The stereotype is true: Gen Zers have no patience whatsoever. Blades Brown, born in 2007 (!), needed all of 22 starts on the PGA Tour to earn his maiden victory. All he had to do was shoot a final-round 63 and then make back-to-back birdies in a playoff to win the Worldwide Technology Championship in Mexico. You know, a pretty typical day at the office for a 19-year-old.
On the other side of the world, Jon Rahm made his first start since announcing his exit from LIV Golf over in Abu Dhabi, and it’s safe to say that playing with a clear mind has its benefits. The Spaniard found the winner’s circle and held off the likes of Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton in the process.
The golf world was served a rather robust word salad from Bryson DeChambeau on Sunday, shortly before NFL games kicked off, which cannot be a coincidence, regarding LIV Golf shutting down. While DeChambeau may have successfully portrayed his emotions, the statement was nothing but disingenuous filler, which actually serves as a pretty great representation of what LIV Golf was.
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I think we can officially say that Blades Brown’s decision to turn professional while still only a junior in high school was the correct call.
The Nashville native became the youngest PGA Tour winner in 95 years after beating Ben James in what was a two-hole playoff in Mexico. Charles Kocsis still holds the record that may never be beaten as the youngest winner ever on Tour after winning the 1931 Michigan Open at 18 years old.
Just as nothing about a 19-year-old winning on Tour is normal, neither was Brown’s final round. He began Sunday seven shots back of the lead, but after playing his opening 10 holes at 5-under and with James making the turn at 1-over for the day, the door was open, and Brown sprinted through it.
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Fully aware that he needed a special back nine to have a chance, Brown shot 5-under, which felt like it was going to be enough to get the job done in regulation. The 23-year-old James, however, had different plans and made an eagle on the 72nd hole to force a playoff between two of the top up-and-coming players on Tour.
James gifted Brown on the second playoff hole with a missed six-foot birdie putt before the teenager buried his five-footer for birdie to finish the job. Brown, who is so young he wasn’t even close to being born during Tiger Woods‘ prime, gave a mention to The Big Cat after pulling off the comeback.
“I just go back to 5-year-old Blades that was watching the TV and watching Tiger Woods and all those great players win major championships, and to think that I’m now in a similar spot with having won a PGA Tour event is mind-blowing,” he explained.
Brown earned his PGA Tour card earlier this year by finishing inside the Top 20 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List. Now, with his victory, he has a full two-year exemption and invitations to both the PGA Championship and Players Championship in 2027.
It turns out that Jon Rahm can still play golf.
Back in September, the Spaniard teed it up in the BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour in the midst of what we can now call the final breaths of both his stint on LIV Golf and the circuit as a whole. He finished 138th out of 138 players that week.
Fast forward to this weekend, one month after his decision was made public that he was leaving LIV, and he stepped into the winner’s circle in the penultimate event on the DP World Tour calendar for his first non-LIV victory since the 2023 Masters.
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Rahm, like the majority of former LIV players, plans to play the 2027 season on the DP World Tour, and picking up a victory just before the 2026 campaign closes is a nice boost looking towards the new year.
It’s also worth mentioning that Rahm’s win in Abu Dhabi came just a few weeks after his wife, Kelley, gave birth to their fourth child. The hundreds of millions of dollars he made from LIV Golf help the operation back home, but winning golf tournaments with four kids ranging from newborn to five years old is an accomplishment, no matter the number of commas in the bank account.
“In Spain, they have a saying: a newborn comes with bread under the arm; they come bearing gifts,” Rahm said, according to The Mirror, after securing his win. “Another child is another gift, and luckily that’s come true almost every time for me. There’s something to say about the happiness that our family feels once we’ve had a child, and my performance showed it.”
DeChambeau broke his silence on LIV Golf shutting its doors by issuing a statement on Sunday that hit every PR-friendly note imaginable.
Here are a few highlights (lowlights) from his farewell letter to LIV. Spoiler alert: he’s really, really going to miss team golf.
“I believed this game could reach more people, in more places, in a new way. I still believe that. And I gave it everything I had to keep team golf alive.”
“I still believe in team golf. It may look different in the future, but I still believe it’s essential to growing the game.”
“Arnold Palmer said no player is bigger than the game, and I want to acknowledge that, along the way, I’ve said some things that didn’t help. Whatever comes next, I’ll approach it with humility and respect for the people who carried this game long before me.”
“My passion has been to grow this game. That’s still the goal. Thank you for sticking with me. Together we can all grow this great game we love.”
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Oddly enough, DeChambeau’s statement did not make mention of money or the generational wealth he accrued during his stint with LIV Golf.
On a serious note, DeChambeau was never, and likely will never, be completely transparent that he, like every other player who joined LIV, did so for the payday.
Yes, everyone with a pulse understands that money was the first, second, and third most important factor behind each player’s move to the breakaway circuit, but the players who have admitted as such have managed to portray at least some form of honesty and decency.
As for what’s next for DeChambeau, he only mentioned that he’d be teeing it up at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa in early December. If he’s looking to compete on the DP World Tour, he has to commit by Nov. 15.
If he doesn’t go that route, it’s likely we’ll be living in a world where DeChambeau fully leans into his YouTube channel and turns up at the four major championships while waiting on the PGA Tour to extend another olive branch.
