Blades Brown didn’t waste much time getting his first PGA Tour win. The 19-year-old, born in 2007, needed only 22 starts before shooting a final-round 63 and then making consecutive birdies in a playoff to win the Worldwide Technology Championship in Mexico. Not a bad day’s work.
Meanwhile, Jon Rahm made his first start since announcing he was leaving LIV Golf and won in Abu Dhabi. He held off Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton to claim the title.
And on Sunday, Bryson DeChambeau released a lengthy statement about LIV Golf winding down. It was polished and emotional in places, but to me it felt heavy on public-relations language and light on the thing many people are wondering about: money.
Brown’s decision to turn professional while still in high school looks like the right one now. The Nashville native became the youngest PGA Tour winner in 95 years, beating Ben James in a two-hole playoff. Charles Kocsis remains the youngest winner in Tour history; he was 18 when he won the 1931 Michigan Open.
Brown’s comeback was remarkable. He began Sunday seven shots off the lead, then played his first 10 holes in five under as James struggled to a one-over front nine. Brown knew he needed a big finish, and he delivered another five-under stretch on the back nine.
That looked like enough to win in regulation, but James, 23, made an eagle on the 72nd hole to force a playoff. On the second extra hole, James missed a six-foot birdie putt. Brown made his five-footer and secured the win.
Afterward, Brown said he thought back to watching Tiger Woods and other great players win major championships when he was five. To find himself now with a PGA Tour victory, he said, was hard to take in.
Brown earned his Tour card earlier this year by finishing in the top 20 on the Korn Ferry Tour points list. His win gives him a two-year exemption, along with invitations to the 2027 PGA Championship and Players Championship.
Rahm, meanwhile, showed he remains a formidable player. In September, he finished last among 138 competitors at the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship. This weekend, about a month after his departure from LIV became public, he won the penultimate event of the DP World Tour season. It was his first victory outside LIV since the 2023 Masters.
Like many former LIV players, Rahm plans to play on the DP World Tour in 2027. Winning just before the 2026 season wraps up gives him some welcome momentum. It also came only weeks after his wife, Kelley, gave birth to their fourth child. Their children range from newborn to five years old, which makes the win an accomplishment regardless of the money Rahm earned with LIV.
After the victory, Rahm reflected on a Spanish saying that newborns arrive bearing gifts. He said the happiness his family feels after welcoming a child had seemed to carry over into his performance.
DeChambeau’s statement about LIV’s shutdown leaned heavily on themes of team golf, growing the sport, and looking ahead with humility. He said he had given everything to keep team golf alive and still believes it could play an important role, even if its future form changes. He also acknowledged that some of his past comments had not helped, and said he wanted to show respect for those who built the game before him.
What stood out to me was what the statement left unsaid: there was no mention of the money or the wealth DeChambeau accumulated during his time with LIV. Players’ financial motives for joining the breakaway tour have hardly been a secret. Still, those who have spoken plainly about it have come across as more candid.
DeChambeau said he expects to play in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa in early December. To compete on the DP World Tour, he would need to commit by November 15. If he doesn’t, he may focus more heavily on YouTube and appear at the four major championships while waiting to see whether the PGA Tour offers him a path back.
