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Super Sunday Hangover

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By Dennis de Jesus

Special to GolfWRX

What a game.  Coming from behind and capitalizing on your opponents mistakes.  Staying cool under pressure, proving the naysayers wrong.  Elevating your game to an elite level and winning in front of millions of family and friends.

Now let’s take a poll – how many of you read that and realized I was referring to Kyle Stanley?  Yup, that’s right Kyle Stanley.  Amidst the hoopla and spectacle that was Superbowl 46 and what was an excellent championship game, I believe many sports fans missed out on an opportunity to witness the amazing final round of the Waste Management Open, a tournament where a young talent like Kyle Stanley not only proved his resilience, but also showcased the fantastic fanfare and drama that is TPC Scottsdale.

Makes you wonder: why not give special exception and have the final round of the Waste Management Open on a Saturday?

The Waste Management Open (formerly the FBR) has traditionally fallen on Superbowl weekend and the final round culminates on the same afternoon as the “big game”. Unfortunately for the PGA Tour, sharing the spotlight with the highest rated sporting event every year doesn’t make the golf tournament all that important.  It’s true that the final putt of the tournament is scheduled to go down before kickoff, but chances are many a sports fan are already many beers in at home or at the local sports bar with friends. They are prepping flavorful nachos, grilling juicy sliders or eating hot wings and even if they are watching TV, they are likely watching the countless hours of Super Bowl  pregame hype and analysis from every angle imaginable (interviewing Eli Manning’s middle school gym teacher seems so pointless, doesn’t it?)

Meanwhile back in Arizona, the story of Kyle Stanley was turning its page in a setting that the Tour needs to promote heavily because of the unique atmosphere it creates.  TPC Scottsdale is one of the most memorable courses on the tour, with its 20,000-plus seating capacity on the par 3 16th being the pride of the desert course.  This fan friendly hole caters to the raucous celebration of a successful tee shot, but also the discourse of boos that follow a missed tee shot.  The fans are also encouraged to cheer and chant at players prior to their tee shot, ranging from the traditional college school chants to the more amusing “ultra fan” chants – those that only real attentive fans would understand (Kevin Stadler got a “mini-walrus” chant for his tee shot troubles, a tongue in cheek homage to his father Craig).

The third round set a single round attendance record, bringing in more than 173,00 people, a number the the Tour should be proud of considering that the field had only seven of the world’s top 20 players entered the tournament. But what really sets this tournament apart from any other is how interactive the players are with the fans, even during tournament play.  They actually embrace the chaos that surrounds the 16th hole and will engage with the fans, often bearing gifts and high fives as they make their way to the green.   In case you missed it, Ben Crane and Bubba Watson made the 16th hole their personal karaoke stage as they chimed in a verse of their YouTube viral video hit “Oh Oh Oh”.  I’d love to tell you that it was impromptu, but honestly there is nothing spontaneous about a mic stand already setup on the tee box and a conveniently located helmet which Ben Crane fashioned for the passionate and appreciative crowd.

The crowd ate it up.  The play by play booth ate it up.  It was a fun SportsCenter type spectacle that gave the players some personality and easily made them more likable.  And the Tour should capitalize on this. Sunday attendance dropped off about 30 percent, which falls in line with other Sundays of the tournament, a Sunday which is in direct competition to the Super Bowl.  No other tournament sees such a sharp drop off from its Saturday round to its Sunday round.  TPC Scottsdale is easily one of the most spectator friendly courses on the tour, both live and on TV, and having a final round on a Saturday would ensure that the right amount of fan camaraderie coupled with the drama of a final round would better promote the game, the players and more importantly the personality of the tour.

There are times when the sanctity and etiquette of golf should be respected and honored, but for the rest of us looking at golf as too old school in traditions, TPC Scottsdale is a clear example that golf can be just as enjoyable as a big football game and is willing to embrace a fan base that is honest yet respectful, brash but considerate.  The tournament itself has been called “Mardi Gras on Grass” and “The Cactus Bowl,” and considering these labels are being used for a golf event, and not a frat house party, that is high praise for the casual fan potentially looking at golf as entertainment.

The Tour shouldn’t have to pit its most fan friendly event on the tour schedule to compete with the biggest sporting event of the year.  And even if it has to, the Tour should work with tournament organizers and consider holding the final round on the Saturday to capitalize on viewership and push the “Party on 16” atmosphere as a way to demonstrate how young and fresh the tour can be while building its young and upcoming stars on the wild and dramatic stage of TPC Scottsdale.  In a time where the Tour is trying to build a fan base not dependent on aging mainstays like Woods and Mickelson, it is so important to take advantage of popular non-major events like the Waste Management Phoenix Open to really push the fact that “these guys are good”.

Click here for more discussion in the forums.

Read more from Dennis de Jesus at www.dennisdejesusjr.com.

Dennis lives in Calgary, Canada where golf is available (at best) six months of the year. The other six months are spent understanding the nuances of the game that make it so addicting and wonderfully frustrating. In a perfect world, Dennis would take his set of G10s and his D300S to travel the world playing and photographing the beautiful, unique landcapes of the golf world. For now, he sits at a desk and is developing an eight-layer golf ball simply called "The Tour Ocho."

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Lauren Conrad (LC)

    Feb 8, 2012 at 2:30 am

    I don’t watch football, but I watched the Superbowl in a room full of non-football fans…because everyone watches the Superbowl, right? So, you make an excellent point that maybe it’s not a good idea to compete with big men in tights. Come on PGA, maybe you’ll like change…
    LC

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Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

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I’m going to gush in this intro paragraph, to get the emo stuff done early. I’ve not pulled harder for a professional to win, than Cameron Young. I coach golf in New York state, and each spring, my best golfers head to a state championship in Poughkeepsie. I first saw Cameron there as a 9th grade student. I saw him three more times after that. I reconnecected with Coach Haas from Wake Forest, an old interview subject from my days on the Old Gold and Black, the Wake newspaper. He was there to watch Cameron. After four years at Wake Forest, Young won on the Korn Ferry Tour, made it to the big tour, almost won two majors, almost won five other events, and finally got the chalice about 25 minutes from the Wake campus. Congratulations, Cameron. You truly are a glass of the finest. #MotherSoDear

OK, let’s move on to the Tour Rundown. The major championship season closed this week in Wales, with the Women’s Open championship. The PGA Tour bounced through Greensboror, N.C., while the PGA Tour Americas hit TO (aka, Toronto) for a long-winded event. The Korn Ferry lads made a stop in Utah, one of just two events for that tour in August. The many-events, golf season is winding down, as we ease from summer toward fall in the northern hemisphere. Let’s bask in the glory of an August sunrise, and run down a quartet of events from the first weekend of the eighth month.

LET/LPGA @ Women’s Open: Miyu bends, but she doesn’t break

Royal Porthcawl was not a known commodity in the major tournament community. The Welsh links had served as host to men’s senior opens, men’s amateurs, and Curtis and Walker Cups in prior years, but never an Open championship for the women or the men. The last-kept secret in UK golf was revealed once again to the world this week, as the best female golfers took to the sandy stage.

Mao Saigo, Grace Kim, Maja Stark, and Minjee Lee hoped to add a second major title to previous wins this season, but only Lee was able to finish inside the top ten. The 2025 playing of the Women’s Open gave us a new-faces gallery from day one. The Kordas and Thitikulls were nowhere to be found, and it was the Mayashitas, Katsus, and Lim Kims that secured the Cymru spotlight. The first round lead was held at 67 by two golfers. One of them battled to the end, while the other posted 81 on day two, and missed the cut. Sitting one shot behind was Miyu Yamashita.

On day two, Yamashita posted the round of the tournament. Her 65 moved her to the front of the aisle, in just her fourth turn around a women’s Open championship. With the pre-event favorites drifting off pace, followers narrowed into two camps: those on the side of an underdog, and others hoping for a weekend charge from back in the pack. In the end, we had a bit of both.

On Saturday, Yamashita bent with 74 on Saturday, offering rays of hope to her pursuing pack. England’s Charley Hull made a run on Sunday closing within one shot before tailing off to a T2 finish with Minami Katsu. Katsu posted the other 65 of the week, on Saturday, but could not overtake her countrywoman, Yamashita. wunderkind Lottie Woad needed one round in the 60s to find her pace, but could only must close-to’s, ending on 284 and a tie with Minjee for eighth.

On Sunday, Yamashita put away the thoughts of Saturday’s struggles, with three-under 33 on the outward half. She closed in plus-one 37, but still won by two, for a first Major and LPGA title.

PGA Tour @ Wyndham: Young gathers first title near home

Cameron Young grew up along the Hudson river, above metro New York, but he also calls Winston-Salem home. He spent four years as a student and athlete at Wake Forest University, then embarked on tour. This week in Greensboro, after a bit of a break, Young opened with 63-62, and revved the engine of Is this the week once more. Runner-up finishes at the Open, the PGA, and a handful of PGA Tour events had followers wonder when the day would come.

On Saturday, Young continued his torrid pace with 65, giving him a five-shot advantage over his closest pursuer. Sunday saw the Scarborough native open with bogey, then reel off five consecutive birdies to remind folks that his time had, at last, arrived. Pars to the 16th, before two harmless bogeys coming home, made Young the 1000th winner of an official PGA Tour event (dating back to before there was a PGA Tour) throughout history. What’s next? I have a suspicion, but I’m not letting on. Mac Meissner closed with 66 to finish solo 2nd, while Mark Hubbard and Alex Noren tied for third.

Korn Ferry Tour @ Utah Championship: Are you Suri it’s Julian?

Who knows exactly when the flower will bloom? Julian Suri played a solid careet at Duke University, then paid his dues on the world’s minor tours for three years. He won twice on two tours in Europe, in 2017. Since then, the grind has continued for the journeyman from New York city. At age 34, Suri broke through in Beehive state, outlasting another grinder (Spencer Levin) and four others, by two shots.

Taylor Montgomery began the week with 62, then posted 64, then 68, and finally, 70. That final round was his undoing. He finished in that second-place tie, two back of the leader. Trace Crowe, Barend Botha, and Kensei Hirata made up the last of the almost quintet. As for Suri, his Sunday play was sublime. His nines were 32 and 31, with his only radar blip a bogey at ten. He closed in style with one final birdie, to double his winning margin. Hogan bloomed late…might Suri?

PGA Tour Americas @ Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos – CBM Aggregates

Some tournament names run longer than others. This week in Toronto, at the Heathlands course at TPC Toronto, we might have seen the longest tournament title in recorded history. The OVOPBVCCBMA was a splendid affair. It saw three rounds of 62 on Thursday, but of those early risers, only Drew Goodman would stick around until the end. 64 was the low tally on day two, and two of those legionnaires managed to finish inside the top three at week’s end. Saturday brought a 63 from Patrick Newcomb, and he would follow with 64 on Sunday, to finish solo fourth.

Who, then, ended up winning the acronym of the year? It turns out that Carson Bacha had the right stuff in TeeOhhh. Bacha and Jay Card III posted 63 and 64, respectively, on day four, to tie for medalist honors at 23-under 261. Nathan Franks was one shot adrift, despite also closing with 63. If you didn’t go low on Sunday, it was about the check, not the championship.

Bacha and JC3 returned to the 18th hole twice in overtime. Card nearly chipped in from the thick stuff for birdie, while Bacha peeked and shoved a ten-feet attempt at the win. On the second go-round, Card was long with his approach, into the native grasses once more. He was unable to escape, and a routine par from the fairway was enough to earn the former Auburn golfers a first KFT title.

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Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

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GolfWRX is live this week from the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the Wyndham Championship.

Photos are flowing into the forums from Sedgefield Country Club, where we already have a GolfWRX spirit animal Adam Schenk WITB and plenty of putters for your viewing pleasure.

Check out links to all our photos below, which we’ll continue to update as more arrive.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.

 

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BK’s Breakdowns: Kurt Kitayama’s Winning WITB, 3M Open

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Kurt Kitayama just won his 2nd PGA Tour event at the 3M Open. Kurt is a Bridgestone staffer but with just the ball and bag. Here are the rest of the clubs he used to secure a win at the 2025 3M Open.

Driver: Titleist GT3 (11 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD VF 7 TX

3-wood: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees, A3 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX

7-wood: Titleist GT1 (21 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7MB (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), Vokey Design WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2 Tour Prototype
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy 1.0PT

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Bridgestone Tour B XS (with Mindset)

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