In partnership with

Word is, next season, the likes of Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler might cash TaylorMade endorsement checks from new owners. CEO David Abeles hinted the equipment giant could switch hands by year-end. No, that doesn’t mean an end to funny ads like this one featuring Tiger, Rory, Nelly, Hull, and more. Since Abeles took over as CEO in 2015, the brand has seen a revolving door of new owners.

The problem is that the divestiture plan isn't as straightforward as it seems. The current owners are tangled in a heated dispute over sale logistics. F&F claims they’re the largest investor, always intended to acquire the brand, and secured "key" rights like right of first refusal in the 2021 deal. Last year, they also accused Centroid of unilaterally launching a sale process without prior consent.

Meanwhile, TaylorMade remains among golf's top club and ball producers. Per reports, revenues jumped from $943 million in 2020 to $1.44 billion in 2023. With over 10% average yearly net sales growth and more than 15% in EBITDA across five years, it's prime real estate.

The other storyline: TaylorMade has sued rival Callaway, alleging the firm deployed UV light experiments to compare TaylorMade balls to “mud balls.” David Abeles also backed TaylorMade’s fresh legal action. They demand a jury trial to halt Callaway’s alleged libel, pursuing an as-yet-unspecified sum in monetary damages.

Just a year ago, 17-year-old Blades Brown skipped college, turned pro, and made his pro debut at The American Express (AmEx). Take a look at his surprised reaction after learning he had to pay $70. Cut to 2026, Brown's primed to cash the fattest check of his young life at the AmEx.

Starting on the back nine on Friday at the Nicklaus Tournament Course, Brown made six birdies and an eagle in his first seven holes. He picked up four more birdies on the front nine and flirted with history on the 9th. A 15-foot birdie putt would've crowned him the Tour's youngest to shoot 59. Watch below how tantalizingly close he came.

Still, Brown is the youngest Tour pro to card 60 or lower. He is now tied atop the leaderboard with Scottie Scheffler (8-under 64), with Si Woo Kim (6-under 66) lurking at solo third. To put that into perspective, Scheffler has more PGA Tour wins (19) than the birthdays Brown has celebrated (18). Oh, Brown also became the youngest player to hold a share of the lead since Ty Tryon (17) at the 2001 B.C. Open.

It gets more interesting from there.

Consider that Blades Brown will play eight straight rounds when the AmEx ends. Just 14 days ago, he graduated from high school. The next day, teed off at KFT’s Bahamas Golf Classic. Missed the cut there but stuck around for the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic, where he tied for 17th on Wednesday after four rounds.

That meant Brown had some 22 hours to make it to the opening round of the AmEx. So, he used a flight voucher he earned from a top-50 finish in the Myrtle Beach Classic last year to fly private. Now he is at La Quinta playing 18 holes every day since Sunday. The PGA Tour made a video documenting this crazy week—you've got to check it out.

Brown doesn’t need to win to turn doubters into believers. But if he does, that’s the biggest story since Nick Dunlap’s breakthrough win as an amateur in 2024.

Spotting your own ball before making the stroke is Golf 101, right? But even marked balls can lead to pratfalls. On the 10th at the American Express R1, Brian Harman played the wrong ball — guess whose ball it was — from the fairway, despite marking his own with a Sharpie. There’s a debate about how that happened, but here’s what the USGA Rule 6.3c(1) says about it.

Before Harman, Cam Davis, and Will Zalatoris made a similar mistake, as you can find out here. So yes, it’s rare, but rarer rules mishaps dotted 2025, and we've rounded up a few gems.

Pinehurst No. 2 is a bucket-list course everyone deserves to play. It dangled a cheeky bet to NFL pundit and Miami grad Kevin Clark: if the Hurricanes win the CFP final, he gets a round. But Miami fell 27-21 to the Indiana Hoosiers.

Dreams dashed, but Pinehurst bailed him out with another offer: buy Curt Cignetti, Indiana’s head coach, a Pinehurst Brewing Co. beer. Clark reacted with a Max Homa meme that you can unleash on your folks this week. But the fun wasn’t over. Pinehurst one-upped with a sharp jab of its own: “You won’t need the IPAs to 5-putt on No. 2…”

Now, NFL folks adore golf. Remember when Tony Romo ripped a recovery shot from a hospitality tent to a foot? Watch the great shot here. The PGA Tour joked that Romo can join the senior circuit in 2030, when he turns 50.