What an incredible year it was in professional golf.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From Rory McIlroy finally (finally!) getting a Green Jacket across his shoulders at the Masters, to Scottie Scheffler continuing his dominance, to the European side topping the Americans on home soil at the Ryder Cup, to Brooke Henderson returning to the winner\u2019s circle on the LPGA Tour (and doing it in Canada, too), it was a joy to be along for the ride with some of the game\u2019s best.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But as we look to turn the calendar to 2026, there are no shortage of storylines to think about in golf.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s becoming increasingly more global and there appears to be more steps being taken to determine what the future of the sport (at least on the men\u2019s side) will look like. There\u2019s a new CEO of the PGA Tour, Brian Rolapp, who will be in his first calendar year in 2026 at the helm along with a new commissioner of the LPGA Tour, Craig Kessler, who will be doing the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are definitely some challenges, but the (PGA) Tour has had some great momentum,\u201d Corey Conners told me in November after he had a one-on-one chat with Rolapp. \u201cBrian is really passionate about the job and growing the PGA Tour and that shone through in my chat with him. He\u2019s got some new, fresh ideas and organizing to help the PGA Tour.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With plenty of excitement looking back, it\u2019s time to look ahead. Here are my four bold predictions for golf in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scottie Scheffler completes the career Grand Slam<\/p>\n
Two major wins already in 2025 and no real sign of slowing down as Scheffler won the PGA Tour\u2019s Player of the Year award for the fourth straight year \u2014 a feat that only Tiger Woods has also accomplished.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not even a Christmastime injury making ravioli (that required surgery) could keep Scheffler away from the winner\u2019s circle for too long this past year, as he ended up with six victories \u2014 including the PGA Championship and The Open. That leaves Scheffler with just the U.S. Open left before he captures the career Grand Slam.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At Shinnecock Hills, which requires the exact type of game Scheffler possesses, I say he does it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brooke Henderson finishes 2026 in the world’s top-10<\/p>\n
I covered Brooke more than anyone else in 2025, and the common thread I heard was how she felt so close to playing so well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The results were, well, kind of weird.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only two top-10 finishes in stroke-play tournaments but, of course, there was the win at the CPKC Women\u2019s Open \u2014 which turned a tough year into a great one. Henderson tells me she is laser-like on improving her scoring average in 2026. She finished 15th in 2025 in that stat, but if she improved that number by just a half-a-shot, she would have been fifth on Tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A fine objective for the Canadian.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With a win at home under her belt and plenty of motivation to turn things around, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if she moves back up (she\u2019s currently No. 25) into the game\u2019s upper echelon.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rory McIlroy goes back-to-back at Augusta<\/p>\n
OK, so, he did it once. Can he do it again?\u00a0<\/p>\n
McIlroy has been ranked inside the top 10 in the world for more than a decade and he\u2019s been awfully clear this fall about how he\u2019s culling his objectives to pad his record numbers as one of the game\u2019s very best players.\u00a0<\/p>\n
McIlroy needs just one major to tie Nick Faldo for the most by a European after he captured the Masters in April (he also finished tied for seventh at The Open Championship and had two other PGA Tour victories in 2025). I think, with one Masters title down, we\u2019re going to see the dam break. McIlroy will win at least one more Masters before he\u2019s done and there\u2019s no time like the present to do it again.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tiger Woods competes on PGA Tour Champions<\/p>\n