The 2026 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship thrilled crowds at Minnesota’s Hazeltine National Golf Club (see our recap starting on page 100), and that enthusiasm also spilled over to TV viewers. Golfweek reports that NBC Sports viewership of the major championship was at the highest level in 21 years, with 1.4 million viewers tuning in for the final round on NBC and Peacock despite a lengthy weather delay. The strong numbers for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship helped NBC Sports’ golf coverage post a historically strong weekend, which also included the PGA TOUR’s Travelers Championship, which had its highest viewership numbers in nearly a quarter century. More evidence that interest in golf, as a participant and a spectator, has remained strong through this summer.
link: https://bit.ly/3R05Zsk
Speaking of major championships, Aronimink Golf Club PGA of America Head Professional Jeff Kiddie hosted one earlier this season when the PGA Championship was played at his club outside Philadelphia. Now Kiddie, the 2023 PGA of America Golf Professional of the Year, will cap his season by playing in his first PGA TOUR Champions event. Central Bucks Now recently reported on Kiddie’s victory at the 2026 Philadelphia Senior PGA Professional Championship at Bellewood Country Club, where he cruised to a seven-stroke victory to earn an exemption into the new Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic to be held this September in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The victory was Kiddie’s first in the Philadelphia PGA Section, and also earned him a spot in October’s Senior PGA Professional Championship at Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club in Gold Canyon, Arizona.
link: https://bit.ly/4fqjrPk
Another PGA of America Golf Professional who had a memorable competitive ex perience is Matt Thompson, the PGA of America Director of Instruction at The Hills of Baw Beese Lake in Hillsdale, Michigan. The Battle Creek Enquirer re ported on Thompson’s final round at the Hall Financial/ Founders Brewing Co. Michigan Open, held in June at Shanty Creek Resort’s Cedar River Course in Bellaire. Thompson carded three eagles in his final-round 64, including an ace on the 17th hole. “I made an eagle on a par 5, an eagle on a par 4 and the hole-in-one was an eagle on a par 3. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in a tournament setting,” Thompson was quoted as saying. Thompson finished tied for second, one shot back of Cameron Ruge, a PGA of America Golf Instructor at Bay Meadows Family Golf Course in Traverse City, Michigan.
link: https://bit.ly/4h4j9Pq
2026 PGA of America Teacher & Coach of the Year Bernie Najar is known as a top expert on golf instruction, and he recently flexed his technology chops on a podcast appearance. Najar, the PGA of America Director of Instruction at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland, was a guest on Golf Business Technology’s GBT Podcast, discussing how data helps him on the lesson tee. Najar discusses many intriguing elements of modern coaching in the podcast appearance, including the use of 3D data and launch monitor metrics, how he digests data and relates it to students without overwhelming them and, importantly, what the ROI is on the high-tech tools available to PGA of America Professionals today. “Technology doesn’t replace the coach; it validates the process,” Najar says on the podcast. Check it out to learn how one of the game’s best makes his coaching even better with today’s tech.
link: https://bit.ly/4fp5VLU
