Right, here’s what I’ve been chewing over this week. A first-time winner in Korea after a four-shot lead went missing, a new review on whether core work really adds speed, and a survey of young Australian golfers that tells us where they actually get sore. There are three fresh studies in the Research corner too. Let’s get into it.
The three talking points
On tour
Can you bogey the last and still win? Yuri Yoshida just did
Japan’s Yuri Yoshida won the BMW Ladies Championship at Pine Beach Golf Links in Haenam, finishing on 17 under, one shot clear of Ryu Hae-ran and Choi Hye-jin. It’s her first LPGA Tour win.
The story of the day was Ryu. She’s the world No. 3, she won the KPMG Women’s PGA and the Evian this summer, and she started the final round four shots in front. She shot 73. Yoshida shot 68, with an eagle on the par-5 second and a birdie on the 17th to go two clear, and then three-putted the last for a bogey. It still got her over the line.
What it means for you: a four-shot lead isn’t safe, and one ugly hole at the end doesn’t undo a good round. Most of us let one bad hole bleed into the next three. I can’t tell you from a scorecard why Ryu’s round got away from her, but the lesson is a handy one for the Saturday comp: bank the good holes early, then reset after the bad one.
Source: Korea JoongAng Daily (round report); LPGA.com.
Performance
Does core training actually add clubhead speed?
Researchers pooled nine controlled trials covering 220 golfers to see whether training that includes the core moves clubhead speed. Overall, it did, by a small amount (an effect size of 0.29, with a confidence interval of 0.03 to 0.55, so only just clear of zero).
The more interesting bit is the split. Programs that used golf-specific core work, meaning swing-style rotational exercises, showed a bigger effect (0.45) than general core training (0.15, which wasn’t statistically significant). That said, the difference between those two groups wasn’t statistically significant either, and the authors rate the certainty of the evidence as low overall and very low for the golf-specific group.
What it means for you: core work is worth doing, but I’d make it look a bit more like golf than a hundred sit-ups. Rotating, resisting rotation and transferring force are what the swing needs. Treat the golf-specific finding as a promising lead rather than proof, because the authors themselves call for bigger trials.
Source: Liu et al., Life (2026), meta-analysis of nine controlled trials. Read the paper.
Health
Where do young Aussie golfers actually get sore?
Researchers surveyed 56 elite golfers aged 10 to 19 in Western Australia (a 73% response rate, all with a handicap of 19 or better) about their injuries and training over the previous 12 months. Seventeen of them, or 30%, reported at least one injury. Of those who were injured, the mid back was the most common site (47%), followed by the lower back and ankle (29% each) and the knee (24%).
Only 8 of the 17 injuries were actually golf-related, and the other 9 came from other activities. Training volume wasn’t linked to injury risk (odds ratio 0.96, confidence interval 0.87 to 1.06), though the authors point out the small sample may be hiding something.
What it means for you: if you’ve got a junior golfer at home, the mid back and lower back are the places to keep an eye on, and hours on the range alone didn’t predict who got hurt. So rather than just counting hours, look at how they move, how they recover and what else they play. The caveats are real: it’s self-reported, it asks kids to remember a whole year, and it’s one state with small numbers.
Source: Lee et al., Health Science Reports (2026), cross-sectional survey. Read the paper.
Research corner
Three more recent papers that caught my eye this week. I read the abstracts so you don’t have to, and I’ll tell you how much weight I’d put on each one.
Golf after a knee replacement: all ten golfers got back out there. This was a prospective study of 10 recreational golfers (average age 72) who had a first total knee replacement, tested before surgery, at 3 months and at 1 year. Everyone returned to full rounds, playing an average of 8 rounds by 3 months and 44 by 12 months, and handicaps didn’t change. Knee scores (KOOS-JR) rose from 57 to 80. Swing speed barely moved (driver +1.3 mph, 7-iron -1.5 mph, with wide margins of error). It’s only 10 people, mostly men, with no comparison group. My take: encouraging for anyone facing a knee replacement and worried that golf is over, but it’s not a promise, and a proper rehab plan is what gets you there.
Source: Ledford et al., The Journal of Knee Surgery (2026). Read the paper.
Can a few power exercises before you tee off add distance? Eighteen high-level male amateurs did two separate warm-ups a week apart, one of upper-body power exercises and one of lower-body power exercises, with shots measured before, straight after, and at 15, 30 and 60 minutes. The lower-body session improved clubhead speed, ball speed and carry (effect sizes of roughly 0.14 to 0.36). The upper-body session nudged ball speed and carry but not clubhead speed. All of the effects were small. It’s 18 men, and it only looked at the hour after the warm-up, not what happens over a season. My take: a short, low-volume power warm-up with some jumps or throws is a sensible addition to your pre-round routine, but it doesn’t replace real training.
Source: Brennan et al., Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2026). Read the paper.
Can you train the mental game? A review says yes, a bit. This meta-analysis pooled 15 studies with 606 golfers. Psychological interventions were linked to a small drop in competitive anxiety (effect size -0.29, confidence interval -0.57 to -0.02) and a moderate improvement in performance (0.70, confidence interval 0.28 to 1.12). The catch is that results varied a lot between studies (I-squared of 80%), the certainty of the evidence is low, and the authors flag possible publication bias. My take: practising a pre-shot routine and managing nerves is worth your time, though I wouldn’t hang my hat on the exact size of the benefit.
Source: Li et al., BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation (2026). Read the paper.
Also from the weekend
Katsuragawa wins in Korea too. Japan’s Yuto Katsuragawa won the Genesis Championship at Woo Jeong Hills in Cheonan, finishing 13 under, two shots clear of Frenchmen Frederic Lacroix and Martin Couvra. It’s his second win on the DP World Tour, so a good weekend for Japan in Korea.
Bermuda gets blown out. Wind gusts of more than 40 mph forced the PGA Tour to cancel Sunday’s final round of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal. Austin Smotherman and Seamus Power were tied at 16 under, with Taylor Moore, Corey Conners and Ben Silverman two back. The Tour was working on a Monday finish, so there may well be a winner by the time you read this.
On the radar
- This week: the PGA Tour heads to the VidantaWorld Mexico Open, the LPGA is at the Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur, and PGA Tour Champions plays the Simmons Bank Championship (finishing 1 November). The DP World Tour is off.
- Coming up: the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi Championship runs 5 to 8 November, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship finishes on 15 November, and the Australian Open is at Kingston Heath from 3 to 6 December.
This is general information, not advice for your specific back, shoulder, knee or hip. If something’s bugging you, give me a shout before you self-diagnose from a blog post.
Kris
Sources
- BMW Ladies Championship report, Korea JoongAng Daily
- Yuri Yoshida first LPGA win, LPGA.com
- Genesis Championship, Genesis newsroom
- Genesis Championship leaderboard, Golfpost
- Bermuda Championship Sunday cancellation, Golf Digest
- Golf this week, GolfBlogger
- 2026 PGA Tour Champions season schedule, Wikipedia
- Core-inclusive physical training and clubhead speed, Life
- Golf-related injuries in young elite golfers, Health Science Reports
- Golf after total knee arthroplasty, The Journal of Knee Surgery
- Acute power exercises and golf driving performance, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
- Psychological interventions in golfers, BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation
