A mix of comeback math, golf-boom growing pains, a long-overdue first at St Andrews, a public course getting dragged into White House demolition drama, and YouTube golf continuing its march into the mainstream.

→ Bryson’s PGA Tour Comeback Might Not Be That Complicated
Bryson DeChambeau says a potential return to the PGA Tour might come down less to executives and more to whether the players actually want him back. He also raised questions about how much freedom he’d have to keep creating content around tournaments, which is kind of the whole Bryson machine now. The funny part? The Tour says players can already post during practice rounds and pro-am days, so the biggest hurdle might not be the rules. It might just be the room. (Skratch Golf)

→ Golf Got Too Popular and Now Kids Can’t Get Tee Times
The golf boom has been great for courses, brands, and anyone selling $12 beers at the turn. But there’s a problem nobody loves talking about: junior golfers are getting squeezed. Tee sheets are packed, access is tighter, and the kids who are supposed to be the future of the game are sometimes stuck indoors hitting into simulators instead of actually playing. Great problem for the industry. Not so great if you’re 13 and just want to get on the course. (GolfDigest.com)

→ It Only Took The R&A 272 Years
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews named Claire Dowling as the first woman captain in its 272-year history. That’s a big deal, even if the timeline makes you do a double take. The club only opened membership to women in 2014, and now Dowling will take over as captain in September. Progress is progress — even when it shows up a few centuries late. (The Guardian)

→ White House Rubble Got Dumped On A Golf Course. Now There’s Toxic Metal Drama
Debris from the White House East Wing demolition was dumped at East Potomac Golf Links, the same public D.C. course already caught up in renovation controversy. According to Fortune, a National Park Service report found the soil tested positive for lead, chromium, and other toxic metals, while the Department of the Interior says the project passed legal safety standards. Either way, “public golf course becomes dumping ground for White House rubble” is not exactly the feel-good muni story of the year. (Fortune)

→ YouTube Golf Just Got Called Up To The Big Leagues
Grant Horvat and the Bryan Bros are joining Wasserman’s newly rebranded agency, The Team, after it acquired Provisions Golf. Translation: YouTube golf is not some side corner of the sport anymore. These guys are getting folded into the same kind of machine that represents major athletes, runs events, and knows how to turn attention into money. The line between “golf influencer” and “golf business” is basically gone. (frontofficesports.com)

For the second week in a row, the PGA TOUR is hosting a Signature Event.

Hopefully, that is the last time I ever have to write that sentence.

The TOUR’s limited-field, no-cut, guaranteed-money events were basically a LIV-response experiment – a way to financially compensate top players enough to keep them from jumping ship.

And they kinda stink.

In terms of retaining talent, maybe it worked and maybe it didn’t. But I can tell you this: the average golf fan does not care about the purse size.

We watch sports for community, unscripted drama, and meaningful storytelling.

When you remove the cut-line and guarantee the money, it limits the amount of meaningful stories and drama that can play out.

Beyond that, if you’re the type of sicko who watches golf every week, it gets a little stale seeing the same 70 guys over and over again.

Bring back the cuts. Long live the cuts. 

With that tangent out of the way, we get back to the actual golf tournament being hosted at Quail Hollow this week.

Like last week, it’s a brutish course.

Both Doral and Quail Hollow play ~7600 yds, and both have a demanding set of closing holes.

The last three at Quail Hollow are referred to as The Green Mile, but by now, you’re probably pretty familiar with the course. It hosted the PGA Championship last year and the Presidents Cup in 2022, and has been a regular stop on TOUR for some time.

Rory McIlroy has won here four times; he is the odds leader this week, with Scottie Scheffler taking the week off.

The course suits McIlroy’s game perfectly – it requires distance and accuracy off the tee as well as emphasis on ball-striking.

Okay, I could write that about most courses, most weeks, but you get the point.

If you want to win at Quail Hollow, you’ve got to bring your complete game with you.

The Details

Previous Winners

How To Watch

Featured Groups:

Weekly Bets: The Truist Championship

We’ve partnered with Keith Stewart at Read The Line to share his weekly golf betting picks with the Caddyshanks crew. If you’re the type who enjoys breaking down matchups, spotting trends, and hunting for value, you’ll feel right at home in the RTL community.

Keith Stewart’s Picks

Rory McIlroy (+600 FanDuel)

Twelve starts at Quail Hollow, four wins, and nine top 10s. Needless to say, Rory McIlroy will be there on Sunday afternoon. Enjoy the sweat.

Akshay Bhatia (+6600 DraftKings)

Pundits will push the driver narrative this week, and they are right. What will give you an edge is picking players who move the ball right to left. For righties, that’s a draw, but for Akshay Bhatia, that is his patented fade. Complementing his edge off the tee is an approach game that has gained strokes in eight of his last nine starts. One last point, Bhatia is ranked third on the TOUR for strokes gained putting. For the North Carolina kid, this venue is a great fit.

 

Caddyshanks Picks

Xander Schauffele (+1125 Draftkings)

Xander has as good a course history at Quail Hollow as you can have without winning, and he’s quietly been gaining strokes T2G and OTT in his last few starts. He hasn’t truly been in contention on a Sunday yet this year, but it’s coming soon.

Si Woo Kim (+2400 Draftkings) 

Si Woo has been playing really well to start this season, and he has contended, but he hasn’t won yet. He played his way into the final group last week at a similarly demanding golf course, and I like him to do it again this week.

Sepp Straka (+4500 Draftkings)

Sepp won last year, albeit at the Philly Cricket Club and not QH, but that doesn’t matter. What matters most is that he quietly grabbed a back-door Top 10 last week, and he could be a sneaky pick to repeat at champ.

Cameron Young just made it boring in Miami, a feat that’s not easy to do.

He went wire-to-wire, and nobody – not the Miami humidity, not even Scottie Scheffler – really made him sweat.

Young ultimately went on to win by six strokes, securing the third victory of his career.

More importantly, it was his second win in the last seven weeks, both coming at tough tracks. First, he won The Players at TPC Sawgrass. Now, he’s added the Cadillac Championship at the Blue Monster.

Add in his performance at The Masters, where he went toe-to-toe with Rory for the Green Jacket before his putter failed him, and you’d be forgiven for claiming that Cam Young plays his best golf on the hardest courses.

Because that’s exactly what he does.

In addition to his game, which he has shown the world plenty of over the last two months, Young also demonstrated what golf is really all about.

On the second hole, as he was taking his backswing, the golf ball moved forward almost imperceptibly.

Young immediately called in a rules official and explained that he wasn’t sure whether he had caused the ball to move. His club was moving backward while the ball rolled forward, but because he couldn’t be 100% certain that he hadn’t inadvertently caused it to move, he called a one-stroke penalty on himself.

When you hear people say that “golf is a gentleman’s game,” I believe Cam Young’s actions showed exactly what that means.

Cameron Young called a one-stroke penalty on himself on No. 2 Sunday @Cadillac_Champ after causing his ball to move at address.

He still saved par and maintains a five-shot lead.

📺 PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/WcmHdr7MNF

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 3, 2026

Another solid victory in what has turned into a breakout season for Cameron Young. He is the first player to win at TPC Sawgrass and Doral in the same season since some guy named Tiger Woods did it.

What about everybody else?

Scottie Scheffler birdied three of the last four holes en route to a solo second-place finish. That’s his third runner-up finish in his last three starts, for those keeping track at home.

Ben Griffin, who had a stellar season last year, finished in solo third place.

Si Woo Kim, Sepp Straka, and Adam Scott finished T4 at 11-under.

We’ll see you on Wednesday with our weekly picks for the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow.

Odds for the 2026 Truist Championship

Golfer	Odds
Rory McIlroy	+620
Cameron Young	+890
Xander Schauffele	+1225
Matt Fitzpatrick	+1650
Ludvig Aberg	+1800
Si Woo Kim	+2350
Tommy Fleetwood	+2450
Collin Morikawa	+2700
Patrick Cantlay	+2800
Robert MacIntyre	+2900

It’s been a crazy week in the world of golf. PIF announced it would be pulling funding for LIV Golf at the end of the year, and there’s an internal scramble to keep it going, but everyone knows that the fat lady has already sung. Golf writers from many different publications have weighed in, and some of the articles are absolute scorchers.

Egotist Jon Rahm must shut up, pay up and play

According to James Corrigan of The Telegraph, Jon Rahm’s next move is pretty simple: stop complaining, pay the fines, and play.

Corrigan’s larger point is that Rahm deserves no sympathy here. He took LIV’s money, knew there would be consequences, and now his short-term future depends on whether he’s willing to pay what he owes to keep playing where he wants to play. But the long-term stakes may be even bigger. If Rahm handles this poorly, there’s a real chance his career is remembered less for the titles he won and more for the insane amount of money he chose to prioritize.

Highlight Quote: “Shut up, pay up and play.”

Read Full Article

As LIV flames out, let’s not forget those who were eager to sell golf to the Saudis

According to Eamon Lynch of Golfweek, LIV’s mess is not just on the players who took the checks. It’s also on the agents, executives, power brokers, toadies, and bootlickers around the game who were more than happy to help sell golf to the Saudis when the money was flowing.

Lynch takes aim at golf’s elite in this piece, and while he unfortunately stops short of naming names – so only golf insiders know exactly who he’s referring to – the message is pretty clear: a lot of people were willing to look the other way, cash the checks, and act like this was all just “growing the game.” Now that LIV appears to be running out of runway, none of them should get to quietly rewrite history.

Highlight Quote: “Like the guaranteed fees paid to players — Bryson DeChambeau expects his thirst to be slaked with a new contract soon — and $30 million purses for guys who couldn’t be identified as pro golfers in a two-man line-up if the other option was a corpse.”

Read Full Article

For LIV Golfers, the party is over

According to Michael Rosenberg of Sports Illustrated, LIV’s biggest problem may not be that the Saudi money is going away – it’s that the league might keep existing without it. Rosenberg argues that LIV’s entire model was built on endless cash, not actual business fundamentals. Now, with PIF pulling back and a new board trying to salvage whatever is left, the players may find themselves stuck in the worst possible version of LIV: less money, fewer options, and a league still trying to hold them to contracts. In other words, the fun part is over. The lawyers are up next.

Highlight Quote: “If O’Neil believes what he told employees, he is delusional. If he doesn’t believe it, he is a charlatan. Either way, he has the credibility of an 18-handicapper who says he will win next year’s Masters.”

Read Full Article

Can LIV Golf work without the Saudi billions? Sports investors predict a ‘free fall’

According to Gabby Herzig of The Athletic, LIV’s next challenge is pretty simple: find someone else willing to pay for the most expensive golf experiment in history. With Saudi PIF reportedly out after 2026, LIV is trying to sell private investors on the idea that there’s still a real business here. The problem, of course, is that the league has never really proven it can generate the kind of revenue needed to support massive contracts, huge purses, and a global schedule. So the question becomes: is anyone really interested in LIV without the blank check?

Highlight Quote: “The math is never going to work.”

Read Full Article

According to Andrew Beaton of The Wall Street Journal, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is expected to stop funding LIV Golf after this season – a potential death blow to the league that spent billions trying to “disrupt” professional golf.

Notably, Yasir Al-Rumayan, the governor of the Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), has stepped down from his role as chairman of the league’s board.

This was his baby, and the move feels like a pretty good sign that things at LIV are coming to an end.

LIV, naturally, is framing things a little differently.

In its official statement, the league said it is moving from a “foundational launch phase” into a “diversified, multi-partner investment model,” with a new independent board led by Gene Davis and Jon Zinman.

Corporate Mumbo Jumbo Translation: LIV says it is not dead – it is looking for new money.

The problem is that new money may be hard to find at anything close to the scale LIV has been operating on. Huge player contracts, massive purses, and global events do not come cheap, and the league has been almost entirely powered by Saudi backing since launch.

So, reading between the lines on their bulls*t, corporate press release – they will be attempting to carry around LIV’s corpse, Weekend At Bernie’s style, while they try to convince the next investor that this thing is alive, despite having no pulse.

However, moments of desperation often lead to opportunity, and wow, what an opportunity the LIV stars have right now.

Now Bryson, Jon Rahm, Ian Poulter, and Lee Westwood have a chance to put their money where their mouths have been for the last few years.

If LIV was always about growing the game, building a global tour, and bringing golf to new markets, then surely they’ll be happy to keep doing exactly that for a lot less money.

After all, these guys have spent years positioning themselves as golf missionaries — traveling from country to country to spread the game they love. So why wouldn’t they continue the mission if the checks get smaller?

It was always about the golf, never the money.

Right?

Of course, not every LIV player will be so virtuous; there will be some who try to jump ship.

There have already been reports of players contacting the DP World Tour for an opportunity, but LIV players may not have an easy path back to the PGA Tour.

Patrick Reed took the smartest path back, and Brooks Koepka already returned through a one-time program that came with a major financial penalty, but the Tour has made it clear that won’t necessarily be the blueprint for everyone else.

“There were rules, and they were broken,” PGA Tour chief executive Brian Rolapp said before the PIF news on Wednesday. “With rules comes accountability.”

What will that accountability look like?

No one knows, but just like an irreverent 80’s comedy movie, it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.

 

A mix of innovation, uncertainty, rebuilding, leadership decisions, and a reminder that the basics still win.

→ Old guy, new clubs
Justin Rose has played well this year, but now he’s taking a gamble – he’s the first pro to game McLaren’s new clubs. Will the risk be worth the reward?

→ LIV Golf players facing uncertain future
As uncertainty surrounds LIV Golf, players have been quietly putting feelers out there to figure out what their future might look like. Never a great sign.

→ Oakland Hills opens new clubhouse four years after fire
Oakland Hills Country Club is back. New clubhouse, fresh start, one of the game’s great venues back in business.

→ Why Jim Furyk was the only real option for U.S. Ryder Cup captain
Jim Furyk is a good pick. Not flashy, but experienced, respected, and about as steady as it gets. Sometimes that’s exactly what you need.

→ Si Woo Kim hit 71.75% of fairways – here’s what you can learn
Si Woo Kim keeps it simple – hit fairways, avoid mistakes, repeat. Not revolutionary, but it’ll probably help your game more than whatever swing thought you’re working on right now.

There’s a growing sense of uneasiness among LIV Golf players – and it’s not about their swings.

According to this report by Ben Parsons at Today’s Golfer, several LIV players are starting to realize that the long-term picture might not be as clear (or guaranteed) as it once seemed. Early deals came with massive upfront money, but as contracts begin to approach their expiration dates, questions are starting to surface.

The big one: what happens next?

Some players reportedly assumed renewals or ongoing opportunities would be automatic. Now, there’s growing awareness that future deals could be more performance-based – or not come at all. That’s a pretty stark shift from the “guaranteed money forever” narrative that helped launch the league.

There’s also the broader issue of LIV’s place in the golf ecosystem. With ongoing negotiations involving the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and Saudi backers, the future structure of pro golf is still very much in flux. Until that gets sorted, LIV players are stuck in a bit of a holding pattern.

For now, the money’s still good. But for the first time, it sounds like some LIV guys are starting to think about what happens when it isn’t.

Justin Rose has a new bag, and it’s not just a logo swap.

The 45-year-old Englishman has officially signed with McLaren Golf, becoming the brand’s first-ever ambassador after quietly working with them behind the scenes for the past two years.

This isn’t your typical “here’s a check, throw the hat on” deal. Rose has been involved in the development process – testing, tweaking, and helping shape what McLaren believes is a performance-driven entry into the golf equipment space. Now, it’s go time.

He’ll put the new sticks in play starting this week in Miami.

And look, anytime a brand with McLaren’s DNA – speed, precision, engineering – steps into golf, it’s at least worth paying attention. Whether that translates to actual gains on the course is a different story, but if anyone’s going to stress-test new gear under real pressure, it’s a guy like Rose, who’s somehow still striping it at 45.

Remember last week when we said Matt Fitzpatrick has serious stones?

Yeah – he doubled down.

This time, with his brother’s PGA Tour future hanging in the balance.

What Happened?

The Fitzpatricks blew a four-shot lead on the back nine. It looked like the tournament was slipping. Then, like we’ve seen before, Matt stepped up when it mattered most.

Final hole. Same script.

Last week it was a four-iron. This week, a wedge – and somehow, it might’ve been even better.

A 35-yard bunker shot, under max pressure, that he clipped clean and spun to tap-in range. 

His brother Alex got to be the one to do the tapping – knocking it in to seal the victory.

They finished at a tournament-record 31-under.

And for Alex, it’s career-changing stuff – a two-year exemption on Tour, plus tee times locked in at the 2027 PGA Championship, The 2027 Players Championship, and the remaining signature events this season, including the Cadillac Championship and Truist Championship.

What About Everybody Else?

Behind them, the teams of Alex Smalley / Hayden Springer and Kristoffer Reitan / Kris Ventura finished one back (-30) in a tie for second.

But this one wasn’t about the leaderboard.

It was about two brothers helping each other turn a dream into reality.

What’s Next?

This week, the PGA TOUR heads to Miami for the Cadillac Championship at Trump Doral.