Justin Rose arrived at Harbour Town for last week’s RBC Heritage still processing emotions from his near-miss at the Masters, where he lost to Rory McIlroy in a playoff after a final-round 66 that featured 10 birdies, including a dramatic 20-footer on the 72nd hole.
Rose was a swing away, one arm figuratively in the green jacket only to wind up shaking the hand of the champion on the final green for a third time, as he did when he was paired with Jordan Spieth in 2015 and after his playoff loss to Sergio García in 2017.
“Certainly don’t feel down in any way, shape or form just because of the performance I was able to put in and how I was able to feel putting in that performance, but just sort of – don’t know what the right word is, tormented probably, by the thought of what might have been,” Rose said Wednesday.
“Obviously just bouncing back and forth with those two emotions. But certainly I think no regrets. You can lose a golf tournament and there’s a million things that you think I should have done this differently. There’s not really much I can look back and gone, I should have done that differently on the day.
“It’s more just like wish it would have added up to a different result than wish I would have done things differently.” READ MORE
Simon Bruty, Augusta National
Rangefinders debut IN PGA Tour Events
The RBC Heritage and Corales Puntacana Championship were the first PGA Tour events to allow the use of rangefinders, two of six tournaments over the next four weeks to allow them as the tour tests speed-of-play recommendations from its players. The move is part of a plan intended to address the perpetual pace-of-play dilemma.
When RBC Heritage defending champion Scottie Scheffler was asked about the new rule going into effect, he had to be reminded about it. “I kind of forgot about that,” Scheffler admitted.
Meanwhile, Brian Harman expressed doubt about whether rangefinders would speed up play. “It’s a hot topic right now, but it’s not something that is really fixable in our current game, I don’t think,” Harman said. “If you’re in a threesome on Thursday and Friday, you are waiting almost all day on the group in front of you, and they’re waiting on the group in front of them. There’s nowhere – there’s no space to operate. So there’s no incentive to play any faster.” READ MORE
Wesley Bryan, the 2017 RBC Heritage champion and a prominent YouTube content creator alongside his brother George, has been suspended by the PGA Tour for participating in “The Duels: Miami,” a YouTube match filmed at the LIV Miami event earlier this month. The event featured six LIV golfers teaming up with six YouTube creators for a nine-hole scramble and offered a $250,000 purse.
Bryan told the website Monday Q Info, which first reported the news, that he hadn’t been informed how long the suspension will last and indicated he would follow the PGA Tour’s appeal process. “For the last eight or nine years, the opportunities [on the PGA Tour] have been amazing,” Bryan said. “I’m extremely grateful to the tour for that. I don’t want this to be the end of my professional golf career.” READ MORE
Tap-Ins
Rory McIlroy’s victory delivered the most-watched Masters final round since 2018, averaging 12.99 million viewers, according to Nielsen live-same-day data. Viewership peaked at 19.9 million viewers in the 7 to 7:15 p.m. quarter-hour, which coincided with McIlroy’s playoff victory over Justin Rose for the career Grand Slam. READ MORE
Patrick Reed’s third-place finish at the Masters moved him to No. 49 in the world ranking, which assured him of a spot in next month’s PGA Championship and an additional chance to accrue ranking points, which he is unable to do in LIV Golf events. READ MORE
The International Golf Federation confirmed details of the mixed-team golf event that will make its debut at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The event will be staged in between the men’s and women’s individual competitions and will comprise 18 holes of foursomes (alternate shot) and 18 holes of four-ball (best ball). Teams will consist of one male and one female already qualified for the men’s and women’s individual Olympic golf competitions, with a maximum of one team per country. READ MORE
U.S. Solheim Cup captain Angela Stanford selected Kristy McPherson as her first assistant captain for the 2026 squad. READ MORE
Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau and all the Official World Golf Ranking top 50 were among the record 10,202 entries the USGA accepted for the 125th U.S. Open Championship at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club. READ MORE
Maverick McNealy and Keith Mitchell were elected co-chairmen of the 2025 PGA Tour Player Advisory Council. READ MORE
The PGA Tour and Grupo Puntacana, owner and operator of the Puntacana Resort & Club in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, announced an extension through 2027 for the Corales Puntacana Championship. READ MORE
Compiled by Mike Cullity