Two segments with Mike Hicks this week — Payne Stewart's former caddie of 11 years — and he does not hedge on either one. First the BMW Championship at Bellerive, where Wyndham Clark won but left a rules question behind him in the rough. Then East Lake, where the top 30 start level and the whole season gets settled in four rounds. Mike thinks that's the wrong way to end a year, and he explains why.
Then Sean Winton of Golf Inspired on the state of golf travel: why a good week in Ireland now gets booked in 2028, and how to build the trip without paying the number on the board.
Here's what went down on Episode 27.
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Caddie's Corner: The BMW at Bellerive
Wyndham Clark closed with an even-par 70 to win at 17 under, three clear of Patrick Cantlay, after a five-shot lead vanished on him. That's his third win of 2026 alongside the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and the U.S. Open.
Then there's the part everybody is still arguing about. Clark switching clubs and working around his ball in the rough. Mike calls it sketchy and says plainly that it looked to him like improving a lie. He also explains why a caddie stays out of the gray areas anyway — it's the player's job to call a penalty on himself — and tells the story of a former player of his who called one on himself that Mike didn't believe he'd earned.
Also here: Rory McIlroy's bogey at 17 and the club Mike thinks should have been in his hands on the layup. Gary Woodland topping a tee shot into the creek at 9, then grinding out nine straight pars to reach East Lake for the first time since 2019. And what four and a half hours of pressure actually does to a player.
Mike also tells the one about the listener who hired him to caddie at Pinehurst No. 2 for a spouse's 65th birthday. He takes charity outings, corporate events, special occasions and speaking engagements — details at mikehicksgolf.com.
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Caddie's Corner: East Lake & the FedEx Cup Format
The Tour Championship takes the top 30 to East Lake, everybody starts level, and the FedEx Cup gets settled in four rounds. Mike doesn't like it. His case: a player who leads the points all season shouldn't have the year handed to somebody else in one week. He also doesn't buy that moving the finish ahead of football fixed the ratings.
On the golf course, he explains why Zoysia sits the ball up and why players like it — and that how firm the ground gets is the whole story. Soft and they throw darts. Firm and it's a real test.
Also here: how a caddie manages a player who's sick, drawn from Scottie Scheffler's bout with hand, foot and mouth disease, and why the job is to protect rest and perspective rather than push practice. Player of the Year, where Mike lands on Wyndham Clark over Scheffler — Scheffler has the win total, Clark has three wins and the U.S. Open, and Mike thinks the major settles it unless Scheffler takes East Lake. Plus who he likes at East Lake, including why Cantlay is live if he drives it straight.
Mike also shares what his sources are telling him about PGA Tour finances, where the Tiger effect sits in the next TV deal, and why he thinks purses have hit their ceiling. That reporting is his.
He's also speaking at the September 11 remembrance event at Avila Golf and Country Club — details at Appreciate Your Service.
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Golf Travel with Sean Winton: Ireland, Rising Fees & Where the Value Is
Last week Mike walked us through the FedEx playoffs and his years on Payne Stewart's bag — this week we go overseas. Sean Winton of Golf Inspired has spent 30 years putting groups on the ground abroad, and he joins the show from St. Petersburg.
Demand never cooled after the pandemic. Groups are booking into 2027 and 2028 to get the tee times they actually want. Tee sheets at private clubs that used to open around Labor Day now open in March, April or May, so the window moved and the deposits come due fast.
Southwest Ireland — Old Head, Ballybunion, Lahinch, Tralee, Waterville and Doonbeg — runs on 50% non-refundable deposits and has to be sequenced tight. Royal County Down and Royal Portrush come down to being on the phone at 9 AM Belfast time, which is 4 AM for an operator sitting in Florida.
Private equity money has pushed green fees and hotel rates up across Scotland and Ireland. Sean's answer isn't to pay the headline number blind: play two A-list courses, then fill the rest of the week with B-side links that play every bit as well for a fraction of the money.
And if the British Isles has priced you out, he makes the case for South Africa, where the golf pairs with wine country and safari, and for Costa Navarino in the Greek Peloponnese — four courses on one property, well under what Scotland or Ireland will run you.
Green fees discussed on air are Sean's figures at the time of recording. Rates vary and are subject to change by the course.
Reach Sean through golfersunite.com — and mention Golfers Unite when you do.
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