Tour Confidential: Lydia Ko’s hot run, mega-purses and Keegan Bradley…playing-captain?

Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we rank Lydia Ko’s AIG Women’s Open victory, debate Keegan Bradley’s Ryder Cup playing-captain bid and more.

Lydia Ko won the AIG Women’s Open for her first major title in eight years. It was her first start since getting her final Hall of Fame qualifying point after winning the gold medal in Paris two weeks ago. She went toe-to-toe with World No. 1 Nelly Korda, who was looking for her second major of the season and seventh win overall and World No. 2 Lilia Vu in the final round. Where does this finish rank among the best major finishes this season (men or women)?

Jessica Marksbury, senior editor (@jess_marksbury): There’s always some recency-bias with questions like this, but that was definitely one of the most — if not the most — exciting finishes of the year. The last few holes were incredible. The cast of characters, all of whom were seeking a third major title: Nelly, World No. 1 seeking her seventh win of the season and suffering a late back-nine disaster; Lydia, newly-minted future Hall of Famer coming off a gold medal at the Paris Olympics; Jiyai Shin, the resurgent veteran seeking a third Open; and World No. 2 Lilia Vu, all in the mix with four holes left to play. Then throw in the Old Course, wind and rain, and Lydia’s clutch birdie on 18, and I mean, WOW! What a way to cap the major season.

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Josh Sens, senior writer (@JoshSens): We’ve been spoiled with some electric finishes in recent months. This one was riveting enough to finish second in my book, behind the U.S. Open but ahead of the PGA. The fact that it starred the most likable player in professional golf made it all the better. Who can resist rooting for Lydia Ko?

Alan Bastable, executive editor (@alan_bastable): Yeah, Ko’s vibes are good for the game. She’s a great and worthy champion. And, yes, this was a final round fans could feast on. But I was most captivated by Korda’s Sunday. As Nelly proved earlier in the season, there are weeks when she’s untouchable. But there also are, well…other weeks. Like her three straight missed cuts after her win at the Mizuho in July. Or her unremarkable showings at the Evian and the Olympics. And then this week in St. Andrews. The title was hers to seize, but then came a sloppy double on 14 and a bogey on 17 when she left her par try the one place she couldn’t afford to: short of the hole. Korda admitted at the Olympics, “I think recently what’s been happening to me is I make a mistake and then I make another mistake on top of it.” That’s ultimately what cost her this Women’s Open title. I’m intrigued to see which version of Korda shows up at the Solheim Cup.    

With major championship golf now complete the for the year for both the top men and women in the world, what moment sticks out to you from 2024?

Marksbury: It’s been more than three months, and I’m still not over Scottie’s arrest. I don’t think I ever will be! But aside from that, I really loved the Olympic golf this year. The tears on the podium we saw from Scottie and Lydia demonstrated just how much it means to these players to compete for your country on the world stage. It was great to see.

Sens: Scheffler’s arrest was tough to top in its sheer weirdness. But the image I can’t shake is Rory standing over that little slider on the 18th at Pinehurst, looking doomed to miss it before he drew the putter back.

Bastable: Korda’s win at the Chevron will stick with me because of its historic nature; it was her fifth straight LPGA title, an achievement that my little brain still can’t process. But on a personal level, I’ll never shake Rory’s meltdown at Pinehurst. When he packed up his stuff and emerged from the locker room that Sunday evening, I was standing in the hallway just outside. The glassy, shell-shocked look in McIlroy’s eyes is one I won’t see forget.     

Keegan Bradley won the BMW Championship Sunday thanks to a final-round 72 in difficult conditions at Castle Pines to hold off Adam Scott, Ludvig Aberg and Sam Burns by one. It’s his first win since being named the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain last month and certainly adds fuel to the argument that he could be a playing captain next fall at Bethpage. Do you think Bradley can play his way onto next year’s team and if he does, should he give up the captaincy?

Marksbury: It’s awesome for Keegan to have this resurgence in his game … and yet! A playing captain just seems like a bad idea. The Ryder Cup is such a pressure-cooker of emotions, and totally exhausting for both players and captains alike. I can’t imagine trying to lead with a clear head and compete at the same time. But maybe that’s just me!

Sens: I feel exactly the opposite: that the demands of the captaincy are exaggerated by fans and the media alike. Pick your team and send them out to play. When you boil it all down, how much more is there to it, aside for some media obligations. As with golf, overthinking things rarely does much good. If Bradley can play his way on, he should compete. We don’t get to see player captains often. For all the flag waving and chest-beating USA, USA chants, it’s still meant to be an exhibition. Entertain us. Seeing Bradley in the dual role would be good fun.

Bastable: Tiger pulled off double duty at the 2019 Presidents Cup, going 3-0 in Melbourne. No reason Keegan can’t also play both roles effectively at a Ryder Cup. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There is still much golf to be played between now and decision time. One win at this early stage will not secure Bradley a spot. I’m with Sens, though. Few players bring the energy and fire that Bradley does to match play. Having him in the heat of the action with his squad would be fun to watch and surely a motivator for his troops.       

At the BMW Championship, Xander Schauffele tackled golf’s mega purses and compared it to NFL quarterbacks. “You look at the No. 1 quarterback, he’s getting $60 million and then the No. 10 quarterback is getting 52, and then No. 15 is getting 39 or 40,” he said, adding, “When I look at other sports, when someone gets a $300 million contract, there’s all these positive comments about how someone got their bag or they’ve worked so hard to get this and they deserve it, things like that. It’s interesting to me. I think maybe golf is a gentleman’s game and you’re not supposed to talk about money, but all the media wants to do is talk about money.” Does he have a point? Does it seem chasing cash in golf is considered greedy when sports like the NFL and NBA hand out considerably more?

Marksbury: There definitely seems like there’s a double-standard at play, but I think that’s because golf money has historically been performance-based, so you could make the case that players “deserve” every penny they get. The advent of appearance fees, big LIV signing bonuses, and no-cut Signature Events goes against that ethos, so I can understand why some traditionalists would take issue with that.

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Sens: I get where he’s going with his argument but the comparison falls apart for a few reasons, and not just because the NFL dwarfs the PGA Tour in market size by many billions. There’s also the fact that aside from Tiger, no single player in golf has the kind of needle-moving pull of a marquee quarterback. As for blaming the media for talking constantly about money — last I checked, it was the players themselves who fired up that conversation to begin with. The press, in turn, reported on it. Is there a “gentleman’s game” double standard at work? Maybe. I dunno. My sense is that the public’s distaste comes more from the sense that pro golfers have an inflated sense of their financial worth.

Bastable: Virtually every athlete outside of those sponsored by Saudi oil money get what the free markets say they’re worth. So while it might feel obscene for an NFL player, or F1 driver or golfer to be cashing 10-figure checks, let’s not forget that there’s a team or league behind them making huge sums off TV deals, merchandise and ticket sales. It’s not easy getting to the summit of a sport; actually, it’s nearly impossible. To the victors go the spoils. Let them enjoy.

Broadcaster Ian Baker-Finch was on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar Podcast and discussed golf’s slow-play issue and a potential fix, which he says would be to allow distance-measuring devices, his thinking being that pros and caddies are usually pretty close to the numbers as is now anyway. Do you agree? Or would that take away a key skill of the game?

Marksbury: Totally agree. The players are already relying on a teammate (caddie) to help them with yardage, so it’s not like distance-guesstimating is some sort of unique skill. Why not just let them use what they already have in the bag during practice rounds anyway? Speed it up!

Sens: It would definitely speed things up but I’d rather not see that skill outsourced to technology. How about the rigid and universal enforcement of a shot clock? The only thing stopping great players and their caddies from getting yardages and pulling clubs quickly is themselves. Light a real fire under them and they’ll figure it out.

Bastable: The LPGA already allows DMDs — heck, the tour even has an official DMD sponsor! — and the PGA of America also permits the devices at its majors. Feels silly and confusing to have different standards at different events. My sense is all the tours and majors will soon green-light them.

With the completion of the Women’s Open, the auto-qualifiers for next month’s Solheim Cup have been finalized. Europe makes its four captain’s picks on Monday, while the U.S. team makes its selections on Tuesday. If you are U.S. captain Stacy Lewis, who are you picking?

Marksbury: Angel Yin, Cheyenne Knight and Lexi Thompson. All three are proven veterans from last year’s squad, and even though Lexi has the lowest standing on the Solheim Cup points list (No. 14) of those three, she had a great showing as a captain’s pick last year, going 3-1-0. And what a swan song it would be for her retirement year to compete on her seventh Solheim Cup team, and play in front of U.S. fans. Could be a storybook ending — and one she greatly deserves.

Sens: Great picks, Jess. Especially fitting for Lexi to get the nod. I know that Jenifer Kupcho had a rough Solheim Cup in Spain last year. But I’d be tempted to include her in the mix as well. I love the fire she brings.

Bastable: Lexi is a lock. Watch out for Sarah Schmelzel, too. Six top-10s this year.