sound like the best player to ever walk the earth, but with Gary, I actually believe it.

Memorial Park seems to be a hidden gem among the Tour’s normal rotation of high-end public and private courses. It gets more than 50k rounds per year, and if you live in the Houston area, you can play it for less than $70 on a weekend. Places like this and Harding Park are the true heartbeat of golf in major cities and should be prioritized by the PGA Tour.

Hero Indian Open

Alex Fitzpatrick won on the DP World Tour the week after his older brother Matt won the Valspar on the PGA Tour. It would be such a cool story if, at a future Ryder Cup, you had the Højgaards and the Fitzpatricks playing together. All credit to Alex, though—he’s been in Matt’s shadow for most of his professional career, and this is a huge step for him. Hopefully, it’s a launchpad to an extremely successful career of his own.

Aramco Championship

This week on the LPGA Tour, Nelly Korda lost to Hyo Joo Kim for the second week in a row. It’s great to see Nelly playing well again. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t tune into the LPGA Tour as much as I should, but if we can regularly get Nelly into contention, there will be more eyes on it.

That said, the LPGA Tour makes it difficult to watch the coverage, and they need to figure that out. Beth Ann Nichols said it best during Lydia Ko’s attempt to shoot 59.

Equipment News

• Titleist GTS release on tour this week looked to successful. A few tour pros switched to it and will only grow in anticipation for the May release.

• Gary Woodland plays a 7ish degree Cobra OPTM with a Ventus Black 8X.

Random Thoughts

• Other siblings in golf

  • Rasmus and Nicolai Højgaard

  • Matt and Alex Fitzpatricks

  • Nelly and Jessica Korda

  • Trevor and Mark Immelman

  • Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn

  • Francesco and Edoardo Molinari

• If you don’t tune into the ANWA (Augusta National Women’s Amateur) I would highly recommend it this Sunday

• Do we think Bubba is going to get the earliest “retirement” from The Masters?

Rankings!

Sneaky great week in golf. Copperhead showed its teeth at the Valspar with -11 getting it done, while in South Africa, Bryson and Rahm were mudding it out down the stretch in a crazy arena.

Matt Fitzpatrick

Matty Fitz comes back after his heartbreaking loss at The Players to birdie the 18th and win the Valspar Championship. Fitz has handled the past week extraordinarily well, showing a combination of sportsmanship, competitiveness, and grit.

I would argue that when Fitz is on, he’s one of the best players in the world. There are only a few players I feel could go toe-to-toe with Scottie down the stretch at a major, and I’ve now officially added Fitz to that list:

• Rory

• Bryson

• Rahm

• Fitz

The Valspar

The Valspar Championship should hopefully be converted into one of the signature events on the PGA Tour in Brian Rolapp’s new PGA Tour in 2028. The Copperhead Course is routinely one of the toughest tests on Tour and forces pros to hit a ton of uncomfortable shots.

We don’t get many courses like this throughout the year outside of the majors and a handful of events. I hope Rolapp recognizes this and ensures Copperhead becomes a signature stop somewhere on the schedule.

LIV South Africa

LIV was in South Africa this week, and it might have turned into one of the best LIV events in history. Not only did they have their two superstars battling down the stretch and into a playoff, but the atmosphere looked like pure mayhem with the fans and the Southern Guards’ home crowd.

From a golf purist’s point of view, I’d argue the Anthony Kim comeback was more compelling than this weekend - but Rahm and Bryson bring the ratings.

I can’t lie, I watched the recap because I wanted to see the playoff shots.

Bryson

Bryson is such an interesting needle in golf. If he can content and potentially win The Masters it might be one of the most popular (for better or worse) wins in the history of the game. I am so excited to see what he is going to bring to the table for content during Masters week - he truly could say/do anything and it is a fascinating human experiment. His new Reebok sponsor ship looks absolutely awful and he needs to figure out a way to drop that. His pants look like they don’t have any material and his shoes look like something of this nature:

Random Thoughts

• Cam Smith do you play golf anymore?

• Should we host a US Open in June at the Copperhead course? See who can survive the temperature and a tough course

• Dean Burmester is too much

• Bryson’s pants are far too tight (needs to dump Reebok)

• South African sport culture is equal part historic and insane

• Personal note: The Callaway Quantum is sick (still a stupid name)

Rankings!

• Welcome David Puig to Team Aura

• Matty Fitz to GOOD

The Players Championship delivered an incredible Sunday. Firm greens, great shots, and fireworks down the stretch with Cam Young and Matt Fitzpatrick battling it out. It was a bonus that they were in the same group, which by hole 14 had essentially become the de facto final group. Ludvig and Thor both nose-dived at different points in the round, which was disappointing but also somewhat predictable given it was their first real run at a big event. Strangely, this year has become a theme of players letting leads slip away if you look at Lowery, Berger, and now Aberg.

I called it when Cam was in the middle of the back nine after the Ludvig collapse.

Low key didn’t realize Matt Fitzpatrick and Cam Young are teammates on TGL. I hope this doesn’t make the locker room awkward. Then again… it’s TGL, so who cares.

Cam Young

After the last two big events we’ve seen Cam Young play in (the Ryder Cup and The Players), I’m contemplating moving him into great status in my rankings. He’s a great ball striker and has become an above-average putter, which has taken his game to a whole new level. To birdie 17 and then hit a 375-yard drive down the 18th hole - which I would contend are two of the scariest shots to hit down the stretch - is seriously impressive stuff. An underrated part of Cam Young’s aura is his chest lettuce and chains. Look for Cam to build on this and contend in a few of the majors this year.

Matty Fitz

Matt Fitz is so impressive to me. He’s the ultimate grinder and statistician. It feels like over the last five years he’s really studied which parts of his game needed work and has turned every weakness into a strength.

• Not a long hitter → now one of the longest on tour (also beefed up)

• Bad around the greens → cross handed chipping has turned it around

• Had bad teeth → wore braces while out on the PGA Tour

He also seems like a genuinely great guy and sportsman. After the loss, he gave Cam a true congratulatory handshake and even said something to the Young family while walking to scoring. American fans (and especially PGA Tour fans) continue to show their immaturity and general lack of knowledge of the game. I think the USA chants are great, but when it turns into “shank it” and “choke,” it crosses the line. What happens now? Nothing will change and the Euros will save that tape and, of course, play it during Ryder Cup week next year, which will just add fuel to an already great team.

Ludvig Aberg

Ludvig, man. He seems so close, yet so far. Does that make sense? It already feels like he should have a handful of wins on Tour, but he really hasn’t gotten it done in any of the big events where he’s been in the mix. I have to remind myself that he’s only 26 and really just entering his golfing prime. I think he needs a few things to truly get him into the winner’s circle:

• Offspeed pitch from the tee with driver

• Get to a above average putter (just like Cam Young)

March Major & Sawgrass?

I have been extremely vocal this week about saying that The Players is not a major, and I stand by that take. In the current environment, where you don’t have Rahm or Bryson in the field, it’s impossible to even consider it one. That being said, The Players definitely feels elevated because of the course and especially the finish today. The way the PGA Tour markets The Players is exactly what Brian Rolapp needs to implement for the other signature events.

Mrs. Width & Angles mentioned that this event feels elevated because it doesn’t have a corporate name in front of the tournament. If the Tour can get out of its own way and remove those names from the Tier 1 events, it would gain a lot more respect.

That said, the stupid things the Tour activates with paid actors make it feel like a bit of a joke. This was the best tweet of the week, in my opinion, from Brendan Porath of TFE.

LIV Singapore

In a sleepy LIV Singapore that was truly overshadowed by The Players this week, Bryson won in a playoff over Richard Lee. If you missed it, Lee missed a two-foot putt on the playoff hole to hand Bryson the victory.

You have to say this might be the least satisfying win of Bryson’s career.

Equipment News

• Scottie can’t figure out the driver. I have a feeling that he might play through the contract with Taylormade and then become an equipment free agent. I wonder if Taylormade is persisting him to use the Qi4D and he is getting frustrated.

• Adidas has some truly egregious clothing they are pumping out right now

• Taylormade continues to win the YTD club rankings

  

Random Thoughts

• Brian Rolapp was visiting with Jay Monahan on Sunday which I think was a keep your friends close and enemies closer situation

Rankings

• Tyrrell Hatton swapped for Cam Young in Good

• Spieth needs to pick it up or he will be Tier 2 PGA Tour (this makes me sad)

• Mav McNealy moved into Team Aura

Scottie

Scottie, in my opinion, was the story of the first two days for a reason that you may not see with the naked eye. Every good golfer has been at a point with their golf swing where the club starts to feel like a foreign object, yet you are still able to shoot good scores. This place in the golf world is an extremely weird and depressing place because you are somewhat aware that a few bad shots can lead to a further loss of confidence and bad scores. I have been there so many times, and I fear I am seeing the same thing with Scottie. I hate to say it, but range sessions in the rain are not going to help, he just needs time.

Ludvig Áberg

I would argue that Ludvig has the prettiest swing on tour at the moment. Rory has a good swing, but Ludvig has a beautiful swing. There are only a few golfers that I would ever say have a beautiful swing:

• Ludvig

• Adam Scott

• Tiger 2000

Xander Schauffele

Xander hasn’t had a ton of good results since the rib injury in 2025, and it feels like he has lost all the momentum he created in 2024. When X can get it going, he is one of the best in the game, and now that he has the experience of closing out two majors, The Players should feel like the John Deere Classic. If I had to pick who would win between Ludvig and Xander coming down 16, 17, and 18 on Sunday, I would pick X 9 out of 10 times.

Maverick McNealy

If you were to take all the top 100 U.S. golfers currently in the OWGR and morph them into one person, you would get Maverick McNealy. He seems like a super smart and cool guy, but he doesn’t wow me. He’s not romantic like Spieth or Rory, he’s not great like Scottie, and he’s not a prima donna like JT, but he has a bit of each of those. He does continue to pop up on more and more leaderboards, and this seems to be the biggest one so far.

Rory

Rory McIlroy decided to tee it up this week with his bad back and posted rounds of 74–71 (+1) to sit T51. Understandably, he was rusty, and it showed with some shocking driving iron shots. In my opinion, Rory should have just rested this week to fully heal before the lead-up to The Masters. I assume there were some execs at the PGA Tour who were in his ear about teeing it up this week.

187 ball speed on the first hole was… unexpected.

Best of the rest

• Sahith Theegala is unsustainable (the entire thing)

• The Players is definitely not a major

• I didn’t have JT competing after last week. I see him fading away quickly this weekend.

• The Players is definitely not a major

• Cam Young might be a problem this weekend

• The Players is definitely not a major

• TPC Sawgrass is good not great

The Best Thing I Saw This Week

Kyle Porters tweet is gold

Rolapp spent around an hour talking to a bunch of guys in Peter Millar Q-zips about some simple concepts that Jay Monahan was never able to figure out.

The Schedule

Brian Rolapp appears to be reshaping the current PGA Tour schedule beginning in 2028 and ushering in a completely new era for the Tour. The theme of the new schedule would mirror something closer to the NFL model or the English Premier League, where every event matters in some way and the biggest markets are prioritized, with a form of relegation. It looks like they are going to target around 20–24 Tier 1 events, while Tier 2 events fill in the rest of the schedule. He also mentioned targeting large cities such as Boston, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco.

The Fan

“I mean, again, the sports business is not that hard; just think like a fan, and nine and a half times out of ten, that’s probably the right answer.” - Not Jay Monahan

Finally, someone who gets it and will prioritize the fan over the corporation. He understands that if you treat the fans right and give them what they want, the money will naturally flow to the corporate partners hosting the tournaments.

The Playoffs

It sounds like the playoffs will move to more of a match play format to create more drama and a better culmination to a long season. I can’t wait to see this play out for real for the first time. We’ve been stuck with the same crappy playoff standard for years now, and it will finally get some juice injected into it with a new format and a real playoff-like atmosphere. Thank you, Mr. Rolapp — we finally have a grown-up in the room.

My Ideal Schedule

Below is what my ideal schedule and naming structure would look like. One underrated aspect of this concept is the naming convention for the tournaments. For example, the NFL doesn’t call it the American Express NFC Championship Game.

Hawaii - Tournament of Champions

• 1 week before the Super Bowl. This avoids NFC / AFC championship weekend and no one watches the pro bowl anyway

• Kapalua has great views for the people that are snowed in

• 2 man best ball tournament

  • no FedEx cup points because it is a limited field

  • allows players to work out the rust with best ball

Torrey Pines - San Diego Championship

• 1 week after the Super Bowl

• Season Opener for the entire tour membership

• Also a great course for views during snowy season in the US.

Pebble - Crosby Clambake

• Pro-am style Thursday - Saturday

• This tournament can’t be held in August with it being an anchor US Open site

Phoenix Open - The People’s Open

• Party tournament for one week out of the year

• Ends the west coast swing

Doral - Miami Vice Invitational

• Coincides with the F1 event in Miami

• Make it an event with the stars and lean into the city

Bay Hill - Arnold Palmer Invitational

• Serves the Orlando area

• Required event to honor the best in the game

The Players

• Not a major but a big event

Houston - Space City Open

• Sort of a let down event after The Players but fills a big market

• Houston has a few great courses and similar conditions to Augusta

  • Champions Golf Club

  • Golf Club of Houston

Peach Invite at East Lake

• Move East Lake to the week before The Masters for players that want to prep

• No better place than Georgia in the spring

The Masters

• No description needed

• Should always be the first Major of the year

Hilton Head - Harbor Town Invitational

• This is always a sneaky fun event with a relaxed vibe for the players after The Masters

• Great course at Harbor Town Golf Links

Nashville / NOLA 2-man

• I feel like the tour needs to visit either of these markets and maybe rotate

• Continue the Zurich championship structure for the players to change it up a bit

Colonial Cup

• One of the classic courses on tour

• Serves the DFW market - no need to visit Dallas

PGA Championship

• Due to the PGA of America building the monstrosity in Frisco (Dallas), they can’t move the PGA to August

DC - Bipartisan Bash

• Need to have at least one event in the capital of the county we play golf in

• Congressional and many other great course in the area

Muirfield Village - The Golden Bear

• Like the API, required event to honor one of the greats of the game

• Course is Augusta like conditioning wise and is a challenging event

Philly Invitational

• Has a collection of some of the best course in the world

• Serves a huge market as a lead up to the US Open

US Open

• Usually easy travel from the Philadelphia area

• Peak of the Summer events in the North East

Minneapolis - Twin Cities Challenge

• Serves a huge golf market and one of the nicest places in the country in late June / early July

• Interlachen, Hazeltine

Canadian Open

• National Open

• Should be regarded at the same level as The Players

Scottish Open

• Week before The Open as a lead up

• Format currently works but a better location is needed

The Open

• Last major chance

Boston Championship

• Last regular season event for a push into the playoffs

The Playoff Events

New York Challenge

• Serves the biggest market in the world

• Even though Liberty National stinks, the views are great to start the playoffs

The Western (Chicago)

• Return The Western to be Chicago only and rotate it between the great courses

• Unfortunately, have to remove the “open”

Seattle / San Francisco Championship

• Rotate between Seattle and San Fran for prime time golf

• Chambers, TPC Harding Park, Olympic

Tour Championship in LA

• Pure primetime golf

• Riviera at the best time of the year for course conditions

• Finale in LA with TGL at Sofi Stadium as a lead up

• Unfortunately, have to remove the “open”

This would all obviously require massive re-work of contracts and TV deals but if we are going to blow up the schedule, this is how they should do it. I would then have the fall act as a European National Open series with the Irish, Spanish, etc. This way we get the best in the world for coffee golf before football comes on in the fall.

THANK YOU BRIAN ROLAPP & TIGER

Arnold Palmer Invitational - Akshay & Berger

Akshay Bhatia unleashed a barrage of birdies and eagles on the back nine to steal the Arnold Palmer Invitational from Daniel Berger. Berger had been leading since Round 1, but played ultra-conservatively down the stretch and allowed Bhatia to drag him into a playoff. In the end, Bhatia slammed the door for his third career PGA Tour win. - and easily the biggest of his career.

Bhatia hit some outrageous shots late, including a stretch of four straight birdies that piled the pressure onto Berger. Ultimately, Berger couldn’t find the fairway on 18 twice and rolled a weak putt on the final hole that effectively handed the tournament to Bhatia.

The bigger question, though: is Bhatia getting away with something with that long putter? Do you think he finds himself in that playoff if he’s required to use a standard-length putter? My guess is no. That said, under the current rules he isn’t doing anything wrong as long as the putter isn’t touching his chest. Still, it wouldn’t be surprising if long putters (and forearm anchoring) eventually disappear from the game altogether.

As for Berger, this is another step in what has been a long comeback. Not long ago he had fallen all the way into the 600s in the world rankings while dealing with a back injury. I’ll admit I didn’t even notice Berger was gone for a couple of years while he recovered. He’s not the type to move the needle with headlines or comments, but he’s a big-moment player and probably sits on the fringe of Ryder Cup consideration. And if people actually took a look at his Instagram, they’d probably realize he’s the type of guy you’d want to grab a beer with. Hopefully the win isn’t far off.

Arnold Palmer Invitational - The Event

We’ll have a special mid-week newsletter breaking down what my ideal new PGA Tour A schedule would look like. As I’ll mention there, the tournaments in Rolapp’s PGA Tour would look a lot more like the Arnold Palmer Invitational than the Cognizant Classic. It costs an absurd amount of money to host a PGA Tour event these days, and the companies putting up that cash want guarantees that Scottie, Jordan, and Rory will be on the course Saturday and Sunday. There’s no way Mastercard is writing that kind of check to watch Taylor Pendrith vs. Taylor Moore coming down the stretch.

Bay Hill is an interesting course. Technically Arnold Palmer didn’t design it, but over time he tinkered with it enough to make it his. I once had a well-traveled and very good golfer (shoutout MW) describe Bay Hill to me in five words when I asked what it was like:

“TV makes it look bigger.”

After watching a lot of the coverage this week, I’d argue Bay Hill looks pretty average and mostly features forgettable holes with water everywhere. Unfortunately for the players, water and firm greens are exactly what truly test these guys, so credit to the API staff for ignoring the PGA Tour and setting the course up in a way that forces the best players in the world to think.

That said, if I had the chance to play Bay Hill but had to pay the tee time, I’m choosing Streamsong 10 out of 10 times.

LIV Hong Kong

This is Jon Rahm’s biggest and most special win of his career. Okay, obviously not, but that’s what the LIV announcers make it sound like.

I’m not going to lie, LIV worked for me this week. I was genuinely excited to pour an extra bourbon around 11 p.m. and watch an hour of golf on Saturday and Sunday night. If they can figure out how to get onto a more mainstream channel, I think you’d see a lot of golf sickos tuning in.

I’d also argue the course was genuinely interesting this week - more interesting than Bay Hill. It’s an old, classic golf course that’s extremely short with small targets for the players to hit. More of this next week in Singapore, please.

Random Thoughts

• Rory’s WD is concerning before the biggest events kick off

• The Players is NOT a major

• Does Cam Smith even play golf competitively anymore?

• The Players is NOT a major

• Does Phil Kenyan work with every player on tour? If no, why not?

• The Players is NOT a major

• Ludvig would be so good if he didn’t wear Adidas. I fear this is going to become Rory/Nike situation. His shirt on Sunday was atrocious.

• The Players is NOT a major

• Justin Thomas: WOOF. Hopefully he gets better with more reps.

Equipment News

• Scottie Finally puts the Qi4D in the bag. Taylormade has to be so happy.

• I can confirm from personal use that the new Fujikura Ventus Blue TR Velocore+ is as good as advertised. It is perfect if you are right on the edge of the Blue/Black profile.

Rankings!

A lot of movement this week:

• Ludvig dropped to good. He needs to improve his putting.

• Justin Rose did not migrate to generational like we thought after Torrey.

• Jon Rahm dropped to good. It should not have taken this long to win on LIV.

• Mercedes 2026 F1 engine looks to be generational

Cognizant (Honda) Classic

The Tournament

Oh no, Shano! What a horrendous few swings by Lowry down the stretch to hand the tournament to Nico Echavarria. Shane had the tournament in the bag at -6 for the day on the 16th tee, then hit two foul balls into the water and suddenly the tournament was wide open. Credit to Echavarria - he hung in there all day, and when he wasn’t able to get anything going on the back nine to chase down Lowry, he made a great birdie on 17 and a clutch knee-knocker for par on 18 to force Shane to make eagle. Respect to Shane for talking to the media. Rory would never.

Nico Echavarria and the new PGA Tour

This is Nico’s third win on Tour now and arguably his biggest event yet. I like Nico. Nico is a great golfer. Nico seems to be a great person. But is Nico going to move the needle on the PGA Tour? Absolutely not. Nico is the perfect Tour player to understand what the new PGA Tour is going to be like. Bryan Rolapp is going to make it more scarce and harder to qualify for regular Tour events. I see Nico as the bubble player who will move between the larger events and smaller events - PGA Tour A and B, if you will. I think you will see a lot of players who were regularly in the big events become extremely frustrated with Rolapp and the new PGA Tour.

Brooks Keopka

Brooks Keopka had a good showing this week with a T9 finish and two really great rounds. I would be very scared for Brooks to find the flatstick and become a problem for the rest of the year. He could be a very early Masters favorite.

My current very early Masters favorites:

• Scottie

• Tommy

• P Reed

• Brooks

The Course and the future

This tournament and course desperately need a facelift. The course and the Bear Trap feel like a smelly retirement home in Florida that’s on life alert. There are next to zero memorable holes, just water everywhere. With the overseed, it takes all the fire out of the course and basically turns it into a pitch-and-putt for these guys. There has to be a better course in the Palm Beach area that can host a PGA Tour event. But going back to my last point, maybe Rolapp doesn’t plan to keep this tournament around much longer.

Quick Thoughts

• Congrats to Hannah Green on winning the HSBC Womens Wold Championship

  • It’s a shame Nelly doesn’t travel oversees to these events for the early part of the season

• TGL continues to be the dumbest thing on the earth. I think they are too invested to cancel it but get it off the TV!

• Can we go easy on Lebron golfing? One of us!

• 🚨 NEW PODCAST - Please Listen 🚨

Equipment Corner

• Titleist released a teaser of their new driver and it will always baffle me that they release drivers in May. Feels like the general public might already upgrade to Qi4D, Callaway or Ping before May.

  

• Hannah Green wins with a sweet Scotty Cameron prototype:

  

Rankings

Let’s unpack it.

Jacob Bridgeman

Jacob Bridgeman has been knocking on the door for a while, and after the 30 minutes of chaos on 18 at Pebble last week, he kept the heater rolling. The putter stayed hot and he clips Rory by one at Riviera. Bridgeman is the blueprint for the “new” PGA Tour pro: lanky frame, absurd ball speed, Spider in the bag, battle-tested, TaylorMade script head to toe. If you’re already looking ahead, he’s the perfect rookie pick at The Masters for your betting pools.

Riviera

Even a soggy and wet Riviera showed why it is one of the premier venues on the PGA Tour year in and year out. It’s such a great design that tests the best in the world regardless of conditions.

The Kikuya Grass

If you took a shot every time the announcers said Kikuyu grass, you’d be on your way to the ER by Saturday. To be fair, though, that sticky, spongy stuff is exactly what makes Riviera so good. It grabs the club, messes with spin, and forces the best players in the world to see something different. Now just imagine this place for the big upcoming events, in the hands of organizations that actually know how to set up a golf course properly.

• 2026 US Women’s Open

• 2028 Olympics

• 2031 US Open

The 4th Hole & 10th hole

The 4th hole was everywhere on social media this week after they stretched the tee back to 273 yards. It’s a redan green, and with the turf playing soft and spongy, it didn’t exactly reward the ground game. The best long par 3s in the world usually allow players to chase one in - especially to back and corner pins. Think 8 at Oakmont, 3 at Merion, or 16 at Royal Portrush. The Tour ultimately played it at 244 as the longest yardage all week.

The 10th is where the conversation really got annoying. All week we heard that the green is too small, too quirky, too unfair. In the famous words of Patrick Cantlay, “These guys are a bunch of pampered fucks.” They’re playing for millions of dollars and they get one slightly uncomfortable hole and it becomes the story of the week. Try grinding it out at a Dallas muni in July with rock-hard turf, 100-degree heat, and a guy in a Bad Birdie shirt that won’t shut up.

The Genesis & The PGA Tour

The PGA Tour and Genesis, Hyundai, whoever is running the messaging, felt a little tone deaf this week. All tournament long there was talk about raising money for California wildfire relief, and the final number landed around $300K. At the same time, Rory holes a putt on 18 that is worth roughly double that in prize money. For an event generating millions of dollars, especially in its first trip back to the LA Basin, it just felt like a strange flex. If you are going to spotlight the charitable impact, the number needs to match the stage. Otherwise, it is a messaging miss.

Equipment Corner

• 5/6 wins this year have come Taylormade staffers from 100% from mallet putters. RIP to blade putters

• Jeeno Thitikul wins with the Quantum driver which makes it number 3 for the Quantum

• Wyndham Clark has played 5 different drivers since the Bahamas in 2025

Rankings!

Trevor Immelman is the best in the business!

LIV Adelaide

Anthony Kim absolutely stunted on Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau on Sunday at LIV Adelaide, firing a 63 (-9) to win by three over the aforementioned losers.

AK was the third and final guy to earn his way back into LIV after being relegated without earning a single point last season. He also made an 8 footer to stay inside the cutline during qualifying. A few weeks later he’s competing in Saudi… and now he’s winning in Australia. Unreal.

If you’re not familiar with AK’s story, I’d highly recommend looking into what he’s endured over the last decade-plus. This is a guy whose last win came all the way back at the 2010 Houston Open at Redstone, and I was actually there on Saturday that week to witness his greatness first hand. Leaving the LIV discourse aside for a second, what Anthony Kim did this week was pure magic. A comeback like this isn’t just about golf - it’s perseverance, grit, and an absurd amount of hard work. Awesome to see him get the W, and with his status basically locked up for next year, it’ll be must watch TV to see he can do for the rest of the season (this is huge for LIV after losing P Reed and Brooks). I truly believe Anthony Kim might be one of the most naturally gifted golfers of all time. If he hadn’t gotten swallowed up by the Dallas nightlife back in the day, we might’ve been talking about a world-beater with multiple majors. Every major championship should at least be thinking about a special exemption…

Crosby Clambake (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am)

Colin Morikawa (-22) takes down a stacked field at Pebble Beach with a mega weekend performance, clipping Min Woo Lee and Straka by 1 stroke. The conditions at Pebble were getting biblical over the weekend, and kudos to Morikawa for going 62-67 to close it out.

Colin is known as a bit of a dome or TrackMan golfer with his ball flight, so seeing him do it in weather like that is impressive. This is also his first PGA Tour win in the last two years. I’d be lying if I said I loved seeing Colin Morikawa clip Min Woo Lee, given his pretty shitty relationship with the media over the last couple of years. I don’t think Colin is someone who can go toe-to-toe with Scottie or Rory down the stretch, but he’s still one of the premier ball strikers on Tour, and it’s good to see him back in the winner’s circle.

I would like to call myself out for some bad takes on Sunday afternoon:

Scottie continues to spot the field a handful of strokes on Thursday and then nearly win on Sunday coming from behind. Hopefully he’s doing this just to make the PGA Tour more competitive. It’s wild to think that if he shoots even -2 on Thursday at WM and Pebble, we’re talking about Scottie having three wins this year. Scary stuff for the rest of the field if he figures out Thursdays again.

A quick note on Pebble and the tournament itself: the PGA Tour has essentially removed all the juice and fun from what used to be a legendary event (the Crosby Clambake) where celebrities and PGA Tour pros would rub elbows for the week. Now it feels like AT&T has gerrymandered it into a bunch of bankers and financiers playing Pebble and Spyglass for two days with Rory and Scottie.

Equipment Corner

• M.W. Lee and Callaway released the TD-TD version of the Quantum which is the tour issue version. Looks to bring down the spin and be more fade bias.

• Rory switched back to the RorsBlades this week after having a brief stint with cavity backs (he said the P7CBs where too left bias)

• Akshay is still playing a Rouge ST TD… with a Quantum head cover of course

  • Scottie still doing the same with the Qi10 and Qi4D head cover

• Ping G440K seems to be gaining more traction on tour

Random Thoughts

• Will Sam Burns ever win anything? Feels like he always gets beat or gets a bad break. One of the elite swingers on tour.

• Rory gets another uncompetitive back door top 10 on the PGA Tour 👎

• Spyglass is a great course for the first 4 holes but after that is probably one of the most overrated (and overpriced) courses in the world

• Will Jon Rahm ever win on LIV? Is Rahm now a house gato?

• Can someone pulse check Cam Smith?

• Tommy Fleetwood is the best dressed PGA Tour player given he just raids the pro shop before the event. Can’t wait for Augusta.

• Ryo Hasatsune is going to get an offer from LIV

  • Side note: His nickname “The Weekend” is so so sick

• Congrats to Colin on the baby announcement!

Rankings!

Sorry Rahm!

Wasted Management Phoenix Open

Chris Gotterup (Got-Her-Up) does it again in the desert, taking down Hideki Matsuyama in a playoff at TPC Scottsdale.

Hideki was a liability off the tee all Sunday, and eventually the driver caught up with him when he dumped one in the water in the playoff. (Not helped by some pretty questionable fan interactions from the Bad Birdie wearers)

What’s wild is that Hideki had both the left miss and the right miss yesterday (IYKYK) and still managed to grind out a 68. That tells you everything about how freakishly good these guys are. The encouraging part? He was one of the best putters in the field all week. If he can get the ball-striking and tee game even remotely cleaned up, he’s going to be a serious problem going forward.

As for Gotterup, this isn’t some random heater anymore. Since the Scottish Open in 2025, he’s been playing like a legitimate world-class player, and at this point he’s firmly planted himself in the “best in the world right now” conversation.

That short list is:

• Scottie

• Rory

• Tommy

• Gotterup

• Rose

• P Reed

Quick note on the WM: this tournament was cool a decade ago because it felt truly different from everything else on the schedule. Now, golf has shifted. The WM is still different, but the rest of the Tour has moved closer to what the WM is, instead of being some outlier. Golf Twitter spent the week yelling about “shrinking the game,” and while I get the sentiment, we all know that’s not happening.

Here is a better solution: If someone does something disrespectful, stop play, identify them, and put them on a “No Guest List.” Not just banned from the tournament, but banned from the golf ecosystem. No Bandon trips. No Pebble. No Sand Valley. No getting on great private courses as a guest.

Qatar Masters

P does it again! P Reed wins for the 2nd time in three weeks in the Middle East at Qatar Masters (his 2nd Masters victory). This win essentially locks up P’s PGA Tour card for 2027 through the order of merit on the Euro Tour. The question is whether Rolapp will let him in early for the 2026 season to bring even more juice to the tour while LIV continues to try to buy juice. I am so happy that we are going to get P and Justine back to the tour. #UseGolfFacts #NoIceNoInclusions

LIV Taliban

Elvis Smylie (in his debut) and Ripper GC snag the win in Saudi Arabia under the lights and, for reasons only LIV can explain, under a laser show. Jon Rahm popped up yet again and finished runner-up. The big question remains: will Rahm ever actually win a LIV event?

And jokes aside, this was one of the most chaotic weeks in LIV history. They finally got OWGR recognition (more on this below), they staged an exhibition in Saudi Arabia that looked like a nightclub with flagsticks, and every contract activated the “log into X and talk about OWGR points.”

On the subject of the OWGR decision, I feel they missed the window they needed to sign really big players from the PGA Tour. At this point they might sign a few more role players such as Byeong-hun and Elvis Smylie but the days of getting players like Jon Rahm has passed. For the OWGR points LIV has been awarded, the decision feels pretty reasonable. The event is being valued slightly above a Korn Ferry tournament or an opposite-field PGA Tour stop, which seems about right given the field and format. Limiting points to only the top 10 finishers also makes sense, since it effectively creates a cut line in a no-cut event.

Equipment Corner

• Brooks Koepka has officially switched to the Spider which officially means he is #searching

• In some personal news, I now have the new Callaway Quantum driver

  • It sounds like a silencer, very different sound than anything else

  • It is producing some huge meatballs at the moment

Random Thoughts

• Brandel Chamblee doesn’t actually think The Players is above the majors he is just looking for clicks

• Congrats to James Nicholas on winning a Korn Ferry event!

• I really would love to know what MBS really thinks about LIV

• TPC Scottsdale stinks and would not a be a good course if it wasn’t for the stands

  • Desert golf can be so much better

• S.W. Kim is having a sneaky good year, he could pick up a major easily

• Mike Tirico was announcing the Super Bowl and 13 hours later in Milan announcing the Olympics

Rankings

Rose Dominates Torrey

Justin Rose absolutely dominated at Torrey and the tournament really felt over by the back 9 on Saturday. Are we sure Justin Rose wasn’t playing the North Course most of the week? Rose put on a master class all week at Torrey after missing the cut out in Palm Springs. If you caught a lot of the tournament he really made the golf course look silly this week and we saw someone very in tune with every part of his game. Rose’s last win came at TPC Southwind in Memphis during the 2025 playoffs which is another ball strikers golf course. He was nearly untouchable at the Ryder Cup this year as well, and he tends to play extremely well at tough golf courses and when it really matters. I am so impressed with Rose as he is well into his 40s and is playing what seems to some of his best golf when he could have taken the bag from LIV a few years ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rose claims major #2 this year.

Another interesting story line with Rose is that he is an equipment free agent. It’s always fun to look at free agents’ bags to see what the best equipment on the market is.

Koepka Returns

Brooks Koepka made his return to the PGA Tour this week and it was marketed like a POW returning from behind enemy lines. The PGA Tour (to their credit) took this opportunity to really layer on the “good guy” persona of the Tour players and just let Brooks cook. Brooks interestingly enough played along with it and was showing some real emotion after finishing the round. To his credit, he was grinding it out on Friday and barely made the cut despite an extremely cold putter all week. If he can make some putts he is going to be a problem in the majors this year.

The best soundbites came from his Tuesday interview which you can watch below

• Doug Ferguson (a very bad golfer) really got in Brooks’ ass about his major record over the last few years and even “buddied” him. I assume Brooks will keep that one in the memory bank and dunk on him when he wins something.

DP World Tour | P Reed does not re-sign with LIV

It was a massive LIV news week as P Reed announced that he is not signing with LIV in 2026 which officially means the 4 Aces become the 3 Aces. After his win in Dubai last week he made the comment that he was still in contract negotiations and a few days after he announced he did not re-sign. My hypothesis is that he wanted to return to the PGA Tour, asked for quite a bit of money from LIV to stay, and they weren’t willing to play ball. He will now be attempting to secure his PGA Tour card for 2027 through the DP World Tour as he did not fall into the returning member program. After losing in a playoff this week I wouldn’t be surprised to see Rolapp make an edit to the returning member program and figure out a way to get him in for 2026…

Whether you like P or not the PGA Tour needs some fridge personalities that drive interest. Although the PGA Tour paraded Brooks around like he was the ultimate good guy, the PGA Tour needs villains to balance the Scottie and Rory’s of the world. P Reed has a certain personality to him, and just like Brooks, I believe when he has his A++ game he could compete with Scottie’s A- game.

P Reed as an early Masters pick?

Winter in Florida, Nelly Wins, LPGA Bad Choice

The LPGA cowardly cancelled the last 18 holes of the LPGA kick off event due to cold weather. It was extremely cold today in Florida (in the 20s), but the weird part of all this is that they finished the rest of the 54 holes for a few players and allowed the celebrity component of the tournament to continue today. They claimed the conditions didn’t allow for a “competitive environment” but I don’t see how the LPGA doesn’t come out of this without looking terrible. Not a great start for new LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler who comes from the PGA of America so I guess we shouldn't be surprised.

Anyways, Congrats to Nelly Korda who gets her first win since the 2024 season. Notably she will be skipping the Asian swing for the LPGA and won’t tee it up again until mid March.

Equipment Corner

• Titleist drops the price of the GT drivers to $440 which might be the best deal in golf currently? It’s a really smart move with all the new drivers coming out.

• Marco Penge and Aldrege Potgeither (missed in Palm Springs as well) both missed cuts this week at Farmers Insurance after signing with PXG. Tough look for PXG.

• Taylormade sues Callaway over golf ball (mud balls specifically!)

Random Thoughts

• Huge week for Joel Dahmen who finished T7 which will go a long way this season

• Do we think P Reed will sign a clothing deal? My guess is Malbon

• Johnson Wagner doing on course re-creations while play is happening is all time stuff from CBS

• Colt Knost is just alright in the booth

• I suspect there will be a huge gambling story in golf this year

• TGL continues to be the all time dumbest thing in history

Weekly Rankings!

Is Justin Rose generational or is just what have you done for me lately?

This week two of the sneakiest best tournament of the year blessed us while most of the country is covered in snow and ice. The Bob Hope (I refuse to ever call it the Amex or whatever sell out name the PGA Tour has picked to help destroy legacy and history) & Dubai Desert Classic are exactly what we needed this weekend and we were gifted some terrific story lines. Let’s dive in!

Bob Hope Classic

In a semi-boring Sunday Scottie Scheffler continues his domination in golf. He is truly on a Tiger-esque run, and it something special to watch him do it like it’s a normal Sunday game at the club. A great nugget on the broadcast this week was the conversation they got into about the different ways Tiger and Scottie dominated the tour. They talked about how Tiger dominated with fear and athleticism whereas Scottie dominated with pure skill, practice and being… nice? It’s something to note that both Blades Brown (more on him later) and S.W. Kim both played poorly today paired with Scottie. Sound familiar? All hyperbole aside, I hope Scottie can keep this up, Tiger did it for a decade+ and we are still very early in this for Scottie. We all thought Spieth would last forever and Rory would win 10 majors.

Blades Brown (sick name) has played 8 consecutive days of golf plus more with practice rounds after finishing on Wednesday at the Korn Ferry Tour event in the Bahamas and Palm Springs. For him to play well and have a chance to win when he was presumably out of gas on Sunday is some amazing talent. Also, the kid is 18 years old going on 30 from the way he carries himself. It looks like he has an amazing career ahead of him as long as no one gets in his head and tries to change his swing or something.

A quick note on the Amex, it seems that the tournament is really starting to turn around in popularity again with bigger names playing. I would love for the event to really lean back into the Bob Hope days and bring back Hollywood stars and major athletes back into the mix instead of the old white guys that look like they need life alert on the course. Anyways, I know it’s not the most challenging courses in the world but it’s really cool to see what these guys can actually do when they are golfing in a dome.

Dubai Desert Classic

P Reed (-14) wins the Dubai Desert Classic by 4 strokes over Andy Sullivan (-10). This is exactly the PR boost LIV needed at the moment with Reed beating a great field of Euro big guns including Rory, Shane, Tommy and one of the Hojgaards (never sure which one). Reed has taken plenty of heat throughout his career, much of it self-inflicted, but there are a few things he does as well (maybe better) as anyone in the game. He’s a true drawer and releaser of the club which is rare these days in the pro ranks and is notably anti-torque with the putter (respect). He is a scrappy player, and seems to find a way to win when he gets his way into contention. A true grinder, and it’s a shame we don’t see him week to week on the tour. I think there are only a handful people in the sport that can stare down Scottie Scheffler when they have their A++ game and P might be one of them.

• P Reed

• Jon Rahm

• Brooks

• JJ Spaun

A nugget that Reed dropped in his winning pressor is that he is a free agent and not currently signed with LIV. He mentioned he doesn’t like to negotiate while he is playing so his negations will begin Mon-Wed. I am guessing after this week his price went up a few hundred million, and I am sure Yassir will be wanting to get a deal done this week. It could be interesting if Rolapp makes an exception given his “I want to play all tours” quote this week to try to stick it to LIV one more time before Riyadh.

Equipment Corner

The biggest equipment story of this week was that Scottie switched back to the Qi10 in Palm Springs. The fitters and execs at Taylormade have to be freaking out given he had been using the Qi4D in the Bahamas which was the last time we saw him. What I find interesting is that Taylormade hasn’t gotten ahead of it and gave a reason why he isn’t using it. My hope is he is close but waiting on one last tweak from the engineers to make it work. If there is something larger at play it has to be DEFCON 1 at Taylormade HQ.

This week we had the PGA Show and a few new equipment drops

• New Callaway mallet putter line with an updated half circle alignment. I think Odyssey makes a great putter but where they struggle is none of their putters feel timeless.

  

• The star of the PGA Show was a new launch monitor that is starting at $199. Yes it will not be 100% accurate and won’t be able to give you spin and more advanced metrics, but it’s perfect for someone that just wants a small helpful range tool that isn’t a grand plus.

Vokey SM11

These were released earlier this week and I have a very specific take on Vokeys and why they are good:

Vokeys are so consistent year to year, and they don’t try to re-build the wheel which makes it a no brainer for good players to upgrade into when they are looking for fresh grooves. I have been playing Vokeys since SM4s and if I tried to move to MG5s it would be like learning a new language. Think of Vokeys like the iPhone, there is no reason for Titleist to risk a massive change and ruin the daily workflow of the best in the world. I think of other wedges like androids.

Titleist Oilcan Irons

Yes these are sick, but will they make you play better? No. I am always skeptical about buying special release finishes for irons, but these are cool if you have a spare 2k laying around and want to hang them up. Just know, they aren’t putters.

An update on my driver testing

My fitting on Friday got cancelled due to ice-pocalypse in Dallas. My current thoughts are that I can’t use the Callaway driver because Good Good are sponsored by Callaway.

Random Thoughts

• Why doesn’t the Euro and PGA Tour combine to have a Rolex series and Siggy event to start the season in Dubai if they are really getting rid of Hawaii?

• David Puig might be one of the players that the PGA Tour needs to make an exception for

• Having experienced a snow weekend in DFW I can confidently ask: How the heck does anyone that loves golf live in the north?

Weekly Rankings!

Chris Gotterup shoots a final round 64 to win the Sony Open by 3 over Ryan Gerard (not related to Red Gerard) and Patrick Rodgers, and this is his third win in the last three years. Gotterup continues his tremendous form from 2025 and will be a lock for the Presidents Cup team this fall. Patrick Rodgers has been so close to a win for what seems like 10 years at this point, I think it’s time to just let him get one of the mule events in 2026 (Rocket Classic?). Another cool note is that Ryan Gerard flew to Mauritius at the end of 2025 to play the AfrAsia Open and qualify for The Masters. It goes to show you how much the majors, and especially The Masters, mean to these guys.

Dubai Invitational

Nacho Elvira wins the Dubai Invitational by 1 at -10 over Daniel Hillier, but the real story is that Shane Lowery hit a bunker shot in the water on 18 and made double bogey and Rory bogeyed 18 to lose by 2. Golf Channel also officially re-signed a contract with the European Tour to continue showing coffee golf for the foreseeable future which is fantastic news.

LIV News

This week LIV had their media day and announced a few changes and some new sponsors:

• Event purses go from 26M → 30M

• Expanded fields of 57 players

• Thomas Detry to the 4 Aces

• Byeong-Hun to the Korean GC as captain

• Elvis Smylie to Ripper GC

• 4 Aces signed with Under Armor & Celsius

• Kevin Na Na Na, Goodbye

There were obviously a few questions about Brooks leaving and re-signing with the PGA Tour. For the most part, the LIV executives played it off like they were being the good guys in this situation constantly stating that they are happy with Brooks and they are more excited for what they have coming in 2026.

I’m sorry, but I can’t believe that they are not freaking out at LIV HQ right now as their biggest offseason move was Byeong-Hun (#99 in the OWGR). It’s also being reported that the franchises/teams are being valued at 1B each which sounds similar to what we were being sold with NFTs during covid (I also think anyone that invested in the dumb TGL franchises are also dumb so this isn’t just a LIV thing). Leagues need history and intrigue and LIV and TGL have none of it. The other item that the LIV execs threw out were the national open series which I think is a great idea. If they can somehow execute on this, and bring national opens as the filler events between normal LIV events it could be a huge international interest driver for the league and bring some real value.

As for the players, Bryson and Rahm look like they are being held hostage by MBS, and given a very strict script of what to respond with when asked about the Brooks situation and future. It sounds like Cam Smith is going to stay and Rahm and Bryson’s contracts are bit more complex to get out and hence they are stuck for 2026. I believe if Rahm was presented with the option he would be playing at Torrey Pines next week whereas Bryson is probably going to stay given it is reported the LIV owns a portion of his YouTube channel.

Another piece of news that isn’t being talked about is Kevin Na leaving Iron Heads (Now Korean GC). He was the perfect LIV defector being a PGA Tour mule that had a few wins over the years but has no ability to get the casual golf fan to the TV. He is now a casualty of the LIV machine with no where to play except for the Asian Tour and maybe a handful of European Tour events if he can get in. Na was #19 in the OWGR when he left for LIV in June 2022 and is now #1,340 in the OWGR. He essentially has no status and it will be a year before he can attempt to qualify for the PGA Tour again through the Korn Ferry.

Equipment News

Rory switches to cavity back irons

Rory has officially switched to a full set of Taylormade P7CBs as seen below but before you go buy a set of these irons you should know that these aren’t the normal off the rack P7CBs. These irons are essentially his blade soles with a bit more help on the backside for off center hits. This is the perfect story for Taylormade to have a bunch of casual fans go buy a set of P7CBs off the rack at big box stores to “be like Rory.”

Drivers Drivers Drivers! (Quick takes - more details next week)

• Mizuno JPX One - I am always hesitant to use a first gen technology given the new face material

• Taylormade Qi4D - It looks like they have hit a jackpot with this or they paid all of their tour staff to put it in play ASAP

• Callaway Quantum - It got its first win in Dubai today, and it looks to be a ball speed champion as usual with Callaway

• Ping 440K - If you want to hit more fairways

• Cobra Optm - Cobra continues to make really cool technology but their equipment just ins’t marketed correctly in my opinion.

• Titleist - wya bro?

Scotty Cameron mallet updates

Scotty released a new(ish) set of mallets this week at the Sony Open with a new face featuring the chain link technology. After I used a new Scotty for a while what I noticed was the amount of sand that gets stuck inside the chain mill pattern. I only played a few rounds and was constantly using a tee to fish little pieces of sand out of the grooves. It looks like they just updated all of the current mallet designs with this new face.

Marco Penge signs with PXG 🥺

This was a truly baffling move to see Penge sign with PXG this week. The guy was one of the best players in Europe last year and was hopefully going to be a breakout star on the PGA Tour this year. We have seen this play out before with PXG with the likes of Zach Johnson, Billy Ho and others. I would like to formally retract my prediction of Penge being the PGA Tour ROY.

Tommy Fleetwood to Vuori

Tommy Fleetwood has officially left Nike and is believed to be signed by Vuori. Interestingly enough, I think this is the only golfer they sponsor currently. I am ok with Tommy leaving Nike given then last 10 years of Nike clothing has been utter garbage. See anything Tony Finau has worn as evidence.

Chris Gotterup new golf ball

Gotterup is using a new Bridgestone prototype of the 2026 Tour B X which is set to be released on Tuesday.

Quick Notes (Mostly Spieth)

• Do you think Under Armor could make Jordan wear 4 Aces gear? How long do think Spieth stays with UA? Does he play better without UA? I say yes.

• Phil Mickelson X’d about something other than insider trading this week!

• The Tour needs Spieth

• This interaction between Spieth and Greller is a must watch

-MZ

Brooks Koepka has officially made his way from LIV to the PGA Tour in a matter of four weeks. On December 23rd LIV and Brooks announced that he would no longer be the captain of Smash. From there we spent the next few weeks deciphering the cryptic statement the PGA Tour put out and determining what Bryan Rolapp and the PGA advisory board would or wouldn’t do.

I believed Brooks was going to just lay low for the rest of this year and play the majors (he is still exempt from his 2024 PGA Championship win) and a handful of European Tour events that made sense with the schedule. I figured with the sad family tragedy he had this year he was seriously needing to spend more time with his family (more on this statement later).

Anyways, yesterday it was reported that Brooks Koepka walked into the PGA Tour HQ through the side tour and hashed out the details with Rolapp for a few hours and he is back on the PGA Tour (a bit less rich).

Let's unpack all of the details.

The Penalties

5 million dollar donation to a charity

I can’t really think of this as a penalty given Brooks got a reported 100 million to go to LIV in the first place. I get that this is awesome for the charity that it will go to, but I never understand the point of fining these guys money when they all basically can send an email to DraftKings or FanDuel and clear a quick million for doing a shitty commercial or social media post. They should make the penalty he has to play the rest of the season with a Noodle golf ball or something fun.

No equity for 5 years in The PGA Tour

I think this one will sting financially more than the donation. The PGA Tour laid out a model (essentially in response to LIV) to give the best players the ability to have skin in the game to grow the tour and play more events that they might not have before. With the obvious winner now being the PGA Tour, and the insane growth in value of every sports league, there is no telling how much he could be missing out on in the future. What makes it worse is he will be adding value to the tour so players like Rory and Scottie can get richer while he only stays sort of rich?

No FedEx Cup bonuses for 5 years

The FedEx Cup and Tour Championship stinks anyway so they took away the only thing that actually mattered with it. Money baby.

Required to play 15 tour events this year

The tour sees 15 events as a full schedule for the players. This means we will see Brooks play tournaments like the Rocket Classic and Dallas Tournament at TPC Jimmy Craig. This is: you have to go to Detroit in between The US Open and The Open as punishment.

Eligible for TGL (yes a penalty)

First off, TGL is one of the dumbest thing I have seen in my short time on this earth. Brooks is going to join Jupiter Links to play fake golf on a simulator to create fake wealth for the suckers that bought in without seeing the product.

PGA Tour Reinstatement Window

The PGA Tour opened up a reinstatement window where only the players they want can come back which is a sick move by Rolapp. If you won a major from 2022-2025 you can come back to the tour with the same penalties outlined above if you pull trigger before Feb 5th (right before LIV Saudi). This allows Cam Smith, Jon Rahm, and Bryson to come back to the tour and notably this leaves out Joaquin Niemann, Tyrell Hatton, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia, and Patrick Reed. If Tiger had something to do with the 2022 date (Phil won the 21 PGA Championship) that might be the ultimate troll. This is also the most alpha move Rolapp could have made to assert his dominance while basically telling a lot of the major players that went to LIV: you aren’t enough of a draw or stink now.

Bryson

Bryson literally holds ALL the cards in his hand right now. I got to give it to him, he seems to be a few steps ahead of all of us. He was smart enough to know Brooks was potentially leaving and didn’t sign a contract until after it has played out with The PGA Tour. As a few people have pointed out on social media he could ask for 500 million dollars and it wouldn’t be crazy. If I were him I would ask for a billion dollars. Yes a billion dollars. He needs to make Yasir and MBS tell him no to his face, and if they do then go right back to the PGA Tour or play YouTube golf full time.

Jon Rahm

Jon Rahm has to be kicking himself right now for taking the LIV deal. Rahm is probably the most competitive person in all of golf and being in a hit and giggle league where nothing really matters playing against washed up Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia has to be weighing on him. Rahm needs to GTFO from LIV and fast.

Cam Smith

This one is tricky because I think Cam Smith genuinely wanted to spend time back in Australia and LIV gives him more of an opportunity to do that with the schedule. Also Ripper GC is insanely popular down under and they feel like the only team that actually has some momentum on LIV. I think Cam stays on LIV and is perfectly happy playing a few Asian, and Euro events mixed in.

What About LIV?

LIV is in a really tough spot and they had to know this was bound to happen. I am honestly surprised they let him out of the contract and didn’t force him to play in 2026. If they lose one of the three mentioned above I think they are very unhappy. If they get two out of the three above I think the league is toast and doesn’t exist after 2026. They are going to play it off like everything is cool, and based on their statement it looks like they are trying to play the good guy saying that golf is an open game and players should be free to play where they want. In reality, I bet the execs are scrambling big time at LIV HQ.

Other Notable Events

• Brooks’ statement when he left The PGA Tour: I want to spend more time with my family.

• Brooks’ statement when he left LIV: I want to spend more time with my family.

• Brooks’ statement when he re joined The PGA Tour: I want to spend more time with my family.

• Ben An is joining LIV

• Iron Heads rebranded to Korean Golf Club (no more Kevin Na - definitely not on the return to PGA Tour list)

• Sable Offshore is up ~75% in the last month, congrats Phil!

-MZ

It’s a bummer The Sentry was canceled this week. It’s normally one of my favorite events on Tour — the views at Kapalua are unreal, and it’s the ultimate birdie fest to kick off the season while most of the US is having awful January weather. A few photos floating around on social media show the course in incredible shape, which just makes the cancellation sting even more knowing they could have played.

What’s even worse is the rumor mill suggesting this could be the last year the Tour plays in Hawaii. If that’s true, we may never see the best players in the world tee it up at Kapalua again which is a shame. The course is absolutely still on my bucket list.

Anyways since there is no Kapalua this week this is the official 2026 season preview. Enjoy!

Biggest Surprise

Yep, 2026 will be the year of Jordan Spieth’s return to glory. Jordan Spieth has now had his 3rd kid and is ready to re-focus on golf. My bold predictions for him: rekindles the old feelings at Birkdale and wins The Open this year.

Most Dominant

Tommy Fleetwood becomes the number one golfer in the world and the most dominant player on tour. Fleetwood finally got that monkey off his back winning the Tour Championship this year which propels him to a dominant season on tour including the PGA Championship.

Scottie stays great as usual but does not win player of the year. He wins The Masters and the Dallas Tournament at TPC Craig Biggio, but otherwise has a down year compared to 2024 and 2025.

Biggest Falloff

Rory McIlroy has an extremely down year continuing his hangover from The Masters and Ryder Cup. He becomes extremity bitchy with the media all year and 2026 goes to waste. His TGL team does really well though.

Biggest Loser

Anyone on LIV. LIV looks to have had a a terrible offseason with Brooks Koepka leaving and potentially being re-instated on the tour. Bryson seems to be one foot out door unless he gets a contract worth half the GDP of Saudi Arabia. Rahm has to be kicking himself for signing such a long contract with LIV.

Hey, at least they have Sergio!

Breakout Player

Marco Penge will be the rookie of the year of the PGA Tour. Although this isn’t that surprising given he was one of the best in Europe this year. Luke Clanton has a very good year and makes the Tour Championship this year as well now that he is settled as a pro.

Best LPGA Player

Nelly Korda comes back ready to play with a gear reset and not as much pressure to backup the historic 2024 she had. Nelly is one of the keys to bring eyes to the LPGA Tour and they need her to have a great season.

International Players to Watch

David Puig of The Fireballs has a breakout year on LIV and plays well in a few majors and European Tour events. This causes him to leave LIV in 2027 and find a way back to full time on the European Tour and the PGA Tour.

Gear Predictions

• Taylormade Qi4D is the driver of the year

• Wilson has the best irons of the year

• Vokey SM11 stays dominant but Taylormade MG5 gains ground

• Ping stays the accuracy king

• Scotty Cameron gets rid of the chainlink after this year

• Fujikura Ventus continues to dominate the tour

Major Tournament Predictions

• The Players: Tommy Fleetwood

• The Masters: Scottie Scheffler

• PGA Championship: Tommy Fleetwood

• US Open: Brooks Koepka

• The Open: Jordan Speith

• Presidents Cup: Team USA

Other Notable Events

• Dustin Johnson retires from golf in 2026 and becomes a professional fisherman

• Cam Smith returns to form and wins 4 times on LIV plus competes in majors

• Cam Young wins 3 times on the PGA Tour

• Jon Rahm gets so frustrated with LIV he leaves in 2027

• Brandel Chamblee says words

-MZ

Welcome to 2026, each year I like to set out a few goals in golf and see if I can make it happen. The golf word of the year: Stack.

Play 20 New Courses

I am hopeful I can get out and try to play new courses as much as possible this year. I currently have 9 new courses planned for 2026.

• Cabot Cliffs

• Cabot Links

• The Glen

• Kilspindie

• Gullane 1,2,3

• Dunbar

• North Berwick

I obviously am open to invites and/or member guests

Others that are close that I think I can get to this year

• PGA Frisco East/West

Play > 100 rounds

I played about 80 rounds last year which didn’t count the 9 hole evening rounds. This should be do-able counting every hole in 26.

+3 Handicap

Pretty simple here - I want to get to a consistent +3 handicap. The formula here is to get rid of the mental mistakes and become a better putter. My current weakness in my golf game is not making enough putts for birdie when I have good looks.

Positive strokes gained putting

This goes hand in hand with the +3 goal. I would like to be positive strokes gained putting after all official 18 hole rounds in 2026. I keep a strokes gained google sheet that measures myself against the decade golf system.

No Triple Bogeys or Worse

This one will be the most challenging. I will make nothing worse than a double all year. There is really no reason to make a triple or worse, and is normally just a mental mistake.

Hogan Round at Old American

18 fairways, 18 greens, and 2 putts or less on every hole in one round.

The Stack 🤝 180 Ball Speed

As I have now bought the stack my goal is to get to 180 ball speed just once. Here is where I am currently at:

I plan on revisiting these multiple times throughout the year. Can’t wait to get Stacking.

-MZ

I didn’t think I was going to write a newsletter until 2026 but with the news that Brooks has left LIV needed to be addressed. Let’s discuss!

Why?

First and foremost, Brooks is not a golfer; he is an athlete who plays golf. Why does that matter? He needs intense competition to motivate himself for any tournament he plays. No matter the progress LIV has made to make golf feel competitive, it is nothing more than an exhibition money grab. Millions of dollars are awesome to compete for if the people playing weren’t already multimillionaires. Brooks has always struggled to stay engaged unless it is a major, and I don’t see that changing even if he goes back to the PGA Tour.

The press release said that he left to spend more time with his family, which is totally possible given the tragedy he experienced earlier this year with an unborn child. That can really take a toll on anyone. My hunch is that the tragedy has somehow unlocked a renewed desire to compete, and LIV wasn’t going to scratch that itch.

Brooks has never been the biggest Ryder Cup fan, but I imagine he was sitting on the sidelines during Bethpage, probably steaming as he watched the U.S. get crushed on home soil. Playing outside of LIV gives him more opportunities to earn points throughout the season and a much better chance of qualifying for Adare in 2027.

Brooks & SMASH

Brooks never really bought into the SMASH team or the franchise model in the same way Bryson has with the Crushers (both are stupid names). As a Nike athlete, Brooks has never even worn the team gear while playing, which only makes it more awkward. If LIV truly wanted the team concept to work, they needed their captains to buy in. Brooks has always been about winning majors, not the meaningless Miami Team championship.

For the team model to succeed, these teams need cult followings similar to F1, and that only comes with time, history, and legitimacy - not with names like SMASH, Crushers, or Range Goats.

The only teams that are actually cool and/or have a real fan base are:

• Torque - South/Central American team

• Ripper - Australian team

Bryson Interview

This week, Bryson gave a lengthy interview with Flushing It in which he discussed LIV and his future there. With Brooks leaving, there’s no reason for Bryson to rush into signing a new contract with LIV, and he’s been smart not to commit to anything beyond this year. I think there’s a real possibility that Bryson primarily plays YouTube golf while continuing to compete in the majors (I can’t believe I just typed that sentence).

Bryson and Rahm are, by far, the biggest stars on LIV, and as the saying goes, “you never want to own the biggest house in the neighborhood.” They are going to be key to making this work, and LIV needs to land a few more true stars - because Si Woo Kim or Max Greyserman aren’t going to do that.

This offseason has been rough for LIV:

• Brooks Koepka leaves

• Mito Pereira retired/relegated

• Henrik Stenson retired/relegated

• Victor Perez signed

• Abraham Ancer to Torque

• Phil potentially going to jail

Mito Pereira Retires

With Mito being relegated in 2025, he has now decided to retire from professional golf and spend more time in Chile with his family. I feel really bad for Mito, as the slice on 18 at the Southern Hills PGA Championship essentially derailed his career. I’ll never forget seeing him on the range at Colonial the week after that tournament, with the most empty look in his eyes.

This isn’t the biggest blow for LIV, but he was popular with the South American audience and a mid-tier name who had played well on the PGA Tour before making the jump. I’m hopeful we see Mito again in professional golf somewhere down the line.

Quick Thoughts

• 2026 is going to be make or break for LIV

  • Need to get OWGR points

  • Find a way to create a sense of urgency with the events

  • Better courses lined up for 2027

  • Re-branded teams that make people have a connection similar to F1

• They need to land some sort of superstar. A few ideas (they need at least 2 to sign):

  • Hedeki

  • Rory

  • Shane

  • Justin Thomas

  • Jordan Speith (this one actually might be possible given the state of his game)

  • Ludvig

  • Xander

  • Playoff P

  • Viktor Hovland

  • Colin Morikawa

-MZ