Amidst Ryder Cup fallout, stars make big moves | Monday Finish - FOGOLF

Welcome back to the Monday Finish, where the majors are long gone, the Ryder Cup is in the rearview and we’ve truly arrived at golf’s offseason – but people everywhere were still playing make-or-break golf tournaments this weekend. To the news!

GOLF STUFF I LIKE

Ryder Cup stars back on their horses.

After last week’s Ryder Cup celebration, Robert MacIntyre said he’s not sure how he’ll back it up after another win this week.

“We’ll try our best,” MacIntyre said after firing a third consecutive 66 to win the Dunhill Links, marking his second victory in as many years in his homeland of Scotland.

MacIntyre was determined to show he’s got more in the tank when it comes to post-win revelry. He just may need a moment to recharge afterwards. He was, after all, an integral piece of the European Ryder Cup team that built a stunning margin over the first two days at Bethpage Black last week; the U.S. mounted a furious final-day charge but it wasn’t enough. MacIntyre played in the day’s final match and earned a half-point against Sam Burns to round out the 15-13 final score and finish his week at 1-1-1. After that? He planned to be an integral part of the celebration, too.

“I’m meant to be on a plane home tomorrow but I think Shane Lowry and I are getting lost in New York,” he said as the party began on Sunday night.

As fallout continues around the, uh, boisterousness of the home crowd, the away team continued its celebrations with even more top-tier golf. While most of the team took the week off, MacIntyre leaned into his unconventional prep for the Dunhill. It paid off.

“I’ve done everything against the book this week,” MacIntyre said with a smile. “From preparation, I pitched up Wednesday afternoon. But I know the golf courses. Played 12 holes on Wednesday. The diet has not been good this week; I can confirm that. I’ve eaten plenty of takeaways, fish and chips, plenty of others. But yeah, it’s been, yeah, sometimes when you are least expecting it things happen.”

He wasn’t the only one to head from Long Island to Fife; Tyrrell Hatton emerged as his top chaser and finished solo second, four shots back. This is a top tournament for Hatton, who has three wins. He also seems to play particularly well post-Ryder Cup; in three efforts the week following the event, he has finished T3, T2 and now solo second.

“I think the slightly more relaxed nature of this week plays a part. Playing the Ryder Cup the week before under such an intense microscope, your game gets lifted normally in those environments and I feel like I played some really good golf at times last week,” Hatton said pre-tournament. That proved prescient.

One Euro with arguably the most on the line stayed on the same side of the pond. It was an odd week for Rasmus Hojgaard, who was part of the winning side but went winless in two matches. He arrived at the Sanderson Farms physically and emotionally drained – but also in need of a strong week as he seeks to improve his PGA Tour status for 2026.

“Yeah, I’m in a situation right now where I don’t have my card secured, so that’s obviously a big part of this year. Again, get myself back into top 50 in the world is a big thing for me as well,” Hojgaard said ahead of the tournament.

“I think for most of the guys that were there last week, it was a completely different environment, and especially for me. I’ve never experienced such a stressful and pressure situation as that,” he added. “I think there’s certainly things in my game that I can improve, and that’s one of the things that was so good from that week is learning, like, under the intense pressure, what part of the game needs improvement, and that’s what I’m going to take with me from that week.”

The Sanderson offered a less intense but also distinctly different type of pressure, and Hojgaard responded with a Sunday 65 that vaulted him to T3, sending him to No. 75 in the FedEx Cup and essentially guaranteeing he’ll stay inside the top 100 that earn full cards for next season.

Hojgaard was keyed in on MacIntyre’s win – suggesting Team Europe’s bond has carried past last weekend.

“I watched [the Dunhill] this morning at breakfast so I’m super happy for Bob,” he said. “Even Tyrrell, I think he finished second. Good showing from the boys there.”

The good showings continue.

WINNERS

Who won the week?

Robert MacIntyre won the Dunhill Links Championship, the iconic DP World Tour event that spans three of golf’s most epic links courses: The Old Course at St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns. Weather reduced the event to three rounds but MacIntyre lapped the field anyway, winning by four thanks to a 66-66-66 week.

Steven Fisk emerged as the champion after a back-and-forth battle with Garrick Higgo on the final nine at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Fisk has been a talented player since his parents opened a par-3 course when he was 4 or 5 years old – but he needed a few things to line up to capture his first PGA Tour win. He’s been listening to “Putting Out of Your Mind,” by Dr. Bob Rotella, on audiobook. He’d circled this event knowing he’d be putting on bermudagrass, his preferred surface. And he said he felt a few putts pushed in by Grayson Murray, whose caddie Jay Green now works for Fisk, or by Fisk’s father, who passed away earlier this year.

“I had a couple of helpers out there. I miss him very much, and I know he’d be really proud of how I played all week and especially today to keep my composure and just kind of go about my business the best way I know how,” Fisk said. “I’d like to think that he knew this day would happen.”

Youmin Hwang won the LOTTE Championship in Hawaii. Hwang, a 22-year-old Korean LPGA member who was in the field on a sponsor invite, fired a final-round 5-under 67 to edge out Hyo Joo Kim by a single shot. Hwang’s win also marks the 26th LPGA event in 2025 without a single repeat winner; there have technically been 27 winners in 26 events because of the two-player Dow Championship, which shatters all records.

Adrien Dumont De Chassart won the Compliance Solutions Championship at a tour-record 33 under par, getting gradually “worse” as the week went on by shooting 61-61-64-65 to win by seven. The Belgian 25-year-old also leapt from No. 26 in the KFT’s Order of Merit to clinch his PGA Tour card for next season; just 20 make it. It’ll mark his return to the Tour.

“It’s going to be nice to be able to enjoy my offseason, get back in the gym, work hard and just get ready for 2026 on the PGA Tour,” he said. Now that I know most courses on the PGA Tour, it will be a little easier to prepare. Really looking forward to it.”

Anne Chen won the Epson Tour Championship at Indian Wells, shooting 68-64-69-65 and then outlasting Sophia Schubert on their fifth playoff hole. Chen’s win was her first as a pro, boosting her to No. 11 on the Epson’s season-long race and safely inside the top 15 that make next year’s LPGA Tour. She also became, remarkably, the fourth Duke Blue Devil to win on the Epson this summer.

Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey won for the first time on the PGA Tour Champions at the Constellation Furyk and Friends, capping off a season in which he Monday qualified (Tuesday, in this case) four times and now has full status for 2026 – plus this week’s SAS Championship.

“I grinded for a long time, and finally I can say that grinding and hard work has paid off,” Gainey said post-win. “Man, a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.”

And Jacob Hillman of the world-renowned Mt. Greylock Regional High School rallied from five shots down and made a clutch birdie at No. 18 to win the Berkshire Classic.

News

Cole Hammer lines up a putt at the LECOM Suncoast Classic

NOT-WINNERS

But still kinda winners.

On Sunday, the Korn Ferry Tour finalized its 75 players who will earn or retain full status for the 2026 season; next week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship will finalize the top 20 who graduate to the PGA Tour. There were some nail-biting moments on that cut line, none tighter than Blades Brown, the teenage sensation who has continually answered the bell and finished at No. 75 exactly.

James Nicholas finished T3, his best KFT result, to jump from No. 78 to No. 62. Dylan Wu started at No. 81 and finished T12 to jump to No. 71. Cole Hammer‘s T15 was enough to boost him from No. 79 to No. 72. Samuel Anderson was the final pro to play his way inside the 75 cutoff; he bogeyed 15 and 16 as part of a bogey-free back nine and finished at No. 70.

Eight players have officially locked up their PGA Tour cards for 2026:

1. Johnny Keefer
2. Austin Smotherman
3. Neal Shipley
4. Emilio Gonzalez
5. Hank Lebioda
6. Adrien Dumont de Chassart
7. Chandler Blanchet
8. S.H. Kim

Meanwhile the Epson Tour has finalized its 15 players graduating to the LPGA Tour for 2026 (see more on each pro here):

1. Melanie Green
2. Yana Wilson
3. Gina Kim
4. Sophia Schubert
5. Erika Hara
6. Briana Chacon
7. Riley Smyth
8. Laetitia Beck
9. Minji Kang
10. Hailee Cooper
11. Anne Chen
12. Isabella Fierro
13. Michelle Zhang
14. Carla Tejedo Mulet
15. Laney Frye

SHORT HITTERS

Five stories that grabbed my attention this week.

1. Geno Bonnalie, one of the PGA Tour’s most beloved loopers, is back on the bag – not for longtime employer Joel Dahmen but for Isaiah Salinda. So far, no good: 70-77 for an MC at the Sanderson. But it’s great to see Geno back.

2. The 2026 TGL schedule has been released. I cannot believe this is happening again – but at the same time, I’m glad it is? Here’s more on the when, where and Tiger Woods of it all.

3. Fallout continued from the Ryder Cup, with apologies left and right, including from the event emcee and the PGA CEO – plus some musing on green speeds.

4. LIV Golf’s financials for 2024 are fascinating to pore over, if not particularly rosey.

5. Rodeo Dunes, the latest epic project from Coore-Crenshaw and Bandon founder Mike Keiser, is coming together and our Josh Sens was there to check things out…

ONE SWING THOUGHT

From Max Homa, on putting speed:

This came after a Saturday 64 en route to Max Homa‘s T18 finish; he may not be “back,” but this marks his third top 20 in his last six PGA Tour starts.

“I thought my speed was a lot better. I putted for a while yesterday afternoon and kind of just made a little pact with myself that the only thing I would think about was the pace, even on the short ones.

“Stroke has felt so good, and I felt like yesterday missed a few early and started just thinking about my putting stroke too much. Speed got worse, and I don’t think there’s any technical flaw in there. I was really happy with the speed. That’s how you’re going to make long ones, typically. I thought for the most part today it was really consistent.”

ONE BIG QUESTION

Where will the PGA Tour start its 2026 season?

So far all we know for sure is that the Sentry will not take place at Kapalua, which has long served as the annual starting point for the PGA Tour season. This is a loss for Kapalua itself and for the island of Maui, which sees a boost in tourism during and around the event. It’s a loss for the players, who enjoy starting their year at arguably the schedule’s most scenic site. And it’s a loss for Tour fans who have grown to appreciate the primetime escapist viewing that comes from watching the season begin again in a faraway time zone – and climate.

Now the question turns to where the Sentry will relocate. From what we’re hearing at the Monday Finish, there’s been no formal decision made. But it sounds like possibilities include a relocation to southern California – think Torrey Pines, which filled in as Genesis host last season, or a golf course in golf-mad Palm Springs – or Florida, like returning tournament host Trump Doral. So where are they headed? We’ll do some more digging and keep you posted.

ONE THING TO WATCH

More Shane Lowry.

There is, the chant goes, only oneeeee Shane Lowry. Here he is in a past episode of ‘Warming Up’ that I’m inclined to plug in the wake of his Ryder Cup heroics.

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

The weather has still been so good here that I’ve just booked a tee time for my annual fall trek to Chambers Bay, which is just a glorious hour south of the city and the site of the PGA Tour event I’ve proposed to new CEO Brian Rolapp. (TBD, to say the least, but he definitely acted curious, even if I’m not sure he’d ever heard of Chambers before I mentioned it.)

It’s also the time of year when the uncommitted golfer is largely weeded out. The fairweather crowd will either stick to the more predictable options of “heading south” or “not playing golf.” Time for the mudders to shine…

We’ll see you next week.

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