Is Tommy Fleetwood ready for the big event in 2026?
Check out our writers and editors for their unfiltered opinions on the hottest topics in the sport every week, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we discuss another win for Tommy Fleetwood, a unique playing surface, the LPGA’s latest champion and more.
Tommy Fleetwood won the DP World Indian Championship, his second victory in the last four starts (not to mention his Ryder Cup dominance). Now that he’s no longer worried about getting his first PGA Tour victory (besides competing for the No. 1 spot in the world), is there any player ready for a more dominant campaign in 2026 than Fleetwood?
Josh Berhow, Managing Editor (@Josh_Berhow): The stars seemed to be aligning for Fleetwood’s breakthrough. He had a few close calls even before finally winning the Tour Championship, so the past few months weren’t a fluke. This guy can hit with the best of them, which is a great way to always stay competitive. But it’s also important to remember that people have gotten hot before and looked ready to tear up the golf world, only to disappear. (Victor Hovland won back-to-back playoff titles in August 2023 and hasn’t won again in 19 months.) I don’t think 2026 will be like Scottie’s, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Fleetwood gets two or even three wins next year.
Alan Bastable, Executive Editor (@alan_bastable): It’s amazing how often wins lead to more wins. Fleetwood is the latest example, and that’s not necessarily because his game is better than it was a year ago – but more importantly because he leads the Tour in SG: Confidence. We’ll see if that magic sticks with him throughout the offseason. As he said on Sunday, “I know it won’t last forever, but I’m trying to be the most consistent player I can be.” But, yes, to answer the question, he’s very good in 2026. Another guy I’m excited to see next year: Cameron Young. It will be curious to see if his impressive Ryder Cup run will give him continued confidence.
Jessica Marksbury, Senior Editor (@jess_marksbury): When players get hotter in the fall and winter, it’s always interesting to see if they can sustain that momentum into the next major summer season. However, as Josh mentioned, Tommy didn’t appear out of thin air. Even before his breakthrough on the PGA Tour, he had been the most popular prospect in the majors. But Tommy seems to be coming off a particularly strong Ryder Cup year. So, let’s revisit this in 2027! As for next year, I’m looking forward to keeping an eye on another strong European player: Alex Noren, who won two DP World Tour titles this year and is expected to earn a PGA Tour card next season.
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Fleetwood beat out several stars for victory at the cramped Delhi Golf Club, where 42 per cent of the course was reportedly played without a driver. Should the PGA Tour visit more courses to force players to be more strategic off the tee? How often?
bellhau: Derry Golf Club is a rather extreme example – I wouldn’t want Rory to hit a zero tee shot! — but it should definitely happen more, because playing sound, strategic golf and hitting the shots the course may require is as much a skill as bombing the driver around the course. It also gives more players opportunities. A few years ago, I remember Kevin Kisner rattling off a list of courses that he didn’t think he could win on, simply because of the driving distance requirements. But how realistic that is is another question. There are a lot of logistics involved in selecting a tour venue—sponsors, television production, etc.—and sometimes the type of golf course isn’t always the main concern.
Bastable: Power is supposed to be a competitive advantage in golf, so, yes, it’s unfair to suddenly add a bunch of tighter and tree-crowded fields to the Tour schedule. Still, this week’s tournament in New Delhi was an interesting reminder that there’s more than one way to test the elite players who can hit a driver 330 yards, and some players really seem to relish the challenge. “I prefer courses like this because you’re hitting a variety of different clubs more often,” Griffin said earlier this week, “whereas in America we’re used to hitting drivers and wedges more.”
markesbury: Playing a round of golf without a driver is something I will never understand! Years ago, a USGA official told me that the purpose of setting up a U.S. Open course is not necessarily to provide the most twists and turns of the test, but to allow players to make the most of every club in their hands during the course of the game. I like this idea, and I’m definitely in favor of rolling out more courses (or settings) where possible. Six or seven times a year would be fine.
Rory McIlroy, one of many players who leaked his driver, finished tied for 26th in India. Is McIlroy at the biggest disadvantage when course settings limit drivers?
bellhau: While Scotty Scheffler leads the Tour in strokes gained off the tee, I think most people would consider McIlroy with a driver to be one of the best performers in golf, and it’s probably the single club that gives one player more advantage than any other player (Scotty with irons not far behind?). That said, Rory didn’t win the career grand slam by simply hitting driver, but he probably did the most.
Bastable: I think it’s probably not that the course setting didn’t suit McIlroy’s skill set, but that target golf did suit other players, especially Tommy Fleetwood, who said the course was “set up perfectly for me.” Interestingly, if you look at McGillory’s 10 bogeys this week, you’ll see that most were not caused by loose tee shots but by missing greens or pins on the wrong side.
markesbury: I agree with two colleagues. For a player with so much skill off the tee, knocking out the driver is frustrating. But at the end of the day, you hit the ball and putt a lot more than you tee off. So any advantage McIlroy loses is still minimal in my opinion.
Sei Young Kim won the BMW Women’s Championship, becoming the 27th different winner on the LPGA Tour this season, joining only one two-time winner this year (Jeeno Thitikul, who won her second event, the LPGA Shanghai, a week ago). With just five games left, how do you analyze the current Player of the Year race?
bellhau: Jeeno Thitikul, the only player with multiple wins, is the clear front-runner and her season is looking great after these few weeks. She missed just one event all year and had 12 top-10 finishes. Since this is decided based on points, the CME Group Tour Championship may ultimately decide the entire tournament. We didn’t get that drama last year with Nelly Korda running away.
markesbury: Agreed, Josh. An incredible 27 first-time wins. It really speaks to how deep the talent is on the LPGA Tour, as you mentioned, Gino may have only had two wins, but she was in contention almost every time she started, had four runner-up finishes, and even though there was no major championship this year, she was very deserving of the crown.
Bastable: Judging from Jeeno’s stability, she is 120 points ahead of second-placed Nelly Korda in the Rolex rankings, while Korda is only 20 points ahead of third-placed Minjee Lee. In other words, Thitikul is way ahead of her peers. The only blemish on her 2025 resume comes at the U.S. Women’s Open, where she missed her only cut of the year.
Viktor Hovland pulled out of Sunday’s singles and introduced the now-controversial “envelope rule” at the Ryder Cup in his first competitive appearance, describing the situation as “disturbing” but adding that he did not think there was an easy solution to the rule. Okay, fair enough. But which Ryder Cup rule would you change?
bellhau: It’s simple – pick the game just like you would at the Presidents Cup, with the captains taking turns. That way, whenever the captains play, we can inject more drama into the game. (And drama excluding stupid fans.)
Bastable: In the event of a tie at the end of a singles match, a three-hole playoff will be held with one player from each team selected by the respective captains. However, unlike the envelope rule, playoff representatives will be selected in advance. The captains pick them right off the bat, so if they want, they can nominate not necessarily their best players, but their hottest players.
markesbury: The Ryder Cup is nearly perfect, but I don’t like the “keep” rule in draws. We need a result! The envelope is supposed to be used to nominate one player from each team for the entire tournament’s sudden-death playoffs.
