Every Tuesday, SI Golf will rank nine newsmakers from the golf world. Sometimes, we’ll cast a wide net. Tell us what you think on the SI Golf X account.
1. Keegan Bradley: Despite the PGA Tour being off last week for the first time since last December, a lot has happened in the golf world since last Tuesday’s Power Nine. The biggest, perhaps, was Bradley selecting his six U.S. Ryder Cup captain’s picks, which notably didn’t include himself. Good call. Though he was definitely one of the top 12 American players this past year, there was more to lose than to gain by playing. Now, he can simply steer the ship.
2. Sam Burns: Who did Bradley essentially select instead of himself? Burns, whose season doesn’t exactly jump off the page (he was 16th in Ryder Cup points), but after losing in a playoff at June’s RBC Canadian Open, he nearly won the U.S. Open and had two top 10s in the final two events of the season. Plus, he’s one of the best putters in the world and a close friend of Scottie Scheffler. A disputable yet safe selection.
3. Cam Young: There’s a trend here. How did we know Burns was making the squad? Well, after Young was taken with the fourth captain’s pick, he, perhaps accidentally, revealed that Burns was on the team. Then, when Cantlay was the next choice, there was little suspense that Bradley would make himself the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963. Whoops.
4. Miranda Wang: This whole column can’t be entirely about Ryder Cup picks (we haven’t even sniffed the European side!), so let’s show some love to the native of China, who notched her maiden LPGA title at the FM Championship on Sunday and tied an LPGA record by becoming the seventh rookie to win this season. Making matters even more impressive, she held off world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul for a one-stroke victory. And, as we mention nearly every week in this ranking, there are still no repeat winners this season (there have been 23 tournaments thus far). That stat keeps getting wilder.
5. Matt Wallace: The first mention here of the European Ryder Cup squad is about a player who didn’t make it. The 35-year-old Englishman likely needed a win at the European Masters to lock a spot on the team, but after finishing runner-up, he knew it wouldn’t be enough. Afterward, he was in tears over being so close to teeing it up at Bethpage Black. The Ryder Cup means a lot to these players. Well, at least the European ones.
6. Luke Donald: The European captain didn’t really make any groundbreaking headlines in the last week, but rather, he kept the team mostly the same from 2023 (the only switch is swapping Rasmus Hojgaard for his twin brother, Nicolai. Also, if there was any doubt LIVers Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton weren’t making the team, Donald (as very much as expected) affirmed that was not going to be the case.
7. Patrick Cantlay: O.K., back to the Americans. Forget that Cantlay was a controversial pick for Bradley’s team (he was 15th in points), but during the announcement, he looked like a co-worker who very clearly didn’t want to be on a Zoom meeting. And that went viral. Did his glum look insinuate that he will indeed not be wearing a hat again?
The last thing you see before your company announces mass layoffs pic.twitter.com/FVRKRm2ySp
— Patrick McDonald (@pmcdonaldCBS) August 27, 2025
8. Charlie Woods: The 16-year-old hit a hole-in-one at the Junior Players Championship on the 177-yard par-3 3rd at TPC Sawgrass. Even though he finished 7 over, people can’t get enough of Charlie’s highlights. And for those keeping count, he also had an ace at the PNC Championship last December.
9. Ernie Els: Keeping it in the family, Els pleaded to the Palm Beach Post for Tiger Woods to tee it up next season on the PGA Tour Champions, after the 15-time major champion turns 50. As Tiger’s best days are behind him, this would be a fun boost for the over-50 circuit and a chance to see the Big Cat contend for titles again, perhaps riding in a cart.
Also considered: Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Matt Fitzpatrick, Sepp Straka, Viktor Hovland, Thriston Lawrence, Jin Hee Im
Dropped out from last week: Tommy Fleetwood, Brian Rolapp, Scottie Scheffler, Rasmus Højgaard, Robert Garrigus, Sam Bairstow, Brooke Henderson, Donald Trump
