The Round Table: can Brooke defend her Canadian Open title?

Each week, we ask our panel of writers, PGA members and golf industry experts to weigh in with their views on the hot topics of the day.

The CPKC Women’s Open is on this week at the Royal Mayfair Golf Club in Edmonton and Brooke Henderson is the defending champion. Brooke has had a so-so year in 2026 with no wins and just three Top 10s. How do you rate Brooke’s chances to win another Canadian Open this week and if not Brooke, who’s your pick?

Jim Deeks, Fairways Magazine (@jimdeeks): I’d rank Brooke’s chances as very high.  Yes, it’s been a so-so year, but she finished second or third in two majors, and the CKPC is definitely a major to her, so she’ll be highly motivated. Alas, if not Brooke, who?  The LPGA has now become so dominated by Asian players, that it seems every week there’s a raft of new unknown players on top of the leaderboard.  But let’s go with someone we do know… assuming she’s in the field, I’ll pick Charley Hull.

Michael Schurman, Master Professional / Hall of Fame Member, PGA of Canada: At least 15 Canadians are in the field and as ‘homers’ they will get more attention than normal. Sometimes, that level of attention can spur on a career, a feeling of “I’m somebody”. Others don’t respond too well and avoid it. Based on performance, Henderson is the likely bet but she hasn’t played well. However, she has played for 13 years and after a while a person gets a bit weary. I hope one of them can do the job, but the competition is intense.

TJ Rule, Golf Away ours (@GolfAwayTJ): Well, she was in worse form last year coming into the CPKC and pulled out a victory, so you can’t rule her out.  Even with all the hometown pressure, she performs well in her National Championship.  But if it isn’t her, it’s hard not to choose Jeeno Thitikul, coming off her victory in Portland.  She’s the best player in the world and will continue her hot streak in Edmonton.

Hal Quinn, Freelance Writer, Vancouver: As Brooke herself deferred to a higher authority a while back when she said God would decide when she returned from injury, guess it’s up to Her to decide how she does in Edmonton. Another authority is the LPGA Tour’s scheduling committee that does it again, as usual. Best time to have the Canadian Women’s Open? How about opposite the second leg of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup? Beauty, eh? If Brooke defends, God willing, will anyone be watching?

Peter Mumford, Fairways Magazine: If home course advantage and fan support have anything to do with it, Brooke should be a shoo-in to repeat. The tournament is like a major for her, and she has shown twice in the past how she can rise to the occasion. I’d certainly put her odds near the top of the list. If not Brooke, there’s a handful of top players all at the top of their game including Nelly Korda and Jeeno Thitikul, but I’m going to go with another defending champion – Lydia Ko won the championship the last time it was played at Royal Mayfair in 2013.

The FedEx Cup playoffs kicked off last week in Memphis with World #1 Scottie Scheffler lapping the field enroute to an eight-shot victory. That Scheffler won was no surprise but there were a number of players that finished outside the Top 50, meaning their season is over and they’ll be scrambling next year to get into Signature events. Who was the biggest surprise to not move on in the playoffs?

Deeks: Even after all these years, I still find the FedEx Cup process confusing, so I was somewhat surprised and disappointed that neither Nick Taylor nor Corey Conners nor Sudarshan Yellamaraju qualified for the next step, despite top 50 finishes in the St. Jude event and decent play all season. Also surprised that Shane Lowry didn’t have the points to move forward.

Schurman: Of course it has to be Spieth. In this event, elevating your position is virtually impossible. Only one player outside the top 50 made it: Sungjae Im. Next week will more of the same. I wish there was a better scoreboard system for watching the last place changing hands on a hole-by-hole basis.

Rule:  The biggest name that jumps out to me is Shane Lowry, who didn’t have a particularly good year for him, without a top 10 after early March.  He’s usually so steady but couldn’t put together a great tournament in the second half of the year, so now he gets some rest.

Quinn: Played with a guy (once!) who loudly moaned about every bounce, couldn’t believe putts broke the opposite way to how he’d read them, was shocked by wind gusts, and was stunned when he totalled his score. Spieth reminds me of that guy. Did I mention the guy was 12 years old? Given that TV gave Spieth double or triple the airtime of guys who finished in the top 20, the surprise is in how American media can’t let go of a former hero.

Mumford: Three majors will get you a lifetime of attention but it’s not always a barometer of current form. Jordan Spieth is about where he should be based on his recurring struggles. The bigger surprise to me was Shane Lowry. I assumed he was Top 30 but obviously having a bad year – if $2.5 million in earnings can be called a “bad” year.

LIV Golf continues on life support, and the latest speculation is that Jon Rahm will announce he’s done with the upstart league after this season and will look to play elsewhere in 2027. That could be the final nail in the coffin for LIV Golf given that he’s their #1 player, and others may follow. Should the PGA Tour resurrect the offer they made to Brooks Koepka and extend it to Rahm and maybe others? 

Deeks: My answer won’t surprise anyone: no, they shouldn’t.  Koepka got away with murder, in my view.  All the defectors should be forced to qualify for the Tour the same way all other hopefuls do… by earning it.

Schurman: The PGA TOUR has a giant mess on their hands. In trying to do the right thing, be fair and provide the best field possible for the sponsors they have a nightmare situation. Unfortunately, they also have the wrong CEO to make this decision. He already has a mess with Rory because he (Rollap) shredded documents pertaining to that debacle. Rory isn’t going to play the minimum required number of events and therefore should be suspended. The precedent was established with Seve and Martin Kaymer who were suspended for one year. As far as LIV is concerned, I am against fines. The PGA TOUR would be accepting the same ‘blood’ money the players were paid with. I much prefer to see them earn their way back through minor tours. Several things would happen. First, those minor tours would attract larger galleries. Second, the player involved would face embarrassment for leaving. Last, what if they don’t make it? I would allow them to use their major tournament exemptions for majors and Past Champion status for specific events, including allowing perks for winning and official earnings.

Rule: I don’t think they should extend any offers; the guys can play their way back on to the Tour like everyone else. They have opportunities with DP World Tour and can no doubt get some sponsor’s exemptions to make it easier than it is for most.  But no need to bend to the guys that abandoned the PGA Tour for a bag of cash.  Hopefully he does leave though, and others follow and we can be rid of LIV for good.

Quinn: The fig leaf was offered, and ignored by Rahm and DeChambeau, accepted by Koepka and Reed. Return to the PGA Tour will come at a much higher price now, and rightly so. The DP Tour may soon have a lot of “name” players and others knocking at the door.

Mumford: It would be great to see Rahm back on the PGA Tour regularly, but he had his chance to get a Koepka-like deal and rejected it. He has other options to play his way on including major exemptions. Or how about busting his butt on the DP World Tour this fall? He could still finish in the Top 10 which would get him onto the PGA Tour for 2027.