From a wild Q School finish to some LIV rumors getting squashed, The Grind has the entire week in golf covered.
Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we’re still sore from shoveling our driveway on Sunday. Between the weather forecast being WAY off and me underestimating how heavy the snow was, that was about as tough of a clean-up as I’ve ever had. But the show Grind must go on and there’s plenty of golf to talk about it. So allow me to continue with the final installment of Year 13(!). Just let me get my heating pad set up first . . . OK, that’s better. Let’s do this.
WE’RE BUYING
Q School heros: With only five PGA Tour cards available from a field of 174, this tournament remains the ultimate pressure cooker. So kudos to A.J. Ewart, Adam Svensson, Alejandro Tosti, Marcelo Rozo (More on him later) and Dylan Wu for coming out on top.
Mike Ehrmann
“I came here with the goal to win a golf tournament . . . So to do it feels great,” Edwart said. “It’s kind of like the old saying of ‘aim small, miss small.’” Good strategy. And Wu beat Ben Silverman for the final spot with a birdie on the first playoff hole:
A playoff to get your dream job back? Talk about clutch!
Jayden Schaper: Not to be outdone in the clutch category, though, was this 24-year-old South African looking for his first DP World Tour title in a playoff. But after finding a fairway bunker, Schaper pulled off this incredible shot to set up the winning eagle at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. It was so good that even his opponent, Shaun Norris, applauded:
What a moment. Then again, we probably should have expected this from a guy who—at least, according to Wikipedia—has CLUTCH as a nickname:
Usually I’d say you need more than one DP World Tour win to earn a nickname like that, but when you get that by hitting arguably the shot of the year in a playoff, I’ll let it slide for now. Also, it's kind of unfair to have a cool nickname when you already have such a cool name. Just saying.
Andrew Novak: Especially in a team event. Because after winning both the Zurich Classic AND the Grant Thornton in the same year, Novak has to be considered one of the greatest playing partners on the planet. That's the calendar Grand Slam of PGA Tour team golf!
Johnnie Izquierdo
The powers that be have to get this guy on Team USA for the next Ryder Cup. Oh, and, of course, congrats to Lauren Coughlin as well. Crazy enough, this silly-season event produced the biggest check of her golf career:
There’s nothing silly about that.
WE’RE SELLING
Ben Kohles’ penalty: There’s no good time to get a one-shot penalty, but this has to be about the worst possible time. The 54-hole co-leader was still tied for the lead on the eighth hole on Sunday when he accidentally moved his golf ball while moving some debris. The four-time Korn Ferry Tour winner made double bogey on the hole, another double on the next and wound up finishing tied for 29th:
Ouch.
Camilo Villegas’ putt: There’s no good time to miss a short putt, but this has to be about the worst possible time. With a chance to finish the event with five consecutive birdies, Villegas missed a three-footer on the final hole and wound up missing a playoff for that fifth and final PGA Tour card by one shot. Ouch again.
There's no video online of the putt, but maybe that's best for Camilo.
This pre-shot routine: Theo Humphrey went viral during Q School—and not for a good reason:
I feel for the guy, but I also feel for anyone playing with him. Or behind him. Incredibly, with all that going on, Humphrey finished T-13 to earn full Korn Ferry Tour status for next season. Hopefully, for the sake of the entire tour, he’ll be spending all offseason working on hitting the ball quicker.
ON TAP
The winter season rolls on with the PNC Championship, AKA that one Tiger and Charlie Woods usually play in. There’s also the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open on the DP World Tour and the new Optum Golf Channel Games on Wednesday night. To talk about the latter, we had NBC Sports’ Smylie Kaufman on this week’s episode of The Loop podcast:
To be honest, I thought he’d be more excited about his LSU Tigers hiring Lane Kiffin. But Smylie was great as always. And if his latest player breakout prediction breaks out, then Cameron Young is going to have one heckuva 2026.
Random tournament fact: Bernhard Langer has won the PNC Championship a record six times. He won back-to-back years with his son Stefan in 2005-2006 and has won four times with his other son, Jason, including last year.
RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK
—Tiger and Charlie are done playing in the PNC: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds
—Bernhard will be the first to win the PNC with a (great?) grandchild: 2-to-1 odds
—Ben Kohles will be more careful moving debris around next time: LOCK
TWEET OF THE WEEK (KNOWLEDGE DIVISION)
Nice job by Golf Magazine’s Sean Zak finding this little trademark gem concerning a possible new slogan for the PGA Tour—that also happens to take a shot at LIV Golf:
I still don’t get why they ever dropped “These guys are good,” but “WHERE THE BEST BELONG” is certainly a lot better than “Live under par.”
TWEET(S) OF THE WEEK (COMEDY DIVISION)
Willy Wilcox had the best reaction to the false report that his boss, Sungjae Im, was heading to LIV. First, this:
And then this:
If there was a PGA Tour Caddie of the Year Award, my vote would go to Willy.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Staying on topic, here’s how Si Woo Kim (finally) announced his own LIV rumors weren’t true:
If you’re a fan of the Presidents Cup, you’re certainly glad those two Korean starts aren’t leaving the PGA Tour.
VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
This might be the wildest golf video of the year. An unexploded artillery shell was found at Royal Liverpool and the club had a specialist carry out a controlled detonation:
Now that’s an explosion shot.
VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (NON-BOMB DIVISION)
Nike was ready for the announcement that Scottie Scheffler had won PGA Tour Player of the Year (for a fourth consecutive year) with this great commercial:
Of course, it helps when the outcome is a lock and you have months to prepare.
THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION
Aww. Good job supporting the baby’s head and neck area, Andrew. What a year it's been for him and his family.
THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS
LeBron James can’t stop thinking about golf. Even during games.
I don’t ever want this guy to retire, but I’m glad he has a lot more golf to look forward to.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I cried before leaving my house this morning. Emotions were running, but I told myself, ‘you have to see the emotions, recognize them, hug them and then just move on,’ because they are there. I cannot lie to myself, it probably—it was the biggest round of my golfing career. But I cried it out. I told myself I was prepared, that I was ready for this, that I always play for this moment and that it was going to be my day.” —Marcelo Rozo on dealing with big feelings ahead of Q School’s final day. Way to go, Marcelo.
THIS AND THAT
Congrats to Aldrich Potgieter on winning the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year Award. So far those LIV rumors circling around the young South African haven’t panned out. . . . Justin Thomas generously donated $1 million to his alma mater, the University of Alabama, to go toward the men's and women's golf facility there. And if you've seen Golf Digest's video on this facility (called the Crimson Reserve), you know it's pretty insane:
Our full NEWSMAKERS of 2025 ranking is out and Rory McIlroy is No. 1. I just want to thank Rory for all the content he gave golf writers this year. In fact, I put this “57 things that happened to Rory McIlroy in 2025” post together, so, enjoy. You, too, Rory. . . . It was a productive Golf Digest holiday party this year for yours truly as I shocked many by finishing second in the long drive competition with a poke of 297 yards:
Did everyone in the company compete? No. Did I try to keep the competition from certain people? Yes. But I still hit one 297 (Thanks to Mike Carroll and his Fit For Golf app!). And winning a Therabody Cube as a prize helped me deal with a sore knee the next day. Man, I'm old. . . . And speaking of getting up there in age, a sincere thank you to everyone who has read The Grind over these past 13 years. Happy holidays and see you in a couple weeks!
RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER
How many POYs will Scottie wind up winning in his career?
How many times will I wind up shoveling my driveway this winter?
How much would I pay to skip ahead to spring?
Category: General Sports
