This week, the American Solheim Cup team arrived in the Netherlands looking for their first road victory since 2015. With the men's Ryder Cup squad still reeling from the Beatdown at Bethpage, the onus is on Nelly Korda and co. to restore some glory to the stars and stripes. On Tuesday, the American caddie contigent attempted to do just that, storming the gates of Bernadus Golf to the roar of Bruce Springsteen's long-misunderstood classic, "Born in the U.S.A." Unfortunately, the song choice, as has the been the case time and time again since its release in 1984, was well wide of the mark.

Apparently, the well-meaning loopers didn't get the memo that "Born in the U.S.A.," despite its rah-rah sound, is anything but a celebration. In fact, the song was originally written by Springsteen as a criticism of America's treatment of Vietnam War veterans, with lyrics like "Got in a little hometown jam / So they put a rifle in my hand / Sent me off to a foreign land / To go and kill the yellow man" painting a clear picture.

Despite the song's true message, it continues to be played everywhere from American political rallies to international sporting events like the Solheim Cup. Whether the contined misinterpretation of "Born in the U.S.A." is an honest mistake or intentionally revisionist depends on the user and use case, but here's hoping the Americans tweak the playlist before we embarrass ourselves on the world stage yet again.

The five-time major champ and former LIV golfer who recorded only one top-10 in the 2026 season and finished 94th in the FedEx Cup standings called his performance "pathetic" in an interview with The Mirror's Sam Frost. "I still believe I can go win any week, any day, any tournament. But when you're putting like that and it's holding you back, it's very tough to win," said Koepka, who ranked 115th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained/putting in 2026. "You've just got to deal with it and move on and make some changes." Koepka, who has been working with coach Pete Cowen, will get a chance to see if those changes are working this week when he plays in the Irish Open on the DP World Tour.

in honor of their captain, Angela Stanford, who lives in the Lone Star State. Paula Creamer, an assistant captain, showed up to the opening press conference in a cowboy hat. “This was a gift from our players and the caddies,” Creamer said. “We got cowboy hats because of this one right here [pointing to Stanford]. They wanted to bring in some Texas into the team, a little yeehaw action. We also got some really cool cowboy boots as well. Those didn't make an appearance [Tuesday]. We all have kind of different things on our hats, too, which is special. They made it very customized for all of our little characteristics.”

A few months ago, I wrote about a costly moment in a club tournament in which I opted for the wrong shot in a pressure situation. Turns out I did the same thing this past weekend. The specifics were different, but one consistent thread was opting for a supposedly “safer” shot that I didn’t usually hit. The result was predictably disastrous, and it was even more regrettable given course-strategy expert Scott Fawcett had warned me against this type of decision months earlier.

“It’s the same thing,” Fawcett said. “Now you're in a pressure situation hitting a shot you don't really practice. That’s a lot to ask.”

The Spaniard is back at the Irish Open this week, an event he last played in back in 2019 at Lahinch when he won it for a second time. We've not seen Rahm in action since LIV Golf Indianapolis, where he finished runner-up and, for all intents an purposes, marked the end of "LIV Golf 1.0." That's a key phrase to remember before listening to some Rahm quotes from Ireland on Tuesday, when he was asked to address his future on the formerly Saudi-backed circuit. 

"There's just a lot of things in place, there's a lot of things that could happen," Rahm said. "It's one of those things, time is going to tell."

That may sound like a non-answer, but it's not when you parse the "things that could happen" portion. As well as his use of "LIV 1.0" when discussing his contract:

A masterclass in saying something without actually saying it. 

There's plenty of uncertainty surrounding Jon Rahm's playing future, but this week he's focused on a more pressing unknown: Trump International Doonbeg. The two-time major winner has never played the modern links classic, but will be teeing it up at the Amgen Irish Open this week. On Tuesday, we got a first look at Rahm's first look of Doonbeg alongside caddie Adam Hayes, and it's exactly the sort of granular, behind-the-curtain content that golf fans crave. Check it out.

Come for the player-caddie chit chat and stay for Rahm's frozen-rope two-iron. SHEESH. With shots like that, Rahm should have an answer for everything Doonbeg throws at him this week. As for the rest of the questions he's likely to face in Ireland, unfortunately his looper can't help with those ...

for the Solheim Cup on Tuesday, but European assistant captain Mel Reid explained the lapse. Hull was actually at Bernardus Golf Club. “I’m responsible for her so I’ll take the responsibility for that,” Reid said. “She just thought her tee time was a little bit later. Trying to drag Charley Hull off the driving range is a feat in any tournament, especially a Solheim Cup.” Reid said she wanted to shut down any other reasons reported about her being late. An official also said Hull was the first one on the shuttle to the course Tuesday morning.

Speaking to Australian media Tuesday, the 2006 U.S. Open champ said when he accepted the offer to become captain of the International squad he asked PGA Tour leadership if eventually players from LIV could join. "'Well, it’s not going to be no chance but we have to see it how it unfolds.' I guess it just hasn’t unfolded to the point where they’re ready to, sort of, let that happen,” Ogilvy said. To be fair it wasn’t an unfounded question; the tour had agreeded to a secret framework agreement in 2023 with LIV’s financial backer, and PIF and the tour were on the precipice of formalizing the deal at the White House last spring. But the sides never came close and the tour now has no interest in letting LIV players back now that PIF has pulled the plug on its soft-power golf exercise. Ogilvy could use the help from the likes of Joaquin Niemann and Lucas Herbet; the Internationals have won just once in the 30-plus year history of the Presidents Cup. For those wondering, LIV players could compete at the Ryder Cup because it’s run by different governing bodies in the PGA of America and DP World Tour, while the Presidents Cup is administered by the PGA Tour.

that I found myself thinking about this, because my broken brain only thinks about golf. This morning my Instagram algorithm served me this video showing what a pilot sees when they're landing a plane. Outside of being generally amazing, I found the specifics of the markings leading into the runway strangely fascinating.

All our pilot readers out there can keep me honest, but some quick googling revealed those markings have a name: the Calvert System. It's one vertical centerline with five perpendicular lines that get progressively narrower the closer you get.

I can't help but wonder what these markings would look like on a putter, and whether it would help us all aim better. We got pretty close with this PXG putter, but it's not quite the same.

Great Britain & Ireland came from three points behind with 10 singles matches remaining to win 13½ to 12½ at Lahinch in Ireland. Josh Hill had the honors of making the last putt that mattered, sending everyone into the area into an all-night celebration. Here are final records for each member of both the U.S. and winning GB&I teams.

GB&I: Stuart Grehan (2-1-1), Eliot Baker (2-1-1), Niall Sheils Donegan (2-1-1), Luke Poulter (2-2), Tyler Weaver (2-2), Josh Hill (2-1), Jack Whaley (1-1), Connor Graham (1-2-1), Sam Easterbrook (0-3), Ben Bolton (0-2).

U.S.: Ethan Fang (2-1-1), Miles Russell (2-1-1), Tyler Watts (2-2), Ryder Cowan (2-1), William Jennings (2-1), Jay Leng Jr. (2-2), Preston Stout (1-2-1), Kihei Akina (1-1-1), Stewart Hagestad (1-1), Josiah Gilbert (1-2).