Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we have never felt as old as we did on Saturday night at our (gulp) 25th high school reunion. Seeing my fellow Class of 2000 Pelham Pelicans was cool and even gathering some content for the pod (Listen here) and setting up a possible celebrity interview was productive. But I just kept thinking: Has it really been 25 years?! The last time I saw some of these people, Tiger Woods had just won the 2000 U.S. Open by 15 shots! Wild stuff. Anyway, after a couple days of processing the past, I’m ready to talk about the present in golf again. Let’s get to it.
WE’RE BUYING
Xander Schauffele: My guy Alexander Victor Schauffele is back on the top of a podium in Japan. Four years after winning Olympic gold in a country where he has roots, the soon-to-be 31-year-old ended a winless drought in what’s been a frustrating PGA Tour season. And he got it done with a Sunday 64 at the Baycurrent Classic to claim his 10th career PGA Tour title.
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Kenta Harada
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“It’s nice to know I’ve still got it; it was a tough year,” a relieved Schauffele said after winning. “I was plenty nervous. It’s been over a year since I was even looking at winning a golf tournament. I had to dig deep in my memory to do it again.”
Man, golf is such a tough sport. The guy won two majors last year and he was already wondering if he could win a regular tournament again.
Jeeno Thitikul: The World No. 1 became, stunningly, the first LPGA golfer to win No. 2 in 2025 with her playoff victory in Shanghai. And she did it in style with this clutch approach shot to tap-in range:
Even crazier? None of the 27 winners of the tour’s 27 events this year (the team event had two winners) is Nelly Korda. You know, the person who seemed to win every week in 2024. Anyway, congrats to Jeeno, who needed one to go her way after a couple of close calls in majors this summer.
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Marco Penge: Entering this year, this guy was unfortunately known most for being hit with a (harsh) gambling suspension. But the 27-year-old Englishman is ending 2025 as one of the best players on the planet. Penge won the Spanish Open for a third career DP World Tour title—all since April—locking up a first Masters invite and a PGA Tour card for next season in the process.
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Stuart Franklin
Our Luke Kerr-Dineen broke down this bomber’s awesome swing. And now I’m definitely going to try that thing he does with his right thumb the next time I go to the range.
Halbert National: Haven’t heard of this Tom Fazio gem? Well, that’s because it’s a private personal golf course of Texas billionaire David D. Halbert, who hired the famed architect to build a 7,500-yard championship layout with “no budget.” Halbert wound up putting $50 million into the course, which is open for his friends and family, and he told Forbes plans on spending another $20 million on the property an hour south of Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.
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Halbert’s wife, Kathy, was hoping for a short par-3 course so she could play without being rushed, but David went out and created a true masterpiece. What a guy. And what an all-time flex.
WE’RE SELLING
Tiger’s latest surgery: That 2000 U.S. Open seems like 100 years ago now after golf fans learned Woods revently underwent yet another back procedure. That’s seven in 11 years! Brutal. I guess he won’t be dominating TGL or the senior tour next year. I mean, just look at this insane graphic from the Golf Digest social team:
It looks like a freaking game of Operation. Anyway, get better soon, Cat.
Max Greyserman’s latest close call: It was great seeing Xander get back in the winner’s circle, but I always feel bad for golfers who have never gotten there. Such is the case for this fellow Met golfer, who now has five runners-up on the PGA Tour without hoisting a trophy. And there was nothing he could do in this case. The guy shot a final-round 65. And even did this on the final hole:
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Hang in there, Max. It will happen one of these weeks.
Blaming players for fan behavior: First they came for Captain Keegan Bradley. Then they came for PGA executives like Don Rea. And now? It’s the players’ fault that people acted like hooligans at Bethpage Black during the Ryder Cup. Collin Morikawa got grilled about this ahead of the Baycurrent Championship:
And as Shane Ryan wrote, this is getting ridiculous. What’s next? Scottie Scheffler getting blamed for there not being enough shuttle buses?
ON TAP
The PGA Tour fall season is taking another break, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any golf. The LPGA is in South Korea for the BMW Ladies Championship, while the DP World Tour heads to India. That includes Viktor Hovland, who will make his return after sitting out that Sunday singles session at the Ryder Cup when Europe invoked the ENVELOPE RULE. And the annual Golf Digest Seitz Cup will take place at the Seawane Club for the first time. It was nice of the PGA Tour to step aside to give us the stage.
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Random tournament fact: Joel Beall and I are back as captains of the Old Team after leading our squad to victory at Knickerbocker Country Club last year. We will be passing out Advil and hand warmers to our fellow geezers on the first tee.
RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK
—Tiger Woods will win another major championship: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds
—Tiger Woods will win a senior major championship: Even odds
—Tiger Woods will never win a Seitz Cup: LOCK
TWEET/INSTAGRAM OF THE WEEK
Shout-out to NFL insider Ian Rapaport for breaking news of the Joe Flacco trade from a golf course:
And not just any golf course! That’s the 16th hole at Rye Golf Club, where I used to be a member and still play fairly often. Ian is a pro’s pro, but I hope that didn’t mess up a good round. That 16-17 stretch is tough!
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VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (LEAKED DIVISION)
We joked about video of Don Rea doing karaoke during a Ryder Cup party coming out last week and it did thanks to the Shotgun Start podcast. Enjoy!
Or, at least, enjoy it more than that lady in red. She could not have seemed less interested in hearing Don spitting heat on Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” Anyway, hopefully this “controversy” can be put to bed now. Although, we’d love to see more karaoke videos, especially if there are any player ones floating around!
VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (FAMILY DIVISION)
Good thing someone was filming because no one would have believed it.
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THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS PLAYING GOLF
Steph Curry revealed on SiriusXM PGA Tour he’s only played golf on the day of a game twice in his career. And that the Golden State Warriors are 2-0 when he does that.
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David Calvert
Good for you, Steph, but Michael Jordan is shaking his head somewhere.
THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION
Look at Xander Schauffele with his parents after winning in Japan:
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Yoshimasa Nakano
Aww. That’s also the last time Xander will see that trophy for a while because as he’s said, Stefan loves to take them.
THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION ANXIETY
Matt McCarty had birdied eight holes in a row and had a chance to shoot the second-ever 58 in PGA Tour history. And then he did this on the final hole:
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Sorry, Matt, but it’s good to see even the world’s best players be so affected by pressure. That being said, re-teeing and making birdie with golf ball No. 2 was still pretty darn impressive. Oh, and so is shooting 60.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I’ve never had three months off, but I’m looking forward to it.” —Jon Rahm after finishing a lucrative, but odd season. Sounds glorious.
THIS AND THAT
Next month’s Skins Game will return with a formidable foursome of Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood and Keegan Bradley. I’m guessing Bethpage will come up quite a bit. … Speaking of the recent Ryder Cup venue, good news for New Yorkers that Bethpage has stepped up its online reservation system to try to weed out bots. But everyone should still do the sleep-in-the-parking-lot thing at least once in their lives. … In other made-for-TV news, Netflix’s “Full Swing” will be coming back for Season 4 in 2026. Hopefully, casual fans still remember what the cut is at a golf tournament. . . . And, finally, congrats to Johnny Keefer and all the 20 KFT guys who earned their PGA Tour cards for next year, including this guy:
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Mike Mulholland
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We’re looking to seeing a lot more of Neal Shipley next year.
RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER
How many of those KFT guys will stick on the PGA Tour?
How many of my classmates will be around for a 50th reunion?
Does anyone want to lend me $50 million to build Myers National?