Welcome back to the Monday Finish, where the gales of November always come early. To the golf news!
10 surprising bits of golf news
It’s kinda-sorta golf’s offseason which means the Monday Finish, like the rest of the golf world, gets to experiment with different formats. This week that means sifting through little golf stories that could have big-time ramifications. Here are 10 recent golf stories — and what they might mean:
1. The Internet Invitational is stealing the show.
The story: Barstool Sports, Bob Does Sports and a bunch of the golf world’s biggest [I have to admit I still groan whenever I type this word] creators have now released five of their six-episode Internet Invitational; the first four have each racked up between 2.5 and 6 million views and that number is rising rapidly.
What it means: Plenty of videos on Golf YouTube rack up mind-blowing numbers of views but this one feels like it has broken through the golf corner of the internet and into the mainstream sports world — particularly intriguing given it’s football season.
What’s working? High stakes, entertaining characters, personality clashes, legitimate drama, high production value, endless behind-the-scenes interactions, entertaining narrators (Dave Portnoy plus a rotating cast of eliminated golfers), full buy-in from everyone involved (other than Luke Kwon) and the fact that these creators were ceding editorial control. Lessons here for YouTube golf but for pro golf, too. Also, this time of year golf may be better broadcast in the background on a weekday than going up against football on the weekends. You could start watching the Invitational while you’re at work thinking it would be pleasant background noise and end up getting sucked in while getting absolutely zero work done. Hypothetically.
2. Blade putters are out.
The story: Ben Griffin brought this to my attention over the weekend after he finished off his third Tour victory of the season — and did so with a mallet putter in hand. Apparently the classic blade is just…done. From Griffin: “I was 19 in Strokes Gained: Putting, and I believe I was the best blade putter on Tour at 19, and all these guys ahead of me switched from blades to mallets.”
What it means: Remember when Scottie Scheffler famously pivoted from blade to mallet? Apparently he wasn’t the only one.
3. The LPGA is teaming up with the Saudis.
The story: The LPGA’s new commissioner, Craig Kessler, has brokered a deal with Golf Saudi to host the new Aramco Championship, co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour, in a $4 million, 120-player tournament in Las Vegas. The event is part of the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s five-event Global Series and puts the LPGA in direct business, for the first time, with the Saudis. “We often talk about routing, courses and purses — and this event checks every box: a spectacular West Coast setting, an iconic course and a purse that continues our momentum in raising the bar for our athletes,” Kessler said in a release, citing the ability to “elevate opportunities” for his athletes.
What it means: It’s a controversial partnership given Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, but it’s hardly surprising. What the Saudis have done with LIV Golf — attempting to take over the top level of an entire sport — is obviously brazen and controversial, but they’ve worked their way more subtly into the fabric of sport in so many other areas, from soccer to Formula 1 to tennis to boxing to women’s golf. For the LPGA (which just made another hire, interestingly an executive from LIV) the event completes a three-tournament West Coast Swing. And to provide an interesting contrast, the tournament will run up against the Augusta National Women’s Am the week before the Masters.
4. Aaron Rai has a really cool family.
The story:Aaron Rai bounced back just fine from a Ryder Cup snub by getting married this fall. And then, in his return to golf — and his first tournament as a husband — he won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Two notes on his family, then: His father, the man behind the viral iron-covers story, was on site sporting this epic shirt of Rai and his wife.
Aaron Rai posing with his dad (who’s wearing a shirt with art of his son and wife on it?) and caddie after winning in Abu Dhabi is pretty great. pic.twitter.com/VcUsSYJYDI
As for his wife? Her name is Gaurika Bishnoi and she’s an excellent player in her own right, logging several seasons on the Ladies European Tour.
Compared to say, tennis, where men and women’s tournaments often run in tandem at the same venues, men’s and women’s golf events almost never overlap, so it’s rare for pros to marry. (Si Woo Kim married Ji Hyun Oh, who won seven times on the Korean LPGA, while Gerina and Martin Piller are another oft-cited example, but there aren’t many.) Rai, who seems like one of the most humble, earnest, appreciative pros in the entire sport, had this to say about his wife’s support:
“The understanding of just what goes into playing professional golf, not just being away at the tournament, but on weeks where there are not any tournaments; the amount of practice that you have to do; the way you have to live your life; the choices you have to make; the control that you have to have around just the way you live your life. And I think it’s hard for someone who isn’t in this line or who has the understanding of the game to really be able to know the things that you have to do. So she’s been incredibly understanding in that regard, and just sharing things together has been beautiful. Yeah, I couldn’t ask for anyone better.”
5. Min Woo Lee isn’t leaving the PGA Tour.
The story: Amidst rumors he was considering a move to LIV, the Australian star doubled down on his commitment to the PGA Tour.
“There’s been a lot of rumors. I’m not going [to LIV Golf] and am just going to play on the PGA Tour,” Lee said in an interview with the AAP. “So, I’m happy with where I’m at and, yeah, I’m looking forward to next year.”
What it means: It means we’ll still have to wait and see when it comes to LIV’s biggest offseason signing. And it means a cutout of Brian Rolapp’s face in Lee’s ‘the show goes on!’ Instagram video:
6. The PGA Tour is about to get 10 new faces — including an ex-LIVer
The story: After this week’s DP World Tour finale, the DP World Tour Championship, they’ll finalize the 10 pros who will earn PGA Tour cards for the 2026 season. It’s an intriguing list that includes Alex Noren (the red-hot vice captain of this year’s European Ryder Cup Team) and Haotong Li (one of pro golf’s more captivating figures) but also Laurie Canter, who will have the distinction of being the first LIV player to earn full-time PGA Tour status.
It’s the final week of the DP World Tour season.
Here’s how the race for the 10 @PGATour cards sits with one event to go.
1. 🏴 Marco Penge 2. 🇳🇴 Kristoffer Reitan 3. 🏴 John Parry 4. 🇫🇷 Adrien Saddier 5. 🇸🇪 Alex Noren 6. 🏴 Laurie Canter 7. 🇨🇳 Haotong Li 8. 🏴 Dan Brown 9.… pic.twitter.com/bQxeIjFQ4t
Canter played the inaugural 2022 season for LIV’s Cleeks and served as an alternate and wild card in 2023 and 2024, respectively, before regaining DP World Tour status. He became the first ex-LIVer to tee it up in the Players Championship earlier this year; now he’s breaking new ground.
What it means: It means it’s easier to jump from LIV to the PGA Tour if you weren’t a PGA Tour member to begin with, as you don’t have the same level of pesky suspensions to deal with. It doesn’t mean much else — though it seems cool for Canter, who has been playing well.
7. Remember the guy with the gambling suspension? He’s chasing down Rory.
The story: Marco Penge enters the DP World Tour Championship No. 2 in the Order of Merit; he’s the man who could stand between Rory McIlroy and his fourth consecutive Race to Dubai. McIlroy leads with 4,640.06 points, while Penge is second with 3,873.04. (Tyrrell Hatton is third at 2,919.18.) But getting this far already represents a massive turnaround for Penge, whose competitive future seemed in doubt after a gambling suspension. (It was, as these things go, a remarkably innocent and harmless breach of the rules.)
What it means: You, like Penge, may have a history of placing $20 wagers on golf tournaments. But he may also outdrive you by 100 yards and own three DP World Tour titles this season, which is why he’ll play the biggest events in the world next season.
8. Scottie and Rory are headlining a pro golf event that really does feel different.
The story: Teams were announced for the skills challenge-style primetime event for Dec. 17 at Trump National in Jupiter, Fla. Team Rory will consist of Shane Lowry, Luke Donald and Haotong Li. Team Scottie will be Scheffler plus Keegan Bradley, Sam Burns and Luke Clanton. They’ll face off in timed competitions (driving, short game and alternate shot), a 14-club challenge (two players, one bag and eliminating used clubs) and a captains’ challenge between McIlroy and Scheffler (more details here).
What it means: Pro golf has a habit of trotting out something extremely similar to its existing product and branding it as some massive change. But this actually is a dramatically different look from 72-hole stroke-play golf. That doesn’t mean it’ll work, of course. It might, though. And it could serve as a jumping-off point for future skills-style competitions as golf continues to dial in its vision for the offseason.
9. Nelly Korda is going to pick up her first win this week.
The story: This is more a prediction than a story, I suppose. This week’s LPGA event, the ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican (let’s just go with “the Annika”) is the penultimate event of a season in which World No. 2 Nelly Korda has not won despite six top-five finishes. She’s won this event in 2021, 2022, and 2024 — I expect 2025 is coming, too.
What it means: Most early-week headlines around this event will involve Caitlin Clark’s pro-am appearance or Kai Trump’ssponsor invitation. But once the competition starts it’ll be fun to watch Korda lock in knowing the season’s finish line is in sight, knowing she’s been playing well and knowing she must be frustrated not to have and hardware after last year’s seven-win campaign.
10. The PGA Tour’s adding two new events — and not where you’d expect.
The story: The PGA Tour has now signed on two new fall events for next year: the Good Good Championship in Austin, Tx. and now the Biltmore Championship, which will be played at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove near Asheville, N.C. next September.
What it means: When new Tour CEO Brian Rolapp came in preaching “scarcity,” many people assumed that meant slashing Tour events, particularly those in golf’s “offseason.” Instead they seem to be doubling down on the fall, leaving us wondering just how different the Tour schedule in, say, 2027, will look.
NEWS FROM SEATTLE
Monday Finish HQ.
I haven’t been playing much golf of late but have a fun local round on the books for Wednesday, which has me fired up. Obsessively checking weather forecasts, thinking about rain gear, plotting a stop at the range tomorrow, ready to debut a new laser, all that good stuff. Golf is the best. I hope you have a fall round in your future to look forward to, too.
