Articles by Shane Ryan

November 21st, 2024

Walking nine holes with Caitlin Clark at her surprise pro-am appearance

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Audrey Rollins was too humble to tell me herself, but her great-aunt, Lynn Pulser, was just fine bragging on her behalf. Not only is Rollins, 15, one of the best high school players in Florida, as Pulser told me, but she was featured in Sports Illustrated, where she was described Read more…

November 20th, 2024

Players react to PGA Tour infrastructure changes with a sense of inevitability, acceptance

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — On Monday, the PGA Tour Policy Board approved a series of changes proposed in late October by the Player Advisory Council that reshapes critical portions of the tour’s infrastructure. The changes included a reduction of the number of fully exempt players on tour, chipping away at the fringes of tour Read more…

November 20th, 2024

This tour pro turned his game around—literally—to enjoy playing golf with his kids

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — When looking back on the goals he hasn’t yet accomplished in 2024, there’s one in particular that stands out for Chris Kirk. He hasn’t yet broken 80. Left-handed. He’s come close, shooting 80 on the number with a birdie on the 18th hole at Athens Country Club. The 39-year-old PGA Read more…

November 19th, 2024

Smaller fields, fewer tour cards are among sweeping changes approved by PGA Tour Policy Board

The slew of changes proposed last month were approved at the official session of the full PGA Tour Policy Board. There was no indication in the tour’s press release of vote totals.

November 15th, 2024

There is nothing stranger than a golfer’s brain. Just ask us

Golfpocalypse is a weekly collection of words about (mostly) professional golf with very little in the way of a point, and the Surgeon General says it will make you a worse person. Reach out to The Golfpocalypse with your questions or comments on absolutely anything at [email protected]. If I’m not careful, superstitions will own me Read more…

November 8th, 2024

I have the dumbest golf pet peeve, but I can’t shake it

Golfpocalypse is a weekly collection of words about (mostly) professional golf with very little in the way of a point, and the Surgeon General says it will make you a worse person. Reach out to The Golfpocalypse with your questions or comments on absolutely anything at [email protected] that the never-ending presidential election is over, and Read more…

November 1st, 2024

If you talk about politics on the golf course, please, for God’s sake, stop

Golfpocalypse is a weekly collection of words about (mostly) professional golf with very little in the way of a point, and the Surgeon General says it will make you a worse person. Reach out to The Golfpocalypse with your questions or comments on absolutely anything at [email protected] want to be clear up top that I Read more…

October 30th, 2024

What the proposed changes to the PGA Tour really mean—our writers weigh in

On Tuesday, in a memo to PGA Tour members, the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council, in conjunction with the player directors on the Policy Board, proposed major changes to tour operations. They included a significant reduction in the overall tour membership (dropping, among other categories, how many players keep their cards each year based on Read more…

October 30th, 2024

Fewer tour cards, smaller fields among key changes proposed for a re-imagined PGA Tour in 2026

The six player directors on the PGA Tour Policy Board, in conjunction with the 16 players making up the Player Advisory Council (PAC), have proposed sweeping changes to the tour that affect everything from field size to membership status to sponsor exemptions and Monday qualifying.

October 25th, 2024

Loving golf in 2024 is about finding where the money isn’t

Golfpocalypse is a weekly collection of words about (mostly) professional golf with very little in the way of a point, and the Surgeon General says it will make you a worse person. Reach out to The Golfpocalypse with your questions or comments on absolutely anything at [email protected] consider it one of life’s little miracles that Read more…

October 11th, 2024

I believed in the magic of Tiger Woods when I was a kid (but I’m a cynic now)

Golfpocalypse is a weekly collection of words about (mostly) professional golf with very little in the way of a point, and the Surgeon General says it will make you a worse person. Reach out to The Golfpocalypse with your questions or comments on absolutely anything at [email protected] this week I was reading Kyle Porter’s newsletter, Read more…

October 10th, 2024

In Augusta, home of the Masters, residents talk about the fright and damage of Hurricane Helene

Recovery efforts are ongoing in Augusta, but the destruction from Hurricane Helene was something few had ever experienced, let alone believed possible.

October 7th, 2024

Kevin Yu bags his first PGA Tour win in wild finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship

Yu, a 26-year-old from Taiwan, became just the third player from his nation (after T.C. Chen and C.T. Pan) to win on the PGA Tour.

October 4th, 2024

If you can enjoy playing golf alone, you have achieved nirvana

Golfpocalypse is a weekly collection of words about (mostly) professional golf with very little in the way of a point, and the Surgeon General says it will make you a worse person. Reach out to The Golfpocalypse with your questions or comments on absolutely anything at [email protected]. I’m no hero. I am no role model. Read more…

October 2nd, 2024

Fundraising efforts underway for golf superintendents affected by Hurricane Helene

In the aftermath of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene in the southeast United States, with the death toll now 130 and likely to rise as untold thousands are displaced from their homes, rescue and relief efforts are underway to help the victims. Those efforts will come from a wide variety of sources, including the Read more…

September 30th, 2024

Presidents Cup 2024: Despite score, Internationals played the US close, and Mike Weir’s curious line-up calls contributed to loss

I know what you’re going to say – I can hear it already: The final score was 18½-11½. The Americans were consistently placed higher in the world rankings. The Internationals were outmatched and outmuscled. Nothing that captain Mike Weir or anyone else did strategically could ever have made a difference. This is wrong, and I’ll explain Read more…

September 30th, 2024

A way too early look at who makes the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team

MONTREAL — For fans of team match-play golf, it’s always a little sad when an event like the Presidents Cup comes to an end. What better way, then, to stifle that sadness—or pretend it doesn’t exist—than turning our attention immediately to the next one? With that in mind, before the body of the 2024 Presidents Read more…

September 30th, 2024

Presidents Cup 2024: Everything we know about the incident between Scottie Scheffler’s dad, caddie and a fan

MONTREAL — One of the more bizarre incidents in a thrilling afternoon session Saturday at Royal Montreal Golf Club came in the last match on the course, with Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley taking on Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im in foursomes. Scheffler and Henley would eventually win that match, 3 and 2, but on Read more…

September 29th, 2024

Presidents Cup 2024: Our grades for all 24 players so far, from an A+ for Patty Ice to an D- for Hideki

MONTREAL — Judging the performance of a player at an event like the Presidents Cup can be slightly tricky, in part because it’s such a small sample size, and in part because results often depend so much on both playing partners and opponents. Still, in the era of strokes gained, we can isolate personal performance Read more…

September 29th, 2024

Presidents Cup 2024: Breaking down the Sunday singles matchups at Royal Montreal

A wild first three days at Royal Montreal leaves the U.S. with a 11-7 lead over the International team entering Sunday singles at the Presidents Cup. It’s a lead that would seem to be insurmountable, but given the crazy swings in play during each session so far, it’s hard to say the matches are over. Read more…

September 29th, 2024

Presidents Cup 2024: Russell Henley, the new ‘Scheffler Whisperer,’ is a big winner at Royal Montreal

MONTREAL — Heading into this week’s Presidents Cup, the Americans had a Scottie Scheffler problem. In 2023 at the Ryder Cup, and a year earlier at the 2022 Presidents Cup, Scheffler was the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world and, in theory, the greatest weapon on either team. Nevertheless, he went 0-4-2 in the Read more…

September 29th, 2024

Presidents Cup 2024: Fired-up Tom Kim fumes over Americans not giving him short putt

MONTREAL — Tom Kim has been the lifeblood of the Presidents Cup for the International team this week, and as his team tried to claw back from an 8-6 deficit Saturday afternoon, he was engaged in a tough alternate-shot battle with Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. On the seventh hole of that match, a par Read more…