With the U.S. Women’s Open taking place at Riviera Country Club and the PGA Tour making its annual stop at Muirfield Village for the Memorial, we always knew we were in store for quite the weekend in golf, and did it ever live up to the expectations.
Speaking of expectations, Nelly Korda was the overwhelming favorite to find the winner’s circle at Riviera and finally earn her first U.S. Women’s Open title. She went out and accomplished just that, but the way in which she did it makes it one of the most impressive performances in major championship history on the men’s or women’s side. One statistic in particular from Korda’s performance makes her win feel legitimately impossible.
This Monday is the longest day in golf, with 36-hole U.S. Open qualifiers taking place around the country, but Sunday at the Memorial was a marathon in itself after weather suspended Saturday’s action. The top of the leader board was sprinkled with unsuspecting names, but the back-and-forth duel between Ryan Gerard and eventual winner J.T. Poston down the stretch was rather electric.
Over on LIV, Tyrrell Hatton picked up his first win worldwide since January 2025 at Valderrama in Spain. While reflecting on his win, he shared a rare glimpse into his personal life and detailed how his perspective has changed since becoming a father.
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World No. 1 Nelly Korda winning the U.S. Open at Riviera, one of the most well-known and respected golf courses in the country, feels right.
The American and face of the women’s game, winning her first U.S. Open in Los Angeles, and somehow clawing her way back from shooting 2-over par in the first round to eventually win by one stroke, is storybook stuff. It also serves as a monumental result for the women’s game.
Then you look at one statistic, and Korda winning the golf tournament does not seem remotely possible.
Across 72 holes, Korda missed 30 greens in regulation. Thirty!
NELLY KORDA ROCKS USA SOCCER JERSEY ON COURSE AT US WOMEN’S OPEN, DELIVERS PATRIOTIC MESSAGE
Just for a bit of context, Rory McIlroy missed 24 greens in regulation on his way to winning the Masters in April. Jacob Bridgeman, who won The Genesis at Riviera earlier this year, only missed 16 greens in regulation. J.J. Spaun, last year’s U.S. Open winner, missed just 21 greens en route to victory.
Missing 30 greens in any professional golf tournament, let alone in a U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera, is the quickest and easiest way to never even come close to getting into contention. Yet somehow, Korda not only finished the week under par, but posted 8-under and won the golf tournament.
What we saw out of Korda this week was freakish, generational stuff, but also quite horrifying. She won a major championship on an incredibly difficult track while hitting just 58% of the greens. If she hits just a handful more greens in regulation, she very likely runs away with the tournament on Sunday.
It goes without saying that Korda’s putter was red-hot throughout the week, but it nearly gave the golf world a collective heart attack on the 72nd hole.
Faced with a par putt from just inside three feet to win, Korda’s ball somehow caught the left edge and dropped. When the ball left her putter’s face, it looked like it wasn’t even going to hit the hole, yet the hole reached out and caught it.
With the win at Riviera, here is the list of Korda’s results so far in 2026: 1, 2, 2, T-2, 1, 1, T-8, 1. She’s also now won all three of the stateside major championships and will look to win her third consecutive major title at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at the end of June.
They say earning your first PGA Tour win is the hardest, but after Sunday, J.T. Poston may argue it doesn’t get more difficult than No. 4.
Poston’s Sunday began early, with 13 holes still to play to wrap up his third round after play was suspended on Saturday afternoon. After signing for a three-under round of 69 and grabbing what felt like a commanding lead with 18 holes to play, it looked as if Poston might cruise to victory, but things are not often as they seem.
As Poston made the turn at 1-over for his round, the likes of Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Tommy Fleetwood and Ryan Gerard put their foot on the gas. With three holes left to play, four players were tied atop the leader board, Poston’s momentum was fading, and it looked to be anyone else’s day.
Despite Gerard jumping into the driver’s seat with a 37-foot birdie putt on 17 to grab the lead, Poston answered back with a birdie on the 72nd hole, and the fireworks were officially set off at Jack’s Place.
Matching pars on the first playoff hole pushed Poston to tee it up for the 33rd time on Sunday, and 33 was all he needed. Gerard three-putted the second playoff hole to set up Poston’s winning moment.
Poston, whose odds to win to begin the week were 150-1, was not on anyone’s radar to find his form at the Memorial and win the signature event.
In 13 starts in 2026, Poston had not earned a single top 20 finish and missed four cuts, yet found a way to be the last player standing when it was all said and done. His round of 65 on Friday, which included a bogey, may be the most impressive stretch of 18 holes we’ve seen on Tour this season. No other player in the field broke 69 in the second round.
The Englishman has earned a reputation inside the ropes of being about as pessimistic as they come, but outside the ropes, Hatton is one of the more underrated soundbites in the sport, given the fact that he doesn’t possess a filter and simply calls it as he sees it.
While he’s undoubtedly a top 5 player competing on LIV Golf, his lone win on the circuit came back in 2024 at LIV Nashville, but he finally got back in the winner’s circle at LIV Andalucia over the weekend, getting the best of Jon Rahm by two strokes.
Speaking to the media after earning the victory, Hatton got candid about how his young daughter has given him a new perspective and motivation to perform at his best in what was a very cool, humbling moment.
Hatton’s comments in Spain echo what he said following the Masters earlier this year, where he finished T-3 after playing his final six holes 4-under par, earning an exemption into the 2027 Masters.
He explained that he flipped the switch down the stretch at Augusta National with his, at the time, still-to-be-born little girl and the motivation of wanting to show her off during the Masters Par-3 contest alongside his wife.
