Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we discuss the Player of the Year debate, Cameron Young’s win, Nelly Korda’s season and more.
With the FedEx Cup Playoffs finally here, it means there are only three events left to influence the race for Player of the Year between the two obvious front-runners: Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. McIlroy has won three times, which includes the Players and Masters, the latter completing the career Grand Slam. Scheffler has won four times, highlighted by his PGA and Open Championship major titles. Who should win?
Josh Schrock, news editor (@Schrock_And_Awe): Who should win is Scottie. Even Rory admitted at the Open that he won three times while Scheffler wasn’t at full flight due to a hand injury. But winning the Players and the Masters, especially in the fashion he did to win the career Grand Slam, might make the voters give it to Rory.
Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens) The career Grand Slam was an epic achievement for McIlroy, emphasis on career. We are choosing the better season. Scheffler has not only won more often this year. He’s won more majors. Case closed.
James Colgan, features editor (@jamescolgan26): Golly, I’d love if we chose POTY by accolades alone, but this is a toughie because of the way the Tour structures its ballots and the two different stretches of dominant play we saw this season. Scottie is clearly the best player in the world, with clearly the best resume, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Rory won it in a “Lifetime Achievement” fashion.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are study in contrasts. That’s a good thing
Is there anything that could happen in the playoffs that would flip your decision?
Schrock: Zero. The meaningful golf was wrapped. Apologies to the sponsors and partners.
Sens: No. Unless we are voting on the guy who most increased his net worth.
Colgan: No, but if McIlroy wins the Tour Championship, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Tour’s players (aka, the POTY voters) disagreed.
Cameron Young cruised at the Wyndham Championship, winning by six to claim the first PGA Tour victory of his career. Before Sunday, Young’s seven career runner-up finishes were the most by any winless player on Tour since 1983. In 2023, Young was ninth in the Ryder Cup standings yet still wasn’t picked. Was this win enough to secure a spot for 2025?
Schrock: The win was good enough to actually get him in the conversation. He has the length and now has a consistent enough putter to be a weapon at Bethpage, a course where he won the New York State Open. But winning the Wyndham isn’t going to be what puts him on the team. If he makes it, it just means Keegan Bradley was already leaning that way due to his skillset and the New York connection. The way I see it, there are three spots for: Young, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns, Mav McNealy, Ben Griffin, Brian Harman, and Bradley. I can see the argument for taking Young, but winning in Greensboro shouldn’t be the determining factor.
Sens: Statistically, you could probably argue this either way. This win moves him to 16th in the Ryder Cup standings. But if I were captain, I’d pick him, in part because he has putted so well all year and makes birdies in bunches, which is great for match play. He’s also a New Yorker (who won the state open at Bethpage Black). Give the home crowd even more reason to get riled up.
Colgan: It shouldn’t be. Young has top-five in the world game when it’s all there, and it WAS all there at the Wyndham, but winning one of the weakest events on Tour by field strength shouldn’t be a Ryder Cup roster-changer.
There was a lot to track on Sunday at the Wyndham, with players moving into or barely missing the top 70 (and advancing to the playoffs). Which player’s triumph (or close call) stood out to you most?
Schrock: Davis Thompson three-putting the 18th hole to drop out of the top 70 and finish at 71 was brutal. Gary Woodland also slipped from projected 70th entering the day to 72 with a tough final round. Two gut punches late in the day at Sedgefield.
Sens: Schrock took the words out of my keyboard with the Thompson three-putt. Painful.
Colgan: Mark Hubbard will get the headlines, but I’m impressed by Ben Griffin, who did not NEED to be in the field, but who wound up moving one slot higher in the FedEx Cup standings with a T11. I’ll be interested to see how that helps him over the coming weeks.
Japan’s Miyu Yamashita outlasted Charley Hull and Minami Katsu to win the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl, claiming the first major title of her career. Further down the leaderboard, tied for 36th, was Nelly Korda, who one year ago won seven times in 16 starts. Now, with the LPGA major season complete, she is winless in 13 starts. What gives? And which season was more likely the outlier, last year or this year?
Schrock: I think the answer probably lies in the middle. Both are outliers. Korda is a phenomenal player who got blistering hot last year and ripped off seven wins. She has played good golf this year, but just a tick below her normal level, and has nothing to show for it. It’s a disappointing year for Nelly but it’s more disappointing for women’s golf that needs her, or someone, to carry the LPGA to new heights. Nelly’s year reminded me a lot of the stretch Rory had from the time golf picked up during the pandemic through the middle of 2021 when he finally won at Wells Fargo. The golf has been solid to good but not up to her standards and it appears worse given how good she can be at full flight.
Sens: There’s definitely a sense of some existential struggle. Not long ago, she took time off, citing burnout. As everybody knows, the mental and the physical are so hard to disentangle. Scottie Scheffler made that clear in his now-famous pre-Open Championship press conference, which veered as close to philosophical as a press conference gets. I would guess that Korda would benefit from adopting a Scheffler mindset. Who wouldn’t?
Colgan: I am haunted by a piece of Korda analysis from last April delivered by none other than Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley. I’m paraphrasing, but the thrust was: she’s a great player, but she’s not a transformative star for women’s golf. I don’t think there is some greater disappointment afoot here for Korda, I merely think she’s a great player who might not be a transformative star. The women’s game could badly use one of those.
