The post Turnberry’s famed Ailsa course closed for additional renovations appeared first on Golf.

The post Turnberry’s famed Ailsa course closed for additional renovations appeared first on Golf.

A four-time host of the Open Championship, the famous course shut down last month for renovations by Martin Ebert of Mackenzie & Ebert design. Ebert is intimately familiar with the grounds, having carried out extensive changes to the Ailsa in 2015. That widely praised project, which brought the coast more prominently into play on several stretches of the course, included the transformation of the par-4 9th hole into a stunning cliff-side par-3. In 2023, the Ailsa was listed 18th on GOLF’s ranking of Top 100 Courses in the World. 

This time around, the most significant changes will take place on two front-side holes. On the par-5 7th, the green will be moved some 50 yards so that it perches on the coastline, above the Firth of Clyde. The par-4 8th, meanwhile, will see its tee shifted to the right of the new 7th green, a modification that will straighten the hole while enhancing views of Turnberry’s photogenic lighthouse at the turn.

Few golf-course projects come to fruition without robust exchanges between the architect and the course owner. Those conversations can be by turns collaborative and combative. In the case of Ebert and Turnberry’s owner, Donald Trump, the dynamic has featured a bit of both.

According to Ebert, Trump has called him the “most stubborn man” he has ever met.

The two have come to loggerheads on several occasions. During the 2015 renovations, for instance, the location of the 14th green became a subject of debate. Trump “wanted the green to be located on the peak of the old, crowned fairway where there was an old cairn stone,” Ebert told GOLF.com in an email last week. Ebert, for his part, favored creating a more sheltered green in a shallow valley. The architect stood his ground and eventually, Trump relented, though Ebert concedes that he might not have won the argument on design merits alone.

“It could have been the mention of a superstition that anyone who moves one of the old cairn stones would come to a sticky end that produced the desired result,” Ebert said. 

More recently, the two locked horns over the location of the par-3 6th green, which Trump wanted to have shifted to the left, closer to the coast. Ebert was dismayed by that idea, as the 6th was one of his favorite short holes on the course. But he realized he would likely have to do the owner’s bidding. 

“I was left looking at the options (for moving the green), and when the course manager Allan Patterson returned to see how I was getting on, he found me lying down on the green surface, kissing it goodbye,” Ebert said. 

Patterson, in turn, told Trump about the smooch. A few days later, Trump called Ebert to say that he hadn’t realized the depth of the architect’s attachment to the hole. The green, Trump told Ebert, could stay where it was. 

In other cases, it was Ebert who gave ground, the most notable example being the 9th hole, which Ebert had originally wanted to turn into a dangerous short par-4. Trump pushed for a long par-3 along the coast. 

“His argument was that iconic long par-3s leave much stronger impression on golfers,” Ebert said. “We had a lot of debate over that but, in the end, I have to agree.”

None of these changes have been put to the test in a major championship. The Open was last held at Turnberry in 2009, when Stewart Cink beat 59-year-old Tom Watson in a playoff, and the Ailsa course has since been removed from the championship rota by the R&A. In announcing that decision, in 2021, just days after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. capitol, R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said the governing body would not return the Open to Turnberry “until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself and we do not believe that is achievable in the current circumstances.” 

Turnberry’s status as a championship host is far from the only fraught topic in professional golf these days. The pro ranks are divided, with top talent split between rival circuits. TV viewership is down. And the increasingly lavish sums of money on the table — and the apparent need among players and organizations alike for more of it — have done little to bolster goodwill among fans.

In stark counterpoint, though, recreational golf is more popular than ever, with tee sheets at top courses booked solid months and, in some cases, years in advance. To get a crack at the Ailsa, recreational players will have to wait until April, when the days are longer and the course reopens to public play.

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The post Xander Schauffele explains how he was quickly humbled after Open Championship win appeared first on Golf.

The post Xander Schauffele explains how he was quickly humbled after Open Championship win appeared first on Golf.

Just days removed from his second major championship win, the 30-year-old is taking a short breather before defending his Olympic gold medal in Paris next week.

What has it been like for Schauffele in the aftermath of his incredible achievement at Royal Troon?

“What a ride it’s been these past couple months,” Schauffele told ESPN’s Matt Barrie on “SportsCenter Wednesday.

What a ride indeed. After posting 12 top 10s in the majors since 2017, Schauffele has won two of his past three, with a T7 at the U.S. Open in between for good measure.

It was the performance at the PGA Championship at Valhalla in May that opened the floodgates for Schauffele. His final-round 65 was enough to clip Bryson DeChambeau by one shot. The self-belief he manifested at Valhalla ultimately gave him an edge down the stretch at Royal Troon over the weekend.

“The momentum people talk about in golf is all self belief, it’s all confidence,” Schauffele told Barrie. “Earlier in the week, I talked about winning that first major, didn’t really do anything for me walking into the major. But if I was ever in a place to win the tournament, I felt like it was gonna give me an edge. And I feel like that’s exactly kind of what happened.

Balls

“I either spoke it into existence or that’s sort of what happened. Because coming down on that back nine, I was right there in the hunt, and I did it a few months ago and I told myself, you can take control of this tournament, knowing you won one just prior, and knowing how hard it is, if you can sneak a few birdies in when no one else is, you’re gonna walk away with this thing.”

With the Olympics looming, Barrie asked Schauffele what it would be like for him to add another golf medal to his hardware haul.

“I may never come down to earth,” Schauffele said with a smile.

He did admit, however, to being quickly grounded by his U.S. Olympic teammates.

“I played golf for the first time today against, you know, I got Wyndham [Clark] and Colin [Morikawa] out here,” he said. “We’re out getting ready for the Olympics and I lost to both of them today. So, quickly humbled and quickly feeling the need to get back to work.”

The first round of the Paris Olympics begins on Aug. 1. You can watch Schauffele’s full interview on “SportsCenter” here.

The post Xander Schauffele explains how he was quickly humbled after Open Championship win appeared first on Golf.

The post This unique driver nearly won the Open. Can it change your game? appeared first on Golf.

The post This unique driver nearly won the Open. Can it change your game? appeared first on Golf.

For four days, Thriston Lawrence threw caution to the wind and went full send on nearly every hole, regardless of the situation. What made the aggressive gameplan even more impressive was how often Lawrence found the fairway, even as the weather conditions deteriorated.

Look at the stats from last week and you’ll notice the South African led the field in SG: Off-the-tee (plus-6.30) while ranking a modest 99th in driving distance (299 yards). Those two numbers alone highlight Lawrence’s incredible efficiency with the big stick. Putting yourself in a position to score was absolutely essential to succeed at the Open.

Raw distance remains the best route to gain an edge over your peers, provided you know where the ball is going. In some cases, sacrificing distance for accuracy can unlock a level of consistency that otherwise seemed unattainable. Which brings us back to Lawrence’s impressive performance off the tee.

The Ping G430 Max driver he wielded is already considered one of the most forgiving and consistent drivers in the marketplace. But did you know it’s fast as well? During our last round of robotic testing with Golf Laboratories, G430 Max was a mere 0.3 mph behind the fastest driver in our 95 mph robot test — a difference that’s within the noise. It should also be noted the driver had an impressive single-digit carry distance loss of 8.3 yards across all 9 points tested.

Having a driver that’s forgiving and fast can give you a leg up on the competition. Of course, there’s another aspect of Lawrence’s driver build that’s worth analyzing: the shaft length.

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It’s difficult to give an exact number, but the average driver shaft length on Tour is roughly 44.75 inches, give or take a half-inch in either direction depending on preference. Take a look at Lawrence’s club specs and you’ll notice his Ping driver checks in at 43.75 inches, somewhere between a Mini Driver and 3-wood.

We’ve done stories on what happens when you put a 3-wood shaft in a driver head in the past if you want a deeper dive. If you prefer the condensed version, just know that going shorter in length can lead to a decrease in ball speed. But don’t let that deter you from considering the idea of going shorter to cure an erratic driver.

There’s also a strong possibility you could get longer off the tee by going shorter. Yes, longer. Back in 2019, Tony Finau conducted head-to-head testing with a shorter Ping driver (44.75 inches) against his usual build (45.25 inches) that saw his ball speed increase 2-3 mph due to more center face contact.

In nearly every case, a more consistent driver that gets you closer to reaching the magical 1.5 “smash factor” is going to be the best option for your game. Maybe a driver with a longer shaft gets you there, but it’s more likely you’ll see efficiency go up in a meaningful way by going shorter, especially for mid-to-high handicappers with a misbehaving driver.

And if you do go to something shorter than 44 inches, make sure to take swingweight, feel and flight into the equation before making the final call. There’s no guarantee you’ll turn into Thriston Lawrence off the tee overnight, but there’s a very good chance you’ll see a meaningful improvement in center-face contact.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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The post Why this $2 million Open Championship bet wasn’t as gutsy as it seemed appeared first on Golf.

The post Why this $2 million Open Championship bet wasn’t as gutsy as it seemed appeared first on Golf.

It did, anyway, on Monday morning, when word spread on social media that a sports bettor named Rufus Peabody had placed a total of nearly $2 million on eight golfers, including Woods, not to win the Open Championship for a payout of just over $35,000.

Spoiler alert: None of the golfers Peabody wagered against was Xander Schauffele, so Peabody cashed in.

Even so, the average fan, reading of such a wager, might reasonably ask: What kind of gambler would risk so much money for such a relatively small return?

The short answer is that Peabody is not your garden-variety gambler. The slightly longer answer is that the risk he was taking was nowhere near as great as those numbers suggest.

First, about Peabody. A Yale-educated quant with a background in economics and sports analytics, he bets on golf for a living. Among the research tools he uses is an algorithm he co-developed that helps give him a statistical edge.

So, that’s the bettor.

Now, about his bet, which Peabody broke down for GOLF.com.

As the Open Championship approached, Peabody did what he always does before a tournament. He crunched a ton numbers, looking for good-value plays. One of the plays that jumped out at him involved Woods. The odds on Woods were 330-to-1 to win, which made him a long shot and yet, according to Peabody’s calculations, not nearly as big a long shot as he actually was. In the computer simulations Peabody ran, Woods won the tournament just eight times in 200,000 tries. The true odds of him hoisting the Claret Jug were closer to 25,000-to-1. 

In short, it made great mathematical sense to bet against him, which Peabody did, placing $330,000 to win $1,000 on Woods not to win. Similar computations suggested it made sense to bet against seven other players, too: Bryson DeChambeau, Tommy Fleetwood, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Ashkay Bhatia and Robert MacIntrye. You can check out Peabody’s betting ticket below.

If you add up all the liabilities ($330,000 on Woods, $221,600 on DeChambeau, and so on), they do indeed total close to $2 million. But that’s not what Peabody was actually risking. His maximum exposure was far less than that. Because only one player can win a tournament, Peabody was guaranteed to win at least seven of those bets. If Woods had won, for instance, Peabody would have been out $330,000 on Tiger but he would have won $34,175.91 on the seven others for a total loss of just under $296,000. Even in the worst case scenario for Peabody (a win by Bhatia), his losses would have totaled around $360,000, far shy of $2 million.

That’s still a lot of money, more than most of us could stomach putting on the line, which helps explain why not-to-win bets of this kind aren’t especially popular among recreational players. There’s not much of a market for them.

“People typically want the opposite risk/reward profile,” Peabody said. “You wager a little to win a lot.”

Not-to-win bets of the kind Peabody often places are also not the type of wagers you can make on DraftKings or at a Vegas sports book. You need an account with a betting exchange, which operate like options brokers, matching sellers to buyers and taking a commission on each transaction.

Given the odds and logistics involved, not-to-win bets — also known as “no” bets — are more commonly placed by professional bettors.

Of course, no wager is a guarantee. Even the most statistically sensible plays can come back to bite you. Peabody is not immune. In June, to cite one sour outcome, he and his brother, Tom, had $360,000 to win $15,000 on DeChambeau not to win the U.S. Open. Most golf fans know how that turned out.

Peabody tweeted about that setback. He tends to speak more openly about his losses than he does about his wins. Many professional bettors lean that way, partly so as not to come across as boastful but also because they don’t want to give away an edge.

“Winning gamblers in general are very unassuming,” says Martin De Knijff, a former professional bridge player who runs Metric Gaming, a Las Vegas-based technology company that serves the betting industry. “It’s also not in your best interest for the whole world to know you’re winning, either.”

In the age of social media and increasingly widespread legalized gambling, word of high-stakes wagers often gets passed around quickly — and not always by the bettors themselves. The betting exchange Sporttrade, for instance, has a service it calls “Whale Tracker,” which makes public all bets of $3,000 or more that are made on its site. After last week’s Scottish Open, Whale Tracker reported a whopper of a losing wager: someone had risked $73,800 to win $1,176 on Robert MacIntyre not to win the Scottish Open.

As it happens, Peabody was also on the wrong side of that bet, losing around $69,000.

Open Championship week brought happier results. The first report of Peabody’s winning not-to-win bets came from Peabody himself, who posted a picture of his betting ticket on X, along with the message: “Was a better week in outright ‘no’ land.” His tweet was reposted by others who referenced the $2 million risk.

Going public about a win was rare for Peabody. His intention, he said, was to offer a counterbalance to his DeChambeau loss but also to spark conversation and help people better understand how certain wagers work.

“I am not trying to convince anyone of anything,” he said. “But there are a lot of misunderstandings out there and tweets that I think can give a distorted picture of the gambling industry, so I think there’s an educational opportunity. Or sometimes I’m just trying to give people a chance to laugh at me.” 

It was Peabody who got the last laugh this week. No one mentioned this on social media, but he also had money on Schauffele to win.

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The post Xander, Tiger and smooth Tennent’s beer: 50 observations on Open Championship appeared first on Golf.

The post Xander, Tiger and smooth Tennent’s beer: 50 observations on Open Championship appeared first on Golf.

What would I shoot? 

What would I shoot at Augusta? What would I shoot at Pinehurst? Shoot, what would I shoot at any of these pro ballparks? The answer, of course, is “many” — but the conversation among my gang usually meanders to where we’d play the worst. Maybe it would be ANGC. I’ve gotten votes for Harbour Town due to its claustrophobic corridors. I’ve heard thoughts on Kapalua because of its unevenness. 

But Royal Troon might just be at the top. 

How many shots would I rack up from the coffin bunker? Would I just pick up? 

Where would my ball go on 11? The gorse? The hay? Into a commuter-train seat? 

How the hell would I survive a day like Saturday afternoon at Troon, with the winds slapping down hopes and the clouds unleashing tears? I mean, listen to those who strapped on their golf shoes that day:

Said Dustin Johnson: “I mean, the back nine, that’s the hardest nine holes I think you could ever play in golf right now, into the wind and rain — I mean, it’s so long I could barely reach — the par-4s, I had to smash 2 to get there, same with Brooks [Koepka]. That’s how long it was playing.”

Said Matthew Jordan: “I don’t quite know how to summarize it just yet. That back nine was just so tough. I was hitting clubs into there from yardages that I probably did when I was like 13, 14. It was just a complete grind.”

Said Mackenzie Hughes: “Yeah, it’s really tough. Very difficult because every single shot requires attention, focus. Even the little basic ones. Yeah, you’re just fighting for every single shot. It’s a long, grueling day, and happy to be done.”

That all being said, this is kinda why … we play golf, though. The challenge. The survival. If we can play it here, we can play it anywhere. 

And we sure do like watching the best occasionally approach some of our scores.

News

As we look back at the Open Championship week that was, we’ll make that observation No. 1 then. Let’s try for 49 more as we post up at the home office. There is motivation to finish, too. I’ve discovered the Vale Public House, in the Hamilton Heights area of NYC. It’s a Scottish-flavored pub. 

With Tennent’s Lager on tap. 

The thought is to publish this piece with one hand on the keyboard — and the other holding a pint. 

2. Here’s another word, though, from Hughes on Saturday:

Asked a reporter: “How about the spectators sitting through this out there. On 18, did you hear some people yelling your name and there were some Canadian flags?”

Answered Hughes: “Yeah, it was funny because on 18 — maybe it was 16, I was talking to my caddie, [and] I said, it’s amazing how many people are out here on a day like today when it’s just absolutely piss weather. They’re all here. They want to see the golf. It’s tough to watch golf in this kind of weather, I’m sure, when you’re under your umbrella.

“But they were out there. They were a pretty cheerful bunch for the most part, given the weather.”

Cheers to that. 

3. Here’s another word on Tennent’s. 

According to this story here written by Bunkered’s Michael McEwan, the brew was nowhere to be found at Troon. 

No cheers to that. 

4. I was rooting for the Justin Rose and Billy Horschel storyline. For the vets. For Rose getting a crack at major No. 2. For Horschel getting a crack at his first. For another shot. For not letting go as you get older. 

This hit me:

Asked a reporter: “You just said one key word there about dreaming, the ability to dream. At this stage in your career to be here in the Open, the greatest tournament, to be able to go to bed tonight thinking of the dream still alive …”

Said Rose: “It’s still my dream. In a few years, it’ll be someone else’s dream. But yeah, still my dream right now. Great opportunity to go live it out tomorrow.”

News

5. All of that made me wonder: When did I start cheering more for the olds? When did that flip? 

Hmm, let’s keep this about the golf — and not about my 40-something mental state. 

6. This is a nice segue to Tiger Woods, though. 

I think I have two thoughts here, after the 15-time major winner missed the Open cut, his third MC in four major starts this year. 

I think he contends again. Maybe as soon as next April, at the Masters. He’ll refuel. He’ll recalculate. He’ll play more next year. Making a run is not impossible. Who’s better mentally than him, after all? He can manage a couple under-par rounds, and there you go. 

7. But I wonder if Woods thinks he’s bullet-proof. The alphas always do. 

This could get ugly. 

Twenty-two years later, the moment below is still in my head. 

8. Let’s talk about the winner. Was Xander Schauffele’s weekend one of the best ever? He fired a 69 on Saturday, when the likes of DJ, Hughes and Jordan all suffered, as noted above. Schauffele then closed with a 65 — Sunday’s low round by two strokes. 

Killer. 

9. Speaking of that, there was this exchange:

Asked a reporter: “Your California mellowness, do people mistake that maybe there’s more fire inside than we can see?”

Answered Schauffele: “Yeah, I like — I mean, everyone in my family knows how competitive I am. I may not be the guy running around fist-pumping, but that’s just who I am. I kind of know how I need to be to perform at a high level.

“The same way I don’t get really angry, I also don’t let myself get too over the moon because to me, it’s the same thing. If I’m sitting there snapping a club, that would be the same as me running around fist-pumping. It would take too long for me to adjust before my next shot to hit a good one. I’ve kind of embraced this sort of SoCal, laid-back kid, but there’s obviously a fire burning deep within, or you wouldn’t have a couple majors sitting by your side.”

10. So how high does the Schauffele major tally reach? Three? Six? 

Or just the two?

One person close to the situation had a thought here:

“He’s only halfway there,” Schauffele’s dad, Stefan, told GOLF’s James Colgan. “I would say the one with the greatest potential for the career grand slam.

“How about that?”

Let’s put the over-under total at 3.5. 

News

11. Does Jordan Spieth win another major?

Let’s put his over-under number for future majors at 0.5. 

(You can also give that same number to Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa, Sam Burns and Cameron Young.) 

12. Does Justin Thomas win another major?

Let’s put his over-under number for future majors at 1.5.

(You can also give that same number to Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland.)

13. Ludvig Aberg might win like eight majors. Or zero. 

There’s also a crop of Aberg-like machines coming. 

14. I love the idea of Schauffele re-evaluating the process. He thought he needed more speed — so he hit the gym. He thought he needed another voice in the room — so he brought on Chris Como. Some players don’t do that. Some stick with the same methods, hoping for different results, which, yes, is the definition of insanity. 

15. Let’s talk Rory McIlroy. 

In this case, there’s no need to change much. Maybe a tweak here. Maybe a change to the team there. But majors are hard. Golf is difficult. He’s as good as they come.  

16. GOLF’s Sean Zak wrote a lovely examination here.

17. There’s also the real possibility he never gets past Pinehurst. 

18. But here says he wins the PGA next year at Quail Hollow. He wins there seemingly every year. It’s a lay-up. 

News

Right?

19. This exchange was notable: 

Asked a reporter on Friday, after McIlroy missed the cut: “There’s a lot of players out there really toiling, some of the best names in golf like yourself. Was there a point where you became quite philosophical about what was happening and looked at it in the bigger picture?”

Answered McIlroy: “Yeah, I think once I made the eight on the 4th hole, that was it. Twenty-two holes into the event, and I’m thinking about where I’m going to go on vacation next week.

“Yeah, that was basically it. I mean, I knew from then I’d sort of resigned myself to the fact that I wasn’t going to shoot, whatever it is, four- or five-under from there on in to make the cut.”

20. This exchange was also notable:

Asked a reporter on Friday, after Robert MacIntyre played his first four holes during the second round at eight-over — then played his final 12 holes at four-under: “Did you think you had any chance of being here for the weekend?”

Answered MacIntyre: “When I made that eight on 4, my head was completely gone. Then you’re standing on 5 going between a 4-iron and a rescue, and you’re honestly trying to just — trying to make bogeys instead of doubles and triples that I was making.

“I didn’t think I was going to make the weekend, but Mike said, look, fans are here to watch. Just give them what they want, a severe dig and fight, and that’s what I done. I just tried my best and managed to turn it around.”

21. Loved watching Thriston Lawrence pumping driver all over the yard on Sunday. 

22. Can Marlboro please sponsor Dan Brown so he can be … the Marlboro Dan?

Sorry. 

23. Is Jon Rahm on the way back, after a tie for seventh? Was his major season — tied for 45th at the Masters; missed cut at the PGA; WD at the U.S. Open — a blip? 

24. Is Dustin Johnson on the way back, after a tie for 31st? Was this major season — missed cut at the Masters; tied for 45th at the PGA; missed cut at the U.S. Open — a blip?

25. How do we evaluate Cam Smith this major season (tied for sixth at the Masters; tied for 63rd at the PGA; tied for 32nd at the U.S. Open; missed cut at the Open Championship)? Or the campaign of Koepka, the one-time king of golf’s biggest events (tied for 45th at the Masters; tied for 26th at the PGA; tied for 26th at the U.S. Open; tied for 43rd at the Open Championship)?  

News

26. If you’re blaming LIV Golf for the above results, go ahead. Of course, there’s also Bryson DeChambeau, who was close to winning three majors this year. 

I think the point is, none of us know how LIV is affecting play quite yet. Is the looser atmosphere messing with competitive juices? Maybe. Is that same vibe unlocking something? DeChambeau would agree there. 

27. Is Scottie Scheffler the PGA Tour player of the year? Or Schauffele?

Schauffele. Two majors > one major. 

But if — if — Scheffler’s putter is on, he’s the best player in the game. By a lot. 

28. Whom do we talk to get Tony Johnstone on U.S. broadcasts? 

GOLF’s Alan Bastable, meanwhile, is a Sam Torrance fan. 

29. Let’s dive into some of the sights. 

Troon, Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch saw, has this bunker-rake setup:

30. All the feels here, from Koepka:

Here, too: 

31. Yes, Prestwick Airport is close to Troon, as Golf Digest’s Jamie Kennedy saw here:

32. This was classy:

33. This was wild:

34. This was great:

35. How many times do we think the train is actually hit?

36. Let’s listen to some of the best quotes. 

Here’s this exchange between Shane Lowry and a reporter, started by the reporter:

“Are you a good front-runner?”

“I wouldn’t say I’m a good runner,” said Lowry, laughing.  

“I don’t know. I put myself there in a few big tournaments, and I’ve managed to knock them off. So I’ve done it a few times. I don’t know. It’s hard to win tournaments. We’ll see. I’ll tell you Sunday evening.”

37. Here’s this, from Ewen Ferguson, on the highs and lows of the game: 

“So hard, so hard, because that’s this game. That’s mental. That’s why my psychologist is here with me somewhere. I just talk to him and just keep myself in a decent kind of mind because I think I’m quite an excitable guy, and when I’m doing well, I’m happy and everything is great, but then when things aren’t, I’m like, slow down, but the margins are so bloody small in this game. You never know when it’s going to go your way.”

38. Here’s this exchange between McIlroy and a reporter, started by the reporter:

“You mentioned earlier that you met Tiger for the first time when you were 15. Do you ever sort of sit home and think like how surreal it is that that 15-year-old lad has now become fairly close mates with Tiger Woods? And like it was said earlier, like a global superstar?”

“Yeah, I get reminded of it or I remind myself of it every day,” McIlroy said. “I always say this, and it sounds cliche, but I don’t take it for granted that I can wake up every day and try to live out my childhood dream. And one of my childhood dreams was to meet Tiger Woods, but not only that, to compete against him and to befriend him and become close to him.

“Yeah, not in my wildest dreams did I think that I’d end up in the position that I’m in, but I’m very grateful for it. I still have to remind myself a lot that this is my life.”

News

39. Here’s this exchange between Schauffele and a reporter, started by the reporter:

“Before winning the PGA, did the idea of winning a major feel more daunting than maybe a normal Tour event?”

“You put more emphasis on it,” Schauffele said, “but daunting is not really how I would view it. We’re playing golf out here, you know what I mean. It’s not like anyone’s dying after they don’t shoot the round of their life.”

40. Here’s Schauffele, on playing through Saturday’s rough conditions: 

“I’m lucky. I love playing golf, and I love my job, and I love playing over here. For me, it’s all fun, and I just try to have as much fun as possible even on a day like today.”

41. Here are a few wonderful reads from my colleagues on the Troon grounds. 

Here’s Zak again, on Rose. 

42. Here’s Colgan, on the Schauffeles.  

43. Here’s Michael Bamberger, on the week’s real winner.

44. And below is about a half-hour of video from Scotland, via Zak and Colgan, through the “Seen and Heard” franchise:

Monday and Tuesday, please click here 

Wednesday, please click here 

Friday: please click here 

Sunday, please click here 

45. Was the Open the year’s best major?

Here’s my ranking of the four:

1. Open Championship (links, drama, Sunday funday) 

2. U.S. Open (one of the best final rounds you’ll see) 

3. Masters (another good final round, DeChambeau lifted a sign) 

4. PGA Championship (good final round, too many birdies, unfortunate news off the course)

46. So who wins next year? Let’s give this a go:

Masters: Aberg 

PGA Championship: McIlroy

U.S. Open: Joaquin Niemann, if he qualifies 

Open Championship: Aaron Rai

Rai? A sentimental pick, and you can read why here.

47. So how did the predictions go this year?

You can be the judge. After each of the majors, I wrote similar “observation” stories, and I made picks in each. Here’s what I had:

After the Masters: PGA Championship, Scheffler; U.S. Open, Will Zalatoris; Open Championship, Koepka 

After the PGA Championship: U.S. Open, Scheffler; Open Championship, Koepka 

48. Major season isn’t over, though. 

Gimme Gemma Dryburgh at the Women’s Open. She’s a Scot. And they’re playing at none other than St Andrews. 

Dryburgh? A sentimental pick, and you can read why here.

49. Then there are these bets:

50. I got my Tennent’s, as you can see in the pic below. 

Cheers!

Editor’s note: I also wrote observations from the Masters, the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. You can read the Masters story here, the PGA Championship story here and the U.S. Open story here.

The post Xander, Tiger and smooth Tennent’s beer: 50 observations on Open Championship appeared first on Golf.

The post How this ‘no-brainer’ Xander Schauffele gear swap gave him more control appeared first on Golf.

The post How this ‘no-brainer’ Xander Schauffele gear swap gave him more control appeared first on Golf.

When the difficulty was cranked up to expert level, only Xander Schauffele managed to find another gear down the stretch and prevail. It’s easy to look at Schauffele’s final round performance and chalk it up to mental fortitude. But that’s only one part of the equation. The tools have to perform under the gun as well.

In Schauffele’s case, every tool in the bag came up clutch in the big moments, especially the Callaway Chrome Tour golf ball.

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Of all the gear changes Schauffele made at the beginning of the season, switching from a prototype version of Callaway’s Chrome Soft X into Chrome Tour appeared to be uncomplicated.

“The golf ball is identical,” Schauffele said of the swap at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. “I think they just stamped a new logo on it.”

If the balls were “identical,” then why switch at all? According to Callaway Tour rep Kellen Watson, it was more about the subtle performance improvements seen during testing. More specifically, how the ball managed to hold its own in blustery conditions.

“With the improved aerodynamics, it was a no-brainer for him to switch balls,” Callaway Tour rep Kellen Watson told GOLF.com. “It’s one of those aspects pros notice when they’re testing on their own. For Xander, he was able to keep getting better in an area that didn’t require any major adjustments to his equipment. It was a compelling reason to make the switch.”

While the area package on a golf ball rarely garners the attention it deserves, Callaway invested heavily in the design of a new Seamless Tour Aero package found on Chrome Tour.

Gear

“Each ball will have a uniquely designed aerodynamic pattern, and it’s completely different from anything we’ve ever done, bringing our aerodynamics into a completely different zone,” said Eric Loper, Callaway’s senior director, golf ball R&D.

Callaway’s hexagonal dimple design remains a key part of the aero package, along with something else that won’t immediately stand out: a strategically placed spherical dimple adding consistency throughout the flight.

“By managing each dimple, it enables us to focus on the ball flight from start to finish, where the ball starts off fast but as it approaches the ground the speed has significantly decreased,” Loper said. “This has led us down this path of developing an industry first, it’s a combination of Callaway’s hexagonal surface geometry with strategically placed spherical dimples that provide stability through the entire ball flight. We’ve ended up with model-specific patterns that maximize distance and improve stability over the entire ball flight, which the player will see in a variety of conditions.”

Schauffele began ball testing in mid-October and immediately noticed how much easier it was to execute shots without doing the usual mental math to account for the wind direction. But ball testing at home doesn’t pay the bills. It wasn’t until he put it to the test in competition that he saw the same results under pressure.

“That’s when you know you made the right decision,” Schauffele told GOLF.com. “When you start to see the ball handling [the windy] conditions, it allows you to be more aggressive and trust that [the ball is] going to execute the shots.”

Since the switch, Schauffele has won the Open Championship and PGA Championship. Not bad for a guy who didn’t have a major to his name at the start of the season.

Schauffele’s trust in his Chrome Tour ball was on full display during the final round as he attacked Royal Troon with surgical precision. Even the tough shots didn’t seem to bother the 30-year-old — like a 173-yard flyer on the par-4 11th. With the wind blowing off the left at 17 mph, Schauffele extracted the ball from the tall grass and watched as it cut through the wind and landed softly on the front edge before settling within a few feet of the hole for an improbable birdie.

It’s the kind of shot that only reaffirmed his decision to switch balls in January. Shaking up a successful setup is never easy, but it makes all the hours spent testing behind the scenes worth it when the eventual outcome is major championship hardware.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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The post This step drill is 1 key to Xander Schauffele’s improved driving stats appeared first on Golf.

The post This step drill is 1 key to Xander Schauffele’s improved driving stats appeared first on Golf.

In previous years, the Monday after a major would often lead to criticism about Schauffele’s inability to get over the hump, with the 30-year-old answering questions about what he didn’t do right rather than what he did to win the tournament.

But 2024 is different.

News

While everyone talks about Scottie Scheffler’s dominance (and rightfully so), it’s Schauffele who has two majors on his resume this season, proving to be the most consistent player during the biggest moments.

There are plenty of reasons why Schauffele is a two-time major champ, but one obvious one is his driving stats.

This year, he currently ranks 12th in strokes gained: off the tee, 11th in total driving, 38th in driving distance at 305.7, and sits 71st in driving accuracy. In those same categories last year, he was 47th, 101st, 68th, and 131st, respectively.

Could an improved driver really be the secret to his magical season? Possibly, and one key could be a simple step drill that helps generate more power off the tee — which you can check out below to try for yourself.

Try Xander Schauffele’s driver drill

In the video above (courtesy of DP World Tour’s YouTube channel), Schauffele walks through an easy driver drill that can help every golfer generate more swing speed. Naturally, more speed leads to more power and farther drives — which everyone enjoys.

“The easiest way for me to gain a few yards is this little step out drill,” he says.

To execute the drill, simply stand one step behind the teed up ball. Next, at the same time as starting your backswing, take one step forward and swing through impact — which is the feeling of a baseball swing meeting the Happy Gilmore swing.

Instruction

Schauffele demonstrates how the drill works in the video, showing how transferring his weight more towards the lead side as he steps up to the ball gives him added power.

“Even doing this right now, I can sort of feel a lot of load in my right side. Once I step, I can feel a lot of weight transfer from right to left [back to front for a right-handed player], sort of drastically,” he adds. “This helps the clubhead speed.”

Since that’s not a natural golf swing, Schauffele understands how it could feel a bit funky for most players. If that’s the case, he then offers up a simple alternative to experience the same feeling and increased power — simply lifting the back heel.

“If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, you can do a left heel lift [in your backswing] — and you can sort of feel the same motion,” Schauffele says. “You lift the heel, you load onto the right side, and you press hard down on the left. You’ll sort of feel this chain reaction through your body of one to release the club.”

By using your momentum and some ground force, you’ll slowly begin to see longer drives.

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The post One pro predicted Xander Schauffele’s incredible major season | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post One pro predicted Xander Schauffele’s incredible major season | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

But first, some news for you: This column is available in newsletter form, free of charge with cool graphics in your inbox every Monday, if you sign up HERE.

GOLF STUFF I LIKE

Who saw Xander Schauffele coming? This pro

It’s hardly breaking news that Xander Schauffele is among the best golfers in the world; that much has been true for a half-decade. But until this May, years of near-misses in majors left his detractors focusing on what he hadn’t done instead of what he had.

That’s fine, that’s sports. But one person was eager to predict a different, major-filled future for Schauffele: Max Homa.

Just after the 2021 U.S. Open, where Homa had been grouped with Schauffele the first two rounds, he recorded a podcast with Shane Bacon to break down the week. Xander ultimately played his way into contention and finished T7, five shots behind red-hot winner Jon Rahm, but Homa was blown away by his game and made it clear just how bright he thought his future was.

“That kid is so freaking good,” he told Bacon. “I was reading comments about how [Schauffele] doesn’t close. Well, Rahm hadn’t closed either. I just wish people were a little more patient. I know that’s going to not happen, but he is good at every part of the game of golf. By good I mean really, really good.

“I’m obviously biased because I’m a friend of his and a huge fan of his but like, in my opinion there will be a time when he’s going to win one of these things and he’s going to be the guy, similar to Rahm, where it could get scary for a bit with how many he might be able to win. I’m talking majors or PGA Tour events. Both … he’s that guy. When he starts winning these things, it could just start coming multiple times a year and you wouldn’t even be shocked when he does it because it just looks so simple. He’s really good.”

Here we are. It just happened multiple times this year. It’s tough to feel too shocked. Schauffele made it look simple. And he’s really, really good.

In just two months the 30-year-old has now vaulted from the best player without a major to a guy with as many or more than most of the best players of his generation. Of men’s golfers under the age of 40 only Brooks Koepka (five), Rory McIlroy (four) and Jordan Spieth (three) have more major wins, and he’s alongside an impressive two-win group of Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau. No pretenders there. Better yet, Schauffele’s major wins came thanks to two final-round 65s — the first at the PGA at Valhalla to break the major scoring record and the second on Sunday at Royal Troon, where he shot a bogey-free round of six under that was low score of the day by two and, he declared, the best round of his life.

Schauffele changed his career narrative at Valhalla, but the few naysayers who remained could still cite the soft conditions and low scores as something less than the demands of a proper major. That wasn’t the case this week; there was no hiding at Troon, where most of the field eventually got blown away, particularly on a wet, windy, heinous Saturday afternoon. Schauffele out-scrapped ’em all.

And as a result, everything is different. The two majors speak for themselves, but they also cast Schauffele’s past near-misses in a more positive light. He had a dozen top-10s and 20 top-20s at majors before his first win, which used to get thrown around insultingly; now those are evidence of his quality. His majors feel well earned. Even his Olympic gold medal will look a little shinier next to the claret jug. And his preposterous consistency at the majors — 11 top-20s in a row — can be celebrated, wince-free.

A few paragraphs back I wrote that one person was eager to predict Schauffele’s dramatic rise, but there were actually at least two. We do “staff picks” before every major and I’ve basically picked Xander to win every single time for the last four years. I just checked the archives and tracked down our picks from Kiawah in 2021, where I wrote that Schauffele “might be the best player in the game.” At the time it may have sounded delusional. In reality? I was just ahead of the curve. So now comes the gloating, for Schauffele and (more importantly) for me. He wins arguably the most prestigious trophy in the game, I win some fake internet money. Everybody leaves happy. And Max Homa was right. That’s golf stuff I like.

WINNERS

Who won the week?

Xander Schauffele won the Open Championship; it’s his second major and his ninth PGA Tour win.

Chanettee Wannasaen claimed her second LPGA Tour win at the Dana Open in Toledo, Ohio; she poured in a 15-footer for birdie at No. 18 to seal the deal.

Nick Dunlap won the opposite-field Barracuda Championship in Lake Tahoe; he now has two PGA Tour wins in his young PGA Tour career.

NOT-WINNERS

An intriguing group came just short at the Open.

Before this year Billy Horschel had only logged one major top-10 — and it came in 2013. But he finished T8 at the PGA and played his way to the 54-hole lead this week; he even shot three-under 68 on Sunday. But that left him two strokes short in T2.

“I’m disappointed. I should feel disappointed. I had a chance to win a major,” he said post-round. “But we’ll look back on this in an hour, I’ll be very happy with how I played, I’ll be very happy with what I did this week. I did a lot of great things that I can take on to the next few years of majors, and hopefully one of these will be my time to step through the door.”

Justin Rose has been chasing a second major for over a decade and this was as good a chance as he’s had of late; he finished T2 alongside Horschel, his eighth top-six major finish since winning the U.S. Open at Merion in 2013. He said he was proud but “gutted” walking off the course.

“Well, I won second place, I won points, I won prizes, FedExCup points, all that stuff,” he said, describing his birdie putt at No. 18. “At that point, you’re being a professional.

“Then I walk ten steps later, and I’m choking back tears. So that’s the shift. Yeah, just personal, and enjoying 18 with the fans too. I just think it’s such an amazing stage. For me, like that’s the best look in golf, those two long grandstands that you walk down and the big yellow leaderboard. That’s what I associate with a magic moment.”

There were others in position. Thriston Lawrence played his way into the lead on the front nine Sunday but stalled on the back; he wound up in fourth feeling “very proud.”

There was Russell Henley, who hadn’t recorded a top 20 here since 2015, finished fifth behind him; he made 16 pars and two birdies on Sunday to finish four back. “It was just great to feel like I was in control of my game under pressure, feeling uncomfortable in an uncomfortable style of golf I haven’t really played well before, so just gives me a lot of confidence,” he said.

And Shane Lowry, who held the lead on the front nine Saturday before playing his final 10 holes in seven over par; he rebounded with a Sunday 68 but it wasn’t enough.

“How could you not look back on it positively, a chance to win The Open? Obviously the critics and whatnot will say that I probably should have won from where I was yesterday afternoon, but it’s not easy out there. It’s not easy to win tournaments like this,” he said.

SHORT HITTERS

Other Open notes, in brief.

–Jon Rahm was LIV’s top finisher; he had a happier end to what had been a disappointing major season with a T7.

-If you put together cumulative major scores for the 13 players who made all four cuts in 2024, Schauffele won in a blowout at 32 under par. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (T7 at the Open) was second at 17 under, with Morikawa (T16) third at 15 under.

–Adam Scott finished T10 a week after a runner-up result at the Scottish Open; it’s his best major finish since 2019. He drew an interesting comparison to Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose post-round.

“I’d sum it up, our career paths have been very similar,” he said. “We’ve all had our ups and downs, but we’ve all kind of achieved similar things in our career. I think there’s pride amongst the three of us to keep going. Just with the timing of our career, we weren’t good enough in Tiger’s peak, but then we kind of got our shot 10 years later, and always being nearly a great of the game is spurring us on, I think, to keep going for a few more years.”

-Schauffele’s win meant that Americans swept the majors for the first time since 1982. But the leaderboard was largely international; there were just six Americans in the top 24.

–Matthew Jordan finished T10 at last year’s Open as Liverpool’s lovable local kid. He finished T10 at this year’s Open, too, punching his ticket for next year — and he did so by shooting 71-71-71-71. That’s as level a week as you’ll get.

ONE DUMB GRAPHIC

The Scheffler/Schauffele Era is here.

ONE SWING THOUGHT

Xander Schauffele on links golf:

“I think the style of golf maybe helped me mentally play this week. The style of golf you can play out here, you don’t have to be perfect or hit the prettiest drives or anything. As long as you’re moving the ball forward and dodging bunkers and keeping holes in front of you and making sure your chips are into the wind, all the stuff that us pros talk about, it’s easy to talk about. It’s harder to actually do when you’re out there.”

Good stuff. How many of you are making sure your chips are into the wind?

ONE BIG QUESTION

What do we make of Brooks Koepka’s season?

After an opening-round 70 it seemed like maybe this would be a week for Brooks Koepka to jump back into contention at a major for the first time since last year’s PGA win. Instead he faded with a Friday 73 and Saturday 78; Sunday’s 71 left him T43. I mentioned earlier the list of 13 pros to make every major cut this season, and Koepka’s name is on that list. But his finishes — T45, T26, T26, T43 — aren’t what we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. The question, then: which Koepka should we expect going forward? The guy that finished T2 at last year’s Masters and won the PGA or the guy who has one bad round (Saturday 74 at Valhalla, Friday 75 at Pinehurst, Saturday 78 at Troon) derail his chances each major?

We’ll have our next data point in April.

ONE THING TO WATCH

Padraig Harrington in action…

…alongside our Michael Bamberger. Two of golf’s true originals and top characters. You won’t regret it.

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

Seattle’s own Cameron Davis — we have him on loan from Australia — settled at first alternate at the Open, even after his Rocket Mortgage win. This year was particularly cruel for alternates, as the Open accepted 159 players but decided they wouldn’t accept alternates until the field got back to 156. Two players dropped out, so they teed off Thursday with 157, including two twosomes — but Davis, at No. 41 in the world, was left waiting and watching.

Even worse? This is the second consecutive year Davis is first alternate. He waited around all Thursday last year at Royal Liverpool, but no dice. And even worse than that, according to an interview with Golf Digest, in 2022 he said officials told him his alternate number was too high, so he stayed home — but would have gotten in.

Here’s hoping for better luck next year.

We’ll see you next week!

Before I send you on your way, one last chance: this column is available in newsletter form, free in your inbox every Monday, if you sign up HERE.

Dylan welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.

The post One pro predicted Xander Schauffele’s incredible major season | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post As Rory McIlroy’s major drought reaches 10 years, 1 big question looms appeared first on Golf.

The post As Rory McIlroy’s major drought reaches 10 years, 1 big question looms appeared first on Golf.

It won’t be a long holiday. Unlike other sports, golf always offers somewhere else to play. The Olympics competition begins in 10 days. McIlroy will be there, wearing Irish green.

That’s kinda his thing, right? Resilience, to use his choice word. Or simply, moving on. No matter how many short putts he misses, no matter how many majors slip out of his grasp, McIlroy always returns. (What else is there to do?) And when he returns, he tends to win. Atlanta in August and Dubai in January and Charlotte in May. Even New Orleans in April. Everywhere except for where he wants to win most. It has to be infuriating.

It is now a clean 10 years since McIlroy lifted a major championship trophy, and by the time he gets another chance, it will have been 10 years and eight months. Surely that number will kick around his mind on vacation. How many FedEx Cups can one win without claiming a major? How many Races to Dubai? How many weeks ranked inside the top 4 before he wins one of the top four? 

We’ve got five months left of 2024 but your mind goes straight to the major hosts for 2025. Augusta, Quail Hollow, Oakmont and Portrush. The first, his bugaboo. The second, his second home. The third, eh, good luck. The fourth, his real home. They’re all different tests and all topics for another day. The question everyone wants him to consider now is simple: What does he need to do differently? Here’s a fairer one: What can he do differently? 

McIlroy has surrounded himself with a slew of talented, keen people, all trying to bring out his best. He has a good caddie who puts him at ease. That’s important and unquantifiable. He has the ear of Dr. Bob Rotella, a preeminent sports psychologist. He talks with Butch Harmon on occasion, arguably the best golf coach in the world. One of the best putters in PGA Tour history, Brad Faxon, tends to McIlroy’s stroke. Michael Bannon — who has groomed McIlroy’s swing since his youth — was at his side the last two weeks. Tiger Woods shares insight whenever Rory asks. Michael Jordan and Rafa Nadal text their condolences and advice. That might not be worth much when the wind is whipping 30 mph in your face, but it means something. People respect McIlroy, and desperately want him to summit the mountain. 

McIlroy also has tried filling in the cracks of the foundation by reading different books before majors, applying different tactics, committing to different approaches. He tries to stay in his “cocoon” more than he used to, keeping a narrow window of focus. He’s not sitting for dinner in Pinehurst Village during the U.S. Open. He’s not signing autographs after every round, or posing for pictures pre-round. Detractors will roll their eyes, but he has improved, recording eight top 10s in the last 12 majors. That’s one of the pillars of the frustration, both his and ours. He’s always good, bordering on great, but never first. Sometimes it takes nine holes for us to realize it, sometimes 45, this week just 22. At St. Andrews, LACC and Pinehurst, it took a full 72. That’s 2022, 2023 and 2024 summed up for him. It feels a long way from 2011, 2012 and the double-major magic of 2014.

McIlroy responded to his Pinehurst collapse by walking the High Line, on Manhattan’s west side, a handful of times. He met a good pal for coffee. He called up Rotella for an hour-long chat. Then he changed his phone number, hoping to draw some space between himself and suddenly sympathetic media. That’s what Sisyphus would do if Sisyphus was real and reaching the 10-year mark. He’d reset. Turn the page. Take a lap. Then go again. McIlroy returned and beat 146 other pros at the Scottish Open, losing to just three. 

News

There’s an element of showing back up that helps you get over it all. The questions at the Open directly mimicked the ones he heard a week earlier, at the Scottish Open. Where is your head space? How did you process it all? How will you act differently next time? The same questions will wait for him at the Masters in the spring. But few players seem to draw an element of therapy from their visits with the press like McIlroy does. It was on Friday afternoon of the Scottish, exactly one week before that fateful snowman, where McIlroy stood with reporters and seemed to process a bit of his future in real-time.

“I think sometimes I need to take a step back and appreciate what I’ve done in my career and in my life, and enjoy my success,” he said. “I don’t really enjoy my success. I haven’t, I would say, for the last five — I haven’t been on a vacation for the last four or five years. So I think just stepping back and enjoying myself a little bit more away from my game, and my career, is a really important thing.”

A reporter asked him when he last took a vacation.

“Ohhhh.”

McIlroy took his hat off and ran his fingers through his hair.

“I mean, like proper vacation? Um…”

He paused.

“Can’t even remember. It’s been a while.”

Maybe that’s why the idea snuck into his mind after penciling an 8 onto his scorecard at the Open. This year’s major journey was over. It could be time for a trip. Golf has at times been all-consuming in his life, he told us at the Scottish. He’s had to be intentional to disconnect from it. Naturally, we asked him how he does that.

“For someone that travels so much, I like traveling,” he said. “I like seeing new places. Even like I said, going up to New York there for three days after Pinehurst — I enjoy that stuff. I enjoy eating at new restaurants, I enjoy going to vineyards, tasting new wines. I’m a bit of, you know, I guess a bit of a foodie.

“I enjoy seeing new parts of the world. I wouldn’t say I’ve got a ton of hobbies. Been talking about trying to get to the mountains in the new year, and trying to get Poppy on a set of skis — I don’t think I’ll get on a set of skis. But yeah, just trying to do new things and see new places. It’s a big world out there and I’d like to see a lot of it.” 

He can’t go too far, though. His to-do list won’t let him. Paris beckons.

The post As Rory McIlroy’s major drought reaches 10 years, 1 big question looms appeared first on Golf.

The post Post-major season stock report: Xander way up, what about Rory McIlroy? appeared first on Golf.

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For example, the sky is blue, the earth is round, and the golf season revolves around the major championships.

For better or worse, these four weeks are at the center of everything we hold dear as golf fans — and the same goes for the guys between the ropes. 

What is it about the major championships that captures us? My best guess is that it has something to do with finality. The stakes are stark and obvious for everyone involved: Your legacy is your number of major victories. Come Sunday evening, reality is equally as binary: either you’ve won a major or you’ve lost a major. There is no in between.

In an increasingly gray world, there’s something satisfying about this black-and-white. A victory is validation of all that has gone right; a loss is a repudiation of the million small decisions that contributed to it.

As we reflect upon a turbulent season at the majors, including Xander Schauffele’s brilliant victory on Sunday evening at Royal Troon, let’s look upon the glorious finality of the last four months by taking stock of the golf world.

Post-Majors Stock Report

Xander Schauffele: Stock PEAKING

If we were Wall Street analysts, we would warn you that you might be buying Xander Schauffele stock at its high watermark by cashing in just hours after his second major championship win in four months at the Open Championship.

Fortunately, we are not Wall Street analysts, which means we can bask in this glorious high right alongside Xander. After years of languishing in the waiting room just beneath major glory, Schauffele broke through in a massive way in 2024. The two major wins are ultimately all he’ll care about, but the variety between them — one in a shootout at bomb-and-gauge Valhalla; the next in a war of attrition in the heart of linksland — says everything about his development as a tournament golfer.

He started this major season winless; he wakes on Monday morning halfway to the grand slam. That about says it all.

Scottie Scheffler: Stock UP

The bad Scottie resurfaced during Open Championship week, a brutal time for one of his worst putting performances in months. But not even a Sunday bow-out at Troon is enough to diminish the overall quality of Scheffler’s major season, which elevated his game to a historic trajectory. Six wins in a season is brilliant, and a second Masters title in three years is nothing to sniff at, either. It speaks only to his quality as a player that it feels like he’ll look back at this year and regret not getting another major knocked off, given the level he’s played at.

We’ll be monitoring how Scottie handles the grind of the Tour season in ’25. He has struggled with keeping his game sharp from March through July to this point in his career, and has talked about wanting to reevaluate his playing schedule in order to peak at the Opens. Still, the arrow is pointing firmly up.

Bryson DeChambeau: Stock UP

Bryson might never win an Open unless he stumbles upon a week with friendlier-than-usual conditions, but that’s a conversation for later on in his career. For now, it’s all sunshine and rainbows for DeChambeau, who was golf’s preeminent comeback story in 2024 after claiming his second major victory at the U.S. Open in June.

His equipment is better than it’s ever been. His spirits are better than they’ve ever been. And with his blend of power and precision, it’s hard to imagine him being any worse than the second or third favorite in the field heading into Augusta in April and Quail Hollow in May. If he keeps this trajectory, it wouldn’t shock me if he’s the next golfer to get to two (or three) legs of the grand slam. But if and when that happens, the Open could prove a serious bugaboo.

Tiger Woods: Stock DOWN

Look, we’re never going to rule out Tiger Woods come major championship season, but the simple fact is that we’ve just emerged from a major season where Tiger made four major starts and missed three cuts. His best finish of the bunch was dead-last at the Masters.

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It’s clearly a question of practice, not ability. But until he’s playing multiple tournament rounds outside of the majors — something he teased in his post-round presser on Friday at Troon — it’s hard to convincingly feel confident about the state of his game during a major week.

Well, maybe except for Augusta.

Rory McIlroy: Stock DOWN

Is it better to have led and lost, or not ever led at all? This’s the question facing Rory at the end of his most agonizing major championship season on record as his major-less streak extends to a decade. 

McIlroy is still part of golf’s monoculture, which means that unlike his non-Tiger counterparts, he’s a story every week, win or lose. This year, as with each of the last 10 years, he leaves the major season stuck on four career victories — and fair or not, that’s a story much bigger than some of the other non-winners on this list.

It’s not all bad for Rory, who will surely be able to take some good from his brief flurry of soul-stealing golf in the middle of Sunday at the U.S. Open. We haven’t seen Rory activate into that level of killer-instinct at a major in, well, a while. But it will be hard for him and us not to spend the next eight months litigating the pair of sub-4-footers that came after that stretch, and how hard it will be for him to get back into that position again.

Jon Rahm: Stock DOWN

It was the major season from hell for Rahmbo, who went missing at Augusta and Valhalla, then had to WD from Pinehurst with a bizarre (and quite gruesome-sounding) toe injury. His game returned to form in time for the Open Championship, where a Sunday charge netted a T7 finish that more resembled Rahm’s typically sharp form.

Still, he leaves a year of his prime without having seriously challenged for a major win. For a competitor of his ability level, that’s frustrating.

Brooks Koepka: Stock IN QUESTION

Brooks was another expected contender who vanished from the scene at a few major starts this season. He never played poorly, per se, but never quite managed to find himself in contention.

Koepka’s game is perhaps more susceptible to venue variance than most (he generally does better at the tougher courses), but it was surprising to go through an entire major season without seeing his name on the first page of the leaderboard. 

Justin Rose: Stock UP

Rosey did not get the second-career major triumph he so badly desired in 2024, not in a T6 finish at Valhalla in May nor in a spirited qualifier-to-runner-up performance at Troon in July, but he was one of the sport’s most delightful stories anyway. 

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In an era of pro golf when so many players use their platform for score-settling, Rose kept his head down, said all the right things, and played inspired golf when it mattered most. That’s a pretty good story, if you ask me.

Ludvig Aberg: Stock UP

Tough few weeks for the young Swede, who had a stranglehold on the Scottish Open before an uncharacteristic Sunday, then missed the second cut of his major season at the Open. After so many months of being told he wasn’t a rookie, Aberg has started to look like one down the stretch of this year.

That’s just fine, of course. The rookie wall comes for most, and it’s impossible to talk about his first year in earnest without mentioning his performance in his maiden Masters voyage in April — a solo-second finish that will carry him well into the new year.

He fell short of a historic rookie year, sure, but Aberg isn’t going anywhere.

Collin Morikawa: Stock NEUTRAL

He’s played the best golf of anyone in the world without a win in 2024. He also played some of the best major championship golf of anyone in the world during that stretch. Glass half-full: 2024’s performance is a harbinger of future success to come. Glass half-empty: it’s a big missed opportunity in a year where he played some of his young career’s best golf.

Either way, Collin heads into ’25 hungry for more.

Viktor Hovland: Consult Elon Musk about stock price

I don’t fully know how to categorize Hovland’s season. On one hand, he seemed to lose his game altogether and still managed a solo third-place finish at the PGA. On the other, he seemed to lose his game altogether after being on the brink of a few major wins in ’23.

Hov remains in the conversation at each major he plays, and that’s a good thing. I just suppose I’m wondering how much of that conversation involves pondering life after death, as he did in an interview with The Telegraph.

Max Homa: Stock UP

I say this confidently now, two days removed from Friday’s triumphant made-cut on the number (and subsequent super-introspective celebration) at the Open: Max Homa is trending in the right direction.

Whether he felt that way before he drained a 25-footer to make the cut on the number at Royal Troon is a different story, but with a career-best major finish at the Masters in ’24, Homa keeps inching closer to major glory.

Justin Thomas: Consider Dramamine before purchasing

By Sunday morning, Justin Thomas had played five of the best nine-hole loops of anyone at Royal Troon and one of the very worst. As he prepared to tee off on Sunday afternoon, his Friday front-nine 45 looked like it might live in infamy as one of the all-time “what-ifs” of Thomas’ career. (He would have been several shots clear of the field on Sunday if not for that debacle.)

Then he stepped to the first tee needing a low number to stay in the hunt on Sunday and blasted his drive straight off the face of the earth. OB, tournament over, T31 finish incoming.

It was that kind of major season for Thomas. A few flashes of brilliance followed by a few truly head-scratching moments. The good news is that’s miles better than where he was last year at this time. The bad news is it’s not particularly close to a return to world No. 1 form.

I don’t know what to make of that, other than I’m sure by the time this story is published it will changed again.

Jordan Spieth: Creditors are reviewing

For better or worse, the Jordan Spieth rollercoaster seems to have settled in a place neither in contention nor fully out of it.

He’s clearly dealing with an unresolved injury that is impacting his play, but he turns 31 in five days and it’s been a long while since we’ve seen a spark of something. That’s confounding, and disappointing for those of us who remember the glory days of the mid-2010s.

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