The Latest MASHIE News
We continued the year at the outstanding Hankley Common with the Vooba Winter Club Championships, partnered with Nicholson Spirits. This event marked our first MASHIE Major of the year and formed part of our Winter Series, proudly sponsored by Amdaris and partnered with Golfbreaks.
Despite slightly wet conditions, Hankley Common once again showcased why it’s such a special venue, with the course remaining in excellent condition and providing a superb test of golf for all players.
Nicholson Spirits added an extra touch of class to the day by serving Espresso Martinis out on the course, which went down an absolute treat. Vooba also ensured everyone was well looked after, supplying branded PXG balls and tees for all competitors.
A huge thank you to everyone who played and supported the event, and to our partners who helped make it such a memorable start to the year. An excellent opening Major for 2026 and a brilliant way to continue the Winter Series.
In the world of Professional golf
Playoff Drama in Phoenix as Gotterup Wins Again
Chris Gotterup secured his second win of 2026 in a tantalising playoff against Hideki Matsuyama. The pair were tied after 72 holes at 16-under, thanks to the Japanese star’s final hole bogey, in conjunction with Gotterup birdieing five of his last six holes in regulation. Overnight leader Matsuyama struggled off the tee for the duration of the fourth round but was able to hold it together with a brilliant putting display. He needed a par on the 18th to take the crown, but after his drive found the Oakmont-adjacent church pew bunkers, he caught the lip with his second and limped home with a bogey five to send it to extra holes.
The 12-time PGA Tour winner was not as lucky in the playoff, as another errant driver rebounded into the water up the left side, allowing Gotterup to find the middle of the green before draining the birdie putt to extinguish any remaining hope from Matsuyama. A dramatic ending, considering Gotterup was nowhere to be seen at the top of the leaderboard leading into the closing stages. Hideki will surely be kicking himself that he did not manage to get over the line, in spite of his torrid day off the tee. The 33-year-old was ranked 70th in the field among those who made the cut in strokes gained off the tee. Had he got over the line, he would have been the fourth worst winner in that metric.
But the steal from Gotterup, who began the day four shots back, to clinch the title marks his fourth PGA Tour victory in the last three seasons, with only Rory and Scottie having more, five and 14 respectively. It is also the Oklahoma alum’s third win in his last 11 starts, extending his lead in the FedEx Cup, albeit early in the season. Sunday’s playoff brought the Waste Management’s seventh playoff in the last 11 years, exhibiting the typified crescendo that the Phoenix desert has manufactured in its pre-Superbowl warm-up slot.
There was a group tied at 15-under and one shot back of the eventual playoff, including Scottie Scheffler, Akshay Bhatia, Si Woo Kim, Michael Thorbjornsen and Nicolai Hojgaard. Scottie spotted the field a first round 73, yet still nearly managed to come back and win the tournament, a testament to his continued excellence. It still resulted in Scheffler’s 17th consecutive top ten finish on the PGA Tour, and his 66th made cut in a row. Hojgaard may have been in the mix for the playoff had he not made a triple bogey seven on the second hole of the day playing in the final group; before answering with four birdies and an eagle to finish just shy. Thorbjornsen was in fact leading after an eagle three on the 15th, but two nervy bogeys followed for the youngster to drop him out of contention late on.
Through four PGA Tour events in 2026, both Si Woo Kim and Pierceson Coody have been inside the top 20 in all four. They will be looking to continue that trend this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where a certain Rory McIlroy will be defending his title from a year ago.
Reed Continues Middle East Dominance in Qatar
LIV departer Patrick Reed is on an all-time heater on the DP World Tour as he won yet again in Doha on Sunday. In his last three starts, Reed has gone win, T2 but lost in a playoff, win at a combined 47-under-par. It seems that the 35-year-old Texan made the correct choice to breakaway form the breakaway circuit in an attempt to serve out his suspension and duly return to his beloved PGA Tour. With this stretch, Reed is now firmly at the summit of the Race to Dubai rankings, with the top ten at the end of season not already exempt earning a PGA Tour card, providing another avenue for him to regain his status come Autumn. P has made birdie or better on 31% of his holes played over the last three weeks and has gained a total of 43.2 strokes gained which is +3.6 per round.
Despite an obviously weaker field in comparison, the former Masters champ battled to a final round 70 to fend off the chasing pack of Calum Hill, last weeks’ playoff shanker, and former amateur winner Jacob Skov Olesen, who incidentally co-led after the first round of last year’s Open at Portrush. MASHIE Ambassador Dan Bradbury had a solid week shooting a final round 69 tor a total of -12 and a tie for 5th place. The DP World Tour has a week off as the international swing transitions from the Middle East to Africa for the Kenya Open followed by a fortnight in South Africa.
Smylie Stars on Debut Under the Lights in Riyadh.
Outside of Phoenix, the Middle East was ostensibly the focal point of professional golf this past week, with LIV getting its 2026 season underway in Saudi Arabia. Unlike the Waste Management, the PIF-funded tour decided to start and end the opener a day early, perhaps for Superbowl reasons, in order to try and avoid the very few people watching from flicking over to the big game in Santa Clara. Nonetheless, the opportunity to see top players play night golf was intriguing, with Australian Elvis Smylie outlasting two-time major winner Rahm in a shootout. A Saturday night birdie fest led to an eight-under-par clinic from lefty Smylie. And whilst Rahm shot the round of the day with a nine-under 63, he came up one shot short of forcing a playoff.
Still, the LIV players should be happy as the OWGR board granted them points this past week for those who finish inside the top ten, sparking controversy, annoyance, but ultimately acceptance, considering the tour falls short of most criteria required to obtain ranking qualifications. The schedule returns to Thursday to Sunday normality with LIV players being forced to play back-to-back weeks. Not what the veterans signed up for when quoting their desire to play less golf as opposed to the weekly grind of the PGA Tour, which Reed ironically delineated his yearning for in his plea to switch back. Any whom, arguably LIV’s most (only) successful event takes place in Adelaide at The Grange Golf Club. Prepare yourselves for the watering hole, and supposedly the best atmosphere in golf, although I am sure the coliseum at the 16th in Phoenix would have something to say about that.
