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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, our writers discuss news on the distance debate and try to make sense of Scottie Scheffler’s 2026 season.

One topic we never discussed in this space after the PGA Championship was that Cameron Young was playing with a ball that would reportedly conform under the new rollback guidelines set to take place in 2028. Our Sean Zak recently wrote how the rollback debate lines up to become golf’s next civil war. For those not into the weeds on this topic, why did the golf ball news at the PGA create such a stir and what’s at stake going forward?

Jessica Marksbury, senior editor (@jess_marksbury): The fact that this ball would reportedly be conforming, is currently in-play by one of the game’s biggest stars and can still be absolutely crushed by said star is … really interesting! I think many of us felt that the rollback would equal significant distance loss. So who knows? I guess it’s still early days. What will pro golf look like if, say, the PGA Tour rejects the rollback, and we have the four majors and USGA championships played with rolled-back balls, but no other tournaments? Is that even a possibility? Time will tell. And as Sean mentioned in his story, the coming months will likely reveal more.

Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): The news was enough to give pause to those on either side of the debate. For those opposed to a rollback, it seemed like evidence that any hand-wringing was much ado about nothing — because Young, after all, is still murdering the ball and seeing plenty of success. For those in favor of a rollback, it seemed to suggest that the proposed changes probably aren’t going far enough — because Young, after all, is still murdering the ball and seeing plenty of success. What’s at stake going forward? Profits more than performance is my guess. 

Josh Schrock, associate news editor (@schrock_and_awe): Sens nailed it. The news about Young’s ball made waves because he has been hitting the ball a mile and racking up wins. So, if the ball Young is using would conform to the rollback standards, it’s clearly not doing enough for those who want rollback and shows those opposed to the idea that this whole endeavor is kind of farcical. It’s not a secret that the ball needs to be rolled back, and probably in a bigger way than is already being proposed. But will the five families find a way to get to the place the game needs to be?

About a week after the Young story dropped, GOLF reported the PGA Tour sent a 13-question survey to PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour members on the issue of distance in golf and if the proposed USGA and R&A rollback is necessary. How much influence do you think the pros have on this topic going forward? And will it be enough to shape the future of the game?

Marksbury: I don’t know. On the surface, it seems like they have a lot of power, but if they want to compete, they will ultimately be subject to whatever the governing bodies decide to do.

Sens: I’m sure they have some influence, but far less than the manufacturers. And then there’s Augusta National, which will do whatever it wishes and possibly sooner than the rest of the game.

Schrock: They have influence over how the rules are enacted on their tour, but their say is minimal when it comes to the USGA, R&A and Augusta National. As Sens pointed out, I expect Fred Ridley, especially after his presser ahead of this year’s Masters, to set the pace.

In the days after Garrick Higgo was late for his PGA Championship tee time, penalized two strokes and missed the cut by one, Higgo and caddie Austin Gaugert parted ways. Gaugert took to social media to say, “as a caddie, you try to do everything you can to prepare your player for competition and I fell short of that.” While we don’t know all the details behind this incident, who should the blame typically fall on for these types of mistakes: caddie or player?

Marksbury: This is kind of tough. On one hand, a Tour caddie’s sole purpose is to support his player to the best of his abilities. On the other, showing up on time at the 1st tee is the most basic thing the game asks of you. So, without knowing the general dynamic between these two, I say it’s 70 percent Higgo’s fault, 30 percent Gaugert’s. I mean, Gaugert was on the tee at the right time. Higgo wasn’t.

Sens: If Gaugert had taken Higgo hostage and prevented him from getting to the 1st tee, I might be inclined to hold him responsible. Otherwise, I’d say this one is on the player.

Schrock: It’s a major. Be on the tee early. 

The PGA of America, one week after holding its biggest annual event of the year, announced its president, Don Rea, has been replaced as president by Nathan Charnes, who will serve as acting president. In a statement, the PGA of America said the move “followed a series of issues over time that, taken together, were determined to be detrimental to the Association.” Rea made headlines for some comments he made during the 2025 Ryder Cup, although given that was several months ago. Are you surprised he’s gone, or surprised the PGA waited this long?

Marksbury: I’m not surprised on either front. I’m sure there were protocols and investigations to get through, so the PGA opted to take its time in ultimately making the call.

Sens: My guess is that this was decided some time ago but acted on slowly partly for HR reasons and partly for optics — to avoid the appearance of acting rashly in response to public outcry. 

Schrock: Not surprised. His press conference at last year’s PGA was a disaster. Then came the Ryder Cup. They pushed him to the background and made the announcement the week after the PGA so they didn’t have to answer questions about it at the press conference. 

Wyndham Clark won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Sunday, and Scottie Scheffler, who started the day two off the lead, finished in third. While Scheffler won his first start of the season and has compiled six top 10s since, he still hasn’t won for a second time. How do we start differentiating between a bunch of stacked up missed opportunities vs. simply playing good-but-not-winning golf?

Marksbury: It’s so hard to win, and certainly even harder to win consistently over the course of several years, as Scottie has done. I think we’re seeing a bit of the Tiger effect with him — our expectations are so high, we’re surprised every time he gets within striking distance and doesn’t collect a W. So, am I worried about Scottie? No. I can only imagine that every finish that falls short is fuel to his fire for the next one. 

Sens: Both Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods had winless droughts of more than two years in their primes. Scheffler is going to be just fine. But it would definitely help his cause if his putter heated up.

Schrock: He won a ton in 2023 and then cooled off in 2024 while still playing great golf. He racked up a ton of wins last year, and this year his putter has been a little cooler and his iron game not as precise. He’s still a poor Friday at Augusta from probably winning the Masters, and I think he should’ve won the PGA if his putter had been neutral. The game ebbs and flows, and he’s still the best player in the world. He’ll probably win Memorial in two weeks.

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The post Tour Confidential: Aaron Rai’s PGA win and a bizarre week at Aronimink appeared first on Golf.

The post Tour Confidential: Aaron Rai’s PGA win and a bizarre week at Aronimink appeared first on Golf.

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 discuss Aaron Rai’s PGA Championship victory, grade Aronimink as a venue and more.

Aaron Rai emerged from a crowded field to win the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club on Sunday, claiming the first major title of his career. How did Rai, who won by three, run away from the field so easily when others couldn’t?

Zephyr Melton, associate game-improvement editor (@zephyrmelton): When you look at the strokes-gained stats, you can see Rai made his hay in two areas: approach play and on the greens. For the week, he ranked second in the field in SG: Approach and fifth in SG: Putting. With the way Aronimink played all week, dominating in those two categories turned out to be the recipe for success. He may not have been one of the longest players in the field (66th for the week), but when you are hitting it close and making putts, you can afford to give away a little distance. As a fellow short hitter, I respect the hell out of it. 

Josh Sens, senior writer, (@joshsens): He was also *checks stats* fourth in fairways hit, which was crucial this week, what with the juicy rough and those feisty greens and not-to-mess with hole locations. Distance control was crucial. That’s hard to do when you’re playing approaches from the spinach. Rai was mostly in the short grass off the tee.

Josh Schrock, associate news editor (@schrock_and_awe): All those stats are nice but what will stick with me from a Sunday where Aaron Rai did what Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and others couldn’t, are three shots. First, the bunker shot on No. 13. I watched all day as guys went into that bunker and left the shot out of the sand short as they tried to run it up the slope. Rai flew it onto the back shelf and stopped it. Made par. Next came the 15th hole when he pulled 3 wood off the tee, knowing he’d have a long second shot in. He stuck to his game plan that hit a tight draw into that green. On the 16th hole, he worked the ball the other way to set up a two-putt birdie. He had total control of his ball and, outside of Justin Thomas, was probably the only one on Sunday.

Alex Smalley held the 54-hole lead, while five players were two back and 21 total started Sunday within four shots of the lead. Does this type of final-round setup make for a better major Sunday? Or would you prefer something like a couple of stars — or another option — dueling in the final pairing?

Melton: It probably makes for a more compelling Sunday for the casual fan with so many names in the mix, but it’s not necessarily the best way to determine a champion. When there is separation at the top of the leaderboard, it’s usually an indicator that great shots are being rewarded and bad ones punished. The type of setup we saw this week at Aronimink made some golf purists pull their hair out, but for the casual fan, it made for a compelling board heading into the final round. To each their own.

Sens: Early in the week, lots of comparisons were made to the U.S. Open, with the firm conditions and the big bounces and the challenges around the greens. But by Sunday we had something that felt closer to an Open Championship, with a bunch of unexpected names on the leaderboard on a setup that didn’t necessarily favor bombers. The ending was anticlimactic, but for a good part of the day, it was an entertaining change of pace. It’s not often we get that deep into a major with so many guys — a mix of big stars and lesser lights — still having a legitimate chance to win.

Schrock: It makes for a good TV product. Does it always identify the best player? No. Did it this week? I think so. Perhaps that can be the PGA’s identity going forward. A chaos-car crash major. 

PGA Championship host Aronimink Golf Club received some flak early in the week — “strategy off the tee is pretty nonexistent; it’s basically bash driver down there and then figure it out from there,” Rory McIlroy said pre-tournament — but the course and conditions proved to be a difficult test. Was the course unfairly judged? How would you grade Aronimink as a PGA venue?

Melton: I’ll give it a solid B. It wasn’t as good as some PGA hosts in recent history (Southern Hills, Kiawah), but it was much better than some others (Valhallah, Quail Hollow).

Sens: In the era before grade inflation, B meant good, which seems about right. It was a good venue. McIlroy might have felt like there was no strategy off the tee, but he sure cost himself some opportunities by not finding the fairway, and I’m sure he’d love to have that errant tee shot on the short par-4 13th back as well. If there was anything to harrumph about, some of the hole locations seemed borderline. That’s where I’d knock off a couple of points.

Schrock:  I really liked it. I loved the greens and thought the setup for three of the four days was tough but fair. It’s not Kiawah but it’s better than most and will probably be better than next year’s in Frisco. 

Who won the 2026 PGA Championship without winning the PGA Championship?

Melton: Gimme Cam Smith. He’s been MIA in majors recently with six straight missed cuts coming into the week, but his performance at Aronimink showed he’s still got plenty of game. A T7 is a nice sign that he’s still got plenty of game and can compete on the biggest stages. It was fun seeing him in the mix again. 

Sens: Good call on Smith. A bit farther down the leaderboard, it was fun to see 54-year-old Padriag Harrington shake off an opening 74 and put together a tidy weekend to finish inside the Top 20. That’s pretty much a win for the over-50 set.

Schrock: I agree with Zephyr. Smith was at the top of the golf world when he left for LIV in 2022. He played well in 2023 but has been in the wilderness ever since. He’s chaotic good in golfing form. Honorable mention to JT, who has been non-existent in majors since he won at Southern Hills. Golf is better when he’s in contention on the big stage.

Which means the biggest loser of Sunday was who or what?

Melton: I know Jon Rahm was only bested by the eventual champ, but I’ll give him the nod here. On a day when none of the biggest stars made a huge move, the Wanamaker seemed to be his for the taking. Unfortunately for him, he simply couldn’t find enough birdies and remains stuck on two major titles.

Sens: And there’s Rory, who woulda, coulda, shoulda but failed to get anything out of the par 5s all week.

Schrock: I struggle with this one. Rory clearly was battling the driver all week. Two rounds it worked. Two, it didn’t. He could’ve stolen one this week but I don’t think he leaves Aronimink kicking himself. To me, it’s Scottie. Scottie played great golf in tough conditions on Thursday and Friday and then missed all sorts of putts from inside five feet on the weekend. 

An action-packed week featured a Bryson DeChambeau missed cut, Cam Smith resurgence, a rare penalty and lots of relative unknowns flying up the leaderboard and contending at a major championship. What did you learn during PGA week?

Melton: Pre-tournament narratives should not be taken as gospel. Aronimink was supposed to get torn apart. Instead, we had a U.S. Open break out. Golf can be a funny game that way.

Schrock: That there might be nothing cooler than Patrick Reed’s schedule going Masters, PGA, U.S. Open with nothing in between. And he’s probably going to contend in all three! 

Sens: That guys with iron covers and plastic tees can be serious golfers, too. And that no matter what kind of form he’s in, Xander Schauffele continues to be a major-championship machine. This is his 10th top 10 in his last 14 tries, two of which were wins.

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Read GOLF’s Tour Confidential for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport. This week, with the PGA Championship at Aronimink, we’ll hit one key topic every night.

Bryson DeChambeau shot 76-71 at the PGA Championship and missed the cut, making it the first time in his career he missed the weekend at both the Masters and PGA in the same season. What’s going on with Bryson? And any reason to think the uncertainty of his current league, LIV Golf, played into this latest performance?

Sean Zak, senior writer (@sean_zak): It really is puzzling, especially when you consider his form from March, winning consecutive LIV events. I think what I see from Bryson at this point is increased volatility. When he’s on, he’s ON. But when he’s off, he’s WAY off — mostly at majors, where the pressure is greater and the tests are more difficult. I think back to the Open Championship last summer at Portrush, where he played his worst golf in the toughest wind of the week and shot 78. Then, as the conditions eased up, he was the best golfer in the tournament, shooting 65-68-64. I think LIV’s uncertainty has added a lot to his mental plate, but I don’t really expect that to linger for too long. I think this particular eight-week stretch of a disappointing Masters, some wildly unexpected LIV news, additional off-course drama and very difficult golf courses has him not-so-centered. In one month, he’ll find a firm, fast, brutal U.S. Open test, and that has seemed to really pull something out of his golfing ability over the years.

Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): There’s not much going right with DeChambeau’s game of late. Inconsistent driving. Poor distance control on approaches. Indifferent play around the greens. It was surprising at the Masters, especially given how well he had been performing in majors and the form he showed on LIV earlier in the year. But less shocking this week, as he was clearly searching in his pre-tournament range sessions. Hard to put up a good score on a major-championship setup when you’re out of sync throughout your bag. LIV uncertainty? The recent tumult can’t have helped his mindset. Of course, it’s also tempting to ask whether all the energy he’s been devoting to YouTube golf is great for his tournament game. Then again, to Sean’s point, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him find his form again in time for Shinnecock.

Josh Berhow, managing editor (@Josh_Berhow): Golf is unpredictable and I think Sean’s right when he says that when things go wrong for Bryson they can snowball. You can see it in his demeanor. It was a tough couple of days for most of the field, so while it’s easy to say he’s lost after this missed cut, he’s really just three shots off from making the weekend, putting together a decent couple of rounds and not having this become a discussion at all. I do think he puts added pressure on himself to play well these weeks and positively represent LIV. And in a way, he could become somewhat of the ultimate free agent this offseason. Maybe he’s putting too much pressure on himself to prove it. Although doesn’t everyone put more pressure on themselves during major weeks?

Nick Piastowski, senior editor (@nickpia): Oh, I definitely think the happenings around LIV had a good deal to do with DeChambeau’s play. But golf is also weird. Good one week, not good the next. I think he’ll contend at the U.S. Open. There may be some injury issues at play too. At last week’s LIV event, DeChambeau said this after his first round: “[The body is] struggling a bit unfortunately. The wrist is feeling better. I’ve had some shoulder stuff since, shoot, the Ryder Cup. I don’t know what happened. It’s been trained. It’s been treated. We’ve worked on it. We’ve done a bunch of stuff, MRIs. It’s all been fine. It’s been eking at me for quite a while. When I won those two events [on LIV], I was waking up every day, uh-oh, is it going to hurt today? It’s a little bit of overuse. I’m grinding to figure it out.”

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The post What was the biggest surprise Thursday at the PGA Championship? appeared first on Golf.

Read GOLF’s Tour Confidential for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport. This week, with the PGA Championship at Aronimink, we’ll hit one key topic every night.

One day into the 2026 PGA Championship, seven players — including Scottie Scheffler — are tied for the lead, although there were a handful of surprises on Thursday at Aronimink. Which one stood out to you?

Zephyr Melton, associate game-improvement editor (@zephyrmelton): Garrick Higgo being tardy for his tee time — at a major! — was … something. More surprising was his lack of accountability when facing the media, saying “I was obviously there on time but late.” And yet even more surprising is that he would be tied for the lead without the blunder. What a way to start a major.

Jessica Marksbury, senior editor (@jess_marksbury): How about Martin Kaymer’s appearance at the top of the leaderboard today? It’s been so long since he’s been a factor, I had to remind myself of his career creds, which are impressive: a PGA, U.S. Open and a Players Championship — albeit a decade-plus ago. He’s ranked 1,160 and playing this week on a lifetime PGA Champion exemption thanks to that win in 2010. His performance — so far! — is a surprise indeed.

Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): I would not have banked on Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy to be a combined 10-over par on Day 1, especially after Rory’s comments about the course not demanding much strategy off the tee. I would have expected Aronimink to favor a couple of guys who have done quite well bombing and gouging their way around various venues.

Jack Hirsh, associate equipment editor (@JR_HIRSHey): The golf course. This isn’t personally surprising to me, but the reports of Aronimink’s potential obsolescence seem to have been greatly exaggerated. Rory said before the tournament there was no penalty for missing fairways and it turned out that the proximity difference between hitting from the fairway or not was actually greater than the PGA Tour average. It seems the severeness of the slopes and undulations of the greens proved quite the challenge as well. I saw lots of players hitting multiple chip shots. Is Aronimink short by most modern standards? Sure, but it’s very well defended. What is interesting is how bunched the field is and I wonder if that will continue Friday when the winds are supposed to be even higher.

Josh Schrock, associate news editor (@schrock_and_awe): Kaymer to me is the biggest shocker. He hasn’t had a top 10 on LIV since last July in the UK. His finishes this season in the rebel league are as follows: T51, T52, T42, T31, T25, T39. Nothing about that screams major contender and yet he’s in the mix. An honorable mention to Rory McIlroy, finishing his round with four straight bogeys to shoot four over and put himself in danger of missing the cut. Neither of those were on my bingo card this week.

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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, our writers discuss the future of LIV Golf’s star players and the upcoming PGA Championship at Aronimink.

For the first time since news broke that the Saudi PIF will not fund LIV Golf following this season, the league’s CEO, Scott O’Neil, and players spoke to the media at this week’s D.C. tournament. What was your biggest takeaway from what you heard from Trump National?

News

What now for LIV Golf? CEO offers clues as uncertainty swirls

By: Dylan Dethier

Jack Hirsh, Associate Equipment Editor (@JR_HIRSHey): That LIV is on the ropes. I think we knew this already, but nothing O’Neil said would do anything to convince me otherwise. It seemed like O’Neil was acting more reactionary than anything, which means he didn’t see the PIF pulling funding. That’s not a death sentence, but the next time the media hears from him, he’s going to need to come up with a more concrete plan about how LIV was going to survive. It didn’t sound like he knew how that would happen yet.

Josh Schrock, associate news editor (@Schrock_And_Awe): As expected, it feels like everyone is trying to figure out what’s next or if there is a next for LIV Golf. O’Neil didn’t offer many specifics on what funding they might get or how a 2027 season would look. I thought Jon Rahm saying that the players would need to make “concessions” to keep the business alive was telling. What does that look like? Who is interested in doing that? Still a lot of unknowns.

Dylan Dethier, senior writer (@dylan_dethier): LIV as we know it is over. That’s already been true — the original vision was a marriage of Greg Norman and Yasir Al-Rumayyan and had nearly blank-check access to the Saudi PIF reserves — but it was even clearer this week, as O’Neil explained that the plan is to make a new plan and players spoke of concessions and unknowns. 

One looming question is the future of Bryson DeChambeau, whose contract is up at the end of this year and who said last week he could focus on growing his YouTube channel and playing “tournaments that want me” if it doesn’t work for him to return to LIV or the PGA Tour. How valuable is Bryson to the future of the PGA Tour? And who holds the leverage in Bryson’s future?

News

Bryson DeChambeau considering unique backup plan if LIV Golf folds

By: Josh Berhow

Hirsh: There’s no doubt Bryson is super important to the PGA Tour from the standpoint of how many eyeballs he can draw to it that wouldn’t otherwise watch. That said, people are going to see right through his bluff. Bryson is entertaining, no doubt, but if he’s not playing competitive golf, then some of that really goes away. What is to differentiate him from any other YouTuber? I think his viewers hold the greatest amount of leverage in his future. Maybe I’m wrong and people would continue to watch him if he stopped playing any competitive golf once his exemptions ran out. But if I’m not and he loses his command on his viewers, you’re going to see he come back to the PGA Tour with his tail tucked.

Schrock: Bryson has value to the PGA Tour. If you’re just looking at a spreadsheet of who brings in eyeballs and whose presence would translate into dollars and cents, Bryson would be in the green. But the PGA Tour is doing good without him and I don’t think he’s doing himself a lot of favors by saying the PGA Tour is struggling and complaining about the policy regulating players’ social media content creation at tournaments. It will be fascinating to see what a return would look like for Bryson, should he want to come back. He was the lead plaintiff in the antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in 2022, which members had to pay to defend. He disparaged the PGA Tour on his way out and worked to recruit players to LIV. Basically, everything Brooks Koepka didn’t do, he did. Bryson had all the leverage in negotiations when Koepka ditched LIV. With the PIF no longer involved, he has lost that leverage and now it’s up to the PGA Tour to decide if and how he returns. Playing YouTube full-time is a good headline but, as Jack noted, eventually the exemptions run out. They don’t hand those out for breaking 50 with Steph Curry.

Dethier: They each really stand to benefit from an enthusiastic partnership. They’ll also each survive just fine without the other. There’s some risk in trying to force something that neither side fully buys in on; to Bryson’s point, he should only play the PGA Tour if he wants to and if they want him to.

While appearing on The Rich Eisen Show last week, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said he’s interested in doing whatever makes the PGA Tour better when it comes to player reintegration, but “we need to balance that with the interest of our current golfers.” How does Rolapp go about improving his Tour while also not irking current members who never left in the first place?

News

For potential LIV returnees, PGA Tour CEO doesn't yet have answers

By: Josh Schrock

Hirsh: Oh man! Isn’t that the million-dollar question? I don’t think there’s a scenario where the PGA Tour product vastly improves for the fan, but the majority of Tour pros (especially guys ranked from like 75-125) aren’t irked. Personally, I’m not a fan of the proposed two-tier Tour, but I can see how that would make it easier for the casual fan. As for reintegration. I say guys who wouldn’t otherwise be exempt need to take the Patrick Reed route. Sorry, not sorry.

Schrock: When someone finds the answer to this question, let me know. I do think we’re really only talking about a handful of players and the real questions revolve around Bryson and Rahm. Feels like the second-tier bucket — the Tyrrell Hattons and Joaquin Niemanns — can take the Patrick Reed route back via the DP World Tour and most of the membership wouldn’t bat an eye. But how Rolapp constructs a punishment and way back for Bryson and Rahm, two players who have irked membership in a way Brooks Koepka didn’t, will be a fascinating tight-rope act. 

Dethier: I think we’ve seen versions of these reintegration programs with Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed — but those guys returned voluntarily, while LIV was still in existence. This version is far more complex. Especially with Bryson declaring that he’ll be with LIV as long as LIV exists, and that he wants to watch out for the league’s young would-be stars and their futures, too. I don’t see a simple fix.

The second men’s major of the year has arrived, as we head to Aronimink outside of Philadelphia for the PGA Championship. What’s your top storyline for this year’s event?

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2026 PGA Championship schedule: TV times, channel, streaming, dates and more

By: Kevin Cunningham

Hirsh: That more golf tournaments need to be in Philly. I’m biased, but come on, we only get a golf tournament in the Philly metro every four years (the next one on the schedule is the 2030 U.S. Open at Merion). There are dozens of outstanding tournament-quality venues within 90 minutes of the airport. Not to mention it’s the best food city in the northeast (I said what I said). I think the Philly crowds are going to show out in force this week and show everyone exactly why we need to have a regular event. I’m sure the Cobbs Creek project will be highlighted and hopefully, soon, that might be the host of a tournament in Philly.

Schrock: I feel like every PGA Championship has the same top storyline, which is: So, what’s the identity of this major? Ever since the move to May, the PGA Championship has been adrift. It’s a major, but doesn’t really have the major juice we will get at the U.S. Open, Masters or Open. It’s almost Chevron-esque in that you’re telling me it’s a major but I’m not seeing it. Going to Valhalla and Quail Hollow hasn’t helped. I’m bullish on Aronomink giving us a major feel we’ve been missing at this event but we’re still looking for an identity for the fourth major. 

Dethier: Jordan Spieth hunting the career Grand Slam, fellas! [Returns to earth] Honestly, for me it’s the ongoing Scottie-Rory major hunt. To Schrock’s point, as the PGA continues to hunt for an identity, its strongest virtue is that yeah, it’s a major! These are the ones that we really keep track of. I can’t wait. 

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have won four of the last five majors, with McIlroy already taking the Masters this year. Which player do you like better heading into the PGA?

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By: Josh Schrock

Hirsh: Rory just won one. Scottie has finished second his last like bajillion events. I more likely see him defending his title than Rory getting halfway to the slam.

Schrock: Rory won at Augusta with his B- game. Scottie has been playing with his B- game for like the last two months and barely finishes outside the top five. I feel like Scottie’s floor is Sunday contention and a to -five, whereas Rory could win or bomb out early. I’ll take Scottie. 

Dethier: Scottie’s the best golfer in the world and continues to play like it, so I’ll take him at an old-school major championship test over anyone. But I think Cameron Young might win, and I also think these three could end up 1-2-3 in some order, like they did at Augusta National. 

Alex Fitzpatrick wasn’t a PGA Tour member until he teamed with his brother, World No. 4 Matthew Fitzpatrick, to win the Zurich Classic last month. But in his first two starts as a Tour member, Alex tied for 9th at the Cadillac Championship and now 4th at the Truist Championship Sunday. Has his play been the biggest surprise of 2026? If not, what has been? 

News

Alex Fitzpatrick's 'whirlwind' continues with dream start to PGA Tour career

By: Kevin Cunningham

Hirsh: Yeah, and I don’t think anything will top it. To go from having zero status to winning a team event with your brother and finishing top-10 in the next two Siggies? Now he’s playing in his second major. Quite the whirlwind.

Schrock: In a year of surprises, from Brooks Koepka’s return to Rory’s second jacket and a freakin’ Gary Woodland win, I think Alex Fitzpatrick’s last month, namely how he has played post-Zurich, is the biggest surprise. I would like to throw in Brandt Snedeker winning in Myrtle Beach today, which was his first win in almost eight years and first since he had experimental surgery on his sternum. He had five top-10s in six years coming into this week!

Dethier: The biggest surprise of 2026 is what Sungjae Im did from that bunker on the weekend. Other than that, though? Yeah, I’d say the Brothers Fitzpatrick take the cake, with a nod to some epic, inspiring wins from the trio of 40-somethings (Rose, Woodland, Snedeker). Also, did you see what happened on the Euro Tour this weekend? Golf is full of glorious, unexpected surprises. Maybe another one this week.

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The post Tour Confidential: Answering biggest questions about LIV Golf’s future appeared first on Golf.

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, our writers discuss LIV Golf’s future after the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund announced it will cut funding for the rebel league after the 2026 season.

In a press release Thursday, LIV Golf announced new board members as it transitions from “a foundational launch phase to a diversified, multi-partner investment model.” Hours later, its bankroller, the Saudi PIF, released its own statement saying the “PIF has made the decision to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season. The substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF’s investment strategy.” Now that you’ve had a few days to digest this bombshell — and after a rollercoaster April for LIV Golf — what thought has lingered with you?

Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): That for all the tumult, not much changed, aside from some players getting a whole lot richer. I suppose you could say LIV’s birth shook the Tour out of its complacency, which led to (ongoing) schedule changes and even fatter purses for already extravagantly paid golfers. Beyond that, though, what? Is there now an insatiable demand for team golf? There is not. Is professional golf itself a better product now for fans? I don’t see a ton of evidence of that. 

Josh Schrock, associate news editor (@Schrock_And_Awe): I think Sens pretty much nailed it. What will stick with me long after LIV either morphs into something else or goes away entirely is that money couldn’t buy the parts of professional golf that actually resonate with fans: the tradition, the history and the meaning of the results. Billions of dollars can do a lot, but they can’t speed up time. It takes decades for sports leagues to resonate with fans and to develop a connection. LIV Golf was never going to be able to achieve that goal in a short time frame. As our Michael Bamberger wrote, LIV Golf changed the PGA Tour, but not for the better. And I feel like a reckoning is coming now that the Tour’s great opponent is teetering. 

James Colgan, news and features editor (@jamescolgan26): Good points, gents. My lingering thought was this: We never heard the “don” of LIV Golf, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, say a single word. However golf history remembers LIV’s most powerful Saudi benefactor, it will NOT remember him for saying a single word about the sport. “His Excellency” left golf as he entered it: Without a peep.

At Trump Doral for this week’s Cadillac Championship, several players were asked if LIV members should be welcomed back to the PGA Tour, and what types of penalties they should face. If you werePGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, how would you handle players’ reintegration? Is it different for everyone? Would you not allow certain players at all?

Sens: Open a pathway for guys to play their way back on, with a point system that has some kind of reward for past performance. So that maybe the likes of Bryson and Rahm and Smith can compete in regular Tour events but not elevated events, which they’d still have to play their way into. The less relevant LIV guys would probably just retire rather than face that grind. And the younger guys would be left to try to earn their cards, which is what they’d probably be doing anyway. 

Schrock: It’s going to have to be a case-by-case basis. As Rolapp and Jordan Spieth have noted, the PGA Tour extended an offer to Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith earlier this year and it wasn’t accepted. The next deal shouldn’t be as forgiving. Both Spieth and Rolapp also subtly mentioned the lawsuit that DeChambeau was a key plaintiff in after LIV launched in 2022. That’s a lawsuit that PGA Tour players had to pay to defend, and the road back for those who signed on to sue the Tour should be harsher than those who went to LIV quietly, like Brooks Koepka, and didn’t rock the boat. Rahm will be the interesting case. His exodus came at a time when LIV was floundering, and it gave the rebel league juice and calcified the two sides’ stances in golf’s civil conflict. That rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. I’m not sure there’s an easy way to bring either of the big names back without upsetting a big portion of Tour membership, but the Tour would certainly benefit economically from reintegrating them quickly. As for the rest of LIV’s roster, some who resigned their membership, like Patrick Reed, can try to play their way back via the DP World Tour or KFT. Many will disappear with their millions and not even knock on the door at the global home. In all honesty, we’re probably talking about 15-20 players in total that decisions need to be made on.

Colgan: I’d give Bryson a path back. His presence would single-handedly change the PGA Tour’s economics, and he’s probably the only LIV player for whom that is true (Jon Rahm probably deserves consideration here as well). Everyone else would be subject to a lengthy (and expensive) return process through the Tour’s strategic partners at the DP World Tour and the KFT, or a short-term retirement.

News

LIV Golf changed the PGA Tour — but not for the better

By: Michael Bamberger

Even if LIV Golf receives alternative funding, with the substantial PIF coffers no longer available, does this end any sort of competition that was remaining with the PGA Tour?

Sens: I think so. If LIV taught us anything, it’s that the world does not need more professional golf. At least not for the money these guys think they deserve to be making. Ironically, the Tour’s real competition for eyeballs these days doesn’t come from LIV. It comes from a bunch of YouTube bros producing their own content. 

Schrock: Yes. Without the $30 million purses and signing bonuses, LIV will cease to be any sort of threat to the PGA Tour. It sounds like it’s close to a wrap, barring an unforeseen bailout.

Colgan: No fat lady is singing. Yet. But it sounds like she’s warming up. 

What’s the best-case scenario for LIV Golf going forward?

Sens: Maybe pivot to crypto?

Schrock: Try to merge with the DP World Tour. LIV can slink along with limited funds, but there will almost certainly be a talent exodus once the money dries up.

Colgan: I think there’s a vision that could exist with significantly smaller purses at LIV’s previously successful golf-crazy venues (Korea, Australia, South Africa). The problem LIV is going to run into is that every sports league needs significant TV revenue to survive, and they’re not anywhere close to that right now.

Sunday’s golf slate featured two blowouts, as Nelly Korda won by four in Mexico and Cameron Young won by six in Florida. Both have had fantastic starts to 2026, but which one are you taking as most likely to continue this success through the summer?

Sens: I think they’ll both keep rolling, but Young’s summer is going to stand out just a bit more boldly when he wins his first major at Shinnecock.

Schrock: It’s Korda for multiple reasons. The first is that she’s the unquestioned best player on her tour. Young has been fantastic but has to deal with Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and the blistering hot Matt Fitzpatrick. Korda changed her mentality after a winless 2025 and has been relentless to start this season. The only thing that can hold her back is a balky putter, but her new putting coach seems to have at least made that a net neutral. I expect her to win at least one more major this year and wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a three-major 2026 for Nelly.

Colgan: Cam! He’s a no-doubt top-5 player in the world right now, and a maiden voyage PGA Championship at Philly looms.

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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 discuss Nelly Korda’s second turn of dominance, the new Ryder Cup captain and its exorbitant ticket prices.

Nelly Korda won the Chevron Championship, blitzing the field to win by five and claim the first major of the year, the third of her career. Two years ago she won seven times, but followed it up with a winless 2025. This year she has already won twice. Is a summer of Nelly Korda dominance ahead? What’s changed?

James Colgan, news and features editor (@jamescolgan26): It is the hardest thing in golf to win a tournament. And yet, it is very, very hard to lose golf tournaments when you’re playing the way Nelly did this weekend. On the front nine on Sunday with a five-shot lead, feeling all of the pressure in the world to close it out, Korda made seven pars and two birdies. There’s a maturity in that kind of sensibility on Sunday at a major, and I think it explains a lot of her success in Houston.

Sean Zak, senior writer (@sean_zak): I think Nelly has settled in to a comfortable spot with what she wants to be to the game. When she last went on a run like this, there was immense pressure for her to carry the entire women’s game. To try and live up to cross-sport comparisons to Caitlin Clark. I’m not sure Korda ever really felt great about all of that. 

To answer the question, I hope a Summer of Nelly is upon us. She is unquestionably one of the best golfers we’ve ever seen, which just makes me want to see what she’s capable of achieving at her very peak. This comes the same week that DataGolf launched its women’s rankings. I want to see her take off and plant her flag with one of the best seasons of all-time. And then, if I can be greedy, I want to see Jeeno Thitikul go toe-to-toe with her. 

Josh Schrock, associate news editor (@schrock_and_awe): Here in Houston all week, it was very apparent that Nelly Korda is at peace with who she is, and her maturity on the golf course stems from both personal happiness and a decision that she and caddie Jason McDede made to approach things differently after 2025. She’s made a concerted effort to play smart golf, not take on unnecessary risk and not let negativity, both internal and external, seep into her game. McDede told me that the loss last year at Erin Hills was really the catalyst for the changes she made to her mentality, and I think there’s reason to believe she could rip off several more wins this year. Every part of her game is firing, and her decision to hire a “no nonsense” putting coach has helped address what was the Achilles’ heel of her game. The hype train leading into Riviera will be out of control. 

A pre-tournament talking point at the Chevron was if the winner’s leap into Poppie’s Pond should continue with the tournament now taking place at a new venue, Memorial Park. A small pool was built as a placeholder this year (which Korda splashed into) until a more natural water feature is built by Tom Doak before next year. Should the winner’s leap have stayed put at the previous venue, Carlton Woods? Is it gimmicky? Or is it a fun tradition and important to preserve?

News

Curious addition at LPGA's first major has deeper meaning

By: Josh Schrock

Colgan: Golf people get so worked up about the dumbest things. I’d argue sports are fun precisely because of our stupidly blind adherence to totally outrageous (and often watered down) traditions like the winner’s leap. We’re investing emotionally into someone’s capacity to put a white ball into a hole in the ground in fewer lashes than their opponent. That’s as dumb as it gets. If the winner wants to jump into a kiddie pool or battle an orangutan after, we should be unmoved. 

Zak: If they battle an orangutan, I’m gonna be moved by that. Sorry, James. But I actually kinda dig this tradition, mostly because … who cares? Bring your hate elsewhere. There are more important — and way more gimmicky — things to get angry about. Nelly’s team seemed to enjoy the leap. 

Schrock: Completely agree. What was all the fuss about? The players want to keep tradition alive and the LPGA created a stopgap move to allow it. There’s way too much hand-wringing about dumb things in golf. This was much ado about nothing. Korda was one of the players who wanted the tradition kept alive. She dove in. We move on. It’s sports. Go take a lap if you’re so aggrieved, maybe in a pool. 

The PGA of America announced Jim Furyk as its Ryder Cup captain for 2027, and he’ll become just the fourth repeat captain in the modern era. While we already discussed the news earlier this week, Furyk has had plenty of experience since his 2018 loss (as Ryder Cup assistant and Presidents Cup captain). What do you think his biggest learning from Paris has been that will be most beneficial next year?

Colgan: Don’t allow yourself to start the Cup by getting punched in the face. A fast start is the biggest asset for any road team, and it’s especially true at the Cup.

News

Is Jim Furyk the right pick as Ryder Cup captain? Our writers discuss

By: Sean Zak, James Colgan, Dylan Dethier

Zak: Here’s what the biggest learning needs to be: pairings decided weeks in advance. Perhaps months in advance. The Euros have trotted out pairs they knew would be playing together back in June. It seems like a strategy that keeps working. 

Schrock: There has to be a better strategy with the pairings than letting guys play with who they want to and flying by the seat of their pants as the competition goes on. The U.S. has the talent but they are lacking in every other area. 

Speaking of the Ryder Cup, tickets for 2027 in Ireland were recently announced as $585, which is more than double the cost of the last European Ryder Cup (in Rome in 2023). It also comes a year after $750 tickets caused an uproar at Bethpage. The PGA of America said then it’s a “Tier 1” sporting event and priced accordingly. What say you? Is it good for golf that prices (and demand) for Ryder Cup tickets are soaring? Or outrageous that it’s boxing out certain fans?

Colgan: Oh, it’s totally pathetic and completely antithetical to the spirit of an exhibition meant to celebrate golf’s best virtues. If the Euros don’t ask for payment to play in the Cup after the latest ticket news, they’re being naive. 

Zak: So is this price…Tier 2? Or is it still Tier 1, but in Ireland? I feel sad for those locals who have had this event circled on their calendars for years — after a very rich businessman won the bid to bring a now impossibly rich event to his very expensive resort. There’s a long tail of benefits that follow the Ryder Cup and make it worth everyone’s cause, but a lot of it now starts with fans paying a ton on the front end. It feels changed.

Schrock: Completely outrageous. Ticket prices for everything have unnecessarily gone through the roof, but for an exhibition match for a sport that is supposed to be about egalitarianism, this is pretty brutal. 

It’s official — for the first time in nearly six decades, the PGA Tour will not stop in Hawaii during the 2027 season, a domino of the forthcoming schedule change. Will you miss Hawaii? And what was your favorite moment during the Tour’s time in The Aloha State? 

Colgan: I’ll miss Hawaii. The golf course was fun and distinct, and the vibes were aspirational in a way few events on the golf calendar are. In a lot of ways, it feels like this is the moment we’ll look back upon as the Tour’s defining shift toward commerce in the mid-2020s. Not a bad thing, but a thing worth noting!

Zak: It’s okay to miss Hawaii as a season-starter and also know it was not an economically viable tournament. We live in an era of sports that will squeeze plenty of Things We Like out and replace them with Things We Still Like But Are Better Funded. It is what it is. This is a strictly commercial move and I think we’ll look back on it in five years in a totally accepting way. That said, the Tiger-Ernie battle from 2000 was one of the best mano a mano golf moments we’ve ever had.

Schrock: I’ll miss Hawaii for sure. Kapalua was a great course and it gave everyone buried in snow in the northeast an escape. That being said, I completely understand why the decision was made from a financial standpoint. Agree, this decision feels like a notable moment in the PGA Tour’s for-profit journey.

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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. Today, we’re trotting out a bonus Tour Confidential to discuss Friday’s Ryder Cup news.

According to a report from the Associated Press’ Doug Ferguson that was later confirmed by the PGA of America, Jim Furyk will be the U.S. Ryder Cup captain for the 2027 event in Ireland. Furyk, who was the captain when the U.S. lost 17.5-10.5 in Paris in 2018, would be the fourth U.S. captain to get a second stint dating back to 1979. Europe has won nine of the last 12 Ryder Cups, and the Americans haven’t won overseas since 1993. Is Furyk the right pick?

Sean Zak, senior writer: Furyk is a fine pick, and anyone upset about it should really look around and see how much context has led to this pick. Tiger Woods took himself out of the running, forcing a late decision from the PGA of America for a second straight Cup. Stewart Cink has never been the lead guy. Same for Brandt Snedeker. Steve Stricker doesn’t want to do it anymore. Furyk has remained very close to the pro game, playing on the Champions Tour and now broadcasting Tour events. He was an assistant on Keegan Bradley’s team, ushering him through some tough moments. If Bradley had selected himself as a captain’s pick at Bethpage, Furyk would have played a bigger role. Not to forget he was the winning Presidents Cup captain just two years ago, on the road in Canada. He knows what he’s doing.

James Colgan, news and features editor: Maybe? It’s certainly not an inspiring choice, particularly not after the way the Americans (and more specifically, Furyk’s captain’s picks) got throttled in Paris. But Furyk is an adult who at least has done the job before. It’s not a disastrous choice, but I’m not sure the American chances in Ireland improved today.

Dylan Dethier, senior writer: Once it became clear that the original frontrunner (Tiger Woods) was out of the running and my preferred pick (Fred Couples, paired with a very specific quant) wasn’t going to happen, this turned into a giant shrug for me. Not because I don’t care or don’t think it’s important — just because I’m not sure there was one specific unassailable correct answer. The U.S. Ryder Cup system doesn’t have a lot of recent heroes. But I will say this: Furyk showed plenty of humility after their 2018 drubbing in France and players raved about his Presidents Cup captaincy. I think he’ll do well.

But do you think there were better options?

Zak: The cupboard was bare! Extremely bare. I would have accepted other options, like Stew Cink, but it really goes to show how uncertain the candidates are. Not to mention the recent changes in leadership at the PGA of America. It all feels in flux with that organization, so having some stability in Furyk feels like the best case scenario.

Colgan: I probably would have called Keegan Bradley again.

Dethier: I’m still hoping for a Keegan comeback story where he finds his form from last year and plays his way onto this team. Again, Fred Couples paired with a data scientist would have been the ultimate old-school/new-school pairing. But I’m not sure Freddie would have consented to all the photoshoots.

But if the cupboard is so bare, as mentioned above, shouldn’t there be blame for that somewhere? Meanwhile Luke Donald is looking for his third straight victory.

Zak: Everyone is at fault. The players for playing poorly, the captains for making poor decisions, the PGA for not establishing better relationships with the players, certain players demanding more money — I could go on and on. It all breeds a certain culture — or rather, a lack of certain culture that Europe has in spades.

Colgan: Clearly the PGA of America has not done an effective job of building the infrastructure around the Cup (outside of making money from it — they’re REALLY good at that). Bradley was basically thrown to the wolves and forced to contend with potentially playing in the event. There’s no culture, to Sean’s point, and no real team identity. It shows!

Dethier: There’s certainly an alternate universe in which Phil Mickelson is coming off a winning captaincy at Bethpage Black and heading for back-to-back Cups at Adare Manor and, well, just saw the next question, let’s continue this there.

The AP reported that Furyk was the pick as soon as Tiger Woods declined the job following his March arrest on suspicion of DUI. Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson, who was once thought to be a future Ryder Cup captain, hasn’t been on the radar since he left for LIV Golf. How much, or how little, have these two affected the PGA of America’s long-term Ryder Cup plan?

Zak: Immensely? Massively? Grotesquely? Is there a bigger word I’m missing? It’s possible that the two greatest American golfers of the ‘90s and 2000s will have both been too chaotic to captain in 2021, 2023, 2025 and 2027 — possibly right when they were needed most. I’d look to blame others more if Tiger and Phil weren’t the auto-placements on the original Ryder Cup task force that was formed a decade ago.

Colgan: Yeah, that’s the elephant in the room. The void is THIS massive because those guys are missing.

Dethier: I went searching in the archives to try to find what consensus would have been pre-everything and found this from Alan Shipnuck, writing for our mag: “Steve Stricker is the obvious choice for 2020, with the Cup being in Wisconsin, at Whistling Straits … after that, it lines up for Zach Johnson in ’22, Phil in ’24 and Tiger in ’26.” First Covid hit and the 2020 Ryder Cup became the 2021 Ryder Cup, but Shipnuck was still correct about Stricker and Johnson. Then LIV landed, plus [gestures] everything else. But originally, Phil and Tiger would have been next — that’s what everybody assumed would happen. So, yeah. Their absence has changed everything. In fairness, the European pipeline was laid out, too, and included some combination of Stenson/Poulter/Westwood/McDowell before those four left for LIV. Luke Donald stepped in and became arguably the greatest Ryder Cup captain in history. These things can cut both ways.

What do you think the better option in general is: a veteran captain, like Furyk, who can learn from mistakes or successes, or new blood via a rookie captain?

Zak: Veterans in the Ryder Cup, newbies in the Presidents Cup.

Colgan: I like the vet captain path, it’s the most defensible part of the Furyk decision.

Dethier: If you bring in a new-blood captain you need to make sure there’s rock-solid infrastructure around him — and I’m not sure Keegan Bradley had enough of that in 2025. Furyk will be a steady hand and his players should have enough of a collective chip on their shoulder that he won’t need much of a pump-up speech anyway. I guess I’m talking myself into this pick more as we go here. Furyk can use decades of heartbreak and near-misses at Ryder Cups as motivation. He’s seen what it looks like when things go well and what it looks like when they don’t. He may be the perfect steady hand for what will be a fraught Ryder Cup atmosphere.

And your first question for Furyk in his introductory press conference would be?

Zak: It’s been eight years since Paris and two years since Montreal — do you feel like you know what’s best to win in Ireland or do you still need the next year to figure that out?

Colgan: What’s the first thing you changed from your captainship in 2018?

Dethier: Did you expect this job?

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The post Tour Confidential: Unpacking LIV Golf’s wild week and uncertain future appeared first on Golf.

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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 discuss LIV Golf’s chaotic week and uncertain future, Matt Fitzpatrick’s win at RBC Heritage and Rory McIlroy’s career Masters prospects.

Early last week, several news outlets reported uncertainty regarding LIV Golf’s future, indicating the Saudi PIF was on the verge of pulling its funding. LIV CEO Scott O’Neil told his staff via email on Wednesday: “Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle. While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass.” But O’Neil was more specific about the situation on Thursday, when he said in a TV interview, “The reality is you’re funded through the season, and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going.” (The clip was deleted but still circulated online.) On Sunday, Jon Rahm won LIV’s sixth event of the season, in Mexico City. What’s your primary takeaway from what was a wild week for the five-year-old league? 

James Colgan, news and features editor (@jamescolgan26): My primary takeaway is simple: The Saudis seem to be getting out of the business of running a golf league, which is a truly momentous takeaway for the entire sport. LIV now enters a period in which it will need to work hard to find a path to survival, and as its CEO, Scott O’Neil, himself said, it seems all options are on the table.

Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): One takeaway is as old as capitalism: that new businesses — even the disruptive variety — are hard to grow no matter how much money you put into them. That said, for Saudi Arabia, getting out of the business of funding a professional golf tour would not have to mean getting out of golf. A new course just opened in Jura. Others are in the works. The ambition is still to grow the country’s presence in the game, but likely now as a host for golf tourism and tour events. Which, in retrospect, seems like it would have been the better path all along.

Josh Schrock, associate news editor (@Schrock_And_Awe): My main takeaway is that if the PIF pulls out, LIV Golf, as we know it, would need to reinvent itself. O’Neil said he would pursue all avenues to get more funding, but it’s hard to see one or several sponsors willing to bankroll the league at a level that would allow for more nine-figure contracts. O’Neil himself said LIV wouldn’t be profitable for five or 10 years without significant changes.  

News

Jon Rahm won but questions about LIV Golf's future dominated chaotic week

By: Josh Schrock

To Schrock’s point, can LIV continue in its current form without PIF’s deep pockets? If so, what would need to change?

Colgan: Definitely not in its current form. The league has spent more than $5 billion of Saudi funding to date, and, as Josh noted, O’Neil has already said that the league is several years away from any hope of profitability. Depending upon who steps up to help LIV with funding, I’d say any change is on the table.

Sens: Nope, the league would not be viable in its current form, and I have a tough time imagining what other form it might take. A limited series of world championship events with big overseas dollar sponsorships? But is there really a market for more big-dollar professional golf than we already have? The LIV experiment has shown that certain markets — Australia and South Africa, for example — are hungry for golf star power, but, on a global level, building and drawing eyeballs to a new league is a steep hill to climb.

Schrock: LIV could try and merge with the DP World Tour or reconstruct how it did a lot of things when the PIF spigot was on. But the contracts and purses would have to go down, and, at that point, how many players are going to want to continue when the financial payoff isn’t what it was when they initially signed on? A lot of moving parts to consider, many of which we still have limited to no information on. 

If LIV doesn’t survive past 2026, would you expect the PGA Tour to offer LIV’s top players — Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, etc. — a path back to the Tour by way of a similar agreement that Brooks Koepka accepted?

Sens: For the big LIV names, absolutely. If the Tour wants to be a showcase for the world’s best talent, and it does, it will work out a deal with Rahm and DeChambeau and maybe a small handful of others. The rest, I suspect, will have to play their way back in through other smaller tours.

Colgan: In that theoretical, I’d think the Tour can afford to offer a “Koepka Deal” to Bryson and Rahm … and probably leave the rest of the LIV contingent to serve out their suspensions on the DP World Tour. 

Schrock: From a pure cost-benefit analysis, Tour CEO Brian Rolapp would probably love to add Bryson and Rahm back in the fold just as he did with Brooks. But things are not always that easy when you’re dealing with two players who already turned down an opportunity to come back, who might not be as well-liked by the current membership as Brooks, who kept his head down after he left and didn’t take any swipes or recruit other players. The feelings might not be the same toward Bryson, who was a named plaintiff in LIV’s antitrust suit against the PGA Tour and its members, or Rahm, whose departure post-framework agreement rubbed many players the wrong way. Would they immediately add value to the Tour? Yes. But for Rolapp to sell that vision, it’ll be a tricky high-wire act.

Matt Fitzpatrick won the RBC Heritage in a playoff over Scottie Scheffler, who started the day three shots off the lead but caught Fitzpatrick late. Is your Hilton Head takeaway more focused on Fitzpatrick’s second win in the last month, or Scheffler’s second straight runner-up finish?

Colgan: How quickly we forget that Scottie Scheffler remains a U.S. Open victory away from the career grand slam? Kudos to Fitz for another win, and for continuing to reestablish himself as one of the premier players in the sport … but my eyes are already peeking ahead to Shinnecock.

Sens: Like Woods before him, Scheffler has twisted our expectations so wildly out of proportion that a second-place finish somehow gets cast as a failure. Fitzpatrick is on a great run of golf. Scheffler is operating in a different dimension. Whatever “struggles” he went through earlier seem to be behind him. So yeah, as James said, eyes on Shinnecock. But also on Aronimink before that. And frankly, anywhere Scheffler tees it up.

Schrock: The Scheffler “struggles” were blown out of proportion as we tend to do when an elite athlete dips below the level at which we’ve become accustomed to seeing them operate. Scheffler almost erased a 12-shot weekend deficit at the Masters with an ice-cold putter. He’s the best in the world, and I expect him to contend every time he tees it up. To me, this was more about Fitzpatrick. A year ago, he was in a bad spot. His game was “rubbish,” and he was ranked 79th in the world. A year later, he has three worldwide wins and has beaten both Rory and Scottie in separate playoffs. His rise back is impressive, and I think he’s a much better player now than what we thought his ceiling was when he won the 2022 U.S. Open. Expect him to threaten at Aronimink and the Open. 

Speaking ahead of the Senior PGA Championship, major champ Padraig Harrington made one bold claim regarding how many more Masters Rory McIlroy could win given his success at Augusta, comfortability there and the fact that the course allows some players to stay competitive into their 50s. “Rory could win 10 [Masters] at this stage, or five of them, anyway.” While 10 seems lofty, what say you? How many Masters titles will Rory end his career with?

Colgan: I think we do this a lot with star players: we see them win a little, and we immediately assume they can win a lot. It’s so, so hard to win a Masters. I believe Rory could get to three, like fellow late-Augusta-bloomer Phil Mickelson, but I’ll probably hold off before adding any more to the list.

Sens: When Tiger won the Masters by a staggering 12 shots, I remember the talk being that he would never lose that tournament again. He got to five. Impressive. But yeah, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Things happen. Life happens. Four green jackets for Rory doesn’t seem entirely outlandish. Maybe five if all the stars align? But 10 is preposterous. Ain’t gonna happen.

Schrock: We quickly forget that Rory went 10 years without winning a major of any kind. Golf is a fickle, weird game. I think he can win a third jacket and maybe, maybe you can talk me into a fourth at the end of his career. But the real question is how many majors does Rory win? I feel like I want to say nine, but again, we like to be prisoners of the moment with these things.

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The post Tour Confidential: Unpacking Rory McIlroy’s historic Masters win appeared first on Golf.

The post Tour Confidential: Unpacking Rory McIlroy’s historic Masters win appeared first on Golf.

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 discuss Rory McIlroy’s Masters performance, Sunday’s pivotal moments at Augusta National, and more.

Rory McIlroy won the Masters to become just the fourth repeat winner in the tournament’s history. McIlroy closed with a 71 to finish 12 under and beat Scottie Scheffler by one. This all, mind you, after he was up by six after 36 holes but lost that all by Saturday night. How did this happen? What’s your takeaway from his win?

Zephyr Melton, associate game-improvement editor (@zephyrmelton): Man, that was gritty. Rory obviously didn’t have his best stuff over the weekend — and he said as much during his Butler Cabin interview — but he played just well enough over the weekend to nab another green jacket. There’s something extra impressive in watching someone win without their best stuff, and Rory did exactly that this weekend. 

Sean Zak, senior writer (@sean_zak): Excuse the modern parlance, but this Masters felt like a movie, with an opening act, a middle contextualization, some conflict and then a bit of late drama. Damn — it was wildly entertaining! But I think the McIlroy takeaway is that he is just such a different golfer than he used to be. He’s become the best player in the world on firm and fast conditions. He should have won the ‘22 Open at finicky St. Andrews. He wasn’t doing that early in his career, but late-career Rory is just different. More imaginative, less reliant upon conditions and draw-shots, etc. It’s impressive and makes you wonder mostly about his chances for Shinnecock.

Jessica Marksbury, senior editor (@jess_marksbury): When the tournament was hanging in the balance on the back nine on Sunday, Rory hit some incredible shots at exactly the right time. I’m thinking of the birdies on 12 and 13 in particular, and the amazing putt from off the green that led to the par save on 16. But he was also the beneficiary of adversaries that didn’t push him much down the stretch. This could easily have been Justin Rose’s Masters, but he faded away on the back nine, as did Sam Burns and Cameron Young. Scottie Scheffler tried hard, but his late-momentum birdies on 15 and 16, and missed opportunity on 17, ended up being too little, too late.

What was the pivotal moment on Sunday? And what did you learn from it?

Melton: I think it came earlier than the viewers might’ve thought in the moment. After a silly double on No. 4 and another shaky bogey on 6, the tournament looked to be slipping from Rory’s grasp. But on No. 7, he calmly found the fairway, hit the proper shot right over the flagstick and then rolled in a birdie putt to stop the bleeding. From then on, he was nails. When you’re a gunslinger like Rory, sometimes all you need is to see one shot go through the hoop. 

Zak: I think it was Justin Rose backing off his shot in the middle of the 11th fairway. Rose was in the lead alone at 12 under. If he pars-in, he’s in a playoff. But Rosey backed off the shot and flared his eventual approach wide, leading to bogey. He mangled the 12th hole. He three putted for par on 13. If that goes differently, everything changes. The man who could have really put pressure on McIlroy faded, and the better golfer won.

Marksbury: Totally agree with you, Sean. Justin Rose went from in command to lackluster over the course of three holes. The bogey-bogey-three-putt-par trifecta on 11, 12 and 13 sunk him. And, as the only player with life at that time in the tournament, his exit from contention changed everything.  

Don’t look now, but McIlroy suddenly has six major titles and two green jackets. Is the man to beat over the next decade at Augusta National Rory McIlroy, or is it fellow two-time Masters winner Scottie Scheffler? And who you got the rest of the year?

Melton: I’m still on Team Scottie. He was the best golfer in the field over the weekend — by a wide margin — as he didn’t card a bogey in Rounds 3 or 4. And he did all of that seemingly without having his best stuff with the putter. Whatever “funk” Scottie was in early on in the season seems to be behind him, and he should be the favorite for years to come at Augusta National. That said, I won’t be surprised if Rory nabs another green jacket before he decides to hang it up. He seems to have cracked the code on how to win there.

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Zak: Yeah, I’m with Zephyr and on Team Scheffler. I’m waiting for him to get some real luck to go his way in the way McIlroy has at the last two Masters. That’s not taking anything away from McIlroy’s brilliance — he’s so deserving. But I just think Scheffler has brought his B-plus game to the last two Masters and is probably on the verge of another special summer.

Marksbury: I dunno guys, I find Rory’s Augusta stats extremely compelling. Scottie has five straight top-10 finishes since 2022, including two wins. But Rory has nine top-10 finishes since 2014, including the last two wins. Recency bias points to Rory for me. But picking Rory apparently also means signing up for a roller-coaster ride that Scottie rarely puts you through. 

McIlroy pulled away late, but a handful of capable chasers — Scheffler, Rose, Young, Burns, etc. — were still in it down the stretch. Which player is kicking themselves the most about what could have been?

Melton: Gotta be Scottie. That Friday 74 was so un-Scottie-like, and it really put him in desperation mode heading into the weekend. If he scraps together even an even-par round, he’s the one putting on the green jacket this evening and not Rory. 

Zak: Disagree! I think it’s Rose. It has to be Rose. The man without the jacket. The man who was in the lead by himself! Scheffler never touched the lead all week. He also has another 20 Masters in his future. Rosey may not have more than a few. 

Marksbury: Rose for sure. He had it! It slipped away. Again! No doubt that stings.

The Masters’ popular Par-3 Contest received some criticism for what some thought was too much celebrity involvement and strayed too far from the Masters’ long-standing “traditionalist” values. What do you think? And how does the Masters evolve without straying too far from the things that make it unique?

Melton: I could do without the cameo appearances from Kevin Hart and Jason Kelce, but I won’t clutch my pearls too much. The par-3 contest is supposed to be fun. So long as that silliness doesn’t spill over into the actual competition, I’m largely unbothered. 

Zak: My strongest par-3 take is … I wonder if players were a bit more surprised by the Thursday conditions of the big course because they’ve grown so comfortable writing off their Wednesdays to the par-3 course. There was such universal surprise at the course conditions that I don’t think we see at other majors with this Wednesday intermission. Anyway, I don’t totally hate the strategy by ANGC. It’s not for ME, but I’m as into golf as anyone in the world. There’s a natural pursuit of all governing bodies in all sports of, as the kids say, the casuals. I think they — or maybe more so ESPN — achieved some of that audience.

Marksbury: The Masters is revered for its traditions and decorum for a reason. I think most people watch or attend the tournament eager for that experience. So while I don’t think it’s necessary for the tournament to evolve in any way, I can understand why there is a feeling that it’s important to try new things to reach new demographics. And hey, if those efforts create new golf fans, that’s a win for everyone.

Who is leaving Augusta National most disappointed, and who won the week without actually winning the week?

Melton: Justin Rose has to be the most disappointed. He’s been oh so close at Augusta National many times, and once again he couldn’t quite get it done. The clock on his career is ticking, and you only get so many cracks at the green jacket. When you head to the back nine with a lead, you’ve got to close the door. He may go down as his generation’s biggest “what-if” at the Masters.  

Zak: I would reckon Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau feel pretty disappointed. They were two of the most deserving favorites entering the week and were never once relevant. Frankly, they seem more confused than anything right now. Can’t be a great headspace! 

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As for who won the week without winning the jacket, I think Collin Morikawa deserves some recognition. He grinded through a bad back all week, made seven birdies on Sunday and garnered a top 10 finish. That was wildly impressive. He said it’ll be one of his best tournaments forever.

Marksbury: Most disappointed: Bryson and Jon are good picks, Z. Justin Rose also, for reasons discussed above. I will also add Cameron Young, as a leader who faded, and Haotong Li, who suffered a triple-quintuple to completely derail his tournament.

Those who won the week: I’ll add anyone who got their hands on a gnome, and the players who finished T12 or better to guarantee themselves a spot in the Masters for next year.  

What did you learn during Masters week?

Melton: I learned (or rather, remembered) that I love Haotong Li. What a character. 

Zak: I learned that Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed are really going to be value-adds to the PGA Tour as they return to that life post-LIV. Reed is one helluva player, which we knew, but he needed to sort of validate those wins from the Middle East in January in a major, and he did. Koepka is circling toward something this summer. You can sense it. He’ll be in contention soon enough. That bodes well for the Tour.

Marksbury: Augusta National remains undefeated when it comes to back-nine Sunday drama.

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