Chris Gotterup Can Do It All, Patrick Reed Can't Be Stopped, And Brandel Chamblee Gets The People Going

Well, I guess 2026 simply belongs to Chris Gotterup and Patrick Reed. The two Americans have both gotten off to dream starts, albeit on opposite sides of the globe, and have looked dominant in the process. Gotterup has lost to 17 golfers in his last three PGA Tour starts, while Reed has lost to exactly one player in his last three DP World Tour starts. That's what we call different gravy.

As it so often does, the WM Phoenix Open delivered in every way over the weekend with a jam-packed leaderboard and a playoff to close things out on Sunday. Golf Channels' Brandel Chamblee was on site for the party, and set the golf world ablaze with a take on The Players that just about nobody seems to agree with, but that's not the takeaway, the takeaway is that Chamblee continues to be one of one.

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Chris Gotterup Is A Killer

Chris Gotterup earned his second win of the season and fourth career win on the PGA Tour on Sunday at the Waste Management, yet it never really felt like he was fully in the golf tournament until he found himself standing next to Hideki Matsuyama on the 18th tee to begin the playoff.

The 26-year-old did what he needed to do to give him a chance on Sunday by shooting 2-under on the front nine to remain hovering around the top of the leaderboard. After finding the water on the Par 3 12th hole and walking away with bogey – all while Matsuyama continued to pull Get Out Of Jail Free cards from his back pocket over and over again – it didn't feel like it was going to be Gotterup's day.

Gotterup didn't flip the off switch, however, as he played his final six holes at 5-under par, and it was the birdie on the 72nd hole that stands out. After pushing his drive way right into the rough, he was left with 131 yards, knowing he needed to get up and down for birdie, and proceeded to hit a wedge to two feet for a tap-in three.

You want to talk about grabbing momentum by the throat.

Meanwhile, Matsuyama's luck ran out down the stretch, and his inability to get off the tee box caught up with him. A bogey on the 72nd hole followed by a water ball off the tee to begin the playoff, and it was all said and done. That, however, shouldn't take away from Gotterup's greatness down the stretch, and his 349-yard drive during the playoff needs to be played on a loop in a museum somewhere.

Gotterup finished the golf tournament going birdie-birdie-birdie-par-birdie-birdie-birdie on one of the biggest stages the game has to offer. He's a player that checks every single box. His driver is a weapon, the putter can catch fire at any moment, his ball striking was world-class all week, and he's got every shot around the green.

He entered the week ranked 16th in the world. After the victory, he moved to fifth, which feels exactly right given the trajectory he's been on.

Patrick Reed Can Not Be Stopped

You can quite easily make the argument that the best player on Earth in 2026 thus far has been Patrick Reed. It's Reed, or the man just mentioned above.

After beginning the year with a respectable 26th-place finish in the Dubai Invitational, all the American has managed to do since then is go win, playoff loss, win over his last three starts. Some may argue that his run of results deserves some sort of asterisk as they've come on the DP World Tour, specifically this past Sunday's win in a weaker field Qatar Masters, but two trophies and a runner-up finish across three consecutive weeks is mighty impressive.

Reed's run of form to begin the new year is of course a dream start for him personally and a nightmare for LIV Golf.

Moments after winning the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in late January, Reed shared he had yet to sign a new deal with LIV for the 2026 season. Days later, he announced that he would be leaving the Saudi-backed circuit and pursuing a return to the PGA Tour. After resigning his PGA Tour membership to join LIV in 2022, Reed is seeking reinstatement for the 2027 campaign in the past champion category, meaning he is not eligible to compete on Tour until the Fall swing in August.

As it turns out, the Top 10 players in the season-long race on the DP World Tour earn a PGA Tour membership, and with two wins and a runner-up already to his name, Reed has essentially already locked up a Top 10 spot for the year.

This is even more reason you could circle Reed as the best player in the world since the turn of the calendar. Stringing together these results while passing on a presumed mega payday to re-up with LIV Golf to go chase a PGA Tour card again, all to virtually lock things up five weeks into 2026 is elite stuff.

The 35-year-old now gets to play the next handful of months without a whole lot of pressure about his future hanging over him, which may free him up to put up some gaudy numbers on the European circuit.

Reed, who will move into the Top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking, is eligible to tee it up in all four majors in 2026 thanks to his solo third-place finish in the 2025 Masters, and he's earned everyone's undivided attention with Augusta fast approaching.

Brandel Chamblee Puts On A Masterclass With Players Championship Major Debate

It's become a (ridiculous) annual tradition for the golf world to debate about where The Players ranks among the game's most-prestigious events. It's all a bit of a semantics game, and despite practically everyone agreeing that its' ‘the game’s fifth major championship,' some like to push the narrative that it should be designated as a major championship.

Again, this conversation and debate are nothing new, but it has started especially early in 2026, thanks to Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee.

During the lead-in to weekend coverage of the WM Phoenix Open, Chamblee elected to get the people going by skipping the whole ‘The Players should be a major’ statement and taking things a ginormous step forward by claiming that The Players actually stands "above the other four major championships" and declaring it "the best major."

Chamblee's statement got a reaction out of practically anyone with a social media account, including Phil Mickelson, who issued a classic response.

While the overwhelming majority of folks are screaming at Chamblee about how wrong he is, which is their right, you can't not admit that it's an absolute masterclass from the analyst. His defense of The Players having the (among) the strongest fields in the sport, TPC Sawgrass being the stiffest of tests, and the fact that we've only seen a back-to-back winner once in its history makes the argument rather valid.

Chamblee, by simply laying out inarguable facts, got the golf world going by simply sharing his personal opinion on something that doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Those who are filling up his mentions with hate probably ignore the fact that the PGA Championship is also disrespected as a whole as it is the lone major with an entire field of professionals and zero amateurs.

As for my take on things, no, The Players is not a major championship because of the fact that it is, well, not a major championship. Golf has four major championships filled with history, four is the perfect number of majors, and officially designating another tournament as a fifth would feel wrong on every level.