Weekend Wrap - Snowmageddon Edition

Still trying to get back into this blogging thing.  The funniest bit might be that a week ago I used a powder day reference in my header.  Wow, you'd think that I would know to, wait for it, keep my powder dry....

I'll be here all week, folks.  Please remember to tip your waitress....

Scottie, Still Good At Golf - You'll know that this kind of header is inevitable:

Scottie Scheffler enters Tiger Woods territory in the most Scottie way possible

Hmmm, is that more or less impressive than doing it in the most Tiger way possible?

Although I didn't see this lede coming:

The final Sunday in January is a sacred time in sports television — and this final Sunday was even more special.

For one glorious weekend, while the weather is cold and the living room is warm, everyone’s eyes are on television. And, with an enormous snowstorm sweeping much of the United States, sports TV executives were salivating: this weekend’s numbers could be even bigger than normal.

In theory, these conditions set the scene for a mammoth audience for Scottie Scheffler’s first victory of 2026 at the American Express in Palm Springs, Calif. — a blowout win that served as the latest and most consequential evidence of Scheffler’s historic trajectory. But in practice, they were the conditions that made for a perfectly fitting Scheffler victory celebration: a routine ass-kicking that hardly anyone appreciated, because it occurred during the same time as the weekend’s primary sports draw, the NFC and AFC Championship Games.

It's actually quite the clever lede, because it does hit on the walking understatement that is Scottie Scheffler....

Just a fun fact.  When the NFL Conference Championship gamers were on opposite Torrey, the Tour decided to finish on Saturday.  No need to do that here, as Golf Channel coverage ensures that not more than a baker's dozen will be watching at any one time...

Shall we duck into the Tour Confidential writers' room?  Yeah, once again, that was rhetorical....

Scottie Scheffler kicked off his 2026 season just as you might have imagined: with another victory. Scheffler shot a final-round 66 to win the American Express by four and claim his 20th career PGA Tour win. What did you think of Scheffler’s season debut? And if you are the rest of the Tour, what are you thinking?

Alan Bastable: Forget what I think. How about what the 18-year-old playing alongside Scheffler

on Sunday thinks! “One of the coolest things that I learned today was how underrated Scottie Scheffler’s short game is,” Blades Brown said after his buzz-kill fourth-round 74. “To see it in person and just to look at kind of the trajectory and the spin, and just the control that he has with his wedges and short game. Obviously his putting is insane too. It was really cool to watch.” I would concur — Scheffler’s 1.18 putts per green Sunday was best in the field. His 9 birdies were also impressive. Every time I looked up, it seemed Scheffler was spinning a wedge back to within four feet of the hole. Looked like a Golden Tee round. What is the rest of the Tour thinking? Probably. . . [sigh] here we go again.

James Colgan: I know this deserves like a thousand qualifiers, because the American Express is historically one of the easiest tournaments relative to par, but Scottie won in a way we’ve never seen on Sunday. He didn’t just outweather his opponents; he outgunned them. He made nine birdies, and eight of them were converted from inside of five feet (!!!). He’s the third player ever (behind Tiger and Jack) to 20 wins and 4 majors before his 30th birthday — and to everyone else in golf, that should be … terrifying.

Josh Sens. To me, this looked like more of the same. A golfer with no physical weaknesses whose mental game is every bit as good. In this, a relatively low-wattage event, Scheffler proved again that unlike some other big guns in the game, he never takes a week off.

That Tiger/Jack 20-4 bit got a lot of airtime and I hate those slice-and-dice statistical oddities, but this one does frame it quite effectively.  To me, though, he's far more Jack than Tiger, as that image of his family celebrating readily confirms.

This one is a bit silly, though:

Scheffler won six times last year and seven the year before. If you are Vegas and deciding the over/under line for Scheffler wins in 2026, what are you setting it at?

Bastable: Feels like cheating given we already have one. Can he win five more? Of course! Six more? Maybe. Seven more would bring us to Tiger territory (TW won eight times in both 1999 and 2006). And eight more would bring us to Vijay Singh (2004) and Tiger again (2000) territory. Feels like a big ask. We’re setting the o/u at 6. What say ye, colleagues?!

Colgan: Agreed, Basty. Six is the only rational number. But great athletes teach us to believe in the irrational. I don’t think eight is out of the question.

Sens: If the line is six, I’m all in on the over. One down already, with –if his past schedule repeats–upwards of 15 to 20 starts remaining? I’ll be collecting my money by late August.

This week should reinforce an obvious point, to wit, that's it's less important how many he wins, than it is where he wins.... Tiny field sizes have made winning actually easier once you've got a tee time (every week is the Masters), but There's 4-5 weeks that will tell me the most.  The list topped, shockingly, by a June even on the Eastern end of Long Island....

To me, it's passing strange that Scottie even pegged it this week.  Seems like more of the guys are kicking off their seasons next week in LaJolla, not that running away from the field isn't an effective warning shot across the bow.

The Blades Brown Experience - This one I've been watching for s while.  His name has been bandied about for a while now, obviously a young kid with seemingly unlimited upside.  I have a good friend and golf buddy that's involved with the management of a Florida golf club.  Local U.S. Open qualifying was held there last summer, and Ed ended up spending ninety minutes with Blades in the clubhouse, and followed him during his round (if I remember correctly, he lost out on Sectional in a playoff).

The first thing you need to know is that the kid comes from an interesting gene pool, his mother having played two seasons in the WNBA after a strong college career at Vanderbilt.  The other bit to throw in is that that epic golf name may not be what it seems, as "Blades" is actually his mother's maiden name.

The second bit is his age, all of eighteen.  His family has a plan for him, and that plan, unlike most of today's kids, had no role for college.  He has already earned status on the Korn Ferry Tour, and I believe this was his tenth PGA Tour event, and far from his first made cut.

Besides Scheffler taking control of the tournament, it was 18-year-old Blades Brown who made headlines earlier in the week. He received a sponsor’s exemption and made his 10th career PGA Tour start, shot 60 on Friday and was one off the lead after 54-holes before shooting 74 Sunday and falling out of the top 10. Was this finish an outlier? Or is Blades a name golf fans should expect to see more of?

Bastable: Outlier? Hardly! He’d already made three PGA Tour cuts heading into this week at an age at which most of his peers are less worried about staring down Scottie Scheffler on a Sunday afternoon than they are about prepping for their next pre-calc exam or landing a prom date. Blades sounds like he’s in full sponge mode. On Sunday evening, he said he could “write a book about what I’ve learned these past couple of days.” In pro golf, 18 is the new 28. There’s little reason to think we won’t see Blades playing more meaningful weekend golf on the PGA Tour this year.

Colgan: The finish wasn’t an outlier. Blades is a name that fans should remember. BUT — and there is a “but” — Sunday was a lesson in how much separates him from consistent PGA Tour success. I’m unbelievably impressed that, at 18 years old, his ceiling is already up there with the best in the sport. But careers are built on raising your floor.

Sens: Blades is no fluke. A name like that is destiny. Guess I shouldn’t have named my son “Shanks.” Poor kid never stood a chance.

The other bit no one is noting is his brutal schedule.  he played a Sunday-Wednesday Korn Ferry event in the Bahamas, then hopped a private plane to utilize this exemption.  He played competitive rounds on eight straight days (not to mention the travel), so a clunker may have been inevitable.  The kid has no shortage of game, and we'll see him on the big tour soon enough.

LIV Stuff - This isn't the most interesting aspect of things right now, but it's anaerobic blogging:

Speaking of the Returning Member Program, next up on Tour is the Farmers Insurance Open where Brooks Koepka will make his long-awaited return to the PGA Tour. What are you most looking forward to hearing from Koepka about, and how do you expect him to play in his first start?

Bastable: I’m not sure we’ll get a whole lot from him — in the press tent, anyway. I would expect focused, tight-lipped Koepka in San Diego. And who knows what we’ll see on the course? The dirty little secret about Brooks is . . . he has not been playing well. He had just two top-10s on LIV in 2025 and both came in his first four starts. In his last four starts he finished no better than T29. Maybe he was unmotivated. Maybe he was distracted by personal issues. Maybe he was dreaming of his PGA Tour return. Hard to know with Brooks. What we do know is he has much to prove. Would it surprise me if he contends? It would not.

Colgan: I’ve heard a few of Brooks’ LIV counterparts mention Koepka’s personal situation was a key component of his decision to return. I’m not expecting him to clue us in, but it would be nice to hear his on-the-record reasoning for returning to the Tour.

Sens: I’m trying to remember the last time I heard something truly revealing in a press conference. I don’t expect that to change when Koepka steps to the podium. But I expect him to play well, recent form be damned. If ever there was a guy who can turn it off and then back on when it matters to him, it’s Koepka.

Yeah, Josh, but I don't expect that he'll be turning it on for the Farmers....  Not sure what Brooks has left in the tank, but His Excellency doesn't see distraught at losing him....

To me, there are two far more intriguing threads, beginning here:

Patrick Reed, days before he won the Dubai Desert Classic, told The Telegraph he’d consider rejoining the PGA Tour if allowed. Then, on Sunday morning, he revealed he has yet to re-sign with LIV Golf — whose season begins in less than two weeks. The Tour’s Returning Member Program specifically created pathways for major winners of the past four years, which Reed doesn’t fall under. Why wouldn’t the Tour be interested in Reed rejoining?

Bastable: Who says they’re not?! I think Brian Rolapp and Co. are interested in welcoming back any player who makes PGA Tour fields stronger and LIV fields weaker. Yes, the current framing

of the RMP precludes a Reed return, but rules, as the PGA Tour has been proving of late, are made to be broken — or, at the very least, altered. Who knows where we’ll be in a year? When asked Sunday if he’s been talking to the PGA Tour, Reed said, “Not right now,” which suggests conversations have been happening. I, for one, miss P-Reed. However you feel about the guy, he makes tournaments more interesting.

Colgan: That whole P-Reed back-and-forth was SO weird. If we’ve learned one thing from the Brooks and Bryson situations, it’s that LIV contracts are like every other negotiation — they’re all about leverage! Why is Reed surrendering his leverage by keeping his free agency a secret? I have no idea. But if his PGA Tour return odds are hampered, I’d bet it’s because he’s been operating under the cover of darkness.

Sens: Golf’s civil war is also a zero-sum game. I’m sure the Tour would be interested in getting Reed back for that reason. A win for Ponte Vedra equals a loss for LIV, and the other way around. My guess is that we won’t see that this year. He’s already exempt into the Masters, his world ranking is now solidly inside the top 50, and he’s just improved his market value in any negotiations with LIV. That’s another way of saying that he can likely have his cake and eat it too, resigning for big money without necessarily missing out on the majors.

Gee, James, I would think his PGA Tour return will more likely be hampered by being the biggest a******e in golf.  Do you not remember his behavior in Paris?  More importantly, do you not remember Justine?

You would expect a little more introspection from these writers, no?  Bastable just operates in a binary world where they either do or don't want him back.  The reality is far complicated, where Rolapp has  multiple constituencies to accommodate.  There are no doubt many Tour members that don't want any of these asshats back, yet the adults are saying, "OK, but let's not shoot ourselve4s in the foot unnecessarily."  But there is no needle that PReed moves, so good luck to him in 2026.

Eamon Lynch has some thoughts on the status quo:

Lynch: Brian Rolapp scored an early win with Brooks Koepka’s return. His tougher battles are coming next

And we have a GMTA moment, though you'll have to believe that I wrote the above before reading Eamon's lede:

As a voracious reader on the lives of former presidents, Brian Rolapp is probably familiar with Dwight Eisenhower's quip about leadership being the art of getting someone else to do what you want done because he wants to do it. The PGA Tour’s CEO has already measured up favorably to Ike’s metric, having engineered the return of Brooks Koepka to the fold while keeping a lid on whatever simmering resentment exists in the locker room. (It helps that Koepka is popular among his peers; it’s not like Rolapp was asking them to save seats in player dining for Patrick and Justine).

Maybe they'll allow PReed back under the condition that he dump Justine?  Win-win, baby!

The first real test of Rolapp’s writ comes six weeks from now however, around The Players, when the Future Competition Committee he impaneled makes public its preliminary concepts about the Tour’s future. That will be followed by a period of negotiations, horse trading and reconciliation until a final plan is agreed upon – which suggests actual material changes to the Tour product are still a couple of years away.

That process will be akin to threading a needle while walking on hot coals. Consider just one dilemma: the chairman of PGA Tour Enterprises is Joe Gorder, who was the former board chair and CEO of Valero Energy, which has for 24 years sponsored the Texas Open, an event not guaranteed to survive the anticipated schedule cuts. And that’s before Rolapp addresses factions that, if not exactly competing, aren’t entirely aligned even as they pay lip service to the shared goal of a better business.

But here's where Eamon sets himself apart from the TC clowns, because he gets that the return of the prodigal sons comes in the context of dramatically reduced playing opportunities:

Like his membership, long accustomed to a benevolent organization devoted to providing them work, but who now face significant reductions in opportunities, narrowing pathways to status, and less likelihood of keeping a job with middling performance. Or his investors, who’d like a return on their $1.5 billion infusion, even if they aren’t the typical burn-and-run private equity ghouls. And the loyal tournaments and sponsors who might find there’s no welcome for them or their money in the new order. Not to mention his media partners, who paid handsomely for a product that will no longer be the one delivered. And of course golf fans, by now weary of hearing how they should bide their time while the aforementioned cut the line to get theirs.

I think the key concept is Good Luck with all that:

To put it crassly, Rolapp will need the persuasive powers of a lady of the night who finds herself trawling for clients in a gay bathhouse.

So how does he accomplish it? By coaxing the reluctant and facing down the refuseniks.

For example, positioning schedule and eligibility changes as being about rewarding excellence, implicitly daring players to make the opposing case that mediocrity is entitled to continued employment (socialism for me, but not for thee!). That demands decent field sizes and smarter criteria for filling them, not prioritizing a 62-year-old veteran like Vijay Singh over an up-and-coming teenager like Blades Brown. By schooling his investors that the Tour's responsibilities extend beyond bottom-line profit to the broader golf ecosystem and to charities. By engineering off-ramp options for impacted events and sponsors for whom no place can be found at the top table, whether as part of an international swing, on the Korn Ferry or Champions circuits, or in a Fall scramble for status, a window that’s destined to have more relevance (and familiar names) thanks to the reduction in fully exempt cards.

That's great, but to do so he'll have to stare down Patrick Cantlay and Tiger Woods....

Not sure, though, that I'm with him on thisd:

But good luck convincing media partners to pay more for a shrinking product. A smaller Tour may turn out to be a better Tour in time, but the networks will likely start from a position that the price tag should be commensurately smaller too.

Crucially, Rolapp must be able to point fans toward what's additive, otherwise they'll focus on what is being deleted. The past couple of weeks provided a low-grade example of that fever with grumbling about the potential loss of the Hawaii swing. A compelling case can be made that the season should open with a ‘hello world’ roar and not the traditional laid-back aloha before sparse crowds in Maui. That case, among many others, falls to Rolapp to present.

Where does Eamon think the roar will appear?   I actually think Kapalua is a perfect warm open to the season, not demanding too much from folks still watching football.

Let me just leave you with this story I hate:

Michael La Sasso, the reigning NCAA individual champion, has joined LIV Golf.

The Ole Miss senior, who is teaming up with Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers GC on a multi-year

agreement, is expected to debut at next month’s LIV opener in Saudi Arabia, meaning he will forfeit his remaining college eligibility and leave the Rebels before his final semester.

La Sasso, 21, also had an exemption lined up at the Masters this April, courtesy of his one-shot win at La Costa, though that was provided he remained amateur.

“I’m incredibly excited to join HyFlyers GC and take this next step in my career,” La Sasso said in a release. “It’s a rare opportunity to learn from one of the greatest players in the history of the game, and I don’t take that lightly. LIV Golf allows me to compete at the highest level on a global stage, and I thrive in a team environment, especially one with the camaraderie and support that defines HyFlyers GC. My focus is on learning, continuing to improve, and doing everything I can to help our team succeed.”

I have qualms about the path that Blades Brown and his family have chosen, as he's passing up a chance to develop relationships within a college program that most kids end up treasuring.  It's a lonely life out there on Tour, and I instinctively don't love them growing up too soon.

But this goes way beyond qualms.  There's so much money in golf that I almost don't think kids like Brown and LaSasso need to aggressively chase it.  The objective should be to maximize the return on their natural talent, and the best way to ensure that is embrace the grind.  I can't bring myself to respect or expect much from a kid that runs away from the challenge.

What do you say to a kid that says "No" to a Masters tee time?  If there's a God, he won't get another....

Have a great week and keep warm.

Weekend Wrap - NY Powder Day Edition

It's a sad state of affairs when, in mid-January, the deepest, fluffiest powder is found in my Westchester County driveway.... 

I will warn you that I watched exactly zero golf this weekend.  Heck, thanks to the nice folks at FIOS, I needed quite the hack to be able to watch football yesterday.

Aloha, Hawaii - As I noted, I didn't watch a minute of it, excepting a few odd moments in Utah on Thursday/Friday.  The early round leaderboard was none too familiar, though this familiar name ultimately prevailed:

Chris Gotterup cruises to 2026 Sony Open in Hawaii victory

Hmmm, cruising to or in Hawaii. I see what those clever fellows have done.

But, funny guy that I am, I'm a little outraged on his behalf over this:

As a PGA Tour rookie in 2024, Chris Gotterup flew to Honolulu for rookie orientation but failed to get into the field at the Sony Open in Hawaii and returned home.

“We sat in the conference room for eight hours,” he recalled. “So my first taste of Hawaii wasn't the best taste, but that wasn't Hawaii's fault. We came back. We came back the next year. I really enjoy it.”

Sure, he got into the field last year but was sent packing for the mainland after two pedestrian rounds and a missed cut. His world ranking at the time? No. 195.

What's wrong with these asshats?  Travel expenses are notoriously difficult for Tour Rabbits to absorb, so you make guys ranked in the hundreds fly halfway across the Pacific just for orientation?  

This will be the extent of our commitment to a game story:

Still, he returned again this week for the kickoff to the 2026 season and as the saying goes, third time was the charm. Gotterup birdied two of the first three holes on Sunday and never let his foot

off the pedal as he posted a 6-under 64 at Waialae Country Club and a two-stroke victory over Ryan Gerard on the island of Oahu.

This time, he’ll head home with a trophy among his checked luggage, and ranked in the top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career — checking in at No. 17. Arriving at the course for the final round, Gotterup checked the wind and said to himself, giddyup!

“Finally,” he recounted, “the first time getting on the range where the flags were whipping 20, so you knew you had to bring your ‘A game’ because someone was going to play good, and happened to be me today,” he said.

Given how well he played in Scotland and Northern Ireland last summer we shouldn't be too shocked.  He's an emerging player and one assumes we'll hear more from him this year, but the most interesting aspect of the week is quite the downer, to wit, the duality of the word "Aloha."

Hawaii is sending PGA Tour off in the perfect way

Really?  I guess those orientation meetings went especially well....

Much has been made of this year’s Sony Open potentially being the PGA Tour’s last venture in

Hawaii. (For awhile at least.) The financials don’t exactly add up for the shrewd schedule makers, no matter how you hold them up to that lovely Hawaiian sunlight. But if there was a quintessential way of summarizing the Tour’s Hawaiian experience, well, this tournament is doing its best.

Everything about Saturday explains what is great and lackluster about Pacific island pro golf on this particular weekend in mid-January. Ultimately, we have a second-rate field — with all due respect to everyone involved — with a smattering of top pros, most of which have played well at this tournament before. And despite top 10 players like Russell Henley and J.J. Spaun and Bob MacIntyre all showing face, the likes of Collin Morikawa and Keegan Bradley and Tony Finau all departed before the weekend began.

To be fair, that's become Morikawa's signature move.   Which works because otherwise he'd just remind us that he doesn't owe us anything....

The article doesn't do much to explain the issues:

And yet, no Tour event will battle the same headwinds that the Sony will find Sunday. As we have learned for decades, the NFL reigns supreme over every televised entity in America, sports division or otherwise, and it has another pair of divisional round games that will crush any ounce of fascinating golf that the Sony could provide. If the tournament is lucky, the snowy game in Chicago will end in a blowout so the golfiest golf fans will flip over for the final few holes in sun-kissed O’ahu.

Not even next week’s Tour event — which will be up against the NFL’s conference championship games — will hurt quite as bad. Thanks partly to the cancellation of last week’s The Sentry, next week’s The AmEx will have its strongest field in many years with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler making his season debut.

In that sense, Hawaii’s loss will be California’s gain. We might find ourselves repeating that phrase for many Januarys to come.

Not sure about that last bit, as it sounds like the Tour would just start after the conference championship games.  Phoenix has made Super Bowl week work for them, though it's notable to me how other events just capitulate to the NFL.

But, given that we already have three events in California, I assume the gain involved would be to open the season there, presumably in Palm Springs.  Not a bad spot, but it doesn't offer those spectacular Pacific Ocean vistas in Prime Time on the East Coast.  What the existing schedule offers is the perfect cold open to the season, though it's admittedly one that will struggle to generate a big audience.  But, who cares, it's only on Golf Channel.... But, since fans like it, they have to take it way from us.....

LIV Stuff - We'd heard there were big defections in the works, and LIV has delivered (although perhaps Brooks is really the one de-LIVering) the goods:

Veteran PGA Tour pros Byeong Hun An and Thomas Detry both joined LIV Golf this week, while one of LIV’s biggest stars signed a new contract to stay on the league for years to come.

OK, I'll give you a sec to stop laughing....  Are you wondering about that biggest star?

While it’s hard to argue the additions of An and Detry make up for the loss of Koepka, owner of five major titles, a different multiple major-winning star chose to stick with LIV Golf for years to come.

Dustin Johnson, the two-time major winner, signed a new multi-year contract with LIV this week. Johnson was one of the first big stars to leave the PGA Tour for LIV in 2022.

I think Paulina was the bigger loss for the Tour.

The saddest part is that one of those two is replacing Kevin Na.....  Forget Koepka, if you don't have a spot for Kevin Na, no reason for me to tune in.

 Shall we see what the Tour Confidential gang has for us on this?

Major news shook the golf world on Monday, when the PGA Tour announced a new “Returning Member Program” that would allow a select number of players who fell under a certain criteria to rejoin the Tour with some penalties and conditions, and that Brooks Koepka had already accepted. What do you believe ultimately led to Koepka’s return?

Josh Berhow: I don’t think he was ever truly happy at LIV, or at least it wasn’t long before he realized he wasn’t. Sure the money was good but we know Koepka thrives on competition and it

simply wasn’t as good or meaningful on LIV. That’s why he’s been so good in the majors, and I think that was hard on him. Plus, while the LIV schedule isn’t as frequent as the PGA Tour, it’s more international travel, which can also be taxing and tough on a guy with a young family. You also have to wonder, with Scottie Scheffler winning 13 times over the last two years, if that motivated him at all. He wants to be measured against the best and no one is better than Scottie right now.

Josh Sens: Before he moved to LIV, Koepka made it clear he wasn’t all that interested in regular Tour events. They didn’t fire him up. Ironically, he then jumped to a circuit where every event must have felt like that to him. Clearly he wanted to be back in a more competitive mix.

Josh Schrock: Brooks admitted he initially went to LIV because of the uncertainty surrounding his health. He never bought into being a “LIV guy” in the way that Bryson DeChambeau has. He took the money but didn’t do so as some great soldier in pro golf’s civil war. He soured on the idea pretty quickly and once he won the 2023 PGA it seemed like he truly regretted the initial decision. Think Berhow makes a good point about Scheffler’s dominance. You add in Rory McIlroy winning the career Grand Slam and it’s clear that Koepka wanted to come back to compete against the best and feel better prepared to reassert himself as a force at major championships.

Have you seen LIV?  There's only one reason to be on LIV in the first place, and that reason is preceded by one of these "$".

After winning the 2023 PGA Championship, Koepka has failed to finish in the top 10 in his last 10 major starts, which includes missing three of four cuts last year. Now back on the PGA Tour, do you expect Koepka to return to his former world-beating self?

Berhow: I wouldn’t be surprised to see him bounce back a little. I don’t expect another year that includes three missed cuts but I do think he will find a little better form now that he’s in a better spot personally and playing more regularly. But don’t discount motivation. He knows eyeballs will be on him now and would love to prove to people he hasn’t lost a step.

Sens: I do. Few players are better with a chip on their shoulder. I think he’ll thrive off feeling like he needs to prove himself all over again. He will have to stay healthy, of course.

Schrock: Yes. I think preparing for the Masters in Houston or San Antonio and not having to fly to Singapore and South Africa before Augusta should make him sharper and more rested for the big weeks. After a few years of subpar major showings, I expect Koepka to be motivated to silence his “doubters” again.

The real answer is that it's unknowable though, some surprising results aside, it's hard to imagine those going to LIV to avoid the grind being at their competitive peak.

Here's where the plot thickens as bit:

Three other LIV players — Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith — also have the option to return, although they must decide by Feb. 2. In press conferences last week they said they were staying loyal to LIV, although there’s still time to flip. Do you think any will?

Berhow: I don’t think we will see it, although it’s not a complete zero chance. I can’t see Cam Smith flipping. Bryson has one year left and while his press conference tone was, ahem, interesting, he might play it out and see where he is a year from now. This also gives him a ton of leverage. If there’s anyone who I think could flip, it might be Rahm. He said he wasn’t interested a few days ago but he’s still got two weeks to think about it. And time is a dangerous thing for the mind.

Sens: Agreed, Josh. Rahm would be the guy. And as we’ve seen more than once in the LIV era, what players say they’re going to do isn’t always what they end up doing.

Schrock: Rahm is the one who all eyes should be on, but we don’t know what his contract looks like and the potential penalty he’d face for trying to bolt. I think he’ll come back but it won’t be by Feb. 2.

I don't think so, but we're all flying blind on this one, because no one knows how to negotiate one's release from those buying bonecutters by the gross.

The fine print of this rule said only winners of the Players or majors since 2022 would be allowed to return, which notably left out other major winners like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed and Sergio Garcia, including non-major winners but big names such as Tyrrell Hatton and Joaquin Niemann. Why was it so specific when it could have been tweaked to allow more?

Berhow: The Tour knows it’s product is driven by stars and these are the guys — especially Koepka, Rahm and DeChambeau — who can really make a difference. Plus, with everything that’s happened between the Tour and Mickelson, this seemed like a not-so-subtle way to thumb their nose at him. If the big names leave LIV, that damages it much more than a handful of top-50 guys. You could even make the case that making this group so small puts more pressure on them to make a decision, as they wouldn’t want to be the marquee name left behind.

Sens: The Tour-LIV battle has always been for the big names. This was clearly a play for the guys with the most wattage. That it was also structured in a way that explicitly left out Mickelson must have been a particularly gratifying bonus to the folks in Ponte Vedra.

Schrock: Brian Rolapp correctly identified the players who have legitimate value to the PGA Tour. That’s Bryson, Rahm and Brooks. Cam Smith fits into the category they created to shoehorn in the other three. Rolapp is trying to walk a tightrope in bringing back players who improve the PGA Tour’s product without upsetting his current membership. We saw Wyndham Clark say he was “very torn” that Koepka was allowed back with what he deemed a light penalty. But I think players can understand that there are different rules for players who have achieved a certain level of success in the game. It’s a lot harder to sell some of the rank and file on opening the doors for LIV’s non-elite players than it is for Koepka, Rahm and DeChambeau.

I've expressed some reservations about a non-golfer running the Tour, though this looks like quite the effective bit of gamesmanship.  But I'm shocked at their treatment of Phil, who has always put the needs of the Tour above his selfish interests.  Oh, sorry, wrong Phil... But I also think they were sticking it to DJ as well because, after Alan Shipnuck revealed Phil's comments, it was DJ's betrayal that started the ball rolling.

In his short time as PGA Tour CEO, Brian Rolapp has already made a major impact. Are you surprised how fast he’s acted? And if you are a rank-and-file PGA Tour player, are you happy, annoyed or indifferent at this move?

Berhow: This is the perfect example of why it was probably beneficial to bring in someone from outside the sport (like Rolapp, from the NFL) who made it simple and said we need to find a way to get our best players back. I can’t imagine this move being made a year or two ago, when it seemed like the sentiment was more, “we don’t need you.” As for fellow Tour players, I’m sure it’s a mixed reaction, but they won’t get bumped out of events and that’s probably all they care about. The ones who might have more reason to be angry are those who were offered lucrative LIV contracts, turned them down and now realize they could have done both.

Sens: Rolapp promised from Day 1 he was going to shake things up. Not surprising that he made good on his word. It was also easier to make a play like this because the climate around the civil war has changed so dramatically. Long gone are the cries of ethical outrage over LIV and the source of its money. It’s now all about winning the fight, not maintaining the moral high ground.

Schrock: Not surprised at all. Rolapp is an NFL guy. He carries none of the baggage that Jay Monahan and the rest of the old PGA Tour leadership do with LIV. He wants to improve the PGA Tour and make everyone more money. That’s how the NFL operates and that’s how he will run the PGA Tour. If I’m a player who’s in the middle and didn’t turn down a big offer from LIV to jump, then I’m not concerned by this move. It makes the Tour better and Koepka isn’t taking anyone’s spot and isn’t eligible for sponsor invites into the Signature Events.

I think this was a clever reaction to the Brooks defection, but the key bit was limiting it to the four guys.  You can't guarantee that existing Tour players would be bumped if you're covering a larger number of LIV defectors, so that issues is till hanging out there.  Of course, you can always increase field sizes in the money grabs, I mean if Patrick will allow it....

They finish with quite the silly bit, unfortunately:

Was Monday’s news bigger for the PGA Tour or worse for LIV Golf? And what does LIV Golf do now, especially if more players flip?

Berhow: Worse for LIV. It hurt the Tour when Rahm left a couple of years ago, but LIV never made a splashy signing since. Now they are losing one of their few key guys, and if even one more of the three flip in the next two weeks, it would be disastrous. As for what LIV does now? They moved to 72 holes and reapplied for World Ranking points, which they need more than ever. A few more stars wouldn’t hurt either, but at this point it almost seems like allegiances have been made for so many.

Sens: Worse for LIV. The league wants to be seen as more than a well-funded novelty act. It wants to be seen as competitively relevant. It needs to attract big names, not lose them.

Schrock: It’s worse for LIV. The offseason has seen them reportedly fail to land the likes of Akshay Bhatia and Si Woo Kim, and now they’ve watched one of their big names walk back across the battlefield to the PGA Tour. If they lose Rahm or Bryson, that will probably end golf’s civil conflict. They will limp forward and keep going because they have bottomless funds and have gained some popularity in markets like Australia, but with a roster of aging former stars and young could-bees, their dream of overtaking the PGA Tour will be buried even deeper than it is now.

LIV has been forced to move on from Kevin Na.... Doesn't get much worse than that.

before we move on, I'll share a browser tab that I just happen to have had open for some time:

Phil Mickelson could have been modern-day Arnold Palmer. He chose another route

I'm going to blog the piece without actually reading anything beyond the header.  But I strongly disagree with its unread premise.   Phil in fact couldn't be Arnie, for the simple reason that he's not Arnie.  The King focused on leaving the game better than he found it.... Phil focused on leaving himself richer than he began.  You see how that's very different?

I'll just add a reminder of that famous Sportico analysis.  Phil was the 11th highest paid athlete of all time, yet burned with anger over the injustices he experienced.  Does that remind you of the happy warrior King in any regard?  

I've got some issues here, so will have to leave you at this juncture.   I'll be back, though I've no clue as to when.  Have a great week.

Weekend Wrap - Dry Wasatch Edition

Greetings from the Wasatch Front, where snow seems to have morphed into a Rare Earth Mineral.  Oh we did have nine inches late last week with appropriate temperatures, but that's drop in the bucket stuff compared to the volume needed.

The only place where it has snowed consistently this winter is inland British Columbia, where we're headed in about five weeks.  Still plenty of time for the taps to be turned off, just like last year.

First world problems for sure, though they are MY first world problems.... Still not all in on this blogging stuff, but shall we?

Kapalua, RIP? - Remember when our biggest concern was how soft the Plantation Course had become?  At least we still had those gorgeous Pacific Ocean views, right?

Golfweek has a multi-part series on the current issues on Maui, and it is indeed quite the hot mess:

Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course, on the northwest coast of Maui, is the latest battleground in Hawaii to determine who controls the rights to water – the Native Hawaiians who grow kalo

(taro) and other crops, or the golf courses, tourists and real estate developers. Ultimately, the courts could play a deciding factor in the fate of the PGA Tour's The Sentry at the iconic course.

This dispute has been brewing for some time and exacerbated due to the deadly fires of 2023 in Lahaina and historic drought conditions throughout much of Maui in 2025. Water conservation mandates were implemented to prioritize the needs of the local community, placing golf courses at the bottom of the list.

The Hawaii Water Services Commission started sending regular notices of Tier 4 water curtailments in March. Under Tier 4, non-potable water use is exclusively limited to fire protection purposes.

Taro vs. three-putts?  I suppose the folks need to grow their crops....

Faced with limited water received by its supplier – Maui Land & Pineapple (MLP), one of Hawaii’s biggest land developers and owned by AOL co-founder Steve Case – Kapalua’s ownership group, TY Management Corporation – led by Tadashi Yanai, the founder of the company that owns clothing retailer Uniqlo and the second-wealthiest man in Japan – has sued MLP over the water being cut off. MLP has countersued, claiming that water is scarce because of low precipitation in the Pu'u Kukui watershed, Maui's highest peak and one of the rainiest places on the planet, averaging almost 400 inches per year. MLP told MauiNow.com that it is simply following state mandates. Adding to the water battle is an effort by Maui County to explore buying MLP’s water distribution system.

It’s a battle of billionaires and Kapalua Resort’s two courses – Plantation and Bay – are caught up in the fight. But Kapalua’s brown and barren fairways at the Bay Course, which the resort elected to stop watering altogether this fall, “did highlight for the bigger world to see what’s happening here,” said lifelong West Maui resident Lauren Palakiko, who told Hawaii NewsNow that the fight over water in West Maui has been happening for more than a century.

Mark Rolfing, who has called Hawaii home for more than 50 years, spearheaded the original golf course water deal in 1987 when he proposed a joint venture between MLP and Rolfing Development to build the Plantation Course at Kapalua.

Yet all these folks don't seem to get the due diligence thing:

“To make a long story short,” Rolfing said, “after some considerable negotiation, MLP put in 500 acres and Rolfing put in the cash to build the course, and it was a perfect deal with one exception – they had all the water. I didn't have any water. I had a sink in my condo, but I didn't have any water unless they gave it to me.”

See how golf is unifying.  This feasibility study seems about as prescient as the one McKinsey did for His Excellency....

If this dispute is confusing, you’re not alone. “The rainfall isn’t that much different than two years ago and we’ve never had a water restriction before. So, we are wondering why now?” Nakajima added. “The water usage was 50 times what it is now in the days of growing pineapple (and sugarcane).”

The MLP always pumped into the reservoir in the past when the stream was low. The farmers who grow kalo don’t have the money to synch into the wells, and it’s expensive to dig a well and treat it to grow crops and drinking water and any other purpose. The farmers are dependent on rain and any surface water delivered to them.

TY – together with farmers and homeowners such as Hua Momona Farms LLC, Plantation Estates Lot Owners' Association; Association of Apartment Owners of the Coconut Grove on Kapalua, and the Association of Apartment Owners of the Ridge at Kapalua – filed a lawsuit on Aug. 18 in Maui Circuit Court alleging that MLP has been negligent in maintaining its Honokohau ditch system, which supplies water to West Maui. [MLP filed its own countersuit.]

“That disrepair, not any act of God, or force of nature, or other thing, is why users who need it are currently without water,” according to the complaint. “Plaintiffs bring this case against MLP because MLP has abused the trust of residents, farmers, and businesses in Kapalua and parts of West Maui, all of whom are now being starved for irrigation water by MLP.”

And I was sure they were going to blame it on SUVs....

While that Rolfing guy knows everything about Hawaii, he clearly can't know this:

“We've got a pretty big fight going on here between TY and Maui Land and Pine,” Rolfing said, “and I don't know how it's going to get resolved. I know who's got the most money, and it's not Maui Land & Pine.”

Of course, the "When" might be even more critical than the "How", but doesn't seem like this is a one year issue.

This follow up is provocative and won't make anyone feel better about the decisions, but it's a hard place to engage in post hoc analysis:

PGA Tour canceled The Sentry back in September. Was that too early?

What is left unsaid because Rolfing isn’t the type to point fingers is this: Could Kapalua owner TY Management Corporation, led by Tadashi Yanai, the founder of the company that owns clothing retailer Uniqlo and second-wealthiest man in Japan, Troon Golf, the operator of the resort’s courses, or the Tour, have done more and sooner? Given that 16 holes of the Plantation course re-opened for play on Nov. 10 – and it has been deemed in “tour-caliber condition” to hold the tournament this week – did the Tour make a premature decision?

Nakajima chuckled at this question because he’s been asked it so many times. He explained the various factors, including that the Hawaiian Islands are one of the most remote island chains and that everything for the tournament build-out had to be on boats by Oct. 1. No one knew if they would have the ability to water the course at all. [Kapalua eventually opted to take its water rations from the Bay Course and give it completely to the Plantation and let the Bay go.] “They waited to the last minute and made the only call they could,” Nakajima said. “I don’t blame them at all.”

Shack had some schedule-related thoughts:

Instead of season-opening golf from scenic and entertaining Kapalua, where the course is fully recovered from this summer’s water dispute, there is no opening tournament this week. Under the guise of not being able to make a limited field event work at Kapalua because of the murky water situation, the PGA Tour cancelled this week’s playing of The Sentry and seems on the cusp of ending its season-opening Hawaiian events starting in 2027. Other traditional stops, including some that built the Tour and which appear to be doing fine, may be in jeopardy even after modifying formats to accommodate players. Later in the year, tournaments played after majors may be moved, creating dead weeks on the schedule even when those are some of the most watched of the year thanks to residual major buzz.

The assorted people looking to deliver an 11% return for the Tour’s private equity investors have been dropping oldies-but-goodies: they’re ripping off Band-Aids, carving fat, and looking to deliver scarcity, paucity, simplicity, parity, or any other natural forms of Viagra for the money-is-everything types. Besides ignoring one of their buzzwords—the simplicity in knowing there will be a final round of high-level golf every Sunday afternoon—the masterminds seem oblivious to the value of a steady weekly schedule.

You've heard me make this point countless times, although mostly about the LPGA's TV contracts.

And Geoff includes this warning shot over the bow of SSG:

Killing off events like The Sentry at Kapalua may do all sorts of strange things to the big picture well-being of the Tour’s “product.” Stuff that money folks would never understand or care about until it impacts the bottom line.

Some players turn up in Maui to knock off the rust and prepare for the season. Some go there to find out how they will fare on a certain kind of hilly course with 92 days before The Masters. And some players turn up ready to compete. Throw in some Humpbacks, tropical vibes, brilliant backdrops, drives that roll 125 yards, and Kapalua leaves everyone feeling ready for another year.

Throwing the Tour’s schedule into the wood chipper also risks the health of an already strained relationship with core fans and tournaments. While the PGA Tour’s week-to-week flow might seem bloated and wasteful to people from other sports with fixed venues, each tournament feeds into the next. Players build momentum. Fans get into a viewing rhythm or get excited about the circus coming to their town. It’s just good marketing.

Time will tell if the Tour goes through with some of the more extreme ideas floated. Or whether their media partners are willing to pay more for less “inventory.” But for serious fans and players who use Kapalua to find out where they stand, it’s concerning that new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp and his bosses at the Strategic Sports Group may cede multiple weeks with little regard for the circadian rhythm of players and fans.

In a way, this is a tad unfair, given an unexpected issue forcing the Tour's hands.  But the concept that a non-golfer like Brian Rolapp and a man of uncertain motivations will be dramatically reimagining the Tour's schedule doesn't fill this observer with confidence.

Frisco Blues -  It turns out that Brooks Koepka isn't the only guy making changes in order to spend more time with his family....  Just to be clear, I assume it's not to spend more time with Brooks' family.  From Geoff:

Derek Sprague informed the PGA of America board in December of his plans to step down to

spend more time with his family. The news of a brief tenure could have been dumped on any number of primo days for burying the story, and Sprague’s quick departure certainly qualifies by adding another strange chapter since the PGA’s move from Palm Beach Gardens to Frisco, Texas in August 2022.

“At my daughter’s wedding last month in upstate New York, it became clear that my family needs me nearby to assist with the care of my mother and mother‑in‑law,” said Sprague in a press release. “Focusing on family has become my priority, and the best decision for me is to step away from my role as CEO and return home to be with them.”

After nearly six months of searching for a new leader, the PGA of America revealed Sprague as its choice to replace Seth Waugh on December 20, 2024. He began work from the Frisco headquarters on January 18th, 2025.

This comes fresh off the PGA of America's face-plant at Bethpage.

The more interesting bits are Geoff's hints at trouble in paradise, not that Frisco, TX has ever been called by that P-word.

A two-time Section Merchandiser of the Year for Public Facilities in the late 90s, Sprague was chosen in one of the PGA of America board’s every decade-or-so push to have a CEO who knows what it’s like to settle club championship disputes, clean out golf cart ashtrays, and fold every variety of sweater. Sprague had never run anything bigger than a golf course, moving from the GM job at TPC Sawgrass to an organization with 30,000 members, multiple important championships, and complex financial issues.

Sprague was thrown into an already tough situation caused by the PGA of America’s move to Frisco and the ensuing brain-drain induced by shedding most of the Florida staff (or other embarrassments). There were signs of financial stress, ensuing C-level departures, and multiple moving parts outside the organization. But Sprague also inherited the CEO title with the sport thriving in ways unimaginable just a decade ago.

Ted Bishop is looking so much better with the passing of time....

 But Geoff has brought receipts:

But shed no tears for Sprague if this departure turns out to be performance-related. He inherited fantastic media deals for both the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup. He knew exactly what he

was getting into after serving as the organization’s president from 2014 to 2016, along with the usual smorgasbord of committee roles, honorary appearances, and countless hours devoted to working on PGA Sectional matters. And he was replacing former Deutsche Bank Americas CEO Seth Waugh, a more savvy operator in the golf and business communities who signed off on the move to Frisco. That’s proven to be a mess after appearing to shed more stability and wisdom than anticipated. And it’s saddled the organization with a facility appearing ill-equipped to host major championships. The new headquarters also seem to have cost the organization millions more than expected, despite being billed as an all-expense paid move to “the Silicon Valley of golf.”

Sprague came out swinging against 2028’s new equipment testing rules before he’d even figured out where to position his paper weights. He peddled easily provable falsehoods about the PGA’s supposed lack of involvement in the process. Sprague was practically pushed aside by president Don Rea during May’s PGA Championship press conference. And then he oversaw a complete fumbling of the totally predictable fan issues at September’s Ryder Cup. Days after it mattered and the circus had left town, Sprague acknowledged the issues publicly and sent an apology email to Rory McIlroy and his wife Erica, a former PGA of America employee.

It's really quite the organization.  One blessed with an abundance of assets, those 30,000 hostages to begin with, plus the legacy championships they retained after the split with the PGA Tour.  But, alas, Edifice Complexes are expensive.....

Wither LIV - Not as if I really care, but this was part of Alex Myers's latest installment of The Grind (which we've not sampled in an eternity):

WE’RE SELLING

LIV Golf: The Saudi-backed league had its worst off-season ever. First, rumors that LIV had

signed Korean players Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim turned out to be false. And then the league lost one of its biggest stars in Brooks Koepka, who walked away ahead of what was supposed to be the fourth and final year of his contract.

That is a huge blow to a league that initially lured five of the PGA Tour’s most popular players away. Of those five, Brooks has bounced and Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson have become mostly irrelevant. Two years ago around this time, LIV was celebrating the huge signing of Jon Rahm, but now it’s losing a five-time major champ. And it’s left with Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, who also has a contract running out this year, as its two remaining big guns. By the time I finished writing this paragraph, a report came out that LIV had signed Thomas Detry and Elvis Smylie. That’s something. But LIV still better re-sign Bryson or it’s really in trouble.

Well, worst off-season YET.

I'm not all that interested in Brooks' application to return to the PGA Tour, but do enjoy the irony it exposes.  Brooks' major-focused career prior to LIV exposed the soft underbelly of the Tour, to wit, it's lack of control over those pesky four events that matter.  His limbo status further explicates that, as he's exempt into all four majors, so what else actually matters?

But, while I'm not going to dive into this in any depth, you'll agree it's a fun header:

Bryson DeChambeau’s tricky contract situation is Greg Norman’s creation

Norman would enjoy listening to DeChambeau work through that hypothetical. It was back in 1994 that Norman petitioned the PGA Tour to let him compete in a non-sanctioned series of international matches, alongside Nick Price and against other two-man teams. That two-man, roving match concept has grown quite popular in these years of streaming golf content, particularly and unsurprisingly by LIV players who take their own marketing very seriously. That mindset is what Norman believed in. He loved the idea of golfers texting each other, not unlike NBA players do, to consider joining forces. He reveled in offseason discourse, stirring up the belief that a “big name” could jump from the PGA Tour at any moment, even if that rarely came to fruition. He had to love it when Koepka’s then-coach Claude Harmon took a victory lap in 2023, comparing his stud striker who just won the PGA Championship to Justin Verlander signing a 2-year, $90 million deal with the New York Mets. What’s important now is it seems to work both ways.

In other sports that would be called tampering, but there is no penalty for it in pro golf — partly because these two sides agreed to stop suing each other two years ago, but also because the rules of golf free agency are still being written, and they’ll likely be different for different people. It will surely benefit Koepka that he was never part of the aforementioned lawsuits. (See: The PGA Tour’s immediate, non-statement statement about Koepka. They’ll be happy to welcome him back.) DeChambeau likely won’t be afforded the same cheeriness, but he will have Koepka indirectly working on his behalf, charting some sort of journey in life after LIV.

In a matter of months, that path should be clearer. Just as DeChambeau will continue leading — in the final year of his contract — the most commercially viable LIV franchise. All of it is leverage of some sort in the system Norman created. He just probably never imagined it working this way.

Quite the mess, though it couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of bonecutters.....  Really, Bryson has made himself the indispensable man, they can't hardly let him go while maintaining any pretense of viability.  So it's hard to see the Saudis having any leverage, except them being, in the immortal words of Phil, Bad Mo-Fo's.  Interesting negotiation, eh?

Exit Strategy - Mine, that is.... Just gonna riff off this week's Tour Confidential, which is thin gruel indeed:

After several weeks off, the 2026 PGA Tour season kicks off on Thursday with the Sony Open in Hawaii. Last week, we touched on some bold predictions for this year, so this week, we’ll jump into the second part of our season preview. Scottie Scheffler has won the PGA Tour Player of the Year award the last four years, so are you taking Scheffler or the field in 2026?

Josh Schrock: I’m going to take the field. Scottie just continues to get better, but eventually he’s not going to win everything. At least, I think.

Sean Zak: It would be a bit stunning not to see Scheffler win three times in 2026. That feels like his floor! So who is gonna beat that? Rory McIlroy could take the crown, sure, but it would have to happen in the biggest events. If Jon Rahm was a PGA Tour golfer, maybe I’d feel differently, but he’s not. So I’ll take Scheffler against the field.

Jack Hirsh: Yeah, it’s tough to bet against Scheffler. Last year, we were wondering how he would top a seven-win season. How about by winning six more times and doubling his major total to set up a potential Grand Slam completion on Long Island this summer? Depending on how I feel on a given day, I sometimes think Rory McIlroy can be the better player at his best, but he’s just not on every week like Scheffler is now. You just can’t bet against that kind of sustained greatness.

In golf you always have to take the field.  That doesn't mean that against Scottie you have to like it....

If Scheffler doesn’t win, who will? Or who will be the runner-up to him?

Schrock: I’ll take Tommy Fleetwood. Now that the PGA Tour monkey is off his back, he wins three times, including a major, and wins the POTY.

Zak: I think Xander Schauffele returns to world-beating form, so I’ll push my chips in on him. His floor was never really that low in 2025 despite working through some injury issues. He raises it this year.

Hirsh: I’m on the Fleetwood hype train as well, but I still don’t think (even if he wins the Masters like I expect him to) he will top McIlroy.

Tommy Lad is a an easy guy for whom to root, but don't we think it's an obvious short sale?

Last year, Ben Griffin started the season winless but won three times on the PGA Tour and earned a Ryder Cup pick. Who’s your pick for breakout player in 2026?

Schrock: I want to say Luke Clanton, but the results since he turned pro have been rough. He still has a lot of potential, but for a breakout player, I’ll go a different direction and pick Michael Thorbjornsen to win multiple times in 2026. I’d also look out for Marco Penge, who has one of the best swings in golf and is fresh off a three-win 2025 on the DP World Tour. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him stay hot and win once or twice on his new tour if the game stays in form.

Zak: Rasmus Hojgaard! I’ll plant my flag behind him as the better twin, with all due respect to Nico. He’s won and contended on the DP World Tour plenty; enough that you’d expect him to do it on the PGA Tour. My dart throw is that he bags a win in the spring and maybe another in the fall.

Hirsh: Does Cameron Young count? I know he got hot at the end of the season, finally got in the winner’s circle, and was the LLVP (Least Least Valuable Player) for the Americans at the Ryder Cup, but I see him carrying that momentum to at least two more wins this season.

Cam Young?  Thanks for digging deep....

J.J. Spaun made one of the most memorable putts of the season last year to win the U.S. Open and claim his first major. Which major-less player will win their first in 2026?

Schrock: I’ve already picked Fleetwood to win a major, so we will stay there. All eyes will be on him at the Open, but I think he gets it done at Shinnecock in June.

Zak: Gonna put my faith in Viktor Hovland and his endless hunt. The talent is there. Here’s hoping everything falls into place during the weeks that matter.

Hirsh: Fleetwood wins the Masters. Ludvig Aberg is the Champion Golfer of the Year. Did I stutter?

Tommy does have the lovely memory from Shinny, but still...

And the 2026 Rookie of the Year will be…?

Schrock: Give me Penge. I love the swing and the demeanor. He wins twice.

Zak: We’ll keep the Norway vibes high and go with Kristoffer Reitan. DataGolf ranks him 39th in the world right now, which is about 40 spots higher than I would have expected. He hits it plenty far and putts it great. He can win in the weeks when his irons are above average.

Hirsh: I like Penge a lot, too, but I’ll go with Johnny Keefer, the KFT player of the year. He nearly won $1 million on that Tour last year and then finished T7 at the RSM at the end of the year. Sky is the limit for the Baylor kid.

Yeah, can't say that I know enough about these kids.  With the limited field sizes of the Money Grabs, the kids need to make their moves early in the year, to Aon themselves into the mix.

And your final wildcard bold prediction is…?

Schrock: Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler both return to the winner’s circle in 2026. Spieth will win at Pebble Beach in February, while Fowler gets it done at the RBC Heritage.

Zak: Sepp Straka, major champion.

Hirsh: The trio of 40-somethings, Justin Rose, Gary Woodland, and Adam Scott, win three times collectively, and each one has a T5 in a major.

You want me to care about T5's in majors?  But, Josh, I assume you're predicting KF wins for Spieth and Rickie?   Because anything more than that would indicate that you have trouble moving on...

Have a great week.  I doubt I'll bother blogging again this week.  I travel home on Saturday, so best guess is we'll catch up to wrap the Sony on Monday.  

Weekend Wrap - Back In The Saddle Edition

It's been a while, eh?  I'm not expecting any traffic for this post, as I expect folks have long since tired of hitting refresh and seeing no updates.  In my defense, it's not like there's been any actual news to muse upon....

I am headed West tomorrow, where the paucity of snow should allow for blogging, unless inertia prevails.  Some actual golf news or, even better, and actual controversy, might be helpful....

Not going to push myself too hard until I get my sea legs back, but where shall we start?

Wither Brooksie - An actual story, although this bit should come with a spit-take warning:

Brooks Koepka just became the most interesting man in golf — again

That "again" is really a laugher, as I'm not sure that he's even the most interesting frat boy in golf.   

He may be the 244th-ranked player in the world but with one stunning decision, Brooks Koepka has become golf’s most interesting man . . . again.

Koepka has been the best golfer in the world and, at times, the game’s most intriguing personality — but as we race toward 2026, the former seems like a distant memory while, as of Tuesday evening, he has wrested back the latter title.

Koepka has officially moved on from Smash GC and his own LIV Golf experiment, a 3.5-year journey that rewarded him generational wealth. Which means his next move — paving a Life after LIV, while still in his playing prime — will be analyzed and anticipated by everyone from Justin Thomas to Joe Schmoe to John Henry. According to the complimentary public statements, Koepka will spend more time with his family. But after that…

Who knows?

And that might be the point.

OK, we have what I'll concede is a moderately interesting situation, but the underlying protagonist remains aloof and unsympathetic.  The story itself is interesting, though, but mostly for what it tells us about LIV.  Beginning with, well, the beginning:

There has long been a jocky looseness to Koepka’s decisions — this is a guy who dyed his hair blonde in the months before his wedding — but his move to LIV was no lark. It came in 2022, when he was racking up more injuries than victories and pondering whether his career as an elite player might be cooked. The timing coincided neatly with the year when Saudi funding upended the sport, and Koepka saw a fat check on offer, eventually committing to four years. And yet, throughout his time at LIV, during which he won four times, it never fully seemed like he was all-in on the league. When his fellow captains gushed about the league’s momentum, he was far more measured. When he won the 2023 PGA Championship, he was given every opportunity to make it a victory for LIV. He never took the bait. Now, on the eve of that contract’s final year, the sides have “amicably” parted ways. 

Most of the guys allegedly went to LIV to play less.  Brooks, more tellingly, went to LIV because he was unsure whether he was physically able to play golf.  Once he got healthy, the cashed checks diminished in value....

The last Tour Confidential of 2025 had this:

In an unprecedented move in LIV Golf’s brief history, the league announced it had split “amicably” with five-time major winner Brooks Koepka who, via the statement, said he wanted to prioritize spending more time with family. What does the domino effect — for LIV, the PGA Tour, and Koepka — look like? And which one of those is more intriguing to you?

Dylan Dethier: We at GOLF had a conversation in late 2022 about which LIV defector the PGA

Tour would miss the most. There were strong arguments for Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson (and we mostly whiffed on Bryson, who is probably the current answer) but I said Brooks Koepka for two reasons: He was, at the time, this generation’s greatest major champ (Rory McIlroy has since tied him). And because of that alpha-dog major record, he could have stayed and doubled down on the idea that the PGA Tour is where the fiercest competitors play. In other words, when he left the PGA Tour, that was a massive blow — and it’s a massive deal that he’s leaving LIV.

What’s next? DeChambeau now has an unthinkable amount of leverage as he renegotiates his own contract with LIV. The PGA Tour is clearly eager to get Koepka back — but will have to strike a delicate balance when it comes to actually bringing him into the fold. But what does Koepka himself want?! I’m most interested to hear where his priorities are and what he thinks of the pro golf ecosystem, if we get him speaking freely.

Josh Schrock: The most intriguing part of this to me is what it means for the PGA Tour and how they handle bringing Koepka back. There has understandably been a lot of talk about Koepka’s exodus potentially being the start of a death blow for LIV, but I think it’s more likely this is just Brooks Koepka being Brooks Koepka. He was never fully bought into LIV. When he won the PGA in 2023, he was famously uninterested in letting LIV share the credit for the win. He has been open that he might have made a different decision had his health situation — or knowledge of his future health — been different in 2022. This might end up only being about Brooks Koepka not being interested in going through the LIV motions anymore.

He was never all that interested in run-of-the-mill PGA Tour events when he was a member, either. But how the PGA Tour works to bring him back and the punishment (or lack thereof) they hand out will be telling as the fracture makes its way into Year 5.

As Dylan noted, Bryson has a lot of leverage now in contract negotiations and clearly knows it based on his recent comments. It will be fascinating to see how it all unfolds over the next handful of months.

Sean Zak: I would hardly be shocked if Koepka and DeChambeau have been in touch about their concurrent decisions. They’re somewhat linked, as discussed above. I think DeChambeau will now rightfully ask for a major, major payday — or insist that LIV be serious about the major, major payday he was already asking for. There’s a difference, though — Koepka ended his deal with LIV. It sounds like DeChambeau is at least interested in playing his out for one more season, if not more.

Massive?  The man won exactly four PGA Tour events, so we seem to be over-interpreting more than a little, no?  But these guys don't seem to do irony, so bear with me:

The PGA Tour released a somewhat cryptic response to the Koepka news. Would Koepka returning to the PGA Tour be bigger for the Tour, or most disastrous for LIV?

Dethier: It would be a much bigger deal for the PGA Tour if he came back. Koepka has already struck LIV a massive blow by leaving — the next step is bigger for the Tour.

Schrock: Agree with Dylan. Koepka becoming the first big name to leave LIV with time still on his contract has already done damage to the breakaway league but the bigger deal is how and if he returns. If the PGA Tour gets Brooks Koepka back, which we assume they will at some point, that’s a big deal for the Tour.

Zak: Devil’s advocate time. LIV hasn’t added anyone of note in two years. It now lost a major name and team captain for the first time. On paper, that looks like a plateau and then a step in the wrong direction. If 2024/2025 was LIV’s plateau, how high was the league’s peak? I know that sounds awfully premature, but where is the momentum entering season 4?

If you wanted to ask the stupidest question in Tour Confidential history, what would you do differently?  LIV has taken its hit, which is actually even a bit more profound in that Brooks left without a path back to the PGA (though there is likely some winking and nodding going on behind the scenes).

To me, the bigger picture is less favorable to the seeming winners.  The big picture look at golf as affected by LIV presents quite the grim picture for the seeming winners in this battle.  The primary effect of LIV, at least to this observer, is to expose the underlying weakness of all golf tours, especially the Big Kahuna, because of their lack of control over the majors.  

The PGA Tour, in order to placate the outsized egos of the elite players they needed to stay, has weakened their most important events.  Most folks are focused on the handful of LIV defectors that weaken Tour fields, but that's dwarfed by leaving half the field on the outside looking in.  In response to the competitive threat from LIV, they've boldly decided to weaken their own product.  What, you think Bud Light is the only product utterly indifferent to their customers?

Where will Brooks play in 2025?  It's not like his recent play has us on the edge of our seats, but I assume his primary path will be through Euro Tour membership, which is full circle for him given how he came up in golf.  What your humble blogger doesn't know if whether he can receive sponsors' exemptions, and this AI response doesn't exactly clarify that question:

Yes, Brooks Koepka could receive sponsor exemptions to PGA Tour events, but it's complicated by his status after moving to LIV Golf and potential suspensions, meaning he'd likely need to earn his way back through current exemptions, Q-School, or Korn Ferry Tour, while major wins might offer some pathway to majors regardless. While his past wins grant significant exemptions, his LIV affiliation and tour penalties mean he might have to qualify or use limited sponsor invites for regular PGA Tour events, making a full return challenging but possible.

Yanno, I'm realizing that I've missed an opportunity.  Blogging is difficult and time-consuming.....  I should just ask ChatGPT or Grok to write my posts, no?  Anybody think they could tell the difference?  OK, the absence of typos might be a tell, but other than that?

The Tiger Obsession - We can all agree that we need a crash program to develop a vaccine, but let the silliness commence:

This week, on Dec. 30, Tiger Woods turns 50. Easy one: what’s been your favorite Tiger moment you’ve seen or been a part of?

Dethier: I was lucky enough to cover a bunch of Tiger tournaments in the 2018-2019 range when he was showing signs of a comeback underway. The 2018 Valspar Championship, for example, was an unexpected blast. The 2018 PGA at Bellerive was electric. There was also a moment in 2020 — perhaps his last as a major championship contender — that has stuck with me. But yeah, it was obviously the 2019 Masters. Arguably the greatest golf tournament of all time, we got the result everybody wanted to see and you could taste the euphoria in the air.

Schrock: How could it not be the 2019 Masters? A perfect storybook finish to a legendary golf career. We can hope there’s one more moment for Tiger, but he already gave us it in 2019.

Zak: Watching Woods win the 2019 Masters from inside the Augusta National locker room was fun. Standing between Martin Kaymer and Rickie Fowler as they watched the broadcast, unable to look away, realizing they were now victims to the same scheme the old-heads always told them about. He did it again and he did it to a new generation of stars: Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and others, who all had a chance that Sunday. Still feels hard to believe.

Are you with me on how inane this is?  You're asking three young punk writers for their favorite Tiger moment, guys who were like three years old in 1997.  What a shock they all cite 2019, it's the only major of Tiger's that they remember.

Tiger’s role in pro golf is much different now than it was 30 years ago. Decades from now, how will we look back at Tiger post-50 and where will we notice his biggest influences?

Dethier: I think we’ll marvel at the fact that he went from being arguably the greatest golfer in history to an in-the-weeds administrator. But I guess I also still hope we’re marveling at the truly unthinkable comeback he made after his sixth back surgery.

Schrock: His on-course feats will always top the list but I do think that in 30 years we could look back on Tiger post-50 and see how he shaped what we will then know pro golf to be. He and Brian Rolapp are going to be the architects of the PGA Tour’s new reality and it’s clear that TIger is very focused on that being part of his legacy. Let’s also not forget much money Tiger made everyone else during his career — our James Colgan had a great piece on the financial Tiger effect that is worth your time.

Zak: I think he has a chance to do something big with the Ryder Cup — to grab the reigns from the PGA of America and lead the Americans back to glory. But as I wrote the other day, it doesn’t seem likely to happen soon. In the meantime, I suppose he’ll be grinding on reshaping the structure of the Tour’s competitive platform. That should keep him plenty busy.

Sean, you might want to reality test that answer.  The golf world needed Tiger to captain that Ryder Cup team at Bethpage and he, well, he just couldn't be bothered.  They seem unable to recognize that Tiger does what Tiger wants, and nothing more.  They uncritically credit him with transformational changes, without any consideration of whose interest will dominate.   

I'm a lone voice in the wilderness, but I would think we'd want to understand his Ryder Cup no-show before handing him the keys to the kingdom.  

Geoff has a 2026 preview post up with his tongue planted firmly within his cheek, including this Tiger call-out:

Tiger Woods tells a backed media center at the Cologuard Classic that’s he’s still waiting for the phone call about captaining the 2027 Ryder Cup team. But the PGA of America is in extended “talks” with Nick Saban about the job after Ryder Cup Captain’s Committee member Justin Thomas suggested the former Alabama coach is the “ideal leader” for 2027’s matches at Adare Manor.

More likely he's awaiting finalized financial arrangements from his buddy J.P. McManus.  Tiger should actually recuse himself, but now I'll need to give you a moment to stop laughing....

The Year Ahead - Predictions are hard, especially about the future.  I'll grab some bits from the first Tour Confidential of 2026, and maybe some of Geoff's bits as well:

1. Welcome to the first Tour Confidential of 2026, where we are still a week away from the opening PGA Tour tournament of the year, yet still have plenty to discuss. Let’s get into our first topic: Look into your crystal ball and give us your boldest bold prediction for the year.

Josh Sens: Scottie Scheffler wins at Shinnecock (not bold; just inevitable) to wrap up the career grand slam, and Fred Ridley announces that the Masters will move to a limited-flight ball by 2030.

Zephyr Melton: Sens’ first prediction is about as lukewarm as they come, but the second is quite tasty. I’ll say that we’ll see Brooks Koepka on the PGA Tour sometime this year. He may be suspended from certain events, but I’d have to imagine the Tour will allow him back on a limited basis.

Nick Piastowski: Some good ones above! I’ll use Sens’ theme and predict that Jordan Spieth wins the PGA Championship and completes the grand slam. The question wanted bold, so let’s go bold.

Jordan Spieth?  We'll credit Nick for going way out on a limb, but Jordan's career slam exists only as a fever dream in Nick's mind.

2. OK, now switch leagues from your previous bold prediction and give us one more.

Sens: LIV offers Bryson DeChambeau a $1 billion contract extension.

Melton: Jeeno Thitikul wins two majors. She’s been on the doorstep so many times, it’s baffling she doesn’t have one yet. I think 2026 for Jeeno will be much like 2024 was for Xander Schauffele.

Piastowski: More good ones! Let’s keep it rolling. Tiger Woods wins the U.S. … Senior Open. But maybe that’s not bold. So here’s another: I think we hear more chatter about Australia hosting a major championship.

Jeeno is an actual good call, but what do we think the odds are that Tiger even plays the Senior Open?  Nick is on a roll, but picking the one event where he can't ride seems, well, out there.

3. What 2026 major venue are you most looking forward to and why?

Sens: The U.S. Open at Shinnecock. Always fun to watch the best take on this undeniably great design, made even more intriguing when the course setup gets pushed to the edge for the national championship.

Melton: Riviera for the U.S. Women’s Open. I’ve seen the men tackle the George Thomas design several times in February, but I’m intrigued to see how it plays with the USGA in charge in June. I have a feeling it could be an all-time great USWO host venue.

Piastowski: All of the above! I’ll add a couple: Aronimink hosts its first men’s major since 1962, and the Chevron, according to reports, will be played at Houston’s Memorial Park, a muni, and that’s how you ‘grow the game.’

 Not an actually bad set of answers.  For me it's Aronimink, because we've only seen it the once.

4. And what 2026 storyline are you already salivating over?

Sens: I try not to salivate in public, but I am very curious to see whether/how new commish Brian Rolapp remakes the Tour. Clearly, the old model needs disrupting, but what shape will the new version take?

Melton: I’m eager to see if Sens can improve his understanding of technology (I currently operate as his IT support guy). Outside of that, I’ll be keeping a close eye on the golf-ball roll-back. The issue wasn’t discussed much in 2025, but as we get closer to the 2028 date of pros using the new ball, I’m sure the debate will ramp up even more.

Sens: I’ve drafted a pithy comeback and have sent it out by carrier pigeon.

Piastowski: LOL! Let’s stay with Sens’ commissioner theme and I’ll say that I’m interested to see how new LPGA boss Craig Kessler continues to build momentum. He’s secured a better TV deal — but now what? I also want to see if Rory McIlroy gets a Guinness tap installed for the Masters Champions Dinner.

 More importantly, will Tiger show for Rory's Dinner?  

Geoff has a dissenting thought on his hometown:

The final groups at Riviera’s U.S. Women’s Open will have more people inside the ropes than outside. As proven at the 1983 PGA, 1995 PGA, and 1998 U.S. Senior Open, LA’s a one-golf-event-a-year town. But the peaceful vibe fails to discourage Yuka Saso, who wins her third U.S. Women’s Open.

Yeah, he's probably correct given that it's mid-summer.  While the point made above about conditions is correct, I'd add that when the ladies play venues that we see the men on frequently, it's often to the disadvantage of the lasses.

I'm going to wrap here, and wish you all a belated Happy New Year.  I'll be back from Western HQ as news and interest allow.  We're a mere three months out from Augusta, so I hope that brings a smile to your face.