Despite the presence of American college and professional football, professional golf marches on. The PGA Tour returned to Utah for a second year, while the DP World Tour made its annual pilgrimage to the home of golf in Scotland. The LPGA found the balmy tropics on Oahu, while two more tours made headlines in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. For many, the arrival of October brings the anticipation of leaf color change, followed by the arrival of winter. We shall delay as long as possible, for as long as the golf professionals chase the sun.
Much gratitude to Golf Monthly, WITB Hub, and GolfWRX for surface dives into equipment specs. Let’s enjoy another Tour Tech Rundown, a first for this year’s tenth month.
PGA Tour @ Bank of Utah Championship: Second first-timer is first for Austin
Austin Smotherman followed the lead of last year’s champion, Michael Brennan, and made the BOUC his first PGA Tour title. Brennan gave a valiant effort in defense of his title, but a Saturday 71 took him out of the title chase and to a T13 finish. As for Smotherman, it was the feeling that Brennan had in 2025, but sweeter. After wins on the PGA Tour Americas and Korn Ferry tours, Smotherman tracked down his first win on the big tour, at the age of 32.
The champion most likely would have been a first-time tour victor, regardless of the name. Doug Ghim nearly chased Smotherman down, posting a final-round 69 to finish two back of the winner. The electricity on Sunday came from David Ford, who signed for 64 and moved up six spots, into a third-place tie with Trace Crowe. All four had been winless until Sunday, but only Smotherman left that club.
The champion was cruising through his final round until a pair of substandard bunker shots at the 13th led to double bogey. Smotherman bounced back with birdies at 14 and 16, but kept matters interesting with another bogey at 17. Birdie at the last gave Smotherman his two-shot margin of victory.
WITB for Austin Smotherman
LPGA @ Lotte Championship: Jeeno captures fourth title of 2026
Jeeno Thitikul may not have won a major title this year, but she has amassed seven LPGA wins over the past two season, including four in 2026. Thitikul kept the accelerator steady as she pulled away from Ina Yoon and Miya Yamashita on Oahu, at the LOTTE Championship.
Try as they might, Yoon and Yamashita could not reel in the second, four-time winner on the LPGA circuit for this calendar year. Nelly Korda reached four victories at the Women’s US Open at Riviera, and now Thitikul has her own, four of a kind. Yoon and Yamashita closed with 67 and 68, respectively, but Thitikul was steady on Sunday, with a 68 of her own.
Thitikul posted four birdies through fifteen holes on day four, until an inexplicable double bogey at the 16th hole reduced her advantage to one shot. Gathering herself, the Thai champion notched birdie at the closing two holes to reestablish her three-shot margin of victory. The win moved Thitikul closer to Korda, in the CME Globe season-long points race, and firmly situated her in second position as the LPGA moves toward the close of its season.
WITB for Jeeno Thitikul
DP World Tour @ Dunhill Links: Meronk returns to DP winner’s podium
After a slight by the European Ryder Cup selection committee in 2023, Poland’s Adrian Meronk left the circuit for the big money of LIV golf. Three years later, Meronk returned to the European rotation and won for the fifth time. The tall victor emerged victorious, a pair of shots clear of Niklas Norgaard of Denmark.
Meronk carried a three-shot advantage through sixteen holes, but a bogey at the famous Road Hole of the Old Course made the walk down Home a bit more stressful. Norgaard had a solid round cooking until he reached the turn at St. Andrews. Bogey at holes ten and thirteen added to the challenge, but Norgaard was able to secure three birdies coming home, to earn a T2 finish with overnight leader Casey Jarvis. The South African Jarvis stayed close to the lead, but finished on 72 on day four, to drop from the lead.
WITB for Adrian Meronk
Korn Ferry Tour @ Compliance Solutions: No Stopping This Scott
It took Sandy Scott a bit of time to win a first KFT title, but precious little more to win a second. After claiming victory in Ohio in September, Scott won a second playoff event in Oklahoma, and moved to first position in the season-long points race. Guaranteed a spot on the PGA Tour in 2027, what lofty places might Sandy Scott find in the coming season?
The victory was not an easy one. Scott and William Sides reached 24-under par on the week, to edge one shot past Nick Gabrelcik, Ross Steelman, and Carson Young, into a playoff. The third-place finishers all had their chances, but the daunting 18th at The Patriot rarely gives up birdies without a fight.
In the playoff, Scott and Sides matched pars through the first three holes (18, 18, and 17) before a return to the closing hole finally brought a birdie. Scott whipped an iron inside twenty feet. Sides found a greenside bunker and recovered to five feet, but the putt was never attempted. Scott drained his third shot and lifted high a second trophy in as many tournaments.
Not a replay.
Sandy Scott learned his lesson and drained the winning birdie on the fourth playoff hole @CSChampGolf ?
— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) October 5, 2026
PGA Tour Champions @ Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic: Alker is back, baby!
Statistics buffs certainly have a name for Steven Alker’s victory trend since 2021. For now, we’ll call it the Alker Bend. Five PGATC wins in 2021 and 2022, followed by four wins from 2023 to 2025, then four more in 2026 alone. Fourteen wins have fallen the way of the late-in-life champion from New Zealand, with the latest coming in eastern Pennsylvania.
For the third time in as many tournaments, the victor had to manage the presence of Michael Block, aka Blockie, the surprise challenger at the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill. Block turned fifty this year, and has taken a run at a number of tournaments. He hasn’t yet found the closer’s comfort, but it appears to be coming. Block finally posted a Sunday round below par, but when you must contend with the likes of Steven Alker, lower wins the week.
Block finished on minus-twelve, one shot back of Tag Ridings and two behind the champion. Despite Ridings’ final-day 64, Alker was able to mach Ridings’ birdies at 16 and 17, to hold the challenger off. The PGATC moves to north Florida this week for the second-last event prior to the season-ending playoff run.
Back-to-back birdies and Steven Alker leads by one heading into 18 @JeffLVClassic.
? Golf Channel
— PGA Tour Champions (@ChampionsTour) October 4, 2026
