News

Preview: WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship

Published

14 years ago

Feb 22, 2012

Michael Williams

By Michael Williams

Special to GolfWRX

The 2012 WGC-Accenture World Match Play Championship gets underway today at the Ritz-Carlton Club in Marana, Ariz. and this year is sure to provide all the drama and unpredictability that is a part of single elimination match play. Three-time winner Tiger Woods joins a powerhouse field that includes World No. 1 Luke Donald, all four current major championship winners and slew of young guns and accomplished veterans all vying for $1.4 million and 550 FedEx points. Notably absent from the tournament is Phil Mickelson, who lost in a playoff last week at Riviera in the Northern Trust Open. Mickelson, who would have been the first golfer to win in consecutive weeks on the PGA Tour since Woods in 2009, withdrew from the field due to a previously scheduled family commitment.

Opening round play includes some exciting matchups including Donald versus No. 16 Ernie Els, No. 3 Dustin Johnson against No. 14 Jim Furyk in the Snead bracket, while No. 8 David Toms meets No. 9 Rickie Fowler, and No. 3 Graeme McDonald takes on No. 14 Y.E. Yang in the Hogan bracket.

At a whopping 7,849 yards, the Jack Nicklaus-designed desert track will have the distinction of being the longest layout in Tour history. With generous fairways and a number of forced carries, the course would seem to favor the longer hitters in the field. But a hot putter is more important than ever in this format, and the field contains some of the most clutch putters in the game. Whether by land or by air, every participant knows that in match play there is only one objective; get to the next round.

“It’s a sprint, not a boat race,” noted Woods regarding the match play format. “Generally if you get down early, two or three down, you rarely come back. It’s hard to make up ground when you’re only playing 18 holes. It puts such a premium on getting off to a good start, and the guys that do generally win the matches.”

Woods, the only No. 1 seed ever to win the event, is seeded at No. 5 and is matched against No. 12 Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano in the Snead bracket. Fernandez-Castano raised eyebrows earlier in the week by commenting that Woods was “beatable.” In response, Woods quipped, “I feel exactly the same way he does. I think he’s beatable, too.” Woods inflicted the worst defeat in tournament history on Stephen Ames in 2006, a punishing 9 and 8 opening round drubbing that came on the heels of Ames making similar comments about Woods’ vulnerability. Woods lost in the third round that year to Chad Campbell.

Defending Champion Luke Donald is looking to join Woods and Geoff Ogilvy, who has won the event twice, as the only multiple winners of the event. Last year’s Accenture Match Play win was a kick start to a campaign that saw Donald become the world’s top ranked player, in addition to being the first player to win the money title on the PGA Tour and European Tour simultaneously.

In his pre-tournament press conference, Donald commented, “[I have] a lot of great memories here last year, a lot of great things happened to me after I won here. I gained a lot of confidence from my win and how I went about winning it. And I’m excited to be back. I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of match play, and hopefully I can have another good week.”

The fact that 2012 is a Ryder Cup year will give some extra incentive to players who are assured of a roster spot to establish their match play reputations. It will also be a chance for those who have not fared well in stroke play events to impress the coaches who must make wild card selections for their respective teams. Significantly, all four No. 1 seeds (Donald, defending U.S. Open Champion Rory McIlroy, and former world No. 1’s Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood) are likely members of the European team that the U.S. will face later this year. 2012 marks the first time in event history that there will not be an American among the No. 1 seeds.

The first of four World Golf Championship events on the golf calendar, the Accenture event is the only one that has a match play format. This year also marks the second in which the final match is 18 holes. The final match was conducted over 36 holes from 1999 through 2010.

The first three days of the tournament on will be televised on the Golf Channel, with NBC picking up the coverage on Saturday and Sunday. Check local listings for air times.

Click here for more discussion in the “Tour Talk” forum.

Michael Williams is the contributing editor of Newschannel8 Capital Golf Weekly and Bunkershot.com, as well as a member of the Golf Writers Association of America.

You can follow Michael on twitter — @Michaelontv

News

Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

Aug 4, 2025

Ronald Montesano

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.

Card III and Bacha both miss their birdie tries on the first playoff hole.

We’ll play 18 again @OspreyOpen. pic.twitter.com/vNpHTdkHDg

— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) August 3, 2025

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 29, 2025

GolfWRX Staff

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.

News

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

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 28, 2025

Brian Knudson

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)