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Wyndham Clark | Recent Results: 3rd, T11, WIN
Now a 2-time US Open Champion, which appeared to be to the disdain of many on Long Island and X, the everything app, this past weekend.
But there’s no denying the form that Clark discovered a couple of months ago, and he’s quickly inserted himself back into a conversation that, in 2025, it felt like we would never include him in again: “the game’s elite.”
He’s now won twice in his last four starts, with those wins coming in completely different ways, while also adding a solo third and T11 in his other two starts.
The new putter, albeit looking like the ugliest thing in the world, has become his superpower. It feels like he legitimately can’t miss with it. We’ll see if Clark continues to take the golf world by storm during the summer.
J.T Poston | Recent Results: T35, WIN, T4
The Postman has rediscovered the form that, like Clark, I thought was perhaps lost forever.
I was hesitant to add him to this list during the last edition when he was coming off his win at Memorial because I wanted to see if he was going to sustain said form. Well, he definitely did by finishing T4 at the US Open.
Winning at Muirfield and then backing it up by finishing behind only three golfers at Shinnecock is seriously impressive golf, as both those courses demand a lot from your game and also don’t allow you to fake it like some other PGA Tour venues and setups.
The new putter has done wonders for turning his form around lately. We’ll continue to see if this success is here to stay longer-term or simply one of those stretches where a player gets hot for a month before cooling back down.
Sam Burns | Recent Results: T4, T20, 2nd
Gutted for Burns…
He made Sunday’s final round viewing a delight but just couldn’t get one of those last birdie putts to fall. Unfortunately, the one on 17 may have been the worst putt hit all week, but the one on 18 was so good. I still can’t believe it didn’t drop.
He’s now put himself in contention on Sunday at 2 of 3 Majors this year. It feels like that Major win is coming soon.
In regards to his game, he’s consistently bringing the iron and approach play to seemingly every tournament now, an area that he’s previously struggled with in his career. In fact, he’s gained strokes on approach in 9 of his last 10 starts on Tour.
And obviously, he remains one of the best putters on Tour. When the irons are also on, that’s a pretty nice recipe for success.
Joaquin Niemann | WIN, T24, T7
Everyone’s heard about the 9 he made that turned into an 11 after receiving a 2-stroke code of conduct penalty for hacking his club 60 yards down the fairway during play in Round 1. But it’s seriously impressive that he finished T7 at the US Open while making an 11.
Especially given the track record of his Major Championship play, something that’s been ridiculed quite heavily over the last few years. And for those of you who don’t keep up with LIV Golf, he also won on that circuit a few weeks back.
Niemann’s game continues to round back into form after a very tough end to his 2025 and start to his 2026 campaigns. The approach play appears to be back on track after inconsistencies were present early this year, and if the putter can remain more solid than not, expect to see Niemann’s name popping up a lot more again like it was in 2024 and early 2025.
Tom Kim | T54, T15, 3rd
Lots were surprised to see Tom Kim contend at Shinnecock this week, as his game had fallen off Mount Everest. The simple saying of “off a cliff” didn’t do his struggles justice.
In 2025, he posted one top 10 all year and only three top 20s, and in 2026, until about a month ago, it was more of the same.
Now, I didn’t see him contending at Shinnecock, but he was starting to re-emerge lately with some newly found form. T6 at Myrtle Beach, T15 in Canada, and now a 3rd at the US Open.
He’s been gaining on approach consistently in his last six starts and in 11 of his last 12, an area that was quite poor in 2025. By all accounts, it appears as if Tom Kim might be back, and just in time for the P-Cup at Medinah.
Still crazy to say he’s only 24 years old. It feels like he could almost be 30 by now.
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Cameron Young | Recent Results: T26, T46, T43
Young seemed unstoppable a month ago walking off the 18th green after his dominant win at Trump Doral, continuing what had been a stellar run of play that also saw him win the PLAYERS and contend late on Sunday at the Masters. It seemed like a guarantee that he would contend at the upcoming Majors too and maybe even win one. That has been far from the case, though.
The storyline earlier in the season and a main contributor to his standout play was the putter, but again, as soon as he walked off the 18th green at Trump Doral, it has become an inconsistent area of his game that’s holding him back, losing strokes with it in 3 of his last 4 starts.
The approach play and play off the tee remain solid, so we’ll see if he can get the flat stick heated up again here shortly.
Patrick Cantlay | Recent Results: T35, T17, CUT
It was another disappointing Major Championship performance from Cantlay at the US Open, something that has been a common occurrence during Major weeks in his career.
However, the approach play and off-the-tee play remain very solid, and because of that, I don’t imagine he’ll last on this list long…
But he simply deserved it after another underwhelming showing in a Major.
Min Woo Lee | Recent Results: T18, CUT, CUT
Back-to-back missed cuts pretty much sum up why he’s on this list.
The putter has been ice cold in those starts, and it’s a trend he’ll be looking to quickly kill. He also hasn’t contended since March. He simply just needs to get back on track.
Alex Smalley | Recent Results: T3, CUT, CUT
After a close call at the PGA and the following week at the Charles Schwab, Smalley has quickly reverted back to his norm, missing both the cut at Memorial and the US Open.
He shot an 83 in the opening round of Memorial, and that destroyed any momentum he had going. All areas of his game have simply been bad over the last two starts.
Intrigued to see if he can quickly bounce back after a couple of starts at tough venues.
Shane Lowry | Recent Results: T22, T29, CUT
It’s been very average to below-average play for Shane since his collapse at the Cognizant. There are definitely notable guys playing worse right now, but I thought it would be a good time to note his play since the Cognizant and after missing the cut at the US Open.
No area of his game is awful right now, but nothing seems good enough to contend either. Specifically, it would help a lot if the putter and ARG picked up.
