The Desert’s New Masters: Why Japanese Stars Are Rewriting the Phoenix Open Script I’ve been covering professional golf long enough to know that trends rarely announce themselves with fanfare. They show up quietly, sometimes on a Friday afternoon in the desert, when a 23-year-old named Ryo Hisatsune fires a 63 and suddenly the conversation shifts. After 35 years on the tour beat, I’ve learned to pay attention when the established order starts to feel less certain, and what I’m seeing at TPC Scottsdale this week feels like one of those pivotal moments. Through 36 holes of the 2026 WM Phoenix…

The Jack Doherty Incident Reveals Golf’s Real Enemy: Not Bad Behavior, But Content for Its Own Sake I’ve been covering professional golf for 35 years, and I’ve seen plenty of fan misbehavior. In my early days as a caddie for Tom Lehman, I watched spectators heckle from gallery ropes. I’ve covered 15 Masters where fans occasionally crossed lines. But what happened at the Waste Management Phoenix Open last week feels different—and that distinction matters more than most people realize. Jack Doherty’s removal from TPC Scottsdale wasn’t fundamentally about disruption. It was about the weaponization of spectating itself. A 22-year-old streamer…

The Course as the Real Opponent: Why Golf’s Invisible Variables Matter More Than We Think After 35 years covering professional golf, I’ve watched the sport evolve in countless ways – equipment technology, player athleticism, media coverage, you name it. But one thing hasn’t changed: the course itself remains the great equalizer, the silent saboteur that can humble even the most dominant players on any given week. What strikes me most about the current tour landscape is how little casual fans – and honestly, some bettors – truly understand about what separates a good performance from a great one. We obsess…

The 7-Wood Revolution: Why Golf’s Most Underrated Club Is Finally Getting Its Due After 35 years covering professional golf, I’ve watched equipment trends cycle through the game like seasons. The oversized driver boom of the 2000s. The hybrid invasion that supposedly killed the long iron. The “science-first” approach that put launch monitors in every fitting bay. But I’ll be honest – the current resurrection of the 7-wood caught me slightly off-guard, even as someone who should know better. What strikes me most about this moment isn’t just that Mizuno has engineered a legitimately compelling club in the JPX One. It’s…

The Phoenix Open’s Perfect Storm: Why Matsuyama’s Lead Might Not Be Enough After 35 years covering professional golf, I’ve learned that a one-shot lead entering the final round at TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course is about as secure as a 7-iron in a desert wind. And watching Saturday’s third round unfold, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we’re heading into Sunday with the kind of circumstances that separate the champions from the contenders—and Hideki Matsuyama’s got problems beyond just the score. Don’t misunderstand me. Matsuyama played well enough to take the lead at 13-under 200, and his two Phoenix Open titles…

Phoenix Rising: How Matsuyama and a Star-Studded Chase Set Up Sunday’s Desert Drama After 35 years on the beat, I’ve learned that the best golf stories often write themselves the night before the final round. And here we are at TPC Scottsdale—one of the most electric venues on the PGA Tour—with Hideki Matsuyama holding a one-shot lead heading into Sunday, and frankly, I couldn’t be more intrigued by what’s about to unfold. Let me be direct: this final round has all the makings of something special. Not just because Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, is in command. But because the…

Scottie’s Desert Redemption: Why the Phoenix Open Still Matters in the Modern Tour I’ve been coming to TPC Scottsdale since 1991, back when the crowds were smaller and the 16th hole was just starting to develop its reputation as golf’s ultimate party venue. Thirty-five years into this business, I can tell you that what happens in the desert this week—and specifically what Scottie Scheffler does with another chance at redemption—says something important about the state of professional golf in 2026. Let’s start with the obvious: “Scheffler has bounced back in remarkable fashion, continuing to surge up the Phoenix Open leaderboard…

2026 Could Be Golf’s Most Pivotal Year Yet—And Not Just Because of the Majors After 35 years of chasing golf stories from the Mackenzie Valley to Augusta National, I thought I’d seen just about every narrative arc this sport could throw at us. But reading through the landscape ahead for 2026, I’m genuinely struck by something: we’re not just looking at another year of great golf. We’re looking at a year that could fundamentally reshape how this game evolves. Rory McIlroy’s Grand Slam completion last year was, without question, one of the most defining moments in modern golf history. I…