Greetings!
I was fascinated by your response to our poll in Wednesday’s newsletter, and the results were not what I expected.
Here are a few comments …
Reading through and listening to feedback here was helpful so thank you to everyone who participated. Excited to get back in the lab on all of this!
Name drops today: Bryson, MCO, the Mink, Nilay Patel and Bobby Jones. Surely the first time that sentence has ever been written.
Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Ship Sticks.
I’m not sure there’s a worse one-two airport combo than Dallas —> Orlando, which is where we’re headed in two weeks for the PGA Show. However, I will be club free during that slog through both airports and the rental car mess, thanks to Ship Sticks.
Just my front door to the front door of our AirBNB. They offer complimentary insurance and are priced such that when you compare it to extra baggage fees, it’s a fairly easy decision.
Check them out right here and get 20 percent off your first order!
OK, now onto the news predictions.
We had to break this into two parts.
Part one went out on Wednesday, and many of you had strong feelings about my No. 3 prediction in particular.
Here’s part two with five more predictions for 2026, starting with my major winners.
6. Major winners in 2026.
Masters: Xander Schauffele — I’m not totally sure if I’m ready for three-time major winner, Xander Schauffele. But he’s been awesome at ANGC with six top 10s in his last eight starts. Different kind of closer post-2024, too. Winning two majors does that to you. And he wasn’t healthy at all last year but still put up another top 10, which got understandably lost given who won.
PGA Championship (Aronimink): Bryson DeChambeau — He has lost to five total golfers in the last three PGA Championships. Aronimink looks and seems like … most other PGA Championship courses in recent years, and nobody has been better in recent years at PGAs than Bryson.
U.S. Open (Shinnecock): Jon Rahm — He could have won Oakmont if he’d putted at all (a recurring theme in this newsletter). From tee to green, only Rory has been better at U.S. Opens over the last 15 years. I think Rahm adds Shinnecock to his Torrey-ANGC collection. [Jason here] I also think Rahm is going to have a massive year because he seems to be having fun and in a good headspace. Am I basing that on one podcast with the Subpar guys? I am. But I also know KP is with me.
[KP note]
Open Championship (Birkdale): Scottie Scheffler — I would be a fool to let a season go by and not pick Scheffler to win … something. Birkdale crowns kings (see below), and Scheffler would fit in nicely with this list of men’s major winners.
IBF is the only golfer on this list who has not won multiple majors, and six of the nine winners have won three or more. And one of those three Birkdale winners who has not won three or more (Johnny Miller) is maybe the best iron hitter in history.
So that’s it. Xander-Bryson-Rahm-Scottie, which means I’m going mostly chalk here on majors in 2026. They are all among the best major players since Jan. 1, 2020.
My list of “would love to see it and could happen but I’m not picking it” includes Fleetwood, Ludvig, Rory, Hovland and Bob Mac (basically the Euro Ryder Cup team).
And my list of “would love to see it but it’s probably not happening” includes Spieth (of course), Henley, Benny Griff, Keegan, Si Woo, Mav, Akshay and Max Homa.
Also, somebody is going to win their first major in 2026. The last time we didn’t have a first time winner was 2014: Bubba (2/2), Rory (3/5), Kaymer (2/2), Rory (4/5).
But go back to this time a year ago and tell yourself to pick J.J. Spaun to win Oakmont. It would have been a mockery. So we get Xander, Bryson, Rahm and Scottie instead.
Lastly, my kids wanted you to know this is who they (some of them) picked. Jude is 12 and addicted to greatness. Sadie is 6 and addicted to chaos.
7. Kyle breaks 80 twice: We’re running this one back. My playing season last year — for a variety of reasons (including trying to get this business going) was basically April-July. I shot an 80, two 83s, a 39 and a 38. All over that 80 mark but never breaking it.
I’m hoping to post a lot more rounds this year, and I think I’m hitting the ball as well as (and as smart as) I’ve ever hit it in my life, and if I chip and putt at all (like, at all), I see no reason this can’t happen.
I am basically a destitute man’s Keith Mitchell right now.
Also, I know nobody cares about this! Which is why I jammed it right between [checks notes] my 2026 major predictions as well as my 2026 Rory take, which you can see below if you’re part of the Normal Club …
Normal Sport is supported by exactly 1,017 crazed individuals. By becoming a member, you will receive the following …
• A vote for trusted, independent media.
• The delight of helping us establish Normal Sport.
• 15% off to our pro shop.
• Access to all of our content (like the rest of this post).
Welcome to the members-only portion of today’s newsletter. Thank you, as always, for sticking with us and supporting our work!
8. Rory’s eras tour begins: He checked it all off in 2025. The slam. Another Irish, another Players. Tying Brooks with five. The legacy took a leap last year, and now I don’t think there’s anything he can do to exit the top 15 golfers of all-time club. Scottie could knock him down a notch eventually, but we’re not there yet.
Off the top of my head and not in order.
Tiger
Jack
Palmer
Hogan
Hagen
Snead
Player
Watson
Phil
Sarazen
Rory
Trevino
Nelson
Jones
Seve
I’m pretty “meh” on Jones in the top 15, but I get it. You can talk me into Peter Thomson, I guess, instead of Seve. Faldo has a case, I guess, but who do you take out?
All of this is a conversation for another day, though. The real point here is that Rory is going to officially exit his era of being the PGA Tour’s de facto spokesperson/commissioner.
Maybe he already did, but it will be more obvious in 2026. He has openly stated he wants to play more globally, wants to chase Ws in meaningful places. This is his new era (and one of his last as a player).
This delights me.
Why grind in Cromwell when you can take on Royal Melbourne and the Old Course? What will be interesting is how this affects (or doesn’t affect) the future of the PGA Tour and what it decides to do with its schedule. How global it tries to be.
Regardless, Rory has moved on from carrying the Tour as one of his objectives. Not that he won’t be involved and defending at Pebble and TPC Sawgrass. But whatever was left of the period of time when he was the face of the league is over.
I actually think some of that has shifted back to Tiger. There seems to be a budding bromance between him and Rolapp, and Tiger seems engaged in the future in ways I’m not sure he ever was when Monahan was running the show.
9. Traditional (non-TV) golf media gets “Phil in 2019” thin: It’s not a big secret that AI is murdering content creators across all categories.
I think everyone can (pretty obviously?) see that happening.
Example: when I was at CBS Sports, I was asked to write articles like “2023 Masters Round 1 tee times.” How do you think that’s going to go for humans in the future?
Traditional outlets are susceptible as well.
Watch this clip from Nilay Patel.
What he says there about how it’s getting tougher for various media outlets to sign brands to advertise alongside their work … I think it’s true. I have felt it some with our business, and some of it is just intuitive (i.e. it’s much easier for a brand to just create their own content now). This is something I gave a lot of brain space to over Christmas.
If you are a media outlet that is neither 1. Converting customers for brands or 2. Providing meaningful content that brands want to be associated with and will pay a premium to do so, then brands are just going to go elsewhere. There are too many places they can go now.
A thought experiment I do often: Why would an OEM advertise on [traditional golf media dot com]? Nobody clicks on or even looks at those popups, and many of the legacy outlets don’t have the trust or affinity from readers they once did. Vanity metrics are gone, too. What else is there?
The foreshadowing is all there for a Spieth “it feels like we’re collapsing” moment … and it’s going to be fascinating to see how it all goes.
The upside here is that all of this provides so much opportunity both for folks who want to be in golf media and can build either 1. Their own products/services/experiences for followers or 2. Enough trust that brands view it as worth paying to borrow.
Both are incredibly difficult to do well, but that should be any outlet’s aim (including ours).
10. Brooks’ re-entry sets new precedent: I’m done trying to predict what LIV is going to do. I thought they were going to fold or merge about five different times over the last two years, and they seem as resolute as ever.
Regardless, Rolapp must be wondering how he got into a situation where the Chiefs (Brooks) are available for Sunday Night Football (the PGA Tour), but the Browns (mules) are mad and won’t let the league put them on Sunday Night Football.
There is an opportunity, though to thread the needle, and there is precedent for doing so. Historically, players who have won 20 times on the PGA Tour are exempt into most PGA Tour events.
The Tour could easily repackage this rule such that any multi-time major winners who have lost their card for playing in other leagues are exempt for one year after returning. Something like that.
This still discourages a mass exodus of players who would be most tempted to go to LIV (the middle tier player with one or no majors). And which multi-time major winners are you concerned about taking advantage and leaving the Tour for LIV anyway? JT, Spieth, Scheffler and Rory are going nowhere. Rahm, Brooks, Bryson and Phil are already gone. Xander? Morikawa? Let them go.
Trading Xander and Morikawa for Brooks, Bryson and Rahm is good for business, and building a path back for Bryson and co. opens the door for those guys to absolutely slam it in LIV’s face.
Thank you for reading our ridiculous golf newsletter. Every edition is handcrafted by me (Kyle) and Jason. It’s fantastic work that we love doing, and we appreciate you being part of the journey of trying to figure all of this out alongside us.
Greetings!
I was fascinated by your response to our poll in Wednesday’s newsletter, and the results were not what I expected.
Here are a few comments …
Reading through and listening to feedback here was helpful so thank you to everyone who participated. Excited to get back in the lab on all of this!
Name drops today: Bryson, MCO, the Mink, Nilay Patel and Bobby Jones. Surely the first time that sentence has ever been written.
Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Ship Sticks.
I’m not sure there’s a worse one-two airport combo than Dallas —> Orlando, which is where we’re headed in two weeks for the PGA Show. However, I will be club free during that slog through both airports and the rental car mess, thanks to Ship Sticks.
Just my front door to the front door of our AirBNB. They offer complimentary insurance and are priced such that when you compare it to extra baggage fees, it’s a fairly easy decision.
Check them out right here and get 20 percent off your first order!
OK, now onto the news predictions.
We had to break this into two parts.
Part one went out on Wednesday, and many of you had strong feelings about my No. 3 prediction in particular.
Here’s part two with five more predictions for 2026, starting with my major winners.
6. Major winners in 2026.
Masters: Xander Schauffele — I’m not totally sure if I’m ready for three-time major winner, Xander Schauffele. But he’s been awesome at ANGC with six top 10s in his last eight starts. Different kind of closer post-2024, too. Winning two majors does that to you. And he wasn’t healthy at all last year but still put up another top 10, which got understandably lost given who won.
PGA Championship (Aronimink): Bryson DeChambeau — He has lost to five total golfers in the last three PGA Championships. Aronimink looks and seems like … most other PGA Championship courses in recent years, and nobody has been better in recent years at PGAs than Bryson.
U.S. Open (Shinnecock): Jon Rahm — He could have won Oakmont if he’d putted at all (a recurring theme in this newsletter). From tee to green, only Rory has been better at U.S. Opens over the last 15 years. I think Rahm adds Shinnecock to his Torrey-ANGC collection. [Jason here] I also think Rahm is going to have a massive year because he seems to be having fun and in a good headspace. Am I basing that on one podcast with the Subpar guys? I am. But I also know KP is with me.
[KP note]
Open Championship (Birkdale): Scottie Scheffler — I would be a fool to let a season go by and not pick Scheffler to win … something. Birkdale crowns kings (see below), and Scheffler would fit in nicely with this list of men’s major winners.
IBF is the only golfer on this list who has not won multiple majors, and six of the nine winners have won three or more. And one of those three Birkdale winners who has not won three or more (Johnny Miller) is maybe the best iron hitter in history.
So that’s it. Xander-Bryson-Rahm-Scottie, which means I’m going mostly chalk here on majors in 2026. They are all among the best major players since Jan. 1, 2020.
My list of “would love to see it and could happen but I’m not picking it” includes Fleetwood, Ludvig, Rory, Hovland and Bob Mac (basically the Euro Ryder Cup team).
And my list of “would love to see it but it’s probably not happening” includes Spieth (of course), Henley, Benny Griff, Keegan, Si Woo, Mav, Akshay and Max Homa.
Also, somebody is going to win their first major in 2026. The last time we didn’t have a first time winner was 2014: Bubba (2/2), Rory (3/5), Kaymer (2/2), Rory (4/5).
But go back to this time a year ago and tell yourself to pick J.J. Spaun to win Oakmont. It would have been a mockery. So we get Xander, Bryson, Rahm and Scottie instead.
Lastly, my kids wanted you to know this is who they (some of them) picked. Jude is 12 and addicted to greatness. Sadie is 6 and addicted to chaos.
7. Kyle breaks 80 twice: We’re running this one back. My playing season last year — for a variety of reasons (including trying to get this business going) was basically April-July. I shot an 80, two 83s, a 39 and a 38. All over that 80 mark but never breaking it.
I’m hoping to post a lot more rounds this year, and I think I’m hitting the ball as well as (and as smart as) I’ve ever hit it in my life, and if I chip and putt at all (like, at all), I see no reason this can’t happen.
I am basically a destitute man’s Keith Mitchell right now.
Also, I know nobody cares about this! Which is why I jammed it right between [checks notes] my 2026 major predictions as well as my 2026 Rory take, which you can see below if you’re part of the Normal Club …
Normal Sport is supported by exactly 1,017 crazed individuals. By becoming a member, you will receive the following …
• A vote for trusted, independent media.
• The delight of helping us establish Normal Sport.
• 15% off to our pro shop.
• Access to all of our content (like the rest of this post).
Welcome to the members-only portion of today’s newsletter. Thank you, as always, for sticking with us and supporting our work!
8. Rory’s eras tour begins: He checked it all off in 2025. The slam. Another Irish, another Players. Tying Brooks with five. The legacy took a leap last year, and now I don’t think there’s anything he can do to exit the top 15 golfers of all-time club. Scottie could knock him down a notch eventually, but we’re not there yet.
Off the top of my head and not in order.
Tiger
Jack
Palmer
Hogan
Hagen
Snead
Player
Watson
Phil
Sarazen
Rory
Trevino
Nelson
Jones
Seve
I’m pretty “meh” on Jones in the top 15, but I get it. You can talk me into Peter Thomson, I guess, instead of Seve. Faldo has a case, I guess, but who do you take out?
All of this is a conversation for another day, though. The real point here is that Rory is going to officially exit his era of being the PGA Tour’s de facto spokesperson/commissioner.
Maybe he already did, but it will be more obvious in 2026. He has openly stated he wants to play more globally, wants to chase Ws in meaningful places. This is his new era (and one of his last as a player).
This delights me.
Why grind in Cromwell when you can take on Royal Melbourne and the Old Course? What will be interesting is how this affects (or doesn’t affect) the future of the PGA Tour and what it decides to do with its schedule. How global it tries to be.
Regardless, Rory has moved on from carrying the Tour as one of his objectives. Not that he won’t be involved and defending at Pebble and TPC Sawgrass. But whatever was left of the period of time when he was the face of the league is over.
I actually think some of that has shifted back to Tiger. There seems to be a budding bromance between him and Rolapp, and Tiger seems engaged in the future in ways I’m not sure he ever was when Monahan was running the show.
9. Traditional (non-TV) golf media gets “Phil in 2019” thin: It’s not a big secret that AI is murdering content creators across all categories.
I think everyone can (pretty obviously?) see that happening.
Example: when I was at CBS Sports, I was asked to write articles like “2023 Masters Round 1 tee times.” How do you think that’s going to go for humans in the future?
Traditional outlets are susceptible as well.
Watch this clip from Nilay Patel.
What he says there about how it’s getting tougher for various media outlets to sign brands to advertise alongside their work … I think it’s true. I have felt it some with our business, and some of it is just intuitive (i.e. it’s much easier for a brand to just create their own content now). This is something I gave a lot of brain space to over Christmas.
If you are a media outlet that is neither 1. Converting customers for brands or 2. Providing meaningful content that brands want to be associated with and will pay a premium to do so, then brands are just going to go elsewhere. There are too many places they can go now.
A thought experiment I do often: Why would an OEM advertise on [traditional golf media dot com]? Nobody clicks on or even looks at those popups, and many of the legacy outlets don’t have the trust or affinity from readers they once did. Vanity metrics are gone, too. What else is there?
The foreshadowing is all there for a Spieth “it feels like we’re collapsing” moment … and it’s going to be fascinating to see how it all goes.
The upside here is that all of this provides so much opportunity both for folks who want to be in golf media and can build either 1. Their own products/services/experiences for followers or 2. Enough trust that brands view it as worth paying to borrow.
Both are incredibly difficult to do well, but that should be any outlet’s aim (including ours).
10. Brooks’ re-entry sets new precedent: I’m done trying to predict what LIV is going to do. I thought they were going to fold or merge about five different times over the last two years, and they seem as resolute as ever.
Regardless, Rolapp must be wondering how he got into a situation where the Chiefs (Brooks) are available for Sunday Night Football (the PGA Tour), but the Browns (mules) are mad and won’t let the league put them on Sunday Night Football.
There is an opportunity, though to thread the needle, and there is precedent for doing so. Historically, players who have won 20 times on the PGA Tour are exempt into most PGA Tour events.
The Tour could easily repackage this rule such that any multi-time major winners who have lost their card for playing in other leagues are exempt for one year after returning. Something like that.
This still discourages a mass exodus of players who would be most tempted to go to LIV (the middle tier player with one or no majors). And which multi-time major winners are you concerned about taking advantage and leaving the Tour for LIV anyway? JT, Spieth, Scheffler and Rory are going nowhere. Rahm, Brooks, Bryson and Phil are already gone. Xander? Morikawa? Let them go.
Trading Xander and Morikawa for Brooks, Bryson and Rahm is good for business, and building a path back for Bryson and co. opens the door for those guys to absolutely slam it in LIV’s face.
Thank you for reading our ridiculous golf newsletter. Every edition is handcrafted by me (Kyle) and Jason. It’s fantastic work that we love doing, and we appreciate you being part of the journey of trying to figure all of this out alongside us.
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