Tag Archives: PGA Tour

2026 FedEx Cup – Tour Championship at East Lake

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It’s that time of year where the top 30 PGA Tour players get to compete for a huge money grab. Specifically, a $40 million purse with the winner taking home $10 million. And the $40 million purse at the TOUR Championship is considered Official Money, separate from the nearly $100 million in FedExCup Bonus Money.

The FedEx Cup Bonus Money is based on the year long contest and Scottie Scheffler locked up the top spot after winning the St Jude FedEx Championship; which means Scheffler gets a bonus of 23 million; $22 million is paid in cash, and $1 million is deferred into the player’s PGA Tour pension account. The player that comes in second will take home $13 million in bonus money. Third place will receive $8 million, fourth place will receive $6.5 million, fifth will receive $5.4 million, and bonus money is paid out in cash or pension contribution for the top 125 players.. CBS Sports reported the full list of players and the money they earned and it is staggering.

The FedEx Cup as we know it is going away. In 2028, the PGA TOUR Championship Series and the PGA TOUR Challenger Series will be the 2-tier new structure of the PGA Tour.

For the players in the Championship Series. They will have a season long ranking and at the end of all the competitions, the top player is the Champion Series “champion” or “player of the year” based on performance over all of the competitions. It also appears (from the press conference today) that all the year-end bonus will be paid after the series is completed and based on the season.

The fall event will be match play where the top 32 players from the “regular” season series will compete over two weeks for the “Tour Championship”. And interesting move for the tour. Part of me feels like this is just to give the USA players practice at match play so they can compete better at Ryder Cups. It just feels like an “add on” to me. Time will tell how well it is received by fans, players, and sponsors. Here is a video the PGA Tour put out about the new structure and the match play finale for the new PGA TOUR Challenger Series.

The players all want to be in the TOUR Championship Series because it has the big money events (currently known at “signature events”); and they all want to “play against the best players” and not be relegated to the second tier called “The Challenger Series”. It will be interesting to see how the Challenger Series is marketed compared to the current Korn Ferry Tour (which is the current feeder tour into the PGA Tour). Also, how will Challenger Series players move up to the Championship Series? Can they move mid-year or is it a year-end final ranking decision? More to come as this new structure is finalized in 2027.

I have not decided how I feel about the new system coming in 2028. I wonder how favorite players, like Jordan Speith, will feel if they can’t maintain a rank to stay in the Championship Series. Also, how will fans feel if their favorite is relegated to the 2nd-tier? Will fans watch the 2nd-tier events? I don’t watch Korn Ferry events so why would I watch Challenger Series events?

One thing is for sure, next year (2027) at this time there will probably be some big name players that may not be part of the new Championship Series in 2028.

Ryan Fox has a New Golf Fan

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If you watched The Open you know that the PGA stars did not exactly shine at Royal Birkdale which means we have another “journeymen” win a major. Now that the four majors are completed, it is odd that other than Rory winning the Masters back-to-back; the other majors were basically won by lower ranked players: Aaron Rai (PGA Championship), Wyndham Clark (The U.S. Open) and now Ryan Fox (The Open).

I wonder if anyone had Ryan Fox to win The Open? One thing is clear, winning The Open has changed Ryan Fox’s professional life overnight. His world ranking jumped 34 spots from 56th in the world to 22. As a reference, Wyndham Clark’s rank went from 34th to 8th and Aaron Rai when from 44th to 15th. Fox now is exempt into majors for a number of years; but more life changing is the impact it will have on endorsements due to his new status and also his likeability.

I am sure I am not the only golf fan to say “Wow, what a great guy!” I am not a new fan just because he won The Open but because of his personality and all that we learned about Fox after the win. Here are the things I loved learning about Fox:

  1. He plays fast. I hate the pace of play of many professional golfers. I always thought to myself why does it take so long to decide what to do on a tee box or approach shot? Well, Fox had many questions on his “fast play” and he said a number of things like he thinks fast, he does everything fast; but the best response was where he states “it’s not that difficult to pick a shot and pick a club, it’s always going to be between one or two clubs into a green.” Interview clip from YouTube at end of this post.
  2. His Swing is not a typical beautiful swing to watch but again it shows regular golfers that you don’t have to have a perfect swing to be good at golf. In a YouTube video (prior to winning The Open) he describes his swing as “It’s repeatable and I’m too old to change it.” He knows he has “quirks” and talks about why in the video.
  3. Fox is so genuine in all his reactions to moments and questions. It has been “bleeped” on most social media posts now; but watching live television, when he won, as he was hugging a friend, he said “Holly Sh*t” which is what I could see myself saying if I ever make a hole-in-one (which would be the closest thing I would ever have happen to feel the way pros must feel when they win).
  4. Fox is an interesting person to listen to when he answers questions. Many times you hear the same answers from Pros but in many of the interviews Fox responds with thoughtful and real answers; no fluff that some PR person trained him to say.
  5. Fox is a wonderful example of anything is possible. Fox did not start playing golf until he was 18. He did not become a golfer on a major tour until the age of 20 when he got his DP World Tour card and he became a rookie on the PGA Tour at the age of 37; and just two years later at the age of 39, he is the Champion Golfer of the Year winning The Open. Clearly he is a great athlete but it’s nice to see a person show that a person can achieve at the highest level without being groomed from the age of three to be a star in a specific sport.
  6. A social media post showed a photo of Fox, on an airplane flight from Southport to Heathrow in economy class with the case for the claret jug in the overhead bin. My guess is he flew first glass from London back to Florida; but it was nice to see a “regular guy” moment; and what a fun experience for the people seated near him on the plane. Side bar: Apparently Cam Young was in the row in front of Fox.

There are other journeymen that have won majors in the last few years but this is the first golfer that after the win I want to now follow his career and will cheer for him when I see him playing.

Ryan Fox Press Conference after Winning The 2026 Open

Evian Championship or Scottish Open

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Which golf championship are you going to watch this weekend; the Evian Championship or the Scottish Open?

I’m just going to be blunt. As an LPGA fan, the third major for the ladies, the Evian is the least important major for the LPGA. I doubt many general golf fans even known the Evian is the weekend because the Scottish Open is also this week with all the top PGA Tour golfers playing to get ready for The Open next week.

EVIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

This week the ladies head to France for the Evian Championship. It has always been clouded by the fact that it was added in 2000 (during the rein of Mike Whan as LPGA Commissioner) as the fifth major in the ladies professional game. I think it is “clouded” because of the debate of four vs five majors; but the unspoken thoughts are that by giving Evian the status of a major the door was closed on a women’s masters. I’m sure Mike Whan never thought Augusta National would have a women’s event and yet in 2019 the first Augusta National Women’s Amateur was held.

The 2026 Evian is July 9 through July 12 and the defending champion is Grace Kim. Of course, I believe, the golf news will be all about Nelly Korda and can she win a third major this calendar year; but for me the real story for Nelly will be can she win the next “important” major, the AIG Women’s Open which is being contested July 29 to August 2 at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in England.

But back to the Evian. The purse is $9.1 million with the champion taking home $1.365 million. I am sure Nelly Korda would love to win the Evian because she has not won this major yet. A few of the big names that have won in the past and are in the field this year include Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson and Celine Boutier. A fun fact is that the first winner in 2000 was Annika Sorenstam and she won $270,000.

An indication of the lack of status of this championship is that all coverage will be on the Golf Channel (no Sunday afternoon NBC or CBS prime time coverage). But still I will probably watch some of the coverage; especially if Nelly Korda, Charley Hull, or Brooke Henderson are in the lead.

The USA TV times (eastern time zone) on Golf Channel are: July 9 & 10 (Thursday & Friday): 6 am to 11 am and July 11 & 12 (Saturday & Sunday): 4 am to 10 am. You can also watch one additional hour on the Golf Channel App from 11 am to Noon on Thursday and Friday.

SCOTTISH OPEN

You might have thought I would write about the Scottish open first in this blog post but technically the LPGA event is a major for the tour and the Scottish open is not a major for the PGA tour.

As a quick reminder The Open is next week at Royal Birkdale (July 16 to 19). If you are a golf fan, you know Royal Birkdale is famously where Justin Rose, as an young amateur at 17 years old, tied 4th in The Open and became a household name in England. There is a great video on YouTube titled “Chasing Forever: Justin Rose” from the R&A that interviews Rose and others about that day and his career.

Back to this weeks Scottish Open. All the big names are playing. I believe Golf Channel reported 33 of the top 50 players in the world are playing. And Chirs Gotterup who won the John Deer last week is the defending champion at the Scottish Open.

The Scottish Open is always fun to watch because it is at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick. It’s a hard course and there always seems to be times when pros have trouble getting out of the bunkers; which makes regular golfers, like me, feel better about their game. Watch this fun YouTube video titled “Golf Is Hard” to see some of the previous tough shots for the pros.

I don’t have a particular favorite to win the Scottish Open. It will just be fun to see some great golf on a links course as a primer before next week when I will be obsessed with watching The Open at Royal Birkdale; and yes, I want Justin Rose to win his Claret Jug.

How to Watch: It will be on the golf channel on Thursday and Friday starting at 11 am (after the Evian coverage from 6 am to 11 am). If you have ESPN+ you can start watching as early as 3:15 am. On the weekends again, turn in early on ESPN+ or watch Golf Channel from 10 to Noon and then CBS coverage from noon to 3 pm.

One thing is for sure, given how hot it is right now, I think a lot of golfers will be watching golf from the lovely air conditioning of their homes.

The Masters – 2026 Thoughts and Predictions

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It’s time to think about who will win the Masters. They said the winner has historically come from the top 15 players in the world. The last golfer outside the top 15 to win the Masters was Charl Schwartzel ranked 29th when he won in 2011.

So here are my thoughts and predictions for the 2026 Masters.

Will Rory McIlroy win back-to-back Masters: No. The last back-to-back winner at the Masters was Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002. It’s not that Rory isn’t talented enough but I don’t think he is “dominating” the PGA Tour in 2026; and there are many other players that could catch fire this week.

My Sentimental Winner: Justin Rose. At 45 years old and as the runner up last year to Rory I would love to see Rose win this year. Rose has a good history at the Masters with six top ten finishes; runner-up three times; and lost in two playoffs. He is playing well this year; winning at the Farmers Insurance Open by seven strokes.

My “First Time At The Masters” Winner: Chris Gotterup. It is Gotterup’s first time at the Masters but he has had a great start to his 2026 season winning both the Sony Open in Hawaii in January and the WM Phoenix Open in February.

My Guess for who WILL win: If my “sentimental” pick or “first time at the masters” pick do not win then I think a more realistic prediction might be to go with the obvious player:

Scottie Scheffler – He is the world number one and last time he won, his was a new father. And just 10 days ago, his second child (son, Remy) was born so that is a good omen.

I have no idea if any of my predictions for the winner will come true but it’s always fun to have players you want to cheer for at the Masters.

Who is the player you hope will win the Masters in 2026? Leave me a comment!

Amateur Winner: Let’s not forget about the amateurs. After all, Bobby Jones was the ultimate amateur. There are two predictions to make with respect to the six amateur players in the field.

(1) Will an Amateur make the cut? YES

(2) Who will win Low Amateur at the Masters?

Prediction for the Amateur Winner: First it’s important to know how these amateurs get into the field. There are five key events: The U.S. Amateur (USGA), The Amateur (R&A), The Asia-Pacific Amateur, the Latin America Amateur, and the U.S. Mid-Amateur. The winner of each gets invited to the Masters; and the runner-up at the U.S. Amateur gets an invitation too.

The obvious prediction for the winner is Mason Howell the winner of the U.S. Amateur. Howell is 18 years old, still in high school but a University of Georgia commit. And, he played in the Houston Open this year shooting a 73 and 66 missing the cut by just one stroke.

I also always root the mid-am player because I just think it is fun to see a “thirtysomething” man living every working guys dream. This years mid-am is Brandon Holtz. He tried to make a run at being a professional golfer after college even though he was not a college D1 golfer. He played mini-tours with no success. He got married, had kids, a career in real estate. However, it was just recently that he reinstated his amateur status.

Side bar: There is serious debate on if a former professional should be allowed to be reinstated as an amateur and play in the amateur events. So far the USGA has allowed this with a “waiting period” usually six months from the last professional event. I’m guessing that may change. With respect to Holtz, he’s not been a professional (on tour) for years but never change his status until recently. My view is that perhaps the waiting period should be longer (at least a year); but it will be interesting to see what the governing bodies decide if more “professionals” convert to play the mid-am to get a chance at the Masters.

If you want to read about all six Amateurs you can find their bios on The Masters Website.

The weather looks beautiful for The Masters and I will be happily sitting in front of my television watching all the coverage. Coverage Schedule Page website.

Happy Masters week!!

PGA Rookies to watch in 2013

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I like to follow one or two new players each year and this year there are a lot of rookies with very impressive resumes.  All you need to do is look at the top 25 from the 2012 Web.com Tour money list and pick one.  There are three Web.com players that I find interesting:

1)  Casey Whittenberg – He is really not a “rookie” on the PGA tour because he has been playing tournaments on the PGA tour and Web.com tour (formally, Nationwide tour) for a number of years but he earned his 2013 PGA tour card with his excellent play in 2012.

I first became aware of Wittenberg watching the 2004 Masters when he finish 13th as an amateur (the highest finish of an amateur since 1961.)  After the Masters, everyone thought when he turned pro that he would win quickly; but Whittenberg has had his challenges.  However in 2012 it appears he has found his game and was the “2012 player of the year” on the Web.com tour and is one of five Web.com tour players to have won twice in 2012.

2)  Luke Gutherie – Another two-time winner, Gutherie won back-to-back tournaments on the Web.com Tour.  Gutherie played only 10 Web.com tournaments in 2012 and of the ten, seven were top 10 finishes.  His back-to-back wins occurred in September at the Albertsons Boise Open and the WNB Golf Classic.

3)   Ben Kohles – Not only was Kohles a two-time and back-to-back winner on the Web.com tour; but those back-to-back wins were his first two starts on tour.  The tournaments were the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational and Cox Classic.  It is just so impressive to see someone win in the first two tournaments of their professional career.

There are many other rookies to watch but there is only one other that I will be keeping my eye on and that is Patrick Reed also fondly known as “Mr. Monday.”  He got the nickname, “Mr. Monday,” on tour in 2012 because he entered PGA tournaments the “old school” way by playing in Monday qualifiers.  He played in eight PGA Monday qualifiers and made the field in six tournaments.  Of course, as fate would have it, he won his PGA tour card at Q-school on a Monday.

What really makes me a fan of Patrick Reed is his personal story.  His fiancée (now wife), Justine Karain, is his caddie and he gives her plenty of credit as evident in the interview from the Well Fargo.  Apparently she played golf in high school (the couple met in high school) and is very good at reading putts.  I’ve always been impressed with women caddies because I can’t imagine carrying a 50 pound tour bag and living the life of a caddie.  Also, I am impressed with professional golfers who are “evolved enough” to have a women on the bag (i.e. gender doesn’t matter, the best person for the job) and another reason I like Patrick Reed.  The couple married in December 2012 and they plan to continue being a team on the course.  Let’s hope the Reed’s have a very successful 2013.

Daughters of the PNC Father/Son Challenge Golf Event

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When I turned on the TV Saturday and saw the PNC Father/Son Challenge on NBC I thought this will be a nice relief from all the horrible news on TV this week.  In the opening recap of early play, of day one, I was delighted (O.K, thrilled) to see a father and daughter team in the lead. I even tweeted about it.

Image of Tweet about PNC Father Son Challenge

I am not against father/son or mother/daughter specific events but it was wonderful to see that in a sport that some people label as “sexist” there are professional events that have evolved to have both sexes participate.  Another event is the Wendy’s Three Tour Challenge so check it out next year if you have not seen it.  The PNC Father/Son is unique because it really is a family event. There are grandfather and grandson pairings; father and stepson pairings; and even some caddies are family members (wives, mothers, sisters, brothers, father-in-laws, etc.)

For the purpose of this post, I thought it would be fun to focus on the daughters of the PNC Father Son Challenge.

The Father/Daughter Teams

(1) Bernard and Christina Langer – Bernard Langer won the Father/Son Challenge in 2005 and 2006 with his son, Stephan.  Boy, no pressure on Christina!  Christina is a talented golfer and is a freshman on the golf team at Florida Atlantic University. It really was a father daughter event with Bernard’s other daughter, Jackie, on the bag.

(2) Fuzzy and Gretchen Zoeller – Gretchen is a former college golfer and in 2009 she was the caddy on her father’s bag at The Masters.  There was an interview on NBC and Gretchen was talking about her father and it was wonderful to see Fuzzy’s reaction to his daughter’s declarations of respect and love.  It was also interesting to watch her play and see that the “apple does not fall far from the tree” – she was animated and fun to watch (just like her Dad).  Watch the PGA Tour video recap (35 second mark in video) to see Gretchen’s bird imitation!

Final Scores

The father daughter teams did well but neither won the tournament.  The results are that the Zoellers tied for sixth place with the Nicolas and Furk teams and the Langers finished in 10th place.  The Zoellers also had low round of the final day with a 60 (the Nelsons also got a 60).

The winners were David Love III and his son Dru.  They beat the Nelsons by one stroke which was nice because the Nelsons beat the Loves in 2008.  This is the first year the tournament has been played since 2008 so the Loves waited a long time to beat the Nelsons.  The Nelsons have won three times (2004, 2007, and 2008).

Watch the PGA Tour Monday Backspin Video Recap for a nice overview of the Tournament.

The “Bubble Boys” of Fall Golf

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Average golf fans are not watching golf on TV in the fall.  By average I mean those that love to play golf but only watch professional golf from The Masters through the Fedex Cup playoffs.  However, for an avid fan (which I consider myself to be), the fall is an exciting time in golf because the “fall series” is the last chance for many professional golfers to keep their “jobs” for next year.

Overview of the PGA Tour Fall Series

The fall series is made up of four tournaments (listed below) from October 4 to November 11.  At the end of the fall series the 2012 official money list is final and used to determine status on tour for the following year.

The top 125 on the PGA Tour money list automatically maintain their “card” for the 2013 season.  If a golfer does not make the top 125, then the player is off to Q-School to fight for a place on tour next year.   Think about it for a moment – can you imagine the work you have done all year is not good enough and what you do in the fall determines if you get to keep your current job.  That is what faces many players on the PGA tour and we get to watch it all unfold.

Basically, any player hovering around the 125 position on the money list is not in a comfortable position.  If you are a few spots above 125, you need to play well to stay in your position.  If you are below the 125, you are fighting to crawl your way up and keep you job.

The four tournaments that comprise the “fall series” are:

  1. Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
  2. The Frys.com Open
  4. Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic

“Bubble Boys” Revealed

The PGA tour is half way through the fall series and each week a new “bubble boy” or player sits in the 125th position.  Before the Justin Timberlake Open, Dave Mathis was the “bubble boy.”  What is his position now?  He is in the 122nd spot.  That’s o.k. but still a bit to close to the 125 cut line for comfort.

As the Frys.com tournament got on the way, Jeff Maggart was in the 125th position.  At the start of the fall series Maggart was at 123.  So he dropped to 125 after the Justin Timberlake Open.  But Maggart had an excellent week at the Frys.com and finished up to position 119.

This week, heading into the McGladrey Classic, Billy Mayfair is the “bubble boy.”  Mayfair has hovered around the 125 position from the start of the fall series (e.g. was 124, then 123 and now 125).  So I would think he is in need of a very good week to get himself a bit more distance from being so close to the cut line.

One of the reasons the fall series is exciting is not just because of the players hovering around the 125 position but also seeing some of the more dramatic moves on the money list.

Dramatic Moves on the Money List

Some of the moves are good and some are bad.  Here are just two examples. John Daly (current position: 141) sliding in the wrong direction and Jason Kokrak (current position: 117) leaping up the money list.

(1) John Daly has been a fan favorite for years but has not always been able to maintain his life on tour (mostly due to his life off tour – let’s just say he knows how to enjoy life but has also had a lot of hard times to over come too).  Daly has played quite well this year and going into the fall series was at 132 on the money list.  If he played well he could perhaps get his card.  Going into the weekend at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, Daly was doing great shooting 69 and 63 (8 under par going into the weekend).  On Saturday, Daly imploded shooting an 86 (or 15 over par).  He recovered a bit on Sunday but was still 11 over par for the tournament.   He missed the cut at the Frys.com and now sits at 141 on the money list.

(2) Jason Kokrak is a rookie on the PGA tour.  He is not a player most fans know because he is not one of the “star” rookies.  Kokrak ranks 17 out of 25 on the PGA Tour Rookie Rankings list .  Kokrak had an excellent week at the Frys.com finishing in a tie for second place and taking home $440,000 in earnings; and moving him from 167 on the money list to 117.  Let’s hope he plays well at the next two events and keeps his card.

Next stop – The McGladrey Classic

As mentioned above, Billy Mayfair is the “Bubble Boy” this week at the McGladrey Classic.  If you believe past results are a prediction of the future, then Mayfair will not get the bump he needs this week because he finished in 20th at the McGladrey last year.  But I’m sure the motivation to keep your card can inspire players to do great things so Mayfair could surprise everyone and win.  After all, anything can happen in the fall series…that is why it is worth watching.

Why not check out the PGA Tour Money List, pick a player near the 125 position (any player between 120 and 130) and track their progress this week at the McGladrey Classic.  I promise you will be hooked and want to see what happens at the end of the fall series.