Browsing: pros

You can drop your clubs and you can drop your score, but as it turns out, it’s pretty hard to do both. That’s what Ryo Hisatsune learned in unusually painful fashion on Sunday afternoon at the Australian Open.

Hisatsune was grinding through the end of a challenging week at Royal Melbourne when he reached the green on the 8th hole, a long par-4. From the greenside, he faced a classic Australian sandbelt golf shot: A testy chip off a firm lie into a green protected by big swales.

But as luck would have it, the chip would be the leastof Hisatsune’s concerns on the 8th hole. His biggest issue? A fait accomplibetween his 56-degree and gravity.

As he walked to his pitch shot, Hisatsune’s caddie Taiga Tabuchi handed him his wedge. But then, as Hisatsune stepped to address his ball, something went wrong: His club slipped through his hands and fell to the ground, striking his golf ball and sending it skittering a few feet in the other direction.

Now, in some instances, this kind of indiscretion would be little more than cause for a chuckle. Under Rule 9.4 of the Rules of Golf, players are permitted to replace their ball without penalty if such action happens on the putting surface or teeing area, if it occurs during the search for a lost ball, or if a “reasonable action” caused the ball to move, like removing a loose impediment or retrieving another ball.

But, because Hisatsune’s hiccup wasn’t covered under these actions, the penalty was slightly more severe than “replace and forget it.” Hisatsune was assessed a one-shot penalty and instructed to return his ball to its original position.

The bad news for Hisatsune is that his club fumble made a difficult par all but impossible. After receiving confirmation from a rules official, he chipped onto the green and quickly tidied away a double-bogey 6 — his first of two such big numbers on a Sunday afternoon that ended his day and weekend at 6 over, in a tie for 51st.

The good news was that the damage was over almost instantly. Hisatsune was able to return his ball to its original position and continue on his round with only a one-shot penalty.

And perhaps a better grip on his wedges.

The world of pro golf is cutthroat, with even some of the best players having to fight their way into tournament fields. Joost Luiten successfully battled his way into the DP World Tour Championship earlier this month. But he wasn’t so fortunate for another upcoming DP World Tour event.

After being left out of the big-money Nedbank Golf Challenge field, Luiten took to Instagram to express his disbelief and dismay, and some of his fellow European pros joined in to support him and criticize the tournament.

Here’s what you need to know.

Joost Luiten decries missing Nedbank Challenge: ‘Hard to understand’

The hardest field to get into on the DP World Tour is the DP World Tour Championship. That was no problem for veteran Joost Luiten.

Across the entire 2025 season, Luiten collected three top-5 finishes and earned enough Race to Dubai points to be one of only 52 players who qualified for the event.

‘I have WON’: Pro wins suit against Netherlands Olympic Committee to play in Paris

By:

Kevin Cunningham

At season’s end, he sat at 33rd in season-long standings. The Nedbank Golf Challenge in honor of Gary Player kicks off December 4th and is part of the 2026 season. While it has a limited field, the current cutoff is 66 players, 14 more than the DP World Tour Championship.

Despite that, Luiten currently finds himself as the first reserve for the tournament. Making matters worse, the Nedbank features one of the biggest DP World Tour purses all year at $6 million.

In an Instagram post over the weekend, Luiten lamented his position and expressed confusion for how he didn’t qualify.

“Sitting as first reserve for the Nedbank Golf Challenge… honestly, it’s hard to understand,” Luiten wrote.

“Finishing 33rd on the Order of Merit, earning a place in the biggest tournament of 2025 DP World Tour Championship, yet not getting into a smaller event with bigger field and more spots then the tour championship! I just don’t get it!” Luiten continued. “Hard to understand or explain how the @dpworldtour world tour makes those decisions.”

Luiten’s exclusion comes down to qualification criteria. For example, any player who has won a DP World Tour event with a $2 million purse from 2024-2026 qualifies for the Nedbank Golf Challenge. Though Luiten has six-career DP World Tour wins, his last came in 2018.

Meanwhile, several players who finished worse than Luiten in the 2025 Race to Dubai standings have won since 2024, putting them above Luiten in the field qualification system.

Fellow pros protest Luiten’s DP World Tour exclusion

While Luiten was open and honest about his difficult situation on Instagram, he remained diplomatic with his comments. But some of his fellow pros did not.

After Luiten had posted his lengthy complaint to Instagram, several DP World Tour players replied to the post expressing their support for Luiten.

Pro Dan Brown called the decision a “disgrace.”

These 10 DP World Tour players just earned their PGA Tour cards for 2026

By:

Jessica Marksbury

“This is a disgrace, should be based off last season’s ranking,” Brown wrote in a reply. “Reward those who have played the best golf throughout the entire season and not just done it for one week of the year…”

DP World Tour pro Brandon Robinson Thompson encouraged Luiten to “say it louder.”

Fellow pro Jorge Campillo noted that while Luiten hasn’t made the field, some LIV Golf pros have qualified.

“Must be nice seeing guys from LIV ahead of you that last win was in 2023,” Campillo wrote.

French pro Romain Langasque wrote, “Agree 100%. We bring this up during player committee this year… but the tour didn’t want to change the way to qualify. Same for invitational in January.”

In the end, Luiten is taking it in stride. He noted that he’s proud of his results this past season, and he’s hopeful someone will withdraw and allow him to play the Nedbank.

“I’m proud of the season I’ve had and the progress I’ve made, and I’m ready to play. Hopefully a spot opens up, but either way, I’ll keep pushing forward in 2026.”

On Sunday at the PGA Tour’s season-ending RSM Classic, some players achieved their PGA Tour card dreams, while others came up devastatingly short. Max McGreevy is happily among the former group, but his stellar play Sunday was also responsible for two fellow pros losing their PGA Tour cards.

With one drained putt on the final hole, McGreevy secured extra status for 2026 and sent pros Ricky Castillo and Lee Hodges on more treacherous career paths. After his round, McGreevy opened up about the difficult reality that his success led to his friends’ failure.

Here’s what you need to know.

Max McGreevy’s birdie finish comes with big PGA Tour reward

Beginning the tournament in 89th in the FedEx Fall standings, McGreevy needed to first avoid falling out of the top 100 and thereby losing his full PGA Tour status for 2026. He accomplished that with rounds of 64-67-66 over the first three days at Sea Island.

But there was still something big to play for on Sunday. If McGreevy could move into the top 60 in the FedEx Fall standings, he’d earn invites to the first two Signature Events of 2026, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational.

12 surprising players who lost their PGA Tour cards on Sunday

By:

Nick Piastowski

When McGreevy arrived at the par-4 18th hole on Sunday, he was six under on the day and sporting an unblemished scorecard. He needed a birdie to achieve his goal, and he got it.

The 30-year-old pro’s approach shot left him with a lengthy 29-footer for birdie, but he drained it to shoot a 63 and finish in solo second place. The finish, McGreevy’s best of the season, moved him right on the number at 60th in the FedEx Fall standings, giving him tee times at the big-purse events at Pebble Beach and Riviera next year.

After his round, McGreevy admitted that his clutch putt on 18 will “rank up there pretty high” in terms of the best putts of his career. He compared it to an 18-footer he made last season to win a Korn Ferry Tour event.

“Same kind of emotions. It’s nervousness but it’s giddy nervousness, it’s what you want,” McGreevy explained. “Luckily just able to put a good roll on it and the cards fell in my favor.”

McGreevy laments knocking fellow pros out of PGA Tour Top 100

While McGreevy needed his putt on 18 to drop to get into the top 60, Castillo and Hodges needed it to miss.

Castillo, a 24-year-old rookie, entered the week at 135th in the FedEx Fall standings. Then he got himself into contention heading into Sunday. With one round to go, he needed to finish T2 or better to move into the top 100 and secure his full PGA Tour card for 2026.

The night before, he determined that would require shooting a Sunday 62. Incredibly, he did it. Castillo made seven birdies on the front nine and added two more on the back to finish with an eight-under 62. At the time, that put him right where he needed to be, T2 with McGreevy.

But McGreevy’s ensuing birdie on 18 moved him to 22 under and solo second, demoting Castillo to a solo third finish and leaving him at 102nd in the FedEx Fall standings, just short of the top 100 and a full PGA Tour card.

Pro loses his Tour card. Then came raw, emotional, 4-minute talk

By:

Nick Piastowski

Hodges started the tournament at 122nd in the standings. Playing the final round alongside McGreevy, he had his own crucial birdie putt on 18 from just under 10 feet. If McGreevy missed his long birdie and Hodges made his, Hodges would have likely finished in the top 100.

But the opposite happened, giving Lee a T4 and dropping him to 101st in the FedEx Fall standings, making him the official bubble boy.

In addition to the relief and pride McGreevy expressed in his post-round press conference at the RSM, he also expressed remorse for causing Castillo and Hodges to lose their cards.

“I hate to hear that that I was the one that did that,” McGreevy revealed Sunday evening.

He then went on to shower praise on Castillo.

“Awesome for Ricky [Castillo]… he has to come out and shoot 62 today to even give himself a chance and he does that. I don’t know if I played with Ricky one time this year, but I know how much talent he has. Regardless of where he finishes at, he’s going to be back out here and have more chances on the PGA Tour,” McGreevy said.

As for Hodges, McGreevy called him a friend and revealed that he was rooting for Hodges to make his birdie putt on 18, despite competing against him.

“I’m playing alongside Lee [Hodges], who’s one of my good friends. We came out on PGA Tour together in ’21 and I’m pulling for him to make that putt just as much as I was for myself to make that putt.”

He continued: “It’s little successes and defeats. Whether it’s a defeat to Ricky or Lee or something like that, they both still played great rounds, gave themself that chance, and that’s all they can rely on is to give themself an opportunity and they did. Hopefully, both those guys, Ricky and Lee, can take care of business either at Q-School or next year with some starts for sure and yeah, play good golf.”

As McGreevy noted, all is not lost for Castillo and Hodges. By finishing within the top 150, they automatically earn spots in the upcoming Final Stage of PGA Tour Q-School, through which they could earn their PGA Tour cards.

Additionally, they both will receive conditional Tour status for 2026 that should see them play upward of 20 tournaments.

Yosuke Asaji qualified his way in. Scott Vincent qualified too, but he’s also returning.

And Laurie Canter may also be returning, but his move has a surprising feel.

The trio of moves are all part of LIV Golf’s offseason, and more appear to be on the way for the Saudi-backed league that finished its fourth season in August. Below, then, is a look at the news from the past week.

Yosuke Asaji qualifies into LIV Golf

Asaji did so by finishing second in the season-long standings of the Asian Tour-based International Series. Notably, LIV recently announced that two LIV spots would be awarded based on the standings, up from one, and the move appears to be geared toward securing world-ranking points for the league.

Who’s Asaji? He’s a 29-year-old pro from Japan who’s played events this year on the Asian Tour, the Japan Tour and the Korea PGA. He’s ranked 237th in the world.

“I was so happy with my wife and my caddie, we were together,” Asaji said Saturday at the PIF Saudi International, the final event of the International Series’ season.

“We can get in the LIV event. I was so happy.”

Scott Vincent qualifies into LIV Golf

Vincent returns to LIV by finishing first in the International Series standings. The 33-year-old pro from Zimbabwe played with LIV from 2022 to ’24 before being relegated at the end of the ‘24 season.

Vincent is currently ranked 156th in the world. At the Saudi International, he tied for 42nd.

“I woke up at about 4:30, which was two hours before I was hoping to,” Vincent said Saturday. “Then you start playing all the different scenarios in your head, which was not what I was hoping for.

“Yeah, I kind of just — I wanted to come out here and just play freely and give it my best, but yeah, I was nervous. Obviously not knowing and not trying to look at leaderboards, you don’t know how much of a cushion you have. You don’t want to be the guy who’s ahead and loses, all those things.

“Once I kind of got moving and got into my routine and putting and range work, I definitely did settle down. Yeah, I just didn’t play great today, but obviously the season was enough.”

Is Laurie Canter returning to LIV?

On Friday, the Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter reported that Canter will be rejoining LIV — just a week after he had secured a PGA Tour for next year via a top 10 finish in the DP World Tour’s season-long standings.

The 36-year-old Englishman played in LIV events from 2022 to ’24 — though he played in just two in ’24 — then played on the DP World Tour. In March, he also played in the PGA Tour’s Players Championship via his position in the world rankings.

Then, he told GOLF’s Josh Schrock this:

“I think anyone who plays golf would [like to be a PGA Tour member],” Canter said. “You look at the event this week, last week I watched and kind of where those Signature Events are going, I mean, if you could engineer, play well enough to where you’ve got your world ranking where you’ve got Signature Events and majors — what a year that is for a golfer to play those venues with those golfers for that amount of money. It’s incredible.”

But now he appears to be headed back to LIV.

Have there been any other LIV-related moves recently?

Yes, there have been a few.

– Bunkered’s Ben Parsons recently reported that Henrik Stenson will return to the DP World Tour, after playing LIV events from 2022 through the end of this season.

– On Tuesday, Victor Perez withdrew from the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic, and he joined LIV.

– Two other players will join LIV following play at its Promotions event, set for Jan. 8 to 11 in Florida.

The Cubs have been rumored to be interested in multiple starting pitchers at the top end of the free-agent market. Hereâ€s a look at the pros and cons of the top five free-agent hurlers available.

Note: Pitchers are listed in order of their rank on MLB.com senior national reporter Mark Feinsandâ€s list of the top 30 free agents in 2025-26. The teams listed are the pitchers’ teams from last season, and ages listed are the ages of the pitchers during the 2026 season.

Cease is coming off a down year in 2025, one in which he posted a 4.55 ERA over 32 starts. But the right-hander remains one of the most durable and effective starters in the game, entering each season with Cy Young Award potential (he was runner-up in the American League in 2022, and he finished fourth in the National League in â€24).

Pros: Cease, whom the Cubs drafted in 2014 before trading him to the White Sox three years later, has some of the best raw stuff in baseball. A primarily fastball-slider pitcher, he struck out 29.8% of batters he faced last season and ranked in the 95th percentile among qualified pitchers with a 33.4% whiff rate, according to Statcast. Although his ERA was 4.55, his expected ERA based on quality of contact was 3.46, and his FIP was 3.56.

Cons: Cease is a fly ball pitcher when he isnâ€t striking guys out. The percentage of batted balls against him that were hit in the air (fly balls and line drives) last season was 62.7%. When the wind is blowing out at Wrigley Field, that could be an issue.

Another starter who spent the past two seasons with the Padres after beginning his career in the AL, King has emerged as one of the best starting pitchers in baseball. Primarily a reliever with the Yankees, he was converted into a full-time starter in San Diego and posted a 3.10 ERA from 2024-25.

Pros: With a five-pitch mix featuring a four-seamer, sinker, slider, sweeper and changeup, King generates a lot of soft contact — in 2024, his 30.3% hard-hit rate ranked in the 97th percentile among qualified pitchers, according to Statcast. The right-handerâ€s most effective offering is his changeup, against which opponents hit .181 last season.

Cons: King missed about half the season with injuries in 2025 — first a nerve problem in his shoulder and later a knee injury. While he pitched to a respectable 3.44 ERA over 15 starts, his xERA was nearly a run higher, at 4.31. The barrel rate against him was alarmingly high, at 11.4%, which was nearly double what it was in â€24. Like Cease, King is a fly ball pitcher — his ground ball rate last season was 39.1%.

Over the past two seasons, Suárez has been one of the top left-handed starters in the Majors. From 2024-25, he pitched to a 3.33 ERA for Philadelphia, and while he is about an average strikeout pitcher, he is one of the elite when it comes to inducing soft contact.

Pros: In addition to his ability to get opponents to hit the ball softly — his 31.1% hard-hit rate placed him among the top 2% of qualified pitchers in 2025 — Suárez keeps the ball on the ground. His 48% ground ball rate last season was actually down from his career mark of 52.9%.

With the stellar defense that would be behind Suárez if he were to sign with Chicago, particularly with Nico Hoerner at second base and Dansby Swanson at shortstop, that could bode very well for the Cubs.

Cons: Suárez has had some injury issues — he hasnâ€t reached the 30-start mark in a season in his career. He has a history of back problems, and backs can be tricky. He missed significant time in each of the last two seasons with back soreness.

Pros: According to MLB Network insider Jon Paul Morosi, Imai has a profile similar to, or even slightly above, the Mets†Kodai Senga. With a fastball that touches 99 mph along with a slider, changeup, splitter and sinker, heâ€s seen as a frontline starter in the big leagues. In Japan, he had a 53.8% ground ball rate this past season.

Cons: Anytime a pitcher comes over from Japan, thereâ€s always the unknown element of whether his success in NPB will translate to MLB. The recent track record is good, with hurlers like Imanaga and Yoshinobu Yamamoto experiencing success in the big leagues.

But that uncertainty remains with Imai. While his walk rate was much better in 2025, Imai posted walk rates in double digits in each pro season prior to that.

Valdez has an impressive track record as one of the best left-handed starters in the Majors over the past several years. The two-time All-Starâ€s calling card is his ability to generate contact on the ground, with a career ground ball rate of 61.5%.

Pros: Those ground balls, especially at a park like Wrigley when the wind is blowing out. Valdez has been very durable and very effective over the past four seasons, averaging 192 innings per season with a 3.21 ERA during that span. He also has a playoff pedigree, having made 16 career postseason starts.

Cons: Valdez was excellent over his first 21 starts of the 2025 campaign, in which he had a 2.62 ERA. But over his final 10 outings, his ERA was 6.05 and there was some controversy when he hit his catcher in the chest with a pitch after giving up a home run in an apparent cross-up on Sept. 2 against the Yankees.

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Former WWE Champion AJ Styles has been in the wrestling business for so long that he has seen the entire industry, both inside the ring and out of it, change before his eyes. His innovative style has contributed to the evolution of wrestling in its own unique way, but during a recent appearance on the “No-Contest Wrestling” podcast, Styles revealed the one thing he would like to see brought back to wrestling in the wake of how much it has changed since he debuted nearly 30 years ago.

“The one thing that I think is missing the most is selling,” Styles said. “The way they used to sell back in the day, man, they really made you believe that this hurt you know? That this guy’s in pain, and I just feel like we’ve gotten away from that, and I’m just as guilty as anybody, but if we could take it back and make a ‘less is more’ kind of thing happen, I think that would be best for everybody.” On the opposite side of things, Styles was also asked what is something that has disappeared from wrestling over the course of his career that he is glad to see gone, and he had a very specific answer.

“After taking them for so many years, I’m glad chair shots are gone,” Styles said. “I mean you try to find ways of making them hurt less by like jumping into it when he’s throwing it, you’re kind of putting your head into it so he doesn’t get the full swing, but at the end of the day, it never feels good.” Styles rounded off by saying that he would love to admit that taking a chair shot to the back not only hurts less than one to the head, but that it actually doesn’t hurt at all. However, that isn’t the case as he revealed that Kurt Angle almost knocked the soul out of his body with one particular chair shot to the back during their time in TNA.

Please credit “No-Contest Wrestling” when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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While the Tour Championship ended way back in August with Tommy Fleetwood taking the crown, the PGA Tour season has soldiered on with the FedEx Fall. Pros outside the top 50 in the final FedEx Cup rankings have battled for career survival across six events so far.

This week’s RSM Classic represents the final FedEx Fall event, and, therefore, the final chance for pros to secure their PGA Tour status for 2026. While the stars are staying home, the stakes couldn’t be higher for most players in the field.

Here’s exactly what the pros are playing for at this week’s RSM Classic.

Top 100: Full PGA Tour status for 2026

The priority for most players at the RSM Classic is to finish the tournament within the top 100 of the FedEx Fall rankings. By doing so, they earn full PGA Tour status for the 2026 season.

He putts with 1 hand, and he just won a PGA Tour event. What’s going on here?

By:

Alan Bastable

That means they automatically gain entry to every regular PGA Tour event and the Players Championship in March. While players finishing from 61-100 do not earn spots into next year’s Signature Events, they can still play their way into those tournaments by performing well in the other events for which they are eligible.

Adam Schenk became the latest pro to make the leap inside the Top 100 with his maiden Tour victory at last week’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship (while putting one-handed). The victory launched Schenk from 134th to 61st in the FedEx Fall standings.

Schenk’s Tour card is now secured for 2026, but he will be playing for something else at the RSM, which we will get into below.

Here are the top 100 bubble players heading in the field at the RSM Classic (*already exempt for 2026): Ryo Hisatsune (95), Thorbjørn Olesen (96), Danny Walker (97), Michael Brennan (98), Takumi Kanaya (99), Karl Vilips* (100), Matt Wallace (102), Beau Hossler (103), Isaiah Salinda (104), David Lipsky (105), Victor Perez (108), Patrick Fishburn (109), Pierceson Coody (110)

60-51: Signature Event invites

As previously mentioned, Schenk and the other players comfortably within the top 100 still have a lot to play for this week: access to Signature Events.

2025 RSM Classic odds: Ryder Cupper leads betting favorites at FedEx Fall finale

By:

Kevin Cunningham

All pros who finished the FedEx Cup Playoffs in the top 50 secured a spot in all of the 2026 Signature Events, which feature limited fields, giant purses and increased FedEx Cup points.

Players who finish the RSM Classic ranked 51-60 qualify for the Aon Next 10. That means they earn spots in the first two Signature Events of the 2026 PGA Tour season, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational in February.

Here are 60-51 bubble players in the RSM Classic field: Chris Kirk (54), Rico Hoey (57), Nico Echavarria (62), Patrick Rodgers (63), Joe Highsmith (65), Stephan Jaeger (66), Adam Schenk (67), Mackenzie Hughes (69) and Steven Fisk (70).

Outside top 100: Conditional PGA Tour status, Q-School finale

Players who finish the RSM Classic outside the top 100 in the FedEx Fall finale have a tougher road to secure their status. All players ranked 101-150 will have varying levels of conditional PGA Tour status for 2026, as well as full status on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Welcome back to the Monday Finish, where it’s always golf season no matter what the USGA says. To the golf news!

10 golf stories this week

We’ve got a one-handed putter. A cross-handed chipper. A Lambo. A guy leaving LIV. A bunch of guys joining the PGA Tour. We’ve got two season finales behind us (shoutout Stewart Cink) and two more coming up this week. We’ve got content, controversy and content controversy. Here are 10 golf stories in the swirl this week.

1. Two-handed blade-putting is dead.

The story: Okay, that’s a dramatic headline. But Adam Schenk won his first PGA Tour event, the always-chaotic Butterfield Bermuda Open, in particularly notable fashion.

The win was massive for Schenk’s career; he rose to the occasion in variable, brutally windy conditions and survived all the glorious quirky challenge of Port Royal en route to a one-stroke victory. Schenk felt pride in his victory but also relief — instead of planning Q-School he can plot out his next two years as an exempt member of the PGA Tour. That’s all awesome.

But from a big-picture golf-world perspective the craziest thing about Schenk’s victory is that he sort of just made up his putting strategy as he went along, finding something new in his hotel room each night. He putted one-handed when it wasn’t super windy. He finished off his winning five-footer with his left hand resting on the edge of the shaft below his grip. I found the whole thing oddly inspiring and self-aware; asked about his putt on the 72nd hole he gave credit to his hotel room (“it’s a little bit left to right as I putt towards the window”) and shared his process:

“I was just in my hotel room practicing with one hand. I’m like, ‘One hand’s not going to work because it’s got the wind emblem on the Weather Channel app. It’s already windy here and it’s going to be really windy.’

“So I kind of let my left hand rest on top. The only thing you can do is line up to it, take it back smooth and just release it and hit it off the center of the putter. If it goes in, it goes in, great. It was so windy on the last hole, I did the same process … if you’re going to miss it, miss it quick but don’t sit there and think about it forever.”

What it means: We’re not just in the mallet-putter era but the broomstick-putter era, the any-grip-that-works era, the one-handed putter era. The questions of “are you willing to look silly” and “are you going to make more putts” seem to have increasingly intertwined answers.

2. Rory did it all.

The story: Rory McIlroy lost in a playoff at the DP World Tour Championship this weekend but his runner-up finish was more than enough to earn him the big prize: a seventh Race to Dubai title and his fourth in a row. That puts him at seven for his career, one ahead of Seve Ballesteros and one behind Colin Montgomerie.

What it means: McIlroy won everything he wanted to this year. Okay, that’s not quite literally true. He would have wanted an Open Championship win at Royal Portrush more than just about anything. But McIlroy has made it clear what matters at this point in his career and that’s winning majors, winning at iconic venues, winning meaningful tournaments and winning Ryder Cups — particularly on foreign soil. He’s also talked about wanting to chase down Montgomerie in his quest to become the greatest European golfer in modern history.

So this year’s haul — a Siggie at Pebble Beach, the Players Championship, the Grand Slam-completing Masters, a home-game Irish Open, an away-game Ryder Cup and this Race to Dubai — checked a hell of a lot of boxes.

“As you’re still playing, it’s probably detrimental to do it too much. But yeah, there’s times when I catch myself thinking about my place in the game and where I’m going to end up,” he said post-round. “Again, as a 36-year-old, hopefully with a lot of years left in the tank, I don’t think about it too much. But yeah, you can appreciate that up until this point, it’s been a pretty good run.”

3. Matt Fitzpatrick turned it all around.

The story: Matt Fitzpatrick wasn’t exactly slumming it in your weekly men’s group, but early this year he’d fallen well below his lofty standards. He split with his longtime caddie, he fell outside the top 100 in DataGolf’s rankings and he was a question mark to make the European Ryder Cup team. But when summer hit, Fitzpatrick did too: beginning the final week of June he’s reeled off eight finishes of eighth or better in 12 starts, capped off with Sunday’s playoff victory.

What it means: It means that hard work has continued to pay off for Fitzpatrick, who has left no stone unturned in his ongoing quest for low numbers. It was fitting that he got up-and-down for the win in a playoff with his characteristic cross-handed chipping the same week that Schenk broke through; golf is about a lot of things but mostly it’s about working until you find what really works.

“It was the lowest I’ve ever been out on the golf course, and obviously when that happens you feel like things have to change,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s easy to say now that the only way to go is up from there, but easier said than done.

“To end the year and win this tournament is very special, and I really want to make sure that I thoroughly enjoy it.”

4. Linn Grant got happy and won. It’s unclear which came first

The story: Linn Grant won the Annika, particularly cool given she and host Sorenstam are both Swedish. It was her second win on the LPGA Tour and first of what she called a “rollercoaster” year.

What it means: It means Grant found at least a one-week answer to the vexing riddle of life as a professional golfer. Asked how she bounced back from multiple strings of missed cuts this season, she cited a quest for herself and her own process that I found fascinating:

“I don’t know, to be fair,” she said. “Golf and this lifestyle is always a rollercoaster of trying to figure out how to get better. Sometimes it’s just about taking a step back and maybe look at yourself and be like, ‘Am I happy? Am I making the decisions that make me happy?’

“Sometimes that is what makes golf easier. You have to be kind of strong and confident in those decisions to be able to say, maybe I’m not playing this week because I’m not feeling it, because it doesn’t make me happy, or changing just your plans or how you do things more for yourself to be true to yourself.

“For me this year I think that has been really big. Like I’ve had to change a lot of things in my routines, things that I thought were just things that were good to do because other people were doing them instead of thinking like, ‘What do I actually believe in? What do I think makes me a better person and a better player?’”

5. This LPGA pro made an ace and won a Lambo — plus more.

The story: Brooke Matthews made her first career ace really count. Her 9-iron from 143 on No. 12 at Pelican Golf Club came with a two-year lease on a Lamborghini Urus and a $20,000 donation to charity. It also vaulted her inside the top 60 in the Race to the CME Globe, making this the first time she’ll qualify for the season-ending championship.

What it means: Sometimes golf is about inner satisfaction and sometimes golf is about shiny expensive cars and sometimes it’s about both.

“It was wild. All week I was like, ‘I want to win the Lamborghini,’” Matthews said. “I still can’t believe it. I blacked out. I can’t wait to watch it on film because I still can’t really remember it.”

Here you go, Brooke:

BROOKE MATTHEWS ACE FOR A LAMBORGHINI!!

She will get a 2-year lease on a Lamborghini Huracán for the hole-in-one on the 12th hole at the ANNIKA. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/3vOWpIOzUd

— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) November 16, 2025

6. The PGA Tour just got 10 new faces — including an ex-LIVer

The story: The end of this DP World Tour season finalized the 10 pros who just earned PGA Tour cards for the 2026 season. It’s an intriguing list that includes No. 2 in the standings Laurie Canter, who won on the DP World Tour for the second consecutive season and has found some success post-LIV; he’ll now be the first ex-LIV golfer to earn full-time PGA Tour status. Sean Zak has more:

What it means: It’s easier to return to the PGA Tour from LIV if you start with a blank slate; because Canter wasn’t a PGA Tour member to begin with he didn’t accrue the same level of pesky suspensions.

Also, a bunch of these other guys seem very good, too — including Rasmus Neergard-Petersen, who finished eagle-birdie-par-birdie-birdie to snag a T3 and the ninth spot.

7. Henrik Stenson is back

The story: Back on the DP World Tour, that is. The Swedish major champ was relegated from LIV Golf and the Majesticks team he co-captained. Per good reporting from bunkered, he has paid his outstanding fines (or LIV has on his behalf) and he’ll be exempt from a “Legends” category. And he’ll plan to play the tour for the first time since resigning membership in 2023.

What it means: In 2022 Stenson was slated to be European Ryder Cup captain. It’s jarring to think of the sliding-doors moment that happened when he rejected the captaincy for a spot on LIV; what happened next was that Luke Donald took his place, he led the team to victory in Rome and New York, he entered a new stratosphere of respect in the golfing world and no doubt made a bundle of money in the process.

I wouldn’t venture to guess how Stenson feels now about his decision to leave; I’m sure it was complex then and remains that way. But it’ll be interesting to listen to him reflect on the process if we see and hear more from him on his old circuit in the months to come.

8. One LPGA rookie announced her arrival as two others announced their departure.

The story: This is a time of year for endings and new beginnings. So even as 24-year-old Miyu Yamashita clinched the LPGA’s Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year award, Elizabeth Szokol and Caroline Inglis bid emotional farewell to the tour as they each announced their retirements at 30 and 31 years old, respectively.

What it means: Retirement seems to be coming more quickly for some LPGA Tour pros. Beth Ann Nichols, who covers the LPGA in greater depth than anybody on the planet, has written about this trend; it’ll be interesting to see if the offseason includes any other surprising announcements.

9. The Internet Invitational had a heartbreaking winner.

The story: I wrote more about this here but the Internet Invitational was a fascinating piece of golf tournament storytelling, it was intriguing and emotional on several different levels, it seemed genuinely damaging, heartbreaking and inspiring in various chapters and I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

10. The NFL is mostly just about golf.

The story: Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield’s pre-Sunday smack-talk was all about golf.

“Baker wears two gloves golfing, so he’s that type of guy,” Allen said in the lead-up.

“Listen I respect Akshay Bhatia but I’m not wearing two gloves,” Mayfield clarified in another interview. “I might have to tackle [Allen] pregame.”

What it means: The NFL may be king — but the NFLers are obsessed with golf. We’re in a nice spot in this corner of the world.

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

It’s official: As a Washington resident my official handicap scores have shut down for the season. While I don’t really have an offseason training plan to reverse years of steady decline, I’m feeling the itch to develop one. Stay tuned.

We’ll see you next week!

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.

Kevin Chappell played in over 300 PGA Tour events and won more than $17 million in his career, but the 39-year-old pro recently decided it was time to retire.

Chappell’s best seasons were from 2013 to 2017 — which included his only win, at the 2017 Valero Texas Open — but he needed back surgery in 2018, missed almost all of the next season and returned during an odd time on Tour after Covid hit.

“It was basically a year and a half when I didn’t play a lot of competitive golf, and I really struggled to find any form after that,” Chappell said on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar podcast. “And in that time I started to grow as a person, started to grow as a father, and priorities started to change. I realized my work ethic was going down and my results were going down.”

In his 90 starts since his back surgery, Chappell made about half his cuts but failed to record a top 10. Although oddly enough, it was one of his final starts that helped him come to his decision.

In April of this year, Chappell got into the Zurich Classic of New Orleans as an alternate and teamed up with Tom Hoge. That duo was paired with Rory McIlory and Shane Lowry for the first two rounds.

“And I’m watching Shane and Rory play, and I might not have ever been Rory, but I certainly was a top-30 player in the world, and I’m like, Man, the amount of work it’s going to take to get back there, and the things I’m going to miss out on, I’m not sure this is worth it to me,” Chappell said. “So I kind of sat on that thought in the spring and into the summer. Took the family to Europe and played two DP World Tour events and was like, I think this is it.”

With limited status, Chappell made five PGA Tour starts and six Korn Ferry Tour starts in 2025.

“I think my priorities have changed, and to watch the level [McIlroy and Lowry] were playing at and level that I had — I just never played the game just to get a tee time,” he said. “It’s always been to compete and win and have chances to win and it was just going to take a lot of work and I was going to miss out on a lot of things I didn’t want to miss out on.”

You can listen to the complete interview with Chappell here, or watch on YouTube above.

This offseasonâ€s message from the Mets has been largely built around run prevention.

And since David Stearnshas been with the organization, center field has been the spot that he’s prioritized defense the most.

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In 2024, he acquired Tyrone Taylor from the Brewers and signed Harrison Bader as a free agent — that worked out well as the Mets made a run to the NLCS.

In 2025, Bader left as a free agent and the Mets attempted to acquire a similar defense-first type of player in Jose Siri from Tampa Bay. That did not work out. He was injured for most of the year and ended up getting DFA’d before the season ended.

Now, there is another opportunity to pursue run prevention in center — a potential trade for 28-year old White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr.

If you look him up on Baseball Reference, the stat line will leave plenty to be desired. He slashed .223/.297/.364 (.661 OPS) with 14 home runs, 53 RBI and 33 stolen bases in 2025. However, there is more under the hood that has Robert as a very intriguing buy-low option.

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From a contractual standpoint, Robert is owed $20 million in 2026 with a $20 million club option for 2027. He would be a true year-to-year proposition.

Here are the pros and cons of trading for Robert…

Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. (88) rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Rate Field / Kamil Krzaczynski – Imagn Images

PROS

Robert is an excellent athlete and has all the tools to be a special player.

In 2023 at 25-years old, Robert posted an .857 OPS with 38 home runs and looked the part of a future MVP candidate.

While he has not replicated that offensive success since, there were some intriguing things in the advanced statistics that suggest there are better offensive days ahead for the still-in-his-prime center fielder.

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His 2025 season began to take a turn offensively when the calendar flipped to July, and that led to him being considered a prime trade deadline candidate. The Mets were among the teams in conversations with the White Sox, but they ultimately decided to keep Robert.

Robert hit .293/.349/.459 (.808 OPS) with six home runs, 21 RBI and 11 stolen bases from July 8 until his season ended in late-August due to a hamstring strain

Robert has the raw power you are looking for, with a max exit velocity of 115.8 mph in 2025. He also possesses elite bat speed in the 92nd percentile. His 26 percent strikeout rate is certainly below average, but he trimmed it significantly from 33 percent in 2024. Robert also posted a career best 9.3 walk percentage, which is an above average number in the 62nd percentile.

What’s clear is Robert had a better approach at the plate in 2025 with perhaps some bad luck mixed in, as evidenced by a .250 expected batting average. It just did not end up showing in his end of season numbers.

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Robertâ€s defense and speed help raise his floor as a player. He is a plus defender in center, rating at +7 OAA in range, which ranked in the 93rd percentile. His arm is more above average than plus, but it plays in center field.

From a speed standpoint, his sprint speed has made incremental growth each of the last four seasons, with his career best of 29 feet per second in 2025, which ranked in the 90th percentile.

Jul 18, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. (88) hits a solo home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fourth inning at PNC Park. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

CONS

While the advanced numbers suggest some bad luck for Robert, the reality is that he has OPS’ of .661 and .657 the last two seasons. Even if there is belief in a bounce back, that’s two consecutive seasons of offensive numbers that would not be ideal in an everyday lineup for a contender.

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Another issue that Robert has missed significant time with injury every season of his big league career except for his breakout 2023, when he played 145 games.

Over the last two seasons he played in just 210 of 324 possible games. He also played under 100 games in both 2021 and 2022. Is he a player the Mets can rely on to take the field every day?

Robert also might block a prospect like Carson Benge or Jett Williamsfrom getting an opportunity in center in 2026.

If the Mets were to acquire someone like Robert, it would be with the idea that he is their center fielder if he is healthy. That does go against Stearns’ idea that they must leave room for young players to make an impact on the big league roster.

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VERDICT

Since July, I have been openly in favor of acquiring Robert. The price wonâ€t be cheap, but it also wonâ€t be exorbitant. I donâ€t think the Mets would have to part with any of their very top prospects in a deal.

The White Sox could have interest in one of the Mets’ potentially surplus major league infielders such as Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricioor Luisangel Acuña. If the Mets could land Robert for one of those and a mid-level prospect, that could be considered a risk worth taking.

However, Stearns’ comments at the GM meetings about Benge having the opportunity to compete for a job out of spring training has changed the dynamic.

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He said at his end-of-season news conference that he needed to be more aggressive. At the time, that was considered to be talking about calling up young pitchers like Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproator Jonah Tongearlier than he did.

He may have meant being more aggressive with prospects in general, which has become more of the norm in baseball over the last couple of years.

Benge was on the fast track, making it to Triple-A in his first professional season after being a first round pick. If the Mets are planning to have Benge compete for center field out of camp, getting Robert — or really any other full-time locked-in center fielder — does not make a lot of sense. Theyâ€d be better suited using their assets to acquire pitching or help at a different position on the diamond.

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