Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as we head to Colonial for the Charles Schwab Challenge.
1. A cult hero is born
Golf Digest’s Dave Shedloski…”The New York denizens wrapped him in their embrace all day. So he gave them one last reason to cheer. After pulling his approach to the 18th green well left of the green, Block somehow got up and down from the trampled rough, hitting a flop shot from some 32 yards to seven feet and then trickling in the par save that had more meaning than he knew.”
“Refusing to look at a scoreboard, Block, who began the day tied for eighth, didn’t find out until after signing for a one-over 71 that his final stroke enabled him to retain a share of 15th place, which earns him an exemption into the 2024 PGA at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. He completed the championship in one-over 281, tied with Tyrell Hatton and Eric Cole and posted the best finish by a club professional since Lonnie Nielsen was T-11 in 1986 at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.”
“That was amazing,” McIlroy said to Block’s wife Val, giving her a hug of congratulations.
“I guess sort of when it’s your week, it’s your week in a way,” McIlroy said in the aftermath, again using the word amazing to describe his playing partner and the shot heard all the way across the country. “I think with the way the week’s went for him, it [the hole-in-one] was a fitting way to cap off his PGA Championship.”
Colby Powell for Golf Channel…“I honestly didn’t feel like I had a chance of winning this week,” McIlroy said after Sunday’s final round. “So it was just about going out there and playing the best I could and trying to make the most of it.”
“There were signs over the last four days that perhaps McIlroy would put it all together and make a charge, but just like Sunday when he opened his final round with a birdie only to follow with a bogey at the second from the middle of the fairway, it just felt as if he was swimming upstream in Allen’s Creek on his way to a T-7 finish.”
“So what’s to be made of another top 10 in a major where it never actually felt as if the 23-time PGA Tour winner would be the one holding the trophy?”
“I would say a top-10 finish, I would have been pretty happy with that at the start of the week,” McIlroy said. “But then once you’re in there and you actually feel like you could have done a little better, it starts to become disappointing. But if I think back to myself on Wednesday, say, just before the tournament started, and someone said, ‘You’re going to finish T-7 this week,’ I would say, actually, that’s probably not a bad week for me with how I’m feeling about everything.”
Adam Woodard for Golfweek…”After dazzling fans on the weekend – including an ace during Sunday’s final round – and finishing as the low professional at the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, Block is taking his talents to the PGA Tour.”
“The 46-year-old who teaches at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California, received a sponsor exemption into next week’s Charles Schwab Challenge, May 25-28, at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.”
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach…”Koepka’s 2-shot victory over Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler was the first major championship win by an LIV Golf League player. Other members of the Saudi Arabian-financed circuit said it proved they belong in the major championships.”
“It validates everything we’ve said from the beginning: That we’re competing at the highest level and we have the ability to win major championships,” Bryson DeChambeau said. “I really hope people can see the light now that we’re trying to provide the game of golf with something new and fresh. I think at the end of the day, both sides are going to have to come together at some point. It’s for the good of the game.”
THE MODERATOR: Michael Block is joining us following the 105th PGA Championship. First of all, congrats on an incredible week. Has everything you accomplished the last few days begun to sink in yet?
MICHAEL BLOCK: Not quite yet. I just got a call from Colonial, and I’m in next week as the last sponsor’s exemption, which is really even more mind-boggling now. So I’m readjusting flights to head to Dallas and Fort Worth, so I’m looking forward to that, to say the least.
No, this week’s been absolutely a dream. I didn’t know it was going to happen, but I knew if I just played my darned game, right, that I could do this. I always knew it.
I had this intuition that it was going to happen — I always had this thing: It was going to happen with Tiger Woods, it really was. I always saw myself coming down the stretch with Tiger Woods. I was like, I’m going to do it, even if I’m 45 or whatever it is, I’m going to come down the stretch at an event with Tiger.
It just happened to be that I was in the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, and I had Rory McIlroy in my group. I wasn’t coming down the stretch to win, but at the same time, Sunday at a major with the crowd here at Rochester was unreal.
6. Ban LIV rebels from Ryder Cup?
Oliver Brown for the Telegraph…”No sooner had Brooks Koepka tied the ribbon on his fifth major title than the vexed question of his professional allegiance reared its head once more. In the cosy confines of the Golf Channel studio, Brad Faxon, among the mildest-mannered figures you could hope to meet in the game, made the point that a man who had won the US PGA Championship three times in six years should, by any conventional logic, be a shoo-in for the Ryder Cup. “They’re not playing for money,” he said. “They’re playing for their country.”
“Except Brandel Chamblee, a pundit who has volubly opposed Koepka’s alignment with LIV Golf and all that the Saudi-backed breakaway stands for, shot down the suggestion with thinly veiled contempt. “They’re not playing for their tour?” he replied, incredulously. “There’s certainly a sense that the Europeans are playing for their tour.” “They’re playing golf,” Faxon deadpanned, before the pair engaged in an awkward death stare.”
“It was a perfect illustration of the insoluble schism that an injection of vast Saudi riches has wrought. On the one side, you have those who regard LIV as an irredeemably debased enterprise, tainting everybody and everything it touches. On the other, there are those championing the prerogative of the finest golfers, as independent contractors, to tee up on whichever tour gives them the greatest financial benefit. And in the middle you have somebody such as Faxon, who initially expressed unease about LIV’s pilfering of talent but who now regards the calls for Koepka to be eligible for the Ryder Cup as misplaced.”
Shelby Lofton for KSL.com…”A massive sinkhole has taken over a section of the golf course at the Fox Hollow Golf Club.”
“The club’s head golf professional, Jaxson Taylor, said the sinkhole was reported around 1 p.m. Saturday. No one fell in or was injured.”
“We got a phone call, and I ran out there and immediately got on the phone and contacted the city,” Taylor recalled. “Their rapidness, I think, was beneficial.”
“Golfer Destry Cobbley mows the course and was in the area of the sinkhole as recently as Friday.”
“There were no indications whatsoever that it was going to give way,” he said. “That’s kind of freaky.”
Kent Paisley for Golf Digest…”the top American on the LPGA announced Monday that she is going to be cautious the next few weeks because of an injury. Nelly Korda took to her Instagram story to explain that she withdrew from next week’s Mizuho America’s Open because of back pain. The new LPGA event this season, with tournament host Michelle Wie West, is at Liberty National in New Jersey.”
“Never fun or easy news to share but I have made the decision to withdraw from next week’s tournament at the advice of my medical team to address pain in my back,” Korda posted. “We are working on a treatment plan to ensure I’m back to 100% for the remainder of the exciting season ahead. Thank you everyone for the support.”
Elliott Heath for Golf Monthly…”After failing to qualify for his first Major in 24 years, Sergio Garcia has made sure that won’t be happening twice in a row after making it through to next month’s US Open.”
“The Spaniard had to do it the hard way, making it through from a stacked field at Bent Tree Country Club and Northwood Club to the north of Dallas city center.”
“Garcia opened up with a 66 at Bent Tree before another 66 in the afternoon at Northwood to take one of the eight spots on offer for LA Country Club. His score of nine-under-par got him through in T4th, with a birdie on the last ensuring he avoided a playoff.”
Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game.
Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms.
Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan.
Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.
GolfWRX is on site this week at the Memorial Tournament, with both Alistair Cameron and Tour Photographer Greg Moore on the ground in Dublin, Ohio, where a strong field is assembled to pay homage to the Golden Bear.
In addition to WITB galleries, we’ve already been treated to an in-hand look at Tommy Fleetwood’s new TaylorMade Spider putters.
Around the world, the golf wheel spun this final week in May of 2026. From New Jersey to Austria, with stops in Korea, Texas, and North Carolina (don’t let me route your next trip) the world’s finest put their golf games on display. There were three playoffs, some known commodities and some new talent. It was the sort of week that we hope to have at this point in the seasons. June and July afford double-digit major events, and perhaps, one of this week’s champions will use this success as a springboard to new heights. Time to run it all down, tech style, in this week’s Tour Tech Rundown.
Thanks to WITBHub, Today’s Golfer, GolfWRX, and Inside Tour Golf for initial research into equipment.
PGA Tour @ Charles Schwab Challenge: Heroic Henley denies Cole
Eric Cole did nearly everything that a fellow can do, to secure a first PGA Tour title. He stayed one shot clear of Ryder Cup player Ben Griffin. He kept US Open champion Gary Woodland and wunderkind Michael Brennan two shots distant. He posted 70 on day four to reach twelve under par. And then, Russell Henley revealed his Dr. Strange cloak. Henley made 47 feet of birdie putts on holes 16, 17, and 18, to jump from minus-nine to twelve-deep, and secured a spot in a playoff with Cole. The duo returned to the final tee, and put on a stripe show.
Both golfers found the fairway off the tee, and Henley improved on his regulation play with an approach to four feet. Cole did himself proud, tucking an iron to a dozen feet, but he was unable to convert the putt for three. Henley is one of the best putters on tour, and he proved it once more by draining a putt for a fourth consecutive birdie, and a sixth PGA Tour title. For Eric Cole, that first victory should come, and soon. He has done everything necessary to earn the chalice lift.
Henley’s Suitcase
Driver: Titleist TSi3 at 10 degrees. Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 70g 6.5 TX
Metal: Titleist TS3 at 16.5 degrees. Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 80 TX
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 at 48 and 50 degrees. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 at 54 and 60 degrees. Shaft: rue Temper Dynamic Golf Tour Issue S400
Putter: Titleist Scotty Cameron T5 Tour Prototype
LPGA @ Shoprite LPGA: Welcome back, Celine!
Soo Bin Joo had her eyes on a maiden LPGA title. She held the lead after two rounds, then hit a red light at the intersection of can-I and how-To. Joo posted plus-two on day three in New Jersey, and dropped to a T4 finish, which was still a career-best for the young Korean golfer. Instead of a new face, a familiar face returned to the top of the podium.
Celine Boutier was the It Girl in 2023. She collected four victories, including a major title at Evian. Boutier reached world number one status, then simply faded into the background. No wins came her way over the next 30 months. On Sunday, she collected LPGA victory number seven, at the same trace as LPGA victory number two.
Day three saw Boutier manage the windswept Seaview Bay course with six birdies and a bogey. She was challenged in the end by Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol, who signed for a 66 of her own. Yubol came up one shot shy of the top ladder rung. Finishing in third place at -7, two back of the winner, was Ireland’s Lauren Walsh.
Celine’s Suitcase
Driver: PXG 0311 Black Ops Tour-1 at 9 degrees. Shaft: Graphite Design AD IZ-5
Hybrid: PXG 0311 Black Ops at 19 and 22 degrees. Shaft: KBS Hybrid Prototype
Hybrid: PXG 0311 Gen5.
Iron: PXG 0311 P Gen 4 5-9 irons
Wedge: PXG 0311 T Gen 4 PW
Wedges: PXG 0311 Sugar Daddy II at 50, 54, 58 degrees
Putter: Bettinardi Studio Stock 3 DASS
DP World Tour @ Austrian Alpine: KK? KK!
Kota Kaneko has a rhythmic name. It has strong vowels and a run of voiceless stops in its crunchy K sounds. On Sunday in Austria, Kaneko put a stop to a challenge from Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia and everyone else, and claimed a first-ever title on the DP World Tour. Gouveia did well to reach 16-under par over four days, but Kaneko held firm, two shots in the clear.
Davis Bryant of the USA also forged a strong challenge for the win. He ended in a tie with Gouveia for second place. Kaneko began and finished his final round in a bit of a malaise, but he caught fire midway through. Birdies at 10, 12, and 13 provided the necessary cushion to cruise to the finish line without breaking a serious sweat.
Kaneko’s Suitcase
Driver: Ping Max G440
Metals: TaylorMade Qi4D at 15, 16.5, 21, and 24 degrees
Irons: TaylorMade P760 5 and 6 irons
Irons: TaylorMade P7TW 7-9 irons
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design at 46, 52, 56, and 60 degrees
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Cruiser Arm Lock #7
Korn Ferry Tour @ UNC Health Championship: Improbably Alvaro
Alvaro Ortiz may have had a bit of scare on the outward nine on Sunday, but he came through in clutch fashion in the end. Ortiz began the day bogey-double, and added another double bogey at the 11th hole. He was mired in a downward trend, spiraling away from the top of the leader’s board. Ortiz found hope at the 14th, where his first birdie of the day tumbled home. Inspired, he closed with birdies and 17 and 18 to catch Ross Steelman at 10-under par, and the duo returned to the 18th deck for overtime.
The extra session concluded in brief time. Ortiz, buoyed by his newly-retrieved confidence, hit the fairway with driver, then approached to six feet and drained the putt. Gobsmacked, Steelman could do little more than smile and applaud, as his run at the top came to a close. The victory was the first for Ortiz on the KFT, and will implant him squarely in the chase for a PGA Tour promotion.
Chile’s Joaquin Niemann had been away from the LIV winner’s circle throughout all of 2026. This week in Korea, he reminded us that he is still a force to consider. Niemann chased down Taylor Gooch over the closing holes at Asiad Country Club, then claimed victory with a hole-one birdie in extra time. Bryson DeChambeau claimed solo third, one shot in arrears at minus-eleven. Dustin Johnson finished on fourth, one putt farther back.
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