Wyndham Clark Wins the CJ Cup — Plus the PGA Tour 2027 Schedule Is Taking Shape

Victor Hovland Wins. Nelly Misses Her Three-Peat. Players React to the New PGA Tour.

Victor Hovland Wins. Nelly Misses Her Three-Peat. Players React to the New PGA Tour. Another week in golf delivered everything — a wild finish at the Travelers Championship, Nelly Korda falling just short of making LPGA history at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, and players on-site at TPC River Highlands giving their honest takes on what the new PGA Tour structure actually means for them. Trey Wingo is at the Travelers. Justin Ray just finished a two-week road trip covering the US Open and the KPMG. Here is everything that happened. Victor Hovland Wins at the Travelers — Again, It Delivered The Travelers Championship has built a remarkable track record of memorable finishes over the last fifteen years. Kevin Streelman with seven consecutive birdies in 2014. Jordan Spieth holing out from the bunker in 2017. Harris English and Kramer Hickok in an eight-hole playoff. The Scotty Scheffler and Tom Kim playoff. Keegan Bradley breaking Tommy Fleetwood's heart last year. And now Victor Hovland making birdie on the first playoff hole while Scotty Scheffler's almost identical putt slipped out. Hovland wins his eighth career PGA Tour title in a week that also featured one of the most electric atmospheres in recent tournament memory — Norwegian World Cup fans bringing Ryder Cup-level energy to TPC River Highlands, singing in the stands, waving flags, and creating an environment that reminded everyone why live golf is unlike anything else in sports. Scotty Scheffler goes 13 straight events without a win. His underlying numbers are still extraordinary — he leads the PGA Tour in strokes gained total, scoring average, and birdie average, and his putting has moved up to 12th on tour, which is genuinely alarming for his competitors. Justin's read is simple — the putts are not falling at the moments that count, but they are going to start. He would not be surprised to see Scotty win both the Scottish Open and the Open Championship. His iron play is returning to form, ranking sixth in the field last week in strokes gained approach. The drought is not a crisis. It is a math problem that is about to solve itself. Alex Fitzpatrick continues to be the most remarkable money-making story of the season. Since winning the Zurich Classic with his brother Matt in April, Fitzpatrick has made the cut in every event, piled up multiple top tens, and earned his way into the top 17 on the FedEx Cup list playing in a fraction of the events most players have entered. Justin and Trey agree — Ryder Cup conversation is now entirely appropriate and Fitzpatrick is drifting toward automatic qualifying at the majors. The ATM is open and it does not appear to be closing anytime soon. The Fried Egg Podcast Takes on the Travelers Trey addresses a recent Fried Egg Podcast episode that was critical of the Travelers Championship — specifically the course layout, the scoring, and the overall quality of TPC River Highlands as a venue. He has a lot of respect for Andy and Brendan and what the Fried Egg has built in the golf media space, and he disagrees with them strongly. His argument — look at the leaderboard from Sunday. Victor Hovland, Scotty Scheffler, Colin Morikawa, Matt Fitzpatrick, Wyndham Clark, Akshay Bhatia, Corey Conners, Alex Fitzpatrick, JJ Spaun, Robert MacIntyre, Ben Griffin. That is a top ten you sign up for at any tournament on the planet regardless of the course. And for every birdie fest concern, he points directly at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am — same scoring range, same depth of field issues, nobody criticizing Pebble Beach. Justin adds the experiential layer — being there as a fan in his early career, the sight lines on the back nine are exceptional, the fan experience is one of the best on tour, and the players love it because the Travelers understand exactly what they are and what they are not. Every player Trey spoke to on-site last week said the same thing — this is fun for us, they treat us well, and we enjoy coming here. What Players Actually Think About the New PGA Tour Trey had access to multiple players on-site at the Travelers including Lucas Glover, Chris Gotterup, Colin Morikawa, and Xander Schauffele. The conversations all pointed in the same direction — genuine support for the broad vision, honest concerns about specific details, and trust that the flexibility Rolapp has promised will show up in the execution. The specific concern that kept coming up — if you are on the Championship Tour, you cannot dip down and play Challenger Series events. That means players like Scotty Scheffler, who has been loyal to events like the Byron Nelson and Colonial in Texas, cannot play at those events if they land on the Challenger tier. Chris Gotterup, whose career was launched at the John Deere Classic, raises the same concern — it stinks personally, but once it was explained commercially, it makes sense. The sponsors investing $20 million or more deserve field protection. Trey's take — rigid on the vision, flexible on the details, and the Jimmy Johnson rule applies. The more you can do for the tour, the more leeway you get. Rory McIlroy is not meeting his 15-event minimum this year. The PGA Tour is doing nothing about it. That is not a double standard — that is smart business. Justin's take — it is absolutely a double standard. And he totally agrees with it. Nelly Korda at the KPMG — Tied for Eighth Nelly Korda came to Hazeltine trying to become the fifth woman in LPGA history to win three majors in the same season. She finished tied for eighth. Justin points out immediately — tied for eighth is her worst stroke play result of 2026. That is where she is right now. That is not a disaster. That is a temporary blip for the most dominant player in women's golf. The winner was Hyeon Ju Yu — one of the best ball strikers on the LPGA Tour for several years who had held 54-hole leads at Chevron in both 2024 and 2025 without closing. She closed this time. A great story and a deserved win. Brooke Henderson was near the top of the leaderboard for much of the week — ten-year anniversary of winning a major as an 18-year-old, not yet 30, doing it again. Davy Weber, about to become a mother for the first time, essentially doubled her career earnings with a $750,000 check courtesy of the record $13 million KPMG purse. Charlie Hull missed the cut, which surprised Justin given how well she played at Riviera. Hannah Green and Minjee Lee also missed. Golf is a long season and bad weeks happen even to great players. On Nelly's path to a third major — Justin leans toward the AIG Women's Open at Royal Lytham over the Evian Championship. Evian generates unpredictable outcomes by nature, not always revealing the best player in the field. Lytham should suit Nelly better given her ball striking and course management. She had opportunities with her wedge game at Hazeltine — 14 times between 80 and 130 yards from the fairway over the weekend, she made two birdies. Small tweaks. No overhaul needed. Your Questions Seven questions from the Golf Live community this week — covering the Norwegian fan energy at the Travelers, whether no sponsors exemptions is fair to tournament partners, when Patrick Reed returns to the PGA Tour full-time, what is wrong with Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson missing the Open Championship for the first time since 2009, Eugenio Chacarra winning the Italian Open, and whether the PGA Tour is right to grant Rory McIlroy an exemption from the 15-event minimum. The Rory question gets the most direct answer of the week. Trey — it is not a double standard, it is just different when you have done what Rory has done. Justin — it is absolutely a double standard. I totally agree with it. Period. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Lucas Glover Sits on the Player Advisory Council. Here Is His Honest Take on the New PGA Tour.

Lucas Glover Is on the Player Advisory Council That Shaped the New PGA Tour. Here Is What He Thinks. Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/WINGO #squarepod #sponsored Head to cozyearth.com and use code WINGO for an exclusive 20% off. Everyone has been reacting to Brian Rolapp's PGA Tour announcement. Lucas Glover has been helping shape it for months. As a member of the Player Advisory Council, Glover has been part of the process from the beginning, giving player feedback as the structure evolved. That makes his perspective different from almost anyone else's. The PAC and the Process Glover credits Rolapp for listening. Rather than arriving with all the answers, Rolapp leaned on players, media partners, and golf people to refine the plan. Glover says players genuinely had a hand in shaping the final product rather than simply being informed of it. No Sponsor Exemptions This was one of Glover's favorite parts of the announcement. He believes sponsor exemptions have little place in the new structure. The Championship Tour should be earned, not given away. If you are one of the best players in the world, you qualify. If not, you play your way in. Pine Valley, Seminole, and Cypress Point The possibility of championship events at iconic venues like Pine Valley, Seminole, and Cypress Point immediately caught Glover's attention. These are legendary courses golf fans rarely see on television. Bringing them back into the spotlight is a major part of Rolapp's vision. The Championship Tour Lockout Glover's biggest concern involves Championship Tour players being unable to drop down and play Challenger Tour events. That means players may no longer be able to support local tournaments they care deeply about if those events fall on the Challenger schedule. He understands the business reasoning but admits it will be difficult for some players and communities. The Regular Season Champion Glover strongly supports crowning a regular season champion before the playoffs begin. He points to players building huge leads during the year only to lose everything because of one poor playoff week. The best player over six months deserves recognition separate from the postseason. The Last Chance Series Glover calls the Last Chance Series a brilliant idea. Players fighting for their status creates immediate drama and clear stakes. He believes fans and broadcasters will quickly embrace it. LIV Players Returning Glover says there has always been a path back for LIV players willing to fulfill the requirements. He believes the PGA Tour should focus on putting the best product possible in front of fans, regardless of personal feelings. His favorite take? "Tyrrell Hatton should always have a live microphone." Fan Behavior at Shinnecock Glover believes fans can cheer and boo within reason, but once behavior becomes personal or affects play, the line has been crossed. His model is Augusta National: cross the line and your badge is gone. College Football and NIL Glover admits he is a huge supporter of Dabo Swinney and worries college athletics have become almost impossible to govern effectively. He supports players being compensated but believes NIL quickly evolved into something very different than originally intended. The AimPoint Debate Glover still does not use AimPoint and remains frustrated by how slowly it is often performed on television. His issue, he says, has always been pace of play rather than the method itself. What He Still Wants Despite two U.S. Open titles and a long career, Glover says he is not done. His goal is simple: earn his place on the Championship Tour at age 47 when the new system begins in 2028. He wants back in the Masters. He believes he can still win. And perhaps more than anything, he wants to prove he still belongs on golf's biggest stage. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Match Play Is Coming Back to the PGA Tour. Your Questions on What That Actually Means.

Match Play Is Coming Back to the PGA Tour. Your Questions on What That Actually Means. The fan questions this week are dominated by one thing — the Brian Rolapp press conference and everything that came out of it. Trey and Justin Ray answer seven of your best questions, and the energy in this segment matches the energy in that press conference room. Because when you mention match play returning to the PGA Tour and the possibility of Pine Valley, Cypress Point, and Seminole hosting championship events — golf fans have a lot to say. What Are You Most Excited About From the Rolapp Announcement Trey's answer is immediate and clear — the meritocracy. No sponsors exemptions. Mandatory cuts. Full fields. The entire structure of the new PGA Tour is built around one question: are you good enough? Can you play well enough to earn your spot? That is the thing that resonates most beyond all the structural details and format changes. Justin's answer is twofold. First — the Friday cut is back. The cut sweat is back. 120-man fields with a mandatory cut heading into the weekend is what professional golf should look like every single week. And then he read that the playoffs might go to Seminole and Pine Valley and everything else became secondary. Those two names on the same page as PGA Tour championship events is a different level of excitement entirely. Match Play Is Coming Back — What Does That Actually Mean This is the question the thumbnail is built around and for good reason. Match play is the purest form of golf. Head to head. One player against one player. Every hole matters. The format creates moments that stroke play cannot — a journeyman can beat the world number one if the putts fall at the right moment. That unpredictability is appointment viewing. Trey uses the Nick O'Hearn example — a left-handed Australian player who somehow beat Tiger Woods twice in the World Match Play Championship. Some things just happen in match play that cannot happen anywhere else. That is the beauty of it and that is exactly why the PGA Tour is bringing it back for the playoff format. Justin's caveat — as a television product, match play has its challenges. Fewer golfers means fewer shots to show. The broadcast has to work harder to keep viewers engaged when the story is two players rather than a full leaderboard. But the format is the purest expression of the game and both Trey and Justin are fully for it coming back at the highest level. Pine Valley. Cypress Point. Seminole. What Other Courses Could Be Next This is the question that generated the most excitement in the segment. Trey's immediate answer — Chicago Golf Club. One of the most underrated courses in the entire country, a place that does not get the same reverence as National or Shinnecock or Friars Head despite being every bit as historic and demanding. Trey has had the opportunity to play it and makes clear it deserves a PGA Tour event. Justin's answer — the Pacific Northwest. Chambers Bay, which has matured significantly since hosting the 2015 US Open, and Sahali, which hosted the Women's PGA Championship a few years ago. The Pacific Northwest is a beautiful part of the country with exceptional golf courses that the PGA Tour has not visited in years. Getting back out there would be a genuine gift for golf fans in that region. Both of them also mention Bandon Dunes — the US Amateur held there a few years ago was incredible theater, picture-perfect weather and a setting unlike anything else in American golf. Gamble Sands is another name that comes up. The Pacific Northwest has options and the PGA Tour would be smart to explore them. What Did Rolapp Say That You Are Still Waiting on an Answer For Five of the fifteen Championship Tour signature events have not yet been announced. The medical exemption structure is still being worked out — how does a player like Justin Thomas, coming back from back surgery, navigate the new system? The Korn Ferry Tour's future role has not been defined. The FedEx Cup sponsorship situation beyond next season is unresolved. And the specific cities and venues for the match play playoff rotation have not been confirmed beyond the hallowed-ground names dropped at the press conference. Rolapp's answer to all of this — 2027 is a runway year. More details at the Tour Championship. Drip drip drip of information, as Rory McIlroy described it earlier in the season. Trey notes this is entirely intentional — keep people interested, keep the conversation going, give them enough to be excited without giving everything away at once. Very much the NFL model that Rolapp rode to success before arriving at the PGA Tour. Gino Titicaka's Game Heading Into the KPMG Justin's assessment — one of the most intriguing athletes in professional sports right now. She compares to Xander Schauffele on the men's side — a player whose game fits perfectly for major championship conditions who has not yet broken through with the big win. She was the 36-hole leader at last year's KPMG and could not make a putt on the weekend. She has won twice this season. She is only 22 years old. The major breakthrough feels inevitable. Could be this week at Hazeltine. The Boorish Fan Behavior at Shinnecock Trey and Justin both address it directly and both land in the same place — it went too far. Eamon Lynch of the Golf Channel made the point that this specific behavior pattern tends to be a Long Island phenomenon rather than a New York phenomenon broadly. Beth Page Black at the Ryder Cup. Now Shinnecock. There is a pattern and it is not a good one. Justin adds an interesting theory — the access to trains meant more people could drink freely without worrying about driving, which may have contributed to things getting out of hand. But the core message is simple. You can root for whoever you want. You can dislike a player. You can cheer for your guy. But screaming at someone to miss and hoping out loud that shots go in bunkers — that is not golf fan behavior, that is something else. And the people who got kicked out deserved to get kicked out. The silver lining — Wyndham Clark handled it perfectly. Joking with his caddy every time one person clapped. Winning anyway. And in doing so he made more fans than he lost. Did the USGA Mismanage the Shinnecock Setup Both Trey and Justin push back on the mismanagement narrative. The USGA set up the course based on weather forecasts that predicted 45 to 50 mile per hour gusts Thursday afternoon. Those gusts never fully materialized. They protected the course accordingly, and when they realized over the weekend that the weather had changed, they tightened the screws — and by Saturday afternoon there were no greens at Shinnecock. There were browns. Justin's closing stat — how many players finished the US Open at Shinnecock under par? Three. That is the test. That is the US Open. You can debate the Thursday and Friday setup all you want, but when only three players finish under par at a major championship, the golf course won. And that is exactly what a US Open at Shinnecock is supposed to do. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Wyndham Clark on What It Actually Felt Like to Win With the Crowd Against Him

Wyndham Clark — I Loved Silencing the Crowd. The Full Post-Win Interview. Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/WINGO #squarepod #sponsored Head to cozyearth.com and use code WINGO for an exclusive 20% off. Two days after winning his second US Open at Shinnecock Hills, Wyndham Clark sat down with Trey Wingo for a full in-person conversation. No press conference setting. No rushed post-round questions. Just an honest, wide-ranging interview with a two-time US Open champion who has a lot to say about what the last week — and the last year — actually looked like from the inside. The Second One Justifies the First When Wyndham won his first US Open at LACC in 2023, people celebrated it. And then he played poorly in 2025 and the narrative shifted. It was a fluke. He got lucky. Maybe the first one does not really count. He heard all of it. And he carried it to Shinnecock. Trey references the Max Homa line — the second one justifies the first. Wyndham agrees without hesitation. Now winning twice, with Scotty Scheffler in his group chasing the career grand slam and Sam Burns charging from behind on Sunday — nobody can call it a fluke anymore. The second US Open does not just validate the first. It reframes everything. The Crowd Wyndham was genuinely surprised by the level of it. He expected Oakmont questions. He gets those every week and they have become white noise — almost funny at this point. But the actual behavior at Shinnecock was something different. Cheering when his ball went in the bunker. Cheering when he missed a putt. Not clapping when he did something good. Wanting his ball to roll off the green. He says he has never experienced anything like that outside of a Ryder Cup. The American part surprised him most. The week before at the RBC Canadian Open he wore a Jack Hughes USA jersey and chirped the Canadians about winning the gold medal in hockey. He figured New Yorkers who love their country would look at that and think — this guy is one of us. Instead the hostility was real and it was sustained. And then comes the line that defines the entire weekend. I loved silencing the crowd. Not tolerated it. Not survived it. Loved it. He played other sports growing up. He knows what it feels like to be at the free throw line with everyone booing against you and drain both free throws anyway. That is who he is competitively. And at Shinnecock on Sunday, that competitive wiring was the difference between fumbling a six-stroke lead and closing it out. He also notes — after the tournament, doing media runs at the New York Stock Exchange, so many people came up to apologize. Manhattan people, he says, are not Long Island people. He is a West Coast guy. He is pleading the fifth on the full Long Island situation. But the apologies were real. Holding the Lead for 72 Hours Wyndham took the outright lead at approximately 7 PM Friday evening and never gave it back. Trey asks what the most impressive thing he did across those four days was — and Wyndham's answer is not about the golf shots. It is about the mental game. He says if he was not as seasoned a player, if he did not have the confidence he has built recently, he thinks he might have fumbled it. Having the fans against him on Sunday while not playing his best ball and carrying a six-stroke lead — that is a pressure cocktail that breaks a lot of players. He had blinders on. He kept his head. And he credits the mental work he has done over the last year for making that possible. Sam Burns Pulling Within One Wyndham did not love seeing it. He knew someone was going to get close — he was a couple over on the front nine and made what he calls a dumb bogey on eight. His caddy told him on 12 that they still had a three-shot lead. And then from 12 onward he became fully leaderboard aware — do we need to be aggressive, do we need to be conservative, what does this hole demand? When it got to one shot on 16, he made a decision. He could have chipped out and played for bogey. That still would have left him with 240 to 250 yards in on a hard hole where bogey is easily possible. He decided to go for it. Not because he thought he would make birdie. Because laying up still left a dangerous shot. And then the wind caught the putt on 16 and it just kept going and going until it dropped. The Putter Wyndham traces the hot stretch back specifically to the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head — where he switched to a longer and heavier putter. He could feel it on the putting green immediately. The eight footers for birdie and the ten footers for par that he had been missing all year started falling. It peaked at the CJ Byron Nelson where he shot 11-under 60 on Sunday. And it never came back down. His description of the 16th hole birdie putt at Shinnecock is perfect — he was not trying to make it. It was downhill, significantly, with wind helping it toward the hole. He thought he left it short. It just kept going. He says the hole has been big for about two months. And for two months, that has been enough. Mental Health and Therapy This is the most revealing exchange in the entire conversation. Trey asks directly — how much did going through therapy and working on his mental health help him deal with the pressure of Sunday at Shinnecock? Wyndham's answer is striking and honest. Dealing with the aftermath of the Oakmont locker room incident — the embarrassment, the shame, the very public fallout — was significantly harder than dealing with a hostile gallery at the US Open. The crowd on Sunday was fun. It was a competitive challenge he could rise to. The shame of a public mistake and having to sit with it, work through it in therapy, and come out the other side — that was the real test. And once he got through it, he felt like he could handle almost anything golf was going to throw at him. The Oakmont Incident He has said it multiple times. He made a mistake. He is hoping people have some forgiveness. And then he says the line that frames the entire interview — that was definitely my worst moment. I just came off one of my best moments. He hopes people look at both and decide that one bad moment does not define who someone is. Trey's take — winning is the ultimate deodorant. As long as you keep winning, the narrative changes. And with two US Opens now on the resume, the locker room moment is becoming a footnote to a career that is still being written. Consistency Going Forward His major championship record outside the two wins has been uneven — wins, cuts, a T26, a T4. Wyndham is honest about why. His ball striking got off in 2025. He has done significant work with his new coach Pat to fix it. The first two rounds at Shinnecock showed what that work looks like when it clicks. The weekend was managed with the putter and the short game. But the ball striking foundation is what he believes is going to make him consistently dangerous at major championships going forward. The Custom Leaderboard Trey shows Wyndham a custom Masters leaderboard the Wingo Network built — same leaderboard, names replaced by descriptors. Rory was "Grand Slammer going for the Masters repeat." Scotty was "Should have gotten relief at Oakmont." And Wyndham was "US Open Champ, dislikes lockers." Wyndham's reaction — at least they put US Open Champ first. And then, hearing his new Shinnecock descriptor, he says simply: I love that. Hates lockers. He can laugh about it now. That is the clearest sign of all that the work is done. What Comes Next Not yet 30 years old. Two US Opens. Five PGA Tour wins since 2023. A putter that has been the hottest in professional golf for two months. A mental foundation built through real therapy work. And a competitive fire that genuinely enjoyed winning with a hostile crowd rooting against him. Wyndham Clark is not done. This conversation makes that very clear. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Nelly Korda Is Going for Three Straight Majors at the KPMG. Here Is What That Would Mean.

Nelly Korda Goes for Three Straight Majors at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/WINGO #squarepod #sponsored Head to cozyearth.com and use code WINGO for an exclusive 20% off. While the PGA Tour was making headlines at the Travelers Championship, Justin Ray was at Hazeltine National in Minnesota for the KPMG Women's PGA Championship — and the story there starts and ends with one player. Nelly Korda is going for her third consecutive major championship of the season. She won the Chevron Championship. She won the US Women's Open at Riviera. Now she arrives at Hazeltine as the overwhelming favorite to do something only four women in history have ever done — win three majors in the same season. And based on everything Justin Ray has seen on the ground this week, the conditions at Hazeltine and the state of Nelly's game, she is going to be very difficult to beat. The Numbers Are Almost Impossible to Comprehend Nelly Korda has played eight stroke play events this season. She has been beaten by a combined ten players across all eight of those events. That is not a typo. Ten players total, across eight tournaments, have finished ahead of her. She is gaining nearly four strokes per round on the field — a number Justin describes as peak Tiger territory in terms of dominance over your peers. The comparison is not hyperbole. At his most dominant, Tiger Woods was gaining roughly four strokes per round on the field. Nelly Korda is doing that right now on the LPGA Tour. She has four wins, three runner-up finishes, and a tied for eighth as her only result outside the top two all season. The one week where something went slightly sideways — and she was still inside the top ten. What Three Straight Majors Would Mean If Nelly Korda wins at Hazeltine she joins an extraordinarily small group. Only four women in LPGA history have won three majors in the same season. The names on that list are some of the greatest players the sport has ever produced. Adding her name to it would be one of the defining achievements of her career — and she still has two more majors left on the schedule after this one. The conversation about a calendar slam — all five LPGA majors in one season — is premature, but it is no longer absurd. Justin is not ready to put her on full slam watch yet, noting that the Evian Championship has its own unpredictable character and the Women's Open Championship adds a different set of variables. But three in a row is entirely within reach, and the way she has played this season, she deserves to be the heavy favorite every time she tees it up. The $13 Million Purse This week's KPMG Women's PGA Championship carries a purse of $13 million — the largest in the history of women's golf. The last time the KPMG was held at Hazeltine in 2019, the purse was just under $4 million. KPMG has more than tripled their investment in this championship over seven years, and Justin makes sure to note that credit is due — this kind of financial commitment is what grows the sport and attracts the best players in the world to compete at the highest level. The shot-by-shot data presence at this championship is also the strongest it has ever been, with KPMG introducing new statistical infrastructure through the broadcast. For someone like Justin Ray, who lives and breathes golf analytics, this is a significant development for how the women's game gets covered and understood. Who Can Beat Her Justin names three players worth watching if you are looking beyond Nelly. Gino Titicaka — one of the most intriguing athletes in professional sports right now according to Justin. She has been world number one, she has five or six top-five major finishes, she is only 22 years old, and she still has not broken through with a major championship victory. She was the 36-hole leader at last year's KPMG and could not make a putt on the weekend. She is the Xander Schauffele of the LPGA — a player whose game is perfectly suited for major championship conditions, and it feels inevitable that it happens eventually. Could be this week. Charlie Hull — five major runner-up finishes and no wins, but nobody who watches her play gets the feeling of heartbreak. The sense of inevitability around Hull is real. She would be probably the most popular winner at Hazeltine behind Nelly herself, and after what she did at Riviera — shooting 65-67 on the weekend and still losing — she has proven she can play at this level under maximum pressure. Hannah Green — the defending KPMG champion from when it was last held at Hazeltine in 2019 knows this course. She has four worldwide wins this season and is playing arguably the best golf of her career. She is the name Justin circles as a genuine threat to Nelly this week. Minjee Lee — the defending champion from last year's KPMG in Frisco. One of the most consistent and exceptional ball strikers on the LPGA Tour, particularly when the tests get toughest. Worth keeping an eye on. Mio Yamashida — the reigning AIG Women's Open champion just beat Lottie Wode in a playoff last week and is in excellent form. Justin's one question mark is whether her length is sufficient at Hazeltine, noting she is exceptionally skilled from tee to green and around the greens but may face a distance disadvantage on a course this demanding. Better suited for softer links-style conditions than a big demanding American layout. The State of the LPGA Trey and Justin both agree — LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler has to be thrilled with where the tour is right now. The US Women's Open at Riviera was one of the best major championships Justin has covered — Nelly holding off Charlie Hull and Gabby Lopez in primetime on a world-class golf course. The KPMG purse at $13 million signals sponsor commitment. The rivalries are building. The storylines are compelling. And Nelly Korda going for three straight majors at one of the game's great venues on a weekend that already has the Travelers Championship and the World Cup competing for sports attention — women's golf is holding its own. The Bottom Line Nelly Korda arrives at Hazeltine as the most dominant player in golf right now — men's or women's. The numbers say so. The results say so. And if she wins her third consecutive major championship this weekend, the conversation about where she fits in the history of the sport is going to get very interesting very quickly. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.