That includes three LIV golfers playing their way on to the tour. Then there’s Philippe Katich, who only advanced to the final 36 holes of the six-round event thanks to Frank Kennedy’s no infamous DQ, then closed with a 66-62 to slip into T-14 when the top 15 and ties earn cards. But arguably the most impressive golfer to advance was Sweden’s Niklas Lemke. The 42-year-old shot a final-round 64 to also rise to T-14. More remarkably, he made an eagle and four birdies on his last six holes to advance. This is the fifth time in his career that Lemke has earned a DP World Tour card at Q-School.

The last time we saw Reed in a Ryder Cup was 2018 in France, and it ended rather tumultuously. Reed was, perhaps fairly, critical of the captaining job done by Jim Furyk, who, oddly enough, will be the U.S. captain again in 2027. It will be nearly 10 years since that ugly defeat at Le Golf National when the American side tries to take down Europe on the road at Adare Manor, something they have not done since 1993. Reed, to the surprise of no one, would love to be a part of that type of history. 

"It would mean everything. Any time I can represent United States and wear red, white and blue means a lot for me," Reed said at the DP World Tour Championship. "And I know obviously for my team and my family, and yeah, to get back and playing on those Ryder Cup teams and being a thorn in the side for those Europeans has always been something I've always enjoyed and had fun with."

Reed's energy is the type of energy that has been lacking from the Americans in the last few Cups. If he continues the comeback trajectory he's been on, it will be hard to imagine him not getting a serious look. And, of course, there's a world where he makes it on merit. 

"Obviously I know next year it's going to be important to go out there and play really well next year to make the team," he added. "It's definitely going to be a part of the goals, if not right there right at the top of first thing I want to do, is go out there and represent our country and play for the USA."

Jose Luis Ballester, Ben An and John Caitlin all earned tour cards the old-fashioned way: via Q school. Ballester, the 23-year-old former U.S. Amateur champion from Spain, claimed a share of medalist honors in his home country, posting a 32-under 396. He shot no worse than 68 in any of his six rounds at Infinitum Golf in Taragona. An, a past winner of the DP World Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship, finished T-8. The 35-year-old South Korean jumped to LIV at the start of this season after playing the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour for more than a decade.

Caitlin, also 35, went to LIV in 2024 after three wins in five years on the DP World Tour. The American finished T-14 to grab one of the last spots after a closing 63.

The three-time AL MVP has become a regular in pro-am and celebrity fields since he retired from baseball. He played the WM Phoenix Open Pro-Am in 2023 and hit a solid tee shot on the par-3 16th hole in front of the stadium crowd. He made his American Century Championship debut at Lake Tahoe in 2024. His first big golf appearance came at Riviera in 2020, when he showed up to a celebrity event with a bag of mismatched clubs that included four 4-irons. Now, A-Rod is teeing it up at this week's inaugural Austin Championship Pro-Am while looking to get into the golf apparel business, with plans to launch a line in early 2027.

We know things are always a bit more laid back in the days ahead of a PGA Tour event with players allowed to wear shorts and hit extra shots, but having lunch delivered while on the course? Via a drone? We're pretty sure we haven't seen that before. But that's exactly what Joel Dahmen and Mark Hubbard did during Tuesday's practice round, having an order of Chipotle (Homa's sponsor) dropped off on a green at Barton Creek ahead of this week's Austin Championship. Pretty efficient—as long as no golf balls knock that thing out of the sky.