Good morning, golf fans. A humble request: If you haven’t done so already, please check out the latest episode of my new podcast with Gianni Magliocco. Appreciate you all! Latest show description below.

The guys offer hot takes on a very cold subject: snow (also, Joker 2). On the “actually related to golf front,” they take a quick spin through the topics du jour before discussing Tiger Woods’ PNC Championship commitment and what could be ahead for the 15-time major champion. Nine-stroke penalties, Brooks and Bryson, and a curmudgeonly rant about practice swings (Ben) round out the show.

1. Patty T, Knapp Time take the GTI

AP report…”Patty Tavatanakit holed a 25-foot birdie putt and Jake Knapp gave them the lead on the next hole with a tough pitch to set up birdie as the UCLA duo combined for a 7-under 65 on Sunday for a one-shot victory in the Grant Thornton Invitational.”

• “They won on their respective tours on the same day this year — Knapp at the Mexico Open, Tavatanakit at the Honda LPGA Thailand — and were equally impressive as a team, especially down the stretch at Tiburon Golf Club.”

• “Jeeno Thitikul, who won the LPGA finale at Tiburon last month for the $4 million prize, holed an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole as she and Tom Kim shot 64 to finish alone in second.”

2. Q-School qualifiers

AP report…” Lanto Griffin holed a 40-foot putt for eagle on his first hole that sent him to a 7-under 63 in the final round of Q-school, the leader of six players who earned PGA Tour cards for next year.”

• “Griffin was the medalist at 9-under 271, but all that mattered was being among the top five and ties to get full status as the PGA Tour goes through sharp changes that include smaller fields starting in 2025.”

• “Hayden Buckley (67) and former world No. 1 amateur Takumi Kanaya of Japan (69) also made it through. Kanaya holed 8-foot par putts on his last two holes.”

• “They were followed at 4-under 276 by Alejandro Tosti of Argentina (66), Will Chandler (66) and Matthew Riedel (72).”

3. Dunhill: Shaun Norris a winner

BBC report…”Shaun Norris shot a final-round 67 to win the Alfred Dunhill Championship by one shot in his native South Africa.”

• “Norris carded an eagle, five birdies and a bogey to finish on 13 under and claim victory at Leopard Creek Country Club.”

• “England’s John Parry, Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult and South Africa’s Ryan van Velzen were a shot back on 12 under.”

4. LIV Promotions

Golf Channel report…”Chieh-po “Max” Lee captured the lone 2025 LIV Golf spot on offer at its Promotions event.”

• “Lee, a 30-year-old winner this past season on the Asian Tour, shot 3-under 68 in the final round at Riyadh Golf Club to finish at 10 under par, two clear of second place.”

• “Taichi Kho (67) and Branden Grace (67) finished T-2. Grace, who won a LIV Golf individual tournament as part of the Stingers team in 2022, was relegated after a poor ’24 season.”

5. AK’s wild claim

6. Tiger a winner in 2025?

Around the 10-minute mark of the latest episode of Not Another Golf Show, the guys dig into Tiger Woods’ health update at last week’s Hero World Challenge and news he plans to tee it up along with his son Charlie at the PNC Championship next week.

Here’s an excerpt of the conversation.

Ben: I’ll ask you, coming out of out of his Hero presser and his answers around his health. Did you expect him to be ready for this event or did you expect he’d be on the shelf for a bit longer here?

Gianni: I thought he’d play because he can just get in a cart for this… it’s not going to be taxing on the body at all. let’s be honest, nobody really cares about the result. It’s more about just teaming and having fun. So I’m not surprised he’s playing, but it’s very hard to be enthusiastic about Tiger’s 2025 when you listen to him speak about his body, about his health, how he’s not going to be able to play lead-up events into the majors. I know he hates the term “ceremonial golfer” but it’s hard to get away with not calling him that these days.

Ben: I mean, just looking at his age, irrespective of the toll the body has taken, which is singular, think, in golf, at least among top golfers. mean, the infographic of what has happened to each portion of his body and what he’s weathered, the number of surgeries, all of that is…It’s really staggering and you know, it’s easy to forget about some of it. But I mean, the age he’s at, for the most part, players don’t win anymore. I mean, he’s past the age of decline.

So you got father time going against you generally. then given everything he’s been through. And I think specifically, he has issues affecting his ability to walk and his endurance related to that and the ability to pain-free related to that. But you know, the back issues, I think just as much the way that continues to be a thing, you know, I mean, he was on the shelf for his prior back surgery, right? When the car accident happened, and then all the focus is on the leg, you know. But the back was still very much a thing at that point, and obviously, as evidenced by him having another surgery here, still is very much a thing. So, it’s super concerning in terms of just his ability to ever have the combination of feeling good enough to get the reps, to get the game sharp enough, and having four days in which he’s able to walk around with the level of comfort that it’s not adversely affecting his play.

Gianni: Yeah, I would just, and it is never going to happen, but I would just love to see him avail of the PGA Tour’s disability clause and just use a cart for a year and just see how he feels after that…because he’s just giving himself fits now…

7. Winning WITBs

Presented by 2nd Swing

Tavatanakit

Driver: Titleist TSR2 (8 degrees)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 50 S

3-wood: Titleist TSR2 (15 degrees)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana WB 63 S

5-wood: Titleist TSR2 (18 degrees)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Tense 1K White 60 S

Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T100 (5-PW)

Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50, 56-08M, 60-04L)

Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Wedge 115 S

Putter: Scotty Cameron SB-2 Tour Prototype

Grips: Iomic Sticky 2.3

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Knapp

Driver: Ping G425 LST (9 degrees)

Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 75 6.5

Mini driver: PXG Secret Weapon (13 degrees)

Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 95 6.5

5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)

Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 95 6.5

Irons: PXG 0317 ST (4-PW)

Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper 130 X (4-PW)

Wedges: PXG 0311 Sugar Daddy II (52-10), Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (56-10S), WedgeWorks (60-T)

Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper 130 X (52, 56), Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 WV 125

Putter: PXG Prototype

Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour SGP 1.0

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot