Scottie Scheffler
Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will kick off his 2026 PGA Tour season at The American Express next week in La Quinta, California, tournament officials announced.
Scheffler, who has been a regular competitor in the tournament, returns after missing last year’s event due to a hand injury he suffered over the holidays. He will join five other players ranked in the top 11 of the Official World Golf Ranking in the field: No. 5 Russell Henley, No. 7 Robert MacIntyre, No. 8 Ben Griffin, No. 10 Justin Rose and No. 11 Sepp Straka, who is the defending champion.
The American Express is slated for Jan. 22-25 at PGA West and La Quinta Country Club.
Scheffler has also committed to play in the WM Phoenix Open Feb. 5-8, officials from that tournament announced. Scheffler is a two-time winner of the event at TPC Scottsdale. READ MORE
The PGA Tour is expanding its Player Equity Program to reward current performance, adding the top 50 in the FedEx Cup this year to those receiving recurring grants from a program that has topped $1 billion in equity for more than 200 players.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp laid out the expansion in a memo to players last Thursday that also included updates on the progress of a new schedule model by a committee chaired by Tiger Woods, the Associated Press reported.
The expansion to the top 50 in the FedEx Cup was a result of a player meeting at the Rocket Classic, one week after Rolapp took over as CEO. It also was discussed at the November board meeting before being approved, the report said. This will roughly double the number of players who will be receiving recurring grants this year.
“By broadening the Player Equity Program, we are reaffirming our commitment to recognizing competitive performance and ensuring more of our members have the opportunity to share in the PGA Tour’s long-term success,” Rolapp wrote in the memo. READ MORE
Canada’s Richard T. Lee dominated from beginning to end in the LIV Golf Promotions event at Black Diamond Ranch in Florida, shooting 11-under par on the weekend to earn one of three available wild-card spots on LIV Golf in 2026.
Lee’s 64 in Thursday’s first round led the top 20 players and ties advancing into the second round. After being one of 22 players to make the cut on Friday to the final 36 holes, he cruised to a five-shot win with rounds of 64-65 on the weekend.
Sweden’s Björn Hellgren – a former teammate at Florida State of Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger who qualified for the Promotions event by winning the Asian Tour’s season-ending Saudi Open last month – fired 64 on Sunday to vault into second, a shot ahead of Anthony Kim. All three players earned wild-card status on LIV, which increased its field sizes to 57 players for 2026.
Kim, who played as a LIV Golf wild card the past two seasons following his return to competitive golf after a 12-year retirement, had to make a birdie on the last Friday to advance to the final 36 holes. He was 1-under through 12 holes Saturday before birdies at 13, 14 and 16 pushed him into a three-way tie for second entering Sunday’s final round.
Kim shot 1-under 69 Sunday to finish third at 5-under, two clear of fourth place and safely back on LIV for a third season. He finished near the bottom at 56th and 55th in the individual standings his first two seasons.
“I’m not here to prove everybody wrong. I’m here to prove myself right,” Kim said. “I’ve worked so hard. … This is just the first step, but I'm glad I earned my spot so everybody could quit talking s***, and I'll be back soon and I'll be winning golf tournaments soon.” READ MORE
The LPGA and TMRW Sports will launch a women’s indoor golf league next winter, they announced last Tuesday.
WTGL will feature teams of LPGA Tour players competing in match play at the tech-infused SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. TMRW Sports, co-founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, launched the men’s TGL in tandem with the PGA Tour last winter.
“Partnering with TMRW Sports on WTGL reflects our belief that innovation can help the game reach new fans and create greater visibility for LPGA athletes,” LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler said in a news release. “I’ve seen how new formats can engage audiences while showcasing both athlete personality and performance, and WTGL brings that spirit of innovation to the women’s game.”
The release did not specify the players who will compete in WTGL or the number of teams that will be involved. READ MORE
Tap-ins
The LPGA’s first major of the season, the Chevron Championship, will relocate from the Club at Carlton Woods to Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston, the tour announced last Wednesday, confirming news that had initially been reported in November. READ MORE
The PGA Tour announced its 2026 FedEx Cup Fall schedule, an eight-event slate that includes new tournaments in Asheville, North Carolina, and Austin, Texas, as well as consecutive stops in Mexico. READ MORE
Two-time PGA Tour winner Akshay Bhatia turned down a lucrative offer to join LIV Golf, Golf Channel.com reported, citing confirmation from multiple sources. READ MORE
Mito Pereira, the 30-year-old Chilean pro and LIV Golf competitor who finished third at the 2022 PGA Championship, announced his retirement from professional golf. READ MORE
Farmers Insurance will end its title sponsorship of the PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California, after this year’s tournament, the tour and the organizing Century Club of San Diego confirmed to Golf Digest last Friday. READ MORE
Netflix announced that the fourth season of its pro golf docuseries “Full Swing,” expected to highlight the 2025 season, will return to the streaming platform in April. READ MORE
The Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings announced in late December that changes to the rankings’ calculation methodology would take effect starting with the Jan. 5, 2026, update. These adjustments will introduce more players into the rankings, notably players on tours with a lower strength of field. READ MORE
Compiled by Mike Cullity
