Thursday Themes - Visionquest Edition

For the record, this is my second keyboard visit of the week....  Does that say "Commitment", or what?

Predictions Are Hard... - So, Brian, what do you want to be when you grow up?  NFL Commissioner?  Sorry about that, but the issue with the Tour hiring from the NFL is that you're inevitably getting the guy who realized the big chair isn't in his future....

So, where to start with his Tate of the Tour?  I guess here:

Opening with a bang, a match-play postseason and a two-track system: 12 revelations about the PGA Tour's (still uncertain) future

At the risk of whiplash, here's Shack's amusing cold open:

Over the course of 30 meetings held by the PGA Tour’s FCC—the august Future Competitions Committee—only one group conclusion could be revealed at Wednesday’s Players Championship press conference.

The concept of “scarcity” has been, uh, well, re-scarcified.

“Ultimately, scarcity is not about the number of events we have, but rather scarcity is about making every event we have matter,” PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said during his televised Global Home address.

To his credit, Rolapp freely answered questions but curiously came armed to a grander setting than usual minus a single announcement—other than to confirm the precise number of meetings held to decide the Tour’s future.

“We have had more than 30 meetings across the Future Competition Committee, our working groups, player meetings, Player Advisory Council discussions, and board sessions,” he said in prepared remarks. “We have had more than 40 conversations with PGA Tour corporate partners, many of whom are in the room today. We have engaged extensively with current and prospective media partners, and we have retained experienced outside experts to help us evaluate competitive models and long-term economics.”

Apparently the key to the NFL's global dominance is endless meetings at which nothing is decided.... At least we have that going for us, but not a single firm announcement?  

The PGA Tour is splitting in two

As Golf Digest reported earlier this year, the tour’s Future Competitions Committee is deep in discussions on creating a two-track competition system. Rolapp said the first track is expected to double the current eight signature events to 16 tournaments, alongside the four majors, the Players and the postseason. Running from late January to early September, the schedule will span 21 to 26 competitions. The second track will function as a promotion-and-relegation tool, with events spread across the calendar year and into the fall. This system does not replace the Korn Ferry Tour and other PGA Tour feeder circuits, which remain intact.

"We are evaluating the role of promotion and relegation across our competitive model," Rolapp said. "We are further strengthening our merit-based system and leaning into what makes professional golf so compelling: players earning their way to the top, with every event having greater meaning."

It always has been two-tier, it's just experiencing dramatic shrinkage....  One can see the logic thereof, but it's a massive reduction of playing opportunities, which may well create a void for others to fill.

Honda will be amused by this:

One of the recurring talking points of Rolapp's tenure has been “scarcity,” widely interpreted in the industry as the elimination of events. As Golf Digest has learned, the endangered events will likely be repositioned to the second track rather than cut entirely. The system essentially formalizes what has effectively been a two-tier structure for years.

Good times.  Rolapp will need sponsor commitment, which is great as long as they didn't notice what was done to Honda.  Its reward for fifty years of sponsorship was the have the Tour put two Signature events befire it and two right after, thereby ensuring that no top 100 player could possible make it to Palm Beach Gardens.   I would have suggested a nice watch, but that's a good present as well....

Lord knows I'd hate to see them leave Memphis in August:

The tour may have new playoff sites

East Lake has hosted the season-ending Tour Championship for decades. The club has history, but it has never quite captured the imagination of the broader golf public. Rolapp was careful to say the club has been a strong partner and that the tour will likely return to Atlanta—but the finale's long-term future there is less certain.

"What we do with the postseason, we're still figuring out," Rolapp said. "There's clearly high demand in some of the discussions we've had. Some of these bigger markets would really like a postseason event. So I think everything is really on the table."

That includes the venue itself. Sources tell Golf Digest that Riviera and Pebble Beach are among the possibilities for a more recognizable final stop.

The sites are quite dreadful, but I'm thinking there's a higher priority....

This is certainly music to my ears, though deviancy has most certainly been defined downward:

No more limited fields, no cut events

One of the signature event series’ most persistent criticisms—from fans, media and players alike—has been its small-field, no-cut format, which drew unflattering comparisons to LIV Golf. Rolapp said the new top tier will feature more players and a cut.

"Our best events will have larger fields. Ideally, we are targeting something closer to 120-player fields with a cut," Rolapp said. "That consistently matters. It helps fans know who they will see and showcases who they want to see—the most competitive players. It helps partners know what they're investing in, and it helps players better understand the competitive landscape in their schedules, all while embracing meritocracy."

Yes, but they stealthily reduced this week's Players' field to that 120....That's not a full field, although 120 is a damn sight better than 70.  Maybe structuring the Tour for the benefit of Patrick Cantlay wasn't the best move....

Sponsor exemptions may be on the outs

Another source of fan frustration—one that cuts against the meritocracy ethos Rolapp keeps invoking—is the sponsor’s exemption system, along with the politics surrounding it. Rolapp appears to recognize the tension.

"It is my opinion we need a better competitive model because we should be delivering fields to the sponsors," he said. "We shouldn't make them work hard to put together a field. We're delivering them something, and they're supporting that. I think we need to be better partners in that. I also have an appreciation for the fact that professional golfers are independent contractors. So their level of job security is in some part tied to the exemptions they have earned. It's a balance. Those are all discussions we're having with the committee—to provide for those things but also deliver the purest competition that fans want."

Peter Malnati hardest hit.

Seriously, the use of the sponsors' exemptions to reward PAC members has been quite the disgusting spectacle.  Adam Scott should be ashamed of himself....

And this teaser that will never happen:

Possible match play in the playoffs

Adding match play to the Tour Championship is hardly a new idea, particularly after the tour eliminated the WGC-Match Play, yet the concept has historically been vetoed by broadcast partners wary of late-round matchups between non-marquee players. Rolapp said match play is back on the table, and possibly for the entire postseason.

“I think a lot of the motivation comes from our fans and our partners who want to see more drama in the events that they attend,” Rolapp said. “I mean, again, the sports business is not that hard; just think like a fan, and 9½ times out of 10, that's probably the right answer.”

Really?  Because its hard to intuit a focus on the fans from the Tour's last few years of changes....  But they do focus like a laser on their core business of screwing sponsors.

This whole bit of going outside the game is to me a curious thing, as Geoff had this on major-gate:

Rolapp addressed The Players-as-a-major debate, joking that his marketing department did a good job creating a conversation even if it almost unanimously produced an “are you kidding, not again” response. But he also indicated that the marketing department wasn’t exactly acting without some inspiration from the CEO.

“I’m not entirely sure how majors become majors,” he said. “The history is really interesting to study. There used to be more majors. There’s fewer majors. I think what’s important, that’s not for us to decide.”

Excuse me, exactly when were there more majors?   And, while we can agree that it's not for you to decide, it seems that you did try to decide and folks weren't amused.....Maybe you should study some actual history?  Can I suggest you start with the Western Open?  What you'll see is the organization that you now run had no respect for its own intellectual property, tossing the second oldest professional tournament in the U.S. out with the bath water.....

See if you enjoy his flailing over the essential "Tour about nothing" nature of the PGA Tour:

When answering a question about the Tour not owning any of the five biggest properties in golf, and whether any ownership stakes are in the Tour’s future, Rolapp suggested he’d like to see more “collaboration” with Augusta National, PGA of America, USGA and R&A.

“I think if you look at all of those golf organizations, at the end of the day, they are entirely financed by professional golf and professional golfers,” he said,. “So the entire ecosystem is funded by the success, or quite frankly—it wouldn’t be successful without the success of professional golf. That to me just lends that there should probably be more collaboration in that regard.” 

Collaboration sounds like someone wanting to be paid for the right to welcome his independent contractors into major championships, which (A) are totally optional to participate in, (B) are capable of raising the profiles of players more than any event owned by the PGA Tour, and (C) kindly offer exemptions to Tour players.

Yes, I'm sure Fred Ridley will appreciate the lecture.   But you need him more than he needs you.....

The one thing everyone can agree on is the hostile media environment.  Here's Rolapp:

"I've read the same reports you have—that they would like to go to the media market earlier. The U.S. media rights market is $30 billion. The NFL currently accounts for $12 billion of that. They have made their public intentions clear; they would like to double that," Rolapp said. "So if you start doing that math and you're anyone other than the National Football League, you ask yourself: Next time I go to market, how do I make sure I have the most compelling product so that we can compete in what is a very complicated media ecosystem that's changing all the time? You see fans changing their habits—television versus streaming. You see the companies and the economics of the industry changing. So it's a very dynamic time in media.

"If you are in the sports business, it behooves you to put your house in order as much as possible. That is a significant part of the work that the Future Competition Committee is doing, and it's one of the reasons why it's so important."

What a perfect fit.  The NFL wants and seems able to double their rights fees, and the PGA Tour is helpfully halving the value of its properties.  Talk about synergy....Or, dare I say, These Guys Are Good!

Jay did well to renew those contracts when he did, but next time tees up as substantially more difficult.

And can this help?

Don't expect a new schedule for 2027

There had been hope in the industry that changes would arrive as soon as next year. Last month at the Genesis Invitational, Tiger Woods moved to temper those expectations. Rolapp echoed the sentiment. Expect some adjustments in 2027—not a wholesale transformation.

"Once decisions have been made and finalized, changes will be implemented through a rolling approach," Rolapp said. "As Tiger has said recently, some elements could be addressed sooner for next season, with more significant change likely implemented for the 2028 season, pending the necessary work with our partners and other operational considerations.

"This is a complex process with many constituencies impacted. We will continue to move with urgency, but we are focused on getting it right."

No hurry, boys.

In a separate post, Geoff gives Rolapp a To-Do list, including this bit:

Acquire the Ryder Cup. The Tour has never been in a better position to strong-arm the PGA of America into selling the event. Or at the very least, increasing the Tour’s ownership stake. The Ryder Cup needs the PGA Tour’s players who’ve already shown they’re willing to take a PR hit over money. So a sell-or-boycott threat might not be the disaster it seems. Especially if it leads to a huge acquisition and more autonomy.

So Rolapp wants to simultaneously declare the Players a major (thereby devaluing the least valuable major, the PGA Championship, demand more cooperation from the PGA of America and force it to divest the Ryder Cup?  Good luck with all that.... Yes, they need the PGA Tour players, but I'm sure the LIV guys would be willing to step in.   I mean, what's a Ryder Cup without Talor Gooch?

Wither Tiger - Color me surprised that Luke Donald is up for the hat trick, but is Tiger not the biggest of all possible dicks?

From that first Shack post, let's lede with what he caused in 2025:

The Guardian’s Ewan Murray points out that the shortened timeline led to USA’s messy 2025 Ryder Cup approach.

“Two years ago, long before Keegan Bradley was called up out of the blue and offered the US captain’s role, Woods publicly pontificated before delivering the slow ‘no’,” he writes. “Nothing much went right for the PGA of America thereafter. Bethpage was a calamity for the hosts on and off the course.”

But Murray also provided Tiger with a dose of Stephen Ames-adjacent bulletin board inspiration.

“Woods’s procrastination does not bode well for the US. Far from providing dramatic effect, it makes their Ryder Cup cohort look unsure. It also makes little sense. This fuels the theory that Adare Manor and an away Ryder Cup (a domain in which Americans have a dismal record) holds little appeal to someone so obsessed with winning. Woods will be well aware he could be shown up by the detail-obsessed Luke Donald.”

Well, it's a little hard to understand what the man wants, because the lack of appeal of Adare should have motivated him to take the captaincy at Bethpage, no?

My thoughts are more along the lines that his relationship with JP McManus makes him want the Aare Manor gig, but of course there needs to be something special in it for him.  More to the point, even if he isn't captain, why wasn't he at Bethpage?  The obvious answer is telling, that he's not a team player and he holds himself apart and above the other guys.  

Your country needs you, Tiger.  Can you fit it into your schedule, or are those LIV negotiations still all-consuming?

What an all-time, self-important D**k!

This was the amusing to-and-from JT's presser:

Q. Curious, have you had any formal or official discussions with anyone about being the next Ryder Cup captain? And specifically I guess along those same lines, would any of them have been Tiger?

JUSTIN THOMAS: Have I personally?

Q. Right. I mean, with the group or what you, just I don’t even know if there is a formal thing that would occur, but...

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I’m on the Ryder Cup Committee, yeah. Yeah, we’ve had some conversations, but those are all personal within the Committee.

Q. What are you expecting as far as when there might be a resolution, if you can even say?

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I think it’s just kind of wait. We wait and see.

That has to be weird.  JT is still all-in on the Ryder Cup, but his a******e buddy just can't be bothered..... And he won't even show up.

Wither Rory - Yeah, it was just precautionary, until it wasn't:

The reigning champion of The Players Championship has officially made it to the PGA Tour's

flagship event during the afternoon of March 11.

McIlroy was spotted by Golfweek's Adam Schupak arriving at The Players Stadium Course, fewer than 24 hours before his scheduled first competitive round. He was heading into the clubhouse.

He withdrew from the Arnold Palmer due to a bad back, marking only the second WD in his PGA Tour career.

McIlroy is set to tee off at 1:42 p.m. ET Thursday off the first, playing alongside Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama. It's hard to imagine McIlroy not giving it a go this week, but if his back doesn't cooperate, he may not be able to defend his title.

It's being characterized as a game time decision....

Should be a great week, with or without Rory.  Enjoy, and I'll look forward to wrapping it with you on Monday. 

Weekend Wrap - Where You Been Edition

 Well, the easy answer is British Columbia.....

And, in case you're interested, it was unbelievable.  In general, the ski world has endured the Season From Hell this year, and we should anticipate all sorts of water-related issues this summer, not least wild fires.  But, unlike last year, the heli really delivered, three magical days that salavaged our ski season.

No one has yet looked at our primary video, taken on this fancy camera, but I have a couple of cellphone videos to give you a sense of the scale: 

No need to watch the skier, just focus on where I'm skiing....

And here's one of a typical pick-up.  The Ubers come in hot:

The issue is the vulnerability of the helos when on the ground.  All is done to limit that duration.

I feel that I should try to get back to this blogging thing, especially as it's fifth-of-four week once again.  I'll throw some words up today, and commit to a return visit later in the week as well.  It can't be Wednesday, so circle Thursday or Friday on your calendars.

The Arnie - It was Daniel Berger's week, at least until it wasn't, quite the shame given that it would have been a great moment for a Jewish winner on Tour.  Of course, golf remains hard and winning on Tour nearly impossible, so let's see what Shack has to say:

Turns out, the demise of Bay Hill’s greens was greatly exaggerated.

The TifEagle Bermuda complexes were as fast as Riviera’s a few weeks ago, minus the ocean influence and subtle pitches. Still, the overseed-free surfaces in Orlando served up a combo

platter of speed, firmness, and life-support yellow to demonstrate—yet again—how much more fun golf viewing is when there’s a little sizzle offsetting the power of today’s pasture-raised, lean-chicken eating superheroes.

Akshay Bhatia and Daniel Berger were up to a task that felled bigger names, setting up Sunday’s two-man battle for the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented By Mastercard. The two feistiest players of the week ended up in the tournament’s first playoff since 1999. There, they decided who’d be putting on the red cardigan, and it was ultimately Bhatia overcoming a five-stroke deficit with nine to go. He won with a two-putt par on the first hole of sudden death.

Yeah, they whined up a storm about those greens.  What does this portend?  Well, Christmas notwithstanding, it so happens that red and green don't mesh all that well:

I’m not sure if Bhatia’s performance portends to amazing things in Augusta since Bay Hill has never been a great predictor of Masters fate. But you can’t discount what Bhatia did on such firm, fast greens that had bigger names shaking their heads and waving white flags under “major-like” conditions.

The same goes for Berger, who almost had the first wire-to-wire win at the API since Jason Day in 2016. He performed far better in Strokes Gained tee-to-green (10.804/1st) and Strokes Gained: Approach the Green (7.914/1st) and would have grabbed an automatic invite into the Masters had he won. As a consolation prize, the 32-year-old receives the Open Qualifying Series spot into the 154th at Royal Birkdale. He will also jump from 61st in the world into the top 50, improving his chances of reaching The Masters via the March 30th OWGR top 50 cutoff.

It's supposed to be one of the Tour's most important events, yet its significance seems limited to seeding the field for April.  

In fact, the events was of such import that it fails to gain a mention in this week's Tour Confidential roundtable.  Mr. Rolapp will not be pleased.  At least Shack has a little more that highlights pre-Augusta form (or the lack thereof):

Also…

• Ludvig Åberg (T3/-12) recorded his best finish since winning the 2025 Genesis at Torrey Pines and his first top-10 since the 2025 BMW Championship (T7). He was strong in all statistical categories, including gaining 5.361 strokes approaching the greens as he heads to TPC Sawgrass and next month, The Masters. Look out.

• With a final round 73, Scottie Scheffler (T24/-2) recorded his first finish outside the top 20 since the 2025 WM Phoenix Open (T25). For those with Magnolia Lane in mind, Scheffler’s approach play struggles continued: he lost nearly three strokes at the API approaching the greens, hitting just 44 of 72 greens and averaging a mediocre-by-his-standards 39’4” on his approaches (31st).

• Rory McIlroy withdrew ahead of the third round due to a back injury. “While warming up in the gym this morning, I felt a small twinge in my back,” he said in a statement. “As I started hitting balls on the range before the round, it worsened and developed into muscle spasms in my lower back. Unfortunately, I’m not able to continue and have to withdraw. I was excited to compete this weekend. I wish the Arnold Palmer Invitational a great finish and look forward to being back next year.”

McIlroy was T9 (72-68) after 36 holes. It was just the second time he’s withdrawn from a PGA Tour event. The last time was in 2013’s Honda Classic. He is still scheduled to defend his title at this week’s Players Championship.

• Justin Thomas posted 79-79 and missed the cut in his first event since back surgery. “The last two days is just, mentally, I was so spacey and couldn’t concentrate on what I was doing,” Thomas said. “I’d come out here to practice, but it doesn’t really make sense to putt on these greens… I mean, there’s zero chance that they’re going to be alive Sunday. They are so dead already, so that is one good thing about not playing here this weekend, because it is going to suck. It’s going to be really hard.” (Shedloski/GolfDigest.com)

• Jim Furyk had a strong four days as the lead analyst on Golf Channel’s coverage of the API. The former U.S. Open champion and Ryder Cup captain has an easy-on-the-ear approach and was not shy about offering insights, opinions, and background on players without trying too hard to show he came prepared. If he wants to do it more often, he’s got a nice future in broadcasting. Furyk will again work this week’s Players.

 That's OK, JT, we didn't miss you either....

Scottie seems quite off his feed, and crankier than I can remember seeing him.  As for Alas, Poor Furyk, I can only assume that Geoff listened in at different times than your humble blogger.  What I heard was hesitating and trite, not that we should overinterpret his first week's work.  I just didn't sense anything deeper, and he's hardly the guy that will amuse us....

Red On Red - Strange times, my friends.... Jon Rahm, in a prior lifetime, was one of the more thoughtful and historically-knowledgeable players on Tour.  He made the most lucid argument for not cashing the LIV check, then did just that apparently under the influence of mushrooms or the like, deluding himself that his defection alone would require the tours to reunite.  How's that working out, Jon?

Then the DP World Tour offers LIV defectors a deal to reclaim their Euro Trash membership, thereby ensuring 2027 Ryder Cup eligibility.  Eight of the nine players eligible immediately accept said offer, you'll quickly have sussed out the one outlier.  One assumes reasonable folks can disagree, but is Mr. Rahm being reasonable?

‘They’re extorting players’: Jon Rahm slams DP World Tour over demands he refused

Extortion?   You work for folks that settle minor disputes with bonecutters, but those guys in Virginia Water are beyond the pale?  

I'll allow the aforementioned TC panel to pick things up here:

Rory McIlroy sounded none too impressed by Jon Rahm’s decision to decline a DP World Tour deal that would have given Rahm a path back to DP World Tour membership and

2027 Ryder Cup eligibility. Rahm maintained that he should not be forced to play more than four DP tournaments this season instead of the six the tour is mandating (“I think we should be able to freely play where we want and have the choice to play where we want and not be dictated what we do,” Rahm said). But McIlroy countered that the tour’s offer was generous, and “there’s a reason that eight of the nine [LIV players] took it, because they probably think the same thing. And one guy thinks a little differently, and that’s a shame.” Who’s right here?

Sean Zak: McIlroy is right. The DPWT offer is plenty generous. But if we really look at Rahm’s commitment to that tour over the years, it hasn’t been six events. It has often been three or four non-major events each year. I think we’re just learning he isn’t that crazy about helping the DPWT in ways his platform could, which is entirely his right. But the DPWT is also within its rights to uphold its rules and withhold its Ryder Cup if necessary.

Dylan Dethier: Yeah, to Sean’s point, Rahm has the right to protect his time, he has the right to spend off weeks at home and he has the right to try to outmaneuver the DP World Tour, knowing what he brings to the table. But Rahm’s suggestion that the DP World Tour should just let LIV guys come and go as they please, all while LIV continues to double down as a direct competitor for DPWT’s players and markets? I don’t think that checks out. There’s a collision coming here that’s bigger than just Rahm, but this may accelerate the clash.

Josh Sens: Rahm has the right to his choice and Rory is right to call it “a shame.” So many of the tensions and troubles in professional golf have to do with balancing the rights of the individual against the collective good. What Rahm is being asked to sacrifice seems, from the outside, to be minor in the grand scheme. But he sees it as “extortion.” It goes to show that when you are accustomed to extravagant privilege, reasonable requests seem like an imposition. It’s a bummer for fans. And not great for Rahm’s reputation either.

Sure, he's got a right to protect his valuable time, but he's so excessively entitled that he refuses to acknowledge that the Euro Tour has a business to protect.  It's the anger that's so off-putting, making it easy to conclude that maybe he's been spending too much time with Phil.

There's a zero probability that Rahm wont be at Adare Manor.  The players just seem committed to ensure that we hate each and every one of them before the game gets reunited.  You know who's looking good these days?  Yup, when Patrick reed is the adult in the room....

Venue Musings -  JT had a great thought..... I mean, great as long as you don't inconvenience yourself with reality.....

As Jon Rahm’s Ryder Cup situation festers and the European Tour Group tussles with one of their stars, Justin Thomas accidentally reminded the world what we’ve been deprived of in the name of…money.

It’s a touchy one that Europeans never want to hear about. Or worse, turns into a lecture about how the Ryder Cup funds all they do, as if the DP World Tour is primarily a humanitarian operation that just happens to play golf tournaments, too.

“St Andrews, I think, is gold,” Thomas said on the latest episode of The Smylie Show. “I would love—I just don’t see how it’s physically possible—but somehow, someway, for a Ryder Cup at St Andrews,” the two-time PGA champion said.

“There’s no way that could happen, but could you just imagine how sick that would be, and matches somehow coming down the Road Hole and coming down to 18? It would be epic, just so epic.”

It would be and it was for that recent Walker Cup..... 

Actually, as The Quad laid out a few years ago, it can work and work better than a 144-player stroke play event. The hole sequencing, the strategies involved, and the footprint seen during massive Opens in St Andrews prove the Old Course is a better course and likely as lucrative as any course currently scheduled to host the Ryder Cup. The 2023 Walker Cup demonstrated how incredible the Old Course can be when it’s the third protagonist in a high-stakes match.

OMG, it could be so epic my head is about to explode.... Just this reality thing intrudes.

Hope you're in a calm place as Geoff lowers the hammer on our dreams:

Only one thing is preventing epic scenes of watching multiple matches out by the Eden Estuary. Or the dream scenario Thomas outlined: a Ryder Cup coming down to the Road hole on a crisp mid-September day.

Money.

You know, the very thing 2025’s European team did not need to turn up at Bethpage. And the same hurdle that’s driving the stalemate with Rahm. The tour wants its fine money and Rahm to play two events of their choosing because he took LIV money.

Europe’s Ryder Cup model relies on a lavish package of government and course owner incentives to land the event. Typically, a few years of a forgettable DP World Tour stop are thrown in so everyone can study the forgettably overbuilt stinkers that only a Ryder Cup can make people pay to play.

Does anyone really want to go back to The Belfry, K Club, Celtic Manor, the PGA Centenary at Gleneagles, or in 2031, a real estate development called Camiral Golf & Wellness? (At least Versailles’ Le Golf National and Rome’s Marco Simone were redesigned with match play in mind, while 2027’s Adare Manor exudes none of the commercial desperation seen with past rich-guy places.)

All we need to remind ourselves is that they've taken the event to Ireland twice  in recent years, but haven't sniffed the coast.

Here's Geoff's rousing Coda:

St Andrews lacks a wealthy benefactor looking to juice real estate sales or fill up a resort by hosting a Ryder Cup. The town already has a DP World Tour stop, the annual Alfred Dunhill Links. Its Links Trust operation has a full tee sheet, thriving golf economy, and a date with The Open every five years.

So if the Europeans want to prove that they’re not about the money, how about a 2035 Ryder Cup in St Andrews? It would fall between Opens in 2032 and 2037. Even better, Justin Thomas will be 41 and probably ready to accept an inevitable Captaincy. He’ll sing the praises of St Andrews and the European Tour Group for prioritizing venue over vig.

Otherwise, spare us the lectures next time there’s the temptation to jump on those high horses and single out Legion XIII’s Jon Rahm.

Before LIV, there was perhaps a chance that this could have happened.  But now the Euro Tour is such a weakened entity that they not only need the cash, they need it years in advancew.

But let me cheer you up.  There's a non-trivial chance that the Saudis end up controlling the Euro Tour, so that 2035 Ryder Cup is less likely to be on the Old Course and more likely to find a home at Saudi Greens.

But lest you spiral into a profound depression, here's some venue news to cheer our souls.  In a separate post, Geoff informs us of this recent USGA venue update:

Inverness will host the 145th U.S. Open in 2045. It will be the first U.S. Open at the Toledo, Ohio gem since Hale Irwin’s win in 1979. Designed by Donald Ross, the club was already scheduled to host the 2027 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally and the 2029 U.S. Amateur. Inverness was also awarded the 2033 U.S. Girls’ Junior and the 2036 U.S. Women’s Amateur.

National Golf Links of America will host the 2040 Walker Cup, a decade after hosting the previously-announced 2030 Curtis Cup. NGLA most recently hosted the 2013 Walker Cup.

Cypress Point Club has been awarded the 2042 Curtis Cup and 2048 Walker Cup after successfully hosting last year’s incredible Walker Cup.

Seminole Golf Club will host the 2046 Curtis Cup and 2052 Walker Cup following 2021’s mostly incredible, non-Breakers food-for-the-teams, Walker Cup.

Inverness is great, but those following three take your humble blogger's breath away.

Let you heart be light feasting on these names:

Future Curtis Cup Sites

2026 – Bel Air Country Club, Los Angeles, Calif.

2028 – Royal Dornoch, Dornoch, Scotland

2030 – National Golf Links of America, Southampton, N.Y.

2034 – Pine Valley Golf Club, Pine Hills, N.J.

2038 – Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Ore.

2042 – Cypress Point Club, Pebble Beach, Calif.

2046 – Seminole Golf Club, Juno Beach, Calif.

Future Walker Cup Sites

2026 – Lahinch, County Clare, Republic of Ireland

2028 – Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Ore.

2030 – Prince’s Golf Club, Kent, England

2032 – Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pa.

2036 – Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, Ill.

2040 – National Golf Links of America, Southampton, N.Y.

2044 – Pine Valley Golf Club, Pine Hill, N.J.

2048 – Cypress Point Club, Pebble Beach, Calif.

2052 – Seminole Golf Club, Juno Beach, Calif.

I can't find a clunker on that list..... Dornoch?  Pine Valley?  geez, be still my foolish heart!

That will have t be it for today.  Do we think I'm showing any skill at this blogging thing?  Shall I give it another go later in the week?

Have a great week and I'm glad to be home and back with you.

 

Weekend Wrap - Gotterdämmerup Edition

Hey kids, did that header pun work for you?  I haven't been much of a blogger recently, but one does like the cheap puns, no?

Shall I give you the bad schedule news now, or save it for the close?  Yeah, no sense depressing you before its necessary.

Wasted Words - I went with Norse Mythology above and an Allman Brothers reference here, hope you've kept up.  Maybe we'll get to some golf as well.  Golfweek played it thusly:

With late birdie binge, Chris Gotterup steals Phoenix Open in playoff

He finished on a heater, yet that somehow isn't the image we're all left with.  Golf Digest apparently can handle the truth:

Chris Gotterup benefits from Hideki Matsuyama’s meltdown in Phoenix, collects second win of season

Hey, Hideki might have coughed up the win, but that was the best 18th tee Mito Pereira impression evah!

Since we're in dueling header mode, my sense is that Geoff worked a little too hard for this one:

Weekend: Gotterup Continues To (Phoenix) Rise

A little from that Golweek game piece:

Chris Gotterup birdied five of the six last holes on Sunday and added one more for good measure in a sudden-death playoff to win the WM Phoenix Open over Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama.

"To come out on top and do it the way I did in the playoff was awesome," he said.

Gotterup closed in 7-under 64, making nine birdies on the day at TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course to win for the second time on the PGA Tour in the first four tournaments of the season. Less than a month ago, he won the season-opener, the Sony Open in Hawaii.

It happened because Matsuyama fought a two-way miss with his driver in the final round, failing to hit a fairway on the front nine. Asked earlier in the week why he loved the TPC Scottsdale course, he said, "I like this course because even if I miss a fairway, I can still find my ball. Unless it's in the cactuses."

The cactuses or the Church Pews or the Agua....

I watched a bunch of it, flipping back and forth to catch the Quad God and the like.  I'm not sure how much of that fast finish CBS actually showed, as Gotterup was well out of the mix, until he wasn't.

It was all a bit of a yawn.  The best part was watching Scottie work his way back into the mix, missing the playoff by one shot, while playing as sloppily as you'll ever see.  But much as they hype the 16th hole, even on Saturday the party atmosphere is feeling increasingly forced.

The is quite obviously one of the more unique weeks on Tour, though the field seemed even weaker than is typical.  Phoenix and its organizers deserve all sorts of credit for taking on the NFL, making Super Bowl weekend work.  That said, color your Humble Blogger bored....

In the current schedule configuration, they're in a no-win spot, with Signature Events the two succeeding weeks limiting their ability to attract a strong field.  That may well change to their benefit as the Tour contracts further, there was even some chatter about the Wasted being the season-opening event.   Right now, even with the entire East Coast snowed in, it's a big ask getting eyeballs to the broadcast.

There's a wee little story I want to work in, especially since it includes some journalistic malpractice.  Did you happen to see Hideki have to step away a couple of times late Sunday as fans attempted to disrupt him?  

First, this is the header from the Golfweek home page:

To yell at fans?  Does that sound right to you? The article itself makes far more sense:

Influencer ejected from Phoenix Open after paying fan to yell at players

The underlying incident seems to have been directed at Mackenzie Hughes, but the idiot takes some fun incoming.  But, combined with the assault of gambling opportunities, comportment among galleries will not be getting any better soon.

That concludes our obligatory coverage.  Shall we get to the fun stuff?

OWGR, M-O-U-S-E - How great is this story?  They're finally granted OWGR points, and they couldn't be more pissed....  I'll make things easy and just riff off this week's Tour Confidential panel:

After years of battling for valuable World Rankings points, the OWGR announced it had

accepted LIV Golf’s application for membership and the league will receive points effective immediately. Although since the OWGR said LIV fits into the “small-field tournaments” classification, it will only be awarded points for top-10 finishers and ties. In its own statement, LIV said, “a player finishing 11th in a LIV Golf event is treated the same as a player finishing 57th” and that this “disproportionately harms players who consistently perform at a high level but finish just outside that threshold.” How would you untangle this?

Zephyr Melton: Afraid that one is above my pay grade. But I will say that LIV should be ecstatic with this result. The depth of fields has never been the league’s strong suit, but they’ve always had some solid top talent. With this result, the big guns (Rahm, DeChambeau, Hatton, Niemann) will finally get some points and have an easier time getting into majors. Seems like as good a result as they could’ve hoped for.

Josh Schrock: I don’t feel it needs untangling. LIV should be thrilled it got recognition from the OWGR board. It should allow its best players to hoover up the same number of points given out at an opposite-field event. Elvis Smylie received more points for winning LIV Riyadh than Patrick Reed did for winning in Qatar. It seems fair given all of the other things the OWGR board noted, including selecting members for the tour “based on their nationality and not meritocratic reasons.”

Dylan Dethier: These points are a big, big deal. There would be relatively few points available outside the top 10 anyway, so — despite the grievance note — what they got far, far outweighs what they didn’t. LIV’s young stars now have a legitimate pathway to climbing the ranks and playing their way into majors. For the likes of David Puig, Tom McKibbin and Elvis Smylie (plus more established pros like Joaquin Niemann) that’s a potential game-changer.

This to me is delightfully schadenfreudalicious.  They've blamed all their problems on the absence of OWGR points, and now all will see that, even welcomed back into the warm embrace of collectivism, LIV Golf still sucks.  Who could have seen that coming?

World Ranking points are valuable pathways for LIV players to earn entry into major championships. But is last week’s news — and the points distribution — enough to lure players to LIV who were already on the fence about their major eligibility?

Melton: Perhaps, but with the PIF seemingly restricting the LIV budget of late, I’m not sure the massive paydays from yesteryear are still viable. Would a big name be willing to jump to LIV without a Rahm-like signing bonus? I’m not so sure.

Schrock: I doubt it. They might be able to lure one or two younger players who might have been on the fence but I don’t think another big name jumps unless the PIF decides to loosen the belt a bit.

Dethier: If you’re an established PGA Tour star, probably not. But LIV has picked up some young talents from outside the U.S. and that particular profile of player could be pushed over the edge by this decision. LIV and the DP World Tour continue to be on a collision course — competing for players, for regions, for legitimacy as the “World Tour” and now for points, too. More to come on that subject.

It's a big breakthrough for LIV, but the larger context is turning the other direction.  I was horrified by Michael LaSasso's decision to join LIV, which absent this change would have left him likely unable to play in the majors.  That said, it still feels like anyone inclined to that model, would have already cashed a check.  It also doesn't help that so many of those who jumped have appeared to regret their decisions.

Speaking of which, it seems a strange time to be saying things like this:

Bryson DeChambeau offers ominous criticism of LIV change: ‘Didn’t sign up to play for 72’

 If you're a young up-and-comer, do you want to sign on with the tour's biggest star sounding like this:

That new pathway back to the Tour was open only to Koepka and three other LIV stars: Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith and DeChambeau.

While all of them confirmed they would reject the PGA Tour’s offer, DeChambeau’s reaction was notable for its tone and brevity.

“I mean, look, I’m contracted through 2026, so I’m excited about this year,” DeChambeau said at the time. But anyone who watches the video would struggle to describe Bryson’s demeanor as “excited.”

Most striking was what he did not say. He did not offer a fully-throated defense of the league, nor did he commit to playing LIV beyond 2026.

But in his recent interview with Today’s Golfer, DeChambeau went a step further, openly criticizing the league for its recent format change.

He continued: “Look, it’s 72 holes, it’s changed, but we’re still excited to play professionally and play for what we’re doing and go across the world. I think it’s going to be great for our team.”

He then added a second criticism of the 72-hole format shift.

“Is it what we ultimately signed up for? No. So I think we’re supposed to be different, so I’m a little indifferent to it right now. Hopefully it weighs positively on me over the course of time, but you never know,” DeChambeau said ominously, “I’m not sure. We didn’t sign up to play for 72.”

Why wouldn't you sue, Bryson?  It's gonna be the civil rights issue of our era...

Fifth Of Four, Revisited -  There's not much that the PGA Tour has done the last few years that your humble blogger likes, but today's laughs come at the expense of the one event they haven't screwed up... at least not yet.

We haven't had a good belly laugh from Ponte Vedra Beach since they astutely replaced These Guys Are Good™ with the lame Live Under Par™, but see how you react to this:

Again?

Shall we let Geoff run with this?

A New Outbreak Of Fifth Major Desperation Syndrome

The PGA Tour signals for The Players to be seen as a major. The move will only backfire and expose a thirst for profit over common sense.

Declaring you’re cool?

You’re not cool.

Reminding people that you’re a major championship?

You’re not a major.

And if you have to unleash an orchestrated ad campaign that’s immediately endorsed by eager-to-shill propaganda partners?

You’re not even close to becoming a major.

Despite a solid start to the 2026 season and one of the PGA Tour’s more iconic events playing out in sunny Scottsdale with a fun Sunday awaiting, the Tour launched a new ad campaign to pimp March’s Players Championship.

One of the risks in bringing in non-golf insiders is that they may not know how prior Tour administrations have embarrassed themselves....

 We'll let Geoff have his fun:

The slogan might have been chalked up to a simple alliterative choice featuring “M” words. But then there were the signs of a coordinated hype campaign, complete with supportive affirmation from Tour toadies that suggested otherwise. The hard sell was all capped off by confirming comments from an unnamed Tour spokesperson in response to Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan.

“Fans and players have long discussed THE PLAYERS Championship’s status as a major. We understand that is not for us to decide. Ultimately it is up to our sport and its fans to recognize what the professionals who play the game already know.”

Yes, everyone knows: The Players is a very fine tournament generally held back by identity issues and deep insecurity from never being considered better than one of the big four.

Also? Real majors never need ALL CAPS to let you know they’re majors.

And he even gets one more dig in at their edifice complex:

Ever since? The vision has been inconsistent. They’ve overseeded the place, then converted the whole thing to modern Bermuda, and are now back to drenching the place with water and ryegrass in a bid to look more like a certain tournament in April. They’ve harvested deep rough, cut it back to get balls rolling into the pine scrub, and seen the effort at restoring some of the crunchiness undone by all the EVP cooks who wanted to see emerald green on TV.

They also went from a modest, disguised-into-the-landscape clubhouse that put the course and players forward, to a gaudy Mediterranean-ish castle designed by Lord Farquaad.

Google it if you're not familiar with the reference.

The TC gang has thoughts:

The ‘major’ debate surfaced again last week, when the PGA Tour released a Players Championship promotion with the tagline: “March is going to be major.” When asked for comment, the Tour told GOLF.com, “Fans and players have long discussed THE PLAYERS Championship’s status as a major. We understand that is not for us to decide. Ultimately it is up to our sport and its fans to recognize what the professionals who play the game already know.” [Eds note: the Players, by definition, is not a major.] Any thoughts on the peculiar messaging around this?

Melton: The Tour is simply doing its job in promoting its biggest event. Does declaring the Players a major make it one? No — but you can’t fault the Tour for trying.

Schrock: The PGA Tour doesn’t own the five most important events in golf. They are promoting their flagship product. Can the Players be made into a major? Probably not, but the majors as we know them weren’t “majors” until Arnold Palmer basically created the idea in the 1960s. The tournaments existed but the idea of a “major” or the “grand slam” could have meant any number of things until Palmer said he wanted to win the Open Championship and PGA Championship to have a “grand slam” of his own after winning the Masters and U.S. Open. Majors can be created and deleted. The PGA Tour might as well try.

Dethier: I went deep on this exact subject here, but one feeling I can’t shake is that there should be four major championships. Five per year suddenly messes up history and the entire idea of the Grand Slam, which is a big deal in contextualizing great golfers. The Players has hit its stride in recent years as the PGA Tour’s greatest event. If it’s going to become a major it needs to stage a duel to replace one rather than add a fifth.

Zephyr, if the Players is their biggest event, where does that leave the FedEx Playoffs?

To this observer, rekindling this debate only serves to remind us all of the fact that the Tour doesn't own or control the events that folks care most about, so how is that helpful to PVB?  

Dylan, I agree fully, but I'm guessing you have an incoming call from....Evian?  But could there be a another context here.  Riffing on Dylan, which major would the Players most like replace?  Well, there's little doubt which is the weakest, the one that the Players keeps moving to accommodate.  I'm thinking this might be best understood as a warning shot across the bow of the good ship Frisco...

Of course, Brandel has to bloviate:

Days later, Brandel Chamblee created headlines when he said the Players has the best and deepest field in golf and is “the hardest major championship to win,” adding: “the Players, to me, stands alone and above the other four major championships as not just a major, it is in my estimation, the best major.” What is going on here?

Melton: Ok this one was definitely strange. I can see an argument for making the Players a major, but to say it’s “the best” major? Now that’s a hot take. Credit to Brandel for sticking his neck out there, but I’m gonna have to disagree.

Schrock: He honestly kind of lost me with the argument that because “Live From” broadcasts at majors and the Players, it makes the Players a major. I’ll listen to an argument that the Players is more of a major than the PGA, but Brandel lost me with his soliloquy. But it got people talking!

Dethier: Brandel is a provocative thinker and talker. When he’s on TV he has my attention. And some of his nuance got lost with this headline-grabbing declaration. With that said — I think this pretty clearly misses the mark. A better major than the brawny, epic U.S. Open? Than the vaunted, iconic Masters? Than the Open Championship and its 150-year history? The cover ruins the book for me here.

The case that the Players has the best field in golf is a serious one, it just unfortunately is an argument that has been thoroughly adjudicated previously.  There's no new information that's changed its status, except perhaps for its fields getting weaker due to the LIV defections.

But, if we're doing field strength, lets do the Signature Events next, then the Masters.

Eamon Lynch weighs in as well, though his characteristic pyrotechnics mask what I feel is a highly flawed argument:

Lynch: The Players isn’t a major and won’t be, unless the PGA Tour makes a big move — literally

Since they’re new to golf, it’s possible that the PGA Tour’s CEO, Brian Rolapp, and his investors think the “March is going to be major” campaign constitutes artful marketing, rather than pointless pot-stirring that’s wearisome even to golf nerds, a clot usually eager to fight duels over esoterica.

The specific pot being stirred is whether The Players should be considered a major alongside the four accepted championships. If golf was like marathoning, it could be decided by fiat. For many years, the World Marathon Majors included six races: Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. Then, in late 2024, Sydney was added, a tough pill for runners who’d achieved a lifetime goal of completing the original half-dozen. That change was possible because one entity could make the call.

I might have gone with LPGA, but whatever....

The most compelling rationale for major status is that least frequently offered: the political one. All of the most powerful bodies in golf own a major championship, except the organization that’s arguably the most influential — the PGA Tour. But even that position has a convincing counter argument in this Balkanized era: an event that excludes superstars like Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Talor Gooch as a matter of policy has no legitimate claim on major status.

Gee, Eamon, where is Talor Gooch playing these days?

If the Tour and its investors are hung up on not owning any of the sport’s five biggest titles (including the Ryder Cup), there are only two options: they can acquire a major or take steps to make fans concede that they already have one. Buying the PGA Championship might have seemed plausible of late, but less so since the PGA of America has hired a seasoned executive as CEO while simultaneously seeming to enjoin its most buffoonish liability to silence. So, how to convince folks that The Players deserves even greater stature than it already deservedly enjoys? Certainly not via the ham-fisted marketing the Tour has tried for years, which serves only to harden opinion against elevated status.

One move that might possibly sway golf fans on the subject is a literal move: take The Players on the road. The notion of a major that travels to established and growing regions of the world has been mooted for years, usually in the context of wondering how the PGA Championship can escape its standing as the runt of the litter. But the PGA of America is a parochial organization in its membership, culture, ambition and administration. The PGA Tour, on the other hand, has reason to build its business beyond U.S. borders and to better leverage its strategic partnership with the globe-trotting DP World Tour. Instead of quibbling about whether an existing major can be mobile, perhaps the answer lies in The Players becoming a major because it is portable.

 This strikes me as quite silly, but let's let Eamon give the yang to the above yin:

The Tour’s flagship event could go global on alternate years. One year at its traditional home of TPC Sawgrass, the next at Royal Melbourne or Durban Country Club or Koninklijke Haagsche (that’s not an ice cream brand, Brian). Let it be golf’s first truly global competition — two of the last five “international” Presidents Cup venues have been within walking distance of the U.S. border — with an elite, deep field that isn’t dependent on a couple of guys paid appearance fees.

Even cynical fans would see enormous value — perhaps even major value — in an event that takes golf’s gospel to venues, audiences and countries long underserved. Making The Players mobile would come with costs that the Tour would probably be unwilling to countenance, however, like smaller viewership due to time zone changes and the likelihood of reduced revenues.

Like so much else being considered these days in Ponte Vedra, it’s tough to balance tradition, fan enthusiasm, cost effectiveness, revenue generation, investor returns, player entitlement and obligations to the broader golf ecosystem. In which case, the Tour might conclude that the status quo ain’t all that bad.

The status quo is pretty damn good, though the amusement comes from the Tour's unhappiness with this successful event.

To me, the event succeeds for two simple reasons:

1. It's the Players' Championship, appropriately played at the Tour's home in PVB, and;
2. The Frigging Golf Course.  The event is the course and the course is the event, and disconnect the two at your peril.

It's a great event, one of the few Tour events that still has merit.  It's just sad the Tour can't be content, given that it doesn't solve all their other problems.  Eamon's arguments work far better if applied to the PGA Championship, which has no compelling reason to even exist.

The Bad News - Is March good for you guys?

For those that remember last winter, it's deja vu all over again.  My brother, nephew and I are headed back to British Columbia for another skiing adventure, one that hopefully will go a little better for your humble blogger than last year.  BC is one of the few places that this winter has actually seen snow, though one senses that our arrival will be the cue to turn off the faucet.

I'll leave you with this video of my hotshot nephew from last winter:

No need to share the video of me.

I get home on March 3rd, and blogging will resume thereafter.  Have a great few weeks.

Weekend Wrap - Bomb Cyclone Edition

As with all aspects of life, yesterday's bomb cyclone failed to deliver the goods.  But I only come to New York to see the snow, which looks like it will be covering our golf course well into May.... Soon I'll be heading back to the Mountain Greenery (anyone but me remember that song) of, wait for it, Utah.

In other news, I'm still trying to reignite my enthusiasm for this blogging thing.  Just when I've worked up a smidgeon of enthusiasm, PReed heads back to town.  Can't a fellow get a break?

A Rose By Any Other Name - It was quite the week and I do agree he's one of the good guys, but perhaps a deep breath is in order?  Not to be Debbie Downer, but fields don't get much weaker and weather doesn't get more benign, so I'm still thinking that Tiger guy was probably the better player...

This is a good take on how we got here:

In 2022, Rose’s game had dipped. The former World No. 1 had fallen into the 60s in the OWGR and LIV came calling. The Saudi-backed breakaway league was collecting names and resumes. It 

was paying for past achievement, hoping the major-winning names would drive initial interest. Where Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and others said yes, Justin Rose said no. It was fitting that, during the week Brooks Koepka returned to the PGA Tour after a three-plus-year voyage with LIV, Rose continued to validate his decision with a romp that saw him break the 72-hole scoring record set by Tiger Woods.

Rose was able to do that because he wanted more. He has been able to do all of it because he wanted more.

“My career goals have always only been attainable by staying on the European Tour and the PGA TOUR because access to them is not, you know, not possible the other way,” Rose said on Sunday about his decision to reject LIV and the ripple effects of it.

“But obviously I want to play amongst the best players in the world. That obviously for me is kind of what keeps me motivated, what keeps me hungry, what keeps me pushing. So yeah, it would have been easy to potentially do other things, but none of that excited me, I don’t think really. And none of it gave me access to what I wanted to achieve. So I kind of always felt like my childhood self wouldn’t feel very good about making that decision and kind of giving up on those dreams.”

Compare this boring contentment with Phil's white-hot anger and his alleged poor treatment from the Tour.  I suspect JR is actually selling himself a little short, because if we prompted him he'd add for sure a concern that the Tour be sufficiently strong to support the next generations of newbies.

It's that time where we typically duck into the Tour Confidential roundtable, which today is most interesting and even noteworthy for the order in which it presents the issues of the day, although the absence of numbered questions perhaps indicates some internal lack of comfort with their editorial decisions.  They didn't get to this until the last query::

Justin Rose won the Farmers on Sunday, cruising to a seven-shot victory at Torrey Pines for his 13th PGA Tour win of his career. At 45 years old — and with an Olympic gold and U.S. Open title — does Rose get enough credit for being one of the game’s most consistent performers? How is he still doing it?

Colgan: When Rose faded down the stretch at the 2024 Open, I remember wondering if the “Indian Summer” chapter of his career was over. I was amazed by his performance then, and I’m even more impressed by it today. Rose is one of golf’s most impressive strategic thinkers and all-time decent dudes — he deserves the love he’s receiving.

Dethier: Rose just keeps writing new chapters and my goodness was this one particularly impressive. Rose is smashing drives; he’s up several miles per hour in ball speed over last season, looking and playing like a younger man. He led wire to wire. Broke Tiger Woods’ Torrey Pines scoring record. Won by seven. Looked in control very literally the entire tournament. Now he’s up to No. 3 in the world, which is unthinkable. Inspiring play from an inspiring player.

Schrock: It’s probably the best story we have going in professional golf right now. There’s nothing better than the aging guy who refuses to give Father Time what it wants to take from him. That he is arguably an even better player now than he was when he was World No. 1 speaks to his talent, drive and commitment to his craft and his body. At the Open, he said that losing the Masters to Rory didn’t sting in the way you’d think because it told him he can still bring it on the biggest stages against the best players in the world. Didn’t sound like a guy whose “Indian Summer” was ending and now he has won two times in the last six starts and continues to be a Ryder Cup killer. Tip of the cap.

It is a great story, mostly because we all like rooting for the good guy, especially given the peer group.  That said,  this is very much a second tier Tour event with a third tier field, so methinks we're subject to the dreaded recency bias.  What most interests me is how old school he seems, featuring consistency in a world that no longer values that trait.  

He's now risen to No. 3 in the OWGR, but does anyone really believe he's the third best player in the world?  To me, the real interest is in seeing if he can bring it on demand and pick off another major before the sands run through the hourglass.  If we're writing the script for what one writer called the best story in golf, wouldn't that have to happen at Augusta?  

They say that any time you share a record with an all-time great, you must be doing something right.  Yet the Masters record that JR shares with Hogan defies that conventional wisdom, no?  That Hogan guy has two wins to go with his two playoff losses, it's Justin that needs one to break his way.

The Prodigal Son - I'm something of a Mark Twain fanboy, so his famous quote, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes", is top of mind this morning.  I find comfort in the fact that Brooksie's return to the fold was every bit as exciting as as Brooks can be.  Which is to say, who is that thinks Brooks moves the needle?

Geoff had some fun snark, aimed at all the usual suspects:

Judging by the hype, you’d think Brooks Koepka had been hit by a Greyhound bus, transported to Area 51 to have his limbs removed, only to have them reattached in a Netflix live-streamed surgery by Dr. Neal El Attrache.

The 35-year-old five-time major winner is merely returning to PGA Tour play after a brief three-year tour of some of the worst golf courses known to man. Koepka appeared early this week in La Jolla just as everyone remembered from seeing him at last year’s majors: looking like he’d just gotten out of bed and delivering clipped answers in a monotone flatter than a Rees Jones design.

Golf fans already knew the faux tough guy wouldn’t be crooning classics while backed by the Ponte Vedra Brass. The five-time major champion’s appeal comes from an innate ability to flip a switch at majors, a superpower that vanished after his 2023 PGA Championship win.

The Tour Confidential panel had this:

LIV golfer-turned-PGA Tour player Brooks Koepka made his return at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, making the rounds in the media and even jumping on the broadcast before finishing T56. What did you think of his week and the reception?

Colgan: I was surprised by how vulnerable he seemed in his conversations and his interactions on

the course. For the vast majority of Koepka’s interactions with the public over the last five years, he’s appeared somewhere between surly and outright combative. This week was quite the opposite. I think it’ll be a while before I fully buy the “changed man” narrative — but it’s something I’m monitoring.

Dethier: I’m wary of getting too over-the-top with anything Brooks. Still, he was greeted like a conquering hero. He sounded humble and grateful and did extensive media before the tournament and then after each round, even sitting for the CBS broadcast on both Saturday and Sunday. Also, his golf swing looked great. Tee to green he was good enough to contend. He was dreadful with the putter, but there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic.

Schrock: I agree with James and Dylan that we should tread carefully when psychoanalyzing Brooks. We’ll see if the Koepka who seemed genuinely happy and grateful to be back and said he has “grown up” is indeed the Koepka who has returned from LIV. But my biggest takeaway was that a guy who famously couldn’t be bothered by regular PGA Tour events really seemed to soak up his return, enjoy the moments with his family and relished the opportunity to be the first guy back across the bridge. It was cool to see him back. His putting was dreadful. Hopefully he can find his way into contention soon.

How precious that James thinks he was vulnerable as he read from his prepared script.... Obviously the Tour is prepping for what could come next, and Brooks needed to play his assigned role.  But it was fun watching him on the greens.

I'll allow Geoff to also lede on that other guy:

Koepka will eventually be joined on the PGA Tour by Patrick Reed, who announced he is returning for the 2027 season after an early check-out from the Four Aces hotel. But if anyone defines checking out but never leaving, Reed’s PGA Tour return won’t be celebrated, given the pathetic legal actions befitting a man of little character and taken during an ill-fated partnership with now-suspended lawyer Larry Klayman.

Unlike Koepka’s decision to return, the PGA Tour posted a tidy and hardly-celebratory story confirming Reed’s eligibility. He resigned his membership prior to “violating any regulations” and would be eligible to return to competition “on Aug. 25, 2026, as a non-member, provided that he complies with Tour regulations and does not participate in additional unauthorized events.”

Smart stipulations given that we’re dealing with PReed and his bonkers “team.”

This also means the former Farmers Insurance Open champion won’t get to pick up and improve his lies at Torrey Pines this week. Instead, he’s the top-ranked player at this week’s DP World Tour stop in Bahrain.

Notice how Geoff always buries the good news.  In this case it's that we won't have to watch Patrick improve his lie by placing each of his fourteen clubs and ball retriever behind his lies in the rough. 

And now for the obligatory stupid question, yanno, in lieu of a potentially interesting one:

Speaking of LIV defectors, Patrick Reed announced Wednesday he’s leaving LIV and will be eligible to rejoin the PGA Tour in the fall of 2026. Bigger news for the Tour, or worse for LIV Golf?

Colgan: Worse for LIV, if only because name value is the currency of sports, and Reed’s departure removes one more familiar name from LIV’s fields.

Dethier: Worse for LIV. One quote Reed gave to ESPN explains why: “After winning [on the DP World Tour last week], I realized just how much I missed the grind and the dogfight; that’s who I am,” he said. The implication there is pretty clear. To Reed, golf’s established tours offer something that LIV didn’t. His decision to come back is a tough narrative to counter.

Schrock: Worse for LIV. They’ve now lost two of the six names they have that truly register. LIV built itself on buying names and two of those have now left. Combined with reports that the PIF is tightening the belt and that’s two successive blows to LIV.

Wrong, it's actually good for neither (though I'll concede worse for the bonecutters.

The interesting question is to understand how this deal with PReed does or does not provide a template for future LIV defectors.  The real question is what the hell is up with LIV.....

King Of The Segues - Did I hear someone ask about the future of LIV?  Let's throw this out first:

LIV Golf begins its season this coming week in Saudi Arabia, although without Koepka, who took up the PGA Tour’s offer to return via the newly created Returning Member Program. The window for application ends Feb. 2, and at this point it seems unlikely the only other eligible players (Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith) will flip. Given that Koepka might be the only one to return, was new CEO Brian Rolapp’s program a success?

Colgan: Uh, it wouldn’t have been a failure if nobody rejoined the Tour. The biggest talking point of the last three years has been bringing the best players back together. The Tour has now very clearly defined how that pathway looks. Adding two former major winners (including one willing to endure an eight-month suspension)? That’s just a bonus.

Dethier: Koepka’s decision to return is a massive win for the Tour. Reed’s decision to return is, too. These guys are essentially paying to play the PGA Tour; that’s a narrative win. Rolapp deserves a ton of credit, but so do those around him; this is a reinvigorated Tour thinking bigger and better and in this case, it really shows.

Schrock: No other way to square it than as a massive win for the PGA Tour. They brought back two big names, both of whom are major champions and generate emotion, and have them both agreeing to penalties — in Reed’s case an eight-month suspension — to come back. Rolapp being untethered to the past has freed the Tour up to do what previously seemed unlikely under past leadership. The response and coverage of Koepka’s return showed how big of a win this was for the PGA Tour. Reed coming back and doing so after an eight-month exile is icing.

Obviously that doesn't add much to our discussion or understanding of LIV's status and prospects. Do you remember when LIV was created, and how everyone felt compelled to offer their unique insights, which were typically along the lines that the Saudis could spend as much as they wanted or needed to.  Your humble blogger is an old curmudgeon who has absorbed one or two life lessons, one of which is that, no matter how much money one has, it's always a finite resource.

What do you know, but suddenly there are all sorts of references to belt-tightening in the Kingdom, mostly linked to this boondoggle:

Neom no more? Saudi Arabia reduces ambitious plans for 'The Line' and futuristic megacity

After years of cost overruns and delays, Saudi Arabia’s flagship futuristic megaproject, Neom, is set to be significantly scaled back. The futuristic super-city, meant to run entirely on alternative

energy sources, was due to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, which has now been postponed.

Saudi Arabia is set to significantly scale back Neom, its flagship super-city project.

According to reports, Saudi Crown Prince and Neom chairman Mohammed bin Salman now envisions a much smaller development than originally planned, following years of cost overruns and delays.

On Saturday, the kingdom announced the indefinite postponement of the Asian Winter Games, which had been scheduled for 2029 at Trojena, a year-round ski resort in the Neom mountains.

Which do you think is funnier, that year-round ski resort or the Saudis falling for the green energy scam?  Tough one, as they're both comedy gold.

But here's the key bit on scale:

Covering roughly the size of Belgium, Neom was first billed as Saudi Arabia’s answer to Silicon Valley — a hub for technology and futuristic innovation. The projected cost was around $500 billion, but recent reports suggest the true figure could approach $9 trillion.

First touted in 2017, the desert megacity was expected to be home to nine million people by 2045, as Saudi Arabia sought to grow its population and become a global economic powerhouse.

Yanno, $9 Trillion here and $9 Trillion there....

We understand that a dysfunctional camel herding culture will inevitably misallocate capital, but in $9 Trillion increments it goes pretty quickly, even for the Saudis.  Of course, the larger issue is the absence of any tangible benefit from LIV.

Of course, LIV would have better prospects if it wasn't such a clown show.  This was my favorite bit this past week:

I for one am excited to see Dustin Jonhson, Phil Mickeslon and Martin Kraymer play.  They didn'ty even get the Tour name correct, which is now LXXII.

Wither Torrey - Did you notice how often Jim  Nancy-Boy referenced the term of the Tour at Torrey, as well as the length of the Farmers Insurance sponsorship?  Maybe it's me, but they seem to have elided a few relevant details:

As Farmers Insurance exits, what’s the future for San Diego PGA Tour event?

Why would they move on?  Maybe because the Tour treats them like the Mob treats its borrowers?

The PGA Tour returns to Torrey Pines and the Farmers Insurance Open on Thursday with much fanfare. Brooks Koepka is back on tour after four years away. Torrey Pines is one of the more visually stunning tour stops. And CBS makes its season debut for weekend coverage after nearly six months off.

But this very well could be the final January edition of the event. Farmers Insurance did not renew its longtime deal as title sponsor (it signed on in 2010), and much has been made about what the tour and its new Future Competitions Committee (FCC) is planning for 2027 and beyond.

Instead of looking forward, maybe we should look at how the Tour has treated Framers since 2010, specifically those back-to-back Signature events coming up.  It's not just that the Tour dumped them behind this event and made it impossible for them to attract a strong field, but rather that would have come after the extortion attempt.  Nice little event you have there.  Sure would be a shame if anything happened to it....

Amusingly, this may be the most likely scenario:

Though the tournament does not yet have a title sponsor beyond this week, Golf Digest reported recently that there was “strong interest” in the event. One potential sponsor for the San Diego tournament, sources said, is Sentry.

The insurance company first signed on for “The Sentry” prior to the 2018 tournament, which has been the PGA Tour’s annual first event of the season. But the 2026 tournament was canceled in September due to water delivery issues on Maui, and it’s widely expected that it will not return, meaning Sentry would be without an event to sponsor. Golfweek also recently reported on the possibility of Sentry moving to the San Diego event.

Sources said it’s possible -- even “likely” -- that Sentry would move in to sponsor the Torrey Pines tournament in future years should the Maui tournament not continue. Its deal for the Hawaii tournament runs through 2035. Also, sources said it’s possible that the Torrey Pines event, with Sentry as a sponsor, could move into a spot in the tour’s three-event postseason.

Stupidity on parade.  The best part of the PGA Tour schedule is the West Coast Swing, so naturally it needs to be destroyed.  Ask yourself a simple question: What is Torrey's appeal?  I'll concede the history, but it's far from a great golf course.  What it offers are the Pacific Ocean views, the cliffs and the hang gliders, in other words, the eye candy.  Does that eye candy resonate in August?  Yes, a little, but not like it does in frigid late January.  

Exit Strategy - I teased it above and damn near forgot to pay it off.  Did you catch the last round of the LPGA TOC?

Props to the TC gang for leading with this.  If you wonder why I call the LPGA The Tour That Can't Shoot Straight, come along for this ride:

The LPGA Tour opened its 2026 season with the Tournament of Champions at an uncharacteristically chilly Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Fla., and Nelly Korda was named the winner after the event was reduced to 54 holes (eight players finished their third rounds Sunday after weather also delayed the third round). The LPGA told reporters on-site that the weather (temps in the low 30s, plus wind) did not create an “optimal competitive environment for pros,” although the celebrities in the pro-am event still played nine holes Sunday. One of them, Annika Sorenstam, called the course “very playable.” Any issue with this one being shortened to 54 holes?

James Colgan:: I feel sympathy for the LPGA, because this is one of those “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situations. But I think any time things are close to playable, tours should opt for 72-hole events. The mojo of an event is totally changed, if not ruined, by the decision to cleave off 25 percent of it, and I’m not sure the conditions in Orlando justified radical change.

Dylan Dethier: I cannot understand how this was the best option. Y’know what’s interesting about golf? The fact that it’s never an “optimal environment.” It was incredible watching Nelly Korda surge up the leaderboard on Saturday — in part because she played so well in less than optimal conditions. It would have been a huge win for the league to showcase Korda taking on the elements (and the rest of the field) on Sunday or Monday if needed; instead we’re left in awkward limbo with the league sheepishly handing its biggest star what should have been an incredible victory.

Josh Schrock: It really seems like this was an incredible own goal on the LPGA’s part. Not just because they elected not to grind through a cold day on Sunday or play in slightly warmer but still cold temps on Monday. But they could have moved up tee times on Friday and Saturday and grouped the players together instead of with the ams to allow for players to play in similar conditions — Nelly’s Saturday round was awesome, but she also went off well ahead of the leaders and only got the really bad stuff on the final two holes. With the LPGA not playing against until Feb. 19, I find it hard to believe they couldn’t find a way to get 18 more holes in and showcase their biggest draw snapping her winless drought in impressive fashion. It would have been a big win for the LPGA to have Nelly win in this way in Week 1. Instead, we got “optimal competitive environment” and Annika wondering why they weren’t playing. Perplexing stuff.

I have a very simple reaction here.  The next time you hear the ladies whining about their lack of respect or their lack of network coverage, remind them of this.   If you want to taken seriously, then perhaps you might want to actually be serious.

And this:

Six-time LPGA Tour Danielle Kang commented on social media that shortening rounds to 54 holes due to bad weather seems to be the LPGA’s first option, while on the PGA Tour it seems to be the last resort. Do you think there is validity to that? And why?

Colgan: It does certainly feel like that’s the case, but by my accounting, Sunday was just the third time since 2022 that the LPGA has shortened from 72 to 54 holes. The PGA Tour has done so once in that same stretch (Wyndham Clark’s Pebble Beach win in ‘24). Yes, statistically that does make the LPGA three times as likely to shorten an event, but it’s hardly an epidemic.

Dethier: Look, I know it’s not their first option. I know they want the best for the league. I’m excited about the LPGA’s trajectory. It just feels to me like they should have done everything they could have to make it work, frost be damned.

Schrock: It’s not their first option, but reducing it to 54 holes in the manner they did and with a pretty soft explanation is a bad look. Have to feel like they could have found a way to get the final round. There were no frost delays and the high winds from Saturday are not expected to return. Monday will be cold but playable. Let’s see who can grind out a win. That’s the fun part of golf!

I'm glad you guys took on this issue, but it would have worked better if you were actually any good at your day job.

First, there's an obvious category error above.  Shortening a golf tournament to 54 holes is always unfortunate, though sometimes necessary.  But what they did here is far worse, they called off the last round after completion of the third round, meaning a player won the tournament without ever having to, yanno, win the tournament.   You can't let that happen and pretend that your events are serious athletic competitions.

But am I really the only one that will ask the obvious question.  When the LPGA majordomos decided what to do, they knew who was leading, which just happened to be that one woman that they most needed a win.  How can you not ask whether a different decision would have been made were any other woman in the lead?  There, I said it out loud...

That's it for today, kids.  Stay warm and I'll back at some point.