What single player creates such a fervor that ticket sales spike, TV ratings surge and a standard week on the golf calendar becomes an unmissable simply because that player is in the field?

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By now, even a modestly informed golf fan knows that it took 22 seconds for Fox to hit his final putt on the 72nd hole at Royal Birkdale to win the Open Championship. And in the aftermath, the 39-year-old New Zealand native has had a platform to explain his philosophy on his expedient approach to playing. Fast play, he said, “is not that difficult” — and he obviously proved the point.

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The brooding comes from the fact that the Open Championship closed the books on 2026 major season. On Sunday evening at Royal Birkdale, a very worthy Champion Golfer of the Year in Ryan Fox took home the Claret Jug. But it also brought a painful realization that major championship golf is behind us for another year.

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As the red numbers began piling up on Thursday’s leaderboard during the first round of the 154th Open Championship, it raised an immediate question: Is this early scoring explosion a harbinger of things to come, or is the Southport links preparing to strike back?

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That was the blunt question posed by a young autograph seeker to Bryson DeChambeau after he wrapped up his practice rounds for the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

The Forecaddie, much like the young fan, was highly interested in the answer.

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Last week, Scottie Scheffler missed the cut, ending a staggering streak of 78 consecutive tournaments without an early exit. Since 1970, only five players who have missed the cut in their previous start have followed up with a victory at the Open Championship. That history likely leaves the world No. 1 looking in from the outside.

But this week is not so much about Scheffler’s rare missed cut, nor is it about world No. 2 Rory McIlroy faltering on the weekend at the Genesis Scottish Open.

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The Forecaddie believes that if you have an opinion, have won nine times on the DP World Tour, and have served on the tour’s tournament committee for several years, you should use any forum you wish to express it. In this case, that forum was the Flushing It Golf podcast.

The topic was the current strategic alliance between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, which was consummated in 2022 and runs for 13 years through 2035 — unless an opt-out clause is triggered by either side at the end of 2027.

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Some people think it’s a shtick. And maybe it is. So what? The guy can play.

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To improve the product for players, fans, corporate sponsors, tournament partners and media partners, Rolapp explained why the new PGA Tour Championship Series and Challenger Series will make professional golf better.

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It’s time for the USGA to remove Shinnecock Hills Golf Club from its U.S. Open rotation. Don’t mistake this as any kind of criticism of the storied golf course on Long Island. It is one of the finest layouts not just in the United States but anywhere in the world. It is an historic place. Its greatness is unquestioned.

But stop taking the U.S. Open there. The USGA can’t get the setup right.

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Golf — both the recreational and professional versions — may be spared what everyone is calling the rollback of the golf ball.

In doing the math, the Forecaddie calculated that it was eight years ago when the R&A and USGA jointly decided that the ball was going too darn far and wanted to rein it in.

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Obviously, “great” is a subjective term. Considering there are very few in that category, we likely won’t see another Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods for some time. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler may eventually fit the bill, as could the pride of Northern Ireland, Rory McIlroy.

But looking past the two veterans, is Jackson Koivun a possible contender?

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It was a back-to-the-future moment, reminiscent of when Spieth routinely made those long, snaky putts for birdies during his heyday — back when he won the Masters and U.S. Open in 2015 and the Open Championship in 2017.

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When Woods failed to submit his formal entry by the deadline last week for the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, that meant he was officially out for the majors again. He already had missed the Masters and PGA Championship while undergoing rehab and treatment at a facility in Switzerland following his March auto accident, in which he was charged on suspicion of DUI. He has pleaded not guilty.

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The playoff system is different for each of the four majors.

The Masters used to be an 18-hole playoff, but now is sudden death — has never gone beyond the 11th hole since the change.

The U.S. Open also used to be an 18-hole playoff. If tied after the first 18 holes, there would be another 18 holes before moving to sudden death. In 2018, the USGA changed its playoff format to a two-hole aggregate, with sudden death if still tied.

The Open Championship started with a 36-hole format, then an 18-hole playoff, but now, depending on the golf course, the playoff is either a three- or four-hole aggregate.

The PGA of America uses a three-hole aggregate system, followed by a sudden-death playoff.

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After three rounds of the 108th PGA Championship, The Man Out Front has learned a lot.

The winner is likely within four shots or better, with leader Alex Smalley at 6 under. The outer limits for someone to come from behind would be 2 under.

There are 22 players with a chance, including eight with a major title on their resume — Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed, Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer, Cameron Smith and Hideki Matsuyama.

Those eight will be the focus for the Forecaddie on Sunday. And while it’s unfair to discount the others, the experience of winning a major is immeasurable. Add to the equation the fact that the final pairing of Alex Smalley and Matti Schmid has never won on the PGA Tour, which speaks volumes from a major standpoint.

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He might also have been referring to what happens next for him.

In his immediate future, he will play two more rounds of golf at Aronimink Golf Club after scraping his way to an even-par 70 to complete 36 holes in 2-over 142. He missed the cut in three majors a year ago, but is playing on the weekend for the second major in a row after finishing T33 at the Masters Tournament, a pleasing development after he asked for and received an exemption despite a world ranking of 471. Only European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald is ranked lower — not counting the 20 club professionals in the field.

Ranked No. 1 in the world for 135 weeks at one point in his career, Johnson looks fit at age 41. Only a slight bit of gray has invaded his ever-present beard. He still hits it plenty far enough, though he is not as accurate as the player who was a perennial threat in the U.S. Open and finally won it in 2016 at Oakmont.

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Now they are a necessary evil, truth be told, and The Forecaddie is quite used to these shuttles. Ample parking space on site at these big-stage golf shows simply does not exist, after all.

While he doesn’t love the shuttles, TMOF does appreciate the chance to bump into familiar faces and old friends, so it was a pleasant surprise to sit next to a longtime player manager with deep roots and esteemed credentials at the PGA Championship.

It was the customary greeting — “How are you doing? — but the agent’s answer was startling.

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The Titleist ball he plays, it has been reported, would conform to the new rollback standards that the USGA and R&A might — might — enforce beginning in 2030. That’s weird right off the bat because Young hit a drive with that ball 375 yards on the final hole of the Players at TPC Sawgrass, where he won by a stroke over Matt Fitzpatrick.

Doesn’t sound like much of a rollback.

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This week, the PGA Championship returns to Aronimink Golf Club near Philadelphia, for the first time since Gary Player won here in 1962. Injuries have kept Woods out of major competition since the 2024 British Open, but now it’s personal adversity that has him sidelined.

Yet another reminder of his absence came on Tuesday that he faces very serious problems when a Florida judge granted a prosecutor’s request to access Woods’ prescription drug records in the wake of his DUI arrest on March 27. Woods, 50, was arrested following a car crash in Jupiter Island and was charged with misdemeanor DUI and refusal to submit to a blood test.

The subpoena asked to see “any and all prescription medication on file at Lewis Pharmacy in Palm Beach, Fla.” Woods was found with two hydrocodone pills in his pocket at the time of the accident.

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