Three tournaments in the four weeks separating the Masters and PGA Championship are signature events on the PGA Tour. With the top players competing in most if not all five of those tournaments, that leaves this week’s Zurich Classic picking up the scraps. Save for some Zurich brand ambassadors—along with Brooks Koepka, who’s looking to secure status in his reassimilation to the tour from LIV Golf—the field is compromised almost entirely of the rank-and-file. Zurich is signed on to sponsor the event for years to come, but given the tour’s upcoming schedule changes (which were felt just yesterday, as the Hawaiian Swing was axed from the calendar) don’t be surprised if this event sees a new date in 2027.

Sudarshan Yellamaraju will partner with Gerard in the event, and the duo is now listed as the third-highest favored team to win, according to oddsmakers (17-1, i.e., bet $10 to win $170). Yellamaraju ranks in the top 20 this year in SG/total and has made almost $2 million already in his rookie year. Gerard had back-to-back runners-up to start 2026, so this newly formed team isn't sneaking up on anyone.

While Rahm hasn’t done much on the major stages since his defection to the Saudi circuit, he has been lights-out at LIV in 2026, winning twice, coming in second three times and his worst finish a fifth place standing in six starts. The win this past weekend was especially fruitful, as it delivered a multi-win OWGR bonus. Starting the year at No. 97 in the World, Rahm has now skyrocketed to No. 20. LIV Golf is off for a month, but if Rahm keeps up his dominance—major no-shows or not—he could be knocking on the door of the top 10.

This was a recurring question I asked during the Masters, inspired at least somewhat by my perspective as someone who tries too hard most of the time. When forced to identify the right amount of effort, players returned to an almost counterintuitive answer: very often, the less they try to do, the better off they are. Luke Kerr-Dineen and I discussed what precisely that means, with help from Rory McIlroy and Max Homa, in the most recent episode of the Golf IQ podcast.

So LIV Golf’s rebranding of Smash GC to OKGC (Oklahoma Golf Club, captained by Oklahoma native Talor Gooch) was surely in the works before last week’s news that the league only has assurance of funding from Saudi’s PIF through year’s end. In a past universe—like say two weeks ago—the launch of LIV’s first franchise directly aligned with a U.S. market could be questioned given the league’s emphasis on being a “world tour.” But given LIV’s new financial reality, the idea of creating a localized domestic team could prove to be a critical (and potentially final) litmus test regarding the viability of LIV's franchise model moving forward.

A Dec. 1-15 window remains in place for student-athletes to enter and sign with new schools, but the spring period has been reduced from 30 to 15 days that will start the day after the end of the NCAA D- I Men's and Women's Championships, respectively. Previously, the spring portal opened before the NCAA finals, creating situations where some players competing for one school had committed to another school. The rules change, effectively immediately, looks to maintain the integrity of the championship and allow players to finish their seasons before starting the transfer process.

Very few people get to experience the home of the Masters from inside the ropes. Our own Will Irwin got to play the Monday after the Masters, and he joined The Loop podcast to share everything about his day. Listen to the episode below—and also check out the article he wrote about his round here.

Which is as good a reason as any to remember tour winner Robert Garrigus admitting that he smoked pot while competing on the Korn Ferry Tour. He went on to say that “there were plenty of guys” who partook, and former caddie Michael Collins backed him up, declaring that it's happened on the PGA Tour as well. We went on a full deep dive into high golf back in 2014, in which a former college golfer gave us this legendary quote: “My handicap is 4, but when stoned, I’m scratch.”

In fact, if his left hand grip isn’t the strongest on tour, it’s darn close. The logo on his glove faces up toward the sky and he can likely see three or four knuckles at address.

This creates a cupped lead wrist at the top of the swing, but Fitzpatrick’s swing coach and Golf Digest’s No. 1 Teacher in America Mark Blackburn says the key to playing well with a strong grip is using an “underhand release.” “Feel like your trail forearm works under your lead forearm, instead of rolling over,” he says.