Two months ago, Michael Brennan kept finding ways to lose on Sundays. A Saturday 63 at the 3M Open turned into a 74 and a T24 finish. Another shot at the trophy at the Rocket Mortgage Classic ended with a 73. He then won the Wyndham Championship, and his summer started to look very different.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
This Sunday in Japan, he showed that the win was no fluke. Brennan held off Jacob Bridgeman and Keith Mitchell to win the Baycurrent Classic, his third PGA Tour title in 12 months. Like most winners, he had plenty to say afterwards at the press conference, and his answers revealed a lot about his nerves, a surprising game plan, and a pet named after Tiger Woods.
A Cat Named Tiger and Childhood Heroes
Beyond his performance and the finer details of his win, Brennan was asked about his childhood heroes, and his answer did not disappoint.
“Tiger Woods was always my favorite player growing up. I named my cat after him. So when we were really young—I don’t know, my cat’s 18 now, so I probably was six or seven years old.”
Naming his cat after Woods makes sense for a fan of the Big Cat. Brennan also shared his admiration for Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, and Smylie Kaufman.
He also revealed that he dressed up as Fowler for Halloween in 2012. The costume has an interesting story of its own. Fowler signed a photo of Brennan in the outfit with a note that read, “Look forward to playing a practice round with you at the 2025 U.S. Open!”
Eleven years later, Brennan qualified for the 2023 U.S. Open, where he got to play a Tuesday practice round with Fowler, Spieth, and Thomas.
Ryder Cup in His Sight
With three career PGA Tour wins now on his resume — having captured the Bank of Utah Championship, the Wyndham Championship, and the Baycurrent Classic— Brennan was asked about his future goals, and he said,
“It would be really cool to play in the Ryder Cup next year in Ireland. That’s definitely a goal of probably most Americans who play on the PGA Tour.”
This win certainly helps his case. He earned $1.44 million and an exemption into the 2027 U.S. Open. The win also lifts him into the world’s top 25 for the first time. The 2027 Ryder Cup will take place at Adare Manor in Ireland, with the competition scheduled for September 17–19. Whether Brennan can make the team remains an interesting question.
Brennan Admits the Nerves Are Still There
When asked about how he handled the pressure, Brennan was honest.
“I was more calm today than I have been in weeks past when I have been in contention,” he said at the press conference. “Even late in the round, yes, I was nervous, but maybe less so than some of the other tournaments that I had been closing recently. And I think that’s progress.”
That answer has some history behind it. Only two months ago, Brennan was four shots off the lead at the 3M Open after shooting 63. He then shot a 74 on Sunday, finishing T24, in what proved to be a hard near-miss. He later admitted to “putting too much pressure” on himself.
Just a week later at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, he faced a similar situation. He started the final round one shot off the lead but finished T15 after carding a 73. So this Sunday naturally mattered.
A Careful Game Plan
Additionally, a surprise element in the win was how he did it. Brennan is known for hitting tee shots as far as he can, and he averaged 351 yards off the tee when he won at Utah. But in Japan, he shared that he took a different approach.
“I thought our game plan this week was maybe even slightly more conservative than normal. I didn’t hit a ton of drivers. I’m normally the one to try to hit drivers as much as possible, but as a result, I did hit a lot of fairways.”
That plan worked. He hit 55 of 60 fairways, the best mark in the field, and all 15 on Sunday. He used a 9-degree Titleist GT3 driver off the tee on several holes, which he normally saves for thick rough. It also kept him out of Zoysia grass, which, he said, makes the ball a little more unpredictable.
Even defending champion Xander Schauffele saw the other side of it. He drove into the trees on the 18th and finished with a double bogey, which cost him his chance. That also makes Brennan’s win even more significant.
How Brennan Secured His Third Win At the PGA Tour
For background, Brennan arrived in Japan after a quiet stretch. He won the Wyndham Championship in August and tied for 42nd at the St. Jude Championship, followed by a tie for 10th at the BMW Championship. He finished the FedEx Cup season 46th. After that, he had a long break.
He later said he had played just one event in the previous five weeks. That was the Bank of Utah Championship, where he was the defending champion but never got into the mix. So, it was fair to wonder how sharp he would be heading into the Baycurrent Classic.
The opening round did not immediately answer that question. Brennan shot a three-under 68 on Thursday, five shots behind Jacob Bridgeman, who flew in days after making the winning putt at the Presidents Cup. Moreover, Friday’s 67 left Brennan at seven under and four shots behind Bridgeman and Michael Kim, who sat at 11 under.
Even the PGA Tour called his round “not pretty,” but he did hit every fairway. Brennan then surged on Saturday with a 65 to reach 13 under. That performance also put him in a three-way tie for the lead with Bridgeman.
He carried that momentum into Sunday. The front nine started easily, but he bogeyed the 10th before birdieing the 11th and 12th to regain the lead. Mitchell, on the other hand, had been two shots ahead after going five under in five holes, but he could not maintain that pace on the back nine.
Brennan then parred his last six holes, including a bunker shot on the 16th that stopped a foot from the hole. He also two-putted the final hole for a 68 and a one-shot victory at 16 under. The victory was even more special because his parents watched from outside the ropes.