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Everything Happening in Golf — Gotterup Wins, Phil's Fall From Grace, Scottish Open, and the Evian | GOLF LIVE
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A massive week in golf. Chris Gotterup goes nuclear at the John Deere. The Scottish Open brings together the best players in the world for the first time in years. Phil Mickelson's story takes another turn nobody wanted to see. And Nelly Korda heads to France chasing history at the Evian Championship. Trey Wingo and Justin Ray break down all of it.
Chris Gotterup Wins the John Deere — Again
Chris Gotterup shot a final round 62 to win the John Deere Classic. His third win of the season. His fifth PGA Tour win overall. And the numbers around how he wins are almost impossible to believe.
Four times this season a player has won on the PGA Tour shooting a final round of 64 or lower. Three of those four wins belong to Gotterup. The other one was Wyndham Clark shooting 60 at the Byron Nelson. Nobody else in the modern era — as far back as Justin Ray could research, which gets sketchy pre-Arnold Palmer — has won three tournaments in a single PGA Tour season with a final round of 64 or lower. He has the ability to go nuclear hot on a Sunday and that is exactly what separates elite closers from everyone else.
Since May 2024 — the only players with more PGA Tour wins than Chris Gotterup's five are Scotty Scheffler with 10 and Rory McIlroy with five. He is in that company now. Not close to that company. In it.
Justin makes the career arc point that deserves to be heard — a year ago heading into the Scottish Open, Gotterup had one PGA Tour win from an alternate field event. Now he has five wins, is nearly certain to make the Presidents Cup team, and is being talked about in the same breath as the best American players of his generation. When Colin Morikawa turns 30 Gotterup becomes the best American player in his twenties. That conversation is happening now.
Also worth noting from the John Deere — Lucas Glover led the field in strokes gained tee to green in his mid-forties against a field of players half his age. Nearly won. Trey still believes Lucas Glover could be PGA Tour commissioner someday. The way he thinks, the way he communicates, the way he approaches everything — the seeds are there. Max Homa also showed signs of life — that look on his face when he knows he is going to make a putt came back for the first time in a while.
The Scottish Open — Everyone Is Playing
This year's Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club is co-sanctioned by both the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour. And that means something that has not been true for most of the last four years — the best players in the world are all in the same field at the same time.
Jon Rahm is in. Tyrrell Hatton is in. Patrick Reed is in. DP World Tour stalwarts who have been playing separately from their PGA Tour peers for over two years are back in the same tournament. Justin calls it the most excited he has ever been for the word co-sanctioned. This is what everyone who loves golf has been waiting for — the best competing against the best, even if it is not a major.
Justin traces the history of Scottish Open winners in the 2020s — Aaron Rai, Minwoo Lee, Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Robert McIntyre winning his own national open, Chris Gotterup last year. Banger after banger. The correlation between playing well at the Scottish Open and playing well the following week at the Open Championship is real — Phil Mickelson won both in 2013, Gotterup was top five last year before going on to compete at the Open. The weather dependency makes it imperfect, but it is a genuine tell for who is in form heading into Royal Birkdale.
Justin's early Open Championship picks lean toward the chalk — after surprising winners in recent years he thinks the big names are due. Scotty Scheffler statistically is almost exactly where he was a year ago when he won two majors. Rory has been exceptional at the Scottish Open three years running — first, fourth, second, 42 under par across those three years, 12 shots better than anyone else. Royal Birkdale is one of the harder Open Championship venues to predict given the weather and draw dependency but both Trey and Justin are high on the world number one finding a way.
Phil Mickelson — The Sad Reality
This is the conversation nobody wanted to have but both Trey and Justin felt they had to have honestly.
Phil Mickelson is not at the Open Championship this year. He is not at most events. And the reasons — the gambling issues, the conduct allegations, the banishment from multiple exclusive clubs in Southern California — have created a situation that is simply heartbreaking when you step back and look at the full picture of who Phil Mickelson was supposed to be.
45 wins on the PGA Tour. Six major championships. Three quarters of the career grand slam. The oldest major champion in golf history when he won the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island — a win that came on one of the toughest courses in major rotation against what was arguably the deepest field any major had ever seen. He was supposed to be the next great ambassador of the game. The Ryder Cup captain. The guy who would sit next to Jim Nantz for decades. The honorary starter at Augusta for as long as he could swing a club.
All of that feels gone now. The gambling issues that led to his banishment from multiple Southern California clubs. The conduct allegations that have dominated the headlines in recent weeks. The withdrawal from the Open Championship — not because of injury or scheduling, but because of a situation he does not want to have to address publicly.
Trey is not excusing any of the alleged behavior. Neither is Justin. But both of them acknowledge the genuine sadness of watching a player of this magnitude — a player who gave the game so much, who connected with fans in ways Tiger never could, who at 50 was still out there competing at the highest level — reduced to this. The same year he won the 2021 PGA Championship, Justin notes, his son was born. Five years later the contrast could not be more stark.
The question of whether there is another chapter to be written — neither Trey nor Justin can see it from where they are sitting right now. For there to be another chapter something fundamental has to be addressed and neither of them is sure Phil is willing or ready to do that. Whatever life he envisioned for himself feels like it is not the one he is living.
Nelly Korda at the Evian — The Most Unpredictable Major
Nelly Korda arrives at the Evian Championship in France as the overwhelming favorite for the third consecutive major. And the Evian is the worst possible place to be an overwhelming favorite.
The history of this tournament over the last several years has produced some of the most random and chaotic outcomes in women's major championship golf. Last year Gino Titicaka stood on the 18th tee with a 98.6 percent win probability. Grace Kim, playing in her group, made eagle. Titicaka missed an eight-footer for birdie that would have won it outright. They went to a playoff where Kim then holed out from 20 yards off the green after hitting into a water hazard. Then Kim made another eagle on the 18th hole to win. Eagle, birdie from the water, eagle on 18. Impossible. And yet.
That is the Evian Championship. That is what Nelly Korda is walking into.
Justin's numbers on Nelly through three majors this season are staggering — over 46 strokes gained total, 16 more than anyone else in the field. Gabby Lopez is second with 30. Nelly is in a different stratosphere. And yet Justin leans toward the AIG Women's Open at Royal Lytham as the more likely venue for her third major win simply because the Evian generates so much randomness that the best player does not always win.
The broader discussion — if Nelly wins four of the five LPGA majors this season does that constitute a grand slam? Trey and Justin dig into the history of what counts as a major, noting that the definition has always been malleable. The De Maurier Championship was a major. The Titleholders Championship was a major. Jack Nicklaus was chasing his 20th major in the 1986 Masters broadcast because they were counting US Amateurs. None of this is set in stone. Four majors in a single season without the fifth would be an outlier achievement that deserves its own framing — not quite a grand slam, but something historically significant in a way that stands on its own terms.
Your Questions
Duncan returns from paternity leave to read the questions — baby is healthy, all colors and shapes have been experienced. Duncan is back.
Four questions this week — what the new PGA Tour structure means for Jordan Spieth and sponsor exemptions, where Justin Rose's game is and why he keeps peaking for the majors, early Open Championship predictions and horses for the course, and favorite courses played this year including Justin's admission that he has not played a single round of golf in 2026 despite being the Tiger Woods of golf researchers.
Trey meanwhile is headed to the American Century Celebrity Pro-Am at Lake Tahoe. He has been told the show does not air bad shots to protect the celebrities. He wrote back — that is fine, go ahead. He has no issues with any of that whatsoever. Very small goals. Try not to hurt anyone. Put the bar low enough to clear it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com
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