Justin Rose Is Beating Father Time, Patrick Reed Stays Scorching, Nelly Korda Benefits From LPGA Incompetence

A 45-year-old picking up his 13th win on the PGA Tour at Torrey Pines – a golf course better suited for bombers – and doing so in one of the most-dominating fashions we've seen in years? Leave that to Justin Rose, who has clearly found a way to slow down Father Time and continue to play at an all-world clip.

On the other side of the planet, Patrick Reed continued to be in red-hot form on the DP World Tour. He ultimately lost in a three-man playoff in Bahrain, but it has essentially been an ideal start for him in 2026, with sights set on earning back a PGA Tour card following his shock exit from LIV Golf.

The LPGA began its 2026 campaign in Orlando this past week, and while Nelly Korda finding the winner's circle for the first time in a year is a top-tier storyline to begin the year, the LPGA's decision-making over the weekend was downright shambolic. It's almost as if the LPGA forgot that golf is an outdoor sport. 

As always, feel free to reach out with thoughts, concerns, general musings about golf or life in general at mark.harris@outkick.com or over on X @itismarkharris.

Justin Rose Deserves So Much Credit

Dominant. Ridiculous. Absurd. Those are about the only three words to describe what we saw out of Justin Rose this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.

We don't often see a PGA Tour event virtually wrapped up after 36 holes of play – unless Scottie Scheffler is in the field – but that's exactly what happened at Torrey Pines courtesy of the Englishman. A 62-65 start to the tournament handed Rose a four-shot lead heading into the weekend that felt more like eight shots, and all he did from there was extend his lead to six shots after Saturday.

Rose won the 2019 Farmers at 21-under par, and it took him all of 43 holes this time around to reach that same number. To put his dominance into perspective, Rose posted a final round score of 70. Eight players in the field shot 67 or lower on Sunday, yet he still won the golf tournament by seven shots.

Aside from his ridiculous level of play throughout the week, the key takeaway from Rose was that on multiple occasions, speaking with the CBS golf crew, he explained that he still loves the game. He specifically said, "You have to love the game to work hard." Shooting 23-under across 72 holes will make anyone love the game, but for a player closer to 50 than 40, that working hard aspect takes a different toll, but one Rose is clearly willing to pay.

Rose won his lone major championship in 2013 and was the No. 1 player in the world for a brief stint in 2018, yet managed to put together the most dominant four-day run of golf of his career at 45 years old. This result, coupled with last year's playoff loss at the Masters, proves there are zero plans of slowing down anytime soon.

Rose is now the No. 3 ranked player in the world.

Patrick Reed Is Golfing His Ball

Patrick Reed making significant waves throughout the first month of 2026 wasn't on the bingo card, especially with LIV Golf yet to begin its new campaign, but P Reed is doing some special things in the new year.

It has been a hectic couple of weeks for the American, but P Reed loves operating amid the chaos.

Patrick Reed is making his way back to the PGA Tour. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Last week, Reed dominated in Dubai en route to a four-shot victory at the Desert Classic. His win took center stage for all of about seven minutes, given that during his post-tournament presser he announced he was a free agent and had yet to sign an extension with LIV Golf. A few days later, he announced his intention to return to the PGA Tour despite not being able to tee it up until the Fall swing.

Then, over the weekend, he posts 66-67 in the Bahrain Championship to sneak into a three-man playoff looking for his second win in as many weeks. He ultimately made a bogey on the first playoff hole to drop out, but a 1-2 finish back-to-back weeks across the pond is ginormous for his PGA Tour future.

Reed can earn a PGA Tour membership through the DP World Tour's Top 10 rankings at the end of the season. With just three starts on the tour in 2026, he already finds himself second. Another win on the DP World Tour this season and P Reed's road back to the PGA Tour gets much, much smoother.

LPGA Gets Eviscerated Over Baffling Weather Decision

The LPGA showed the entire sports world on Sunday exactly what not to do when it comes to communications or operations in general at its season-opening Tournament of Champions.

In case you missed it, which, no worries if you did, the LPGA elected to scrap Sunday's final round and turn the tournament into a 54-hole event because of abnormally cold temperatures in central Florida.

READ: LPGA Pathetically Cancels Final Round Of Season Opener, Golf Fans Erupt Over Decision

At 11:34 AM local time on Sunday, the LPGA announced that the resumption of Round 3 and start of Round 4 would begin at 1:00 PM, at the earliest. Just over an hour later, the LPGA issued a statement announcing that the tournament would be reduced to 54 holes.

In its final statement announcing the cut to just 54 holes, the LPGA stated, "Play will continue with Lake Nona Golf & Country Club becoming playable in competitive competition at its peak temperature, but conditions will deteriorate later today and tomorrow, Feb. 2, making it difficult to complete 72 holes."

What in the hell is "competitive competition at its peak temperature?" 

The Tournament of Champions is a pro-am event, and the amateurs and celebrities in the field went out on Sunday morning to play a shortened nine-hole final round. Annika Sorenstam was among the group that played Sunday morning, and was shocked that the professionals weren't already out there playing.

On top of all that, there were still six players in the field who had to finish their third round on Sunday after play being suspended on Saturday evening. The conditions and temperatures were good enough for those six players to play on Sunday afternoon, but the rest of the field? Not so much, apparently.

Nelly Korda begins 2026 with a win. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Nelly Korda ultimately won the event by three shots. The conspiracy theorists out there may claim the decision to cancel the final 18 holes was the tour gift wrapping the American her first win in over 12 months. In reality, all we have here is the LPGA making one of the softest decisions in the history of professional sports. 

As of 9:30 AM ET on Monday, it is 40 degrees in Orlando, which is plenty warm for the best golfers on Earth to play 18 holes. 

The most-baffling fact in all of this may be the fact that the LPGA passed on a Monday finish as if there is another event to be played this week. The LPGA's next event doesn't begin until February 19 in Thailand.