Key technology

To achieve the desired balance of soft feel and robust performance for the inconsistent golfer, Srixon engineered a brand-new material called i-ALLOY. This proprietary alloy is said to be 10% softer than the commonly used 431 steel, delivering enhanced feedback, reduced vibration, and a softer sensation typically reserved for the best irons for low handicaps.

Maximizing the potential of i-ALLOY is the latest iteration of Srixon’s MainFrame milling pattern. Using data derived from thousands of real-world shots by game improvement players, Srixon’s R&D team strategically tuned each iron face.

This precision engineering redistributes mass to amplify ball speed and forgiveness, crucially positioning the sweet spot lower on the face where most mid-to-high handicappers make contact with the ball. The result is a more efficient energy transfer and tighter shot dispersion, something the best game improvement irons offer.

The addition of the ZXiR and ZXiR HL models officially completes Srixon's iron family, offering a full fitting matrix from the tour-calibre Z-Forged II blade to the compact ZXi7 iron, the players' distance iron in the ZXi5, powerful ZXi4 iron and then the maximum forgiveness offerings in the ZXiR and ZXiR HL.

Design-wise, the ZXiR irons feature longer blade lengths, wider soles, and more offset than the other irons in the Srixon family but maintain premium cavity-back shaping and clean toplines.

Read our full Srixon ZXiR and ZXiR HL irons review

The new irons include several key features to enhance playability: Srixon’s proprietary Tour V.T. Sole prevents digging and ensures smooth turf interaction; Progressive Grooves adjust their width and depth throughout the set for optimal performance in long irons versus scoring clubs and Laser Face Milling adds extra control upon landing.

The ZXiR HL irons (High Launch) are Srixon’s dedicated super game improvement model. Engineered for golfers with slower swing speeds, the HL model features loft tuning and optimized specs to produce maximum launch, increased spin, and softer landing. A women’s ZXiR HL option is also available, optimized with specific components for female golfers.

What Srixon Says

“With the introduction of our new game improvement irons, and for the first time ever, a super game improvement model, Srixon is opening the door for more golfers to experience the performance and feel our irons are celebrated for. These additions represent a new chapter in our innovation journey, bringing the advanced technologies and premium craftsmanship players expect from Srixon and making them available to all levels of golfer.”

Specs, Pricing & Availability

Both the ZXiR and ZXiR HL irons come standard with premium shafts (KBS Tour Lite and various KBS Graphite options) and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grips. Customization options are extensive, including 20 paint fill colors, custom ferrules, and full adjustability for loft, lie, and length.

Fittings and custom pre-orders for the new ZXiR and ZXiR HL irons will commence on December 4, 2025, with stock offerings becoming available on January 6, 2026. Retail pricing for a 6-piece set (steel or graphite) is set at £959.

More than two months after Team Europe's 15-13 success over Team USA at Bethpage Black, Thomas appeared on the No Laying Up podcast to discuss a range of topics - from the Ryder Cup to his injury and his past year on tour.

In amongst a fascinating chat was the two-time Major winner's comments about the pace of the putting surfaces at Bethpage Black and how they were apparently not what had been requested by the Americans ahead of time.

This, according to Thomas, caused an argument between members of Team USA and an external party and Team Europe took advantage of the conditions and more efficient preparation to put themselves in a commanding position through two days.

The home side fought back valiantly in the Sunday singles, led in part by Thomas' 1up win over Tommy Fleetwood, but it was too little, too late as Luke Donald's men clung on to victory.

Asked on No Laying Up if the greens were as slow as broadcasters had claimed on the coverage, Thomas said: "Yeah, I don't really understand that. I don't know why they weren't at all what Keegan had asked for.

"I mean, he had been pretty clear of asking for a certain speed and wanting it fast enough. I watched them argue with us that they were 13s [on the stimp].

"And it's like, 'guys, we play golf every week, like, look on TV at how many guys are leaving putts short. Nobody is getting... You can't have a putt, roll, three feet, four feet past the hole. Like these greens are slow, speed them up.'

"And it was just bizarre because that's not something you would expect at a home Ryder Cup."

Shortly after Thomas' thoughts went online, Rick Golfs (@Top100Rick) posted on X to say that he had received a text from an anonymous member of the greens crew at Bethpage.

Said staffer was extremely unhappy at the 32-year-old's take on the situation and spared no feelings in his riposte, saying: "They can argue with numbers all they want but these are concrete, collected numbers that cannot be argued with. Data is data, not an opinion. Player perception is an opinion.

“There was ZERO conversation between captains and the grounds crew during tournament week, and that is at the fault of Keegan.

"We would have welcomed him with open arms any day or time (we were there 24/7) and only spoke with him directly ONCE - weeks before the event.

"If there was a problem, it should have come from him in practice rounds (that they failed to play) when they would have realized they didn't like the speed.

“They still lost, and they still can't accept it. Two months later and the excuses keep rolling.

"The grounds crew wanted to win more than any player on that American team. Quite frankly, it meant more to the Bethpage staff and the state of New York than anyone else.

"Learn to practice and compete as a team, or JT will continue to scrap together excuses in 2026.”

Having seen the Bethpage staffer's comments, Thomas then went on the PGA Tour's Sirius XM radio to try and set the record straight - even going so far as to say he agreed with the anonymous staffer's feelings on a certain aspect.

Thomas said: "It's unfortunate things get lost in translation or the context is not there. I don't feel that I ever said anything about this being the greens crew's fault.

"This is all obviously to my knowledge, the captain doesn't have communication with, say, the superintendent or the greens crew.

"Obviously [the captain] knows them, but Keegan is not going to the superintendent at Bethpage asking what he's done because - I would assume - for certain reasons that could probably get out of hand a little bit.

"And the PGA of America is still setting up the golf course and doing things, so they need to know what's going on.

"It was more so with whoever the communication [was] with Keegan. And, honestly, I think the point that the greens crew made [in the text] is exactly my point.

"I know for a fact that Keegan was asking for a certain thing or a certain speed and the fact that never got relayed to them kind of proves the point I was trying to make."

Baker-Finch announced he was retiring from broadcasting in July and made his final call at the Wyndham Championship, capping off a 30-year career in the booth.

His final round on the mic was greeted with kind words from several notable names, including Tiger Woods, former PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and the man who was ultimately to replace him, Knost.

Months on from that day, CBS Sports confirmed Knost would join host Jim Nantz, lead analyst Trevor Immelman and fellow analyst Frank Nobilo on the top desk for coverage of the PGA Tour and Major championships from January.

CBS also stated that Dottie Pepper will continue to serve as the lead on-course reporter with Trevor's brother Mark Immelman carrying on as an on-course reporter. Meanwhile, Amanda Balionis will handle post-round interviews.

Commenting on Knost's promotion, Harold Bryant - executive producer and executive vice president of production at CBS Sports - said: “Colt has become a valued voice on our team, bringing insight, energy, and his engaging personality to every broadcast.

“Elevating him alongside Jim, Trevor, and Frank in our Super Tower is a natural next step that reflects the trust and respect he’s earned.”

Knost's promotion from on-course reporter to analyst arrives almost seven years after he began working for CBS Sports in a part-time capacity. In 2021, he took up a full-time position in the same role having waved goodbye to his playing days.

The former pro golfer shot to notoriety in 2007 when he won the US Amateur and immediately graduated into the paid ranks. In the years that followed, Knost won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour and played multiple seasons on the PGA Tour.

The latest chapter of his broadcasting career will begin on Saturday, January 31 and Sunday, February 1 when CBS Sports covers the final two rounds of the Farmers Insurance Open from Torrey Pines.

Just recently, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood have been spotted with new TaylorMade Qi4D drivers and fairway woods, while another TaylorMade staffer has also changed his set-up, albeit not in the top section of his bag.

Collin Morikawa, who signed with the brand when he turned professional in 2019, has undergone numerous putter changes over the past 18 months and, just recently, revealed a new flatstick would be making its way into his set-up.

Posting to his Instagram, the two-time Major winner was spotted using an all-black TaylorMade Spider 5K-ZT, with Morikawa writing a humorous caption that read:

"Dear Santa. First on my Christmas list is to make more putts. This is the (new) putter I’m currently gaming. Whether it’s in the form of a putter, no 3 putts or some lucky breaks on the greens, truthfully, I’ll take any. More to come on the wishlist…"

It's the first time that the American has opted for a zero torque model of putter, and is the sixth model he has trialed in 2025.

At the start of the year, he had the TaylorMade TP Soto in play, a blade-style flatstick. Although it remained in the bag, he swapped the silver finish to a matte black color in March, alternating between the two until the RBC Heritage.

During that Signature Event, a TaylorMade Spider Tour V with an L-neck made its way into his set-up for one round, before he returned back to the TP Soto.

Again, these models were regularly switched out until the Travelers Championship, where a Logan Olson blade-style was in the bag for the week.

That putter was swiftly changed to a prototype Spider at the Rocket Classic though, after admitting he "putted like a blind man" during the first round. Morikawa then moved back to his trusty TP Soto, a model that won him his two Majors.

Keeping the same putter in the bag, the next big change came at the Procore Championship, where Morikawa was pictured with a center-shafted TaylorMade Spider Tour V.

It remained in the bag for that event and the Ryder Cup, before the L-neck version resurfaced at the Baycurrent Classic, his last competitive start of the season.

For 2025, Morikawa ranked 156th in Strokes Gained: Putting on the PGA Tour and 160th in Total Putting, with the 28-year-old claiming two runner-up finishes throughout the year.

Back in June, JJ Spaun claimed the first Major title for zero torque putters, wielding a L.A.B Golf DF3. He is one of many players to put the style of flatstick into the bag, with recent FedEx Open de France winner, Michael Kim, detailing the positives and negatives of using one.

Claiming "(It's) very easy to start putts online," Kim also added: "A ZT putter might only be a minimal improvement on that (start line) and until you fix your set up, it might not do too much good...

"A lot of pros have transitioned to one because it just feels easier to start putts online and more and more guys are transitioning."

The Australian Open is the second event of the 2025/2026 DP World Tour season and is regarded as one of the most important golf tournaments outside the heartlands of the USA and the UK.

The Australian Open golf will be televised live around the world this week, with viewing options in the US and UK, as well as free-to-air TV and streaming coverage in Australia itself.

In this guide Golf Monthly brings you all the details on TV channels and live streams so you can watch the Australian Open online, on TV, and from anywhere in the world.

Watch the Australian Open golf for FREE down under

You can watch the Australian Open golf for free in Australia, where free-to-air broadcaster Channel 9 is showing the tournament on TV and on its streaming service 9Now.

9Now is free to use with a registration. It is geo-restricted to Australia.

Away from home right now? You can still access your usual streaming servces by using a VPN – more on that below.

Watch Australian Open golf from anywhere

If you are outside your usual country, you can still access the streaming services you subscribe to, even when you're away from home, thanks to a handy piece of software known as a VPN.

A Virtual Private Network – to give it the full name – can make your devices appear to be in any location, bypassing geo-restrictions so you can watch the things you've signed up for. It's perfect for watching golf from anywhere, and it comes with a host of internet security benefits, too.

Our expert colleagues over at TechRadar have tested loads of VPNs and they reckon NordVPN is the best VPN provider out there right now, thanks to its lightning speeds, flawless security, and ability to unblock streaming services.

Watch Australian Open golf in the US

The Australian Open Golf is being broadcast exclusively on the Golf Channel.

Got cable? You're all set – you can watch on TV or via the NBC Sports app with your cable credentials.

Not got cable? To watch the Golf Channel online you'll need a cord-cutting streaming service, which gets you cable channels in a flexible streaming package.

Note, Fubo currently does not carry the Golf Channel after a dispute with NBC, but you can get the action through the likes of Sling, DirecTV, and for the best value right now, YouTube TV.

Watch Australian Open in the UK

Golf fans in the UK can watch the Australian Open Golf on Sky Sports. The action will be shown on the dedicated golf channel, Sky Sports Golf, with much of the coverage also on Sky Sports Main Event.

How to watch the Australian Open golf in Australia

Golf fans in Australia can watch the Australian Open Golf for free on Channel 9 and 9Now.

The tournament is also being shown live on Fox Sports and streamed on Kayo Sports.

Australian Open Selected Tee Times: First Round

All times local (Melbourne is 11 hours ahead of GMT, and 16 hours ahead of ET)

• 6.55am: Alex Fitzpatrick, Geoff Ogilvy, Ryan Peake
• 7.05am: Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Rory McIlroy
• 7.15am: Elvis Smylie, Danny Willett, Cameron Smith
• 12.05pm: Ryan Fox, Si Woo Kim, Joaquin Niemann
• 12.15pm: Lucas Herbert, Daniel Hillier, David Puig
• 12.25pm: Cameron Davis, Abraham Ancer, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen

Australian Open TV Schedule

Thursday 4th December - Round One:
US (ET): Wednesday: 8pm–9.30pm (NBC Sports App), 9.30pm-1am (Golf Channel)
UK (GMT): 8pm–1am (Sky Sports Golf), 11pm-1am (Sky Sports Main Event)
Australia (AEDT): 7am–12pm; 3pm-5pm (9Gem); 12pm–3pm (Channel 9); 7am–5pm (Fox Sports/Kayo)

Friday 5th December - Round Two:
US (ET): Thursday: 8pm–9.30pm (NBC Sports App), 9.30pm-1am (Golf Channel)
UK (GMT): 2.30am–6am (Sky Sports Golf)
Australia (AEDT): 12pm–3pm (Channel 9), 3pm-5pm (9Gem); 12pm–5pm (Fox Sports/Kayo)

Saturday 6th December - Round Three:
US (ET): Friday: 8pm–9.30pm (NBC Sports App), 9.30pm-1am (Golf Channel)
UK (GMT): 2.30am–6am (Sky Sports Golf & Sky Sports Main Event)
Australia (AEDT): 12pm–5pm (Channel 9); 12pm–5pm (Fox Sports/Kayo)

Sunday 7th December - Round Four:
US (ET): Saturday: 8pm–10pm (NBC Sports App), 10pm-1am (Golf Channel)
UK (GMT): 2.30am–6am (Sky Sports Golf & Sky Sports Main Event)
Australia (AEDT): 12pm–5pm (Channel 9); 12pm–5pm (Fox Sports/Kayo)

Australian Open golf preview

Rory McIlroy will play in the Australian Open this week, for the first time since 2014. The previous year he had won the Stonehaven Cup, adding his name to a list of Australian Open winners that includes Gary Player (seven times), Jack Nicklaus (six times), Greg Norman (five times), Peter Thomson (three times), Jordan Spieth (twice), Adam Scott, Arnold Palmer and Gene Sarazen amongst others.

The Australian Open, as its impressive roll call of previous winners shows, has long been considered one of the premier golf tournaments outside the US and UK. Some have even argued that it should become the men’s fifth Major.

This year’s winner will qualify for the Masters at Augusta next Spring. The top three finishers, not otherwise exempt, will win places at The Open at Royal Birkdale next summer.

The top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of this calendar year qualify for the Masters. This is of particular relevance to Si Woo Kim and Matt McCarty, who are currently 54th and 55th.

There is strong home country representation in the field, including the 2017 winner Cam Davis and 2009 champion Adam Scott, and Major winners Cam Smith and Geoff Ogilvy.

The Australian Open is the second event of the 2025/2026 DP World Tour season and Rory McIlroy will be looking to rack up some points in the Race to Dubai, which is currently headed by David Puig. Puig has 500 points from winning last week’s Australian PGA Championship. The same number of points are available to this week’s winner of the Australian Open.

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The sport has seemingly been ignored in recent years despite some great achievements from British golfers and the grassroots game continuing to thrive post-Covid.

This year feels slightly different, though, with a realistic possibility of a golfer winning the coveted award for the first time since Nick Faldo in 1989.

Rory McIlroy is one of the SPOTY 2025 nominees following what was arguably the best season of his entire career.

He became just the sixth man to complete the career grand slam after winning The Masters and also won an away Ryder Cup, Europe's first in 13 years, plus the Players Championship, Irish Open and a seventh Race to Dubai title, overtaking Seve Ballesteros' total of six European Tour Order of Merits in the process.

McIlroy is currently favorite with bookmakers to win the trophy, just ahead of England and Arsenal footballer Chloe Kelly and McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris.

The five-time Major champion will be in attendance, perhaps even in his Green Jacket, and is sure to get a good amount of coverage after a truly historic win at Augusta in April as well as his other impressive achievements.

"The plan is to go. I have more chance of winning if I’m actually there and I recognise that with the audience the show attracts it could only be a good thing for the game," he told The Telegraph last month.

"I suppose if I don’t win it this time, I never will."

He is right in what he said there. If he doesn't win this year, he likely never will - and it would be a big and frustrating blow to golf if he doesn't.

Do you think McIlroy will win SPOTY? And what's your view on the award? Let me know in the comment section below.

Every nominee is clearly world class and has done very special things, but nobody has done what Rory McIlroy has done this year.

Call me biased but his achievements this year undoubtedly make him the most esteemed sportsperson of 2025 from these shores and perhaps globally, too.

If I had to predict who wins, I would probably say McIlroy but I couldn't say for sure as many of the voters have likely not watched a single shot all year. Chloe Kelly or Lando Norris, if he wins the F1 driver's crown this weekend, could certainly take the title.

And let's not forget BBC SPOTY's recent, controversial history with golf.

McIlroy knows it all too well after finishing 2nd in 2014 following a year that included wins at The Open, PGA Championship, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, BMW PGA Championship and Ryder Cup.

He was nominated again in 2023 but didn't bother turning up as he knew he had no chance of winning.

In 2016, Danny Willett won The Masters and finished last in the vote with just a 0.3% share.

Two years later, Georgia Hall did not even get nominated after winning the Women's British Open, and to add insult to injury her maiden Major triumph was given just 10 seconds of the entire show.

And in 2022, Matt Fitzpatrick won the US Open and remarkably was also not even given a nomination.

Georgia Hall rightfully called out the BBC, writing on Twitter: "Such a shame Golf doesn’t get the recognition it deserved yet again on #SPOTY @BBCSport@MattFitz94 just speechless.”

Justin Rose also questioned the BBC when nominations were unveiled.

So while to many golf fans it may seem like a foregone conclusion that Rory McIlroy should and will be the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year for 2025, it could be a different picture.

If he does win, though, it will be a great moment for the sport in the UK.

Golf sadly does not get the recognition in the national media that it deserves in this country but the impact of a golfer winning such an esteemed award and featuring on every newspaper's back page and website homepages cannot be understated.

We would all be very proud, and it could make a big impact in growing McIlroy's stardom to further heights.

In my opinion, McIlroy should be in the same leagues as David Beckham, Andy Murray and other revered sports stars from these shores but for some reason he has still not quite hit those heights.

A SPOTY win would go someway to helping that. Oh and give him a knighthood too!

BBC SPOTY takes place on Thursday December 18 from 7pm GMT at MediaCityUK in Salford.

Despite the fact that it's now December and very much winter time in a lot of key golfing markets, the coming days represent a very busy and fascinating time in the sport.

Although there are no pro events on the women's side and there is a break on the Asian Tour, fans still have their choice of three big tournaments to choose from otherwise.

And, in keeping with 'silly season', one of those is an unofficial PGA Tour event with a limited field and a $5 million purse. Yet, to add further silliness, it's not even the most lucrative tournament in pro golf thanks to one of two concurrent DP World Tour events.

So, to try and make sense of it all, we've listed some of the biggest stories this week in golf below.

TIGER WOODS IS BACK (HOSTING ONLY)

For the first time in several months, Tiger Woods spoke publicly ahead of this week's Hero World Challenge, which he hosts at Albany Golf Club in The Bahamas.

Although nowhere near competing again, Woods - who says recovery from a third surgery in the past 13 months has been "slow" - will be on site through the tournament and is set to pass the trophy across to this year's champion.

The 49-year-old, who turns 50 on December 30, has admitted he won't be playing competitively any time soon and would not be drawn on where exactly he plans to compete once he's back fit.

He did, however, mention that he was looking forward to taking the Genesis Invitational back to Riviera Country Club next February, which could well be the next time we hear from the 15-time Major winner.

THREE STARS PLAYING THREE DIFFERENT EVENTS

As I mentioned earlier, it's a strange week in men's pro golf. You may have seen Elliott Heath's excellent opinion piece asking if pro golf is shooting itself in the foot recently.

Basically, there are three pretty big events all going on over the same days. Although, somewhat helpfully, they're not all on at exactly the same time.

First, the Australian Open (featuring Rory McIlroy) is taking place at Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the Stonehaven Cup - an event that will award the winner spots in both The Masters and The Open Championship.

Then there is the Nedbank Golf Challenge, which has a $6 million prize purse to be shared out among the 66 players involved - one of which is Viktor Hovland (as well as Joost Luiten).

Last, but by no means least, the Tiger Woods-hosted Hero World Challenge is set to feature the likes of Scottie Scheffler, JJ Spaun and Keegan Bradley. The 20-man field holds a $5 million payout overall.

In short, there's a lot of golf going on over the next few days and not all of your favorite players are playing against each other. Hardly a new problem, though, is it?...

TWO BIG NAMES BACK AFTER LONG LAY-OFFS

Speaking of big names playing different events, Will Zalatoris and Jordan Spieth are both making long-awaited returns this week - only not in the same tournament.

Zalatoris is joining Hovland and co. at the Nedbank Golf Challenge following a six-month lay-off due to back surgery while Spieth is lining up at the Hero World Challenge, marking his first appearance since August.

TOMMY FLEETWOOD HITS NEW HEIGHTS

Everyone's favorite English golfer, Tommy Fleetwood, was confirmed as having moved up to World No.3 - a career best - on Monday.

Fleetwood overtook Xander Schauffele despite not playing since the DP World Tour Championship, but the average-points figure from over the past two years tipped in his favor and he's now sat behind only McIlroy and Scheffler in the men's game.

The above news will have been warmly welcomed at TaylorMade, too, with the brand now equipping each of the top-three players.

THE OPEN'S LAST-CHANCE QUALIFYING EVENT DETAILS EMERGE

This should be really exciting. The R&A has announced details for a last-chance qualifying event between 12 players ahead of The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale next year.

On Monday, July 13 - days before the first tee shot in north-west England - a dozen players will battle it out over 18 holes for just one place in the final men's Major of the season.

The limited field will be made up of the top two non-exempt players in the OWGR as of July 6, the runner-up in The Amateur Championship (providing they retain their amateur status), anyone who missed out in a play-off at Final Qualifying, players who finished one position behind those who secured Open spots at Final Qualifying and players who were tied for a qualifying place (but missed out) in any of the Open Qualifying Series events - excluding the Scottish Open - but did not make it due to a lower position in the OWGR.

MINI TWIGS

• It was confirmed that Laurie Canter had re-joined the LIV Golf League as part of the all-English Majesticks GC. As a result, Dan Brown claimed one of the 10 dual-card spots on the PGA Tour in 2026
• Rory McIlroy moved to the bookmakers' favorite for BBC Sports Personality of the Year ahead of F1 driver Lando Norris and European Championship winner Chloe Kelly
• Scottie Scheffler was pictured using the new TaylorMade Qi4D and fairway wood during a practice round ahead of the Hero World Challenge
• Justin Thomas told the No Laying Up podcast that Team USA were being "fought with" over green speeds at Bethpage Black during the Ryder Cup
• PGA Tour Q-School Second Stage is currently ongoing (December 2-5). Final Stage is due to take place December 11-14, with only five cards up for grabs
• Keegan Bradley called the aftermath of Team USA's Ryder Cup defeat "the darkest time of my life"
• Joe Greiner, former caddie for Max Homa and Collin Morikawa, has teamed up with Akshay Bhatia for the Hero World Challenge and told Golfweek he plans to stick with the left-hander for next season

According to the governing body for amateur golf in England, there are "over 780,000 golfers in the country with a Handicap Index" and, in the data provided, it makes for interesting reading.

Overall Handicap Breakdown

Do these stats surprise you? And are you happy with where you sit in the table? Let us know in the comment section below...

Let's start with single figures, often a goal that many golfers strive for.

If you're 10 and below, you are part of the top 17.7%, with England Golf reporting that 18 in 100 players have a handicap of 10.4 or better.

To break that down further, 12.3% sit in the 6-10 bracket, while players who are 5 and below make up just 5.4%. Unsurprisingly, if you're off scratch or better, then you're part of the 1% club.

A total of 19.4% of men hold a handicap of 10 and under, while that number is just 4.3% in women.

Away from the single figure handicappers and to the highest percentages, with the most popular handicap category for men being between 16-20 (24.8%) and 26-30 for women (18.8%).

Summarizing, a total of 64.9% of male players hold a handicap in the vicinity of 11-25, while nearly three-quarters (74.8%) of women possess a handicap of 21 or above.

Back in April, England Golf posted further research into what the average Handicap Index of golf club members in England was, and they found it to be 18.6 for men and 28 for women, which supports the figures provided in late-November.

Handicap Breakdown (Men)

Handicap Breakdown (Women)

As we saw at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, where Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood put new TaylorMade driver and woods in their set-ups, Scheffler appears to be following suit, as he was spotted using both the TaylorMade Qi4D driver and fairway wood in the Bahamas.

If Scheffler were to keep them in the bag for the $5 million event, it would mean the World No.1, No.2 and No.3 have made the jump to the Qi4D range, with all three possessing different face iterations.

In terms of Scheffler, the 29-year-old has a dark blue face on his Qi4D, which looks very similar to that of his previous gamer, the Qi10, which remained in his bag for 2024 and 2025.

As of writing, the reason for the light blue face remaining on the driver is unclear but, when Golf Monthly spoke to TaylorMade's Tour Senior Manager, Adrian Rietveld, in July, he was able to provide some details as to why Scheffler prefers the lighter blue color.

"You could say it's about the brightness of the face, but he doesn't have a topline on the driver, which is different to all of our drivers," stated Rietveld.

"When talking about the face, he likes to see as much of it as he can and that helps him at that low loft. It's set between 7.5° to 7.75° and you can head-sort to get that within the tolerance, so he can have that exact loft that he's always played and looked at."

Previously, Scheffler had been using the Qi10 Dot driver, but it appears there's no dot on the new Qi4D, signifying that it could be the standard version.

Another possible change is the shaft, which featured a new LR label underneath his grip. From what we can see, though, it appears that Scheffler has remained in the Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X.

Along with the driver, Scheffler has joined McIlroy in adding the Qi4D fairway wood into his set-up, swapping it in for the Qi10, a club that was a regular feature in many pros' bags throughout 2025.

As mentioned, all of the top three could be in the Qi4D range by the end of the week and, in terms of McIlroy and Fleetwood, their driver face configurations differ from each other.

McIlroy, who is teeing it up at the Crown Australian Open, is using the standard Qi4D, but appears to have a lighter grey with markers on the face of his new driver.

Fleetwood, meanwhile, is using the low-spin (LS) version of the Qi4D and has a much darker grey with more subtle markers. Both swapped the new drivers in for the Qi10 and the Qi35 Dot at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in November.

The Masters champion is the headline name in the Sandbelt after committing to this year's Australian Open and 2026's championship at Kingston Heath.

McIlroy gets his tournament underway on Thursday alongside Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee but before the action starts he spoke to the media, where he touched on Australian golf, his 2013 victory Down Under and what he thinks of the golf course this week.

"It hasn't been a secret that I've wanted to come back. The change in the format, going back to the traditional Australian Open, has probably helped," McIlroy said, alluding to the championship returning to individual men's and women's events after a spell of the tournament being mixed.

"It just feels like this country is starved of top-level golf.

"Obviously, you've had Presidents Cups come down here and you've had a lot of good players still come through, but maybe just not on a consistent basis.

"And I think a market like this, with amazing fans and the history that it does have, probably deserves more of a consistency of big players and big tournaments.

"Australia has been a very big part of my golfing life and my golfing journey, going all the way back to playing the Australian Open as an amateur back in 2005 and 2006.

"I just think the quality of the golf down here, the quality of the players that have come from here.

"You look at an event like LIV in Adelaide and the people that come out to that event and how excited they are that some of the top players in the world are down here playing, it just feels like this country is starved of top-level golf.

"A market like this with amazing fans and the history that it does have probably deserves more of a consistency of big players and big tournaments.

"This tournament in particular because of the history, because of the tradition, deserves to be a standalone tournament, a week on its own, and hopefully one day they could put together a schedule where the biggest and best tournaments in the world and the oldest and the ones with the most heritage can be elevated."

McIlroy is seeking his second Australian Open victory this week after winning in 2013, when he beat Adam Scott by a single stroke at Royal Sydney Golf Club.

It was a significant victory for him as it marked an upturn in his fortunes following a difficult year with his new Nike equipment.

"I think about that tournament a lot and about what it meant," he told media on Wednesday in Melbourne.

"I felt at that point in my career, I was at a bit of a crossroads.

"In 2013 I'd really struggled and I really do think that that win at the end of the year was a catalyst for what happened in 2014, which I'd say, up there with 2025, are the best two years of my career."

He makes his first appearance Down Under since 2014 and this will be his first Australian Open outside of Sydney. He is playing the world famous Royal Melbourne for the first time this week and hinted that he rates fellow Melbourne giant Kingston Heath as the best in the city.

“I don’t want the membership to take this badly but it’s probably not the best course in Melbourne,” he said.

“I didn’t anticipate how many blind tee shots there was going to be, and it takes a little bit to figure out. It’s certainly not straightforward.

"I think as well, it probably plays better in the southerly wind rather than a northerly wind. It’s probably not a fair reflection on the golf course playing it in this wind.

"It would be good to play it in a few other directions, but it's obviously an amazing golf course and I can't wait to get out there and compete on it this week."

He has already had arguably the greatest year of his career and has previously spoken about winning at some of golf's 'cathedrals', meaning the game's most important and historic venues.

He has ticked off Pebble Beach, TPC Sawgrass (for the second time) and Augusta National already this year, and Royal Melbourne would be another special one to add to his resume.

"I've talked about trying to win at some of the most important venues in golf - this week is one of them," he said.

"You think about the tournaments and the people that have won at Royal Melbourne and how highly regarded it is within the golf world.

"I was lucky enough to win at Pebble Beach this year for the first time, obviously at Augusta. I'd love to win at St. Andrews one day. I'd love to win a US Open at Pebble Beach.

"There's a few venues in our game that maybe just mean a bit more than some of the others and that's something that I would love to do one day."

The American captain honorably took the blame after his team's loss in New York, where Luke Donald's Europeans won 15-13 despite an intense final day comeback from the home team.

Bradley, speaking ahead of the Hero World Challenge after his big win in The Skins Game on Black Friday, also responded to Justin Thomas' claim that the Bethpage Black greens were not at the desired speed.

"I mean, the darkest time of my life probably. I mean, I don't know how else to describe it. Certainly, definitely of my career," Bradley said on how the Ryder Cup defeat has affected him.

"There's always this letdown after a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup regardless of the outcome because the emotions are so extreme. It's Ryder Cup hangover and you're just exhausted and you're down, you know. That takes a toll on you.

"But there's just, it just was, it just was a tough time. Still is.

"But to be honest with you, the last couple weeks I've felt more like myself. Getting back, getting ready to play tournaments, playing the Skins game, getting ready to come play here.

"Really, it's been tough for all of us; not just me, the players as well.

"I feel like every time I see a player on the team here I want to just go give him a hug and sit down and chat. But I'm grateful for everybody.

"I'm in a unique position where I could make another team, which has never been done. I would love to do that."

Justin Thomas made headlines on Monday when he admitted members of Team USA had been questioning staff at Bethpage over the speed of the greens.

The two-time Major winner said Bradley wanted them at 13 on the stimpmeter but Thomas was adamant they were slower.

When asked by media, Bradley seemed to agree the putting surfaces were not as fast as he hoped but was not putting any blame on the course - having previously stated he wished he had set it up differently.

"Well, I do know that once the tournament starts on - the Sunday before the Ryder Cup, we lose control of the golf course, the home team," Bradley said.

"They were given specifications of where to keep the greens and they felt that they had done that. They did a great job.

"It's so difficult to figure out. There's so much going on and you want the greens at a certain speed and they're telling you that they are. You've got to take their word for it.

"But the greens are so flat that it's difficult I think to get the pace that we were looking for. But the course was in great shape.

"You know, the Europeans, they just played so great. I wish that we could blame somebody, but we can't.

"Blame me, I blame myself for that lost. It would be nice to blame that but we can't."

Bradley is among the star names in a stacked Hero World Challenge field this week in the Bahamas.

Tiger Woods says he does not have a specific return date in mind following his latest back surgery but has admitted he will not play either the PNC Championship later this month or the first half of the new TGL season.

The 49-year-old underwent his third surgery in the past 13 months midway through October - replacing a disk that had caused pain and mobility issues - and has only just been cleared to chip and putt again, Woods shared during his pre-tournament press conference at the Hero World Challenge.

Quizzed on a variety of topics at Albany Golf Club from his health to potential sweeping changes on the PGA Tour, the 15-time Major winner appeared in fine form despite admitting to mild frustration over the lack of progress he has made, physically.

In his opening remarks, Woods touched on his recovery timeline after the operation, saying: "Well, it's not as fast as I'd like it to be. It was a good thing to do, something I needed to have happen and it just takes time and dedication to the rehab process."

Later, he continued: "I just got cleared last week to chip and putt so it's good... it's been six weeks last Friday. It's been slow. Not able to do much on a disc replacement to let it set.

"Can't really do much. Now we got the OK to start cranking up a little bit in the gym, started strengthening and started doing a little bit more of the rotational component that I haven't been able to do. Just letting the disc kind of set."

Since 2020, Woods has only made 11 competitive appearances as injuries have ravaged his twilight years on the PGA Tour. He failed to make any competitive appearances in 2021 before playing three times in both 2022 and 2023 and five times in 2024. His most recent start was at the 2024 Open Championship where he missed the cut.

In the lead-up to Woods' 50th birthday, which will be on December 30, there has been plenty of chatter about when and where he will return in 2026.

But the Californian was quick to admit that there is no concrete target just yet and he is simply keen to begin playing again at some point.

With tongue firmly in cheek at first, Woods said: "Yeah, I'm probably going to play 25 events on both tours, and I think that should cover most of the year, right?"

He continued: "No, I'm just looking forward to... just let me get back to playing again. Let me do that and then I'll kind of figure out what the schedule is going to be. I'm a ways away from that part of it and that type of decision, that type of commitment level.

"Unfortunately, I've been through this rehab process before, it's just step by step. Once I get a feel for practicing, exploding, playing, the recovery process, then I can assess where I'm going to play and how much I'll play."

In the meantime, Woods is chairing the PGA Tour's Future Competitions Committee, responsible for setting the direction the US-based circuit heads in from a tournament point of view.

As part of potential sweeping changes, Harris English recently mentioned that the PGA Tour might look to begin its season after the Super Bowl in early February while also possibly removing Signature Events in favor of 20 equal tournaments in a reduced overall schedule.

Although Woods did not confirm nor deny those potential alterations, he did state that the FCC is looking at a multitude of different options to make the PGA Tour the best it can possibly be.

Woods said: "We're trying to give the fans the best product we possibly can, and if we're able to give the fans the best product we can, I think we can make the players who have equity in the Tour, we can give them more of that. So the financial windfall could be fantastic for everyone who's involved.

"The FCC's been meeting, I think we've had three different meetings, we've got one coming up here. We've torn down and looked at so many different models. It's been a lot.

"We've talked to title sponsors, we talked to CMOs, we talked to tournament directors, we talked to media partners, we've talked to a lot of different people and taken a lot in of what they would like to see.

"Then it's up to us at the committee to try to put it all together and try to make it work and keep the players informed to what possibly could happen. And we want their opinions as well.

"We're being very transparent with all of this. That's something that we've been very adamant and I've been very adamant before about this process is the transparency side of it.

"This is something that's going to be fantastic for all of the fans, for the players. As I said, it could be a financial windfall for everyone."

Below is the complete rundown of Woods' Hero World Challenge press conference as it happened.

WELCOME

Hello and welcome to Golf Monthly's coverage of Tiger Woods' pre-Hero World Challenge press conference at Albany Golf Club in The Bahamas.

The 15-time Major winner is expected to arrive at 9am ET (2pm GMT) alongside Dr. Pawan Munjal, the executive chairman of Hero MotoCorp - title sponsor of the event.

Given this is the first time Woods will have spoken publicly in several months, he is expected to address his health and all of the ramifications that extend beyond that, including whether he plans to play the PNC Championship later this month, if he intends to compete in the second season of TGL and whether or not his latest pro comeback could indeed arrive on the PGA Tour Champions once he turns 50 on December 30.

Woods is also likely to be asked about the ongoing divide in the men's pro game, where the PGA Tour stands in the current landscape and potentially something on the future schedule.

We will do our very best to bring you all of the key updates as they happen as well as a little bit of reaction once all the talking has stopped. Thanks for tuning in!

TIGER IS HERE

Woods and Dr Munjal have arrived a couple of minutes early. Woods has a light colored Sun Day Red polo and cap on and he's carrying a coffee. Early start and all that...

DR MUNJAL BEGINS

The executive chairman of Hero MotoCorp has kicked things off, describing what the tournament has done in its previous 10 editions and what it stands for more generally.

He goes on to say that the prize purse for the 2025 Hero World Challenge will be $5 million.

TIGER ON RECOVERY AND THE TOURNAMENT

"Well, it's not as fast as I'd like it to be. It was a good thing to do, something I needed to have happen and it just takes time and dedication to the rehab process.

"It's great to be back here at Albany, great to be back here hosting the Hero World Challenge, seeing some of the guys. I've only seen some of the guys so far, hopefully get out there later today and see a few more.

"To have it here again at Albany under perfect conditions, weather's supposed to be perfect the entire week. Again, look for some great scores by 20 of the best players in the world, so looking forward to it."

TIGER ON 2026 PLANS

"I'm probably going to play 25 events on both tours." Tiger's got jokes.

He says he just wants to get back playing again and he will see after that. He's still a way away from actually choosing a schedule. Been here before in this process so doesn't want to run before he can walk (literally)

WOODS ON BENEFITS TO FANS AND ECONOMICALLY OF REDUCED TOUR SCHEDULE

"Well, this is fan based. We're trying to give the fans the best product we possibly can, and if we're able to give the fans the best product we can, I think we can make the players who have equity in the Tour, we can give them more of that. So the financial windfall could be fantastic for everyone who's involved.

"The FCC's been meeting, I think we've had three different meetings, we've got one coming up here. We've torn down and looked at so many different models. It's been a lot.

"We've talked to title sponsors, we talked to CMOs, we talked to tournament directors, we talked to media partners, we've talked to a lot of different people and taken a lot in of what they would like to see.

"Then it's up to us at the committee to try to put it all together and try to make it work and keep the players informed to what possibly could happen. And we want their opinions as well.

"We're being very transparent with all of this. That's something that we've been very adamant and I've been very adamant before about this process is the transparency side of it.

"This is something that's going to be fantastic for all of the fans, for the players. As I said, it could be a financial windfall for everyone."

WOODS ON PNC CHAMPIONSHIP

"Uh-uh. No, it wouldn't be fair. Not only it wouldn't be fair to my son, but it wouldn't be fair to another team that could play and could have that experience that we've had for a number of years."

ON WHY HE WANTS TO COME BACK

"Come back to what point? I'd like to come back to just playing golf again. I haven't played golf in a long time. It's been a tough year.

"I've had a lot of things happen on and off the golf course that's been tough. And so my passion to just play, I haven't done that in a long time. Just play.

"I've had to sit on the sidelines for a number of months, and most of this year and quite frankly end of last year."

WOODS ON SCOTTIE

"Well, there's nothing you can't not like about Scottie. He's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. What he's doing on the golf course is just incredible, the consistency day in and day out, the strategy that he... how he attacks the golf course.

"It starts from you can see him analyze it from the green back where the flag is, where he wants to miss a tee shot, what club to hit, where the wind is, what side of the tee box he's to start off on. It's truly amazing at how thoughtful he is and strategic he is throughout the entire round.

"And on top of that, he doesn't have lapses in a round like most players do. He's there present for all 18 holes and all shots played, and that's hard to do. To do that day in and day out with the gruelling schedule that the Tour has and the players are playing now in more of a condensed season, and the big events that he's playing in.

"I mean, he won six times and they're not small events. He's beating the best fields. So that's something that I certainly can appreciate, and I hope everyone else appreciates it as well because you just don't see this happen very often."

WOODS ON FUTURE SCHEDULE

"We are trying to do that in the best way possible so we can introduce this in '27. Hopefully we get there, hopefully we get to that point.

"We're working with all of our partners to create the best schedule and product to deliver all that in '27 is something we're trying to do. I don't know if we can get there, I don't know if we will get there, but that's what we're trying to do."

Q. Could you see a phased rollout where some stuff changes in '27 or do you want one fell swoop?

"That is again one of the different concepts we're looking at as well, rip the Band-Aid off, create a whole new product, do it staged.

"But this is one of the reasons why we've talked to all of our partners, why we talked to all of the CMOs, CEOS everyone who's involved in the game to get their opinion what would they like to see and it's up to us at the committee level to try and figure that out."

ON POTENTIALLY STARTING SEASON AFTER SUPER BOWL

"We're trying to figure out what is the best schedule possible so we can create the best fields and have the most viewership and also the most fan involvement and what does that look like.

"A lot of that, as you know, that's one of the reasons why we quit playing in September and October and even early November back when I was playing in my early days at the Tour Championship, there's this thing with the shield that's out there that's influential.

"Looking at different timetables of when we start and finish, different tent poles throughout the year and what that might look like.

"We have some incredibly smart player directors, some independents and some leaders that have led in change in other sports. So trying to pull all of that together with Brian's leadership and stewardship, that's what we're trying to implement all these different things.

"Again, create a product that players want to be involved in, will be involved in, they're excited to be a part of and the fans and all of our partners at all of our events and all the people that are involved in the sport, that this is a better product."

WOODS ON BRIAN ROLAPP

"Brian's been fantastic. I was part of the search committee that was part of finding him and going through all the different interviews of about nine months to finally land on Brian.

"An amazing CEO, an amazing leader. What he's done so far in a short time in his leadership skills and his personality and how he handles situations, his calmness, his thoughtfulness, his directness, transparency, all the things that we were looking for and we needed on the Tour he has delivered in spades."

WOODS ON SCARCITY AND PARITY

'Parity is something that's inherent in the game of golf because of the meritocracy of the game. It's just there, we already have parity. We play each and every week starting at zero.

"So with the parity part, it was the easiest part to figure out because it's already there. Now, the simplicity part, that's another part that you didn't say that we have to try and simplify.

"Simplify the point structure on the FedEx Cup so not only the players understand but the fans can understand it, what goes on every week, week to week, how they can follow and how we can make it better.

"And the scarcity thing is something that I know scares a lot of people, but I think that if you have scarcity at a certain level, it will be better because it will drive more eyes because there will be less time.

"But don't forget the golfing year is long. So there's other opportunities and other places around the world or other places to play that can be created and have events. So there's a scarcity side of it that's not as scary as people might think."

WOODS ON RYDER CUP CAPTAINCY

"No one has asked me about it."

Q: I'm asking you about it

"No one has asked me about it," Woods replied with tongue in cheek.

Q: Did you watch any of the [2025] Ryder Cup?

"I watched pretty much all of it and was talking to the players and the captains involved in it, everyone involved on the US side."

WOODS ON TGL

"Well, I won't be able to play in the first part of the TGL season but I will be there at every match that Jupiter Links competes in.

"Now, hopefully I will be able to maybe play at the end of the season here and there, but I don't know. I just started chipping and putting. I've got to hit more shots than just chip and putt in TGL. There's a few drives I might have to hit."

WOODS ON NEW ERA OF GOLFERS

"I would say that there's a generational change and shift that's happened. The guys that I played with when we first had the World Challenge early in the 2000s, they're all -- I'm the youngest one.

"I'm about ready to turn 50, so those guys are all on Champions Tour or even retired from the game of golf, they don't play anymore.

"There's a generational shift. The game has gotten younger, stronger and faster and bigger. It's fun to see. There are more top players at a younger age than ever before. A lot of them are now able to play and get themselves into the top-50, which then allows them to get into this event.

"Some have gotten in as high as the top-10. The game has gotten younger, it really has. When I first came out on Tour, you had to serve at least four to five years before you had the experience of playing golf courses enough times, then you have to pay your dues of losing a bunch and then ultimately winning probably in your late 20s. That model doesn't exist anymore.

"These kids come out of college ready to play or even sometimes skip college and they're ready to play even earlier. The age of the game of golf out here at the Tour level has become younger.

"I think [one of the big reasons] in my opinion, I think it's a lot has to do with YouTube, seeing swings. Before, I had VHS tapes. I would tape a weekend round of golf and then watch it on -- hoping the tracking worked halfway decent and try and get a swing. Sometimes the swings didn't even look good, I didn't even know who that was.

"Seeing so many different swings over and over again and the instruction level has gotten better, the curve it took to understand how to play the game's gotten faster.

"You didn't have to necessarily go out there and dig it out of the dirt, now you can watch it on your mobile phone and learn that way. It's gotten faster and younger. Just like all kids, they're sponges for information and they can make changes on the fly."

WOODS ON THE GENESIS

"Yeah, the impact of those fires on the entire community, the entire Pacific Palisades area was devastating. We were lucky enough to be able to have the Tour, San Diego come together, the mayor and all the municipalities in the area come together and figure it out.

"There were so many different options of where we could play, and to already have a build-out there at Farmers and to use their signage and all the camera crews there for the Genesis, it just worked out. We got very lucky.

"My staff worked countless hours, they were burnt out. We had to send a few of them home just for a couple days to see their family, and then it's 24/7 get back on it. It was all hands on deck to try to figure it all out.

"To be able to go back to Riviera CC this year under different circumstances than last year, it will be better, I think it will be celebratory. Something that is a place that's near and dear to my heart and I'm looking forward to getting back there."

WOODS ON MOTIVATION TO REP THE PGA TOUR

"Well, the PGA Tour gave me an opportunity to chase after a childhood dream. I got a chance to hit my first ball in my first PGA Tour event when I was 16 years old. I know that's what, 33 years ago, but I've been involved with the PGA Tour ever since then.

"A little kid from Cypress, California growing up on a par 3 course got a chance to play against the best players in the world and make it to World No. 1. I got a chance to be involved in a lot of different things on our Tour.

"This is a different opportunity to make an impact on the Tour. I did it with my golf clubs, I made a few putts here and there and was able to do that. Now I am able to make an impact in a different way for other generations to come.

"Not just generations that I played against, but for future generations like a 16-year-old looking for a place to play and maybe in hopes of playing PGA Tour."

THAT'S ALL, FOLKS

That's all from Woods today. Full answers will be available shortly, but the headline responses were:

- Woods is nowhere close to playing competitively again

- Only just started chipping and putting

- Will not play PNC Championship

- Will not play first half of TGL season at least

- Unsure on future schedule, including PGA Tour Champions appearances

- Has had no conversations over Ryder Cup captaincy

- Future Competitions Committee is looking at potential changes coming in as early as 2027, if ideas can be agreed by all relevant parties

- Genesis Invitational is going back to Riviera Country Club in 2026

Having ended the 2025 DP World Tour season 17th on the Race to Dubai Rankings, Brown finished 11th in the race for a PGA Tour card, some 31 points behind fellow countryman Jordan Smith in 10th.

Only the top 10 players from the DP World Tour, who don't already have PGA Tour status, would earn cards for next season, meaning that Brown narrowly missed out as it seemed that injury problems and a poor T45th finish at the DP World Tour Championship had cost the 31-year-old.

That was until a lifeline was handed to him after it was confirmed that Canter had moved back to the LIV Golf League.

Canter, who claimed a T3rd at the DP World Tour's season finale, jumped up to seventh in the Rankings claiming the second PGA Tour card but, following his move to Majesticks GC on a full-time basis, has now given up his 2026 membership on the PGA Tour circuit.

The question had surrounded Canter and whether he would relinquish his PGA Tour card in time for Brown to step up, with the deadline being December 31.

Now, though, a PGA Tour spokesperson has confirmed to Golf Monthly that an adjustment had been made and that Brown is in for 2026.

It is a well deserved moment for the Englishman, who claimed an emotional second DP World Tour title at the BMW International Open in July, dedicating the victory to his friend who had sadly passed away the week prior.

Along with the win in Germany, there was also a runner-up finish at the Open de Espana and top 10s at the Betfred British Masters and Amgen Irish Open, with it being Brown's best season on Tour to date.

As well as the honor of triumphing at such a historic tournament, the winner this week will earn spots in The Masters and The Open Championship next year, so there is plenty on the line for all of those involved.

The high-profile event - which is co-sanctioned by the PGA of Australasia and the DP World Tour - features a plethora of big names including Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott and Joaquin Niemann who are all competing for the Stonehaven Cup.

Both McIlroy and Scott have been paired together over the first two days, with the well-known group complimented by the immensely popular Australian, Min Woo Lee.

They will begin from the 10th at 7:05am local time on Thursday morning at Royal Melbourne (Wednesday afternoon in the US) before switching to the first tee in round two and beginning at 12:05pm local time (Wednesday evening in the US).

Other notable groups over the first two days include Elvis Smylie, Danny Willett and Cameron Smith (7:15am R1/12:15pm R2), Ryan Fox, Si Woo Kim and Niemann (12:05pm R1/7:05am R2) and Lucas Herbert, Daniel Hillier and Puig (7:15am R1/12:15pm R2).

Check out the full list of round one and round-two tee times for the 2025 Crown Australian Open below. Local time is 11 hours ahead of GMT and 16 hours ahead of Eastern Time in the US.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN ROUND ONE TEE TIMES

Local time - Thursday (ET - Wednesday)

1st hole

• 6:45am (2:45pm): Tim Hart, Jak Carter, Jack Yule
• 6:55am (2:55pm): James Conran, Blake Proverbs, Adri Arnaus
• 7:05am (3:05pm): Matthew Baldwin, Davis Bryant, Alexander Simpson
• 7:15am (3:15pm): Rafael Campos, Richard Green, Curtis Luck
• 7:25am (3:25pm): Jordan Doull, Nathan Kimsey, Haydn Barron
• 7:35am (3:35pm): David Micheluzzi, Oliver Bekker, Eddie Pepperell
• 7:45am (3:45pm): Ben Campbell, Freddy Schott, Adam Bland
• 7:55am (3:55pm): Mike Toorop, John Senden, Michael Wright
• 8:05am (4:05pm): Daniel Young, Josh Berry, Tyler Hodge
• 8:15am (4:15pm): Rod Pampling, Brett Rumford, Fifa Laopakdee
• 8:25am (4:25pm): Ben Henkel, William Bruyeres, Gregorio De Leo
• 8:35am (4:35pm): Sadom Kaewkanjana, Andres German Gallegos, Corey Lamb
• 8:45am (4:45pm): Siddharth Nadimpalli, Andrew Evans, Blake Phillips
• 11:45am (7:45pm): Anthony Quayle, Karl Vilips, Jason Scrivener
• 11:55am (7:55pm): Jose Luis Ballester, Matt McCarty, Romain Langasque
• 12:05pm (8:05pm): Ryan Fox, Si Woo Kim, Joaquin Niemann
• 12:15pm (8:15pm): Lucas Herbert, Daniel Hillier, David Puig
• 12:25pm (8:25pm): Cam Davis, Abraham Ancer, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
• 12:35pm (8:35pm): Wenyi Ding, Matt Jones, Ryo Hisatsune
• 12:45pm (8:45pm): Rafa Cabrera Bello, Jye Halls, Kazuma Kobori
• 12:55pm (8:55pm): Carlos Ortiz, Bernd Wiesberger, Wade Ormsby
• 1:05pm (9:05pm): Jack Buchanan, Tom Vaillant, Maximilian Steinlechner
• 1:15pm (9:15pm): Lachlan Barker, Matthew Griffin, Stefano Mazzoli
• 1:25pm (9:25pm): Benjamin Follett-Smith, Dylan Gardner, Rocco Repetto Taylor
• 1:35pm (9:35pm): Jack Munro, Robin Williams, Ryan Van Velzen
• 1:45pm (9:45pm): Tapio Pulkkanen, Nathan Barbieri, Jason Norris

10th hole

• 6:45am (2:45pm): Matias Sanchez, Austin Bautista, Jeff Guan
• 6:55am (2:55pm): Alex Fitzpatrick, Geoff Ogilvy, Ryan Peake
• 7:05am (3:05pm): Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Rory McIlroy
• 7:15am (3:15pm): Elvis Smylie, Danny Willett, Cam Smith
• 7:25am (3:25pm): Joel Girrbach, Marc Leishman, Ugo Coussaud
• 7:35am (3:35pm): Charley Hoffman, Harrison Crowe, Sebastian Munoz
• 7:45am (3:45pm): Nick Voke, Caleb Surratt, Andrew Martin
• 7:55am (3:55pm): Jordan Gumberg, Jack Thompson, Andrew Johnston
• 8:05am (4:05pm): Quim Vidal, Josh Geary, Connor McKinney
• 8:15am (4:15pm): James Marchesani, Quinnton Croker, Hunter Logan
• 8:25am (4:25pm): Jasper Stubbs, Andreas Halvorsen, Filippo Celli
• 8:35am (4:35pm): Chris Malec, Will Florimo, Jay Mackenzie
• 8:45am (4:45pm): Andrew Campbell, Yannik Paul, Fabrizio Zanotti
• 11:45am (7:45pm): Jack Senior, Jake McLeod, Aaron Cockerill
• 11:55am (7:55pm): Chris Wood, Kaito Sato, Renato Paratore
• 12:05pm (8:05pm): Brad Kennedy, Sean Crocker, Brendan Jones
• 12:15pm (8:15pm): Nicolas Colsaerts, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Jediah Morgan
• 12:25pm (8:25pm): Sebastian Garcia, Sam Bairstow, Cameron John
• 12:35pm (8:35pm): David Law, Kerry Mountcastle, Ben Eccles
• 12:45pm (8:45pm): Greg Chalmers, Harry Takis, Ricardo Gouveia
• 12:55pm (8:55pm): Peter Lonard, Stephen Allan, Stephen Leaney
• 1:05pm (9:05pm): Daniel Gale, Shubhankar Sharma, Tobias Jonsson
• 1:15pm (9:15pm): Simon Hawkes, Clement Charmasson, Daniel Rodrigues
• 1:25pm (9:25pm): James Morrison, Cameron Adam, Phoenix Campbell
• 1:35pm (9:35pm): Michael Hollick, Clement Sordet, Jimmy Zheng
• 1:45pm (9:45pm): Brady Watt, Ollie Marsh, Lincoln Tighe

AUSTRALIAN OPEN ROUND TWO TEE TIMES

Local time - Friday (ET - Thursday)

1st hole

• 6:45am (2:45pm): Jack Senior, Jake McLeod, Aaron Cockerill
• 6:55am (2:55pm): Chris Wood, Kaito Sato, Renato Paratore
• 7:05am (3:05pm): Brad Kennedy, Sean Crocker, Brendan Jones
• 7:15am (3:15pm): Nicolas Colsaerts, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Jediah Morgan
• 7:25am (3:25pm): Sebastian Garcia, Sam Bairstow, Cameron John
• 7:35am (3:35pm): David Law, Kerry Mountcastle, Ben Eccles
• 7:45am (3:45pm): Greg Chalmers, Harry Takis, Ricardo Gouveia
• 7:55am (3:55pm): Peter Lonard, Stephen Allan, Stephen Leaney
• 8:05am (4:05pm): Daniel Gale, Shubhankar Sharma, Tobias Jonsson
• 8:15am (4:15pm): Simon Hawkes, Clement Charmasson, Daniel Rodrigues
• 8:25am (4:25pm): James Morrison, Cameron Adam, Phoenix Campbell
• 8:35am (4:35pm): Michael Hollick, Clement Sordet, Jimmy Zheng
• 8:45am (4:45pm): Brady Watt, Ollie Marsh, Lincoln Tighe
• 11:45am (7:45pm): Matias Sanchez, Austin Bautista, Jeff Guan
• 11:55am (7:55pm): Alex Fitzpatrick, Geoff Ogilvy, Ryan Peake
• 12:05pm (8:05pm): Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Rory McIlroy
• 12:15pm (8:15pm): Elvis Smylie, Danny Willett, Cam Smith
• 12:25pm (8:25pm): Joel Girrbach, Marc Leishman, Ugo Coussaud
• 12:35pm (8:35pm): Charley Hoffman, Harrison Crowe, Sebastian Munoz
• 12:45pm (8:45pm): Nick Voke, Caleb Surratt, Andrew Martin
• 12:55pm (8:55pm): Jordan Gumberg, Jack Thompson, Andrew Johnston
• 1:05pm (9:05pm): Quim Vidal, Josh Geary, Connor McKinney
• 1:15pm (9:15pm): James Marchesani, Quinnton Croker, Hunter Logan
• 1:25pm (9:25pm): Jasper Stubbs, Andreas Halvorsen, Filippo Celli
• 1:35pm (9:35pm): Chris Malec, Will Florimo, Jay Mackenzie
• 1:45pm (9:45pm): Andrew Campbell, Yannik Paul, Fabrizio Zanotti

10th hole

• 6:45am (2:45pm): Anthony Quayle, Karl Vilips, Jason Scrivener
• 6:55am (2:55pm): Jose Luis Ballester, Matt McCarty, Romain Langasque
• 7:05am (3:05pm): Ryan Fox, Si Woo Kim, Joaquin Niemann
• 7:15am (3:15pm): Lucas Herbert, Daniel Hillier, David Puig
• 7:25am (3:25pm): Cam Davis, Abraham Ancer, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
• 7:35am (3:35pm): Wenyi Ding, Matt Jones, Ryo Hisatsune
• 7:45am (3:45pm): Rafa Cabrera Bello, Jye Halls, Kazuma Kobori
• 7:55am (3:55pm): Carlos Ortiz, Bernd Wiesberger, Wade Ormsby
• 8:05am (4:05pm): Jack Buchanan, Tom Vaillant, Maximilian Steinlechner
• 8:15am (4:15pm): Lachlan Barker, Matthew Griffin, Stefano Mazzoli
• 8:25am (4:25pm): Benjamin Follett-Smith, Dylan Gardner, Rocco Repetto Taylor
• 8:35am (4:35pm): Jack Munro, Robin Williams, Ryan Van Velzen
• 8:45am (4:45pm): Tapio Pulkkanen, Nathan Barbieri, Jason Norris
• 11:45am (7:45pm): Tim Hart, Jak Carter, Jack Yule
• 11:55am (7:55pm): James Conran, Blake Proverbs, Adri Arnaus
• 12:05pm (8:05pm): Matthew Baldwin, Davis Bryant, Alexander Simpson
• 12:15pm (8:15pm): Rafael Campos, Richard Green, Curtis Luck
• 12:25pm (8:25pm): Jordan Doull, Nathan Kimsey, Haydn Barron
• 12:35pm (8:35pm): David Micheluzzi, Oliver Bekker, Eddie Pepperell
• 12:45pm (8:45pm): Ben Campbell, Freddy Schott, Adam Bland
• 12:55pm (8:55pm): Mike Toorop, John Senden, Michael Wright
• 1:05pm (9:05pm): Daniel Young, Josh Berry, Tyler Hodge
• 1:15pm (9:15pm): Rod Pampling, Brett Rumford, Fifa Laopakdee
• 1:25pm (9:25pm): Ben Henkel, William Bruyeres, Gregorio De Leo
• 1:35pm (9:35pm): Sadom Kaewkanjana, Andres German Gallegos, Corey Lamb
• 1:45pm (9:45pm): Siddharth Nadimpalli, Andrew Evans, Blake Phillips

Falling to his knees to earn a first Green Jacket after a number of close calls, the relief and weight was off the shoulders of the 36-year-old, as McIlroy became just the sixth player in history to complete the impressive feat of winning all four Majors.

Following on from that victory, there was, understandably, a lull period, but McIlroy still went on to win an away Ryder Cup, an Irish Open title and a seventh Race to Dubai trophy later in the season.

Going into 2026, there will be targets that McIlroy will set for his year but, according to six-time Major winner, Nick Faldo, the thought of McIlroy pocketing further success at the big four championships within the men's game could be tougher than he thinks.

Speaking to The Belfast Telegraph, Faldo stated: "It is like climbing Everest, you don’t turn around and say ‘let’s go up again next month.’

"There was so much emotion at Augusta, and you cannot reproduce the emotion to win a Major like that again.

"He’s either going to be disappointed that he’s won 10 or he is going to be ecstatic that he’s got to five."

How many Majors do you think McIlroy will win in his career? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below...

Following his victory at Augusta National, McIlroy himself claimed at the US Open that he was "trying to find the motivation to go back out there and work as hard as I've been working."

Obviously, McIlroy re-found the motivation, going on to wrap up further successes on the DP World Tour and Ryder Cup.

However, when looking at the Majors in 2025, a certain Scottie Scheffler once again stood out among the rest, claiming a five stroke win at the PGA Championship and a four shot victory at The Open Championship.

In the same interview, Faldo alluded to this, even comparing Scheffler to 15-time Major winner, Tiger Woods.

"Scottie seems to be very clear-headed right now. He’s in that wonderful moment where he trusts his game 100 percent.

"It’s like Tiger was. Scottie’s in that lovely mindset and routine of going to every tournament thinking, ‘How do I find a way to win this?’ Whereas other guys are just trying to get to Sunday.

"Some guys are choking on Thursday, but Scottie is choke-free at the moment, which is amazing."

The Lightning drivers introduce a new Frequency Tuned Face technology. This design works by matching the face's natural vibration frequency with the ball's compression at impact, resulting in a more efficient transfer of energy for faster ball speed. This is supported by a Spined Sole Design that stiffens the sole and a weight structure that uses thin-wall carbon fibre for stiffness without added mass.

The line includes four models: Lightning Tour, Lightning Tour Mid, Lightning Max-10k+, and Lightning Max Lite, giving players of all swing speeds and shape preferences an option to be fit for.

Forgiveness has been enhanced by incorporating more carbon fibre in the sole area - up to 84% more in the Max-10K+ compared to the previous model. The back weight has been positioned further from the center of gravity, increasing the Moment of Inertia (MOI), with the Max-10K+ achieving a combined MOI reading well over the 10,000 threshold.

In terms of adjustability, the PXG Lightning Tour Mid and Lightning Max 10K+ Drivers boast three weight locations with standard offerings set to include two lighter 2.5g weights and one heavy 15g weight. The Lightning Tour model also presents three weight locations with two 7.5g weights and a lighter 2.5g weight as standard. Additional weights are available in 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15, 17.5, and 20-gram options, so overall head weight and shot bias can be easily fine-tuned for each player.

The PXG Lightning fairway wood and hybrid share a similar approach to speed. Both feature a thinner face design - the fairway wood perimeter is 12.5% thinner, and the hybrid face insert is 6% thinner than the previous Black Ops models. This allows for greater face flex, resulting in faster ball speeds and increased carry distance. Forgiveness is achieved through a high MOI design, utilising a squared face profile with perimeter weighting that pushes mass to the extreme edges of the sole to maintain a low CG.

The fairway woods come in two distinct profiles: the new compact Lightning Tour fairway wood with a taller, more rounded face, and the standard Lightning with a larger, squared-off face. Both club types retain the PXG adjustability system for dialling in trajectory and directional preference, with a huge array of loft options giving fitters ample choices to fulfil gapping issues.

Lofts will be offered up to a 27° 11-wood in the fairways and a 34° 8-hybrid in the hybrids, providing even more fitting options for the top and middle of the bag.

What PXG says

“We set some high-level goals on the table for our engineers when setting out to create Lightning and more ball speed was high on that list. Making a club faster is a big challenge with the various USGA conforming rules we have to work under, but our Frequency Tuned Face is the concept we’ve come up with to create a more efficient structure that is quicker than our last product while maintaining the forgiveness levels. The gains are real, measurable, and available across every model.”

Pricing & Availability

The PXG Lightning metalwoods are on sale now with the following RRPs: driver $649/£569, fairway wood $379/£319, hybrid $329/£269.

It marks a return to LIV Golf for Canter, who played in the Saudi PIF-backed circuit from 2022 to 2024.

Having solely played on the DP World Tour since early 2024, Canter won his maiden title at the Porsche European Open before winning again this year in Bahrain.

He went on to earn a 2026 PGA Tour card via the DP World Tour but follows Adrian Meronk in 2024 and Tom McKibbin earlier this year in forfeiting a card to the US circuit to instead join LIV Golf.

“Joining Majesticks GC is an incredible opportunity to be part of a team that has helped shape LIV Golf from day one,” Canter said.

“The league’s growth has been remarkable and my experience in the league has led me to become a more complete player and a multiple winner on the DP World Tour.

"To return to the league with Majesticks GC is a huge honour, and they bring a standard of excellence, ambition, and identity that really resonates with me. I can’t wait to get started and contribute to what this team is building.”

With Canter leaving for LIV Golf, it means Daniel Brown has earned a PGA Tour card for 2026 as the Englishman is next in-line on the 2025 Race to Dubai rankings.

Canter joins a Majesticks GC team that has struggled since LIV Golf began in 2022. The side finished 6th in the debut season before placing 11th in both 2023 and 2024 and then 12th out of 13 teams this season.

The 36-year-old will join co-captains Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood along with Sam Horsfield in an all-English quartet for the upcoming campaign, which begins in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in early February.

Canter is the third confirmed new player for 2026 after Scott Vincent and Yosuke Asaji qualified via the International Series. Two more will earn cards via LIV Golf Promotions, which takes place in early January.

One of those features the World No.1 and is an unofficial PGA Tour event, while the other two are part of the DP World Tour. A whole host of the world's top 50 are in action, including both Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, but they're all spread out in events competing for fans' attentions.

From west to east, Scheffler headlines in the Bahamas at Tiger Woods' Hero World Challenge, where he's going for a three-peat, while Viktor Hovland is the star attraction at 'South Africa's Major', the Nedbank Golf Challenge, and Rory McIlroy plays in the Australian Open.

Luckily for fans, all three events are on differing time zones but is this evidence of golf shooting itself in the foot?

Only the most avid professional golf aficionados will tune into all three tournaments this week, or at least catch up with highlights from all three, meaning that each event is losing out on potential eyeballs.

If you're one of those fans or have a view on this week's clash, let me know in the comment box below, I'd be interested to hear from you!

The Australian PGA Championship was in a great spot last week as the only PGA or DP World Tour event and I'm sure it benefitted greatly from that.

It had a very decent field contested at an interesting course for an historic prize. If you're a golf fan and were in front of a TV, chances are you either turned on the golf or sought out highlights on YouTube or wherever else you might get them.

This time around you'd likely need to take Thursday and Friday off work and then cancel any weekend plans to ensure you've digested enough of the Hero World Challenge, Nedbank Golf Challenge and Australian Open.

If you're looking for a tip from your author on which event to watch this week, it's an easy one - the Australian Open.

Rory McIlroy, Royal Melbourne and one of the game's greatest championships add up for a must-watch spectacle.

As well as the Masters champ, the field also includes the likes of Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Joaquin Niemann and a number of other DP World Tour regulars and LIV Golfers.

And for the first time, there's also a Masters spot up for grabs as well as three places in the 2026 Open.

The Nedbank is a brilliant tournament, too, with this week's event featuring Viktor Hovland, Marco Penge, the returning Will Zalatoris and a number of other notables.

The Hero World Challenge is always reasonably entertaining, and we've got Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Robert MacIntyre, Keegan Bradley, JJ Spaun and plenty of other recognized PGA Tour players to watch so it's a shame that many golf fans will inevitably miss out on some of the action at these events.

New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has spoken about his desire for 'scarcity' in the game in his quest for a new-look and stronger PGA Tour, where less is more and fans have genuine anticipation ahead of the biggest tournaments containing the best vs the best.

This week is an example of the complete opposite.

In this fractured golfing landscape, scarcity certainly seems a good plan. There have been a number of empty weeks in the fall that one or two of these events could have fitted into, potentially, to ease the burden.

Having three big tournaments running at the same time is not ideal, especially as they're all good enough to be the only elite men's golf in any given week.

This clash not only means fewer eyeballs but also less media attention given to them and ultimately the events not quite reaching their potentials.

Let's hope we see less and less of these clashes going forward.

But, instead of making his latest comeback at the Hero World Challenge alongside the likes of Scottie Scheffler and co. in The Bahamas - as he did two years prior - the 2022 FedEx St Jude Championship winner is preparing to compete in this week's Nedbank Golf Challenge on the DP World Tour.

Zalatoris, who finished T18th at the same event 12 months ago, is among the five-man list to receive an invite into the exclusive event alongside Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Garrick Higgo, Christo Lamprecht and Yurav Premlall.

Held at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, South Africa, the Nedbank Golf Challenge sees a 66-man field duke it out across four days for the lion's share of a $6 million prize money payout.

Other notable names at the no-cut tournament include Viktor Hovland, Tom McKibbin, Marco Penge, Nick Taylor and Thomas Detry.

However, each of those names have played far more frequently and recently than Zalatoris, who has suffered an extremely frustrating stretch due to injuries over the past few years.

Off the back of six top-10 finishes at Majors between 2020 and 2022 - three of which were second places - the Wake Forest University alumnus suffered two herniated discs in his back during the 2022 BMW Championship.

The former World No.7 chose not to go under the knife at the time but was left with no choice in April 2023 after being forced to withdraw from The Masters.

He then returned at the 2023 Hero World Challenge but struggled in Albany and finished last of the 20-man field.

However, Zalatoris suggested that result was just rust as the San Francisco-born pro battled to finish runner-up at the 2025 Genesis Invitational. The following month, he was T4th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Yet, another Masters top-10 was as good as it got for Zalatoris throughout 2024. Aside from consecutive top-15 finishes in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the 29-year-old was struggling to replicate his earlier form.

Possibly helped by a T18th at the Nedbank this time last year, Zalatoris was able to register four top-25s in six starts to begin 2025 and it appeared as though he could start rebuilding his career again.

But it was not to be as Zalatoris went on to miss the cut at the 2025 PGA Championship and revealed he had re-herniated two discs in his back.

Following successful surgery, the current World No.200 confirmed rehabilitation was progressing steadily and he was hoping to return to action in the fall.

Part of his rehabilitation was appearing in the invitation-only Nexus Cup at Liberty National, an event which benefits Tiger Woods' TGR Foundation. Zalatoris posted on Instagram at the time, sharing photos of him playing golf and appearing alongside Woods.

Then, speaking at the PGA Tour Champions' Simmons Bank Championship midway through October, Zalatoris shared he was feeling good and excited to begin playing competitively again.

He said: "I'm looking forward to 2026... I'm already back playing, I'm grinding every day, playing golf every day, trying to get in at least 18 [every day].

"It's been a long grind, don't get me wrong, but this is the most positive I've felt in three years. I feel like the nightmare of three years of back pain is kind of gone now, finally. I'm finally able to be a 29-year-old kid and go to work."

Finally, Zalatoris will be hoping his injury troubles are truly behind him and he can begin his ascent from 200th in the world back towards the very top once the action starts in South Africa on Thursday.

Justin Thomas shared with the No Laying Up podcast this week that Team USA were left unhappy with the speed of the putting surfaces at the Farmingdale, New York layout despite specific instructions from captain Keegan Bradley ahead of time to make them around 13 on the stimpmeter.

Traditionally, green speeds on the PGA Tour are a little faster than those on the DP World Tour. And although many of Luke Donald's side regularly appear on US soil, the hosts still felt they could gain an advantage by having slicker greens.

However, the target areas were apparently significantly slower than players had expected and one of the USA's potential advantages was taken away as Europe raced into an almost unassailable lead through the first two days.

And, according to Thomas, this situation led to arguments between Team USA and the Bethpage Black greenkeepers during the event itself.

Asked whether the greens were as slow as analysts and commentators had suggested at the time, Thomas said: "Yeah, I don't really understand that.

"I don't know why they weren't at all what Keegan had asked for. I mean, he had been pretty clear of asking for a certain speed and wanting it fast enough. I watched them argue with us that they were 13s [on the stimp].

"And it's like, 'guys, we play golf every week, like, look on TV at how many guys are leaving putts short. Nobody is getting... You can't have a putt, roll, three feet, four feet past the hole. Like these greens are slow, speed them up.'

"And it was just bizarre because that's not something you would expect at a home Ryder Cup."

Thomas, who secured two points from four matches at Bethpage courtesy of a thumping four-ball win alongside Cam Young on Friday and a gutsy singles victory over Tommy Fleetwood, was quick to admit that Team Europe were the better of the two teams.

The American did, however, share his mild frustration over losing a potential edge out of the gate due to conditions not being as requested.

He continued: "And again, that's not an excuse, they [Team Europe] had to adjust to them just as much as we did.

"But that's kind of a fun advantage you generally have is like being able to do that a little bit, and it was just so frustrating that we were being fought with and argued with on the speed of the greens that we asked for. So, that was bizarre."

In the meantime, Thomas is continuing his rehabilitation after undergoing microdiscectomy surgery last month, a procedure his good friend Tiger Woods has experienced several times over the years.

Also on the No Laying Up podcast, Thomas explained he is likely to miss "a couple of events" next year and shared an update on the current state of his health.

Thomas said: "I’ll probably miss a couple of events in ’26. It’s so weird. I walk completely fine. I feel like I could go walk as much as I possibly want right now, but I can’t do anything.

“So the weirdest part is not doing anything because I’m not supposed to, not because I physically can’t.”

The Australian Open has long been known as one of the most prestigious tournaments in men's professional golf, outside of the four Major championships.

Players from all tours have travelled Down Under to compete over the years and former winners of the Stonehaven Cup include Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Gary Player, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott, Greg Norman and Gene Sarazen.

In the modern day, the Australian Open also provides pathways through to The Masters and The Open Championship as one of the key national Open Championships around the world.

Such is the high regard the event is held in - which is amplified by a number of other factors including quality of course and passion of the fans - there have been calls by supporters and players alike for the Australian Open to elevate its status from prestigious regular event to fifth Major in the men's game.

One such party was McIlroy, who has spoken of his admiration for the Australian Open on multiple occasions over recent years.

Ahead of The Players Championship in March, the five-time Major winner said: "I think we need bigger events in Australia.

"I think the Australian Open needs to be put up and sort of held to a higher... the Australian Open was always a very big tournament back in the day, and I think that could be one that could be elevated along with some others."

The year before, while speaking to Golf Digest Middle East, McIlroy went one step further.

He said: “The Australian Open, for example, should almost be the fifth Major. The market down there is huge with potential. They love golf. They love sport. They have been starved of top-level golf. And the courses are so good.

“Revenues at the PGA Tour right now are about $2.3 billion. So how do we get that number up to four or six? It is by looking outward. They need to think internationally and spread their wings a bit.

“My dream scenario is a world tour, with the proviso that corporate America has to remain a big part of it all. But there is an untapped commercial opportunity out there.”

But what do our tour experts think? And what about you, our readers? Let us know your thoughts on whether the Australian Open should become the fifth men's Major in the comments box below this article.

I do not think men’s golf needs a fifth Major championship as the records would get confused like they are in the women’s game, so my answer would be no.

I do believe the event should be elevated, though, as part of a national open series alongside the historic opens of South Africa, Japan, Canada, Korea, Scotland, Ireland, France and Spain just to name a shortlist.

The Australian Open is undoubtedly one of the best events in the sport thanks to its history, the golf courses it’s played on, the strength of Australian golf and the fans.

The Australian PGA Championship is also a great tournament, so a two-week Australian swing would be a popular part of the schedule if a true world tour ever came to fruition.

Rory McIlroy is elevating the event by being there this week and again in 2026 at Kingston Heath, which is great to see, so hopefully even more big names join him next year and the event can continue to grow in stature.

I would like to see the Australian Open elevated in status, but not to a Major. Instead, I fully agree with Elliott and I'd want 8-10 of the biggest and most prestigious global Opens to replace the PGA Tour's Signature Events and create an 'Open Series' of sorts.

Additionally, I fully support the idea of moving the PGA Championship to different worldwide sites each year, therefore the Australian PGA Championship could then take its turn as a Major, thus fulfilling the massive appetite and potential Australian golf has.

In this scenario, the majority of elite-level golf would still be played in the US but the sport could finally fulfil its potential and be accessed by all corners of the world.

I should point out that in my dream golfing landscape, all of the world's best players are competing against each other as part of one united circuit rather than on two or three separate ones... It is a dream after all.

Should the men's game introduce a fifth Major? Personally, no. Should two of the men's Major championships be played outside of the USA? Personally, yes.

For me, and I've spoken about it previously, the golf schedule is too American heavy. Our sport is a global game, yet three-quarters of the men's Majors are played in the USA. I know the PGA Championship is organized by the PGA of America, but the PGA is also a worldwide organization.

If I had my way, I would have the PGA Championship in a different country every year. Think how exciting it would be to have a Major event on courses like Royal Melbourne in Australia, or Valderrama in Spain, instead of some of the US courses that have previously hosted.

Obviously, this will never happen, given the magnitude of hosting a Major championship. For me, though, bigger events should be staged worldwide, and that includes the Major championships. Many countries have some spectacular locations, so why not utilize them?

Feel free to give us your thoughts via the comments box below. Should the Australian Open become the fifth men's Major?

Carding a five-under 66 on Sunday to win by two, it's his third professional title, adding a DP World Tour trophy to his two Asian Tour victories from 2023 and 2024.

A member of Fireballs GC on the LIV Golf League, Puig joined the circuit when he turned professional in 2022. During that time, he has been an equipment-free agent, which shows within his set-up.

Using a Titleist driver, wedges, putter and golf ball, he also has a Ping utility iron and fairway wood, as well as Srixon irons in the bag.

Check out his full BMW Australian PGA Championship winning WITB below...

Driver

Beginning with the driver, the Titleist TSR3, which has been a regular feature in his bag for a couple of years; the club has a Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X shaft, an incredibly popular model on the professional circuits.

Speaking to Golf Monthly at LIV Golf Singapore, Puig revealed that he had previously tested the newer Titleist GT3, but remained with the TSR3 due to the fact that the spin numbers in the latter were slightly higher than that of the GT3.

"I like a little higher spin as it works out better in my game. That's why I've stayed with his one," stated Puig. He has a 10° head and the driver set-up in the A1 SureFit hosel, which is the standard setting for both loft and lie angle.

Fairway Wood

Moving to the fairway wood, where Puig is now using the Ping G440 Max. He previously had the TaylorMade Qi10 Core, which has been the popular choice for many winners on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

Like his driver, Puig has a Fujikura Ventus Black shaft in his fairway wood, but the 8 X, not the 7 X. The main difference between the two is that the 8 X is slightly heavier.

Although unclear as to why he swapped the TaylorMade for the Ping, the move came around July/August, with the G440 Max ranked as one of the most forgiving fairway woods money can buy.

Utility Iron

Along with the fairway wood, Ping also features in the utility iron section of Puig's bag, as he uses the Ping iCrossover with a Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X shaft.

It may say 4-iron on the sole, but it is in fact a 4-iron that's bent to a 21° 3-iron loft. The 23-year-old put the club in the bag around 18 months ago, and he describes it as a "must club," as he can use it off the tee and for shots into par 5s.

The Spaniard travels with the same bag for the majority of the season but, depending on course conditions, Puig will swap out this iron; however, he tends to keep it in play due to its playability.

Irons

In terms of irons, we see a third manufacturer represented as Puig uses Srixon, specifically the Z-Forged II, a blade-style design from 4-iron to 9-iron configuration.

An older model, they feature a PureFrame behind the sweet spot, as well as a Tour VT Sole that helps with turf interaction. "I tried them a year ago (2024) and really liked them," stated Puig to Golf Monthly.

"They're very consistent and the head is quite big for a blade, so when down behind the ball it looks great. They might be a little scratched but I'm not changing them anytime soon."

Shaft-wise, Puig has the True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 in play. He also has lashes of lead tape on the head of the Z-Forged II to help with the weighting and balance.

Wedges

Titleist return to the bag in his wedges, as Puig opts for the Titleist Vokey Wedgeworks SM10 in 46°, 50°, 54° and 58°. The Vokey range dominated on the PGA Tour in 2025, and Puig is one of the many players to put them in play.

Interestingly, he has 4° of bounce on his lob wedge, which is something he's had in his set-up prior to his college days. In fact, he's used the same configuration since using the Vokey SM5.

Like his irons, Puig has True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts in the bag for his wedges, keeping the set-up as consistent as possible.

Putter

The final club in Puig's bag is his putter, specifically the Scotty Cameron Phantom Circle T 9.5, a Tour prototype model that has been in his set-up for 18 months.

Scotty Cameron produce some of the best putters on the market and Puig ranked second and eighth in terms of Putting Average over the weekend at the BMW Australian PGA Championship.

"I like the look of it and I've been putting really well with it; the small custom sight line in particular. The main thing I like is the grip, which is a new version Scotty Cameron came out with. They fit my hands really good."

Golf Ball

Away from the clubs and to the golf ball which, like many professionals use on the various circuits, is the Titleist Pro V1, specifically the 2025 version.

"I was playing the 2021 Pro V1 last year (2024) and I switched to the 2025 as the spin is a little lower," explained Puig. "I can create a lot of spin with my wedges, so the low spin of the Pro V1 is just great."

Ranked as one of the best golf balls on the market, Puig uses a thick alignment line on his Pro V1, which helps with accuracy and getting the right start line when on the greens.

David Puig BMW Australian PGA Championship Winning WITB

• Driver: Titleist TSR3 set at 10° with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X shaft
• Fairway Wood: Ping G440 Max (15°) with a Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X shaft
• Utility Iron: Ping iCrossover (21°) with a Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X shaft
• Irons: Srixon Z-Forged II (4-9) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts
• Wedges: Titleist Vokey Wedgeworks SM10 (46°, 50°, 54°, 60°) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts
• Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom Circle T 9.5 Prototype
• Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Scheffler triumphed by three in 2023 and then six last time out, following Viktor Hovland in winning the event back-to-back.

Once again there is no Tiger Woods in the field for the tournament he hosts after a recent back surgery, but Woods will be on-site this week at Albany in the Bahamas.

The 20-man field is stacked as always, with four of the world's top-10 lined up and nine of the top 20.

The four-round event does not feature a cut but, controversially, Official World Golf Ranking points are on the line. The champion will take home $1m from the $5m total prize pool.

Take a look at the full Hero World Challenge field:

Hero World Challenge field

• Scottie Scheffler
• JJ Spaun
• Robert MacIntyre
• Harris English
• Keegan Bradley
• Justin Rose
• Sepp Straka
• Hideki Matsuyama
• Cameron Young
• Sam Burns
• Corey Conners
• Chris Gotterup
• Wyndham Clark
• Brian Harman
• Andrew Novak
• Alex Noren
• Aaron Rai
• Akshay Bhatia (tournament invite)
• Billy Horschel (tournament invite)
• Jordan Spieth (tournament invite)

Hero World Challenge TV times and channel

All times ET

• Dec 4, Round one: 1.30-4.30pm Golf Channel, NBC Sports App
• Dec 5, Round two: 1.30-4.30pm Golf Channel, NBC Sports App
• Dec 6, Round three: Noon-2.30pm Golf Channel, NBC Sports App
• Dec 6, Round three: 2.30pm-5pm NBC/Peacock/NBC Sports App
• Dec 7: Final round: 11.30am-1.30pm Golf Channel/NBC Sports App
• Dec 7: Final round: 1.30pm-4.30pm NBC/Peacock/NBC Sports App

Cyber Monday has officially finished, rounding off the Black Friday period for 2025. This means Christmas is basically upon us, which I must admit is a slightly scary sentence to type. Where has this year gone? But anyway, despite the event finishing there are still plenty of deals out there, and as such I have created a dedicated Cyber Monday golf deals hub where you peruse the best deals at your own leisure. Or you can let us help guide you through the journey by keeping up to date with all the latest offers we have spotted with our Live Blog below.

There are still plenty of deals in the golf tech sector with rangefinders, watches and launch monitors being popular categories, and I am very pleased to see that there is the return of the Titleist Pro V1 Holiday Box deal as well, of which you can find in the balls section below.

Quick Links

• Amazon: Cyber Monday sale enters last few hours
• Amazon balls: Discounts on Callaway, Srixon and TaylorMade golf balls
• PGA TOUR Superstore: 100's of discounts in large sale
• Scottsdale Golf: Up to 80% off in Cyber sale
• Callaway: $100 discounts on Elyte equipment
• Callaway Preowned: Up to 30% off golf clubs
• TaylorMade: Shop unique collections here
• Vessel: 20% off sitewide until December 1st
• PXG: $100 off Black Ops Drivers
• Carl's Golfland: Huge flash clearance sale
• Clubhouse Golf: Discounts on every category

My favorite deals

Clubs

• Back to the top ⤴

Shoes

• Back to the top ⤴

Balls

• Back to the top ⤴

Tech

• Back to the top ⤴

Top UK deals

• Back to the top ⤴

Live

Hello golf deal hunters

Just like that Black Friday has finished but Cyber Monday is basically here already with loads of deals coming out from Amazon, PGA TOUR Superstore and other retailers, as well as big brands like Callaway, TaylorMade and more. We will look to display all the best deals for you in this post to help you save time and hopefully money!

Some top tips for you

Do research beforehand and make a list - Put simply I always say to people, know what you want to buy before going into the shopping event, or during the event itself. That means putting in some research on the golf equipment you want so you know prices, discounts, specs, reviews and specific models in and out. That way you can be focused on the day and not have to waste time. This will also give you knowledge on what is actually a good deal.

Set a budget

On Cyber Monday it is easy to spend too much or buy things you don't actually need so I tell people to set yourself a proper budget and stick to it. And similar to that point, do not panic buy! We have all done it, and I can personally remember thinking to myself 'why on earth did I do that?' on a purchase. So take your time and think it through!

Don't limit yourself to Amazon

Of course there will be a lot of focus on Amazon during the shopping events but definitely don't limit yourself to just one retailer as we often notice other retailers like PGA TOUR Superstore, Walmart, Rock Bottom Golf and Scottsdale Golf doing sales of their own.

Price check everything

If you have read my deals content before, you will be tired of me saying this point, but I really do think it is important, especially if you want to get the best price on a bit of golf gear. I recommend price checking something across several retailers to see if the price is actually good, or if you can get it lower somewhere else. This does require having a number of tabs open.

That being said price checking on Amazon is quite easy. I use CamelCamelCamel, a website that price checks millions of items sold on Amazon, a lot. The website tracks price lows, so if the item you're looking at was cheaper at some other point, you'll be able to see the price difference.

Watch out for shady reviews

This is something to be aware of. On retailers like Amazon there are a lot of reviews that are not legitimate, and whilst Amazon has removed a lot of bogus reviews, there are so many that not all of them can be. So I recommend just keeping your eyes out for reviews that seem a bit fishy. At Golf Monthly we literally only write about products we have tested ourselves so we always make sure we have a link to our review somewhere on the page. We only write about products we've had in our hands and put through our thorough testing process and this ethos carries into everything from drivers to bags to launch monitors.

Okay enough of the tips, let's get to the deals

I will start by pointing out some of the best posts we at Golf Monthly have published so you go and give those a read at your own leisure.

• Want To Copy The Best Putter On The PGA Tour? Now You Can With $50 Off His Chosen Flatstick
• I've Been Playing These Irons For 18 Months And They Have A Big Discount This Black Friday Weekend
• You Can Save 40% On Adidas Golf Apparel Using A Special Code This Cyber Monday
• Winter Is Coming... And Now Is The Time To Work On Your Short Game With These Black Friday Putting Mat Deals

Want to hit the ball further off the tee? Buy Marco Penge's driver!

Marco Penge was the longest hitter on the DP World Tour last season, thanks in part to his Mizuno driver! It's got a tasty discount ahead of Cyber Monday.

The best golf video game is now at its lowest ever price

Golf Monthly's resident gaming expert (he told me to say that) Conor Keenan gave PGA TOUR 2K25 a glowing review when he tested it last year. If you're in need for a new video game over the winter, he'd recommend it strongly.

This is one of the best fairway woods of all time - and it's on offer!

The Qi10 fairway wood is a 'cheat code', per our tester Joe Ferguson. It's stayed in the bag of the likes of Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood despite the release of the Qi35 range. If you're in need of a new fairway wood, you can't do much better than this deal.

Two stunning drivers on sale

If you want a 2025 driver from Callaway or TaylorMade, but with a stunning black finish then I've got two deals for you on the Qi35 and Elyte models. They are awesome and I can guarantee you will be the only person at your club with it in the bag.

My colleague Dave Usher still uses these irons...

Fellow Liverpool fan Dave actually bought a set of these Darkspeed irons from Cobra 18 months ago, and he still has them as part of his set. He said; 'They've been in the bag for 18 months and I don’t expect to change them for at least a couple more years as they deliver exactly what I need; distance, consistency, feel, forgiveness and great looks.'

You Can Save 40% On Adidas Golf Apparel Using A Special Code

We wrote about this earlier but adidas' code for Cyber Monday continues and by using 'CYBER' at checkout you can get as much as 40% off select apparel and golf shoes. I have picked out several of my favorite picks below, with the camo jacket in particular catching my eye!

My 32 absolute top pick deals

Earlier today I collated my top deals into one large hub post, in which there are 32 selections. I have split the piece into different sections, (clubs/balls/tech/etc) so you can just click to the section or bit of gear you are after. I think the adidas S2G shoe deal at 50% off is hard to beat, along with the Voice Caddie Laser Fit rangefinder which I actually use when playing golf in my day to day life.

Join the zero torque revolution

Zero Torque putters are the latest equipment phenomenon in golf, so we've done everything we can to test as many of them as possible. Between myself and other members of the Golf Monthly team, we've tested all of the headline products heading this year and we have managed to find three deals on PXG models we have tested below.

Some more niche sales from brands I think you need to know about

Just talking about other brands and retailers made me want to highlight some brands I really like. I have tested gear, or a member of the Golf Monthly team has tested gear from each of these brands and we can vouch for the high quality performance.

• Sun Day Red: Up to 50% off select styles of apparel/shoes
• Zero Restriction: 35% off everything with special code
• B.Draddy: 35% off best sellers with code
• Johnnie-O: 25% off $200+, 35% off $300+
• Vessel: Up to 40% off sitewide

I will see you all in the morning

And those few hours have flown by, I will now be seeing you in the morning where I hope some new deals have gone live. Ideally Sun Day Red discount the Osprey shoe of theirs because I have the all-white pair and I definitely want to see if I can get the white and blue pair as well because they are my favorite shoes at the moment for on and off the golf course.

Good morning and happy Cyber Monday

I am back at it again this morning and as a reminder Cyber Monday will run until 23.59 tonight so if you need a bit of golf gear, or a golf related gift for Christmas, now is the time to strike!

Many of the top deals still remain

It has been a hectic start to the day as I check all the deals I reference above are still live, and amazingly they all are. There have been a couple of small price changes but Amazon in particular does this a lot, especially around shoes because of the sheer number of sizes and colors available. But the staying power of the deals above is great to see and I expect several of them to sell out today as a result.

First up, golf balls...

We all need golf balls and shopping events are the ideal time to stock up because you can get your usual gamer with a discount, double dozen deals, or even get sizeable money off the best models on the market, such as the Pro V1 deal below.

New Wheels For The Spring?

While you may think purchasing a new set of shoes in December will see them only get ruined a few weeks later thanks to unfavourable ground conditions, think ahead to the Spring and how nice it will be to slip on a new pair of shoes, knowing you saved a decent amount purchasing them when you did!

There are some great deals to be had from top brands such as Under Armour, Adidas and FootJoy. I've listed some of the best ones here...

Make More Putts This Off Season

If like me, you live somewhere where daylight in the winters is short, then getting out and staying on top of your game and practicing can be difficult.

One of the best ways to keep your scoring low upon your return to the course is by maintaining your feel and stroke on the greens by investing in a putting mat. Some of the best models we have tested over the past few years are available at great price still this Cyber Monday!

Practice With Purpose

One of the biggest mistakes amateurs make when practicing (myself included) is that we don't have any real purpose when we go to hit balls at the driving range.

We may work on our swing a little but for the most part, it turns into bashing balls rather aimlessly, until we hit one that felt good and then are happy to end the session there!

Adding a launch monitor into your practice sessions gives your immediate quantifiable data that helps you identify pro's and con's with each swing and keeps your practice fun and interactive.

The Garmin Approach R50 launch monitor is one of the most impressive models we tested this year, and it's now on sale where you can save a huge $500!

Stop Guessing Your Yardages!

While our strike and distance control may not be as consistent as the guys and girls we watch on TV each week, there's no reason we shouldn't have a definitive idea on how far we hit each of our clubs and exact yardages we have into the pin on each hole.

Adding a laser rangefinder to your bag is an easy way to identify distances to bunkers and other hazards, as well as to various shelves in the greens that we may have to cover in order to have a good look at birdie!

Below are some of the best rangefinders I've found on offer this Cyber Monday...

New Grooves Please

I've tested over 50 wedges over the past two years and there are few that impressed me as much as the Callaway Opus. There was a fast tour adoption when this product first hit the scene thanks to a buttery soft feel through impact and levels of spin that rivalled pretty much any wedge on the market.

Any savings these wedges would be welcomed, so being able to save $30 per wedge seems like a steal!

The Most Forgiving Driver On The Market?

Despite being a couple of years old now, the Ping G430 Max 10k is still considered one of the most forgiving heads on the market.

Ping already had a strong reputation for producing forgiving clubs, but when this driver launched and got in the hands of amateur golfers, things went to the next level.

If you're struggling from the tee and want help hitting more fairways, then this could be the deal you've been looking for.

Incredible Tag Heuer deal just landed

We never see discounts on brands like Tag Heuer, but you can currently get a 13% discount on the Connected Calibre E4 Golf Edition watch. I cannot stress how rare this is to see!

Sam Burn's putter still discounted

Yes you read the below correctly, Sam Burns is currently the best putter on the PGA Tour and his choice of putter is currently discounted nicely. In fact stats-wise, Burns' putting record is astonishing, with the American finishing inside the top 10 of the PGA Tour's Total Putting for the last five seasons. What's more, in Strokes Gained: Putting and Putting Average, he's finished outside the top 10 just twice. He must be doing something right with that odyssey fang design!

PXG Driver deal keeps getting better

We wrote about this deal a while ago and it seems PXG keep dropping the price!

Saying this for the 400th time this Black Friday/Cyber Monday

Price check everything! - I really think this is one of the most important things to do when shopping in sales events. I recommend price checking something across several retailers to see if the price is actually good, or if you can get it lower somewhere else. This does require having a number of tabs open.

That being said price checking on Amazon is quite easy. I use CamelCamelCamel, a website that price checks millions of items sold on Amazon, a lot. The website tracks price lows, so if the item you're looking at was cheaper at some other point, you'll be able to see the price difference.

Some of the best Golf Monthly posts worth shouting about

Over the last few days we have been working hard to get you the best deals and give you top tips for shopping events. So I want to take a moment and let you know about some of our top content so you can give them a read if you've missed them.

• Top 5 Golf Movies Of All Time - How To Watch For Cheap Thanks To This Cyber Monday Streaming Deal
• These 9 Drivers Are Being Replaced In 2026 So Now Is The Best Time To Grab A Cyber Monday Deal
• Here Are 7 Gear Essentials Every Golfer Needs And Where You Can Get Them Discounted On Black Friday
• Want To Copy The Best Putter On The PGA Tour? Now You Can With $50 Off His Chosen Flatstick

Sun Day Red with 30% off on select items

I've been a big fan of Sun Day Red gear for a while now having tested a lot of the shoes and apparel. The quality is right up there with the best in the game and as such I have to include a note on their 30% off sale on select items, such as the two shoes and hoodie below. In fact I think there is as much as 50% off on things like hats.

Two 2025 Cobra drivers significantly reduced

Well actually these Cobra DS-Adapt drivers came out in December 2024 but they are the latest range so that basically makes them 2025 models. Regardless, both have nearly $120 off at the moment. I will keep an eye out for the DS-Adapt X and LS models pictured above to go on offer as well.

I'm A 3 Handicapper And These 5 Items Helped My Game Massively In 2025... Did I Mention They're Reduced

My colleague Matt Cradock wrote this piece recently and he has played some of his best golf in 2025 which he puts down to these five products helping him do so. He has filled out why he has used each product in the blocks below, explaining his rationale and why they helped him.

A couple of women's golf shoe deals from our Women's Golf Editor Alison Root

Alison and her team have tested a lot of women's golf shoes in 2025 and two of the top models came from adidas and New Balance, and both of them appear to be on offer below for Cyber Monday.

Garmin R50 still reduced!

One of our absolute favorite products we've tested in 2025 is the Garmin Approach R50 which doubles up as a launch monitor and simulator. I would recommend taking a look at Joel Tadman's full review below so you can read about the full feature list and how it performs - spoiler alert - very well indeed. It is a product I was not expecting to see on offer this year but here we are, $500 off right now.

A truly unique rangefinder with $200 off

If you want one of the most unique rangefinders on the market, then this is the deal for you. With $200 off you can get the Mileseey GenePro G1 which combines laser performance with touchscreen GPS maps. Overall it is an impressive, premium device that gives clear graphics in the viewfinder, a vibrant and clear touchscreen, easy pin detection and you get a lot of product for your money. The GPS screen is bright and offers solid levels of detail, while the rangefinder is fast, accurate and responsive.

Our favorite stylish rangefinder on offer

Whilst we have tested this model in green, you can currently get the blue and black colors for a significant $60 off at the moment with Carl's Golfland. The vibrant display is its crowning glory, while its finish and case make it stand out from the market. It puts its more expensive rivals to shame with the features and quality it packs in at a far more reasonable price.

Malbon's Archive Sale still active

Malbon Golf, the streetwear-meets-country-club brand that has been pioneering the contemporary golf fashion movement, has just unlocked its vaults for a massive Archive Sale. Worn by the likes of Jason Day, the brand is offering up to 60% off on a selection of past-season menswear and womenswear. Of course this includes many little golf pieces including polos, quarter zips, accessories and cool collaboration pieces.

Another Tour player offer

Marco Penge is, statistically, the best driver of the golf ball in Europe and, right now, you can grab the same model of driver he uses for under $300 at PGA TOUR Superstore.

Providing plenty of of forgiveness and stability at impact, the ST-Max 230 is crammed with technology and has been one of the key reasons for his success throughout 2025.

It's not just Amazon where you can grab some excellent offers, as PGA TOUR Superstore is one of many retailers providing plenty of deals.

New balls please

You can never have too many golf balls and, right now, there are a number of offers available on some of the best.

Whether you're after a more premium option, or perhaps a distance model, there are multiple deals to sink your teeth into, with three of them listed below.

Under $50

Do you have a budget of $50? It may not sound a lot to some, but there are still some cracking deals available for under the price of a round of drinks...

Your daily reminder

We know we harp on about it, but it's imperative you follow these rules to maximize your Cyber Monday experience.

Watch out for shady reviews - This is something to be aware of. On retailers like Amazon, there are a lot of reviews that are not legitimate and, while Amazon has removed a lot of bogus reviews, there are so many that not all of them can be.

Set a budget - On Cyber Monday, it is easy to spend too much or buy things you don't actually need so I tell people to set yourself a proper budget and stick to it. What's more, do not panic buy! We have all done it and I can personally remember thinking to myself 'why on earth did I do that?' on a purchase. So take your time and think it through!

Don't limit yourself to Amazon - There will be a lot of focus on Amazon during the shopping events, but definitely don't limit yourself to just one retailer as we often notice other retailers like PGA TOUR Superstore, Walmart, Rock Bottom Golf and Scottsdale Golf providing sales of their own.

We love a good putting mat

Putting is one of the easiest and quickest ways to improve your score on the course and, right now, you can grab a number of different putting mats with sizeable discounts.

Having tested several, as you can see from the image above, we were very pleased to find out some of our favorites are still reduced this Cyber Monday.

We've listed a few of deals for you to check out below...

The best putter on the PGA Tour

Sam Burns has ranked inside the top 10 of the PGA Tour's Total Putting for the last five seasons and, what's more, in Strokes Gained: Putting and Putting Average, he's finished outside the top 10 just twice.

What putter does he use? Well, that would be the Odyssey Ai-One #7 S, which is now 17% off at Golf Galaxy. We know about the Ai-One range, and they're among the best golf putters money can buy, so this is a great deal right now!

Be quick!

Yes, these deals are correct, you can really grab up to 77% off Paramount+.

CBS shows several PGA Tour tournaments throughout the season, along with the final two days of The Masters and PGA Championship, with live simulcast and bonus streaming feeds also available on Paramount+.

Essentially, you can watch all the action from the first two men's Majors for an incredibly low price as, right now, Paramount+ is down to $2.99/month for the first two months, both for the Essential plan and the Premium plan, which is usually $12.99/month.

Joe the Pro knows his drivers

By now, you will know that Joe Ferguson is our resident driver tester and, for Cyber Monday, he's seen that these 2025 big sticks are reduced prior to the launch of new equipment in 2026.

These drivers still perform superbly and, although they're being replaced next year, they're still among the best golf drivers money can buy, with nine particular models being reduced.

You can check out the full story here, while we've included two cracking deals below...

A huuuggge driver deal here

Right now, the PXG 0311 Gen5 and its XF sibling are on sale for just $179.99, which is a staggering discount of $419.01, and 70% off the MSRP of $599.99, and also smashes the previous best price of $199.99 from last year's Cyber Monday sales.

I'm surprised this 'cheat code' of a fairway wood hasn't sold out yet

Joe Ferguson described this Qi10 fairway wood as a 'cheat code' and after I began using it in the summer, it's easy to understand why. It's remained the in the bag of the likes of Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and more TaylorMade athletes despite the release of the Qi35 earlier in 2025 - is there a better endorsement of how good this club than that?

A quick round up of the best Cyber Monday deals... so far.

We're far from finished here at Golf Monthly, but here's a quick plug of some of the best deals we've seen so far today.

• Want To Copy The Best Putter On The PGA Tour? Now You Can With $50 Off His Chosen Flatstick
• Top 5 Golf Movies Of All Time - How To Watch For Cheap Thanks To This Cyber Monday Streaming Deal
• Here Are 7 Gear Essentials Every Golfer Needs And Where You Can Get Them Discounted On Black Friday
• These 9 Drivers Are Being Replaced In 2026 So Now Is The Best Time To Grab A Cyber Monday Deal
• Last Chance: This Brilliant Paramount+ Cyber Monday Streaming Deal Ends Very Soon – Grab 77% Off Before It's Too Late

...and for the ladies!

Women's Editor Alison Root has been on the hunt for good deals for female players, and she's found a fair few. The deal below on 24 of Srixon's Soft Feel Lady balls are one of 9 Cyber Monday Deals She'd Actually Buy.

Garmin deals aplenty

One brand that always delivers around shopping events is Garmin. I regularly see fitness watches and trackers on offer and the golf space is catered for as well with models like the S12 watch, G80 launch monitor and the sublime R50 simulator/launch monitor with $500 off.

How to play your best winter golf - set yourself up for success with these Cyber Monday deals

A top rain jacket with 25% off

I just wrote about needing a good golf beanie, waterproof shoes and some mitts, well I would also heavily recommend getting a good rain jacket. One such example is the adidas Rain.Rdy Hooded Jacket pictured here.

What's your favorite golf movie of all time?

Happy Gilmore? Caddy Shack? There's plenty to choose from, but it's sometimes hard to find where to watch them!

If you're abroad, this is especially difficult. Thankfully, if you have a trusty VPN you can watch all your favorites, no matter what country you're in. So whether you want US Netflix whilst your abroad or you don't want to miss any of your favorite sports, you should be looking into this NordVPN deal.

Have you signed up for Golf Monthly's newsletters?

Those already signed up for our e-com newsletter will have deals sent straight to their email address on Black Friday and then today on Cyber Monday.

This is more than we usually do - on normal weeks, we send out our weekly e-com newsletter on Saturday afternoon for you to get your teeth stuck into.

Whilst you're here, why not check out the Kick Point newsletter, delivered every Friday along with the latest episode of the pod, or the newly-launched Women's Golf Edit newsletter courtesy of our award-winning Women's Editor, Allison Root!

The stress-free equipment option for beginners

New, or at least relatively new to the game? Need a set of clubs for yourself rather than those ones your uncle handed down to you?

Finding the right clubs to fill out your bag can be stressful, time consuming and expensive - which is why we always encourage rookie golfers to opt for a package set for simplicity as well as confirmed, top-notch performance. Two of our favorites are discounted below.

Bushnell's smallest ever range finder receives it's first ever discount

Bushnell's A1 Slope rangefinder is a device that seriously packs a punch. Don't be deceived by the size, this is a quality rangefinder that delivers excellent performance, accurate yardages and a quality build, but is the size of your palm!

If you're after a small distance measuring device that doesn't take up too much room and weigh too much, you could do a lot worse than this deal.

A reminder - Cyber Monday ends tonight and so will the chance to make the most of these 5 excellent golf deals

There have been hundreds of products on offer this Cyber Monday, but we don't expect these five to be at a better price come the event's finale later today. Simply click on the picture above and it will take you to the piece we have written on the best deals.

Rare Tag Heuer watch discount

With an ultra-premium brand like Tag Heuer, it is rare to find a discount on any of their golf watches, but I have just found the Connected Calibre E4 Golf Edition watch discounted by 13% on Amazon. Now I know what you are thinking, that doesn't sound like a lot, but the rarity of this deal makes it worth shouting about and putting on your radar!

A couple more budget-friendly golf watches on offer

A quick UK deal worth shouting about

When it comes to laser rangefinders, some golfers only want the absolute basics in an affordable, reliable package. They can make a big difference to your game, but it's no secret that the top models can set you back a significant amount of money, with the best rangefinders costing up to $600. Thankfully, there are multiple budget rangefinders available and one of the best we have spotted is on the Inesis 900 Laser with 15% off at Decathlon.

Get your kid into golf this Christmas with this set

Two PXG Driver's discounted (one incredibly heavily!)

Signing off for the night

And that is my shift done, this post will continue to tick along throughout the night displaying the best deals for you before they go off sale, or maybe even sell out. Happy shopping!

Sale officially finishes

And just like that, Cyber Monday is over for 2025, however I have noticed a lot of good deals still available which we will point out to you!

Not deals related, but new PXG drivers and woods out now!

My colleagues in the Golf Monthly gear team have just published all their reviews of the latest PXG Lightning range.

• PXG Now Has One Of The Straightest, Most Forgiving Drivers Money Can Buy

Firing a five-under-par final round of 66, the LIV Golfer produced a two shot victory over Wenyi Ding, as Puig secured the BMW Australian PGA Championship and claimed a maiden DP World Tour title.

Starting the Sunday in a three-way tie alongside Ricardo Gouveia and Anthony Quayle at 13-under, the duo fell away over the final 18-holes, with both producing over-par rounds.

Puig, meanwhile, parred the opening hole, before following it up with three straight birdies to move to the top of the leaderboard, something he didn't relinquish over the remaining holes.

Making another birdie at the par 3 eighth, four straight pars ended with a fifth birdie of the day at the 13th, as a further five pars meant a blemish free final round and an 18-under tournament total.

Picking up a third professional win, two of which have come on the Asian Tour, it was a special victory for the 23-year-old, who became the second Spanish winner of the BMW Australian PGA Championship, joining Seve Ballesteros in the process.

After emulating Ballesteros, who secured his win at Royal Melbourne in 1981, Puig stated: "It feels unbelievable, especially winning here in Australia. They have awesome golf so I'm really excited and happy.

"I was definitely nervous, but I think I kind of kept my composure really well. Obviously that start helped a lot... Obviously my name being with Seve’s name as the only two Spaniards to have won this event makes it even more special. Really happy."

All season, players have been battling it out to reach the concluding Spanish stop in order to try and become the LET Order of Merit champion.

Heading into the final day of competition this term, only two players are capable of making that happen - Shannon Tan and Mimi Rhodes.

The Singaporean pro had a lead of over 211 points heading into this week as a result of two wins and eight top-10s this term, and with 500 points available for the winner at Real Guadalhorce Club de Golf, victory here would seal it for Tan.

Meanwhile, a fourth success of the season for Rhodes may well snatch the season-long prize away from her young rival.

No matter which way around they finish, one will earn the €75,000 for winning the Order of Merit while whoever comes second will bank €50,000.

Only the top-three earn bonus money after all is said and done, with a check for €25,000 possibly heading the way of either South Africa's Casandra Alexander or Switzerland's Chiara Tamburlini.

In the short-term, there is prize money on offer for each of the 72 professionals involved in the 75-player field at the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open de España this week as there was no cut during the four rounds.

Like last year, the total purse equals €700,000 (circa $811,000) and there is a check for €105,000 (almost $122,000) awaiting the champion. Last year, Carlota Ciganda reigned supreme in her home country.

The runner-up is set to earn €63,000 ($73,000) while everyone else in the top-21 should collect over €10,000 ($11,600) for their week's work.

Below is the maximum prize money payout for each position at the 2025 Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open de España.

Andalucia Open De Espana Prize Money Breakdown

It was a dramatic start to the event, with lightning bringing a premature end to the first round, but only after there had been two holes-in-one at Royal Queensland.

Daniel Gale won a $300,000 car for his ace, but fans missed out on a $1m payout due to the timing of Kazuma Kobori's effort - as his hole-in-one at the Party Hole 17th would've given fans a share of that prize pot had it come on Saturday.

It wasn't a nice homecoming for Cameron Smith, who missed his seventh consecutive cut and was left with more questions than answers as he tries to find his best form again.

Smith was joined by the likes of Matt Jones and Joaquin Niemann as big names to miss the cut at the Australian PGA Championship.

Royal Queensland Golf Club is playing host to the Australian PGA for the fifth year in a row and seventh time overall.

Elvis Smylie walked away with the trophy last year as he managed to beat fellow Australian and his golfing idol Smith by two shots.

It's a famous old event with a rich history, which is even richer this year as there's the most prize money on offer in the Australian PGA's 121-year history.

A boost of $500,000 ($325,000 USD) has taken the total prize fund on offer at Royal Queensland to $2.5m ($1.6m USD).

Australian PGA Championship prize money breakdown

*Prize money in Australian Dollars

But how do the two compare?

Ahead of every new golf year the subject of who'll win the Majors is always the most talked about - with the question of best players not yet to become Major champions always provoking lively debate.

History suggests we'll have at least one, as we have done in 10 of the last 11 years, with a total of 24 first-time Major champions during that spell.

There's a lot of names you could pick out - Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg, Russell Henley, Patrick Cantlay, Robert MacIntyre and Joaquin Niemann among many others, but the English pair look primed for a Major breakthrough.

But which one?

Let us know who you think will win a men's Major title in 2026 by joining the conversation below...

Why Fleetwood and Hatton are primed for Major win

Both men have been in and around the Major challengers for a while without threatening to win very often - Fleetwood had runner-up finishes in 2018 and 2019 and has two 63s in the US Open to his name.

A serial winner in Europe, he had issues showing that form on the PGA Tour despite the odd Major challenge, but this year he showed his mettle by coming through in one of the biggest ones of all.

After heartbreaking near misses Fleetwood won the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup - which not only made a huge difference to his bank balance but also surely his mentality.

That memorable Ryder Cup followed and then another win in India on the DP World Tour showed his amazing consistency that will also give him a chance - but that PGA Tour breakthrough could be huge.

It's a similar story for Hatton, who has added a lot more consistency in the big events in recent years and seems to be thriving after joining LIV Golf.

Hatton got his win early in the year in Dubai and seemed to build from there, but his defining moment could be going so close at the US Open at Oakmont only for a huge slice of bad luck on Sunday.

But for a bad break in the bunker maybe Hatton, and not JJ Spaun, would be celebrating a maiden Major - but crucially he learned what it was like going down the stretch in contention, and he never really faltered.

Those two huge moments could be just the lift both men need to get over the hump in 2026.

Who had the better Major form?

From a similar amount of Major championships it's Fleetwood who has gone closer on more occasions, with two second-placed finishes to his name.

Hatton's best is this year's T4 at Oakmont, but he came a lot closer than that bare result suggests, being tied for the lead with just two holes to go, so it really was a near miss.

After going four years without a Major top 10, Hatton got one in the 2024 Masters and it's when players start grouping results like that together when you start to think they'll capture one soon.

Hatton's results in the last two years have probably been a touch better than Fleetwood's, he's come closer to winning one and had more top 10s and top 20s, so he's certainly trending in the right direction.

Fleetwood went close once a year from 2017-19, before then returning five top 10s in eight Majors from 2022-24, which isn't so long ago so there's no real worry about his ability to go close.

So who will win a Major first - Hatton or Fleetwood?

You'd like to think both would win a Major, they're certainly both good enough and as we can see they've both gone close.

But we're not talking going close, being in the shake-up, we're talking getting over the line, getting the job done - and that's where it's hard to judge who can hold their nerve.

Hatton didn't do too much wrong at Oakmont, and on another day those final two holes go a different way for him - but nonetheless it was a loss.

He did seem to take it well, which was a great sign, and as Fleetwood showed, and more famously Rory McIlroy, it's all about putting yourself in those situations as often as possible to get comfortable in the most uncomfortable of cricumstances.

Fleetwood, though, would get my vote - for a large part of the PGA Tour season he was producing consistency only Scottie Scheffler could better, and you can't overstate just how influential that Tour Championship victory could be.

It'd be no surprise to see Fleetwood holding a Major trophy in 2026.

What do you think? Who would you back to win a Major next year out of Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton? Let us know by joining the conversation below...

The World No.2 may have finished the year without winning a tournament, but instead of golfing silverware in her trophy cabinet she has a new piece of jewelry to celebrate.

Korda took to Instagram to post a series of slick engagement photos along with her new fiance, who is somewhat of a mystery man.

Korda is famously very protective of her private life, with hardly anything known about the man she'll now be marrying.

It's a bright ending off the course to a disappointing year on it for Korda, who won seven times during a record year in 2024, but failed to win a tournament in 2025.

That's despite, bizarrely, improving on a lot of her stats for 2025, but she just failed to get over the line when it mattered - finishing as a runner-up twice.

The 27-year-old finished in the top-10 seven times in 19 tournaments and was inside the top-25 six times. She also didn't miss a single cut, but never managed to go home with the trophy.

That's in stark contrast to her stunning 2024, when she won five times in a row at the start of the year and six times in seven starts when looking unbeatable.

Along with a second Major at the Chevron Championship, Korda went on to claim both the Rolex Player of the Year and Annika Major Award - which is handed out to the Major champion that performed best in all five of the biggest events.

Not winning this year will have really stung, but getting engaged will no doubt lift the mood and put a positive spin on the year.

She'll now have to add wedding planning to her golfing preparation ahead of the 2026 campaign when she'll be chasing a return to winning ways.

There's no doubt big changes are coming, with Rolapp suggesting the new PGA Tour will be focused on fewer, but more important events to increase competitiveness.

In response to Harris English's comments about a post-Super Bowl start, Rolapp insisted nothing has yet been decided, but agreed starting the new PGA Tour after the NFL season finishes makes sense.

Another big takeaway from Rolapp's appearance on CNBC's CEO Council Forum is the lack of any real desire to get a unification deal LIV Golf's Saudi PIF backers done, unless it made the PGA Tour stronger.

Rolapp also pushed back on the common theme of having all the best players in the world playing more often as the only way forward for golf - saying it was a "complete misconception" that tournaments are made by the golfers playing in it.

A big aim of the new CEO is to build a PGA Tour that's ultra competitive, with the tournaments bigger than the stars playing in them, and "creating more events that matter" so certainly expect some streamlining in the calendar.

Here are more in-depth points from Rolapp, so read these, or watch his full interview at the bottom of the article and then let us know your thoughts on the future of the PGA Tour by joining the conversation below.

A post-Super Bowl season start?

On Harris English's comments: "Nothing's been decided. I think Harris' comments have been getting a lot of attention, but Harris' comments really reflect a lot of conversations that have been going on.

"If you dig deeper into what he said, it's not that complicated. Competing with football in this country for media dollars and attention is a really hard thing to do.

"So the idea of the majority of the sport of golf played in the summer and gets people's attention, so looking at the schedule and optimize that part of the calendar is certainly something we talk about."

On whether a revamped golf season would start after the Super Bowl: "Yeah I could see that."

What will the new PGA Tour season look like?

On what the new Future Competition Committee, led by Tiger Woods, is figuring out about how to shape a new PGA Tour season so that is has more flow:

"How do you make bigger events and stream them together in a season you can understand? Part of professional golf's issue is it has grown up as a series of events that happen to be on television.

"How do you actually take those events and cobble them together in a competitive model including a post-season that you would understand whether you're a golf fan or a sports fan.

"Nothing's been decided but that's the committee's job."

Any given Sunday & every event should really matter

Why less is more for the new PGA Tour: "The sports business model isn't that complicated, you first get the competitive model right and you find the best partners, if you get that right then fans will reward you with their time.

"First is competitive parity, second is simplicity and third is scarcity.

"If you look at competitive parity, what worked at the NFL and what all sports are chasing is how do you make the competition as tight as possible so that any given Sunday you don't know who's going to win.

"Golf has that, the difference between the 10th best golfer in the world and the 50th is razor thin, that's an incredible strength. Golf already has the hard part.

"But how do you make a competitive model that's simple to understand, and how do you make scarce events that fans actually want to follow?"

On whether this is all based on his NFL experience: "It's not NFL-izing, it's creating more events that matter. This isn't taking the NFL model and applying it to golf, it is taking principals that fans across sports have said - I will reward you with my time if you make an event that matters.

"That's what we're striving for, every event should really matter."

On when we'll know more: "I think we'll know in a handful of months where we come out."

Will there be a LIV deal?

On talks about a deal with LIV Golf: "I've had conversations, sure. I've been very public on this, I will do whatever makes the PGA Tour stronger.

"I work for the players, we have a system where they own the equity and can actually earn more, which is an extremely powerful model within sports.

"I feel a deep responsibility to them. They should be benefitting more than anybody because they are the sport."

On if he wants a deal with LIV: "Depends. Depends what the terms are. I think we're doing pretty good competing the way we are.

"But yes, having the best professional tour makes sense and you need the best golfers to do that, but I'm very focused on developing a professional sport that outlasts any of our stars - that's what the most successful sports do."

On whether Bryson DeChambeau not being on the PGA Tour is a problem: "Byrson is a star, an amazing golfer, he's also amazing off the golf course.

"The bulk of his consumption where people see him is on YouTube by the way, they don't see him on television because the other league doesnt really draw a lot of viewers."

A new PGA Tour stronger than individual players

On whether golf actually needs to unify and if the best have to play each other more often: "Everybody wants to see the best golfers compete but I will say there's a complete misconception about the sport of golf that any given tournament matters if the same three of four people are in it.

"Everyone has this premise that a tournament only matters if one or two players are in it - there's no data to support that.

"Every sport has stars, but what really makes sports work is those middle classes. So in my old job, sure, we put the Kansas City Chiefs on primetime as much as we can, but that's not why the NFL was so successful - it's because when the Bengals are good you watch when the Lions are good you watch.

"The middle class matters. You cannot build a lifelong sport that outlives your stars if you don't build a system that works beyond your stars."

On what the new PGA Tour will be built on: "If you look at the depth of the PGA Tour and the stories coming out of there I think that's where the real strength of our Tour is.

"Any sport worth its salt that says this competition only works if a couple of people are in it isn't a sport, it's a circus.

"And I don't think that's what the PGA Tour is. It's a compelling athletic contest with the deepest resevoir of professional golfers on the planet."

This is a revival of a popular competition that ran from 1983 to 2008. Skins is a golf format that requires and rewards bold, attacking play and used to attract huge television audiences over the Thanksgiving period.

The first Skins Game was held at Desert Highlands in Scottsdale, Arizona, with Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player. Tiger Woods played in several editions of it, but never won it.

In a skins golf game, each hole is worth a sum of prize money and each of the four golfers play together and if one of them wins the hole outright they win this sum, known as a skin. (This name comes from the leather pouches money used traditionally to be held in.)

But if two or more of them tie with the lowest score, no-one wins, and the money is rolled into the prize money for the next hole, and all four golfers are still eligible to win it.

Thus it rewards the risk-taker, and bold attacking golf. Someone who makes par on all 18 holes is not likely to win anything. Someone who mixes a string of bogeys and double bogeys with the occasional eagle, will.

This year’s event will be played at Panther National in South Florida, a course co-designed by Jack Nicklaus and Justin Thomas.

In this guide Golf Monthly brings you all the details on how to watch The Skins Game online from anywhere in the world.

Are there any free live streams for The Skins Game?

Coverage of the Skins Game will begin at 9am ET (2pm GMT) and shown exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

Prime Video is included with an Amazon Prime membership and Amazon are offering a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime for newcomers.

Prime Video is available on compatible devices such as a a smartphone, tablet, set-top box, game console, or smart TV. Prime Video content can also be downloaded for offline viewing on iOS, Android, and Fire devices.

Away from home right now and missing your familiar golf coverage? Well, you can still access your usual streams by using a VPN – more on that below.

Watch Golf from anywhere

If you are outside your usual country, you can still access the golf streaming services you subscribe to, even when you're away from home, thanks to a handy piece of software known as a VPN.

A Virtual Private Network – to give it the full name – can make your devices appear to be in any location, bypassing geo-restrictions so you can watch the things you've signed up for. It's perfect for watching golf from anywhere, and it comes with a host of internet security benefits, too.

Our expert colleagues over at TechRadar have tested loads of VPNs and they reckon NordVPN is the best VPN provider out there right now, thanks to its lightning speeds, flawless security, and ability to unblock streaming services.

Watch The Skins Game in the US

Coverage of the Skins Game will begin at 9 a.m. ET, and shown exclusively on Prime Video. Andrew Catalon, Colt Knost, and on-course reporter Dan Rapaport will be the commentators. Prime Video is included with an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $14.99 per month or $139 per year. Amazon are offering a 30-day free trial to Prime for newcomers.

Watch The Skins Game in the UK

Coverage of The Skins Game will begin at 2pm GMT. In the UK, Amazon Prime membership costs £8.99 per month or £95 per year, with students and 18-22 year-olds paying £4.49 monthly. However there is a 30-day free trial.

Watch The Skins Game in Australia

Amazon Prime in Australia costs AU$9.99 per month or AU$79 per year. New customers can sign up for a 30-day free trial and can cancel at any time.

The Skins Game Schedule

Friday 28th November
US (ET): 9am (Prime Video)
UK (GMT): 2pm (Prime Video)
Australia (AEDT): 1am (Saturday) (Prime Video)

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

The Australian is the only man to miss the cut in all four Majors in 2025, and with three following missed cuts he's struggling to deal with his lack of form.

A former World No.2 and 2022 Open champion, Smith's form has nosedived since joining LIV Golf, and he's admitted now he's facing some inner demons as he tries to work out where he's going wrong.

A Brisbane native, Smith was desperate to find some form at the Australian PGA, but shot 75 on Friday at Royal Queensland Golf Club to finish way outside the cut mark.

Smith, famously a laid back, happy-go-lucky type of golfer, is clearly feeling the strain, and admitted as much after finishing up his second round.

"It was s***," Smith said. "I don't know, I just don't know. I was so confused.

"I was feeling good, really confident and just couldn't get anything going. It was weird. It can definitely get in your head, I think it is in my head."

Smith will head to next week's Australian Open still searching to find something in his game to build on, and while previously he'd switch off from golf off the course, he's now becoming obsessed with trying to solve the puzzle.

"I don't think about golf often, but in the last couple of months I've thought about it a lot and I want to get back to where I was," Smith admitted.

"I do know what the answer is; it's just to keep working hard and try to be patient."

Fellow Australian Min Woo Lee fared much better, shooting 66 to sit in T5 just two shots off leader Kobori Kazuma, and he had words of encouragement for playing partner Smith.

"That's golf. It can be tough and he's one of the best players out here and there is pressure," Lee said of Smith.

"Next week he's going to be good. It's a bit of fire in his belly, this weekend. Head down, grind and show something next week."

The trio of Wenyi Deng, Brett Rankin and Anthony Quayle sit in a tie for second - Quayle this week has Tiger Woods' legendary caddie Steve Williams on the bag and it's clearly doing the trick.

The strong field is headlined by the likes of Adam Scott, Cameron Smith and Min Woo Lee - but there have been some high-profile casualties after two rounds, with three-time champion Smith missing the 36-hole cut.

Smith is one of a number of notables who haven't managed to secure weekend tee times at Brisbane's Royal Queensland Golf Club along with two of the other LIV Golfers in the field.

So which big names and notable players missed the cut? Let's take a look...

Andrew 'Beef' Johnston: -1 (74-67)

It has been a torrid couple of years for the popular Andrew 'Beef' Johnston, who has struggled with injuries.

He recently made his first start in over a year at the Genesis Championship in Korea and he is now fully fit for the 2026 campaign. He will not be earning a paycheck this week, however, after rounds of 74 and 67 for a one-under-par total, which agonizingly was one stroke shy of the cut mark.

The damage was done on Thursday when he carded two double-bogeys in a three-over-par 74. He followed it up with a brilliant bogey-free 67 in round two but it ultimately was not quite enough.

Joaquin Niemann: E (71-71)

LIV Golf star Joaquin Niemann was one of the biggest names in the field to start the week and he has surprisingly missed the cut after back-to-back rounds of level-par.

Niemann also missed the cut at last week's Saudi International, so he'll be hoping to re-find some form ahead of next week's Australian Open at Royal Melbourne - which he won in 2023.

The Chilean made ten birdies in his opening 36 holes but surprisingly matched them with ten bogeys.

Matt Jones: +1 (71-72)

Another LIV Golfer to be going home early is two-time Australian Open champion Matt Jones.

The former two-time PGA Tour winner and Ripper GC player made six birdies, five bogeys and a costly double-bogey in his one-over-par two-round total.

Jones was recently T6th at the Hong Kong Open but has now missed back-to-back cuts after also going home early last week in Saudi Arabia.

Cameron Smith: +2 (69-75)

Smith got off to a strong start on Thursday with a two-under-par round of 69 but had a surprisingly bad Friday to miss the weekend.

The Brisbane native, who won his third Australian PGA Championship at this venue in 2022 and was runner-up last year, made four bogeys and a double in his second-round 75.

Remarkably, from the seven non-LIV Golf events he has played in 2025, he has missed all seven cuts. This clearly is not the Cameron Smith of 2022.

He'll be hoping to forget about Friday and take the positives of round one to Royal Melbourne next week.

Cameron Adam: +3 (75-70)

Walker Cup player Cameron Adam was making his professional debut this week after earning full DP World Tour status via the Global Amateur Pathway Ranking.

The Scottish player attended Northwestern University, the same as Luke Donald and Matt Fitzpatrick, and won the 2023 Scottish Amateur Championship.

He'll have to wait for his first paycheck as a pro after a poor opening 75, which featured a front nine of 41 (+5).

Adam bounced back with a one-under-par 70 on Friday but still fell well short of the cut mark.

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen: +5 (75-73)

The Dane has been one of the standout players in Europe this year during his rookie season on the DP World Tour.

He recently earned his 2026 PGA Tour card via the 10 Cards Initiative so it is surprising to see him outside of the top 140 at the halfway stage.

Neergaard-Petersen recently finished T3rd at the DP World Tour Championship in a year that included two runners-up finishes, six other top-10s and a T12 at the US Open.

He'll certainly be one to watch in the US next year.

Players, caddies, staff and fans have been encouraged to wear yellow on Friday at the Australian PGA Championship in tribute to Lyle, who died at the age of 36 after a long battle with leukemia in August 2018.

Lyle is now synonymous with the color after wearing a yellow Titleist bucket hat in the final years of his playing career.

It was to support the charity 'Challenge', a non-profit organization which helps families living with cancer. The charity's mascot is Leuk the Duck, which has been worn as a pin by multiple players in the past, including Lyle, and also seen as a headcover.

Ambassadors for the charity include the Minogue sisters as well as golfers Grace Kim, Lucas Herbert and Robert Allenby.

It's not the first time the Australian PGA Championship has turned yellow for Lyle, and the initiatives helped the family raise well over AU$500,000 as of 2022 via the #DoingItForJarrod campaign.

Yellow Day at the Australian PGA Championship in 2022:

Fittingly, Daniel Gale made a hole-in-one in the first round of the 2025 event to win a AU$300,000 BMW M5 Touring car while wearing a yellow JL Titleist bucket hat, which he regularly wears in support of Lyle and the Challenge charity.

Lyle played 121 tournaments on the PGA Tour after winning twice on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2008. He was first diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 17 and was diagnosed again later in his life.

He reached a career-high of 142nd in the Official World Golf Ranking and had a best finish of T4th at the 2012 Northern Trust Open, now known as the Genesis Invitational.

Not only did it feature predominantly in JJ Spaun's bag for his US Open victory, but also in a number of set-ups of DP World Tour and PGA Tour winners in 2025, including the likes of World No.1 Scottie Scheffler.

Such is Srixon's quality, its irons were ranked as the second most successful in terms of PGA Tour wins for this year, earning 25 victories, with various models being wielded by Ryder Cup stars and Major winners.

For all six of Scheffler's victories he had at least one Srixon iron in the bag, specifically the ZU85 Utility Iron in a 3 or 4-iron configuration. It has been in his set-up for a considerable amount of time, with the World No.1 pairing it with a Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Hybrid Prototype 10 X shaft.

Usually, the American will swap it out for a TaylorMade Qi10 7-wood, depending on course conditions, but he's not the only player to use the ZU85, as the likes of Patrick Cantlay have also used it previously.

Away from Scheffler, and to Spaun, who had the Srixon ZXi5 4-iron and the Srixon ZXi7 in 5-iron to pitching wedge in his set-up.

The ZXi5 is the more forgiving option of the ZXi range, hence why Spaun uses it in a 4-iron configuration. The ZXi7, which is ranked as one of the best golf irons on the market, provides more feel from a softer steel and expanded PureFrame located behind the sweet spot.

A Srixon staffer, Spaun ranked fifth in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green for the whole of the PGA Tour in 2025. He also ranked 35th in Greens in Regulation percentage, holding an impressive total of 69.54%.

It wasn't just irons where Spaun can be seen using clubs from the brand. Srixon and Cleveland are owned by the same company and, in the American's set-up, he had three different Cleveland wedges present for his US Open win, using the RTX ZipCore, RTZ and RTX 6 ZipCore.

Sepp Straka, who had two PGA Tour wins in 2025, had the same ZXi5 and ZXi7 set-up, while Hideki Matsuyama had the Srixon ZX Mk II 3-iron and the Srixon Z-Forged in 4-iron to pitching wedge.

Ryan Fox was another two-time winner this season, and he used a Srixon ZXi 2-iron, ZXi5 4-iron and 5-iron, as well as the ZXi7 in 6-iron to pitching wedge.

US Ryder Cup captain, Keegan Bradley, also had three different Srixon irons in play for his Travelers Championship victory, using the Srixon ZX5 Mk II in 3-5-iron, Srixon ZX7 Mk II 6-9-iron and a Srixon Z-Forged II pitching wedge.

Only Titleist irons were used in more victories (30) throughout the 2025 PGA Tour season, with TaylorMade (17), closing out the final podium position. Mizuno (11), Ping (9), Callaway (8), Miura (1) and Bridgestone (1) were the other five manufacturers to win on the circuit this year.

Which PGA Tour Winners Used Srixon Irons During 2025?

Along with the irons, Matsuyama and Fox both used Srixon drivers and Fox a Srixon fairway wood.

It was the wedges and golf balls where the brand were also successful, as Cleveland featured in nine winning bags, and Srixon's Z-Star golf balls present in eight.

The Z-Star XV was used by Matsuyama, Straka and Fox, while the Z-Star Diamond featured in the bags of Bradley, Spaun and Andrew Novak.

The man from Indiana was the last player to win The Masters on his tournament debut, triumphing at Augusta National in 1979 after defeating Tom Watson and Ed Sneed in a playoff.

One of his famous quotes is Masters related, when he said: "I've never been to heaven and, thinking back on my life, I probably won't get a chance to go. I guess the Masters is as close as I'm going to get."

Zoeller went onto lift his second Major title five years later at the 1984 US Open, which he also needed to come through a playoff to win. He took down Greg Norman in extra holes after the pair finished five strokes clear of the field at Winged Foot.

In regulation, Norman holed a 50-foot putt to save par in the group ahead of him and Zoeller, thinking the Australian had just made birdie, jokingly waved a white towel while standing in the fairway to surrender. He went onto par the 72nd before clinching the title in a Monday playoff.

The following year, he received the USGA's Bob Jones Award - the organization's highest honor, which recognizes distinguished sportsmanship in the game.

On the PGA Tour, Zoeller won eight other titles at prestigious venues like Pebble Beach, Colonial, Harbour Town, Bay Hill and Torrey Pines.

He also went on to win the Senior PGA Championship in 2002 at Firestone Country Club.

Zoeller made three Ryder Cup appearances for Team USA, winning twice in 1979 at the Greenbrier and in 1983 at PGA National, where he went out first in the Sunday singles and tied with Seve Ballesteros.

"Fuzzy was one of a kind," USGA CEO Mike Whan said.

"We are grateful for all he gave to golf. I hope we can all remember his unmistakable joy. The USGA is sending our deepest condolences to his family and friends."

"The PGA TOUR is saddened by the passing of Fuzzy Zoeller," PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said.

"Fuzzy was a true original whose talent and charisma left an indelible mark on the game of golf. Fuzzy combined competitive excellence with a sense of humor that endeared him to fans and fellow players alike.

"We celebrate his remarkable legacy and extend our deepest condolences to his family."

McIlroy has voiced the growing sentiment in golfing circles that the long-awaited deal between the PGA Tour and PIF will not be done any time soon - if at all.

Both tours continue to do their own things separately, and while most golfers would love to see all the best players facing each other more often, just how that happens still seems to be a massive conundrum.

Bryson DeChambeau said no deal would happen soon as neither party is willing to give enough concessions, and now McIlroy has agreed.

“Golf is in such a good place, but at the same time, you see some of these other sports that have been fractured for so long,” McIlroy said at CNBC’s CEO Council Forum.

“You look at boxing, for example, or you look at what’s happened in motor racing in the United States, with Indy and NASCAR and everything else.

“For golf in general, it would be better if there was unification. But I just think with what’s happened over the last few years, it’s going to be very difficult to be able to do that.”

Although relations between the two sets of players are much better recently, McIlroy is still sticking up for his side - and believes LIV Golf will remain an expensive tour to run for the Saudis.

Saying that the PIF ploughing billions into LIV was "acting in some ways irrationally", McIlroy feels they'll need to keep on spending billions just to keep the team tour going.

“As someone that supports the PGA Tour and supports the traditional structure of men’s professional golf, we have to realise we were trying to deal with people that were acting in some ways irrationally, just in terms of the capital they were allocating and the money they were spending," McIlroy added.

LIV to keep costing billions

“It’s been four or five years, and there hasn’t been a return yet, but you know, they’re going to have to keep spending that money to even just maintain what they have right now," said McIlroy.

“You know, a lot of these guys’ contracts are up. They’re going to ask for the same number, or even bigger numbers.

“LIV’s spent $5 or $6bn, and they’re going to have to spend another five or six just to maintain where they are.

“So if I’m looking at the world of golf, I am way more comfortable being on the PGA Tour side than on their side. But, you know, who knows what will happen?"

Like many, McIlroy has had a good early impression of new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp - who he thinks will make the right changes to take the tour forward.

“But as I said, I think the leadership that Brian has shown already and where he wants the PGA Tour to go, you know, I think everyone on the PGA Tour feels like we’re in a good place and trust that his guidance and leadership will position us in the in the right place."

Both Daniel Gale and Kazuma Kobori hit holes-in-one at Royal Queensland Golf Club, but not all aces are the same as Gale's effort at the 11th won him the keys to a new BMW M5 Touring worth around $300,000 ($200,000 USD).

Kobori, meanwhile, aced the 17th, which is the Party Hole at Royal Queensland this week - where fans watching on at the hole can win a share of $1m ($650,000 USD) if they see a hole-in-one.

However, the prize, put up by Australian betting company Dabble, only applies to Saturday's third round, so not only did Kobori miss out on a prize for holing out at the wrong hole, but the fans also missed out as the ace came at the wrong time.

Spaniard Sebastian Garcia led the way on seven under after 15 holes when play was suspended for the day - with Gale in behind and a host of big names in the chasing pack.

The two holes-in-one dominated the day's headlines though, with Gale reflecting on his 8-iron from 169 yards that resulted in him being able to pick up the keys to a brand new car.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet in all honesty," said Australian Gale. "The hole-in-one’s great - I guess it helps relax me a lot because it’s quite a nice prize - but I’ve got a job to do this week and my focus doesn’t change.”

Kobori just knocked down a wedge from 129 yards and also found the bottom of the cup - with his hole-in-one actually being the first of the day.

Should someone pull that off at the Party Hole during the $1m event on Saturday, though, there'll be some scenes at Royal Queensland.

Early starts for Aussie stars

The home fans always love to see their Australian golfing heroes playing on home soil, but they had to arrive early to catch the likes of Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott and Cameron Smith - with all three having early tee times.

That meant getting up at 2:45am for Smith, who was not too happy with the early start despite going on to shoot 69.

“Oh geez. Not getting up at 2:45, I can tell you that much," said Smith when asked what was the best thing about playing on home soil. "That was crazy.”

“It happens every year, but I think just being at home, I don’t think it’s got anything to do with playing golf.

Lee branded it "annoying" while veteran Scott cut his prep time down to get some extra minutes in bed.

“Yeah, I gave myself an extra 30 minutes this morning, 3:30 sounded reasonable. I guess,” Scott said.

“That’s pretty wild getting up that early to play golf. The good bit is you get kind of nine holes in fairly cool weather and now I can go and have a second breakfast.”

Tiger's former caddie back in action

With Tiger Woods' legendary caddie Steve Williams on his bag, it was a sound start of 69 for Australian Anthony Quayle in his first tournament now a full-time on the DP World Tour.

“He’s probably the most positive and clear caddie that I’ve ever worked with,” Quayle said.

“He probably has a reputation for being quite intense, but my experience today wasn’t that at all.

“It was just very direct; this is what we need to do here. You think you can do it? Yep, let’s do it then. There was no room at all for any sort of doubt at any point.”

It seems an eternity since the Saudi Arabia PIF and PGA Tour shook hands on a 'framework agreement' - yet since that day way back in June 2023 not much has changed.

Both sides dropped legal proceedings and players have largely stopped sniping at each other since then, but in terms of bringing the game back together only slight adjustments to the Majors have seen the best players facing each other more often.

And DeChambeau believes that's likely to remain the case for some time.

"Man, I wish something major would happen, but I don’t think it’s going to in the immediate future. I think there are too many wants on both sides and not enough gives on the other," DeChambeau told Fox News Digital.

"We’re just too far apart on a lot of things. It’s going to take some time, but ultimately, I do think the game of golf will grow internationally."

The two-time US Open champion does believe that eventually the game will reunite, and be better for it, with the American reiterating recent hints from Harris English that the PGA Tour will reduce tournament numbers in future.

"Scarcity will become more prevalent, which I think is good for players’ health and longevity," DeChambeau added. "Honestly, for the professional sport, scarcity is very important.

"I think the R&A recognizes that, and I do think the PGA Tour recognizes that. It’s moving more toward that model. I won’t speak for anybody, but I think there will be improvements for the game as time goes on.

"It’s positive disruption, and it’ll take time to let the water settle and make a perfect scenario where we all come back together. Ultimately, I think it’ll be good for the game over time."

Mutual respect & Ryder Cup emotions

Although players on both sides have been guilty of some vitriolic messaging, now some of the sting has been taken out of the situation DeChambeau feels there's more respect, and they're keen to concentrate on matters on the course

"I think there is a mutual respect of our craft," he added. "You know, it's just a matter of putting that golf ball in the hole, you know? And I think there's a mutual respect among all of us.

"So that's where I feel like, you know, we all have gone to a place where we're like, ‘OK, you know what? Let's just keep moving on. We'll let the businessmen figure out the business details and we just keep playing golf.’"

Although his move to LIV Golf cost him a 2023 Ryder Cup spot, DeChambeau made Keegan Bradley's team this year, which he described as "a special feeling", and will be going all out to play again in 2027 at Adare Manor.

"I've always loved representing Team USA. It’s definitely an emotional roller coaster, but one that I love experiencing every time I get the chance to, and I'll continue to fight to be on those teams as far as I can," DeChambeau added.

"You never know when it could be your last one, right? So you got to appreciate and respect it."

Have you say, would you like to see the PGA Tour and LIV Golf make a deal? Let us know by joining the conversation below...

On top of that we have exclusives with Harry Hall and Rasmus Hojgaard, we test the revolutionary new Sausage Golf putter and reveal this year’s Christmas gift guide.

If all that’s not enough, we have our usual rules and courses sections so you can get the most from your game as we head into the winter months.

See below for more details...

2026 Calendar

Plan for the coming months with our stunning 2026 calendar. This year we feature beautiful images of 12 of our Top 100 UK&I courses, all shot by world-renowned photographer Kevin Murray.

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Build The Perfect Swing

With winter upon us – the ideal time to put in some work on your technique – we’ve asked Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Norman Marshall to analyse some of the best swings in the game and offer a few helpful pointers. Come the spring, we’re confident you will have picked up a useful tip or two.

Rules School

Golf Monthly Rules guru Fergus Bisset recounts his experiences in successfully completing all three stages of R&A Rules training.

Harry Hall Exclusive

In just six years as a pro, Cornishman Harry Hall has gone about his business quietly but effectively to become one of our top players. He tells us about his journey from club golf in Cornwall to top 20 on the PGA Tour.

The Best New Gear

Our team of gear experts has been hard at work once again putting the newest launches through their paces. This month's highlights include a review of the revolutionary new Sausage Golf putter and a rundown of the best wedges on the market.

The Ryder Cup

The USA were soundly beaten at Bethpage Black, suffering the first home Ryder Cup defeat in 13 years. Where did it go wrong and what has to change? Nick Bonfield investigates...

Christmas Gift Guide

The Golf Monthly office has been so full to overflowing at times this year with a wide range of golf goodies that we began compiling our Christmas list quite a while ago. We pick out the best presents you can buy for your golf-mad relatives.

The Best Courses In The World

Our courses experts travel up and down the UK and beyond to bring you the best places to play in the coming months. This month we also feature a river cruise in the south of France with various stop-offs for golf, wine, cheese and more.

Woods' close friend Notah Begay has issued a fascinating update on the 15-time Major champion, after he underwent his seventh back surgery in October, revealing the driving force behind his comeback and likely venues for his return.

Begay told Trey Wingo's 'Straight Facts Homie' podcast that Woods can still hit a ball well enough to play on the PGA Tour, but as with recent comebacks it's the physical act of walking the course throughout a tournament that's the major issue.

"I think the biggest problem in the conversations that I've had with him is the walking,” Begay told Wingo on his podcast. “That's it. He hits it great; he's in tremendous physical condition.

"His ball speeds are fast enough, they're 175-180, which is adequate for the PGA Tour. It's just: can he walk 72 holes plus a pro-am? I don't know, and that's the big question.”

As ever, Woods never wants to return to action just for fun, with Begay insisting Tiger still has breaking his tie with Sam Snead on 82 PGA Tour wins firmly on his mind.

"In his heart-of-hearts, 83 is a big number," said Begay. "It's an important number."

"I think that's probably the more tangible one at this point in his career, if there were to be one because at the Majors, there's only four of them and the venues are typically - I mean, Augusta's one of the top three hilliest courses the players walk all year."

Jack Nicklaus' 18 Major titles is now surely out of reach, but Begay is holding out hope that one final Major chapter could be written in Woods' amazing golfing legacy - with the Claret Jug the most likely option.

"Maybe the Open Championship where distance is less of a consideration, when you look at guys like Francesco Molinari and Brian Harman - not high ball or long ball hitters yet they've both walked away with the Claret Jug - and one of the best shot makers in the world in Tiger Woods.

"So that might be the best fit that he would be looking for in terms of adding another Major - the cherry on top would be if it would be another Major and it would be 83.

"He still wouldn't get to 18, I think that's out of reach, but in a perfect world...Ben Hogan did it on one leg so maybe Tiger can do it too.

"Right now, I will not say he won't win 83, because I can't, I've seen too many crazy things from him."

Tiger Woods will give seniors a try

While adding that Colonial or Hilton Head could be possible return targets on the PGA Tour for Woods, as flatter courses, Begay thinks that Woods will give the PGA Tour Champions a go once he turns 50 at the end of the year.

It would seem the obvious choice, given players there can use a golf cart, and Begay feels Woods will at least try it out.

"We're also dying to see him on the Champions Tour, where he can take a cart," said Begay. "The walking part becomes alleviated at that point.

"You can only sit in your house and think about golf and hit balls at the range for so long when you want to go out and see if I can beat somebody.

"What Tiger possess, that I don't at the age of 53, is he can still carry the ball 285 and out on the Champions Tour that's a huge, huge asset.

"I do think he will try it, and I hope he likes it, because the world of golf with Tiger in is just so much better, so much more fun even if we just see little glimpses of him from time to time."

I tried my utmost to avoid spoilers by swiping away from anything Internet Invitational-related I spotted while scrolling away on social media, but I did accidentally see Brad Dalke had won and was also aware of some cheating allegations - but that was all I knew heading into the semi-finals.

Well, 16 hours of viewing later and I have to say the Internet Invitational was a golf event like I've never seen before...in a good way.

The six-episode series has had a remarkable 24m+ views at the time of writing, an incredible figure that far exceeds any of the numbers recorded during this year's Majors.

That really says something.

We keep hearing that YouTube golf could be the future and the tours are either worried by it or desperate to cling onto it, and the Internet Invitation is proof that YouTube golf has an enormous following.

Whether the tours should be worried by it is something I can't really comment on, but they really should be taking serious note of it.

From controversies to funny and dramatic moments, I found myself in tears as the credits rolled in tribute to Cody 'Beef' Franke, who passed away earlier this month.

In the semi or final he said he would spend his winnings on paying off his parents' home. I had only ever seen short social media clips of Beef but he seemed like a genuinely lovely guy. RIP Beef.

So, after watching all 16+ hours of the Internet Invitational, here are my thoughts - and let me know yours in the comment section below the article.

I enjoyed it...a lot

I have watched my fair share of YouTube golf through the years but I most certainly am not a massive week-to-week follower. I do not watch Bob Does Sports, Good Good, the Bryan Bros or any golf channels regularly.

I did not know a number of the competitors in the Internet Invitational to start with, but they were clearly chosen for a reason and they made the event what it was. They were also clearly taking it very seriously, too, as how often do YouTube golfers play for $1m? Never.

The controversies, from Luke Kwon not waking up for his day one tee time to the cheating allegations in the final round were very entertaining and Barstool and Internet Invitational chief Dave Portnoy's blunt way of looking at things and lack of sympathy was hilarious.

Barstool and Bob Does Sports got the format spot on, I thought.

I had no idea what the video would look like when clicking on a 48-person, $1m golf event but the team draft system was very simple to follow and I love that there were no handicaps with every single player teeing off from the same place.

Wesley Bryan, a PGA Tour winner, played alternate shot with Robby Berger from Bob Does Sports, which still makes me laugh to think about, but this worked so well with the mix of teams, lack of handicaps and single tee box. 'When I have you as a partner, I almost feel like I have no partner, which frees me up,' is along the lines of what Bryan said to his partner at one stage.

I can't imagine the format will be much different for next year's event, which Portnoy has confirmed will be happening. Very well played.

The editing was also remarkable and the production value of the event was high class and well worthy of the views it received.

Shout out to Big Cedar Lodge, too. It is definitely a resort for my bucket list.

Can the PGA Tour copy anything from the Internet Invitational?

The PGA Tour would kill for a six-part series that receives circa 25m views, so would an exact copy work? I think so. I just don't think it would ever materialize and the players may be less inclined to show their true personalities in the way YouTubers do.

The PGA Tour would surely be less liberal with its editing than Barstool Sports, too.

For years we've asked for every player to be mic'd up and for years that simply hasn't happened. The current way pro golf works on TV just does not allow fans to get to know the players' characters so there always feels like something is missing.

That has to be one of the key reasons why YouTube golf is so successful. There are also limited commercial interruptions and no instances of slow play, again things the pro game struggles with.

Imagine if 24 or 48 PGA Tour players agreed to go and have their own knockout tournament while all wearing microphones with big money on the line and then signing NDAs to keep the result a secret until episodes are released? It could be huge - but then again perhaps it is best left for the YouTubers, as I'm starting to think parts of the YouTube golf audience pay zero attention to pro golf.

I am almost certain this will not happen, which is a shame as this format worked so well - although that isn't what professional golf is about and this is the exact niche YouTube golf has carved out.

It's hard to say what else the PGA Tour can copy other than the obvious - mic up the players!

The controversies

Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly in this day-and-age, some of the participants have received disgusting abuse.

Paige Spiranac admitted she had received over 10,000 death threats while Luke Kwon was public enemy number one after the first couple of episodes aired.

But people love controversy, and the drama certainly added to the event.

The first episode wouldn't have been the same without Luke Kwon inexplicably missing his tee time, which led to coach Gruden's incredible speech to try and rally his team to a comeback.

The cheating accusations in the final episode nearly brought the entire thing to a halt, which as a long-time club golfer I found very funny.

Barstool's Frankie even pleaded with Portnoy to avoid making the entire Internet Invitational about a ruling, to paraphrase.

Again to paraphrase, Frankie also said he was playing for a million dollars but the golf was not even being spoken about.

The way Good Good's Malosi's slope debacle was handled was very entertaining, it has to be said, with almost all of the competitors and watchers-on reviewing the video footage. Some may say the drama was contrived but it certainly felt real as a viewer.

My question is why was slope not allowed, though? This was a YouTube golf tournament, not The Masters.

Still, we wouldn't have had the drama we did had slope been allowed.

Paige Spiranac's controversial padding down of the rough was another moment that nearly overshadowed the entire final episode, and I do feel sympathy with her while also being surprised she didn't know what she was doing was against the rules.

Drama makes for entertainment, and the Internet Invitational had it in heaps.

Bring on next year's Internet Invitational

The way the format worked meant that a number of big characters were eliminated early, so the final was missing some household YouTube names from the Bryan Bros to Rick Shiels as well as many of the Bob Does Sports and Good Good members.

This was a shame but I still felt they got it spot on, so I will be excited to tune into next year's event for what will be a completely different cast of golfers on the final day - perhaps aside from Brad Dalke, who is surely good enough to be playing on the Korn Ferry Tour (although I'd guess he's earning more from YouTube golf these days, especially after a $333,000 win).

Portnoy has said both Caitlin Clark and Kai Trump have said yes to next year's tournament so it is already looking like being another must-watch.

Some will be critical of YouTube golf or just avoid it as it isn't their 'thing' but as the 24m+ views say, it is well worth a watch.

Combining Major championships, Signature Events, regular tournaments and opposite-field events, a grand total of $550,400,000 was up for grabs in prize money throughout 2025.

The Majors alone carried $78.5 million while the eight Signature Events were cumulatively responsible for almost a third of that total.

As a result, Scottie Scheffler's total 2025 earnings surpassed the $30 million mark while Tommy Fleetwood's 2025 earnings nudged over $25 million after he won the $10 million FedEx Cup to close out the campaign.

Yet, they both trailed Rory McIlroy by some distance, with the World No.2 collecting more than $35 million across the PGA Tour and DP World Tour in 2025.

However, all of those numbers included bonus payouts, with the PGA Tour's Official Money list noting Scheffler as the comfortable champion in that particular category with $27,659,550. Six wins across the season will do that for you.

But what about the rest of the American's peers on the PGA Tour? There were eight pros whose season earnings, exclusively from prize money, exceeded $10 million.

Meanwhile, each of the leading 26 players on the Official Money list racked up more than $5 million. 50th place on the PGA Tour's Official Money list in 2025 belonged to Bud Cauley with $3,321,090.

The tour average figure for 2025 ended at $2,335,280, which slotted in between Alex Smalley ($2,337,573) in 75th and Emiliano Grillo ($2,315,983) in 76th.

There was a total of 236 players included on the Official Money list through the last of 46 events, therefore 161 pros effectively earned below the tour average and up to 69 fully-exempt players may have needed to rely on the PGA Tour's $500,000 stipend after finishing the year below that number.

Surprisingly, 2025 did not see the highest tour average over the past 10 years as the 2022-23 campaign resulted in a tour average of $2,361,908.

Before 2022, which saw the circuit average rocket up above $2 million for the first time after the PGA Tour altered its finances in the wake of LIV Golf, the tour average regularly fluctuated.

Between 2015 and 2018, it rose steadily before the average figure dropped over the subsequent two seasons. It then increased once more and reached a historic peak in 2023.

PGA Tour Average Earnings By Year

The PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour are both done until 2026 and the holidays are right around the corner, but the golfing circus continues to roll on regardless. And, this week, it's all about money.

OK, so there's rarely a week where money isn't the key subject in golf, but it's especially true over the coming days as a TV classic which relies on dollars is returning and the DP World Tour is operating a cool incentive at its first event of the new season.

Meanwhile, one of the biggest prize money payouts is on the line as the Ladies European Tour comes to a close and the PGA Tour has recently announced a new financial support program.

Check out some of the biggest storylines from around the world of golf this week below.

THE SKINS GAME RETURNS

For the first time in 17 years, The Skins Game returns to TV. A format once played by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Lee Trevino and Fred Couples (not all together, I might add) will feature Keegan Bradley, Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood and Xander Schauffele in 2025.

Kicking off Black Friday on Amazon Prime at 9am ET, the four players will start with $1 million each and lay it all on the line as the 'reverse purse' makes its debut.

The return of The Skins Game is taking place on the Big Cat course at Panther National, designed by Nicklaus and Justin Thomas. The latter was due to be involved but has since undergone back surgery and was replaced by Lowry.

$1M PAR 3 IN PLAY AS NEW DP WORLD TOUR SEASON BEGINS

The 2025-26 DP World Tour season begins this week with the BMW Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane.

Hometown hero Cam Smith is one of nine LIV golfers in the field, with some of the other players involved having competed at the DP World Tour Championship only a fortnight ago.

And while everyone is hoping to make a winning start to the season while banking a big check, fans in attendance could also earn something, too.

The Dabble Party Hole - a.k.a the par-3 17th - is set to feature a $1 million payout to all those inside the stands if and when a pro makes a hole-in-one during any of the four competition rounds.

THE LET SEASON REACHES ITS CONCLUSION

In the same week as the DP World Tour begins, the Ladies European Tour is coming to its conclusion. The final tournament of the season is the Andalucia Open de Espana, which - in turn - will decide who which young star wins the Order of Merit.

Heading into the finale, Shannon Tan tops the standings by 219 points from Mimi Rhodes after claiming two wins and eight top-10s this year. Meanwhile, Rhodes has three victories and five top-10s.

There is 500 points up for grabs for the winner in Spain as a field of 75 players (64 members and 11 invites) battles it out over four days of no-cut action for the 700,000 euro payout.

Realistically, Rhodes either needs to win or come second at Real Guadalhorce Club de Golf in order to put severe pressure on Tan, who would otherwise only need to finish inside the top-45 if Rhodes is third or worse.

PGA TOUR LAUNCHES NEW FINANCIAL-SUPPORT PROGRAMS

According to Golf Channel's Brentley Romine, the PGA Tour is introducing two new financial-support packages starting next season.

The first is called the Member Support Program, which will give $150,000 to those players who finished 126th or lower in the previous season's FedEx Cup points list.

Pros will be eligible for this stipend as long as they have played 12 events across the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour and will not have to repay the difference if they don't reach the $150,000 earnings mark.

Meanwhile, the second program is called the Pathways Player Achievement Grant, which will give players ranked 21-75 in the previous year's Korn Ferry Tour points list, the leading 10 players in the PGA Tour Americas points list and the top-five eligible players out of PGA Tour University $15,000 grants at the start of the year.

They can use this money for whatever they wish, but it is mean to help with travel and accommodation costs throughout the season.

The money for these financial support packages has come from the Earnings Assurance Program, which shares $500,000 with each fully exempt PGA Tour member at the beginning of each season. After the PGA Tour reduced the number of fully exempt cards from 125 to 100, the circuit decided to channel the funds it had kept aside to other sources.

ELSEWHERE

• Also per Brentley Romine, the Korn Ferry Tour is set to permit distance-measuring devices for the entire 2026 season while adopting the revised pace-of-place policy it implemented early last year
• On the Asian Tour, the Bharath Classic 2025 Gujarat in India marks the penultimate event of the season
• Scotland's Cameron Adam makes his professional debut at the Australian PGA Championship. Adam topped the R&A's Global Amateur Pathway rankings and earned a DP World Tour card as a result
• Minjee Lee won her fourth Greg Norman medal - handed out to the best Australian golfer that year - at the Australian PGA awards. But as she couldn't be at the actual ceremony to accept, her brother Min Woo Lee attended instead and entertained the crowd with a speech typical of a sibling

• The USGA has invited 12 players to attend a practice session at Bel-Air Country Club in LA ahead of the 2026 Curtis Cup. The practice session is marked for Jan. 16-18 and will feature the likes of Anna Davis, Jasmine Koo, Catherine Park, Asterisk Talley and Avery Weed
• Australia's Anthony Quayle has employed Tiger Woods' former caddie Steve Williams as his bagman for the first two events of the new DP World Tour season
• Joost Luiten finally landed a spot in the Nedbank Golf Challenge following his criticism of the qualifying list, but he still called out the DP World Tour for being 'inconsistent'

Over that 11-month period, we've seen many manufacturers put in play by the world's best and, along with the brands represented, an array of different set-ups that are built for the players.

If you were to look in the bag of all of the PGA Tour winners for 2025 like I have, you would notice that four brands dominate some key equipment categories.

From driver and fairway wood shafts to wedges and golf balls, these particular brands are a prominent feature and, overall, the most common among the decorated players of this year.

Check the key trends we've spotted below...

TaylorMade Fairway Woods Outshine The Rest

We alluded to this back in October and, since then, TaylorMade's fairway woods have continued to dominate on the PGA Tour.

In total, 38 TaylorMade fairway woods featured in the winners' bags, as they made up 55% of the total victories. The nearest challenger was Ping with 11 and Titleist with 10, showcasing just how reliable and dominant TaylorMade was throughout 2025.

Leading the way was the standard TaylorMade Qi10, which was involved in 20 wins, including all four men's Majors. The next nearest was the more recent Qi35 fairway, as the standard model wrapped up a respectable nine victories on the circuit.

These ranged from 3, 5, 7 and even 9 wood configurations, as was the case with Tommy Fleetwood. TaylorMade even had three mini drivers in play for wins, as Fleetwood, Justin Rose and Sami Valimaki wielded them for their victories, specifically the R7 Mini Quad.

Fujikura Shafts Dominate The Top Order

Another equipment trend we picked up in October was the dominance of Fujikura in the driver shaft category but, along with that section, it is well ahead in the fairway wood shaft sector too.

Out of the 47 events, Fujikura's driver shafts were involved in 27 of them, which equates to just under 60%. It's also 20 more than nearest challengers, Mitsubishi, which were used in seven wins.

In terms of fairway woods, Fujikura had 32 wins while Mitsubishi had 14, with the leading brand involved for just over half the victories in that department.

Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy were the big players who used the company and, just like the TaylorMade Qi10, Fujikura's shafts were used to win all four men’s Majors. McIlroy and Scheffler had them in their drivers and fairway woods, while JJ Spaun used it in his Titleist GT3 driver.

True Temper Shafts

Fujikura may be dominating the driver and fairway wood shafts, but it's True Temper which leads the way even more in terms of the irons and wedges department.

Looking at the irons, the most prominent shafts are the True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100. Wedge-wise, the softer flex, but heavier True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts can be found in the scoring section of the bag.

How dominant were True Temper in the wedges, you may ask? Well, of the 35 winners just three didn't have a True Temper shaft in the bag, while only eight players didn't possess its shafts in the irons.

KBS and Nippon rounded out the podium spots in terms of iron shafts used for wins on the PGA Tour in 2025, as KBS was involved in 10 wins, while Nippon had a respectable seven victories.

Scheffler and McIlroy were the biggest names using True Temper shafts, specifically the Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 and the Project X 7.0. As mentioned, different shaft models are present in the wedges, with the World No.1 and No.2 part of that category.

The reason for the switch is that most professionals prefer a softer flex as it promotes more spin, better feel and more control. They also opt for more weight in the shaft as that helps increase feel and control of flight even more.

Titleist Wedges And Balls

Titleist is known for producing some of the best wedges and golf balls money can buy and, when it comes to the PGA Tour, the brand features predominantly within these two categories.

Wedge-wise, the Titleist Vokey was present in the bags of 27 victories, with the SM10, SM9, SM8 and even the SM7 featuring. In fact, nearly half the winners had a Wedgeworks lob wedge (a custom, non-retail design) in the bag in both a 58° and 60° configuration.

In terms of other models, Callaway, TaylorMade and Cleveland make up the other wedge manufacturers, as Spaun used three different Cleveland wedges for his US Open win.

McIlroy and Fleetwood were among the big names to have TaylorMade wedges in the bag.

Moving to the golf ball, where the Pro V1, Pro V1x and a Pro V1x Double Dot were involved in 26 wins on the PGA Tour season, making up 57% of victories.

Scheffler, Justin Thomas and Ludvig Aberg were among the big names using a Titleist model, as the brand dominated in 2025. Srixon's Z-Star range had a respectable eight wins, while TaylorMade's TP5 and TP5x had five victories.

One of the big equipment stories of the year was Ben Griffin using Maxfli, with the Ryder Cup star earning three PGA Tour wins in a stellar 2025. Winning the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside Andrew Novak, it was the first PGA Tour for Maxfli in over 22 years.

Players like Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, John Daly and Fred Couples have competed in The Skins Game since its inception in 1983.

This time the competitors will be Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood, Keegan Bradley and Shane Lowry taking to the stage on the Big Cat course at Panther National.

The new private course in South Florida was designed by Jack Nicklaus and Justin Thomas, who made his design debut, and is said to feature 'steep elevation changes and dramatic vistas'. It can play up to 8,000 yards long with water on 14 of the holes including two island greens and two island tee boxes.

Justin Thomas was due to take part but has been replaced by Lowry after undergoing back surgery.

The event begins at 9am ET on Amazon Prime and the format has been slightly shaken up compared to the past in what it being called a 'reverse purse', where the four players begin with $1m this time around vs $0 in previous editions.

As per the original skins format, each hole carries a dollar value, and ties see the money roll over to the next hole. It is currently unknown as to how much money each hole is worth.

The Skins Game will make the start of a big sporting Black Friday with the third annual 'Black Friday Football Game' following before a brand new 'NBA on Prime' doubleheader.

The event has been brought back by Pro Shop, the company behind Netflix's Full Swing docuseries as well as Propagate Content and PGA Tour Studios.

“We’ve taken up the mantle to bring back The Skins Game, and we’re proud to work alongside PGA TOUR Studios, Prime Video and Propagate Content to reintroduce this iconic event and reclaim its rightful place on the sports calendar,” said Chad Mumm, Co-Founder and President of Pro Shop.

“By keeping the traditional format intact and adding some creative twists, we’re giving fans an experience that honors the past while delivering pure, high-stakes competition where the pressure builds with every shot.”

How skins works in golf

Skins is one of the best golf formats, and it can be played by three or four golfers.

There are 18 'Skins' up for grabs in an 18-hole round, and the winner of a hole wins a Skin - which can also be equivalent to a sum of money agreed by the competitors.

The name of the game comes from the leather pouches – ie the Skin – which money was kept in.

If a hole is won outright, then the player winner wins the Skin.

If a hole is tied by two or more players, the Skin is carried over to the next hole and all the players in the game can compete for that Skin regardless of how well they had done on the previous hole.

This carrying over continues until a hole is won outright, so a hole can have many Skins riding on it.

The winner is the player with the most Skins at the end of the round.

The Dutch pro had been on the standby list for Africa's Major - a $6 million limited-field event held at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, South Africa - next month, despite finishing 33rd in the Race To Dubai only a fortnight ago.

Luiten was particularly disappointed about being overlooked for an event which offers around $4.7 million and 1,000 Race To Dubai points more than the Australian Open, which runs concurrently, writing a lengthy post on social media to express his bemusement at the decision.

He wrote: "Sitting as first reserve for the Nedbank Golf Challenge… honestly, it’s hard to understand.

"Finishing 33rd on the Order of Merit, earning a place in the biggest tournament of 2025 DP World Tour Championship, yet not getting into a smaller event with bigger field and more spots then the tour championship! I just don’t get it! Hard to understand or explain how the @dpworldtour makes those decisions."

In response to Luiten's original post, several of his fellow touring pros echoed the six-time DP World Tour winner's sentiments, with Jorge Campillo, Richard Mansell, Marcus Armitage and Dan Brown all backing the 39-year-old's stance.

Campillo said: "Must be nice seeing guys from LIV ahead of you that last win was in 2023…" Meanwhile, Armitage and Brown both called the situation "a disgrace."

Armitage, who was also not initially in the field, wrote: "Disgrace from the @dpworldtour, they couldn’t care less for the players that travel and dedicate their lives to 25 plus events a year!"

Brown wrote: "This is a disgrace, should be based off last seasons ranking. Reward those who have played the best golf throughout the entire season and not just done it for one week of the year…"

However, a subsequent withdrawal from a higher-ranked player has now ensured that Luiten is included in the 66-man field - which takes place December 4-7.

Posting on Instagram once again, the 39-year-old said: "Yes I am in. Very happy and looking forward to play @nedbankgolfchallenge."

But despite his happiness at earning a spot, Luiten continued to air his frustration towards the European-based circuit.

He continued: "But that doesn’t mean everything is fine now. The way the entry criteria [was] handled and the way this entire decision was made by the @dpworldtour is still wrong, inconsistent, and honestly impossible to explain."

Luiten then took the opportunity to suggest that the status of next year's Dubai Invitational - which will feature the likes of Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood - be voted on by players in terms of its status.

He said: "The Tour always tells us that the Tour belongs to the players, and that we decide.

"If that is truly the case, then I would like to propose that the status of the @dubaiinvitational be put to an official vote by the Players Committee, specifically whether it should count as a Category event or as an Order of Merit event."

The Dubai Invitational, which is also a limited-field event, is not part of the Rolex Series and kicks off the DP World Tour's schedule in 2026.

The following week, January 22-25, the $9 million Dubai Desert Classic marks the first of five Rolex Series tournaments with the Genesis Scottish Open, the BMW PGA Championship and the two play-off events rounding out the exclusive group.

Scheffler has won three Majors since the start of 2024 and ten other PGA Tour titles as well as Olympic Gold. The Texan has now spent over 165 weeks as World No.1 and is far and away the best player in the sport right now.

His statistics are quite remarkable, as you'll find him top of many, many tables on the PGA Tour including Strokes Gained total, tee-to-green and approach-the-green as well as scoring average, money won, proximity to the hole, bounce back, bogey avoidance and many others.

But how does he compare to the average PGA Tour pro? The circuit records average numbers for many categories, and it's remarkable how many Scheffler is far ahead of the average.

Having looked at many of them, we noticed he was below average for combined distance of putts made per round, which is likely due to many tap-ins from close wedge shots and chips, as well as 'Smash Factor', which measures how efficient you are at transferring energy from the club head into the ball, calculated by dividing ball speed by clubhead speed.

But apart from those two statistics, it is quite difficult to find any area Scheffler isn't better than PGA Tour average in. Let's take a category-by-category look...

Scoring

Scheffler leads the PGA Tour in scoring average with 68.131, which is almost three strokes better than the average of 71.079 and a total only ever beaten by Tiger Woods.

This gulf vs tour average equates to almost 12 strokes over the course of four rounds!

He does this by making 4.7 birdies per round, 0.9 more than the average PGA Tour player, and just 1.73 bogeys per round - 0.86 fewer than the average. Scheffler made bogey just 10.56% of the time on the PGA Tour this season compared to the average of 16.22%.

What make these numbers more impressive is the fact Scheffler's stats include his performances in the Majors, too, which tend to be on more demanding courses. The average PGA Tour pro likely does not play in all four Majors.

Driving

Scheffler is not necessarily known for his driving prowess, but he should be.

He is 5.5 yards longer than PGA Tour average, with a ball speed of more than 2.5mph faster than average and clubhead speed of more than 3.5mph ahead.

His carry distance is almost eight yards ahead of average and he finds more fairways, too.

He might not hit it as far as Rory McIlroy or Bryson DeChambeau, but off the tee he is undoubtedly one of the world's best.

Iron play

Scheffler is famous for his incredible iron play, having led the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach for the last three years.

His 71.39% greens in regulation total is far better than the average pro and he is well clear in every single category, including proximity, GIR both under and over 100 yards and from fairway bunkers.

He managed 19 hole-outs in the 2025 season, which is up from 12 last year and 11 ahead of the average PGA Tour pro.

Around the greens

The World No.1's short game is another of his strengths.

Scheffler leads the tour in scrambling, getting up-and-down 68.89% of the time, and gets it down in two from greenside bunkers with a success rate of more than 57%.

Putting

Putting has been somewhat of an achilles heel throughout his short career so far but he has seriously turned it around over the past couple of years, likely thanks to his work with putting guru Phil Kenyon and his switch to the TaylorMade Spider X mallet model. He also moved to the claw grip late last year.

The four-time Major champion can now be considered as a very good putter, ranking 16th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season.

Scheffler averages over a shot fewer per round on the greens than the average PGA Tour pro and three-putts just 2.08% of the time.

Money

All of these impressive stats are the reason why we see Scheffler win a lot of tournaments and challenge for the title almost every time he tees it up.

He has six victories in 2025 and has finished inside the top-10 on 17 occasions, a whopping 14 more times than the average PGA Tour pro.

That all adds up to a remarkable amount of money, especially with the finances in the men's game these days. His $27.66m total in official earnings this year is a huge $25.32m more than the average pro's earnings.

He has won over 40% of the maximum amount of money he could have earned this year, with an average of $1.38m per tournament compared to $100,000 for the average pro - meaning he earns 14 times the average pro in each event.

He also picks up 10 times the amount of FedEx Cup points vs the average pro, too.

Co-sanctioned by the PGA of Australasia and the DP World Tour - whose 25/26 season begins this week - big names such as Adam Scott, Cameron Smith and Min Woo Lee are all on campus hoping to lift the Kirkwood Cup.

And if history is an indicator of what might happen this year, an Australian winner is likely with each of the past seven iterations won by a home player.

Smith and Lee will begin their latest challenge alongside each other and Marco Penge in rounds one and two, heading off from the 10th at 6am local time on Thursday before switching to the first and starting at 11am local time on Friday.

In the group behind during both the first and second rounds includes New Zealand's Ryan Fox and the Australian pair of Scott and defending champion Elvis Smylie.

On the other side of the draw, Joaquin Niemann - one of nine LIV golfers in the field - goes off from the 1st alongside Australia's Cam Davis and New Zealand's Daniel Hillier at 11am on Thursday. The trio will then begin from the 10th at 6am on Friday.

Right behind those three across the first two days are Abraham Ancer, Marc Leishman and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.

Check out the full list of round one and round-two tee times for the 2025 BMW Australian PGA Championship below. Local time is 10 hours ahead of GMT and 15 hours ahead of Eastern Time in the US.

AUSTRALIAN PGA CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND ONE TEE TIMES

Local time - Thursday (ET - Wednesday)

1st hole

• 6:00am (3:00pm): Josh Geary, Blake Proverbs, Daniel Rodrigues
• 6:10am (3:10pm): Hunter Logan, Fred Biondi, Connor McKinney
• 6:20am (3:20pm): Cameron John, Nick Voke, Matt Jones
• 6:30am (3:30pm): Jediah Morgan, Ugo Coussaud, Jake McLeod
• 6:40am (3:40pm): Sam Bairstow, Jasper Stubbs, Rod Pampling
• 6:50am (3:50pm): James Morrison, Phoenix Campbell, Jeff Guan
• 7:00am (4:00pm): Filippo Celli, Simon Hawkes, Maximilian Steinlechner
• 7:10am (4:10pm): Yannik Paul, Jak Carter, William Bruyeres
• 7:20am (4:20pm): Joshua Berry, Andreas Halvorsen, Jimmy Zheng
• 7:30am (4:30pm): Gregorio De Leo, Will Florimo, Quinnton Croker
• 7:40am (4:40pm): Mike Toorop, Tyler Wood, Andrew Campbell
• 7:50am (4:50pm): Quim Vidal, Lachlan Chamberlain, Brody Martin
• 8:00am (5:00pm): Jayden Ford, Thomas Sims, Mason Lee
• 11:00am (8:00pm): Daniel Hillier, Cam Davis, Joaquin Niemann
• 11:10am (8:10pm): Abraham Ancer, Marc Leishman, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
• 11:20am (8:20pm): Yuto Katsuragawa, Sebastian Munoz, David Micheluzzi
• 11:30am (8:30pm): Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Ryan Peake, Harrison Crowe
• 11:40am (8:40pm): Nicolas Colsaerts, Geoff Ogilvy, Jack Buchanan
• 11:50am (8:50pm): Eddie Pepperell, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Rafael Campos
• 12:00pm (9:00pm): Bernd Wiesberger, Peter Lonard, Daniel Gale
• 12:10pm (9:10pm): Jordan Gumberg, Ben Henkel, Lachlan Barker
• 12:20pm (9:20pm): Tobias Jonsson, Aaron Cockerill, Corey Lamb
• 12:30pm (9:30pm): Clement Charmasson, Clement Sordet, Dylan Gardner
• 12:40pm (9:40pm): Davis Bryant, Jack Munro, Adam Bland
• 12:50pm (9:50pm): Michael Hollick, Jye Pickin, Jay Mackenzie
• 1:00pm (10:00pm): Callum Tarren, Darcy Brereton, Gavin Fairfax

10th hole

• 6:00am (3:00pm): Marco Penge, Min Woo Lee, Cam Smith
• 6:10am (3:10pm): Ryan Fox, Adam Scott, Elvis Smylie
• 6:20am (3:20pm): Josele Ballester, Carlos Ortiz, Anthony Quayle
• 6:30am (3:30pm): Alex Fitzpatrick, David Puig, Kazuma Kobori
• 6:40am (3:40pm): Jason Scrivener, Joel Girrbach, Sudarshan Yellamaraju
• 6:50am (3:50pm): Wenyi Ding, Curtis Luck, Wade Ormsby
• 7:00am (4:00pm): Ben Eccles, Matthew Griffin, Tapio Pulkkanen
• 7:10am (4:10pm): Jonathan Broomhead, James Marchesani, Kerry Mountcastle
• 7:20am (4:20pm): Cameron Adam, Brett Rumford, Jack Thompson
• 7:30am (4:30pm): Alexander Simpson, Benjamin Follett-Smith, Tim Hart
• 7:40am (4:40pm): Jack Yule, Andrew Evans, Jason Norris
• 7:50am (4:50pm): Ryan Van Velzen, Douglas Klein, Adam Brady
• 8:00am (5:00pm): Robin Williams, Brady Watt, Mitchell Smith
• 11:00am (8:00pm): Daniel Young, Matias Sanchez, James Conran
• 11:10am (8:10pm): Sebastian Garcia, Greg Chalmers, Brendan Jones
• 11:20am (8:20pm): Sean Crocker, Shubhankar Sharma, Renato Paratore
• 11:30am (8:30pm): Cory Crawford, Tyler Hodge, Tom Vaillant
• 11:40am (8:40pm): Jack Senior, Marcus Fraser, Matthew Baldwin
• 11:50am (8:50pm): Christopher Wood, Jordan Doull, Freddy Schott
• 12:00pm (9:00pm): Andrew Martin, David Law, Ricardo Gouveia
• 12:10pm (9:10pm): Austin Bautista, Oliver Bekker, Andrew Johnston
• 12:20pm (9:20pm): Stefano Mazzoli, Michael Wright, Rocco Repetto Taylor
• 12:30pm (9:30pm): Nathan Kimsey, Chris Malec, Brett Rankin
• 12:40pm (9:40pm): Adri Arnaus, Nathan Barbieri, Fabrizio Zanotti
• 12:50pm (9:50pm): Denzel Ieremia, Haydn Barron, Andreas German Gallegos
• 1:00pm (10:00pm): Kameron Williams, Mako Thompson, Connor McDade

AUSTRALIAN PGA CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND TWO TEE TIMES

Local time - Friday (ET - Thursday)

1st hole

• 6:00am (3:00pm): Daniel Young, Matias Sanchez, James Conran
• 6:10am (3:10pm): Sebastian Garcia, Greg Chalmers, Brendan Jones
• 6:20am (3:20pm): Sean Crocker, Shubhankar Sharma, Renato Paratore
• 6:30am (3:30pm): Cory Crawford, Tyler Hodge, Tom Vaillant
• 6:40am (3:40pm): Jack Senior, Marcus Fraser, Matthew Baldwin
• 6:50am (3:50pm): Christopher Wood, Jordan Doull, Freddy Schott
• 7:00am (4:00pm): Andrew Martin, David Law, Ricardo Gouveia
• 7:10am (4:10pm): Austin Bautista, Oliver Bekker, Andrew Johnston
• 7:20am (4:20pm): Stefano Mazzoli, Michael Wright, Rocco Repetto Taylor
• 7:30am (4:30pm): Nathan Kimsey, Chris Malec, Brett Rankin
• 7:40am (4:40pm): Adri Arnaus, Nathan Barbieri, Fabrizio Zanotti
• 7:50am (4:50pm): Denzel Ieremia, Haydn Barron, Andreas German Gallegos
• 8:00am (5:00pm): Kameron Williams, Mako Thompson, Connor McDade
• 11:00am (8:00pm): Marco Penge, Min Woo Lee, Cam Smith
• 11:10am (8:10pm): Ryan Fox, Adam Scott, Elvis Smylie
• 11:20am (8:20pm): Josele Ballester, Carlos Ortiz, Anthony Quayle
• 11:30am (8:30pm): Alex Fitzpatrick, David Puig, Kazuma Kobori
• 11:40am (8:40pm): Jason Scrivener, Joel Girrbach, Sudarshan Yellamaraju
• 11:50am (8:50pm): Wenyi Ding, Curtis Luck, Wade Ormsby
• 12:00pm (9:00pm): Ben Eccles, Matthew Griffin, Tapio Pulkkanen
• 12:10pm (9:10pm): Jonathan Broomhead, James Marchesani, Kerry Mountcastle
• 12:20pm (9:20pm): Cameron Adam, Brett Rumford, Jack Thompson
• 12:30pm (9:30pm): Alexander Simpson, Benjamin Follett-Smith, Tim Hart
• 12:40pm (9:40pm): Jack Yule, Andrew Evans, Jason Norris
• 12:50pm (9:50pm): Ryan Van Velzen, Douglas Klein, Adam Brady
• 1:00pm (10:00pm): Robin Williams, Brady Watt, Mitchell Smith

10th hole

• 6:00am (3:00pm): Daniel Hillier, Cam Davis, Joaquin Niemann
• 6:10am (3:10pm): Abraham Ancer, Marc Leishman, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
• 6:20am (3:20pm): Yuto Katsuragawa, Sebastian Munoz, David Micheluzzi
• 6:30am (3:30pm): Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Ryan Peake, Harrison Crowe
• 6:40am (3:40pm): Nicolas Colsaerts, Geoff Ogilvy, Jack Buchanan
• 6:50am (3:50pm): Eddie Pepperell, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Rafael Campos
• 7:00am (4:00pm): Bernd Wiesberger, Peter Lonard, Daniel Gale
• 7:10am (4:10pm): Jordan Gumberg, Ben Henkel, Lachlan Barker
• 7:20am (4:20pm): Tobias Jonsson, Aaron Cockerill, Corey Lamb
• 7:30am (4:30pm): Clement Charmasson, Clement Sordet, Dylan Gardner
• 7:40am (4:40pm): Davis Bryant, Jack Munro, Adam Bland
• 7:50am (4:50pm): Michael Hollick, Jye Pickin, Jay Mackenzie
• 8:00am (5:00pm): Callum Tarren, Darcy Brereton, Gavin Fairfax
• 11:00am (8:00pm): Josh Geary, Blake Proverbs, Daniel Rodrigues
• 11:10am (8:10pm): Hunter Logan, Fred Biondi, Connor McKinney
• 11:20am (8:20pm): Cameron John, Nick Voke, Matt Jones
• 11:30am (8:30pm): Jediah Morgan, Ugo Coussaud, Jake McLeod
• 11:40am (8:40pm): Sam Bairstow, Jasper Stubbs, Rod Pampling
• 11:50am (8:50pm): James Morrison, Phoenix Campbell, Jeff Guan
• 12:00pm (9:00pm): Filippo Celli, Simon Hawkes, Maximilian Steinlechner
• 12:10pm (9:10pm): Yannik Paul, Jak Carter, William Bruyeres
• 12:20pm (9:20pm): Joshua Berry, Andreas Halvorsen, Jimmy Zheng
• 12:30pm (9:30pm): Gregorio De Leo, Will Florimo, Quinnton Croker
• 12:40pm (9:40pm): Mike Toorop, Tyler Wood, Andrew Campbell
• 12:50pm (9:50pm): Quim Vidal, Lachlan Chamberlain, Brody Martin
• 1:00pm (10:00pm): Jayden Ford, Thomas Sims, Mason Lee

Sure, most felt she would be unlikely to replicate that septet of successes again, but the odds on Korda failing to lift a trophy at all were extremely slim at the start of 2025.

Then, when she finished second by two strokes to A Lim Kim at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions - following a blistering charge towards the end - to start the season, Korda's play suggested it was only a matter of time until professional win number 21 arrived on the scene.

However, as difficult as it is to believe, Korda did in fact go winless at individual events throughout 2025.

Twice a runner-up from 19 starts, the 27-year-old populated the top-10 at tournaments on seven other occasions and was inside the top-25 six times. She also didn't miss a single cut, but there was never a trophy at the end of the week.

HOW DID NELLY KORDA NOT WIN IN 2025?

How Korda went from winning what felt like every week to not triumphing at all is even more difficult to explain when some of her game's statistics are taken into account.

In 2024, the Bradenton, Florida-born pro gained 0.87 strokes off the tee while enjoying an average driving distance of 269.79 yards - ranked 20th on the LPGA Tour. Fast forward a year and Korda had gained 0.94 strokes off the tee, mainly as a result of adding almost five yards on to her average driving distance (274.58 yards) which put her eighth.

Similarly, at the other end of each hole, Korda noticeably improved on the greens. In terms of SG: Putting, she increased her numbers from 0.41 last year to 0.60 this term while Korda managed to take half a stroke off in the 'average putts per round' category, moving from 30.02 in 2024 to 29.54 in 2025.

Overall, her scoring average dropped marginally, too, from 69.56 to 69.44. That was arguably even more impressive given Korda played 14 more rounds this season compared to last (60 - 2024, 74 - 2025).

Fuelling the drop in scoring average was 335 occasions of birdie or better compared to just 258 during her seven-win campaign.

THE STATS DON'T LIE...

However, there were also multiple areas where Korda regressed in 2025 which go a long way to at least partially explaining why she wasn't able to cross the finish line first.

While her driving distance increased, Korda's accuracy off the tee did not. She found the fairway 75.75% of the time last season, but that fell to 72.22% in the subsequent campaign.

Other statistical categories that saw a dip included GIR % (76.02 - 74.49), greens-hit-from-the-rough % (59.28 - 53.82) - which in turn had wider knock-on effects as Korda's driving accuracy was down - and ball striking (4 - 15).

But, arguably the most obvious indicator of Korda's struggles relate to the key Strokes Gained categories. She sank from 1.88 to 1.63 in terms of 'Tee To Green', from 0.59 to 0.56 on 'Approach' and plummeted from 0.42 to just 0.13 'Around The Green.'

All told, Korda's SG: Total dropped from a circuit-leading 2.84 in 2024 to 2.28 in 2025 - still enough to place her third out of all LPGA Tour pros.

THE RISE OF JEENO THITIKUL

And away from the cold, hard statistics involving Korda, there was the form of the woman who replaced her as World No.1, Jeeno Thitikul, to take into account.

The 22-year-old was often right behind her American rival in 2024, but the Thai star took her own game to new heights this year and won four times worldwide as a result of a sharper and leaner style of play.

Although Thitikul's putting held steady overall, she improved in all other areas tee to green and consequently set a new all-time LPGA Tour scoring record to win the Vare Trophy.

Ultimately, it wasn't as though Korda's lack of success was down to a complete loss of form and confidence in 2025 - far from it. She improved in certain areas while dipping marginally in others. It may well be argued that she was simply out played...

ANALYSIS

I’m as surprised as anyone else that Nelly Korda is winless this season. When asked at the end of last year for my predictions for 2025, I strongly believed she would continue her dominant run. While I didn't expect the same amazing fashion as 2024, I was certain she would retain her World No. 1 title.

Naturally, nine top-10 finishes cannot be overlooked, and her stats confirm that certain areas of her game have actually improved since last season. In my view, it’s the accuracy of her approach and short game shots that previously set her up for a sure-bet birdie or easy par that has been inconsistent. Plus, she has definitely struggled at times to convert putts.

Then there’s the mindset factor. Korda is renowned for her laid-back swing and personality, but she’s only human, and no one would want to win more than her.

I suspect that as the season wore on and the victories weren't materialising, she subconsciously felt the increasing pressure to lift a trophy.