Welcome to the Monday Leaderboard, where we run through the weekend’s top stories from the wonderful world of golf. Grab an Arnold Palmer, take a seat and hold tight for playoff season…

No caddy, no problem for Hideki

Golf has the strangest season structure of any sport. Consider this: The sport’s four major tournaments take place over a roughly 100-day period from April to July. That leaves about 250 days for other tournaments, including the current FedEx Cup Playoffs. And while the playoffs don’t have the prestige of the majors, they do offer substantial prize money. Which would you rather have, a green jacket or $18 million for winning the playoffs? (If you’re Scottie Scheffler, the answer is both.)

The first round of the playoffs took place in Memphis last weekend, and Hideki Matsuyama triumphed, although not without a bit of drama before and during his round. En route from Paris to Memphis after Matsuyama won the Olympic bronze medal – you know the usual – his caddie and coach had their passports stolen, meaning they couldn’t follow him to the United States. With a replacement caddie, Matsuyama then went out and built a five-shot lead on Sunday before almost completely blowing it … and then making two birdies on the final two holes to win the first playoff stop by one shot. Phew. Hideki may be yearning for a routine round after this.

Scottish dominance for Coughlin

The LPGA is heading to the Scottish Open-Open Championship this fortnight and Lauren Coughlin is doing her best to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible. The American took a clear four-shot lead at the Scottish Open, her second victory in the last three weeks. Coughlin sank three birdies in the final five holes to keep Esther Henseleit of Germany – the Olympic silver medalist in Paris – in second place. Check out this beautiful birdie at the end:

Next up: the AIG Women’s Open at a little course called St. Andrews. You may have heard of it.

Rahm & Koepkas LIV heavyweight fight

There are many reasons to lament golf’s ongoing division, but this weekend provided the most relevant one: Two of golf’s best players competed to the point of a playoff… and almost nobody was watching. Fresh off a loss at the Olympics, Jon Rahm couldn’t catch Brooks Koepka in the playoff of LIV Golf’s Greenbrier event, a heavyweight battle that could and should have been so much bigger and better. Koepka has now won five times on the LIV Tour, and considering that any talk of unification is all but nonexistent, it looks like he’ll have the opportunity to add to that number in 2025 and beyond.

Another budding Spanish star wins Amateur

Despite all the talent coming out of Spain – Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm – no Spanish player has ever won the U.S. Amateur… until now. Josele Ballester needed every hole to keep Noah Kent from the U.S. Amateur title, giving him a rare shot at the title and guaranteeing him a place in three of next year’s four majors (as long as he remains an amateur, of course). Ballester, who plays college golf at Arizona State (like Rahm and Phil Mickelson), had a 4-up lead over Kent with six holes to go, but let that slide to 1-up on the 17th hole. He pulled himself together and took the biggest win of his career… until now.

Final lines at the end of the season are looming

The most devilish element of golf is the cut line — you either play well or you don’t get paid — and while cut lines have lost their luster in recent years (thanks, LIV), there’s still a big incentive to play well. The top 70 in FedEx Cup points played in Memphis, but only the top 50 made it to this week. And only the top 30 will make it to the Tour Championship. Max Homa, Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott and Matt Fitzpatrick are among the big names who will need a strong week to advance. LIV has its own “drop zone” where players outside the top 48 “drop down” and have to play their way back onto the tour. Harold Varner III, Pat Perez, Branden Grace and Bubba Watson lurk around the cut line. It’s not quite “relegation” in the soccer sense, but it’s still a little extra kick to motivate players. Which is always helpful.

The Mulligan: We’ve all been there, Sam

You know how it is – the bad hits pile up and soon someone or something has to pay. Sam Burns decided to punish his driver who behaved badly on Saturday in Memphis and this was the result:

A player cannot replace a damaged club, so Burns had to play the rest of the round without a driver. At least he didn’t completely burn himself out; he finished the week T5 and is tied for 18th ahead of this weekend, in good shape to make the Tour Championship. Hopefully with a full bag of clubs.

Go ahead and get it all out, friends, this week, and we’ll see you back here next Monday!