Every Wednesday, SI Golf will rank nine newsmakers from the golf world. Sometimes we'll cast a wide net. Tell us what you think on the SI Golf X account.
1. Keegan Bradley: With a birdie on the last hole of the Travelers Championship (and a Tommy Fleetwood three-putt), he snatched the victory and moved to No. 7 in the world rankings. However, that’s not why Bradley is first on this list. There’s a strong case that he can be the U.S. Ryder Cup team’s first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963. And there are doubts that Bradley could do both. Until the U.S. team is finalized at the end of the summer, this is going to be a controversial storyline that won’t be going away.
2. Minjee Lee: In grueling conditions, the Aussie won her third major in the war of attrition that was the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. If she can win the AIG Women’s British Open later this summer (or in her career), she’ll be the eighth women’s player to achieve the career Grand Slam.
3. Tommy Fleetwood: The search continues for the 34-year-old Englishman. With a brutal finish to the Travelers Championship, where he had the 54-hole lead by three strokes, he now has 42 top 10s on Tour without a victory, which is the most all time. Afterward, he was “angry,” but took the defeat on the chin. And it’s still expected that one day he’ll break through.
4. Wyndham Clark: After it was revealed that he damaged a historic locker at the U.S. Open (his second violent outburst in as many majors), Clark was asked at the Travelers if he wanted to apologize. He said he regrets his actions but wants to move on “for Oakmont, for the USGA” (um, O.K.) and then pivoted to how he still wants to make the Ryder Cup team and FedExCup playoffs. Not much accountability there.
5. Jordan Spieth: For the first time in his career, Spieth withdrew from an event. Twelve holes into the Travelers, he cut his round short, citing a neck injury. As the three-time major winner looks for his first victory since 2022, it’s his second injury in as many years. Depending on how long this sidelines him, it could dash his hopes of making the Ryder Cup team.
6. Stacy Lewis: A majority of the players at PGA Frisco last week weren’t fans of the setup, and out of all the disgruntled comments, Lewis’s were the most poignant. Speaking to Golfweek after missing the cut, the former world No. 1 said, “We’re trying to get more people to watch women’s golf, and to watch us play golf, and setups like this, they don’t help us. And this is when we have our biggest stages, network TV and all of that, and we’re making very good players look silly.” Will things change when the men play there in 2027?
7. Justin Thomas: The two-time major champion was in the hunt at the Travelers Championship after holding the 36-hole lead, but then almost took out a volunteer by flinging his driver after a wayward tee shot on the par-5 13th in Round 3. He went on to card a quadruple bogey on the hole. Karma for the poor etiquette?
8. Russell Henley: He chipped in on the 72nd hole at TPC River Highlands for birdie, which would have gotten him into a three-way playoff if Bradley made par on the last. However, that’s not why Henley’s here. In Round 2, he called a one-stroke penalty on himself, believing it was the right thing to do and a good teaching lesson for his son. And at the conclusion of the Travelers, he finished one back. Speaking of karma, maybe his honesty will be rewarded in the future.
9. Viktor Hovland: Spieth wasn’t the only WD in Connecticut. In the final round, Hovland, after a third-place finish at the U.S. Open, pulled out of the final round with a neck injury, forfeiting a large payday. With signature events boasting a $20 million purse and no 36-hole cut, even last place pockets a lump sum of cash. Harry Hall, for example, received ambulance care Saturday, but pulled himself together for Sunday, saying, “I think anyone else would turn up to work sick if they could make a quarter of a million.” He finished T9 with a final-round 65. Back to Hovland, though, let’s not criticize him, or anyone, for withdrawing. Hopefully, he’s back soon.
Also considered: Harry Hall, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Auston Kim, Maja Stark.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Power Nine: Uncertainty for Jordan Spieth and Keegan Bradley's Major Move.
