Adaptive golfer with cerebral palsy makes USGA history with a four-peat

Kipp Popert already had scorched the South Course at Woodmont Country Club for a six-under-par 30 on Wednesday and he was nine under for the round heading into the last hole of the 5th U.S. Adaptive Open Championship.

That just wasn’t good enough for the 28-year-old, born with cerebral palsy, who is widely considered the best adaptive golfer in the world. A year ago, Popert began this tournament with a stunning 61 on the same layout in Rockville, Md., and he was convinced he still could get to that number this year when he chose to hit driver off the deck on his approach shot at the par-5 18th. An eagle would give him another 61.

Popert was ready to show off in front of a national television audience on Golf Channel.

It didn’t work out—he ultimately made par—but it says a lot about the mindset that led Popert to USGA history. With his closing 63 and six-shot win on Wednesday while competing in the Coordination Impairment category, he won his fourth straight Adaptive Open overall men’s title and became the only golfer to win four consecutive USGA championships.

To understand his company in that, know this: Only Tiger Woods, who captured three straight wins in both the U.S. Junior and U.S. Amateur, and Hollis Stacy, with three straight victories in the U.S. Girls’ Junior, had pulled off a three-peat.

South Korea’s Simon Seungmin Lee, who competes in the Intellectual Impairment category because of developmental disabilities, closed with a 65 and finished second by six strokes to Popert. It was Lee who won the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open before Popert began this four-year heater.

“Well, this is our major. I don’t think I need to explain that,” Popert said after the second round on what the tournament means to him. “I think anyone that knows me, this is why I’ve practiced and played my whole life.

“It wasn’t around when I was a kid. But for whatever reason, I just wanted to be really, really good at this game and play under pressure and win tournaments. I don’t struggle with motivation. I don’t struggle with practicing.”

Popert has been playing golf since he was 3 years old and has undergone 12 surgeries in his life. Last year, he won three titles on the G4D Tour for adaptive players, and he owns a massive lead as the No. 1 player in the G4D World Rankings.

Seated player champion Max Togisala plays his tee shot on the sixth hole during the final round of the 2026 U.S. Adaptive Open.

Logan Whitton

In Wednesday’s trophy ceremony, Popert made a point to recognize Seated player Max Togisala. The Ogden, Utah, resident shot 67 on Wednesday, tying his own record in the event, and finished T-3 in the overall competition while capturing the Seated championship for a fourth time.

Kim Moore, 45, was for the third time the top overall women’s player by shooting three 76s. She was born with a clubbed left foot and without a right foot, eventually undergoing a blow-the-knee amputation on her right leg. That didn’t prevent Moore from being a top-10 player in NCAA Division II at the University of Indianapolis. She’s a PGA teaching pro now.

Kim Moore reacts after sinking her putt on the 17th hole during the final round of the 2026 U.S. Adaptive Open.

Kathryn Riley

In the other men’s categories, the winners were Brendan Lawlor, Short Stature (seven under); Justin Carlock, Upper Limb (nine under); Kiefer Jones, Vision (three over); Jordan Thomas, Multiple Limb Amputee (five over); and Lachlan Wood, Lower Limb (six under).

On the women’s side, the champions were Bailey Bush, Coordination (18 over); Sunyoung Kim, Intellectual (18 over); Kim Veldman, Multiple Limb Amputee (47 over); Annie Hayes, Seated (53 over); Sophia Howard, Upper Limb (37 over); Amanda Cunha, Vision (24 over).

After the first two years at the Pinehurst Resort, one year at Sand Creek Station in Newton, Kan., and two years at Woodmont, the tournament moves to the Northwest for two years beginning in 2027, with the Sunriver Resort outside of Bend, Ore., as the host.