Publication by EssentiallySports |
August 22, 2026 | Edition #346 |
👋 {{readername | Hey, golf fans}},
Golf is not like most sports. You’ve got a 68-year-old man beating Father Time to win tournaments (Bernhard Langer, yes). Then you also have a 34-year-old contemplating what life would be like now that he is nearing the tail end of his prime. Meanwhile, a coach is playing at this week’s senior major, and a 22-year-old shot 60. Crazy times!
Let’s get swinging…
Tough reality: For most pros, life on the Tour is far from a walk in the park. Every tournament is a fight to keep the card. 34-year-old Harry Higgs—known for his epic shirtless celebration at WMPO—is nowhere near retirement. But the thought has dawned on him that his career may be approaching its final chapter. You would think that makes most players sad. Higgs, however, offered a beautifully layered introspective answer. Listen to it here.
Amazing 22: It’s raining low scores everywhere. After three 59s within a week in July, we now have a(nother) 60. Michael La Sasso (-9/T5) made 10 birdies at LIV Indianapolis, posting a career-best round, and sits just two strokes off the leader. Watch the final putt here. Yes, this is the same Ole Miss grad who gave up the Masters invitation to turn pro and join LIV. Now he has signed up for DPWT Q-School. He is also the owner of the riskiest swing—just look at his back on the downswing.
Impressive: Most of the time, you have the coach watching from the outside. But things are opposite this week. Michigan State women’s golf coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll is playing her second U.S. Senior Women's Open, and her students are watching her from the sidelines, analyzing her shots. It's the funniest thing you will watch this entire week.
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We can only imagine that when the FedExCup Playoffs started in 2007, the folks at Ponte Vedra hoped these few weeks would be a riot. Think elimination. Think NFL. Think NBA. Think golf too?
Nope.
Last Sunday, the only consequential moment was when Scottie Scheffler’s ball ended up in the wrong place. If you missed that moment, check it out here. Entertaining or not, Scottie’s eight-shot win won’t be enough at the Tour Championship. Four red-hot rounds from any pro would be enough to defeat Scottie’s season-long consistency. That undermines everything it stands for.
Matt Fitzpatrick hit the nail on the head: golf is a different sport. The Playoffs system falls flat. We asked you, too, and more than 55% of you said the PGA Tour should move away from the Playoffs.
There’s another problem to consider as well.
Last week, only Sungjae Im moved into the top 50.
At least 42 players never had to sweat the pressure.
26 pros have already secured a Tour Championship spot.
Several could have skipped the first two events and still comfortably reached the Tour Championship. The PGA Tour reduced the 2,000 points available to winners to 750 in the opening playoffs as an ameliorative measure. That does little to nothing. Sahith Theegala finished second-to-last yet slipped only two places. Rory McIlroy was 66th yet slipped only one spot.
It’s a snoozefest in its current state. And the PGA Tour doesn’t need Playoffs to crown a champion. Hand it directly to the FedExCup leader after the regular season.
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Do You Think FedExCup Winner and Tour Championship Winner Should Be Different?
Last Poll Result: 47% of you prefer to read funny/quirky stories other than the Tour news, while 41.47% want to read about uplifting/inspiring news. 11.52% of you want to read about financial/business-related news.
Rory McIlroy (-7/T8) knew things needed to change. After finishing 25 strokes behind the winner last week, McIlroy arrived at the driving range with strange new grips on his lob wedge and 7-iron. It’s a FLAT CAT Putter Grip, as he revealed ahead of the BMW Championship. He explained it.
Rory attaches the grip to a club and positions it at roughly a 45-degree angle. Check out the practice session and notice his hand movement.
Halfway through the backswing, he places his right hand on the grip’s flat upper section. See him break down why that movement is necessary for him.
Rory also rehearses the movement without the aid of the modified grip. He takes the club back until it is parallel to his waistline. Then he checks that his right hand is sitting on top of the club in the same position the FLAT CAT creates.
Rory got into contention heading into the weekend. And he made this spectacular recovery shot from the rocks, as you can watch here.
Catch up on the stories you might have missed
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