On an earnest note, our Weight of Rory book is being printed, and the printer keeps sending me photos and videos, and I cannot get enough. Probably very silly, but making real, tangible things is so much fun (until I find that first typo).
You can buy the book right here.
Name drops today: G.K. Chesterton, H.E., Tron Carter, Michael La Sasso, Alexander Zverev and OKGC.
This newsletter is presented by our friends at Garmin and their Approach Z30 rangefinder. You don’t need a Z30 to see into the future and what’s going to happen at the 2027 Ryder Cup, but you could definitely use one for your next round.
I suppose it is a very normal sport thing to be touting things such as the PlaysLike distance and a 6x magnification feature of a device, but both are compelling features of the Approach Z30.
Less of the straining to see the pin …
More time spent hitting the actual shots and working on your one-handed twirl.
Check them out below.
OK, now onto the news.
1. I did a podcast with Full Swing superstar, Dylan Dethier, on Tuesday about five things that have surprised us about golf in 2026, and one of mine so far is Matt Fitzpatrick turning into Xander Schauffele.
I just didn’t see it coming.
The primary reason this has happened is because Fitz has gone from being Sami Valimaki with his iron play to being Colin Morikawa.
Three numbers to look at in his Data Golf profile.
1. He’s having the worst putting season of his career.
2. A 1.0+ SG approach number per round is insane.
3. This overall mark is a crazy, crazy number for somebody who’s basically been an average putter this year.
2. So why (or how) has the iron play improved this much at this stage of his career? That’s an unusual area for someone to improve on a decade into their career.
Usually it just kind of is what it is at this stage.
Fitz has credited his new coach, Mark Blackburn.
It was [at Hilton Head in 2025] that I saw Mark Blackburn for the first time, and straight away we did some stuff with my approach play.
He kind of looked at the way my … body was, strengths, weaknesses of movement, and sort of tied everything back to that.
The biggest thing for me was the retraction of my arms, making sure they don't get long and get away from me, and that's been the biggest difference. Certainly in terms of my approach play, it's been an unbelievable change, and just felt so good and just so much more controlled.
Matt Fitzpatrick
LKD has an even more thorough explanation here, and it has to do with that weird shoulder shrug thing that Fitz does before shots.
The numbers above don’t lie. He was 104th in the Data Golf rankings a year ago. Now he’s fourth. They can’t lie when they’re that far apart.
I have so much respect for guys at Fitzpatrick’s level — major champion, Ryder Cupper, mostly a top 20 player in the world for the last 8-10 years — who decide to reinvent themselves or completely change something that they’re doing.
It can go poorly (Hovland, Viktor), but I still respect the effort that goes into trying to become the fifth best player in the world when you’re already the 17th best player in the world.
[Note: This was written before Jim Furyk was named captain. I think the idea still applies, and I should have some more fully formed Furyk thoughts early next week].
3. Speaking of Matt Fitzpatrick! Want to know why the U.S. loses Ryder Cups?
Is it because Europe just makes more putts? No, it’s because they’re committed to a culture of excellence.
A story in two screenshots.
Screenshot No. 1 …
Screenshot No. 2 …
Europe is out there grinding tape at Adare a full 18 months out from the event, and the U.S. side apparently didn’t have a Plan B if the Cat didn’t want the job.
Of course Europe doesn’t win Ryder Cups just because it sends a scouting team to Ireland in April the year before the event, but doing this is emblematic of its desire to leave no stone unturned.
What was it Tom Watson said at the Masters?
It comes down to the team and how they play. That determines who wins and who loses the Ryder Cup. Captain is certainly a part of that, but you put the onus on the players themselves.
… The competition is based on the players. The players perform, you win. If they don't perform, you lose.
Basically, the captain is there to organize, create the teams -- that's the most important job of the captain -- and to be there when it's necessary to say something to the player. That's the job of the captain. As far as who should be the captain, that's not in my arena.
Tom Watson
The phrase, “History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes” comes to mind.
You don’t have to name a captain at this point in the festivities to go out and win the event, but given Europe’s obsession with detail and the U.S.’, uhh, not obsession with detail (see below).
I think it’s pretty telling that that seat is still empty for the stars and stripes.
This post will continue below for Normal Club members (all 1,055 of them) and includes thoughts on Brody Miller’s amazing LIV article, why the Tour should buy NLU or Fried Egg (?!) and how much time pro golfers actually spend playing golf.
By becoming a member, you will receive the following …
• Access to 100 percent of our content this week.
• An invite to our Slack channel where we watch and talk golf together.
• A free digital copy of our Rory book.
• 15% off to our pro shop.
Kyle approaches coverage of the game with both conviction and curiosity
Kyle sees golf in a way that no one else does—and we're all fortunate to get to share in that view through Normal Sport!
I’ve always enjoyed your love for golf. So often I see favoritism showed to golfers in the social media world, but I enjoy reading you telling a situation how it is regardless of the person.
It's a treasure trove of the important, the seemingly important, and — importantly! — the unimportant stuff. It's an asset in my inbox.
Normal Sport is exploratory, sometimes emotional, always entertaining. It also has one of my favorite writers in the biz at its foundation.
Kyle's content is a product of a sick sense of humour, a clear passion for golf and unquestionable dedication to hard work. That's not normal!
Kyle is a perfect curator of the necessary moments of levity that accent a sport that will drive most of us insane.
The way Kyle has been able to mold a silly Twitter joke (normal sport) into a must-read newsletter on the weekly happenings in our silly game gives a great look into why he's one of the smartest people in golf.
Few make the sport feel as fun and as thought provoking.
Kyle is one of the best in the golf world at finding and synthesizing the absurd, the thoughtful and the fun things that make being a golf fan worthwhile.
There’s been no one else in golf that has tickled my funny bone as often as Kyle Porter does. He’s been instrumental in ushering in a new era of golf coverage and it’s been a pleasure to be along for the ride in that.
Kyle is the best columnist in sports. That he has channeled those talents through strokes gained and Spieth memes is a blessing to golf.
.svg){kind=spacer}
