THIS DAY IN GOLF HISTORY / OCTOBER 26
A first win at Sea Island—and a Monday finish in Bermuda
October 26 has delivered lone career wins, season-ending statements, breakthrough playoffs and comeback stories. In 2026, it added an unusual Monday morning finish beside the Atlantic.
1969
Steve Spray earns his only PGA Tour victory
Spray won the San Francisco Open Invitational on October 26. It became the defining result of his Tour career: the Iowa native’s only PGA Tour title. [TPC]
More than half a century later, the tournament remains the line that keeps Spray’s name in the PGA Tour record book.
1986
Ben Crenshaw wins the Vantage Championship
Crenshaw captured the Vantage Championship, the event that preceded today’s Tour Championship, at Oak Hills Country Club in his home state of Texas. It was his second victory of the 1986 season and the 12th PGA Tour title of his career. [PGA Tour]
The season-ending trophy came eight years before Crenshaw won the second of his two Masters titles.
2014
Robert Streb turns a 63 into his first PGA Tour title
Streb began the final round of the McGladrey Classic five strokes back, then made 10 birdies in 20 holes—including the playoff—to win at Sea Island. His closing 63 moved him into a three-man playoff with Will MacKenzie and Brendon de Jonge at 14 under. [PGA Tour]
On the second extra hole, Streb hit an 8-iron to about four feet and converted the birdie for his first Tour victory. Six years later, he won the same Sea Island event—by then called the RSM Classic—for his second title. [PGA Tour]
2025
Australia wins its first International Crown
Minjee Lee, Hannah Green, Grace Kim and Stephanie Kyriacou defeated the United States in the final at New Korea Country Club to give Australia its first Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown. Lee and Green each won their singles match 2 and 1. [LPGA]
Lee went 4-0-1 across the week and was named the tournament’s MVP, completing a team victory built through pool play, a tense semifinal and the final against the United States.
2025
Yani Tseng wins again after an 11-year wait
Former world No. 1 Yani Tseng won the weather-shortened Wistron Ladies Open in Taiwan at 14 under, four shots clear of Amelia Garvey. The victory was Tseng’s seventh Ladies European Tour title and her first professional win since 2014. [LPGA]
For the five-time major champion, the home-country win was less about adding another line to a résumé than proving there was still a road back.
2026
Austin Smotherman wins a three-hole Monday playoff in Bermuda
After high winds forced the Butterfield Bermuda Championship to be shortened to 54 holes, Smotherman and Seamus Power returned to Port Royal tied at 16 under. Smotherman won on their third trip to the par-3 16th, two-putting from 14 feet after Power missed the green and could not save par. [Golf Channel]
It was Smotherman’s second consecutive PGA Tour victory following the Bank of Utah Championship earlier in October, extending his Tour exemption through 2029.
FROM THE ARCHIVE TO YOUR NEXT ROUND / FOX BANDIT VIEW
Treat the reset as a skill.
Streb had to shift from chasing a score to surviving a playoff. Smotherman returned a day later to play one hole repeatedly in heavy wind. Tseng spent years working toward another chance to finish.
That is useful for an ordinary round. After a bad hole—or a long wait on the tee—do not ask for momentum. Rebuild it: one target, one rehearsal, one committed swing. The reset should be as specific as the shot.
Practice it on the range by stepping away after every five balls. Change clubs, choose a new target and run your routine from the beginning. The interruption is the drill.
Use the practice checklist ↗