Mid-Season Review: Revisiting our 2026 Predictions

Whether or not you opened today’s newsletter anticipating seeing a list of 250 golf-related things in honor of America’s 250th anniversary, I’m here to report that there will be no such list. We didn’t plan for that. What we did plan for is some light-hearted Friday whimsy. At the beginning of every year, our team puts together a series of predictions for the upcoming season. Today, we check in on how a few of those predictions went. They range from shockingly accurate to hilariously wrong and everywhere in between.

What We Got Right

Don Rea. Michael Block. Can't say how or what or why, just that both men — like Thanos — are inevitable. (Brendan Porath) – Not only was this spot on, but both have been main characters in one way or another this year. Even if one of them has been sunsetted.

The PGA Tour announces it will not return to Hawaii for the 2027 season. (Will Knights) – One I was really hoping to get wrong. The Sentry Tournament of Champions is no longer and the Sony Open will be on the 2027 PGA Tour Champions schedule.

Brooks Koepka will play in at least one PGA Tour event. (Adam Woodard) – How about a full schedule? Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour was the first domino in a really bad, no-good first half for LIV Golf.

Cameron Young ends 2026 in the top ten of the OWGR. I could/should be bolder, but I choose peace as we enter this new year. (PJ Clark) – Yes, PJ, you should have been bolder. The breakout year that The Boys were hoping for is officially here for Cameron Young.

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Tiger Woods will not be announced as the 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain. Tiger opts to wait for a home Ryder Cup instead of serving in Ireland. (Will Knights) – Another car accident and rehab stint isn’t exactly what I had hoped for this prediction, but nonetheless you do have to hand it to me. But will Tiger choose to captain a team at Hazeltine, a venue where he lost a 54-hole major lead?

Lucas Glover will rip Brian Rolapp for something. But seriously, the honeymoon period with the mules will end, and there will be some public outcry about Rolapp and the new Strategic Sports Group era. It will have little impact on the course of the ship. (Brendan Porath) – There has probably been less public outcry than Brendan was anticipating from the mules, but any pushback has certainly not affected the ship. With a new competitive structure announced at the Travelers Championship, real change appears to be headed for the PGA Tour.

LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil loses the support of the LIV fanbase and becomes the scapegoat for the league’s lack of traction, no matter what he does, as he is tasked with the impossible job of compelling young fans to care about teams like the RangeGoats. (Joseph LaMagna) – What Joseph didn’t mention was the support of the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Turns out that was pretty important!

An Open winner at the Old Course, Masters champion, and American golf icon will make his long-awaited Champions Tour debut. That’s right: Zach Johnson tees it up in his home state of Iowa at the Principal Charity Classic in June. (PJ Clark) – Get this, not only did Zach Johnson play the Principal Charity Classic at Wakonda, he won the damn thing by five shots! No one handicaps the Champions Tour like PJ Clark.

In a moment of mega-brand activation, Bryson DeChambeau petitions the powers that be to wear Oakley Meta Vanguard (AI sunglasses) during competition, as he prefers taking course management advice from an AI chatbot as opposed to his caddie. (Beau Scroggins) – It’s shocking how close this prediction was to the bullseye. Bryson has in fact referenced using AI this year in reference to his golf swing. It was Gemini, not Oakley Meta, but we’re counting this as a win.

What We Got Wrong

All four men’s major championship winners will be in the top 10 of the OWGR at the time of their victories. (Will Knights) – Aaron Rai and Wyndham Clark had other ideas in mind. Kinda rude if you ask me.

Scottie Scheffler wins the Masters by multiple shots. Again. (Joseph LaMagna) – A runner-up finish, but incorrect nonetheless.

Scottie Scheffler will complete the career Grand Slam at Shinnecock Hills. (Adam Woodard) – A shockingly poor performance from Scottie on Long Island continued a less-than-stellar year by his standards

Rory McIlroy will win the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. (Brendan Porath) – Also incorrect, although it looked promising through 45 holes.

The renovation of TPC Craig Ranch “unfortunately” does nothing to improve the scoring woes at the properly amalgamated CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Scottie Scheffler wins the plaque again, because of course he does. (PJ Clark) – Scheffler won the 2025 Byron Nelson at a staggering 31 under. Wyndham Clark barely got to 30 under this year. Plus, there were only 27 scores of 64 or better. How’s that for providing a stern test, PJ?

A Little of Both

Memorial Park is an immediate success and massive upgrade from the doldrums of Carlton Woods. Part of the reason why is that there is no makeshift, Frankenstein Poppy’s Pond leap, and the tradition is finally put out of its misery. (Meg Adkins) – A massive upgrade and a success? You betcha. But poor, sweet Meg could have never imagined that Memorial Park would build a literal above-ground pool to keep the Poppy’s Pond tradition alive. Not only that, they are adding a full pond to the hole!

Despite the best efforts of paid actors, support for the rollback gains steam in the court of public opinion. Shinnecock Hills cannot provide the test it once did without slipping over the edge of unplayability, giving a clear lesson on where the game currently stands. (Joseph LaMagna) – U.S. Open week was a rather big week for rollback discussion as the USGA announced that it would be pausing any implementation until 2030 and would be revisiting the standards that are to be implemented. They also opened the door for possible additional changes. What a mess. Alas, a largely benign Shinnecock Hills still provided a good test of golf, even if it was far softer than most of Golf Twitter may have wanted. Maybe Joseph should have talked about the lesson of where the game currently stands amongst the most vocal keyboard warriors.

Phil Mickelson will finish in the top 10 at the Masters. He will also continue to stay out of jail but not out of trouble. (Brendan Porath) – The first sentence was incorrect. The second statement was correct. We’ll point you in the direction of Alan Shipnuck’s reporting and leave it at that.

Rory, Come Home

Rory McIlroy joins Lunch with the Boys. (Matt Rouches) – Rory, I know you’re reading this. It’s Lunchtime.