In partnership with
This week's sponsor keeps Read The Divot free. If something catches your eye, give it a click. More at the bottom.
Turn Predictions Into Profit—Get $10 Free
Watching sports just got a lot more interesting...
On Kalshi, you can take a position on real outcomes — who wins, season milestones, major matchups. If you know sports, you already have an edge.
Buy "Yes" or "No" shares on what you think will happen, and earn returns if you're right.
No house. No bookie. Just the market.
You're trading peer-to-peer against other users, with fully transparent pricing. Cash out anytime. You don't have to wait for the final whistle.
Trade responsibly.
Wyndham Clark took a six-shot lead into Sunday at Shinnecock and a gallery that openly rooted against him. He shot 73, won by one, and got serenaded with silence on the 18th green. Redemption rarely sounds that quiet.
IN THIS ISSUE
Wyndham Clark Won His Second U.S. Open. Long Island Hated It.
Scheffler's Grand Slam Waits Another Year
LIV Is Running on Loans Now, Not Cash
Srixon Floods the List, TAG Heuer Wants Your Strokes Gained
Lonnie Poole Goes Dark, Will Ferrell Crashes Pinehurst, and a Clemson Kid Wins the State Am
PGA TOUR . U.S. OPEN - SHINNECOCK HILLS
Wyndham Clark Won His Second U.S. Open. Long Island Hated It.
Wyndham Clark took a six-shot lead into Sunday and shot 3-over 73 to win by one. That's the kind of round that usually loses majors. He won anyway, becoming the first wire-to-wire U.S. Open champion since 2014 and the 23rd man with multiple major titles.
The story wasn't the scorecard. It was the crowd. Shinnecock turned into a Ryder Cup road game against Clark, cheering his misses and booing his shots while serenading playing partner Scottie Scheffler with 'Happy Birthday.' Fans got ejected for heckling. Clark's putter bailed him out all week, and a birdie on the par-5 16th out of the fescue sealed it.
"Man, they definitely didn't want me to win. Sometimes being the underdog is nice."
23rd man to win multiple U.S. Opens. Booed the whole way home.
PGA TOUR . CAREER GRAND SLAM
Scheffler's Grand Slam Waits Another Year
Scottie Scheffler spent his 30th birthday in the final pairing with a chance at the only major he's never won. He never got out of first gear. A 1-over 71 left him T-4 at even par, four back.
He gained strokes in every major metric this week. The putter let him down at the worst time: five straight birdie looks inside 20 feet on Nos. 9-13, one conversion. Then a missed par putt from inside six feet on 14 ended it. The Slam now waits until Pebble Beach next year. This was Scheffler's seventh top-five since his last win. Close keeps being not enough.
LIV GOLF . FINANCES
LIV Is Running on Loans Now, Not Cash
Here's the actual financial picture: Saudi Arabia's PIF has stopped writing LIV equity checks and switched to lending. Recent Jersey and UK filings show a June 4 debenture securing a loan facility to PIF, with new money likely to arrive as debt rather than fresh capital. Money in Sport estimates LIV burns roughly $100 million a month.
CEO Scott O'Neil told Bloomberg he's chasing $300 million from private equity, family offices, and billionaire team owners. The pitch leans on billions in net operating losses and a future where players own the majority of the league. With DeChambeau's contract up in October, that's a lot of runway to cover on borrowed money.
ALSO THIS WEEK
Yamashita Outduels Woad at Meijer — Miyu Yamashita closed with a nine-birdie 64 and won the Meijer LPGA Classic in a playoff after Lottie Woad three-putted the 72nd hole.
AI Took Over at Shinnecock — The USGA's new Rules AI chatbot debuted at the Open with 7-foot avatars answering fan questions, built on 25,000 real rulings.
LOOKING AHEAD
Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands
The Tour heads to Cromwell, Connecticut, for the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, June 25-28. It's a birdie-fest after a brutal U.S. Open setup, which is exactly what these guys need. Names to watch: Scottie Scheffler (won here in 2024 and looking to shake off Shinnecock), Sam Burns (riding momentum after his runner-up at the Open), and Wyndham Clark (now a two-time major champ with confidence to burn).
Srixon Soft-Launched Seven Drivers in One Day
Srixon dropped its new ZXi RKT line at the Travelers, three retail models (RKT, RKT LS, RKT Max) plus four tour-truck mystery builds that hit the USGA list in a single morning. The headline is a new face material called RKT and an "Acousticore" sole story for sound. No pricing yet. Worth watching: Srixon's metalwoods have quietly underperformed for years, and even their own staffers don't all game the driver. If RKT is real, it's the brand's best shot at relevance since the original Z-Star. Demo before you commit.
TAG Heuer x TaylorMade: Real-Money Wrist Analytics
TAG Heuer and TaylorMade teamed up on a Connected Calibre E5 golf watch that auto-detects shots and runs them through TaylorMade's Strokes Gained platform. Grade 2 titanium, engraved 18-hole bezel, 12 hours of golf battery. It's a slick piece of kit, but TAG hasn't published a price and these watches typically run well north of $2,000. For a fraction of that, the Shot Scope G6 at $179.99 gives you full hole maps and no subscription. Buy the watch for the wrist, not the game.
ALSO THIS WEEK
Odyssey Tri-Hot Black S2S Putters: $600-$650 — Odyssey's latest S2S putter family features a two-layer AI-designed insert and 140+ grams of tungsten, now available for pre-order in six head shapes.
Lonnie Poole Is Closed Until Late August
NC State's Lonnie Poole Golf Course closed June 15 for a full greens conversion, swapping bent grass for Bermuda. The driving range and golf shop stay open, but the course and the Terrace Dining Room are dark through a targeted mid-to-late August reopening, weather permitting. If Lonnie Poole is your regular Raleigh play, this is a long summer. Worth the wait though, the bent greens have been fighting Carolina heat for years and Bermuda is the right call.
Will Ferrell Brought "The Hawk" to Pinehurst
Hollywood met the home of American golf when Will Ferrell rolled into the World Golf Hall of Fame in character as Lonnie "The Hawk" Hawkins, a washed-up former world No. 1 chasing one last Grand Slam leg. Fans drove in from Charlotte for the bit, complete with wig-topped visors. The Netflix series premieres July 16. A fictional golfer got "inducted" into the Hall for a day. Only in Pinehurst.
Rich Wills Outlasts a Loaded NC Amateur Field
Clemson's Rich Wills closed with a 6-under 66 to win the 66th North Carolina Amateur at Bermuda Run, surviving a final round where four players shared the lead at various points. The Cramerton native never shot over par all week (70-71-69-66) on his first-ever visit to the course. Jack LaPiana of Charlotte birdied his first six holes and still came up two short. The win earns Wills an exemption into the 2026 U.S. Amateur.
Jenna Kim, a Raleigh Kid, Wins the Women's Amateur
Raleigh's Jenna Kim won the 77th N.C. Women's Amateur at Statesville Country Club, finishing three clear of Winston-Salem's Anna Howerton. Kim is a rising senior at Durham Academy and a Yale commit, and the win earns her a spot in the U.S. Women's Amateur at The Honors Course in August. Local Triangle talent, a name worth filing away.
ALSO THIS WEEK
The Swing Bays Coming to Wake Forest — The indoor golf and fitness franchise lists a Wake Forest location on Rogers Branch Rd. as 'coming soon,' adding another sim option north of Raleigh.
Another Nine Opens First Franchise in Cornelius — The 24/7 private-suite sim concept opened its first franchise location in the Lake Norman area with Trackman across 350-plus courses and no membership required.
That's your read this week.
Tour intel, gear picks, and local course intel — every Monday.
If this landed, forward it to your foursome. That's how we grow.