Scottie Scheffler had one win and five runner-up finishes going into Memphis, and everybody had a theory about what was wrong. He answered by eight shots.
IN THIS ISSUE
Scheffler Ended a Seven-Month Drought by Lapping the Field
The Real Cut Line in Memphis Was 50th
TaylorMade Hi-Toe 5: Forged, Five Grinds, $199.99
Symon Balbin Ran Off Four Straight Birdies to Win the N.C. Open
Wilmington Voted, and Brick Landing Ran Away With It
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PGA TOUR . FEDEX ST. JUDE CHAMPIONSHIP
Scheffler Ended a Seven-Month Drought by Lapping the Field
Scottie Scheffler hadn't won since January. He fixed that in the most Scheffler way available: a second-round 61 that tied the competitive course record, a two-shot lead into Sunday, and a closing 66 that turned TPC Southwind into a formality.
His only real wobble came on the par-5 third, when a bunker shot bounced off a sprinkler head and rolled into the water. He saved bogey, birdied two of the next three, and never gave anyone a look. The part that should worry the other 49 players at Bellerive: he gained nearly nine strokes on the field putting, the best putting week of his career, stacked on top of the ball-striking he already had. Sam Burns shot 73. Sungjae Im shot 74.
"Statistics are one thing, but being able to win golf tournaments is another."
Eleventh straight conversion of a 54-hole lead. Third youngest to 21 Tour wins, behind only Tiger and Jack.
PGA TOUR . FEDEX CUP
The Real Cut Line in Memphis Was 50th
The number that mattered most Sunday wasn't Scheffler's eight. It was Sungjae Im's 40. Im shot 74, still finished T5, and climbed from 53rd to 40th in the standings. That's a ticket to Bellerive plus every signature event in 2027.
That top-50 threshold at the end of Memphis is quietly the most consequential line on the schedule. Miss it and your next year is qualifiers and opposite-field weeks. Make it and you're guaranteed a season of $20 million purses. Nobody talks about it in August. Everybody feels it in January.
LIV GOLF . SEASON FINALE
LIV Canceled Its Own $40 Million Finale
The team championship in Michigan is off. LIV will crown both its individual and team champions this week at The Club at Chatham Hills outside Indianapolis instead. The official line is focus and operational rigor ahead of a 2027 relaunch. The practical reality: grandstands were never built, ticket sales stopped last week, and Martin Kaymer put the odds of playing it at five percent a month ago.
Two events pulled off the calendar this season. Rahm's points-title bonus dropped from $18 million to $6 million. The concert acts got canceled too. LIV says it has a lead investor for a player-owned version of the league, but hasn't named the investor or the number, and hasn't said what the 2027 rosters or schedule look like.
"We are reimagining LIV Golf as a fundamentally new league owned by the players and anchored in a sustainable business model."
A league that can't finish its own season is asking a lot of a reader's patience for 2027.
LPGA . PORTLAND CLASSIC
Jeeno Thitikul Went Out in 30
Jeeno Thitikul started Sunday two back and made six birdies in her first seven holes, including five straight from the third. An eagle from 25 feet at the 10th put her ahead, a birdie at 17 kept her there, and an 8-under 64 got her home by one at Columbia Edgewater.
Chanettee Wannasaen shot 63 and Arpichaya Yubol 67 to tie for second, making it an all-Thailand top three. Thitikul is 23 with 10 LPGA wins and she's not the only one out there.
Eighth player ever to reach 10 LPGA wins before turning 24.
ALSO THIS WEEK
Player of the Year Is Actually a Debate Gotterup and Fitzpatrick both have three wins to Scheffler's two, but 12 top-10s that are all top-fives is a hard résumé to vote against.
LOOKING AHEAD
BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club
The playoffs move to Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, August 20-23, with the field trimmed to the top 50 and no cut. Scheffler arrives with the FedEx Cup lead and a putter that just gained nine shots on a field. Names to watch: Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns, and Justin Rose, who shot the low round of Sunday in Memphis.
TaylorMade Hi-Toe 5: Forged, Five Grinds, $199.99
The Hi-Toe is fully forged for the first time, and the feel change is real. Today's Golfer gave it 4.5 out of 5 and credited it with turning a 60-degree from a club they feared into one they wanted to hit, which is the entire point of the high-toe, full-face design. Golfalot landed at 4.3 with the caveat worth repeating: it isn't a big jump from the Hi-Toe 4, and $199.99 is premium wedge money. The five grind options are the actual news and also the catch. Buying this off the rack without a fitting wastes what you paid for. Launches September 3.
ALSO THIS WEEK
Sub 70's 3D-Printed Driver Is Not a Gimmick A one-piece 3D-printed titanium 440cc head with no weld lines produced 166.9 mph ball speed at 113 mph of clubhead speed in testing, with a weight kit included to move the CG.
TAG Heuer and TaylorMade Fixed the Battery The old Connected golf watch died at 15 holes; the new E5 edition is rated for 12 hours with dual-band GPS and automatic shot tracking.
Symon Balbin Ran Off Four Straight Birdies to Win the N.C. Open
Balbin made birdie on 14, 15, 16 and 17 Thursday at Forest Oaks Country Club, shot 66, and won the 62nd Carolinas PGA North Carolina Open at 16 under by two. The 24-year-old UNCG alum is a Pinehurst native who quit the mini-tours this spring and took an assistant pro job at Pinewild Country Club. Winner's check was $7,000, and he says he's not going back to playing full time. Hard to argue with a guy who wins the state open and still gets a paycheck on Monday.
Wilmington Voted, and Brick Landing Ran Away With It
StarNews readers cast 11,525 votes and gave nearly half of them to The Links at Brick Landing in Ocean Isle Beach, a Mike Brazeal design on the Intracoastal with new Sunday Ultra-Dwarf Bermuda greens. Old Fort Golf Club in Winnabow was second with 4,311 votes and is the pick if you want zero houses in your sightlines. Both are an easy detour if you're already driving the family down to Sunset Beach.
Two Triangle Dates on NC State's New Schedule
The Wolfpack women released their 2026-27 slate and two of the ten stops are in your backyard. The Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational runs October 16-18 at UNC Finley, and NC State hosts the City of Oaks Collegiate at Lonnie Poole March 21-22 for the third straight year. They won City of Oaks by 13 shots last spring. Both are free to walk and Finley in mid-October is about as good as Chapel Hill golf gets.
Sedgefield Gets the ACC Championship in April
Same course, different week. The ACC women's championship is set for April 15-18 at Sedgefield, which means Greensboro hosts both a Tour event and a conference title in the same calendar year. If you've only ever seen Sedgefield in August heat, spring is when the Ross greens are actually fun to watch people putt on.
ALSO THIS WEEK
The Matchbox Is Booking at $75 Tobacco Road's 12-hole synthetic short course is now taking tee times at $75, which is a lot for par-3s and worth it exactly once for the tree growing out of the fifth green.
College Season Opens at Bryan Park UNCG hosts the Bryan National Collegiate September 12-13 in Greensboro, a free walk-along if you want to see what the next Balbin looks like.
TWO WAYS TO KEEP THIS GOING
Show up to a new course already knowing the move.
The next time a buddy picks a Triangle course you have never played, you will know which tees to play, where the trouble is, and what the locals actually pay before you leave the parking lot. That is the Triangle Golf Guide: 23 courses deep, plus the curated sim spots and the membership math worth knowing. Less than a range bucket, at $5.99.
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That's your read this week.
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