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Buick Invitational Belongs to Watney

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Nick Watney started the day 5 shots behind leader John Rollins, he ended the day with a three foot birdie putt and the trophy.  Mr. Rollins began the day with a 3 shot lead over Camilo Villegas.  He proceeded to bogey the first two holes and saw his lead reduced to a single shot by the 6th hole.  Mr. Villegas had a 10 foot birdie putt to tie for the lead which he just missed.  While he lined up the short par putt the television cameras showed viewers a ground level picture and commentator David Faherty remarked about his improved putting promptly drawing the attention of the golf gremlins who leapt onto the toe of his putter causing it to lag behind and push the putt right of the hole.  Mr. Rollin’s lead was back to two shots.  A hole later it was four shots.  Five more holes and the lead was a single shot again.

Between Mr. Feherty, Gary McCord, and Peter Oosterhaus they also tried to jinx Mr. Watney by drawing attention to his not three putting all week as he stood over a 10 footer for a par.  I was thinking, these guys should know better than to do that the superstitious dolts. 

Then came the 13th and Mr. Rollins calmly rolled in a 20 foot eagle putt to restore his three shot lead.  By the 16th hole the lead was gone.  Holy Roller Coaster Batman.  What a ride. 

 

 

At the 17th hole Mr. Villegas missed the fairway left, not recommended when trailing by one with two holes to play.  His 8 iron shot flew the green and led to a bogey leaving him 2 shots behind heading into the par 5 18th.  His second into 18 cleared the water in front of the green by the smallest of margins and came to rest short and right of the pin.  With the putt for eagle he still had a chance to tie for the lead.  As happened a surprising number of times all day, his putt looked into the hole and stayed out, leaving a tap in for birdie and a round of 72 tied for third with Lucas Glover. 

I can’t remember a round where a player missed so many putts by such small margins. The remarkable thing to me was Mr. Villegas’s attitude stayed upbeat and assured.  It reminded me of what happens when you realize how good you are and accept that golf is not a fair game.  As long as you keep hitting quality putts you’ ll end up making your share.  I see many high finishes in the future for this talented young man.

Mr. Glover started the day seven shots back of the lead and was one behind after the 16th hole.  A bogey on the 17th finished him off. 

In the 18th fairway Mr Watney and Mr. Rollins were only several yards apart.  Mr. Watney’s hybrid from 235 yards found the back of the green 60 some feet from the hole.  Mr. Rollins also hit a hybrid, but pulled it left and into the sand from which his could only get to 12 feet for his birdie try. 

“It’s unfortunate that I came in with a three-shot lead and couldn’t get the victory,” Rollins said. “But as I said yesterday, if somebody came out and played a great round of golf and came out on top, then my hat’s off to him. And that’s exactly what Nick did.”  Classy stuff on a tough tough day. 

Entertaining golf.  I found one of the commercials run by Buick featuring one of their VP’s to be interesting.  She stated that Buick was one of GM’s core products and that they intended to be around for another 100 years.  Brave talk on that front from a company which has been hemorrhaging cash for a while now.  She stated they were committed to sponsoring tour events which, given the political climate may be hard to justify.  After all,  when every big public expenditure is scrutinized by the media this may be an advertising platform that the automobile industry will find hard to stand up and defend with any gusto.   Which leaves some tough questions for the Tour itself in terms of possible sponsor replacement.  Time will tell. 

A note on the broadcast, I loved the exchange between Mr. McCord and Mr. Feherty about the latter’s bicycle riding.  Mr. McCord asked if Mr. Feherty had gotten up and gone riding at 4:30am in the rain.  Mr. Feherty pled guilty and offered he rode 30 miles.  When asked which direction his answer was "forward". 

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Camilo

    Feb 14, 2009 at 3:39 pm

    Mr. Schuster:
    Great article but your unsincere addressing (Mr.) is very distracting. Many have pointed this to you before. I hope you listen to your intended audience.

    Sincerely,
    Mr. Villegas fan

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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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