Monday Leaderboard: Score one for the short guys

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Welcome to the Monday Leaderboard, where we run down the weekend’s top stories in the wonderful world of golf. Grab an Arnold Palmer, pull up a chair and enjoy the calm before the Open … uh, opens …

Brian Campbell notches second playoff win of 2025

There are cats on the PGA Tour who can blast the ball halfway to Saturn … and then there’s Brian Campbell, who ranks 172nd in strokes gained off the tee and 174th in driving distance. But after Sunday at the John Deere Classic in Illinois, Campbell, short stroke and all, now has two PGA Tour victories this season, both in playoffs. Campbell has defined the term “journeyman,” with no wins on Tour before this season, but his one-hole playoff win over Emiliano Grillo came at the same tournament where he made his PGA Tour debut. Campbell and Grillo both finished at 18-under in regulation, but Campbell’s straightforward par 4 on the 18th was good enough to win over Grillo’s wayward drive and approach. Campbell still has a ways to go before he reaches golf’s heights — he’s still ranked just 28th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings — but two wins on the PGA Tour will get him the opportunity to play on the biggest stages in golf next year.

Return of the Max

It’s been a tough year-plus for Max Homa, who’s struggled through a range of difficulties on-course and plummeted from a high of No. 5 in the world to 98th currently. For a bit at the John Deere, he seemed like he’d figured it all out — he even held a two-shot lead early on Sunday — but he let the lead slip from his hands to finish two shots out of the playoff. Disappointing, sure, but the T5 finish is his best finish since a T3 at the 2024 Masters. He’s struggled this whole year, including a stretch of five straight missed cuts. But the John Deere finish, while not a W, ought to at least give Homa hope that his game is still out there waiting to be rediscovered.

Collin Morikawa brings veteran caddie aboard for Open Championship run

It’s been a season of outside-the-ropes narratives for Collin Morikawa. In addition to his ongoing feud/spat/disagreement with the golf media, Morikawa has cycled through caddies looking for a spark. Heading into the Open Championship, he’s hit upon a good one: Billy Foster, the veteran looper with experience caddying for Seve Ballesteros, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood and Matt Fitzpatrick, the latter of whom won a U.S. Open with Foster on the bag. The stint is a two-week one, this week’s Scottish Open and next week’s major at Royal Portrush, and Morikawa could use a boost.

After busting into the game’s elite with two major wins in less than a year, Morikawa has hit a dry spell; his last victory anywhere was in October 2023 at the Zoso Championship. He remains one of the best players in the game — in 14 starts this year, he’s made 13 cuts and posted 10 top-10s, four top-5s and two runner-up finishes. Will Foster help turn his luck around?

Shot of the Week: LeBron James ups his golf game

All you need to do to understand how tough it is to be an elite-level golfer is to watch an elite-level athlete from another sport attempt to swing a club. LeBron James decided to post his golf swing on social media — generally as unwise an idea as posting a photo of your own cooking — and, as it turned out, he didn’t get roasted! Not too much, anyway, considering where he’d started. As Min Woo Lee pointed out, it’s quite the upgrade from his recent TopGolf swing:

Good news: after seeing this swing, the majors have collectively decided that LeBron is now exempt into their 2026 tournaments. Grow the game!

Coming this week: PGA Tour: Scottish Open (Scotland); LPGA: Amundi Evian Championship (France); PGA Tour Champions: Dick’s Open (New York); LIV: LIV Golf Andalucia (Spain).