The season's over, and Mike Hicks — Payne Stewart's former caddie of 11 years — is not in a charitable mood about how it ended. Scottie Scheffler won the FedEx Cup at East Lake and never really had to sweat it, and Mike's verdict on the other 29 players is blunt: they folded like cheap suits.
He goes twice this week. First East Lake and who actually showed up. Then the bigger argument — what the PGA Tour needs next, why he doesn't think golf should have playoffs at all, and the one player he'd bring back tomorrow to make people care again.
Then Brian Hilton, host of The Loop, on the question the game will not stop asking: does Tiger Woods play competitive golf again, and is the Champions Tour where it happens?
Here's what went down on Episode 28.
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Caddie's Corner: East Lake & Scheffler's FedEx Cup
Scottie Scheffler took the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup at 16 under, 264 — three shots clear. Three wins on the year and a stack of top tens. Mike's description of watching him: like watching someone play a video game.
But the story of the week, for Mike, wasn't Scheffler at all. It was the 29 players who never made him uncomfortable.
Player by player. Viktor Hovland held the 54-hole lead and couldn't get the putts to drop on Sunday — Mike's flagged the short game as his weakness for a while, and says the law of averages finally found him. Wyndham Clark finished bottom third after a strong year, which Mike puts down to missing fairways and being mentally more volatile than Scheffler. Ryan Gerard stood over a two-million-dollar par putt on 18 with a swing Mike calls unconventional — and Mike explains why unconventional mechanics get exposed as the pressure climbs. Robert MacIntyre finished even. Gary Woodland finished two over and, in Mike's read, simply ran out of gas after spending the previous week grinding his way into the top 30.
Which is the part casual fans miss, and Mike spells it out: a top 30 finish is worth your schedule and your travel for the entire next year, locked in. No scrambling for starts. That security is what Woodland and Clark were actually playing for.
Mike takes charity outings, corporate events, special occasions and speaking engagements — details at mikehicksgolf.com.
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Caddie's Corner: What the Tour Needs Next
Last week Mike broke down the BMW at Bellerive and the East Lake format — this week he goes further and takes aim at the whole structure.
Mike doesn't like staggered stroke play, and he doesn't think golf needs playoffs in the first place. Winner-take-all at the end of a long season strikes him as the wrong way to settle it.
He is, however, genuinely excited about 2028: a championship series and a challenger series with promotion and relegation, a two-week playoff instead of three, and a Tour Championship played as match play. He and Jeff agree that match play is the thing that finally gives the finish some teeth. The naming, though, is a mess — a "Championship" series and a "Challenger" series sitting next to the existing Champions Tour is going to confuse a lot of casual fans.
Then the part Mike is most direct about. The Tour has a personality vacuum. Arnold Palmer had it. Jack Nicklaus had it. Tiger had it. Right now nobody is moving the needle, and Mike's answer is to get Bryson DeChambeau back inside the tent — not because he's the best player, but because people argue about him.
Also here: Player of the Year, where Mike has Scheffler as the clear pick on consistency and statistical dominance, with Wyndham Clark and Matt Fitzpatrick behind him. Rory McIlroy, whose schedule is narrowing to the four majors — which Mike thinks takes him out of the award conversation for good — and what Rory would need to do with his driver and his off-season to change that.
And the comparison that closes it out: Scheffler against 2000 Tiger Woods. Mike gives Scheffler the pin-high accuracy, says he's never seen anyone hit it pin high that often — and still takes Tiger. Better putter, and a player who moved the sport in a way Scheffler hasn't.
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Guest Segment: Will Tiger Play Again?
Brian Hilton hosts The Loop, a golf podcast that interviews caddies, club professionals and superintendents. He joins Jeff to work through the question the game keeps asking.
Tiger Woods hasn't played a tournament round since Royal Troon in 2024. His only competitive swings since have come indoors, for Jupiter Links in TGL. Seven back surgeries, the most recent in October 2025, and he's missed all four majors two years running.
So where does that leave him? Ernie Els has repeatedly invited Tiger to the Champions Tour, and Brian makes the case that it fits better than people assume. Carts are allowed, and roughly three quarters of the field uses them. The fields aren't soft either — Stewart Cink and company mean it's real competition, not a victory lap. Ten to fifteen starts a year would move ratings in a way nothing else on that tour can.
The honest tell, Brian and Jeff agree, is the PNC Challenge in December. If Tiger can walk 36 holes alongside his son Charlie, that's the signal. If he can't, the rest is speculation.
And there's the exemption nobody forgets: Tiger has a lifetime invitation to the Masters, which is almost certainly what any comeback gets built around. NUCLR Golf currently puts a PGA Tour start for him next year at roughly 43%.
Brian also raises the thing that makes a Tiger return different this time. The Sunday-afternoon television audience he once owned isn't where younger fans are anymore — they're on phones and YouTube, and a comeback now gets consumed a completely different way.
Jeff also announces Cars for Cocktails, presented by Appreciate Your Service, on September 11 at Avila Golf and Country Club. Details at appreciateyourservice.org.
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