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Every Winning Putter From The 2026 PGA TOUR Season

Ryan Barath — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:45:25 +0000

Every winner and every putter used to win on the PGA TOUR in 2026, and how you can find them.

It's hard to stop a hot putter on the PGA TOUR, and so far in 2026, mallets continue to be a hot commodity with players across the board, especially in the winner's circle. Now, whether this trend continues for the rest of the season can't quite be predicted yet, but it will be something we will continue to monitor.

So with mallets on the mind, and the goal of once again following the trends as the golf season continues to roll on...let's dive into the winning putters on the PGA TOUR this season.

Chris Gotterup - Sony Open: TaylorMade Spider

The TaylorMade Spider started off 2025 exactly how it finished the 2025 FedEx Cup - with a win. This time, it was Chris Gotterup instead of Tommy Fleetwood holding the trophy at the end.

Could this be another year of Spider dominance?

Scottie Scheffler - Amex: TaylorMade Spider

It's hard to stop the best player in the world when every part of their game is firing on all cylinders, and Scottie came to the Amex with one goal in mind: a win to start the season - mission accomplished.

Just like in 2025, Scottie's putter has remained unchanged from his L-Neck Spider, and I don't imagine it's going anywhere anytime soon.

Justin Rose - Farmers Insurance: Scotty Cameron T5 Phantom Proto

At Torrey Pines in sunny Southern California, Justin Rose beat a stacked field and marched to victory after shooting a first-round 62 on the Torrey Pines North course.

Photo Credit: GolfWRX

From there is was pretty smooth sailing on the South Course with rounds of 65, 68, and 70 on Sunday to beat Pierceson Coody, Si Woo Kim and Ryo Hisatsune by 7-shots.

Chris Gotterup - WM Phoenix Open: TaylorMade Spider

Although it took a playoff over Hideki Matsuyama, Chris Gotterup became the first two-time winner on the PGA Tour in 2026 at the WM Phoenix after draining a bomb on the first playoff hole.

With this win, the TaylorMade Spider sits at 3 wins in 4 events so far (with only one belonging to Scottie Scheffler). Maybe we could be seeing this Spider trend continue after all.

Jacob Bridgeman - Genesis Invitational: TaylorMade Spider Tour

Photo Credit: GolfWRX

On a course that had soft yet fast greens, putting was challenge at Riviera during the Genesis Invitational, but Jacob Bridgeman had no issues while using his TaylorMade Spider Tour. He capitalized on his great approach play (he ranked first amongst the field at Riviera), and also ranked number 1 in putting to secure his first win on the PGA TOUR.

Nico Echavarria - Cognizant Classic: Odyssey TriHot 5K Seven

Photo Credit: GolfWRX

With clutch puttings down the stretch, Nico Echavarria secured the third win of his PGA Tour career at the Cognizant Classic. His putter of choice is an Odyssey Tri-Hot Seven which features additional mass placed towards the face for added forgiveness and face control.

Akshay Bhatia - Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard: Odyssey Jailbird 380 Broom

Although it took an extra hole against Daniel Berger, it was Akshay who came out on top at Bay Hill. It was an impressive performance that included gaining over 10 strokes on the greens against the field, which goes to show just how solid he was all week.

Cameron Young - The PLAYERS: Scotty Cameron: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5R Tour Prototype

Photo Credit: GolfWRX

Considering that putting used to be a liability for Cameron Young, in the last two years he has completely changed the narrative (and stats) to become one of the top putters on the PGA Tour. Sure he might have hit the longest recorded drive down the 18th hole on Sunday, but it was his putter that helped him secure his biggest victory.

Matt Fitzpatrick - The Valspar Championship: Personal Bettinardi Proto

Photo Credit: GolfWRX

On a tough golf course, it was a long putt on the final hole that helped Matt Fitzpatrick take home his first PGA Tour win since the 2023 RBC Herritage.

Gary Woodland - Texas Children's Houston Open: Scotty Cameron GoLo CS Proto

Photo Credit: GolfWRX

In what is (in my opinion) the best story of the year so far on the PGA Tour, Gary Woodland blew away the field at the Texas Children's Houston Open to win for the first time since the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

This victory came just weeks after an emotional interview with Golf Channel's Rex Hoggard where he revealed his struggle with PTSD on and off the golf course.

Although most people associate Gary with being one of the longest drivers on tour, he was also one of the top putters in Houston; he gained over 8 strokes on the field and ranked first for the event.

JJ Spaun - Valero Texas Open: L.A.B. Golf DF3

Photo Credit: GolfWRX

Coming down the stretch, JJ Spaun was clutch with the putter, especially on the 17th hole where he hit it inside 10" and drained the eagle to get the lead and never give it up.

Rory McIlroy - The Masters: TaylorMade Spider Tour

Image Credit: Ryan Barath

Rory used his Spider Tour to win his second Masters and join an elite club of players including Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.

Matt Fitzpatrick - The RBC Heritage: Personal Bettinardi Proto

Photo Credit: GolfWRX

Matt used his personal Bettinardi Prototype to win for the second time on Tour in 2026 at Hilton Head in a playoff against the World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. There must be something about the course because Matt also won this event back in 2023.

Matt & Alex Fitzpatrick - Zurich Classic of New Orleans: Personal Bettinardi Proto & Odyssey Ai-One #7S

Photo Credit: GolfWRX

Not to sound like a broken record, but Matt Fitzpatrick won once again on the PGA TOUR in New Orleans, but this time did it with his brother Alex by his side. The win made it three for the year for Matt and also granted Alex a PGA TOUR Card to 2028 and access to signature events for the rest of the 2026 season.

Cameron Young - Cadillac Championship: Scotty Cameron: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5R Tour Prototype

Photo Credit: GolfWRX

Another big event, another big win for Cameron Young..

When you finish third in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and first in Strokes Gained: Putting, you're going to be awfully tough to beat. That's exactly what Young was in Miami. He didn't just win—he dominated, finishing six shots clear of the world's No. 1 player.

Kristoffer Reitan - Truist Championship: Ping Ally Blue

After sneaking into the field through FedEx Cup rankings, it was Kristoffer who won at the beautiful Quail Hollow Golf Club with the help of his Ping Ally Blue Onset putter that he just put into play that week! How's that for a first event to use a new club?

Brandt Snedeker - ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic: TaylorMade Spider

Although he won with a nearly decade-old driver, Brandt went the other way with his putter and won with a new TaylorMade Spider, which he had started using just over a month ago. Goes to show that sometimes all you need is something to help on the greens.

Aaron Rai - PGA Championship: TaylorMade Spider Tour V

On greens that featured tricky sections with lots of slope, Aaron navigated them to perfection with his TaylorMade Spider Tour V. It marked the fifth win in six tries for a TaylorMade Spider Putter.

Wyndham Clark - CJ Cup Byron Nelson: Ping Ally Blue Onset

With the help of a hot driver and really hot putter, Wyndham Clark slayed the newly renovated greens at TPC Craig Ranch to get to 3-under par and lock in his first PGA Tour win since his win at the AT&T Pebble Beach ProAm in 2024.

Russell Henley - Charles Schwab Challenge: Scotty Cameron Phantom X5 Tour Proto

Russell Henley went berserk during the closing stretch of holes at Colonial Golf Club and birdied his final 3 to get into a playoff with Eric Cole, where he then made another birdie to win by draining a 5-footer.

This was Russell's 6th win on Tour and pushed him over the 50-million mark in career earnings.

JT Poston - The Memorial: TaylorMade Spider Tour X Torched

All it was a putter swap to kick-start JT Poston's summer at The Memorial where he gained nearly 7 shots on the greens for the week. What makes the win even more impressive was how he lost shots to the field off the tee but made them up everywhere else to earn the victory.

Bud Cauley - The RBC Canadian Open: Scotty Cameron GOLO Tour Prototype

(Photo: Golfwrx)

It probably took longer than he had ever imagined, but Bud Cauley became a PGA TOUR Winner at the RBC Canadian Open where he beat Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland coming down the stretch.

Wyndham Clark - U.S. Open: Ping Ally Blue Onset

After winning just a few weeks before, Wyndham Clark brought his hot play to Shinnecock where he went wire-to-wire for his second U.S. Open title.

Viktor Hovland - Travelers Championship: Ping PLD DS72

(Photo: Golfwrx)

It took an extra day and a playoff hole against Scottie Scheffler, but Viktor Hovland earned his 8th PGA TOUR win after draining a putt from right around 8-feet to secure Vik-tory at the Travelers.

Chris Gotterup - John Deere Classic: TaylorMade Spider

Chris Gotterup has certainly learned how to win on the PGA Tour in 2026, and at the John Deere Classic, he notched his third win of the season and 5th of his career.

Tom Kim - Genesis Scottish Open: Scotty Cameron

(Photo: GolfWRX.com)

Who said blades are dead?

With a deft touch on the link of The Renaissance Club, Tom Kim proved that blade putters can still win on the PGA TOUR in 2026, even if he is only the second player to do so with one with season. He did it with a custom Scotty Cameron Timeless Newport 2 which is a pretty as it is effective.

Ryan Fox - The Open Championship: Ping Anser 2D

It took literal seconds for Ryan Fox to pick his line and setup to make the winning putt at The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale and he did it with his trusty Ping Anser 2D. This is the same putter he used when he won the Canadian Open in 2025, and I don't imagine it's going anywhere anytime soon.

Jackson Koivun - 3M Open: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5R Tour Prototype

It only took 3 professional starts for Jackson Koivun to win on the PGA TOUR, and he did it style with a full bag of Titleist gear including his Scotty Cameron putter. The Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5R Tour Prototype has been a popular option on tour this year and was also used by Cameron Young to win The Players.

Michael Thorbjornsen - Rocket Classic: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

It might have been Michael's first win on the PGA TOUR, but it was certainly not the first win for the TaylorMade Spider Tour X. For the week, Michael gained close to 4 shots on the field in Detroit, which helped him beat charging Xander Schauffele by 2 shots.

Michael Brennan - Wyndham Championship: Scotty Cameron Golo 6 Tour Prototype

Michael was a strokes gained machine in Greensboro by going 2nd in putting (+8.958), 11th in approach, and 3rd off the tee which helped him snag his second PGA TOUR victory within the calender year. As far as his putter is concerned, the Scotty GoLo shape is maintaining staying power - so maybe we see a return one day.

Scottie Scheffler - FedEx St Jude: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Scottie couldn't have picked a better time in the PGA TOUR season to get hot again with the putter and win for the second time in 2026 (and also earn a TON of money).

He posted a career-high in strokes gained putting, which was bad news for everyone else.

Wyndham Clark - BMW Championship: Ping Ally Blue Onset

Wyndham won for the third time using his Ping Ally Blue putter and gained 4.352 shots on the greens to finish 6th in the field, proving that not only was his putting hot, but so was the rest of his game.

Scottie Scheffler - Tour Championship: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

With his new Qi4D driver in tow, not to mention his still-hot Spider putter from the weeks leading up to it, Scottie Scheffler once again won the Tour Championship at East Lake.

Just don't let the stats fool you. He might have only finished 16th in putting for the week, but that's what happens when you're number 1 in ball striking and hit it so darn close on nearly every shot.

Jacob Bridgeman - Biltmore Championship Asheville: TaylorMade Spider Tour

Photo Credit: GolfWRX

Following up on his team's Presidents Cup win, Jacob came to his hometown event with one mission: Win. And with a final round 61, he did just that.

Austin Smotherman - Bank of Utah Championship: LAB VZN 1i

Nobody beats Austin 100 times in a row and gets away with it, because at the Bank of Utah Chmapionship Austin won his first PGA Tour event in his 100th start. He did it wth rounds of 63, 62, 65, and 68, while gaining more than 5 shots of the tee for the week and more than 3 on the greens.

*This page was first published on February 16, 2026. Last updated October 6, 2026

The Best PGA TOUR Superstore Deals to Shop Right Now

Skratch Staff — Thu, 21 May 2026 14:22:59 +0000

We dug through the sale to find the golf gear, apparel and tech actually worth adding to your cart, with discounts across some of our favorite brands.

The PGA TOUR Superstore sale is officially live, and yes, there is a lot of stuff on sale. We went digging through it so you don't have to and pulled out the gear, apparel and tech deals that caught our eye. The sale runs through Oct. 11, with free shipping on everything plus Buy More, Save More offers of $50 off $250 or $100 off $500. Plus, just for this weekend use code WRX25 and get 25-percent off.

There are also some extra Players Club perks in the mix, including bonus vouchers with memberships and lesson packages. Here are the deals we'd actually consider adding to the cart.

MORE PGA TOUR SUPERSTORE PICKS

This page was first published on May 22, 2026. Last updated October 6, 2026.

This Affordable Launch Monitor Just Got A Major Upgrade

Ryan Barath — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 20:19:29 +0000

A major software overhaul gives users more flexibility on the range, featuring smarter data ranges and a revamped video interface.

With launch monitors becoming more affordable year over year and data access easier than ever, companies have to look beyond the raw information and focus on user experience.

This is exactly what FlightScope is offering with its newly upgraded FS Golf app, which works across its launch monitor lineup and gives users more flexibility to hone their game and make practicing easier. And the best part is, in a world full of subscription models, this upgrade is free of charge.

Continuous innovation is essential for delivering trusted performance data," said Henri Johnson, founder and CEO of FlightScope. "We are proud to continue providing golfers and coaches with the tools and insights they need to improve their game, while remaining a trusted resource at no additional cost.

What's New With FlightScope FS Golf

From top to bottom the entire FS Golf interface has been refined to make using the app faster and setup quicker than ever before. They have even added an enhanced light mode to make viewing the app in direct sunlight easier - which is quite helpful considering how many people use it for outdoor range practice

Other Features Include:

Faster Session Starts: Users can pre-save starting golf ball and club choice in the FS Golf dashboard allowing for faster warms-ups and data collection.

Enhanced Trajectory View: Practice range graphics can now be customized for sky, trees, and hitting surfaces.

Normalize Shot Data Function: Golfers can get a better understanding of their numbers by removing outside effects on ball flight. This means no matter what conditions are outside you can get accurate normalized data.

Smart Data Ranges/Smart Margins: Powered by algorithms that adapt to player skill levels and session data to encourage more intentional practice (available with XC, XC3, and Mevo Gen2 Pro Packages).

Interactive Practice Targets: Users can now add and adjust targets for distance, size, and offset from center to dial in approach dispersion. The updated system also allows users to turn on randomized targets to better simulate on-course shots and variability.

New Video Interface: Centralizes swing recordings, making it simple to review highlights, recall shots, and sync two swings side-by-side using built-in markup tools.

All new features are available now via a free update to the FS Golf app for compatible FlightScope launch monitors.

Jackson Koivun Signs With TGL's Motor City Golf Club

Riley Hamel — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 15:33:54 +0000

Jackson Koivun and Brooks Koepka on the same TGL team? Yeah, that'll do.

Jackson Koivun has quickly become one of the biggest names in golf, and now he’s set to join the TGL for the upcoming season.

When the indoor matches kick off this winter, there will be a new team in the mix out of Detroit—the Motor City Golf Club. Koivun is the second member of MCGC to be announced, joining five-time major champion Brooks Koepka.

“I am a huge fan of TGL and love how it brings new fans and an arena experience to golf,” Koivun said in a statement. “I’ve been to SoFi Center, and it’s unlike anything I’ve experienced in the game. I’m excited to join Brooks, compete in a new environment and help build a team Detroit can passionately support.”

Koivun put on a show at the Presidents Cup last month, going 2-0-1 and beating Si Woo Kim, the International Team’s best player, in Sunday Singles. He was the only undefeated player on either side at Medinah.

Now, when the PGA Tour goes into hibernation, we’ll get to watch him play against Tiger Woods (hopefully), Rory McIlroy, and all the other big names set to virtually tee it up in the SoFi Center.

Titleist’s 2027 ProV1 Prototypes Officially Land in Japan

Ryan Barath — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 14:57:08 +0000

The final stage of tour validation is underway as players get their first look at the 2027 Titleist ProV1 & ProV1x final-prototype golf balls.

This week at the Baycurrent Classic, being held at Yokohama Country Club in Yokohama, Japan, Titleist tour reps will be out in full force as they go through the final step of the tour validation process for the newest iteration of what will become the 2027 ProV1 and ProV1x golf balls.

Check out the clip below—and try not to be as jealous as we are of the videographer who got to shoot it on-site:

These new models mark the 15th generation of the Titleist ProV1 and the 13th generation of the ProV1x, respectively, and are the continuation of Titleist's commitment to constant innovation within the golf ball space.

While this marks their official debut week on tour, the new 2027 ProV1 has already been used to secure multiple top finishes across tours, including a T3 at the Biltmore Championship, thanks to Neal Shipley, and a T6 at the recent Dunhill Links Championship by Robert MacIntyre.

Based on previous launches, we can (likely) expect to see the retail release of the new ProV1 and ProV1x golf balls early in 2027.

Kapalua, Pro Golf Isn't Done With You Yet After All

Riley Hamel — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 19:24:02 +0000

The PGA Tour may be done with Hawaii, but the LPGA is headed to the Kapalua Plantation Course in 2027.

The PGA Tour may be done with its long-running Hawaii Swing, but professional golf isn’t done with Kapalua’s Plantation Course quite yet.

On Monday, the LPGA announced that its LOTTE Championship will be held at the Plantation Course starting in 2027 as part of a two-week swing called the Nanae Cup. It will feature a $3 million purse and is scheduled for March 18-21.

“We are thrilled to have Kapalua Resort and The Plantation Course serve as the venue for the LOTTE Championship in 2027. As we continue to strengthen the LPGA Tour schedule, venues with deep-rooted heritage like Kapalua are exactly what we look for,” LPGA Commissioner Craig Kessler said in a statement.

“This new chapter would not be possible without the support and commitment to the Tour that LOTTE and Kapalua provided. We want to thank Hoakalei Country Club for the last five years and look forward to building on the success of the LOTTE Championship at its new home in Maui.”

From 1999-2025, Kapalua was the home of the PGA Tour’s Tournament of Champions. For golf fans, it rang in the new season and provided those of us in snowy parts of the country with the opportunity to vicariously experience some of that Hawaiian sunshine.

While it’s not in the beginning of January, you’ll never hear me complaining about watching golf in the Aloha State.

Can You Get Pro-Level Launch Monitor Data for Under $2,000? Foresight Says Yes.

Ryan Barath — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 02:50:51 +0000

he brand’s newest dual-camera system proves you don't need to break the bank to get tour-grade ball data at home or on the range.

Foresight Sports is well known for its camera-based launch monitors, including the popular GC Quad and GC Quad Max, which can be found on tours at every level and in club fitting studios around the world.

They are now bringing that accuracy to more golfers than ever before with the launch of their newest GC2, a dual high-speed camera launch monitor designed to deliver unmatched accuracy for under $2000 - $1700 to be precise.

With GC2 our goal is simple, we want to remove barriers that prohibit golfers from experiencing the Foresight difference, and instead give all players and coaches access to accurate, reliable data that will improve their games. From the professionals to elite amateurs, we've seen firsthand how precise data unlocks performance. The GC2 brings this to every golfer, so they can practice with confidence and turn precision into better performance on the course.

- Jeff Foster, President of Revelyst Golf Technology

Technology & Data

This precision comes from the dual camera system that allows the CG2 to get precise images of the golf ball during and after impact to calculate how the golf ball actually flies. As Foresight's slogan for the new GC2 goes, "You didn't come this far to guess," which I have to hand it to them, is pretty darn good.

But, and this is a big one, it must be noted that the CG2 and all its accuracy is only designed to do one thing extremely well, and that is to capture ball data. If you are looking for a true teaching tool, this isn't your launch monitor, and to be honest (based on my experience as a club fitter), ball data offers everything 99% of recreational golfers need anyways.

Plus, for ease of use, the data screen is NOT touch-operated and automatically toggles between data points.

As for the stats, here are the data points:

Carry Distance

Total Distance

Ball Speed

Launch Angle

Launch Direction

Back Spin

Side Spin (Spin Axis)

Total Spin

Spin Axis

Offline

Peak Height

Descent Angle

Hang Time

As for functionability, the new GC2 can be seamlessly used inside or out, and comes with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB-C and ethernet connectivity so whether you're on the range, or in a simulator you can connect quickly and easily.

And, for those looking to build their own simulator setup, the new GC2 can use it as part of Foresight's popular Sim In A Box package.

Last but not least, it's also important to mention that the GC2 is the first new product launch since Foresight has introduced the Foresight + and Premier software update which offer a better simulator experience along with an updated user interface which is quick to learn and easy to customize.

Availability

The new GC2 is now available for pre-order, with pre-ordered units expected to ship to customer on October 9. They will then be found in retail stores for in-person shopping on October 12.

Purchase includes a 30-day free trial of the Foresight+ software.

We Need to Talk About Yoshinobu Yamamoto's Golf Swing

Luke Nesbitt — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 17:45:03 +0000

Before we get completely swept up in October baseball, let's appreciate the Dodgers ace's elite speed, sequencing, and a move that looks exactly like Chris Gotterup’s.

As the Dodgers gear up for another deep October run, Yoshinobu Yamamoto is dealing. The Los Angeles ace looks every bit like one of baseball’s most dominant arms heading into the postseason. But before we get completely swept up in playoff baseball, Yamamoto recently gave us something else to obsess over: his golf swing.

RELATED: Mookie Betts Swing Analysis

Earlier this year I came across a video of Yamamoto taking a few cuts on the range, and it completely stopped me in my tracks. I have not been able to get it out of my head. It wasn't just “oh look, this baseball player has a nice swing.” More like, if this showed up on tour range coverage, nobody would blink. From setup to tempo, everything about it screams elite.

He teed it up with PGA Tour vet Shigeki Maruyama on a golf trip in Arizona and the swing videos did not disappoint.

If you’ve spent any time watching Chris Gotterup stripe it this season, you’ll see the similarities almost immediately. For me it was the posture and athleticism right off the jump. Then similarities emerge in the way the club gets set at the top. Even the steep-but-repeatable move through impact. It’s not identical, but it lives in the same neighborhood. The more I watched it back, the more the Gotterup comparison kept showing up. Gotterup did grow up playing baseball, so perhaps the similarities are more than coincidental.

When looking at other swings from athletes like Josh Allen and Sam Darnold, I’ve made note that quarterbacks often have good golf swings because the throwing motion mirrors certain elements of the golf swing. The same applies for baseball pitchers. And when you’re talking about a pitcher who is as mechanically elite as Yamamoto, maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Setup

Starting off in about as perfect a position as you can.

His weight is stacked evenly, he’s standing athletically without tension, and his arms hang naturally.

One thing I continue to notice is how many athletes I’ve looked at have the modern setup, where the right arm sits level with the left, as opposed to the more traditional look where the left arm sits visibly higher at address.

Backswing

Arms and shoulders move back in unison. The clubhead is a bit inside of his hands—and by a bit, I mean barely. It could also be the angle the video was taken from.

Watching him swing, I wouldn’t dare tell him to change much of anything going back. The motion is synced, athletic, and repeatable.

Top of backswing

Including two images here.

In the first image (right), you can see he gets the club slightly across the line at the top. As always, there are no rights or wrongs in the golf swing, but there are “ideal” positions. Being across the line can create a little extra work in transition.

But move forward just a couple of frames (image left) and he shallows the club beautifully with his hands to get it back into a strong position. It still sets up a touch steep, but more on that in a second.

You can also notice the slight difference in flex in his trail knee. Pitchers have to use the ground exceptionally well to create speed, and that movement carries over effortlessly into the golf swing.

Pre-impact

Here’s where a teaching pro might raise an eyebrow.

His upper body begins to take over a little more here, and it puts the clubhead slightly out in front of his hands, creating a steeper delivery.

Now, I’d actually rather see a player be slightly steep than dramatically stuck behind them. Having the club too far behind the hands can bring in a nasty two-way miss.

Sure, shallowing the club and holding it off is all the rage right now—and it can be incredibly effective.

But even when you watch players molded by guys like George Gankas or Chase Duncan, you’ll still often see the clubhead slightly out in front in this position.

Take Chris Gotterup, for example. His swing is incredibly steep, and he’s one of the best drivers on Tour.

What people don’t always realize is that when you’re steep like this, it can help eliminate the left side of the golf course. With proper clubface control, it can create a very reliable fade pattern.

Impact

The hips clear beautifully.

Yes, the upper body is slightly forward and dominant—consistent with the steeper delivery—but nothing about it looks out of sequence.

It’s dynamic, powerful, and very repeatable.

Post-impact

Here you can really see the hands go to work to square the club.

The more I watch it, the more it reminds me of Gotterup’s release pattern. He waits until the perfect moment, then lets his hand-eye coordination take over.

Follow-through / close

Note the position of his left foot.

He uses the ground so aggressively that it pushes up and moves left—all signs of someone who creates serious speed and knows how to move a golf ball.

Theoretically, the more moving parts you have, the harder it is to time everything up.

But that’s also the modern golf swing.

You can’t optimize every single piece mechanically. At some point, you have to leave room for athleticism. And Yamamoto might be the poster child for that balance.

I genuinely couldn’t get to work fast enough to break this one down.

At full speed, the tempo is immaculate. Frame by frame, there’s hardly anything to nitpick. Sure, he gets a little steep in transition—but when Chris Gotterup is winning on Tour with a very similar move, who am I to tell him to change?

If the pitching thing ever slows down, he’s got options.

More Celebrity and Athlete Golf Swing Breakdowns:

Tom Kim Closes In on Asian Games Gold and a Crucial Military Exemption

Riley Hamel — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:18:46 +0000

Staring down required military service, Tom Kim is two shots back at the Asian Games and is in the hunt for the gold medal.

Two rounds separate Tom Kim from potential military service, but so far at the Asian Games, the fan-favorite has done a nice job of positioning himself near the top of the leaderboard with 36 holes to go.

Immediately after Team USA’s win at the Presidents Cup last weekend, Kim flew to Japan to represent South Korea at Kasugai Country Club. If he’s able to earn a gold medal individually or for his home country, Kim would be able to skip out on South Korea’s mandate that says all able-bodied males must serve between 18-21 months in the military once they turn 19.

After a second-round 4-under 66 on Thursday, Kim is two shots back of the lead held by Wei-hsuan Wang and Wenyi Ding at 9 under.

Kim, 24, regained lost form in 2026, even winning his fourth PGA Tour title at the Genesis Scottish Open in July. The World No. 32 will be playing for a whole lot more than just another win this weekend.

Phil Mickelson Checked Into a Facility Seeking 'Treatment for Family Trauma and Addiction'

Riley Hamel — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 19:59:08 +0000

While he's been away from golf, Phil Mickelson sought treatment for "family trauma and addiction."

According to a new report from TMZ, Phil Mickelson recently checked himself into a facility to seek “treatment for family trauma and addiction,” a representative of Mickelson told TMZ Sports. He's already completed his stay, according to TMZ.

On February 1 of this year, Mickelson announced he would be missing the first two LIV Golf events of the season to deal with a family health matter. He played in LIV Golf South Africa in the middle of March, but on April 2, he announced he’d be missing the Masters and an extended period of time to “navigate a personal health matter.”

Since the event in South Africa, he has not played competitively.

In June, Skratch published an exclusive feature detailing allegations against Mickelson of past misconduct, including lewd language and unwanted advances.

Mickelson’s future in golf remains cloudy, and with LIV’s existence hanging in the balance, his eventual return to the sport is uncertain.

15 LPGA Cards, a $100K Winner’s Check and Everything You Need to Know About the Epson Tour Championship

Addie Parker — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 17:30:41 +0000

The new format, the rising stars, and the stakes for the 71-player field fighting for 15 LPGA cards.

For the 71 players teeing it up at this week's Epson Tour Championship, the road to the LPGA Tour is coming down to its final turns. As the official qualifying tour for the LPGA, the Epson Tour is where the future stars of the women's game spend a season collecting points and top finishes in hopes to earn themselves a spot on the biggest stage in women's golf.

With 15 LPGA cards on the line, this week represents the last major opportunity to move up the standings before the next step...a.k.a. the grind of Q-School and Final Qualifying, set to take place later this year.

But the stakes are bigger than just a tour card. This year's championship features a few new changes, including a 71-player, no-cut field (reduced from 80 players, with a cut made after 36 holes) competing for a record $300,000 purse, including a $100,000 check to the winner. And they'll return to the Players Course at Indian Wells Golf Resort which is fresh off a $13 million renovation.

The Q-School gauntlet is unlike anything else we see in this game. It's round after round of the most intense golf imaginable, so needless to say, those teeing it up in Indian Wells are putting the pedal to the metal in trying to secure a card. If a player doesn't end up in that top-15, she still has a shot at making the LPGA in 2027, but her status just may look different.

The LPGA Tour has a priority list that consists of varying categories, which come with different privileges. For instance and in the case of the championship this week, athletes who finish the season in the top 10 of the Race for the Card will be seeded into Category 9 on the 2027 LPGA Tour Priority List—the strongest status a player can earn through the Epson Tour season.

Players who finish 11th through 15th will also earn LPGA Tour cards for 2027, but with lower priority status. Those players will be placed in Category 16.

See how the LPGA priority list and categories were broken down for the 2026 season here.

Those who finish 16th through 35th won't earn an LPGA Tour card outright, but they will earn a direct spot into the final stage of LPGA Q-Series in November. That means they’ll skip the earlier stages of qualifying and have one more chance to play their way onto the LPGA Tour for 2027.

It's important to note that every player at Indian Wells has already secured full Category A status for the 2027 Epson Tour season, but her status isn't set in stone, a player will still want to perform her very best for the very best possible outcome. The higher she finishes in the final standings this week, the stronger her position within Category A and the better her priority for Epson Tour fields will be in 2027.

Courtesy of the LPGA/Espon Tour.

Nine players have already mathematically secured their LPGA Tour cards for 2027 in Mirabel Ting, Lauren Olivares, Kaleiya Romero, Annabelle Pancake-Webb, Carla Bernat Escuder, Liqi Zeng, Mariel Galdiano, Amari Avery, and Cholcheva Wongras.

But that doesn't mean their positions are locked in, again, a strong week in Indian Wells could still move players up the standings and into a stronger category—particularly those currently sitting 11th through 15th, who have already secured a card but could improve their priority status to category 9.

And if some of those names sound familiar, they should! Mirabel Ting played alongside Lottie Woad at Florida State, where she was the top-ranked collegiate player, whereas Woad, who is now a two-time winner on the LPGA, was the top-ranked amateur in the world. Ironically, Woad sat second behind Ting in the FSU lineup. So if that tells you anything...the young Malaysian star knows ball and will certainly be a force on the Tour.

Kaleiya Romero is the big sister to Kiara Romero, who clinched her LPGA card this summer. The two will be the next set of sisters to compete on the LPGA Tour together! The older Romero has missed only one cut during her rookie season on Epson, while also collecting a win and eight other top-10s.

Carla Bernat Escuder, who won the 2025 Augusta National Women's Amateur, has found her footing in her professional career, securing her position as a soon-to-be Epson Tour graduate. She earned her first professional win early in September, which helped her clinch her card.

And of this incoming class of rookies, there's one player that feels like she's been here before despite her still being so young into her career. Amari Avery has been a name and face that golf has been familiar with since her junior golf days, starring in a Netflix documentary about child golf prodigies called The Short Game.

Since then, the player people crowned the "Tigress" (thanks to a few very coincidental similarities to Tiger Woods like sharing a birthday!) has gone on to have a successful amateur and collegiate career where she played at the University of Southern California, before making the decision to turn pro.

Earlier this year, Avery won her first professional title and has since collected two more top-10 finishes, securing her spot inside the top-10 ahead of this week. And with this, she becomes just the ninth black woman in history to earn her LPGA card.

Follow the live leaderboard action here, beginning around 11 a.m. ET.

*This page was first published on October 2, 2025. Last updated September 30, 2026.

How A Marker Can Completely Change Your Wedge Game

Ryan Barath — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 13:51:54 +0000

Dial in your approach shots and stop missing greens. All you need is a marker and this simple club-fitting trick.

It's easy to place outside blame for bad shots on all kinds of things: the wind, a noise in your backswing, wearing the wrong socks, but what if a short iron miss really was the fault of your clubs not being set up right for you?

The thing is, it's more common than you might think, and one of the biggest reasons golfers miss greens with short irons and wedges has to do with lie angle and having the right one that fits your game.

The best part is, when it comes to golf clubs, adjusting lie angle is like one of the easiest and quickest ways to dial in dispersion, and with one simple trick, you can check where you're at with just a marker!

Understanding Lie Angle

A golf club's lie angle is the angle formed by the hosel and shaft axis relative to the ground when the clubs is soled and grooves are parallel to the ground plane. The higher the lie angle, the more upright a club is, and the lower the number, the flatter it is relative to industry standard.

**NOTE: There is no true standard lie angle, and the stock numbers vary between brands and even between models so it's always better to reference the actual measured value vs. simple upright or flat comparisons.**

When a lie angle is calibrated incorrectly for the player, shots will routinely miss the target, and it also becomes more difficult to make solid contact.

If clubs are too flat, shots will generally miss to the right (for a right-handed player) because the toe of the club hits the ground first and causes the club to stay open. On the opposite side, when clubs are too upright, the heel catches and the face points to the left of the target line resulting in shots missed to the left.

DIY: Check Your Lie Angles

First and foremost, one of the best ways to understand if your lie angles are right for you is by observing and making notes on your ball flight on the course. You can go a step further at the range by making notes about where your golf balls finish relative to a target, and take those notes to a fitter.

Or you can just use a marker (dry-erase or Crayola works best because they're easy to clean).

Here's how it works.

Using said marker, draw a 1-inch line on a golf ball and place it facing your target – in the same fashion you would line up a putt but with the marker on the back side of the ball.

The obvious next step is to hit a shot and then check out the marker line - this is where the real info lives.

If the ball goes where you want and the marker line left on the face is perpendicular to the grooves or within a few degrees either way, you're all set. But if they point more than a few degrees away from perpendicular, then it might be time to make some adjustments.

If the line is angled more toward the toe, the lie angle is too upright and needs to be adjusted flatter. If the line is angled more toward the heel, it means the lie angle is too flat and needs to be adjusted upright.

Simply repeat this process with other clubs or use the single club baseline to work with a fitter to get the rest of your set adjusted accordingly. This way you can go back to blaming the wind and your socks, because it won't be your clubs anymore.

Jackson Koivun Headlines Black Desert: Everything You Need to Know for the Bank of Utah Championship

Riley Hamel — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 15:26:44 +0000

Fresh off a breakout week at the Presidents Cup, Koivun leads the PGA Tour field into Utah. Here is your complete guide to tee times, broadcast schedules, and streaming info.

The PGA Tour’s FedExCup Fall continues this week with the Bank of Utah Championship at Black Desert Resort. Last year, Michael Brennan won as a sponsor exemption and has since added another win at the Wyndham Championship in August.

The biggest name in the field and betting favorite is Jackson Koivun, fresh off his “Hello, world” moment at the Presidents Cup. I’m sure his gallery will be a little larger than normal this week.

The winner of the Bank of Utah Championship will go home with $1.08 million of the $6 million purse.

Here’s how you can watch the action from Black Desert Resort.

Tee Times for the Bank of Utah Championship

How to Watch the Bank of Utah Championship

Thursday-Sunday: 5-8 p.m. on Golf Channel

Streaming

Thursday-Friday: 9:45 a.m.-8 p.m. on ESPN+

Jackson Koivun + Green Jacket? The Betting Community Thinks So

Riley Hamel — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 16:55:33 +0000

Jackson Koivun has arrived—and he's been the most popular pick to win the Masters since his Sunday Singles win at Medinah.

Jackson Koivun put on a show at Medinah over the weekend. He was the only undefeated player for either side at the Presidents Cup, and on Sunday, he took down the International Team’s best player in Si Woo Kim—and he did it with some swagger.

His Team USA debut made an impression on the golf world, and that includes the betting community which has started to look ahead to next year’s major championship schedule.

According to Hard Rock Bet, Koivun has accounted for 57% of the action on the 2027 Masters winner market since he beat Kim in Sunday Singles. Over half the tickets placed have the 21-year-old winning his first major and Green Jacket in April, and he hasn’t even played in a Masters yet!

Koivun has already qualified for the field thanks to his win at the 3M Open, which came in his third start as a professional.

I guess it’s all aboard the Koivun Hype Train.

The Science Behind Boosted Driver Distance In Utah

Ryan Barath — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 17:17:00 +0000

Don't believe everything you've heard about why golf balls fly farther at altitude because we've got the real science to help you understand the facts.

After a crazy week of match play at the Presidents Cup, the PGA Tour is back in action this week for the Bank of Utah Championship, held at Black Desert Resort.

Beyond being a beautiful setting for golf, Black Desert is located just a couple of miles from St. George, Utah. On the surface, this might seem like a mere footnote, but when you realize it sits nearly 3,000 feet above sea level, we need to start discussing the science of ball flight.

How Elevation Affects Ball Flight & Distance

The higher the elevation, the easier it is to hit the golf ball farther, but unlike in space, the gains aren't caused by a lack of gravity; they're caused by atmospheric changes that occur as you rise above sea level.

The main reason is that the air is thinner or, as the meteorologists might say, less dense. With the air being less dense there is less resistance to the ball, meaning it decelerates slower.

It should also be noted that contrary to what you might hear from some golf commentators, the golf ball does NOT spin less at higher altitudes, it's just the air has less of an effect on the ball. An easy way to think about it is a golf ball simply reacts to the launch conditions that are created from impact. After that aerodynamics take over. In a way, it's no different than hitting a putt. Once you have selected your aim spot and hit your speed, it's all up to gravity and friction after that.

How The Math Math's Out

With the help of the folks over at Titleist (I trust their golf ball science to a very high level) and their principal scientist of golf ball R&D, Steve Aoyama, you can quickly and easily calculate the average percentage of distance gain possible based on your elevation.

You can calculate the distance gain you will experience (compared to sea level) by multiplying the elevation (in feet) by .00116. For example, if you’re playing in Reno, at 1 mile elevation (5,280 ft.), the increase is about 6% (5,280 x .00116 = 6.1248). If you normally drive the ball 250 yards at sea level, you will likely drive it 265 yards in Reno.

This means that for those golfers playing at Black Desert Resort this week at close to 3000 feet, they will experience just over a 3% gain in distance off the tee. Now that might not sound like much, but when you consider how many players can quite easily carry the ball close to 300 yards, an extra 10 yards can be the difference between carrying a bunker, or lava rock in the case of the course this week or not.

As for carry, last year's Bank of Utah champion Michael Brennan, let's just say he was enjoying the elevation.

LIV Golf Is Only Part of the PIF Story. Here's What’s Changing in Women's Golf

Addie Parker — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 15:56:32 +0000

The money is moving from the calendar to the ecosystem.

It can be easy to forget that the Saudi-backed golf story is bigger than LIV. As news broke of a separate men's tour taking shape, Golf Saudi was already laying the groundwork for its relationship with the Ladies European Tour. That relationship started in 2020, when the Aramco Saudi Ladies International became the first professional women's golf tournament played in Saudi Arabia.

A year later, the investment began to take a more global shape, with Golf Saudi and the LET expanding their partnership through a series of tournaments and playing opportunities for female golfers around the world. By 2022, that model had grown into the Aramco Team Series, bringing LET events to markets well beyond Saudi Arabia, making stops in places like New York, Las Vegas, London, and Hong Kong. In 2025, the PIF Global Series formalized that investment under the PIF banner, eventually delivering 29 tournaments across three continents.

But as of this week, that investment is entering yet another phase.

Image courtesy of the Ladies European Tour.

After five years of backing women's golf through tournaments around the world, Golf Saudi is ending the PIF Global Series after 2026 and concentrating its tournament investment around The Championship in London. Starting in 2027, the event will be co-sanctioned by the LPGA and LET and carry a $4 million purse.

Golf Saudi, the LPGA and the LET released a joint statement breaking down the changes, and there are two things you need to understand before we get into what's actually changing.

The first being that this isn't a cause and effect story with LIV Golf as the catalyst. To be frank, it feels almost impossible to talk about the PIF and golf without mentioning LIV, especially given the timing of these changes with the recent news of LIV's future. And yet, I want to emphasize that there is no need to draw a direct line between these two developments, because the nature of the relationships are vastly different and the investments are different. But when you do look at these instances together, there is a broader look at how the PIF-linked investment in golf is evolving.

The second thing you need to understand is that money isn't disappearing from women's golf or the LET, it's just moving from the calendar (i.e. events) to the ecosystem (i.e. literally everything else).

Now, let's dig into the details of this new announcement.

Beginning next year, the PIF Global Series, which currently operates as five events on the LET schedule, will be scaled down to one event co-sanctioned with the LPGA and LET called The Championship. The event has been staged in the UK since 2021, but this latest iteration will seemingly take the place of two events, the Aramco Championship that debuted this spring at Shadow Creek, and the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open, which has been dropped from the LPGA schedule after this year.

The 2027 venue for The Championship in London has yet to be announced, but it is scheduled for July 19–25, putting it in the middle of a significant stretch of the summer women’s golf calendar, between the Amundi Evian Championship and the AIG Women’s Open. It will also feature a $4 million prize fund.

Anna Huang of Canada with the trophy. The PIF Global Series London Championship Final Round hosted at Centurion Golf Club 6-9 Aug 2026. Image courtesy of the Ladies European Tour.

But more importantly, it becomes the centerpiece of Golf Saudi's tournament investment in women's golf. It'll no longer be tied solely to individual tournament weeks, this particular partnership extends across the LET's season-long competition.

If you're not familiar, the LET Order of Merit is essentially the tour's season-long points race. Players earn points based on their finishes throughout the year, with the player who accumulates the most points crowned the season's Order of Merit winner.

With the terms of this new deal, Golf Saudi's multi-year involvement with the Order of Merit will extend that backing to every week of the LET season. Details surrounding what that support will look like week to week have yet to be outlined.

But there's another side to this re-structuring that felt a bit underplayed in the announcement.

The PIF Global Series is contributing $15 million in prize money across five LET events in 2026 alone. The LET's 2026 schedule projects more than €39 million in total prize money across 30 events, a record for the tour. So while Golf Saudi isn't pulling its financial support from women's golf altogether, four tournament slots and the prize money attached to them are still disappearing from the LET calendar, and that distinction matters.

The new Order of Merit partnership broadens Golf Saudi's support across the season, but it doesn't recreate four tournaments. The LET now has to figure out how to replace those events as well as the sponsors, prize money, and commercial value attached to them. That's the tension sitting underneath this announcement.

Golf Saudi is making a strategic shift in how it invests in women's golf. From its perspective, the emphasis is moving toward one major championship and season-long support of the LET. Golf Saudi CEO Noah Alireza described the approach as one focused on "investing intelligently" and building an economic model that makes the women's game commercially stronger and creates a pathway that lasts, saying, "We have learnt a great deal over the past few years about what works, and our focus now is on investing intelligently and building the right economic model—one that makes the women's game commercially stronger and creates a pathway that lasts."

For the LET, though, the math is a little less philosophical. Four fewer tournaments means four fewer opportunities that someone else now has to fund. And that may ultimately be the most interesting part of this restructuring.

The question, and ultimately the problem, is now centered around whether the LET can replace the volume of investment it is losing while making the quality of the investment it is keeping work harder. Additionally, the challenge becomes finding more money while also figuring out how to make the game less dependent on any one source of it, too.

Watch The Vanity Index Closest to the Pin Challenge

Skratch Staff — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 21:41:10 +0000

Chad and Wells invited some of their celebrity friends to our LA HQ to try their hand at a KP contest. Here's what went down.

There are several benefits to having a golf simulator in your office. Many of them are obvious. One that's not? Inviting your friends over for a casual night of food, drink, and hitting the ball that becomes far less casual as all of it starts flowing.

That's exactly what the Vanity Index team did this summer, hosting some famous friends out in LA for a night taking shots an iconic par 3. We called it the Zone Closest to the Pin Challenge, and each competitor, from NFL and MLB big dogs to some of the most familiar faces from your TV screen, gets three cracks at a more than manageable shot.

Check out each video below, start at the top, and watch how tight the competition gets toward the end. Considering some of these guys just met each other, it's a picture perfect example of how getting together for some G is about as good as it gets when you love the game like we do.

Matt Corboy

Andy Ross

Cole Tucker

Scott Matlock

Kevin Zegers

Sean Malto

Chad & Wells

Putters At The Presidents Cup + A Mini Spinner LPGA Tour Win

Ryan Barath — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:45:35 +0000

Not only did Team USA storm back to win the Presidents Cup, but on the LPGA Tour, a prototype putter snagged a big win too!

With the Presidents Cup on the line, Team USA came to play on Sunday and delivered where it mattered most: on the greens!

In the end, Team USA beat the Internationals with a final tally of 17 to 13, earning 9 1/2 of the possible 12 points in singles play, with the lone International wins secured by Tom Kim and Sungjae Im.

Here's a look at every putter that was in play Sunday, including the ones that came out on top.

Match 19

Team USA: Cameron Young - Scotty Cameron Phantom 5.5 (Winner)

International Team: Ryo Hisatsune - TaylorMade Prototype Balboa

Match 20

(Photo: Greg Moore GolfWRX.com)

Team USA: Wyndham Clark - Ping Ally Blue Onset

International Team: Tom Kim - Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Timeless (Winner)

Match 21

Team USA: Justin Thomas - Scotty Cameron Phantom 10.5 (Winner)

International Team: Corey Conners - Ping PLD Ally Blue Onset

Match 22

Team USA: Scottie Scheffler - TaylorMade Spider Tour X L-Neck (Winner)

International Team: Nico Echavarria - Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K Seven

Match 23

Team USA: Sam Burns - Odyssey Ai-One Number 7 Slant Neck

International Team: Sungjae Im - Scotty Cameron Special Select F-5 Tour Proto (Winner)

Match 24

Team USA: Chris Gotterup - TaylorMade Spider Tour X L-Neck (Winner)

International Team: Christiaan Bezuidenhout - Custom PXG Battle Ready II Hercules

Match 25

Team USA: Collin Morikawa - TaylorMade Spider Tour X Flow-Neck (Winner)

International Team: Hideki Matsuyama - Custom Scotty Cameron Newport 2

Match 26

Team USA: Patrick Cantlay - TaylorMade Spider Tour X (Winner)

International Team: Adam Scott - LAB Golf DF3 Long

Match 27

(Photo: Greg Moore GolfWRX.com)

Team USA: Jackson Koivun - Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5R Tour Proto (Winner)

International Team: Si Woo Kim - Odyssey Milled Prototype

Match 28

Team USA: Jacob Bridgeman - TaylorMade Spider Tour Slant Neck (Winner)

International Team: Min Woo Lee - Odyssey TRTL Proto

Match 29

Team USA: Russell Henley - Scotty Cameron T5 Proto (Tied)

International Team: Nick Taylor - TaylorMade Spider Tour Slant Neck

Match 30

Team USA: Xander Schauffele - Odyssey Red Seven CH Hosel (Winner)

International Team: Ryan Fox - Ping Anser 2D

Yuna Nishimura Wins On LPGA Tour

On the LPGA Tour this week, Yuna Nishimura secured her first win on tour in resounding fashion with a 5-shot victory over In Gee Chun, Chanettee Wannasaen, and Aki Iwai.

Beyond the fact that it is her first LPGA Tour win, it should be noted that she's got a full bag of Callaway gear with one of the most interesting set compositions you might ever see at the professional level.

Now we've seen players like Haeran Ryu win without a traditional fairway wood in the bag, but Yuna goes the other direction with lots of fairways, a hybrid, and low-tech irons 7-Pw. Her 3-wood is even the Max-D draw model, which is helpful thanks to its shallow face design to help add spin and carry.

Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond MAX Driver (9°)

3-Wood: Paradym Ai Smoke Max D (15°)

5-Wood: Quantum Max

7-Wood: Quantum Mini Spinner 7-wood

5-Hybrid: Elyte Max Fast Hybrid (24°)

6-iron: Apex Ai200

7-PW: X Forged Star

Wedges: Opus Prototype (48, 52), Opus SP+ Wedge (58)

Putter: Odyssey TRTL Prototype

Ball: Tour X Triple Track Ball

Don't Let Sunday at Medinah Distract You From Team USA's Glaring Problem

Riley Hamel — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 18:58:55 +0000

The comeback was great, and #TheKid is already a serious problem (in the best way possible), but Team USA needs to fix this before the Ryder Cup.

It took a historic comeback in Sunday Singles, but come sundown, the Americans were drinking from comically large bottles of Michelob Ultra to celebrate an 11th-straight Presidents Cup victory. A 9½-2½ beatdown in singles made the difference, just as it nearly did a year ago at Bethpage Black.

But despite the win over the rest of the world, Team USA has plenty of work to do before its trip across the pond to Adare Manor, where it will face a European side that has owned this fight on home soil for three decades.

So what needs to change? The answer boils down to a single word: foursomes.

On Friday at Medinah, the Americans were swept 5-0 in alternate shot. A day later, they squeaked out a 2-2 tie, which must have felt like a win. At Bethpage, they lost both foursomes sessions to the Europeans, 3-1. Go back further and the results stay the same: the Internationals won the 2024 Presidents Cup foursomes 6-3, and Europe took them 7-1 at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler shut down chatter about team chemistry early last week, but these results seem to back it up.

Foursomes is the one format in these events that truly forces two players to work together. In best ball, each player plays his own ball, with strategy mostly limited to the greens, and Sunday singles is mano a mano. That's why it's not hard to believe the Americans have dominated singles for three straight years. It's as close as they get to a normal Tour week, which Brandt Snedeker stressed to them before Sunday's session began.

I'm not claiming to have the answer. I don't know if the problem is too little analytics, too much reliance on them, or something the numbers can't reveal. What I do know is that they have no hope against Luke Donald's tightly knit group unless they crack a strategy for those eight matches.

Captain Jim Furyk's addition of Justin Ray is a smart early move. Ray has worked with the Solheim Cup team for years and will be a fitting counterpart to Europe's number-cruncher, Edoardo Molinari. But analytics alone won't fix chemistry, and Furyk is chasing America's first Ryder Cup win on foreign soil since 1993.

Medinah did reveal something that may keep Donald up at night, though, and that's Jackson Koivun.

The 21-year-old rookie didn't just shine in his debut. He did it with a swagger that's next to impossible to find, especially in a kid who was playing college golf a few months ago. He was the only undefeated player on either side, and on Sunday he took down the Internationals' best player, Si Woo Kim—his reaction to both shots on 18 got me off my couch.

Koivun may help in foursomes, but he isn't the answer. That equation has to be solved in the next 350 days, or Furyk will be just the latest captain to leave Europe empty-handed.

The Best Moments of Team USA’s Presidents Cup Win Celebration (So Far)

Riley Hamel — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 23:08:45 +0000

A handful of beers and a purple nurple(!?). Here are the best moments from Team USA's celebration since they clinched the cup.

It always looked like a Team USA win, right? On Sunday, Brandt Snedeker’s squad showed an incredible amount of fight while needing eight of the available 12 points to win the Presidents Cup. But the Americans did even better than that. They earned 9½ during the singles session at Medinah and won their 11th straight battle against the Internationals.

The exclamation point? Jackson Koivun doing his best Tiger Woods impression all the way down the 18th on his way to taking down World No. 14 Si Woo Kim, the International Team’s best player.

As you’d expect, it didn’t take long for Team USA to start celebrating. Here are some of the best moments from when the drinks started to flow—or grape if you’re Wyndham Clark.

Best Moments from Team USA’s Celebration at the Presidents Cup

Chris Gotterup’s Triple Stack

Scottie Scheffler Hits Wyndham Clark with a Purple Nurple

The GOAT Was Watching

Justin Thomas Wraps the Kid in a Cubs “W’ Flag

Xander, Whatcha Doing, Buddy?

The Cigars are Out

The Presidents Cup Grip Audit: Cord, Tack, and Everything In Between

Ryan Barath — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 15:32:54 +0000

With singles matches under way, these are the grips every player will be holding as they go head-to-head on Sunday.

Team match play is always stressful, and with the Presidents Cup on the line, players might be holding on a little tighter as they face off in Sunday Singles.

Now, with all the matches set and details locked in for Sunday at Medinah Country Club in Chicago, here is how the matches stack up and the grips being used by each player.

Match 19

Team USA: Cameron Young - Golf Pride MCC Plus4 Align MAX

International Team: Ryo Hisatsune - Palmax Tour Wave Cord

Match 20

Team USA: Wyndham Clark - SuperStroke REVL Player Cord

International Team: Tom Kim - Golf Pride MCC Align

Match 21

Team USA: Justin Thomas - Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

International Team: Corey Connors - Golf Pride MCC

Match 22

Team USA: Scottie Scheffler - Golf Pride Tour Velvet

International Team: Nico Echavarria - Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Match 23

Team USA: Sam Burns - Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

International Team: Sungjae Im - Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Match 24

Team USA: Chris Gotterup - Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord

International Team: Christiaan Bezuidenhout - Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Match 25

Team USA: Collin Morikawa - Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord

International Team: Hideki Matsuyama - Iomic X-Evolution 2.3

Match 26

Team USA: Patrick Cantlay - Golf Pride Tour Velvet

International Team: Adam Scott - Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Match 27

Team USA: Jackson Koivun - SuperStroke Crossline 2.0 Full Cord

International Team: Si Woo Kim - Golf Pride MCC

Match 28

Team USA: Jacob Bridgeman - Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

International Team: Min Woo Lee - Grip Master (Leather), Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord

Match 29

Team USA: Russell Henley - Golf Pride Tour Velvet

International Team: Nick Taylor - Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

Match 30

Team USA: Xander Schauffele - Golf Pride MCC Align

International Team: Ryan Fox - Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord

Here are the Sunday Singles Matches for the 2026 Presidents Cup at Medinah

Riley Hamel — Sat, 26 Sep 2026 22:50:23 +0000

12 matches separate the Internationals from their first Presidents Cup win since 1998. Here's the lineup for Sunday Singles at Medinah.

For the first time in Presidents Cup history, the International Team will head into Sunday Singles with the lead on foreign soil. The Americans are in serious jeopardy of losing for the first time since 1998. They’ll have to overcome a 10½—7½ deficit to avoid that from happening.

Unlike the first three days, Sunday will consist of mano-a-mano matchups. While the Internationals need only five points to claim the Cup, Team USA will need to earn eight points of the 12 available.

With the Presidents Cup hanging in the balance, here are the 12 singles matches for Sunday at Medinah.

RELATED:How to Watch the Presidents Cup

Sunday Singles Matches for the Presidents Cup

All matches listed ET

Match 1 (12:02 p.m.)

Team USA: Cameron Young

International Team: Ryo Hisatsune

Match 2 (12:14 p.m.)

Team USA: Wyndham Clark

International Team: Tom Kim

Match 3 (12:26 p.m.)

Team USA: Justin Thomas

International Team: Corey Connors

Match 4 (12:38 p.m.)

Team USA: Scottie Scheffler

International Team: Nico Echavarria

Match 5 (12:50 p.m.)

Team USA: Sam Burns

International Team: Sungjae Im

Match 6 (1:02 p.m.)

Team USA: Chris Gotterup

International Team: Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Match 7 (1:14 p.m.)

Team USA: Collin Morikawa

International Team: Hideki Matsuyama

Match 8 (1:26 p.m.)

Team USA: Patrick Cantlay

International Team: Adam Scott

Match 9 (1:38 p.m.)

Team USA: Jackson Koivun

International Team: Si Woo Kim

Match 10 (1:50 p.m.)

Team USA: Jacob Bridgeman

International Team: Min Woo Lee

Match 11 (2:02 p.m.)

Team USA: Russell Henley

International Team: Nick Taylor

Match 12 (2:14 p.m.)

Team USA: Xander Schauffele

International Team: Ryan Fox

We've Officially Entered Uncharted Territory at the 2026 Presidents Cup

Riley Hamel — Sat, 26 Sep 2026 22:36:11 +0000

For the first time on foreign soil, the International Team holds the lead going into Sunday Singles of the Presidents Cup. That, and more notes from Day 3 at Medinah.

Early on in both sessions Saturday, it looked like Team USA was going to close the gap after being swept in Friday Foursomes. But the International Team fought back late in both instances, and now they lead 10½—7½ going in Sunday Singles.

Hoping that changes would switch the vibe for the Americans in the afternoon, captain Brandt Snedeker sat World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas (it was his first-ever time sitting out a session in the Presidents Cup), and 21-year-old rookie Jackson Koivun. Instead, they walked away with a tie.

Now, here are some notes from Day 3 of the Presidents Cup.

RELATED:How to Watch the Presidents Cup

Notes from Saturday at the Presidents Cup

Scoring Recap

Saturday Morning Four-Ball

Match 11: Justin Thomas & Jackson Koivun tie Min Woo Lee & Sungjae Im

Match 12: Si Woo Kim & Tom Kim defeat Collin Morikawa & Wyndham Clark, 2 and 1

Match 13: Chris Gotterup & Cameron Young defeat Nick Taylor & Corey Connors, 2 and 1

Match 14: Scottie Scheffler & Sam Burns defeat Hideki Matsuyama & Ryo Hisatsune, 2 and 1

Saturday Afternoon Foursomes

Match 15: Xander Schauffele & Patrick Cantlay defeat Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim, 2 and 1

Match 16: Corey Connors & Nick Taylor defeat Russell Henley & Jacob Bridgeman, 1 up

Match 17: Cameron Young & Chris Gotterup defeat Adam Scott & Sungjae Im, 6 and 4

Match 18: Ryan Fox & Min Woo Lee defeat Sam Burns & Wyndham Clark, 3 and 2

Pairing for the Future

Chris Gotterup and Cameron Young dominated both their matches on Saturday. Although they only won 2-and-1 against the Canadian duo of Corey Connors and Nick Taylor in the morning, the match was in-hand early thanks to a 4-up lead through four holes. From there, all they had to do was hang on.

For afternoon foursomes, captain Brandt Snedeker kept the pair together and, well, they kicked ass once again. By the seventh hole, they were 5-up thanks to three birdies and an eagle. When all was said and done, Gotterup and Young walked off the 14th green with a 6-and-4 win.

Of course, the two wins were nice to see. But looking forward to next year and Adare Manor, this pairing for the Americans could be one Jim Furyk will look to lean on.

Lost Opportunities

Early on in both sessions on Saturday, the leaderboard was as bloody as it gets. Every match was owned by the Americans, and it looked like they had a chance at holding the lead come sundown. But after being swept in Friday foursomes, Team USA was only able to gain a point.

Looking ahead to Sunday, the Americans will now need eight points during the singles session to win the Presidents Cup. If they were able to close out a little better during both periods on Day 3, that number would have been a whole lot smaller.

Continued Complaints About the Coverage

TV coverage receives criticism week in and week out on the PGA Tour, and this week at Medinah has been no different. On Saturday, we had to watch one of the turning points of the afternoon—Russell Henley missing a short par putt to fall even against Conners and Taylor—through “Playing Through.” And when the closing matches were getting closer to 18, it seemed like we were in commercial every few minutes.

As you’d expect, Twitter had some things to say.

Unknown Territory

For the first time in Presidents Cup history, the International Team holds the lead going into Sunday Singles on American soil. Its only win came in 1998, and now it is in prime position to pull off one of the biggest upsets in golf history.

Here Are the Saturday Morning Matches for the 2026 Presidents Cup at Medinah

Riley Hamel — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 22:41:15 +0000

Can Team USA mount a comeback in the morning? It will have to start with Saturday's four-ball session at Medinah. Tee times start at 7:02 AM local time.

Did anyone see that coming? On Friday, the International Team swept the Friday Foursomes session for the second straight Presidents Cup, and now holds a 7-3 lead going into the weekend at Medinah.

The Internationals have one win in this event, and that came all the way back in 1998. With how it’s gone so far, that could very well change come Sunday afternoon. What a weekend of golf we have in store for us.

Unlike Thursday and Friday, Saturday will consist of two sessions: four-ball in the morning and foursomes in the afternoon. Get some rest tonight, because tomorrow is going to be a marathon.

Here’s a look at the matches for Saturday morning at the Presidents Cup.

RELATED:How to Watch the Presidents Cup

Saturday Four-Ball Matches for the Presidents Cup

Match 1 7:02 AM CT

Team USA: Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun

International Team: Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im

Match 2 7:20 AM CT

Team USA: Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark

International Team: Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim

Match 3 7:38 AM CT

Team USA: Chris Gotterup and Cameron Young

International Team: Nick Taylor and Corey Conners

Match 4 7:56AM CT

Team USA: Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns

International Team: Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune

Tap In to This Week's Gear News: Srixon, Scotty Cameron, Oktoberfest Essentials

Ryan Barath — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 19:20:21 +0000

Missed the week’s gear drops while watching the Presidents Cup? Here’s everything you need to know.

With the lead up to the Presidents Cup dominating much of the golf news cycle this week, I wouldn't blame you if you missed some of the biggest pieces of equipment news. That is exactly why we're here to help you stay up to date on everything from limited releases to USGA notices, so let's get right to it.

Scotty Cameron - Phantom OC Spec III

With a name derived from modified car models, these limited-edition Phantom putters come equipped with a durable black PVD finish, high-contrast sightlines, and a black midsized Matador grip.

These new Scotty Cameron Phantom OC Spec III putters will be available in golf shops beginning October 1, and will be priced at $800 each.

Srixon ZXi RKT Woods

With three models to choose from, plus a fairway wood and hybrid to go along with them, Srixon's newest ZXi RKT woods pack a punch. And, on top of all the new tech, they have already earned massive wins at the highest level thanks to Ryan Fox at The Open Championship and Shane Lowry at the Irish Open.

You can find more on the new RKT woods and the Srixon ZXi Irons below:

Srixon's New RKT Woods Have Already Won A Major

Srixon Unveils Second-Generation ZXi Irons

USGA Equipment Notice - Proposed Model Local Rule

It was no secret that after the U.S. Open this year, the USGA, along with the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and the R&A, were looking to make tweaks to the previously proposed rule changes.

And on September 21st, the USGA posted a notice with the proposed updates, which include model local rules. The main points of the notice are below:

As part of the ongoing dialogue, the PGA Tour and DP World Tour have requested that the governing bodies explore and research a series of Model Local Rule options that can be implemented as early as January 2028, including:

(a) Requiring the use of a golf ball model included on the List of Conforming Golf Balls with an overall distance of 317.0 yards or less when tested by the USGA or The R&A.

(b) Requiring the use of a driver head of a model and loft included on the List of Conforming Driver Heads, and when tested prior to competition has a maximum CT of 239 microseconds.

(c) Restricting the maximum permitted length of all clubs (other than putters) to a limit that is less than the 46-inch limit imposed by MLR G-10.

Please note that the near-term Model Local Rules under consideration, if adopted, are not changes to the existing Equipment Rules and will not impact the conformance status of any conforming golf balls or golf clubs.

The USGA also issued a reminder that the governing bodies are still considering other rules in the future to limit distance, with a focus on driver design.

As outlined in the December 2023 communication to stakeholders, The R&A and USGA continue to monitor drivers and explore possible additional options to identify driver design features that potentially could be regulated to reward centre impact position hits versus mishits.

As of now there are no immediate changes forthcoming, but these rules could officially be adopted for tournament play as soon as 2028 for professionals.

TaylorMade Oktoberfest Gear

Frohes Oktoberfest! Celebrate with the latest limited-edition drop from TaylorMade which includes pretzel PIX TP5 and TP5x along with a full collection of headcovers.

Friday at the Presidents Cup Was Nothing Short of an Ass-Kicking

Riley Hamel — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 22:18:10 +0000

That, and more notes from Day 2 of Medinah as Geoff Ogilvy's squad holds a 7-3 lead going into the weekend.

Ass-kicking. I don't think you could call what we saw at Medinah on Friday anything else. The International Team swept the foursomes session to take a commanding 7-3 lead going into the weekend outside of Chicago.

On Saturday, unlike the first few days, there will be two sessions: one four-ball, one foursomes. So, there's plenty of golf left for Team USA to get back into the ballgame, but it's not looking great early.

Here are some notes from Friday at the Presidents Cup.

RELATED:How to Watch the Presidents Cup

Notes from Day 2 at the Presidents Cup

Scoring Recap

Match 1: Corey Connors and Nick Taylor defeat Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, 1 up.

Match 2: Sungjae Im and Hideki Matsuyama defeat Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman, 3 and 2.

Match 3: Ryan Fox and Sungjae Im defeat Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark, 1 up.

Match 4: Adam Scott and Christiaan Bezuidenhout defeat Justin Thomas and Cameron Young, 3 and 2

Match 5: Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim defeat Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, 4 and 3

The International Team holds a 7-3 lead.

The Kims are a Problem for Team USA

For years, Team USA has had a set-it-and-forget-it duo for foursomes in Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. They’re buddies, their games complement each other well, and both have a knack for making big putts in big moments. Well, on Friday, the Internationals took down that tandem with what’s become their set-it-and-forget-it duo in Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim.

The Kims continue to show they’re a problem on this stage. They took down Cantlay and Chris Gotterup, 3 and 2, in four-ball on Thursday, and followed it up with a 4-and-3 win over the American stalwarts in foursomes on Friday.

For captains, finding a dominant pair in team events isn’t easy. Don’t be surprised if the Kims play together in both sessions on Saturday.

My Favorite Shot of the Day

Nick Taylor and Corey Conners led Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns when the foursome got to the 18th tee. Taylor had the honor, and with the pressure on his shoulders, he lost his tee shot way left. All Connors could do was punch it back into the fairway, and when it came to rest, it was still their turn.

With Scheffler waiting to hit the Americans’ second shot, Taylor stepped up and hit one of the biggest iron shots of his life—and it nearly went in for an all-world birdie.

The World No. 1 responded nicely, but Burns lipped out the mid-range putt, giving the Internationals a 1-up win. An incredible response from Taylor.

A Chance at History for the Internationals

This is the 16th edition of the Presidents Cup. The International Team hasn’t won since 1998 at Royal Melbourne—and that’s the only win it has in this event.

There’s a lot of golf left, but with the score sitting at 7-3, Geoff Ogilvy and the Internationals have a serious chance of winning a second Cup. What an upset that would be.

Foursomes is Team USA’s Achilles Heel

In 2024, the International Team swept Friday Foursomes, 5-0. At the Ryder Cup a year ago, the Europeans won Friday Foursomes, 3-1, and Saturday Foursomes, 3-1.

Team USA just can’t figure out this format.

Friday Foursomes Matches for the 2026 Presidents Cup

Riley Hamel — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 22:35:42 +0000

Brandt Snedeker and Geoff Ogilvy have made their picks. Here are the matches from Friday's foursomes session at the Presidents Cup.

The opening session of the Presidents Cup is in the books, and Team USA holds a 3-2 lead over the Internationals going into Friday’s foursomes (alternate shot) session.

Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns finally won as a pair, Justin Thomas moved to 7-0-0 in Presidents Cup four-ball matches alongside Jackson Koivun, Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa took care of business. For Geoff Ogilvy’s squad, Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim continued to lead the way with a convincing win over Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay.

The two captains have made their picks for Friday, and here are the matches for the second session at Medinah.

RELATED:How to Watch the Presidents Cup

Friday Matches at the Presidents Cup

Match 1

Team USA: Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns

International Team: Nick Taylor and Corey Conners

Match 2

Team USA: Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman

International Team: Sungjae Im and Hideki Matsuyama

Match 3

Team USA: Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark

International Team: Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee

Match 4

Team USA: Justin Thomas and Cameron Young

International Team: Adam Scott and Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Match 5

Team USA: Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele

International Team: Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim

Presidents Cup Notebook: Thoughts From Day 1 at Medinah

Riley Hamel — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 21:43:45 +0000

A docile crowd, terrible TV coverage, and the kid wins a point—notes from day one of the Presidents Cup at Medinah.

If I had to use one word to describe the first day of the Presidents Cup, it'd be underwhelming—and we'll get into why in a minute.

But after Thursday's opening four-ball session, Brandt Snedeker and Team USA hold a 3-2 lead over Geoff Ogilvy and the Internationals. On Friday, there will be five foursomes (alternate shot) matches before Saturday's double-header.

Now, let's jump into the notebook from day one at Medinah.

RELATED:How to Watch the Presidents Cup

Notes from Day 1 of the Presidents Cup

Scoring Recap

Match 1: Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns defeat Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im, 1 up.

Match 2: Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune defeat Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele, 3 and 1.

Match 3: Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun defeat Corey Connors and Nico Echavarria, 4 and 3.

Match 4: Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa defeat Ryan Fox and Adam Scott, 3 and 2.

Match 5: Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim defeat Patrick Cantlay and Chris Gotterup, 3 and 2.

Team USA leads 3-2 going into Friday Foursomes.

Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun Deliver

This was the one pairing I really wanted to see from Snedeker this week, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Team USA captain sends them out again on Saturday morning.

Thomas and Koivun were vibing out there. They were chatting the whole time, helping each other read putts, and ham-and-egged it enough to get the W. Of course, Corey Conners and Nico Echavarria only making three birdies helped the American cause.

But still, this seems like the perfect pairing for Sneds to lean on for the rest of the weekend.

Best Buddies Finally Win

Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns were 0-3-1 as a pair in team events going into play Thursday, but they were able to squeak out a 1-up win over Sungjae Im and Min Woo Lee.

But I wouldn't say they won it—the International tandem lost it.

Lee and Im had chances all day long, but couldn't buy a single putt, and when you let two of the best players in the world hang around, it's going to bite you.

Even with the win, I think I'm over the Scheffler/Burns pairing.

No Juice on the Ground

It’s not the Ryder Cup, we all know that. But there was no juice around Medinah on Thursday. No big cheers, no crowd pops, just a whole lot of subdued applause. Sam Burns made a critical birdie in the opening match on 14 to make it all square, and he had to beg for some noise.

And it wasn’t just the TV-effect. Our Nicole Rae was boots on the ground and tweeted this as the opening match was wrapping up:

Hopefully this changes over the weekend.

TV Coverage (Or Lack Thereof)

I know, I know. Everyone loves to bash on the TV coverage but man, it was really, really bad on Thursday.

It started right away, when there were just two matches on the golf course and we missed three tee shots from the first match on the second hole, and the only replay was Sungjae Im’s lucky bounce off the OB fence preceded by, “Just a moment ago.”

My biggest gripe? Why are we watching a minute of a player reading a putt or walking to the next hole? You could show so many shots during that time. It’s mind-boggling to me that the networks haven’t figured this out yet—except Sky Sports, of course.

Dial In Your Irons With This Buy-It-For-Life Tool

Ryan Barath — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 14:15:52 +0000

If you like to tinker with your golf clubs, this club-building tool will increase your efficiency and help you dial in your iron distances and dispersion.

Learning to work on your own clubs is part of the natural progression for golf gearheads. In most cases, it starts with learning to change grips because of the limited number of required tools, but from there, things can get a lot more complicated. Welcome to the club-tinkering rabbit hole.

RELATED:A Golf Gear Nerd Manifesto

Learning to re-shaft clubs requires specialized tools, especially when working with graphite, and if you want to bend clubs you also need something to properly measure and adjust. But as most fitters will tell you, finding the correct lies and loft can make a massive difference to your game and if you like to mess around with used clubs - being able to adjust them yourself can save you a ton of time and money.

This is where buying your own lie and loft machine can be one of the best investments you can make when it comes to golf tools and thanks to a GearSmart listener Q&A we want to help you find the best best value option that will also last a lifetime.

The full episode is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other major podcast platforms, along with video clips distributed across Skratch's social channels and the dedicated Gear Smart Instagram page.

Wyndham Clark Called Out Team USA's Home Fans After Quiet Showing at Medinah

Riley Hamel — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:08:55 +0000

Wyndham Clark says the environment at Medinah on Thursday was "dead."

It felt like it though the television, it felt like it to Skratch's Nicole Rae who was on the ground, and now we know it felt like it for the players: there was no juice at Medinah on Thursday for the opening session of the Presidents Cup.

While I was watching all afternoon, it felt like I was watching a standard PGA Tour event. The lack of energy for Team USA denied the players any sort of home-field advantage, and now Brandt Snedeker’s squad hold just a 3-2 lead going into Friday Foursomes.

After he and Collin Morikawa took down Ryan Fox and Adam Scott, 3 and 2, Wyndham Clark called out the gallery outside of Chicago, and asked for more noise over the next three days.

“It was kind of dead out there. I felt like the momentum could have been better, to be honest, because we weren't really feeling the fans, I think, as much as normal,” Clark said. “There was a few shots—I mean, Collin hit a 5-wood on 11 to like 10 feet, and we didn't even know if it was on the green because no one clapped. It was a little surprising. We'd make some big putts—I'm saying this more as a challenge that hopefully tomorrow and the weekend the fans are out there really rooting us on, and regardless of what happens, we have the momentum.”

In 2024, the International Team won Friday’s foursomes session, 5-0, over the Americans. Captain Brandt Snedeker has to circle the wagons tonight to make sure that doesn’t happen again—and I’m sure he’d love to see a hostile environment, just like the one Clark asked for.

The One Pairing I Need to See for Team USA at the 2026 Presidents Cup

Riley Hamel — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 13:50:45 +0000

Pairing Justin Thomas with Jackson Koivun is one of the best moves Brandt Snedeker could make not only for Medinah, but the future of Team USA.

The goal for Team USA at Medinah should be to dismantle the International Team, just as it has done for almost the entirety of the Presidents Cup’s existence. Since the event’s debut in 1994, the rest of the world has won once, and that came in the third edition. But the Americans should also keep an eye on the horizon and Adare Manor.

While Team Europe has already taken a scouting trip to next year’s Ryder Cup host, Team USA has been preparing to play in its other biennial event, a slight inconvenience that their friends across the pond don’t have to deal with. So, to keep pace in the preparation department, the next four days outside of Chicago should be used as an experiment of sorts, a trial run on potential pairings and strategies. And there’s one pairing I’d love to see from Brandt Snedeker, and that’s Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun.

Koivun, who’s set to make his (professional) Team USA debut at just 21 years old, will be part of the team events for the next 15-20 years. Instead of him jumping into the deep end next year with an away Ryder Cup, he’ll don red, white, and blue in front of a friendly crowd as a way of wading into the water. As a future stalwart and backbone for the Americans, there’s no better player to learn from than Thomas.

It’s no secret that Team USA seems to have a culture problem. They fought to be paid for the Ryder Cup while the Europeans said they would pay for the privilege, and overall, their interest in the event pales in comparison to their counterparts—even though World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler resented that idea on Tuesday.

“I think that's something that's probably been frustrating for us as American players, is some of the narrative that's gone on over the course of my team match play career, is stuff like Patrick Cantlay not wearing his hat or stupid rumors that simply aren't true, like meeting in a different team room and the Americans aren't a close team…it's very much untrue…I feel like our team has really banded together over the last five or six years since I've been a part of this,” he said.

But regardless if you want to believe in the narrative or not, Thomas has shown us time and time again, whether it be a big celebration, taunting an away crowd, or feeding off home energy, it doesn’t apply to him.

Getty Images

If the leaders of the American side want to begin a turning of the tide of sorts, instilling Thomas’ passion and sense of genuine caring into its younger stars is exactly where they should start. Passive and indifferent shouldn’t (and can’t) be part of their vocabulary moving forward, and neither of those characteristics even slightly apply to Thomas during team events.

And if the early signs from Medinah are any indication, I might get my wish. Thomas and Koivun have played together for the last few days, often an indicator of what pairings to expect throughout the week.

Image Credit: Ben Boskovich

So, yes, Team USA's attention should be on the Internationals and Medinah for the next four days. But it's also an opportunity to set the foundation for the next few decades of team events—and it should start with Thomas and Koivun.

Opening Matches of the 2026 Presidents Cup at Medinah—Plus Predictions!

Riley Hamel — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 20:36:14 +0000

The matches for Thursday's opening session of the Presidents Cup are here, and the American tandem everyone wanted to see is officially happening.

Preparation is done, and come the morning, it’ll be time to play some golf at Medinah. Thursday at the Presidents Cup will consist of one session of four-ball, and we have some great matches on tap.

But the one I'm most excited for? Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun vs. Corey Connors and Nico Echavarria. I can't wait to watch the 21-year-old on this stage, and I think Thomas is the perfect partner for him.

Now, here’s a look at Thursday’s full slate outside of Chicago.

RELATED:How to Watch the Presidents Cup

Thursday Four-Ball Matches at the Presidents Cup

Match 1

Team USA: Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns

International Team: Sungjae Im and Min Woo Lee

Prediction: On paper, this should be a win for the Americans. But in Cups, Scheffler and Burns are 0-3-1 together. Im and Lee can make birdies in bunches, which is exactly what you want in four-ball. I’ll take the Team USA team (reluctantly), 1 up.

Match 2

Team USA: Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele

International Team: Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune

Prediction: Matsuyama is going to put up a fight, but I don’t know how Hisastune will handle the big stage. Because of that, I’ll go Young and Schauffele, 3 and 2.

Match 3

Team USA: Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun

International Team: Corey Connors and Nico Echavarria

Prediction: Don’t be surprised if this one is over early, folks. This is the pair I wanted to see from Snedeker, and I think they win, 4 and 3.

Match 4

Team USA: Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa

International Team: Ryan Fox and Adam Scott

Prediction: I really want to take the Americans, but I think the Internationals have to win one of these. I’ll go with the Aussie and Kiwi, 2 and 1.

Match 5

Team USA: Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay

International Team: Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim

Prediction: The Kims are electric together, but I think Gotterup is going to thrive in his Team USA debut. I just can’t pick a side here, so I’ll go with a tie.

Thursday score prediction: 3.5-1.5

So, What Was Charlie Woods Wearing at TPC Sawgrass?

Raymond Williams — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 17:16:49 +0000

The Florida State commit and newest TaylorMade athlete was spotted in Peter Millar during a nine hole prep round at TPC Sawgrass.

Just something I caught while watching Charlie Woods play nine holes at TPC Sawgrass ahead of the Junior PLAYERS Championship earlier this month. The recently announced TaylorMade athlete and 2027 Florida State commit was wearing Peter Millar, specifically the brand’s Empire Performance Jersey Polo and Bingham Performance Short.

The 17-year-old tied for 8th at the AJGA Junior-Am event but TaylorMade gave us a behind-the-scenes look at Woods' back-nine practice round. Taylormade's player development tour rep Manny Girona was on Woods' bag en-route to an impressive (and entertaining) 1-under finish.

Apparel-wise, nothing earth shattering here, but it is interesting. His dad obviously has Sun Day Red, and Florida State is a Nike school, yet Charlie seems pretty comfortable doing his own thing right now. Different brands, different looks, whatever works. Love to see it.

And for everyone wondering what he was wearing, here you go.

How to Watch the 2026 Presidents Cup at Medinah

Riley Hamel — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 21:16:47 +0000

Don't forget: unlike the Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup kicks off on Thursday. Here's how you can watch all the action from Medinah.

For the 16th edition of the Presidents Cup, Team USA and the International Team will go to battle for four days at Medinah No. 3 outside of Chicago.

Two years ago, the Jim Furyk-led Americans beat Mike Weir’s team 18½—11½ north of the border at Royal Montreal Golf Club. The Internationals, captained by Geoff Ogilvy this time around, hope to win their first Cup since 1998. In fact, that’s the only year they’ve ever won this event. Team USA captain Brandt Snedeker hopes to keep the domination going.

Unlike the Ryder Cup, which jams two sessions into both Friday and Saturday, the Presidents Cup begins Thursday with one session, which is followed by a second and lone session on Friday, before Saturday’s marathon of two sessions. Finally, it will conclude with 12 singles matches on Sunday.

To make sure you don’t miss any of the action from Medinah, here’s how you can watch the Presidents Cup.

How to Watch the Presidents Cup

TV Schedule (all times ET)

Thursday: 12:30-7 p.m. on Golf Channel

Friday: 2-7 p.m. on Golf Channel

Saturday: 8-9 a.m. on Golf Channel, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. on NBC

Sunday: 12-6 p.m. on NBC

Note: A simulcast of NBC’s coverage will be available on streaming with Peacock.

Srixon's New RKT Woods Have Already Won A Major

Ryan Barath — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 21:04:20 +0000

The clubs Ryan Fox used at The Open are now getting an official retail launch, with three drivers and a new face system designed for speed and consistency.

It was a poorly kept secret hidden in plain sight—at the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, Ryan Fox was playing a "Prototype" Srixon RKT driver, 3-wood, and long iron, which together helped lead him to victory. Not to mention his elite pace of play.

Now, almost as quickly as Ryan Fox can address a putt, we've got all the info on, not just the new iron he had in play, but also everything that went into his driver and fairways woods as Srixon officially launches its ZXi line of woods.

Inside The ZXi Drivers, Fairways, & Hybrids

Behind the literal face of the new ZXi RKT (it's ok, you can say "rocket") drivers is Srixon's RKT Face, which is designed to deliver more consistent ball speeds and spin profiles across all three new models:

ZXi RKT LS - Designed for golfers seeking a lower apexing and flatter ball flight, the RKT LS is built to help lower spin and offer the most compact profile of the three models.

ZXi RKT - Balanced for speed and forgiveness with the added ability to adjust heel- and toe-sided weights, to dial in ball flight and reduce dispersion.

ZXi RKT MAX - This high MOI (max forgiveness) driver is the most forgiving option Srixon has ever created and is designed for enhanced stability, with an added confidence boost off the tee.

The driver and its face system is powered by Srixon's proprietary VR-Titanium, which allows for greater flex and strength throughout the head.

Side Note - Srixon and Cleveland have seriously leaned into materials and process development to drive performance with things line Z-Alloy found in RTZ2 wedges, i-Forging used in the ZXi irons, and now VR-Ti for the drivers.

This has allowed engineers to push the i-Flex face structure and Rebound Frame further to increase flex and energy transfer.

Throughout testing, one of the most consistent themes we heard from players was the desire for more speed across a larger area of the face without giving up consistency," says Patrick Ripp, Srixon Tour Engineering Manager. "RKT Face was developed to answer that challenge. By combining several technologies into a single performance system, we were able to create a face that not only produces exceptional ball speed but does so more consistently across a wider range of impact locations.

The Final Piece

Beyond the refined profiles and technology designed to boost performance, the final piece of the RKT puzzle was to generate a more pleasing impact acoustic on shots hit around the face. Srixon is calling this AcoustiCore (because everything needs a cool sounding name), and in the simplest terms it's a new rib structure within the head along with a carbon crown tuned to deliver more solid frequencies preferred by professionals and amateurs alike.

Fairway Woods & Hybrids

The RKT tech package extends from the Srixon drivers and into the fairway woods and hybrids, with the 3-woods featuring carbon fiber crowns. The entire line offers adjustable hosels, i-Flex, and Rebound Frame.

Fairway Options

Hybrid Options

Price & Availability

The Srixon RKT woods are available for preorder starting today and will be in stores beginning October 16. The drivers are priced at $650, the fairway woods at $380, and the hybrids at $330 each.

10 Golf Style Essentials You Can Get for $100 or Less

Raymond Williams — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 20:30:29 +0000

A little digging goes a long way. These ten golf style finds all come in at $100 or less.

Golf style can get expensive pretty quickly, but it really doesn’t have to. Do a little digging and there is plenty of good stuff sitting at or below the $100 mark. Polos, pants, shorts, sunglasses, shoes, accessories, you name it. You can basically build an entire golf fit without any single piece crossing triple digits. The options are out there, you just have to know where to look. Lucky for you, I spent a little time doing exactly that. So, consider this a starting point. Ten golf style picks under $100 to get the gears going.

Augusta National to Continue National Open Pathway into the Masters

Riley Hamel — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 13:10:22 +0000

Winning one of a handful of national opens will continue to come with invitations into both the Masters and The Open.

On Monday, Augusta National Golf Club and the R&A announced the national open pathway will continue for both the Masters and The Open.

Continuing in 2027, winners of the Scottish Open, Spanish Open, Japan Open, Hong Kong Open, Australian Open, and South African Open will earn invitations to the first and final major championships of the year.

MORE:The 2027 Ryder Cup Begins One Year From Today—And Europe Already has the Lead

“The Masters Tournament has a longstanding history of assembling an international field, so we embrace this opportunity to highlight the global nature of the game of golf,” Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament, said in a statement. “Today’s announcement reinforces our shared commitment with The R&A to offer pathways for players from around the world to earn their place in the Masters and The Open.”

There are now 26 different ways a player can qualify for the Masters.

“The Open brings together the very best golfers from around the world to compete in the Championship each year thanks to the strong global pathways we provide. National opens have a proud history in the sport and their inclusion in The Open Qualifying Series builds upon the Championship’s tradition of being open to the best players from around the world, Mark Darbon, Chief Executive of The R&A said in a statement. “Working alongside Augusta National Golf Club allows us to continue our shared commitment to creating meaningful opportunities for players worldwide to achieve their goal of competing in The Open and the Masters.”

The Masters will once again kick off major season next spring from April 8-11.

The Presidents Cup at Medinah: For Dummies

Riley Hamel — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 14:01:27 +0000

Formats, schedule, teams, and everything else you need to know heading into this week's Presidents Cup at Medinah.

Before everyone's attention truly turns to football, the PGA Tour has one more week left in the spotlight, with the Presidents Cup slated to begin Thursday. The biennial event between the top 12 Americans and Internationals is being held at Medinah No. 3 outside of Chicago, a golf course that hosted the 2012 Ryder Cup and saw Tiger Woods claim two PGA Championships in 1999 and 2006.

Two years ago in Canada, Team USA took down Mike Weir's squad 18½—11½, and overall, the Internationals lone win came nearly 30 years ago in Australia. Before the first set of matches goes out on Thursday, here's all the information you need to know.

Team USA

Captain: Brandt Snedeker

Scottie Scheffler

Cameron Young

Wyndham Clark

Sam Burns

Russell Henley

Collin Morikawa

Chris Gotterup

Justin Thomas

Xander Schauffele

Patrick Cantlay

Jackson Koivun

Jacob Bridgeman

Team Internationals

Captain: Geoff Ogilvy

Si Woo Kim

Hideki Matsuyama

Ryan Fox

Tom Kim

Min Woo Lee

Adam Scott

Sungjae Im

Nico Echavarria

Corey Conners

Nick Taylor

Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Ryo Hisatsune

Golf Course

Medinah Country Club (No. 3)

Hosted the 2012 Ryder Cup, two PGA Championships, and three U.S. Opens.

After a recent renovation in 2024, Medinah No. 3 now features larger greens, bigger scale bunkers, fescue grass, and wide-open vistas.

Formats

Foursomes: another term for alternate shot. Before the match begins, each pair will decide who will tee off the even holes, and who will tee off the odd holes. One player hits the drive, the other hits the second, and this is repeated until the ball is holed.

Four-ball: all four players in each group, two from each team, play their own ball. However, the best score for each team is counted. Expect to see a lot of birdies in this format.

Singles: this format is used exclusively on Sunday, and it’s straight up mano v. mano match play. The final session will consist of 12 singles matches.

Schedule

Thursday

Round 1 Matches (format TBD): 11:35 a.m.-12:47 p.m.

Friday

Round 2 Matches (format TBD): 1:05-2:01 p.m.

Saturday

Round 3 Matches (format TBD): 7:02-7:56 a.m.

Round 4 Matches (format TBD): 1:15-1:57 p.m.

Sunday

Round 5 Matches (Singles): 11:02 a.m.-1:19 p.m.

Brandt Snedeker “Knew” J.J. Spaun Would Win Quickly After Team USA Rejection

Riley Hamel — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 21:45:33 +0000

J.J. Spaun won the BMW PGA Championship over the weekend, and one guy saw it coming: Team USA captain Brandt Snedeker.

Brandt Snedeker made a few surprising picks when he assembled his team for this week’s Presidents Cup at Medinah, but the biggest one may have been leaving off J.J. Spaun.

When the points race closed after the BMW Championship and the top six automatically made Team USA, Spaun was ranked 10th. It’s not often you see a player ranked inside the top 10 not make the team. But Snedeker went with Jacob Bridgeman (12th), Patrick Cantlay (13th), and rising star Jackson Koivun.

Instead of pouting, Spaun, less than three weeks after getting snubbed, traveled across the pond and won the BMW PGA Championship, one of the DP World Tour’s biggest events. Earlier this year, he won the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open the week before the Masters.

After arriving at Medinah on Monday, Snedeker addressed leaving off Spaun, and said he knew it wouldn’t take long for the 2025 U.S. Open champion to rebound.

“I want to say, I’m so happy for J.J. Spaun…What he did on the back nine was really special…The hardest thing (a captain has) to do is pick 12 guys…I knew the minute I made that phone call, he was going to win something really quick. That’s what great players do,” Snedeker said.

In his Team USA debut at Bethpage Black last year, Spaun went 2-1-0 against the Europeans. Medinah would’ve been his first Presidents Cup appearance.

As for Snedeker, his attention now turns to the International Team. The first session kicks off Thursday, and that will be followed by another lone session on Friday, two on Saturday, and finally, Sunday Singles.

The pressure on Sneds? Team USA has won the last 10 Presidents Cups outright, and hasn’t lost since 1998 (the Internationals only win).

10 Men’s Golf Shoes I Keep Recommending

Raymond Williams — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 22:41:23 +0000

Different styles. Different fits. Different approaches to performance. Ten golf shoes absolutely worth knowing.

I get asked about golf shoes a lot. And after a lot of rounds in a lot of different pairs, these are generally the ten I find myself talking about the most. Not necessarily the “best.” Footwear is way too personal for that. Fit matters. Style matters. Where you play matters. What you actually want out of a golf shoe matters.

But whether you want something traditional and timeless, sleek and athletic, or just a little different from everything else sitting on the first tee, there’s a little bit of everything here. Ten of my favorites. Ten I recommend often. And a pretty good starting point if you’re looking for your next pair.

How We Got to Cabot Citrus Farms: The Ultimate Stress-Free Travel Guide

Zane Moulton — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 17:14:57 +0000

Our tips on how to get to Florida's best new golf destination.

*In partnership with Cabot Citrus Farms*

If you've kept an eye on the golf world recently, you already know Cabot Citrus Farms has quickly become a pretty big deal. Spanning 1,200 acres in Brooksville, Florida, about 50 minutes north of Tampa, the resort is a pretty different experience from the typical Florida golf trip.

If you've played much Florida golf, Cabot might catch you off guard. The property has plenty of elevation, sand hills, towering pines and moss-draped live oaks, making it feel pretty different from the typical Sunshine State golf experience. And there is a lot of golf packed onto the property.

The golf is the real draw, obviously. There are two 18-hole courses, Karoo and Roost, plus The Squeeze, a 10-hole executive course, and The Wedge, an 11-hole par-3 course that's lit at night.

After making the trip ourselves, we figured out a few things worth knowing before you go. The good news: Getting to Cabot is pretty straightforward. The bigger challenge is figuring out how to make the most of your time once you arrive, because there is a lot of golf to squeeze in.

A Few Things to Know Before You Go

Fly Into Tampa If You Can

The Flight: If you're flying to Cabot, Tampa International Airport (TPA) is the obvious choice. It's about a 50-minute drive from the resort. Orlando International Airport (MCO) is another option, but the drive is closer to an hour and 45 minutes.

If Orlando has a dramatically better flight option or price, it's certainly doable. Just remember that you're adding nearly two hours of driving each way, so it's worth factoring that into your plans.

The Ride: We traveled in a Sprinter van and, let me say, this is an all-time power move. If you can swing it, I can't recommend it enough. And this should go without saying, but it's an easy one to forget: If you're traveling with a group, arrange your transportation from the airport before you leave home. It will save you the headache of figuring it out after a long flight.

Cabot Citrus Farms can also help arrange a private Sprinter van based on your flight information, meaning you can walk out of the airport, find your ride and head straight to Brooksville without dealing with rental cars or splitting the group between Ubers.

And honestly, the ride up to Cabot becomes part of the trip. This is where the trash talk starts, bets get made and everyone becomes extremely confident about how they're going to play that week.

Don't Waste Your First Afternoon

The Welcome: When you pull into Cabot Citrus Farms, you're greeted with a welcome cocktail and the team gets you up to speed on the schedule for the week, including your tee times at Karoo, Roost, The Squeeze and The Wedge.

The Cottages: From there, you'll take a cart over to your cottage, drop your bags and settle in. The cottages have open living spaces, spacious bedrooms and outdoor porches.

Knock off the rust: Depending on your arrival time, hit some balls on the range, roll some putts on the nearly 100,000-square-foot putting course or, if you have enough daylight left, go play The Wedge.

The Wedge is an 11-hole par-3 course that's fully lit at night, which makes it a pretty perfect way to start the trip. Grab a drink, make a few bets and get the travel-day rust out of your system.

If your timing works out, this is probably how I'd spend my first evening at Cabot. Save Karoo and Roost for when you're rested and ready to actually appreciate them.

Jon Rahm Beat One Player at the BMW PGA Championship on Thursday

Riley Hamel — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 19:38:56 +0000

Jon Rahm was hoping to turn the tide of his tough year outside of LIV Golf this week at the BMW PGA Championship, but the struggles continued in a big way.

Jon Rahm was one of the biggest names going into the BMW PGA Championship this week, but when he left Wentworth on Thursday, he signed a scorecard that was better than just one player. Not exactly the showing he was hoping for.

The Spaniard started his day with a bogey at the first, added two more on Nos. 3 and 6, then doubled the eighth before making the turn with a 5-over 40. He traded a bogey on 11 with a birdie at 12, then bogeyed the 15th to finish off an opening-round 6-over 78. He tied five other players at that mark, and beat just Marcel Siem, who was one worse at 79.

His performance was even more surprising given his recent finishes at the BMW PGA, as he finished fourth or better three times in his last three appearances.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t speak with the media after his round—to be fair, not many players would’ve.

His poor performance on Day 1 in Surrey is a continuation of what we’ve seen from him all year. Despite two wins and five runner-up finishes on LIV Golf, Rahm’s only top-20 finish outside of his home circuit was a tie for second at the PGA Championship: T-38 (Masters), MC (U.S. Open), T-36 (Genesis Scottish Open), T-46 (The Open), and a tie for 23rd at last week’s Irish Open. He’s now the 14th-ranked player in the world.

Instead of contending for a title at one of the biggest events on the DP World Tour, Rahm will now be fighting just to make it to the weekend.

Skratch Attests: The Golf Short I Kept Seeing Everywhere

Raymond Williams — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:45:08 +0000

An elastic waistband, an absurd amount of stretch and enough colors to fill an entire closet. Sometimes simple just works.

*In Partnership with REDVANLY*

I Kept Seeing These Things Everywhere

A few years ago, I started noticing a particular pair of shorts popping up at PGA TOUR events.

There wasn't some massive logo. There wasn't a wild print. They weren't particularly "loud" at all. But I kept seeing them.

One pair became five. Five became 20. After multiple tournament weeks, it felt like I had seen more than 100 people wearing some variation of the same short.

Eventually I figured out what they were: REDVANLY's Hanover Pull On Short. This was sometime around early 2023, and I've been noticing them ever since. And once you understand the Hanover, its popularity makes a lot more sense. After finally spending some real time wearing them myself, I understand why. These are incredibly comfortable shorts.

Golf Meets the Athletic Short

Spend five minutes reading reviews of the Hanover and you'll see that same sentiment over and over again. Comfortable. Really comfortable. When you slip them on, it makes sense.

The Hanover is built from REDVANLY's GLYDING Nylon, a lightweight performance knit made from 75% nylon and a pretty significant 25% spandex. Naturally, that gives these shorts a ton of stretch. But movement is only half the story.

We tend to talk about stretch entirely through the lens of movement. Can I squat? Can I swing? Do I have enough room through my thighs? Just as important is what happens after the fabric stretches.

The Hanover is designed to return to shape, helping the shorts maintain their structure through rounds of golf. And when you're working with this much stretch, the construction has to keep up with it.

The seams are constantly moving with the fabric. The stitching here is elite. That's one of the details that stood out to me after actually spending time in them.

These are really well built shorts.

The Pull On Part Is the Best Part

As a former collegiate athlete, I've spent a massive portion of my life in pull on shorts. Football, basketball, training. Pull them on and go.

There's something immediately familiar about the Hanover.

You get a fully elastic waistband, but REDVANLY surrounds it with details you'd expect from a traditional golf short: belt loops, pockets, a functional zipper and a faux button.

Throw on a belt and tuck in a polo and nothing about the Hanover screams athletic short.

It just happens to feel a lot more like one.

That's the balance I think REDVANLY gets right. Take the comfort and movement we expect from athletic apparel and package it into something that still looks and works for golf.

REDVANLY Has Built a Business Around It

There's also a family story behind all of this.

REDVANLY was built as a family business. Founder Andrew Redvanly started the brand after playing collegiate hockey and working in the sports industry, eventually returning to caddying while getting the company off the ground. His cousin David Pagana came aboard as the company’s original investor and helped drive sales, while Andrew’s brother Eric eventually left his career as a chef to handle warehouse operations and logistics.

I like that context because REDVANLY today is a much bigger operation, with the brand saying it has more than 3,000 stockists worldwide. But underneath that growth is still a pretty straightforward family business that found something golfers responded to and kept building around it.

And that point of view has expanded well beyond golf. REDVANLY now builds full collections across golf, lifestyle, racquet sports and athleticwear, with everything from polos and performance pieces to knits, outerwear and footwear. There’s a pretty wide range here, both in how you can wear it and who it’s ultimately designed for.

And the Hanover isn't really a one off idea anymore.

REDVANLY Has Built a Bottoms Business Around It

The Hanover isn't really a one off idea anymore.

REDVANLY has taken that pull on thinking and expanded it across its bottoms business. The Desmond Pull On Trouser, for example, takes a similar concept into pants: elastic waistband, plenty of movement and a silhouette that still presents like a traditional golf trouser.

But the Desmond also pushes that idea somewhere a little more elevated. This feels like a trouser built to go well beyond the golf course, something you could just as easily wear to the office, dinner or even a wedding without losing the comfort that made the pull on concept interesting in the first place.

Launching September 17, the Desmond feels like a pretty natural next step for REDVANLY’s bottoms business: take something golfers already understand and make it even easier to wear everywhere else.

That's what makes the Hanover more interesting to me in the context of the brand.

REDVANLY found a construction that golfers clearly responded to and didn't just leave it sitting in one pair of shorts. They've continued applying and refining the idea across the category.

It's a pretty straightforward design language: athletic comfort without making you look like you're wearing athletic clothes.

They Absolutely Hammered the Color Button

The Hanover comes in alpha sizing from small through XXL and is offered in both 7.5 and 9 inch inseams.

Then there are the colors. Six core colors. Thirty-three seasonal colors. And another 33 specialty colors. Atlantic. Maplewood. Rainforest. Loganberry. Petal Pink. Espresso. Lobster. Lilac. Sun. Curacao. Mazarine Blue.

And while the Hanover itself is relatively straightforward, REDVANLY certainly isn't afraid to turn things up elsewhere. Across the larger collection you'll find bold color, stripes, prints and more fashion forward pieces mixed in alongside the simpler staples. There's range here, which makes the sheer number of Hanover colors feel pretty consistent with the larger brand.

Once you know your size and inseam, buying Hanover number three doesn't require much thought. You already understand the fit, fabric and construction. You're essentially just choosing a color. The short becomes a platform. And REDVANLY has been building on that platform for years.

Simple Idea. Serious Execution.

It's become a bit of an anthem for me lately, but getting simple right is so much harder than you think.

And the Hanover appears pretty simple. A stretchy pull on short with the visual details of a traditional golf short.

But simple puts even more pressure on execution. The fabric needs to recover. The waistband needs to hold its shape. The stitching has to withstand all that movement. And at the end of all of it, the shorts still need to look good.

REDVANLY gets those things right.

These are really well built, incredibly comfortable shorts.

I’m absolutely a fan.

The 2027 Ryder Cup Begins One Year From Today—And Europe Already has the Lead

Riley Hamel — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 15:09:44 +0000

One year from today, Adare Manor will be the center of the golf world—and Luke Donald is already ahead of the game (which shouldn't be a surprise).

In exactly one year, we’ll be watching the best Americans and Europeans go to battle across the pond at Adare Manor. Am I excited about the Presidents Cup next week? Sure, but there’s just something about the Ryder Cup that stirs emotion and commands your undivided attention—for the Europeans, at least.

It’s no secret this biennial event means a bit more to our friends across the pond than the home-town squad. Their passion, their dedication—their willingness to participate despite the lack of a paycheck. Luke Donald has built a powerhouse, and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say it’d be a decently-sized surprise to see the Americans make the trip and win on foreign soil—I mean, they haven’t done it since 1993.

If you need an example of how serious Team Europe takes this event, just look at the trip it took to Adare Manor earlier this week. From team stalwarts like Jon Rahm and Justin Rose, to potential members like Alex Fitzpatrick and Kristoffer Reitan, Donald had the boys out there for not only an early scouting loop, but bonding experience—that’s how you win six of eight Cups since 2010.

And, yes, I understand the advantage the Europeans have in this case. All the players are already over there to play in this week’s BMW PGA Championship, and they don’t have another team event to prepare for. Unlike the Americans, who have to take on the Internationals next week at Medinah. While Team USA’s attention is split, Donald’s squad has two full years to prepare.

Still, that’s not an excuse for the Americans to mail it in. Captain Jim Furyk needs to begin his preparations next Monday morning. The moment the Ryder Cup is the next biennial event, the boys need to lock in on Adare.

Will it happen? If the last decade has taught us anything, probably not. But Furyk has already changed the qualification process for his squad, so maybe he’ll be the man to change the tide.

Regardless, we’re a year out from the Ryder Cup and it already feels like Team Europe has a two-point lead.

Adams Golf Lives At The Biltmore Championship Asheville

Ryan Barath — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 18:14:28 +0000

One player is keeping Adams Golf alive this week on the PGA Tour with the help of a 20-year-old hybrid.

Even though the FedEx Cup is over for 2026, there is still a lot to pay attention to on the PGA Tour during the fall events, including this week at The Biltmore Championship Asheville, where players are looking to maintain status while also taking home some serious cash.

One of those players is tour veteran, TGL Jupiter Links team member and TV commentator, Kevin Kisner...it's quite an impressive resume, to be fair.

Image Credit: Getty | Title image Credit: Greg Moore - GolfWRX.com

And another thing Kevin can add to his list of accomplishments this week in Asheville is keeping the Adams Golf brand alive on the PGA Tour by having an original 20-year-old 22° Adams Idea Pro in his bag.

Why A 20-Year-Old Hybrid?

Of all the areas of the bag where players seem to hold onto clubs the longest, it's the higher-lofted fairway wood, hybrid, and driving iron category for clubs between 19° and 23° of loft. The reason is that they're built to go a specific distance, and once players get used to that flight, it's hard to switch.

On top of that, unlike with drivers or wedges, which can either eventually go over the limit for speed (drivers) or have grooves wear out (wedges), driving irons and hybrids specifically have thicker faces that can't get worn out in the same way.

(Image: Greg Moore - GolfWRX.com)

This is why we see players like Brooks Keopka and Tony Finau still holding onto their Nike Vapor Fly Pro driving iron.

(Image: Greg Moore - GolfWRX.com)

Plus I cant forget to mention Brooks is also still using a TaylorMade M2 Tour fairway wood from 2016 (above), and Justin Thomas is using a Titleist 915FD from 2015 too.

It just goes to show that if you've got a old hybrid or fairway wood in the bag and it's working as it should, it's better to let sleeping dogs lie, which for University of Georgia Kevin Kisner should be easy because he's got that dog in him.

Rory McIlroy Was Out of His Mind at Wentworth on Wednesday

Riley Hamel — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:31:16 +0000

McIlroy opened with two pars in the BMW Championship Pro-AM—and then proceeded to go 11 under through his next 10 holes...

Yes, it was during a pro-am. Yes, the score doesn’t matter. But at the same time, when you shoot a 12-under 60 that includes a stretch of birdie-eagle-eight straight birdies, people are going to take notice—especially when your name is Rory McIlroy.

MORE:The Golf AI Commentator is Somehow Worse than Expected

On Wednesday at the BMW PGA Championship, the Northern Irishman played out of his mind. Tweets started trickling in from over the pond, detailing just how much he was en fuego. But it wasn’t until the DP World Tour tweeted out this graphic that we knew how well he actually played:

Over his last few starts, McIlroy has been putting in a lot of work on his swing. He’s even added a quick takeaway rehearsal in his pre-shot routine to establish the feeling of his right arm folding in his backswing.

It looks like the changes are starting to pay off.

MORE:Don't Freak Out, But There's a New Tiger Woods Swing Video

And now he’s about to play in one of the biggest events on the DP World Tour, where he’s posted some seriously good finishes over the last several years. Before tying for 20th a year ago, he finished T-2 in 2024, T-7 in 2023, T-2 in 2022, T-9 in 2019, and solo-second in 2018. Sitting at +850 to win this week, that might be a good bet given the 60 on Wednesday and his history at Wentworth.

He’s set to tee off at 2:40 a.m. ET on Thursday alongside PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai and Ryan Fox, the Champion Golfer of the Year.

Malbon and Bushmills Are Mixing Golf and Whiskey. And It's Working.

Brittany Romano — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 17:56:45 +0000

From a hand-etched bottle to plaid track pants and a pair of socks that holds your ball marker, the brands' latest collaboration has a little bit of everything.

A 400-year-old whiskey brand teaming up with one of golf's fastest-moving modern apparel brands might be the perfect metaphor for where the game is right now. Or at least where I want it to be. It's old golf meeting new golf without either side needing to apologize for what it is.

So whether it’s Bushmills Irish Whiskey fans meeting discovering Malbon’s remixed vision of what the traditional golf uniform is or streetwear enthusiasts recognizing game via a distilled single malt whiskey (neat, please), this is a pretty fun place for those worlds to meet.

“Tradition isn’t a barrier to entry, it’s an invitation,” said Stephen Malbon, founder of Malbon. “This collection celebrates those traditions in a way that feels relevant to today’s game.”

Before we get to the 12-piece collection of apparel and accessories, the collab is led by a custom co-branded release of Bushmills 10 Year Single Malt. It’s hand-etched and smooth as hell. The Malbon golf ball logo fit with a throwback newsboy cap sits above a slogan from one of Bushmills’ iconic vintage ad campaigns reading “You can’t beat a round of Bush.” And for anyone slow on the uptick today, it’s word play with a “round” being both a golf and drinking term.

Also pulling from Bushmills' advertising history, combining a 1980s tagline with another dating back to 1914 is the collection cotton tee. It comes in a solid white or brown that, in addition to the white women’s Paloma Polo and black men’s Fairway Polo are the quietest looks of the drop.

Then things get very, very plaid. The allover green plaid track pants are paired with a contrast-plaid track jacket, creating perhaps the clearest expression of the collection's old-meets-new idea. If the track suit is the playful side of the collection, the wool-and-leather jacket, matching newsboy cap and coordinating cart bag are the full heritage treatment.

And then there are the socks. They feature a little ankle pouch designed to hold a ballmarker, which might be the most unnecessarily useful piece in the entire collection. I don't think I've seen anything quite like it in my years covering golf apparel—or my years appreciating fine whiskey.

In Defense Of Loud Golf Speakers (Especially Ones With GPS)

Ryan Barath — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 14:22:30 +0000

Sure, the purists might not love them, but this loud speaker with a built-in GPS has a pretty compelling case for making it into your golf bag.

Golfers love to make up fake reasons to argue. Years ago, it was hoodies. Then discourse went all in on non-traditional golf clothing, then pushcarts, and now, upside-down writing hats—which to be fair, I think are really stupid.

But if there is one thing I will endlessly defend, it's music on the golf course. Before you start yelling and I have to turn up the volume on my speaker to drown you out, I do agree that there is a right (and an inherently wrong) time and place for music to be played on the golf course. But at its core, music just fits with golf.

I bring this up because I recently got my hands on a Mileseey Golf GeneSonic Pro Speaker, and when I first shared about just how loud it was, I got blown up in the comments about how it's a "bad" thing for golf.

If you've got the space and the audience, a loud speaker can always be played at a quieter volume, right?

If you've got the space and the audience, a loud speaker can always be played at a quieter volume, right? A capable speaker does not mean it can only be played at full volume, that's the point.

Plus, you don't always need a golf course. You can throw the same speaker in your backyard and blast "Pink Pony Club" by the pool with your kids.

But when you are on the course, I should mention that the GeneSonic Pro is more than just a speaker. It's also a full GPS unit that requires zero subscription to use.

Oh, and unlike other speaker + GPS combos, the Mileseey Golf GeneSonic Pro's GPS unit fully detaches from the speaker. So if you're playing somewhere that's cart path only, the speaker can keep pumping in the cart while you walk to your ball and get the exact distance to your target.

The detachable GPS unit can also control the speaker while apart from the unit, which is a major bonus in my book.

Now, I'm not saying that a 6 A.M. tee time needs a workout remix of Taylor Swift's "Ophelia" to kick-start the round, but I will say that on those nice sunny afternoons with your friends out on the course, hanging out in a cart and having a playlist roll through some hits is a pretty nice way to spend some time.

And if you happen to get your yardages from the same piece of tech pumping the tunes, I think that's a pretty great combo, too.

Don't Freak Out, But There's a New Tiger Woods Swing Video

Riley Hamel — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 14:37:05 +0000

It's always a pleasure to watch Tiger Woods hit a golf ball, and on Tuesday, his action looked pretty damn good.

On Tuesday, Tiger Woods was hitting golf balls on the range at Liberty National during the TGR Foundation’s Nexus Cup in New York.

The last time we saw Tiger with a club in his hand was on March 24 during a TGL match at the SoFi Center, just three days before his latest car accident. Since the crash, we’ve only seen the 15-time major champion a few times, including an appearance at the Travelers Championship when PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp unveiled the changes coming to the league in 2028.

As for his future inside the ropes, Tiger has yet to announce what he plans to do once he’s healthy enough to get back out there. While the Tour remains an option, along with the four major championships, he’s now eligible to play on the PGA Tour Champions after turning 50 last December.

Even if it’s only a couple times a year, it’ll be great to have Tiger back, whenever he decides to make his return.

A Breakdown of the New Membership Criteria and Eligibility for the PGA Tour

Riley Hamel — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 13:55:17 +0000

Change is coming to the PGA Tour in 2028, and now we have a look at how players will be eligible for each level of competition.

On Tuesday, the PGA Tour and CEO Brian Rolapp announced the membership criteria and eligibility for the new two-level structure coming in 2028.

"From the beginning, we set out to preserve the meritocracy that makes our sport unique by creating a system where performance dictates opportunity," Rolapp said in a statement. "Through new eligibility criteria and supporting pathways into the PGA Tour, the new competitive model is designed to reward excellence and ensure there is always a clear path for top performers at every stage of their career. For fans, this means a clear understanding of what is at stake during each PGA Tour competition, whether that is at an event or across a season."

On top of the criteria and eligibility, the points distribution list for the Championship Series, the highest level of competition, was also released.

Here's a full breakdown of everything coming in 2028 with the Tour's new structure.

(The following information was pulled directly from the PGA Tour’s announcement.)

PGA Tour Championship Series membership categories

Retained Players: Top 90 players who retain PGA Tour Championship Series membership.

Promoted Players: Top 20 players who are promoted from the PGA Tour Challenger Series.

Two-Time Winners: Players who win twice during the PGA Tour Challenger Series season.

Two-Year Winner Exemptions: Winners of PGA Tour Championship Series events, inclusive of THE PLAYERS and majors, receive PGA Tour Championship Series membership for the current season and the following two seasons. Winner exemptions do not extend beyond two years.

Medical Extensions: Medical Extensions will be granted on a limited basis for injury or conditions that materially prevent competition, as determined by an outside review committee of independent medical experts.

Career Milestone Exemptions: Players with exceptional PGA Tour careers—currently recognized through the Career Money List—will be eligible to use a one-time exemption on the PGA Tour Championship Series in 2029 and beyond. In order to do so, (1) the player must hold PGA Tour Championship Series membership the season prior and (2) the exemption must be used in the year immediately following loss of PGA Tour Championship Series membership. Career Milestone Exemptions for 2028 are listed below in transition-year eligibility.

Pathways: Future stars of the PGA Tour Championship Series will be captured through the Tour’s Pathways, including PGA Tour University and a “last chance” series. The No. 1 player from PGA Tour University following that season’s NCAA Championship will be eligible for the PGA Tour Championship Series that season and the following season. Three cards will be available via a “last chance” series.

PGA Tour Championship Series Point Breakdown

Each level will have its own points system. For the Championship Series, points distribution will remain the same, regardless of tournament, including THE PLAYERS and major championships. The new distribution is flatter, meaning players are rewarded for winning, top finishes, and making cuts. Sustained performance throughout the year will be rewarded.

PGA Tour Challenger Series Eligibility

PGA Tour Championship Series Relegated: Players relegated from the PGA Tour Championship Series in the previous season.

PGA Tour Challenger Series Retained: Nos. 21-90 on the previous season’s PGA Tour Challenger Series Points List.

Twenty (20) players promoted from Korn Ferry Tour: The top 20 finishers from the previous season’s Korn Ferry Tour Points List.

Tournament winners exemptions: Winners of PGA Tour Challenger Series events receive PGA Tour Challenger Series membership for the current season and the following season. Winner exemptions do not extend beyond one year for multiple wins in a season. In addition to their two-year exemption on the PGA Tour Championship Series, winners of PGA Tour Championship Series events, inclusive of THE PLAYERS and majors, in the previous four years are exempt on the PGA Tour Challenger Series. Players who win multiple PGA Tour Championship Series events in the same season will have their winner's exemption on the PGA Tour Challenger Series extended for each additional win, up to a maximum of five seasons. Exemptions for multiple wins on the PGA Tour Challenger Series do not extend.

PGA Tour University: Nos. 2-5 in the PGA Tour University Ranking earn PGA Tour Challenger Series membership following the conclusion of the NCAA Championship through the following season. Players who achieve and accept PGA Tour University Accelerated earn PGA Tour Challenger Series membership and can join at the start of a future season.

Q-School: The top five finishers from the previous season’s PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament (Q-School).

Open Qualifying: The top two finishers at Open Qualifying for PGA Tour Challenger Series events played the same week as PGA Tour Championship Series events. There is no Open Qualifying for standalone PGA Tour Challenger Series events.

Designated Exemptions: Up to two designated exemptions.

'Last Chance' Series Eligibility

The Tour's "last chance" series will consist of at least four events—eligible players must play in all of them—and three cards for the PGA Tour Championship Series will be up for grabs. Here's a look at the eligibility breakdown.

PGA Tour Championship Series Relegated: Players relegated from the PGA Tour Championship Series the season immediately preceding a “last chance” series.

PGA Tour Challenger Series Retained: Nos. 21-90 from the PGA Tour Challenger Series Points List in the season immediately preceding a “last chance” series.

Twenty (20) players promoted from Korn Ferry Tour: The 20 players promoted from the Korn Ferry Tour.

PGA Tour University current season: Nos. 2-5 in the PGA Tour University Ranking in the current season, following the conclusion of NCAA Championship.

PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament (Q-School): The top 5 finishers from the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament immediately preceding a “last chance” series.

Transition-Year Eligibility

Tournament winners: PGA Tour tournament winner exemptions earned by the conclusion of the 2026 season will be honored through the duration of its term on the PGA Tour Championship Series.

Winners of THE PLAYERS, majors and Signature Events in 2027 will earn:

—PGA Tour Championship Series membership through 2029

—PGA Tour Challenger Series membership through 2031

Winners of Full-Field Events in 2027 during the regular season will earn:

—PGA Tour Championship Series membership through 2028

—PGA Tour Challenger Series membership through 2029

Winners of FedExCup Fall Events and Opposite Events in 2027 will earn:

—PGA Tour Challenger Series membership through 2029

FedExCup Points List: Players who earned a two-year exemption by finishing in the top 30 of the 2026 FedExCup Points List will have PGA Tour Championship Series membership for the 2028 season. This two-year exemption will not be awarded for the top 30 finishers in 2027.

—The top 70 players in the final 2027 FedExCup Points List (through the FedExCup Playoffs) will earn PGA Tour Championship Series membership for 2028. Note: The top 70 will be locked following the 2027 TOUR Championship.

—The top 95 players in the final 2027 FedExCup Fall Points List will earn PGA Tour Championship Series membership for 2028.

—Nos. 96-175 in the final 2027 FedExCup Fall Points List will earn PGA Tour Challenger Series membership for 2028.

Career milestones: The top 25 and top 50 members on the PGA Tour Career Money List at the end of the 2027 season may elect a one-time, one-season PGA Tour Championship Series exemption for 2028. Members utilizing a Career Money Exemption must have played in 15 or more PGA Tour events in 2027.

Korn Ferry Tour Points List: The top 10 players in the final 2027 Korn Ferry Tour Points List will earn PGA Tour Championship Series membership for 2028.

—The next 30 players in the final 2027 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, not otherwise exempt for the PGA Tour Championship Series or PGA Tour Challenger Series, beginning with No. 11, will earn PGA Tour Challenger Series membership for 2028.

PGA Tour University: The No. 1 player in the final 2027 PGA Tour University Ranking will earn PGA Tour membership for the remainder of the current season, following the conclusion of the NCAA Championship, and PGA Tour Championship Series membership for 2028.

—Nos. 2-10 in the final 2027 PGA Tour University Ranking will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for the remainder of the current season, following the conclusion of the NCAA Championship, and the top five performers on the 2027 total points list will earn PGA Tour Challenger Series membership for 2028.

PGA Tour Americas: The No. 1 player in the final 2027 PGA Tour Americas Points List will earn PGA Tour Challenger Series membership for 2028.

Medical Extensions: Players who are injured in 2027 and require a Major Medical Extension in 2028 will receive a medical on the PGA Tour Championship Series if:

—Competing in a tournament winner category at the time of their injury OR

—Competing out of the top 70 category at the time of their injury OR

—Maintained a three-year average of top 70 points at the time of their injury

—Major Medical Extensions for players who do not meet that criteria, as well as all Conditional Medical Extensions, will be played out on the PGA Tour Challenger Series.

—All medical extensions for injuries prior to 2027 will be played out on the PGA Tour Challenger Series in 2028.

Final Stage of Q-School: Top 10 finishers from Final Stage of Q-School in 2027 receive PGA Tour Challenger Series membership in 2028. Final Stage exemptions include:

—Players in fully exempt categories on the PGA Tour in 2027 (through top 30 FedExCup Points Year 2)

—Nos. 176-200 on the final 2027 FedExCup Fall Points List

—Players within the top 75 on the 2027 Korn Ferry Tour Points List

—Top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking as of the Final Stage entry deadline

—Nos. 2-10 in the 2027 PGA Tour University Ranking

—Top 10 on the 2027 PGA Tour Americas Points List

—Leading player from International Tour partners

—Medical Exemptions/Extensions