The LPGA Edge

Kent and Scottie — Scottie fresh off a week in contention in Arkansas and now in rainy Honolulu — recap the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, where Yuna Nishimura went wire-to-wire (63-63-66) to win by five. They argue about whether 54-hole events are a soft week or the crown jewel of the schedule, and cover Lauren Coughlin's nine straight birdies. Kent makes the case that Japan, not Korea, is now the LPGA's rising power. Then the week's real news: chief marketing officer Chad Coleman steps down after barely half a year. What his exit says about Craig Kessler's LPGA, the new marketing org chart, a tour that can't react in real time, and whether the players still trust the room. After the break: Golf Saudi cuts its women's golf investment by 80% and what that means for the LET; then the Epson Tour Championship, with fifteen cards on offer but five of them "fake," the priority list explained, and whether the Epson Tour is really the LPGA's talent incubator.

CHAPTERS (timed to the exported cut — runtime 43:31)

0:00 Cold open — "some really loud questions to be asked"

0:25 Welcome — not a Walmart-brand-quality episode

1:00 Scottie's favorite week on tour: Pinnacle CC and Bentonville's restaurant scene

1:55 54 holes: a soft week or the crown jewel of the schedule?

3:48 Yuna Nishimura goes wire-to-wire — 63, 63, 66, wins by five

4:55 Annika's three-round rule, and why the LPGA once played mostly 54

6:03 Lauren Coughlin's nine straight birdies

7:41 The lagging indicator: Japan, not Korea, is the LPGA's rising power

10:00 Scottie in contention, on a new bag

10:47 Chad Coleman steps down — "a little smelly"

11:37 The Dude Perfect hire and the stories he promised to tell

13:52 Too early to judge Kessler? The new marketing org chart

15:16 From inside the building: engagement isn't consumption

17:21 A tour that can't react in real time — Lydia Ko's almost-59

18:40 Another "family reasons" exit, and Valhalla 2028

20:36 Serving fans or serving purses? Player buy-in and trust

22:20 Is Coleman's exit building or losing trust with the players?

23:57 One more on Coleman: where he lands next matters

25:07 Golf Saudi cuts its women's golf money by 80%

26:54 Scottie: the LET needs the LPGA more than ever

27:42 Room for both the LET and the Epson Tour? The JLPGA/KLPGA pipeline

29:30 A tour without stars — and a Solheim eligibility lever

31:40 Epson Tour Championship: fifteen cards, five of them "fake"

32:04 The priority list, explained

33:48 A "temp visa" — who's on the bubble

34:41 Scottie: "Let's not sell false dreams" — play for ten real cards

36:40 Should Epson grads rank above 81–100 on the CME list?

37:28 Is the Epson Tour really the talent incubator?

41:07 No lei in Honolulu — and what's at stake before the Asia swing

42:30 Sign-off — Worldwide Scottie goes to Asia

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Kent and Scottie — Scottie from a car on the way through Arkansas — bring in Golf Digest's Shane Ryan, author of The Cup They Couldn't Lose, for what may be the only public post-mortem of Team USA's Solheim Cup. Shane wrote the book on why the American men spent decades losing Ryder Cups, and he sees the same symptoms: a captain who sent Angel Yin and Megan Khang out first and third at 8–8, a program that treats loading the boat as optional, and a management structure that picks captains without ever asking for a plan. From there: how front-loading became gospel from Brookline '99 to Medinah, Davis Love's "biggest mistake of my career," Stacy Lewis and Justin Ray, the CEO test for choosing a captain, and whether Paula Creamer is next. After the break: the beer-bus video and the sports karma gods, Bernhard Langer's "I want the record," what's fair to criticize before the matches and what's just hindsight, the Angel Yin decision and the alternate that wasn't, why the qualifying system tied the captain's hands, the Rolex rankings that say this was the worst US team on paper, Tony Jacklin's 1983 blueprint for beating a better team, and Luke Donald's mattresses. Plus Shane's case against a mixed Presidents Cup, Kent's Queen's Cup, and Korea as the Soviet Union of women's golf.

CHAPTERS

0:00   Cold open — "the sports karma gods"

0:27   Welcome: Scottie from a car, and the only public Solheim Cup post-mortem

0:57   Enter Shane Ryan — Golf Digest, The Cup They Couldn't Lose, Commissioner of Rigamarole

1:48   Does Team USA have the Ryder Cup disease? (Stacy Lewis read the book — twice)

2:59   Loading the boat: the simplest strategy in team golf, and Team USA skipped it

3:26   Angel Yin and Megan Khang out first and third at 8–8 — "unforgivable"

5:02   "It's insane": Jason Aquino's rule on captaincy malpractice

5:41   The lineup graphic — where was Yealimi Noh?

6:24   Brookline '99 and 2002: how front-loading became gospel

8:47   Medinah 2012: Davis Love, Darren Clarke and "I didn't know"

10:10  "A referendum on who you are as a captain" — and where Yin and Khang should have gone

11:58  Stacy Lewis, Justin Ray, and "hire somebody smarter"

13:22  Why an American captain is always under pressure — Europe's motivation edge

14:10  Should the USA change how it picks captains? The CEO test

16:21  Paula Creamer next — and a captain who has never played alongside her team

18:17  The swearing policy opens the floodgates — then advice for the committee

19:08  "Lifetime achievement award" captaincies

21:09  Captain or management structure — which matters more? Water trickles downhill

22:07  The beer-bus video: "why would you ever post that?"

22:57  Sports 101 — the Si Woo Kim nighty-night and the karma gods

23:56  Bernhard Langer, 2004: "I want the record"

25:38  "You needed a miracle to get to 8–8" — and Europe's competitive juice

26:29  What you could criticize before the matches, and what's hindsight

28:30  Angela Stanford's last Instagram post — "Saturday night was the end"

29:02  Couples counseling: should Angel Yin have stepped aside?

30:28  Boston, Canada and Lilia Vu — the choices that were actually on the table

31:53  Qualifying: the US just changed its system — one bad decision after another

33:58  The Viktor Hovland option — take the free half point

34:54  Lexi 2023, and a better system: recency and six picks

37:24  The Rolex rankings graphic — the worst US team on paper

38:07  Tony Jacklin 1983: when you're outgunned, look at everything

39:48  "Nothing more satisfying" — beating a better team by being smarter

40:29  Luke Donald's mattresses — an investment problem or a captain problem?

42:24  The twelve tropes: should Yealimi Noh have played foursomes?

45:16  Scottie drops out, and one last question: a mixed Presidents Cup? Count Shane out

47:21  Welcome back, Scotty — the Queen's Cup, and Korea as the Soviet Union of women's golf

49:10  Sign-off — "Paula needs to call you"

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Europe took the Solheim Cup back, 15–13 at Bernardus, and Kent and Scottie — Scottie from a gate at Denver International Airport — go straight at why. Kent walks through how it happened: level after Saturday, Jennifer Kupcho flipping the last match of the session on the 17th and 18th, the Americans celebrating like the job was done, and Europe front-loading its Sunday order with Charley Hull, Esther Henseleit and Linn Grant so it never came down to the last group. From there: Megan Khang and Angel Yin sent out first and third in the form they were in, Kupcho's match-play record against the hype, why Europe keeps getting more out of the bottom of its roster than the Americans do, Nastasia Nadaud and Mimi Rhodes as the pairing Scottie admits he got wrong, whether Lottie Woad and Charley Hull should play every session together, and the flowers Kent earns for calling the Henseleit putt that changed Europe's roster. Then Team USA's decisions — Lauren Coughlin going five sessions, Yealimi Noh kept out of foursomes, Lilia Vu as an alternate — and the argument the two of them cannot settle: should Angel Yin have stepped aside, and could a captain even ask? After the break, the state of the two programs: why 2026 has to be the year Team USA decides how urgently it wants to win, who captains next, a roster whose top points earners are its oldest players, Europe's four players under 25, and a closing case for turning the International Crown into a Presidents Cup-style event. Plus Auston Kim's resting focused face, the Waffle House theory of team golf, and Scottie's 2028 Valhalla prediction.

CHAPTERS

0:00   Cold open — "how urgently they want to win"

0:25   Welcome from Denver Airport — Europe wins the 20th Solheim Cup

1:04   How it happened: the Kupcho charge, the beer on the bus, Europe's Sunday

2:58   The singles orders — Europe front-loads its firepower

4:43   "Sacrificial lambs": Megan Khang out first, Angel Yin third

8:35   Jennifer Kupcho's match-play record vs. the hype

11:07  Europe gets the bottom of its roster to outperform

12:13  The US captaincy philosophy that limited its options

15:33  Captains' choices, amplified — Europe's decisions under the microscope

17:39  Nadaud and Rhodes: the pairing Scottie got wrong

20:36  Lottie and Charley together every session — spread the talent?

22:38  Europe's back channels, and Julia Lopez Ramirez's pick

24:23  Flowers for Kent: the Esther Henseleit putt that changed the roster

25:08  Team USA's decisions: Coughlin five sessions, Angel one, Lilia Vu as alternate

25:57  Why wasn't Yealimi Noh in foursomes?

27:25  "The US gets married to players"

28:06  Should Angel Yin have stepped aside?

31:57  "Two liabilities on this team" — the argument

35:44  State of the programs: does the US want to win urgently enough?

39:08  The Kobe "job's not finished" meme vs. the celebration video

39:38  "What matters more than being a great teammate? Being a great golfer"

40:14  Questions over Angela Stanford's captaincy

42:32  Who captains next — Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie West, Lexi?

44:13  Roster turnover: the top US points earners are the oldest players

46:03  "Good old boys club" — how the US picks its teams

46:38  Europe's youth movement: four players under 25

48:48  "I'm not feeling good about the red, white and blue"

50:18  The bigger picture: International Crown vs. a Presidents Cup format

50:59  Auston Kim's "resting focused face"

53:26  The Waffle House theory of women's team golf

56:02  Final thoughts — Scottie's 2028 Valhalla prediction

57:11  Sign-off

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Days from the 20th Solheim Cup, Kent and Scottie do something the show has never done: tier all 24 players, S through F, one at a time. Nelly Korda, Lottie Woad and Charley Hull anchor the top — but the first real argument lands early, when Scottie puts Alison Lee in S tier on the strength of a climb from outside the world's top 300 to the top 60 in five months, and Kent counters with a 2-5 Solheim record. From there it's Rose Zhang, Esther Henseleit, Lauren Coughlin, Allisen Corpuz and Céline Boutier through A tier; Maja Stark as Europe's tipping-point player, plus Leona Maguire, Nastasia Nadaud, Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Jennifer Kupcho, Yealimi Noh and Andrea Lee through B; and a C tier that swallows a third of the field — Linn Grant, Lindy Duncan, Megan Khang, Carlota Ciganda, Julia Lopez Ramirez. The widest gap between them is Angel Yin: A tier for one, D tier for the other, and neither man moves. They finish on Mimi Rhodes' captain's pick, Lilia Vu turning up at Bernardus as an alternate — "an unserious decision" — where Anna Nordqvist would rank as a player, whether Europe pushed its changing of the guard one Solheim too early, and a final score prediction with the DraftKings line hanging over it.

0:00   Cold open

0:33   Welcome — the 20th Solheim Cup

1:53   How the tiers work: S through F

2:44   S tier

3:58   Nelly Korda

6:35   Lottie Woad

9:11   Charley Hull vs Alison Lee — the first split

16:38  A tier

17:43  Rose Zhang

20:57  Esther Henseleit

22:49  Lauren Coughlin

26:05  Allisen Corpuz

28:53  Céline Boutier

32:31  Angel Yin — the biggest disagreement on the board

34:16  Auston Kim

35:47  B tier

37:20  Maja Stark, Europe's tipping point

40:43  Leona Maguire

43:56  Nastasia Nadaud

46:20  Nanna Koerstz Madsen

47:35  Jennifer Kupcho

49:00  Yealimi Noh

51:05  Andrea Lee

53:47  C tier

55:12  Linn Grant

57:21  Lindy Duncan

59:53  Megan Khang

1:03:08 Carlota Ciganda

1:05:54 Julia Lopez Ramirez

1:07:35 D tier and F tier — Mimi Rhodes

1:10:22 Angel Yin in D tier

1:12:18 The full 24, tier by tier

1:13:44 What surprised you most

1:15:39 Lilia Vu on the ground as an alternate

1:20:54 Where Anna Nordqvist would rank as a player

1:23:29 Europe's changing of the guard

1:31:01 Predictions — and the DraftKings line

1:32:13 Sign-off

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One week before the Solheim Cup, Alison Lee explains how a player who wasn't on Angela Stanford's radar in January played her way onto Team USA by June — after an emergency C-section, a first range session that ended in tears, and a driver that "looked like I hit a marshmallow." She goes back to the week she finished dead last in Dallas and nearly walked away, the swing coach who "brought me back from the dead," the Freddie Couples text thread that flipped a switch, and the broomstick putter she wishes she'd found three years earlier. Kent and Scottie get her on the points system she'd change, why she's never been on a losing U.S. team, what a 2015 rookie learned from Cristie Kerr and Paula Creamer, the WTGL, Golf Saudi's money and what it means for the LET — and Caddy Corner, where the most underrated tour stop stumps her cold. Plus: what she hopes her son thinks when he watches her play, and the retirement plan that kicks in the moment she finally wins.

0:00 Cold open — "I got dead last"

0:37 Welcome — Solheim Cup week

0:50 Alison Lee joins

2:14 How she got onto Angela Stanford's radar

5:41 The Golf Channel booth with Grant Boone

8:36 The points system she'd change

15:32 Never on a losing U.S. team

17:26 A 2015 rookie, starstruck — now the veteran

21:37 The last American mom at a Solheim was 2017

23:36 The marshmallow driver — coming back after Levi

25:35 Winning overseas and what a team room needs

30:21 How the LPGA has changed since 2015

33:17 A rookie class for the ages

37:08 The lowest point — dead last in Dallas

38:20 Chris Mason and the turnaround

39:11 Perspective: UCLA, friends, and her mom

41:57 The Freddie Couples text thread

44:18 The broomstick

49:21 WTGL — what year one has to do

52:03 Golf Saudi, LIV and the LET

55:24 Caddy Corner

58:46 "I hope he thinks I'm a cool mom"

60:19 Sign-off

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Sean Melia of Bay State Golf spent the week on the ground at TPC Boston, and he came

back with the story of the FM Championship that the broadcast didn't tell: Megan

Khang's father, who is also her coach, cheerfully absolving himself of any

responsibility for his daughter's putting — while half-swinging a club on the range

as she played. Kent and Scottie work through Ruoning Yin's sixth win and first in

over 600 days, what TPC Boston is actually like as a fan and a photographer, and

whether a tournament with this much investment behind it deserves major status. Then

the Solheim Cup, where both captains have already made calls worth questioning:

Anna Nordqvist retiring mid-captaincy and taking herself out of a roster she'd walk

onto, and Angela Stanford leaving the Angel Yin decision open far too long. Plus the

WTGL rosters finally land — five teams, twenty-five players, and one very loud

absence.

Chapters

0:00  Cold open — "I'm a great putter, I don't know why she can't make any putts"

0:24  Ruoning Yin ends 600 winless days at the FM Championship

1:23  Sean Melia of Bay State Golf joins from the ground

2:08  What TPC Boston was actually like all week

11:40 Playing half the public courses in Massachusetts

14:49 The Athletic's story on players and the people who follow them

19:06 Does the FM Championship deserve major status?

20:25 The mystery of Megan Khang

30:40 Both Solheim captains have already slipped

32:05 Angela Stanford, Angel Yin, and a cutoff set too late

43:21 The WTGL rosters land — and Nelly Korda says no

54:37 Sean's plug and sign-off

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One week before the Solheim Cup, Angel Yin sits down for her first podcast interview since

the illness that knocked her out of the KPMG — and tells the whole story: the

Thursday-night ER visit between rounds ("I told him, I have to leave — it's a

major"), the weeks that blurred together, and the agreement with captain Angela

Stanford that made Boston her test run. She breaks down why an 81-76 doesn't say

what you think it says, the 5-3-1 Solheim record she credits to her partners, and

why she refuses to look at Bernardus before she lands. Scottie brings the caddie's

answer to the form question — believe — and Kent tries to get a pairing out of her

(she's "secretive"). Plus: the diet ("I'm going to abolish 'restrictive'"), two

rotisserie chickens a week, a PS5 from Costco, the story behind the HACI hat, and

a Caddy Corner where Scottie rats out what she really shot at Norton. It ends the

only way it could: "This is your spot. You've earned this."

Chapters

0:00 Cold open

0:31 Taco trucks first, golf second

1:57 "You are going to the Solheim Cup"

2:32 The ER visit between rounds at the KPMG

5:34 "Very resolvable" — what recovery actually looked like

10:08 One week of prep and a leap of faith

12:58 The Friday call to her caddie

14:35 "Everyone and their moms have an opinion"

16:15 Three captains: Juli, Stacey, Angela

17:39 "Golf is life" — never separated

20:38 Not all 81s are created equal

24:13 The caddie's answer to the form question

27:40 Consistency — and the fortune-teller at the takeout counter

29:27 Abolishing "restrictive": the two-rotisserie-chicken week

33:37 The only thing that could stop her

34:47 The SoCal gang goes to the Netherlands

35:32 5-3-1: the partners behind the record

36:51 Who's she playing with? "I'm secretive"

38:50 Reading roars on the road

40:25 Teamwork, unity — and Lady Luck

41:39 Why she won't Google the course (ask JJ Spaun)

43:15 The captain's ask: putt and chip

44:13 Team Angel: Jesus, Carmen, and the group chat

45:54 A PS5 from Costco: Borderlands, Spider-Man, GTA

50:03 Caddy Corner: the HACI hat and what she shot at Norton

53:54 Eight under through nine — and banned from ESPN's Top 10

54:36 Who should be next?

56:51 "This is your spot. You've earned this."

Links:

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The U.S. Solheim Cup team is set. Captain Angela Stanford spent her three picks on Megan Khang, Rose Zhang and 35-year-old rookie Lindy Duncan — and Kent and Scottie have thoughts.

The guys react to the full 12 headed to Bernardus Golf (Sept 11–13), argue over who the two alternates should be, name their X-factors, replay the "what if qualifying had ended at the AIG?" question, and put final scores on the record. Plus: Miyu Yamashita's record-tying 23-under rout in Canada.

Hosted by Kent Paisley and Scottie "Worldwide" Leonard.

Chapters:

0:00 Cold Open

0:21 A Nine-Shot Rout and Three Captain's Picks

1:58 Why Khang, Zhang and Duncan

8:28 Who Are Your Two Alternates?

12:16 The X-Factor

15:24 The AIG What-If

18:39 The Megan Khang Question

22:08 Top-Line Talent After Nelly

27:03 Score Predictions

Links:

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Six Americans are locked in, Angela Stanford has three captain's picks left, and

this is the week the arguing stops being hypothetical. Megan Khang, Rose Zhang,

Lilia Vu, Lucy Li, Lindy Duncan and Jenny Bae are all live for three spots — and

Kent and Scottie do not agree on how to sort them. Worldwide also brings the view from inside the ropes in Portland,

including what Rose Zhang's caddie told him on Sunday about her back. Plus:

Jeeno Thitikul closes with a 64 to win the Standard Portland Classic — her third

title of the season, the 10th of her career, and the eighth player ever to reach

ten before turning 24. Angel Yin still hasn't played in two months and nobody can reach her,

which drags the two-alternate rule into the conversation. And Kiara Romero

becomes the second player ever to earn a card through LEAP, one year after Lottie

Woad — a pathway Kent calls long overdue, and the reason the best amateurs can

now finish school without gambling on Q-School.

Chapters

00:00  Cold open

00:19  "Separation anxiety" — a week off, and Spain

01:51  Jeeno's 64 in Portland, and the 10-win club before 24

06:35  The Hall of Fame question — and an 88% answer

08:55  Three more Americans punch their Solheim tickets

15:44 The captain's-pick argument neither host wins

21:34 Where is Angel Yin?

24:03 The alternates nobody thinks about until they matter

29:08 Kiara Romero, LEAP, and the card that skips Q-School

33:18 Why college stars stall when they turn pro

35:33 The loneliness nobody warns a 21-year-old about

Links:

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Esther Henseleit's 40-footer on the 72nd hole changed the composition of the European Solheim Cup team. Kent Paisley and Scottie "Worldwide" Leonard breakdown the impact, Shiho Kuwaki's playoff victory, and take a snap look at the now-finalized European roster at Bernardus.

0:00: Intro and analysis of the playoff

25:51: A quick review of Team Europe

42:56: Why over half the American roster might be finalized before the qualifying period ends and Rolex Annika Major Award discussion

Links:

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