Weekend Wrap - Summer of Nelly, Part II

Did you discern that my tongue was firmly in my cheek with that header?  Seeing last week's header as I hit the "Create New Post" icon, it seemed that that particular summer is ongoing.... Not that I saw any of it or intend to blog it.

Young At Heart - I didn't see a single minute of yesterday's action, though I did watch a bit of the early rounds.  I was moderately interested in how Young would hold after multiple days with big leads, especially after the series of guys (Justin, cough, Rose) showing tightened collars....  But not here, apparently.

Geoff ledes with some bullet points:

What can we take away from the PGA Tour’s vibe-free Signature snoozefest at Trump Doral? Plenty.

• Cameron Young established himself as the favorite heading into the PGA Championship after a resounding six-stroke victory at Trump Doral. The 30-year-old posted a 19-under-par 269 total to beat Scottie Scheffler by six strokes.

• Young took the Cadillac Championship wire-to-wire with less than his best par-5 play (-3) or approach precision (48/72 greens, 38’3” proximity, SG 26th).

• The city-raised reformed street gang member* led the field in birdies (24) and Strokes Gained Putting (7.062). His power off the tee remains his greatest attribute after posting a 311.7-yard, all-drives average.

• Young has been on an incredible run. His stroke play finishes since missing the cut at The Open last year: 1-5-11-T4-T9-10-T22-T41-T55-T7-T3-1-T3-T25-1

• He calls penalties…on himself. At No. 2 Sunday he was assessed a stroke penalty for a breach of Rule 9.4 (player causing ball at rest to move) and then made 13’6” putt to save par.

• Scheffler’s game is not far from his best form. The so-so first rounds and occasional off-days approaching greens popped up at Doral but in far less worrisome fashion. In his final start before the PGA at Aronimink Scheffler hit 56/72 greens with a 40’10” proximity average, finishing 6th in Strokes Gained Approach. And he seemed as miserable as ever on the course!

Like me, you might be scratching your head over that third bullet point.  Geoff is blessed with a good memory and it's an amusing click-through if you're so inclined.   Though, perhaps not if you still harbor any illusions about journalism....

And he's even got more, especially for those wondering what he thinks upon a return visit to this venue:

• Justin Rose’s new irons from McLaren Racing didn’t get off to the best start. Granted, they may not have received a fair shot after Rose hit only 29 of 56 fairways and needed a final round 68 to finish T62. But when the Tour’s leader in greens in regulation hit a fairway, the new clubs did not shine: he lost 1.311 strokes to the field, hitting 48/72 greens.

• Rory McIlroy and five other top 15 players did the right thing avoiding a hot and humid Bermudagrass test that will play nothing like Aronimink.

• As brother Matt took the week off, Alex Fitzpatrick put his Zurich Classic-enabled PGA Tour card to excellent use. A final round 67 landed Fitzpatrick a T9 finish and a $500,000 check. Yes, $500k. What a farce. But good on Alex.

• Following a bogey-free weekend and final round 64, World No. 54 Adam Scott will be inside the world top 60 status ahead of the U.S. Open’s May 18th OWGR cutoff. After playing next week’s PGA Championship, the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock would be Scott’s 100th straight major.

• It’s time for the Blue Monster moniker to decamp to Boca Vista Phase 5 and buffet dinners at 3:45 pm. Stretched to 7,739 yards with firm greens featuring a big first bounce until Sunday’s inch-of-rain, 59 of the 72 players finished under par. Half the “Monster” holes played under par. The field finished -330.

Good point there from Geoff.  Not only do the mental midgets minding the store in Ponte Vedra Beach lay in signature events the two weeks prior to the PGA Championship, but they put the guys on friggin' Bermuda.  

Of course, I was reliably informed by Mr. McIlroy himself that golf would only survive if we as fans know when Rory is going to play.  And then he refuses to show, so it's just possible that he was, yanno, lying to us.

Geoff kept himself under control in those bullets, but shall we let him fly his freak flag?

The Tour’s return to Miami was an optics disaster for the new leadership and board members who bequeathed “Signature” status on this mundane effort.

At least the event provided a signature example of what it looks like when a tournament has no legacy, no ties to the community, poorly-timed scheduling, and a bloated, unsustainable purse. The Cadillac Championship also provided a convenient reminder that no-cut, limited fields are particularly drab in a splintered, post-WGC world.

Worse, the purveyors of mundane mess managed to make LIV look good.

That dying entity drew better crowds in its April playings at Doral. LIV also had a much more impressive buildout and managed to exude atmosphere. (No, I’m not saying this needed a DJ spinning Careless Whisper remixes.)

OK, let's take a moment to enjoy that bit of schadenfreude....  I'll just add that Florida golf courses look visually awful on TV, because of the grain mostly.  I just the look of it, which is especially funny when you consider that the venues owner hated the look f Pinehurst.

Shall we allow Geoff to ramble on?   Again, rhetorical.

But this was the first event created from scratch by the PGA Tour’s newly renamed “Events” business—you know, the one that’s expected to be a driver of profit for the Strategic Sports Group. They gave us a dreary, cheap-looking product in a major market that had little interest in seeing the Tour return.

We’ve been told that this combination of the SSG wisdom and a CEO coming from the NFL was supposed to bring fresh perspectives. They would bring in beancounting-forward entities at Fenway Sports for fresh approaches to big time golf. This one looked more like a nightmarish hybrid of John Henry’s 2026 Red Sox and Steve Cohen’s dismal Mets. Other than CBS’s continuing to push innovation on the telecast front, there were no signs of a fresh approach. Throw in brilliantly scheduling the Cadillac Championship on the same weekend when F1 was in Miami, sprinkle on some lack of appreciation for what makes a market or golf tournament click, and the frugal-looking presentation hardly gave the Tour’s new owners “brand equity”. Or whatever nonsense will get Blankie his 11% return.

Thought: maybe instead of hitting the majors up for money, the Tour should ask for advice on how to put on a tournament? Just one idea.

Still, it was astounding to see how few people bought tickets the first three days. For those old enough to remember what it looks like when people attend a tournament at Doral, I can confirm it used to be a festive, fun event to watch when kicking off the Florida swing.

In May, when it’s 90 degrees and $90 to get in before fees and exhaustive security searches, it’s a wonder they drew anyone at all. Throw in the Trump factor as he polls in Jimmy Carter territory, and the event needed a creative approach to compensate for various constraints. But at least that massive charitable contribution will…

Props to Geoff for the linkage to the Red Sox and Mets' fortunes....  He is spot-on about the lifelessness of the Tour these days, which I assume means that they'll have to figure out a means to get more money into Patrick Cantlay's pockets.

Life In The Time of LIV -  In the moment of that D-Day announcement back in 2023, someone suggested a wellness check on Brandell Chamblee.... I'm awaiting proof of life on Phil.

I'll not stint in my enjoyment of their failure, though it would be far more pleasing had the PGA Tour not been turned into LIV-lite.  But it's all the Tour Confidential panel wants to chew upon this morning:

In a press release Thursday, LIV Golf announced new board members as it transitions from “a foundational launch phase to a diversified, multi-partner investment model.” Hours

later, its bankroller, the Saudi PIF, released its own statement saying the “PIF has made the decision to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season. The substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF’s investment strategy.” Now that you’ve had a few days to digest this bombshell — and after a rollercoaster April for LIV Golf — what thought has lingered with you?

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

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

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

Exactly.  They didn't improve or change golf, they merely hurt the place they left.  Oh, large checks were cashed, which was in fact the entire point.

I'm just saddened that His Excellency wasn't granted the Augusta National membership that may have been what this was all about.  But to all the folks who said the Saudis could fund this as long as they wanted...... Isn't funny how you can be correct and still not get it.  

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

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

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

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

There's a few points that I'd like to make here.  The first is that I'm struggling to identify anyone beyond Bryson and Rahm that's even worthy of discussion at this point.  I'll concede that Bryson has created a following, one that the geriatric PGA Tour can't help but overvalue, but does anyone think Rahm moves the needle?

I will confess that Rahm is that quintessential guy that can't read the room.  he jumps thinking naively that he's so important that they'll have to cut a deal....  How did you enjoy your years in the isolation tank, Jon?  How has it helped you prepare for the majors?  And now?  he picks this time to hold out and go to war with the DP World Tour, just as LIV is vaporizing....  I guess he wants to ensure that he has absolutely nowhere to play in 2027.  Which, quite frankly, works for me.  He was arguing about having to play six of their events instead of four, so I'm totally cool with him playing in none.

But maybe the best reflection is how those three guys will regret not taking the Tour's offered deal.  None as much as Cam Smith, who by the evidence couldn't qualify right now for the championship bracket of your club championship.

Even if LIV Golf receives alternative funding, with the substantial PIF coffers no longer

available, does this end any sort of competition that was remaining with the PGA Tour?

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

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

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

I confess that I didn't think the PGA Tour was financeable, but LIV?  Surely you jest

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

Sens: Maybe pivot to crypto?

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

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

I don't know, what does McKinsey say?  Have you stopped laughing yet?

With the benefit of hindsight, they should have tried to do a deal with the Euro Tour or, even better, the LPGA.  But McKinsey assured them world domination was their birthright, so what could go wrong?

Dis and Dat - Just a couple of minor bits to get me out of here.  The TC panel reference above could only spare this silly question about the week's play:

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

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

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

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

Cam has no doubt found his footing, but nelly can beat those girls in her sleep.  At least when she stays out of her own way.

I'm forever leaving browser tabs open, but do you agree I can dispense with this one?

Luke Donald is back as Euro Ryder Cup captain. What about Tiger Woods?

His Greta Garbo act in 2025 seems to have moved the needle, as many more folks now agree that he's the GOAT of dicks.

I'm not going to dive in too deeply, but there is something really odd in play with the R&A's site selection process:

Royal Lytham & St Annes To Host 2028 Open

The 11-time site returns, ending speculation that Trump Turnberry or Muirfield would land the next available open date.

Really?  Wee Lytham?

Not too many years ago, it was unclear if Lytham would ever return to rota hosting status after the 2012 edition won by Ernie Els. With most of the contenders hitting irons off tees to avoid Lytham’s 206-or-so bunkers, the links looked outdated by a modern game just beginning to welcome golfers who could walk without assistance, occasionally eat something green, and even dare to lift a weight. Els lifted the second Claret Jug of his celebrated career that week by edging out Adam Scott.

Turnberry hasn't hosted since 2009 and Muirfield since 2013, so the plot thickens.  Will we ever see Muirfield again?

That will have to suffice for today.  Have a great week.