Greetings!
Garrick Higgo missed the cut by one.
One shot, not one second.
Was never going to go any other way.
We talked about that and more in a late night pod with takeaways from the halfway point at Aronimink.
Name drops today: Blockie (again), Troon, LIV Singapore, Zack Greinke and Artsy JT.
Today’s newsletter is presented by our friends at OGIO.
For the second consecutive day, I can recommend one of our sponsor’s products to our friend, Garrick Higgo (as well as everyone else who missed Friday’s cut). Yesterday, it was a Garmin watch. Today, some luggage for those slamming trunks, or I guess — since it’s 2026 and not 1986 anymore — angrily jamming a button that automatically closes the back of their six-figure SUV.
Regardless of how they’re leaving, I can tell you what should be in that trunk: Something from OGIO’s Renegade Vault collection.
Built because hardside luggage (like some of the pros in the field this week) has gone soft, OGIO’s Renegade Vault pieces are the best I’ve ever owned.
This carry-on is my current weapon of choice. Tough enough to get tossed around in any vehicle (plane or otherwise) but smooth enough that it would roll right off one of these greens at The Mink. A great combo.
OK, now onto the news.
1. It’s Friday at a major championship and everyone is completely exhausted, which means that we’re all yelling about things we wouldn’t otherwise care about.
In this instance, whether The Mink is the first, second or third bowl of porridge that Goldilocks tries.
First, it was too easy. Now it’s too difficult. I kinda think it’s … just right?
Scottie said the pin positions on Friday were “absurd” but also said nothing was unfair. Rory said he doesn’t believe bunched leaderboards are the product of great setups.
The only thing I would say is, I think a bunched leaderboard like this, I think it's a sign of not a great setup, I think when it's as bunched as it is, because it hasn't really enabled anyone to separate themselves. It's easy to make a ton of pars, hard to make birdies, and not that it's hard to make bogey, but it feels like bogey's the worst score you're going to shoot on any one hole.
There's not a lot of hazards. I think the setup is fine, like the golf course is good, the pins were tough, and the wind was what it was as well.
But I just think, yeah, I've always felt like really good setups, it starts to spread the field a bit, and not great setups sort of bring everyone together. I feel like that's what's happened the last two days.
Rory McIlroy | 2026 PGA
My take after 36 holes (subject to change after 72)?
The course setup is great, leaning a little bit on the difficult side, and I’m hoping they let it go a little bit and pin some easier spots on at least one of the weekend rounds (although Saturday does not appear to be that day!).
I get what Rory is saying, and I think there’s truth to it, but I also want to see things play out over the next 36 before fully judging the way the week was set up.
Also ……..
2. Here’s the problem I think people who are frustrated with the setup have with it: Average shots are being torched by the golf course, which means that great shots should be getting rewarded.
But the pins aren’t quite tantalizing enough for players to truly take them on so there’s a lot of guys just playing for par and bunching up on the board.
Rory basically said that above, and JT said something similar after his round.
But today that pin [on 11] is just over a slope there, and it's not hard to hit it to 20 feet past the hole, but it's really, really hard to hit it close.
JT | 2026 PGA
That part is key: it's really, really hard to hit it close.
I think that's a great example of if you have a great number and a full wedge that you can spin it and hit it close, great. But you don't want to try to do too much and try to hit it close, kind of like I did there this morning, and the wind knocks the ball right out of the air and doesn't even come close and I'm grinding to make a 5 when I have a sand wedge in my hand.
JT | 2026 PGA
That’s it right there. The whole thing. Guys are worried about shooting themselves out of it early in the week by going after too many pins. Which means the setup is on the more difficult side of things. Which is fine! It’s been fun!
Sure, it may lead to some bunching of the board, but that’s OK.
Angles have mattered. Shaping drives has mattered.
And I think it’s cool that they’re at a golf course where — depending on how they pin it — you can get different variations of the same test. Augusta is normally like that, too.
And while I don’t agree with all of this from Garrett — mostly because I enjoy the data more than most — I loved what he said here about challenging, unusual shots. That has 100 percent been the case this week, and it’s been a fun major thus far because of it.
Scottie sort of echoed this idea.
It's funny sometimes, I feel like the thing in our game right now, which I do enjoy, I love hard tests of golf, but it's also the hardest game in the world and we're trying to make it harder, and there's different ways you can do that. You can do that on a golf course like this -- I mean, I truly believe they could have the winning score be whatever they want it to be. It could be over par if they want it to be, just based purely upon pin locations.
Is that the best test? Who knows. It's a different test. I think that's what's great about our game is very rarely do we play the same golf course, and even when you do at a place like Augusta, it's different each and every year. So conditions are always changing, the golf course is always changing.
I think it's the hardest game in the world and still just trying to solve a bit of the puzzle.
Scottie Scheffler | 2026 PGA
Styles make fights, and if player vs. major is a fight, we probably don’t get enough unique styles of player or golf course. This week seems to be solving at least the course side of that equation.
I also think I’ll be slightly more critical of it if on Sunday the pins have remained completely tucked like this all four days.
Mad Mink Fury Green
3. Related to all of this! One of my hotter takes is that I think you could solve most player and fan grievances in any given major championship week simply by changing par. What if The Mink was a 72 this week, and the leaders were -8 after two days? I doubt there would be any consternation over the setup. In fact, people would probably be complaining about how easy it is. Or just get rid of par completely!
4. I think the real lead is -3, which means Spieth is just four back.
The bad news: 42 golfers are tied with or ahead of him.
The other bad news: He’s 111th in putting.
The good news: He’s flushing it! Second off the tee and third in ball striking.
The other good news: He’s a wizard. He hit this insane chippy, spinning shot on the 11th hole on Friday that has me in complete shambles.
Like, I don’t even know what happened here!
I’ve watched it close to 20 times, and it makes less sense every time. I am not alone.
Spieth knew it, too. He knew what he did.
Two other responses that made me laugh.
The even crazier part of his week than him hitting that shot is that I feel more confident when he’s holding driver than when Rory is. I cannot believe I’m typing those words, but Spieth feels absolutely automatic off the tee right now. Unfortunately, he feels equally automatic as a two- or three-putt on these greens. Like, his misses don’t seem very close. Not touching the cup. Not even really taking a peek at it.
Knowing the way his career has gone, I’m sure he’ll kick away this chance at the slam in the least comprehensible way possible — like, he’ll start putting with his 3 wood, and it will work on Saturday and he’ll make everything he looks at, but then he’ll replace it with his putter on Sunday stating that he doesn’t believe the other grand slam winners would want him to win while putting with a 3 wood or something or something that’s actually not believable. Regardless, I am definitely stoked to see what kind of run he makes at it over the next 36 holes.
A Jordan gem from the broadcast. How many times has Mikey heard this album?
5. Let’s go back to JT for a minute. I loved watching him and P hit some of the filthiest shots you’ll see anywhere throughout the morning on Friday. P was hitting these held off, flight-y shot into nasty greens, and JT was insane around the greens (which can sometimes get him into trouble!).
You don’t have to like P (I often feel like I don’t!) or JT (I normally do!) to appreciate the way both of them are able to move the golf ball around.
P is like Greg Maddux. High 80s fastball but everything is so good that it almost doesn’t matter. It’s not as fun as watching, say, Pedro (Rory), but it’s more relatable and possibly even easier to appreciate. And maybe, like Maddux, it will become easier to appreciate in hindsight.
JT is more Zack Greinke. Has like 11 pitches, wild changes of speed and usually the wherewithal to keep them all organized.
He also explained the way he tries to play golf at majors, which is exactly how I think all of us would love to play golf on a daily basis (but almost never do).
I would say when it gets windy like this, I get very visual. I think that's why I think I play so well in the wind sometimes. It's very specific. The trajectory, and kind of the apex of the ball for it to go the distance you want. And I just feel like I use my eyes a lot of kind of where it's starting, where it's coming down.
As it comes down how far will it move when it gets on the green. Am I using a slope, am I going against a slope. Do I have room on this side, that side, so on, so forth. And I feel like I'm able to get very specific and artsy and kind of painting a picture in my head. So I feel like I just really tried to do that each and every shot today.
JT | 2026 PGA
♥️♥️♥️
JT, Bryson and Jordan walk into a sip & paint class.
6. Scottie definitely still feels like he’s the guy to beat. Partly because he’s the smartest and most disciplined player in the world (and in recent golf history) and partly because his iron “struggles” from earlier in the year feel like they’re gone. This shot into 17 on Friday was dirty and reminded me of that shot he hit on 17 at Troon in the third round a few years ago. That one was better, but this one was insane and he said it turned his round around after three early bogeys.
On Thursday, Xander said it’s a game of distance control, and the ridges and ledges on these greens seem to be telling a similar story. Scottie might be the best distance control player of the last 20 years, and he’s two back of the lead and one back of the real lead with a ton of room left to run. Problematic.
7. If you haven’t seen the video of Bryson going long on No. 11 on Thursday in the first round and then nearly putting off the front of the green, you should watch it (screenshots below).
This, as Paul McGinley unintentionally (?) pointed out, is a rollback issue.
Here’s what McGinley said.
Unfortunately this 11th green complex will likely become a story this week. The green contours were not designed to have speeds like we have today. To try [to] counter this the green is purposely slower than any other on the course this week
Paul McGinley
McGinley didn’t explicitly state that equipment is a problem here, and he may not even believe it. But when your greens are the defense of the course and when you have to run them up to these speeds to properly defend against the field, that is absolutely an equipment problem even if it’s not obvious.
Mike Clayton is one of the smartest people you can follow on golf Twitter, and he said something similar on Friday to what I had in my notes from Thursday.
If the equipment — which I promise not to pop off about again this week! — was under control, there would be a lot more options when it comes to pins, setup, green speeds and a million other things.
But because nobody wants -25 to win, courses get taken to the extreme, which is why you get crazy pins, insane speeds and governing bodies that are always flirting with silliness in their setups.
8. Blockie before the PGA: “Oh yeah, definitely [feels a little bit like a swan song]. I was actually surprised I made it again this year. After the PGA, I’m focused only on senior golf.”
Blockie after the PGA: “There’s no way on God’s green earth this is my last one. No chance. I will definitely qualify for one more, if not five more.”
Remains the performative 🐐.
OK maybe not the performative goat …
9. That would be — according to you guys — the formerly thicc boy who is quickly becoming the MC Boy.
Bryson now has four missed cuts at the majors since he won at Pinehurst in 2024. That’s twice as many as Scottie has missed since turning pro in 2018.
What went wrong?
Better question: What went right?
He finished 153rd (out of 156) in SG around the greens, which is wild.
And it was somehow uglier than that if you watched. He doubled the 7th (see below) after hitting a drive wide right, pushing his second up by the bunker and then hitting his third about 4 yards directly into that bunker.
A recap of Bryson’s 2026 PGA.
Do the single length wedges look awkward? Absolutely. Has he been successful with them in the past to the tune of two major championships? Also yes. Is all of this moot because there is no chance he will ever change? Also yes.
I don’t know what the answer is, but he looks quite lost. And unlike Rahm, I’m unconvinced it’s LIV related.
[Jason here] Bryson’s 2 shots on 6 green capture this lost feeling. He and his caddy over-analyzed the kind of chip he should hit. He fluffs it. He hits a putt and immediately pulls up to critique it. And it goes in. He puts so much effort into his game that when he loses he loses and when he wins he just loses less. Is he playing golf or is he trying to control it? [back to Kyle]
Matt over at Data Golf made a good point that he’s actually lost some of his massive advantage off the tee recently. Something to monitor as he tries not to get bageled at the majors for all of 2026.
It’s a bummer to lose the High King of Content at the halfway point. We say this about a lot of people and parts of it are probably true, but it is 100 percent true that golf and majors are better and more interesting when Bryson is in the middle of it.
Also more chaotic.
More of everything.
I’m bummed.
Thank you for reading and participating in all of this nonsense.
Come on over and participate in our Slack channel! It’s been the most fun week we’ve had all year, and we haven’t even gotten to the part where Spieth putts with his 3 wood. Which, by the way, I need to get over and be a fourth with him, Scottie and Si Woo at some point here in Dallas. I bet there are shots tried in those matches that make what Spieth did on No. 11 on Friday look stock by comparison.
Greetings!
Garrick Higgo missed the cut by one.
One shot, not one second.
Was never going to go any other way.
We talked about that and more in a late night pod with takeaways from the halfway point at Aronimink.
Name drops today: Blockie (again), Troon, LIV Singapore, Zack Greinke and Artsy JT.
Today’s newsletter is presented by our friends at OGIO.
For the second consecutive day, I can recommend one of our sponsor’s products to our friend, Garrick Higgo (as well as everyone else who missed Friday’s cut). Yesterday, it was a Garmin watch. Today, some luggage for those slamming trunks, or I guess — since it’s 2026 and not 1986 anymore — angrily jamming a button that automatically closes the back of their six-figure SUV.
Regardless of how they’re leaving, I can tell you what should be in that trunk: Something from OGIO’s Renegade Vault collection.
Built because hardside luggage (like some of the pros in the field this week) has gone soft, OGIO’s Renegade Vault pieces are the best I’ve ever owned.
This carry-on is my current weapon of choice. Tough enough to get tossed around in any vehicle (plane or otherwise) but smooth enough that it would roll right off one of these greens at The Mink. A great combo.
OK, now onto the news.
1. It’s Friday at a major championship and everyone is completely exhausted, which means that we’re all yelling about things we wouldn’t otherwise care about.
In this instance, whether The Mink is the first, second or third bowl of porridge that Goldilocks tries.
First, it was too easy. Now it’s too difficult. I kinda think it’s … just right?
Scottie said the pin positions on Friday were “absurd” but also said nothing was unfair. Rory said he doesn’t believe bunched leaderboards are the product of great setups.
The only thing I would say is, I think a bunched leaderboard like this, I think it's a sign of not a great setup, I think when it's as bunched as it is, because it hasn't really enabled anyone to separate themselves. It's easy to make a ton of pars, hard to make birdies, and not that it's hard to make bogey, but it feels like bogey's the worst score you're going to shoot on any one hole.
There's not a lot of hazards. I think the setup is fine, like the golf course is good, the pins were tough, and the wind was what it was as well.
But I just think, yeah, I've always felt like really good setups, it starts to spread the field a bit, and not great setups sort of bring everyone together. I feel like that's what's happened the last two days.
Rory McIlroy | 2026 PGA
My take after 36 holes (subject to change after 72)?
The course setup is great, leaning a little bit on the difficult side, and I’m hoping they let it go a little bit and pin some easier spots on at least one of the weekend rounds (although Saturday does not appear to be that day!).
I get what Rory is saying, and I think there’s truth to it, but I also want to see things play out over the next 36 before fully judging the way the week was set up.
Also ……..
2. Here’s the problem I think people who are frustrated with the setup have with it: Average shots are being torched by the golf course, which means that great shots should be getting rewarded.
But the pins aren’t quite tantalizing enough for players to truly take them on so there’s a lot of guys just playing for par and bunching up on the board.
Rory basically said that above, and JT said something similar after his round.
But today that pin [on 11] is just over a slope there, and it's not hard to hit it to 20 feet past the hole, but it's really, really hard to hit it close.
JT | 2026 PGA
That part is key: it's really, really hard to hit it close.
I think that's a great example of if you have a great number and a full wedge that you can spin it and hit it close, great. But you don't want to try to do too much and try to hit it close, kind of like I did there this morning, and the wind knocks the ball right out of the air and doesn't even come close and I'm grinding to make a 5 when I have a sand wedge in my hand.
JT | 2026 PGA
That’s it right there. The whole thing. Guys are worried about shooting themselves out of it early in the week by going after too many pins. Which means the setup is on the more difficult side of things. Which is fine! It’s been fun!
Sure, it may lead to some bunching of the board, but that’s OK.
Angles have mattered. Shaping drives has mattered.
And I think it’s cool that they’re at a golf course where — depending on how they pin it — you can get different variations of the same test. Augusta is normally like that, too.
And while I don’t agree with all of this from Garrett — mostly because I enjoy the data more than most — I loved what he said here about challenging, unusual shots. That has 100 percent been the case this week, and it’s been a fun major thus far because of it.
Scottie sort of echoed this idea.
It's funny sometimes, I feel like the thing in our game right now, which I do enjoy, I love hard tests of golf, but it's also the hardest game in the world and we're trying to make it harder, and there's different ways you can do that. You can do that on a golf course like this -- I mean, I truly believe they could have the winning score be whatever they want it to be. It could be over par if they want it to be, just based purely upon pin locations.
Is that the best test? Who knows. It's a different test. I think that's what's great about our game is very rarely do we play the same golf course, and even when you do at a place like Augusta, it's different each and every year. So conditions are always changing, the golf course is always changing.
I think it's the hardest game in the world and still just trying to solve a bit of the puzzle.
Scottie Scheffler | 2026 PGA
Styles make fights, and if player vs. major is a fight, we probably don’t get enough unique styles of player or golf course. This week seems to be solving at least the course side of that equation.
I also think I’ll be slightly more critical of it if on Sunday the pins have remained completely tucked like this all four days.
Mad Mink Fury Green
This post will continue below for Normal Club members (all 1,049 of them) and includes thoughts on Bryson’s exit, JT as Zack Greinke, Scottie’s best shot of the entire week and Spieth’s best shot of his entire life.
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