It was on a Sunday in early August that the Southern California club pro walked off the course in the middle of the final round of the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship in Scotland. Controversy ensued because it was reported that Block left the course without notifying officials—a bad look, of course—but Block later insisted to Golf Digest that he was injured and told the official who drove him in from the course. That was Block’s second mistake of the day after he was docked two strokes for being late to his tee time, because his WD was not reported to the scoring office and he was official DQ’d.

All of that to say that Block, 50, is perfectly healthy now and threatening to capture his first senior title in his fifth PGA Tour Champions start. Playing in the Ally Challenge on a sponsor exemption, Block shot 66-65 in the first two rounds and headed into Sunday at Warwick Hills in Michigan with a two-shot lead. A $330,000 win would be huge for Block’s senior career, and he’d also share the experience with his son, Ethan, who is carrying his bag. “Ethan is the level-headed human out of my family," Block said. “It's a Godsend that he's on my bag because I'm the least level-headed human being in the world.”

Folks, we don't mean to shock you out of your senses before the weekend, but a player on the PGA Tour just sprayed the hell out of his tee shot, it ended up in a pizza tent and—I hope you're sitting down—it was not Jordan Spieth. The player was Jacob Bridgeman, it happened on the 18th hole, and you can tell it wasn't Spieth because instead of playing the ball from under the counter and making a miracle par, Bridgeman took the drop and made bogey. He finished at 5 under, and sits at T-14 after 36 holes in Atlanta. You can watch the result in the tweet below, but first, I am contractually obligated to say the following: Now that's what I call a slice!

Apparently, the reigning Players champ doesn't mind playing without other players. Young's opening 70 combined with J.J. Spaun's WD on Thursday left 29 golfers in the Tour Championship and caused the 29-year-old American to play as a single in the second round. Young responded by firing an eight-under-par 62, including a closing eagle. And after plucking his golf ball from the hole on No. 18, he took off his cap and pretended to shake his non-existent playing partner's hand:

All class from Cam right there. 

Yin played her first tournament in two months at the FM Championship this week, coming off an undisclosed illness, and her play was understandably rough. She opened with an 81 and then bounced back a bit with a 76 on Friday, but was still last in the field through 36 holes. After a 35-pound weight loss due to her ailment, Yin, 27, has no more chances to prove her golf fitness before the Solheim, and a call has to be made on a player who automatically made the team at No. 2. Yin is a no-brainer for the squad when healthy, but seems like a problematic work around if she’s on the team trying to win in Europe for the first time since 2015. Meantime, European captain Anna Nordqvist shot 68 on Friday to make the cut and should get a proper farewell on Sunday in what the 39-year-old says will be her final competitive tournament.

In the early 2000s, pros were still using one iron model through the bag, which meant the long irons were unforgiving blades in many cases. The philosophy began to change around 2010, as blended sets (using more than one model) surged in popularity. In most cases, that meant replacing a blade 3- or 4-iron with a slightly more forgiving cavity-back or hollow-body model. Today, more than 60 percent of tour pros have a blended set—and it's even more commonplace at the recreational level.

This brings us to Chris Gotterup, who was one of the few remaining holdouts still wielding a blade 4-iron (Bridgestone 220 MB) on tour. That recently changed at the BMW Championship when he inserted a prototype Bridgestone B-Forged 100CB 4-iron. The cavity-back model gives Gotterup a bit more heel-toe forgiveness, which is a nice-to-have on Sundays when the pressure cranks up. The B-Forged is already available for pre-order in Asia, so there's a chance Gotterup's newest addition will make its way to the States.

backing the company she’s represented for three decades after Good Good released a video promoting a Callaway driver where a man shoved a woman to the ground. She referenced her partnership and shed light on Callaway supporting her Annika Foundation for more than 20 years. Here’s more from the 10-time major champ. “The recent ad was terrible. They have acknowledged that, apologized, and taken significant action to address it. I can say unequivocally that the ad does not reflect the values of Callaway or their CEO, Chip Brewer. Callaway is and has always been one of the strongest supporters of women’s golf on the LPGA and amateur level. Being a part of their family has been critical to my success and the success of countless other girls with big dreams.”

It was a trifecta of announcements Thursday that kept Good Good in the news. The Youtube influencers released a video earlier this week promoting a new Callaway driver that showed a man pushing a woman to the ground. There was immediate backlash. Multiple apologies followed from both Good Good and Callaway but on Thursday Callaway announced it was ending its partnership with the brand. Several hours later Good Good announced it would “step away” from hosting a fall PGA Tour event in Texas. Finally, Golf Channel said it will not air its “Big Break x Good Good” series at all. The premier of the reboot of the series was postponed on Tuesday, but now none of it will air. Full statement below.

The Norwegian briefly had to back away from a putt on the final hole due to a bug crawing on his putter. But then he stepped back in and buried the birdie for an opening round of 64 at the Tour Championship. Have a look:

Hovland, the 2023 Tour Championship winner, is off to a great start as he tries to claim a second FedEx Cup. However, he trails Min Woo Lee, who fired an opening 62 at East Lake.