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Ogilvy Match Play Master

Geoff Ogilvy managed to give the impression that he was playing a casual round on a pleasant Sunday afternoon, rather than in the finals of the Accenture Match Play Championship. Hit the ball, take a little stroll, hit the ball again, stroll some more, no hurry, no rush, no big deal. Get to the green, knock the ball in the hole, move on to the next tee. I thought to myself, self I thought, this is the visual definition of unflappable.

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Geoff Ogilvy managed to give the impression that he was playing a casual round on a pleasant Sunday afternoon, rather than in the finals of the Accenture Match Play Championship.  Hit the ball, take a little stroll, hit the ball again, stroll some more, no hurry, no rush, no big deal.  Get to the green, knock the ball in the hole, move on to the next tee.  I thought to myself, self I thought, this is the visual definition of unflappable. 

There were times where I wondered, is this guy even awake?  When he wasn’t moving it appeared he may have died standing up.  And hit shots?  Oh my did he hit some shots.  Poor Paul Casey, every time he got something going Mr. Ogilvy topped him.  “This afternoon, three birdies in the first eight holes and I still lost two holes,” Casey said. “Geoff was exceptional.” 

How exceptional you might ask?  Well how about never trailing for the last 63 holes?  Or no bogeys in the last 48 holes?  Or this little ditty, 25 under par over his 66 holes on the weekend.  Somehow exceptional seems too common a description.  It does fit into that quote better than he left Puma spike marks deeply embedded on the backsides of three pretty good players.  When your butt has been used as a whoopie cushion for a day that’s about as diplomatic as one could get. 

“This tournament has been pretty good to me,” Ogilvy said.  Oh really, considering his record in this event is 17-2 and he’s won two of the last four years I would say it’s the other way around, he’s been pretty good for this tournament. 

 

 

Tiger Woods returned to competitive golf this week,  but only stayed a couple of days.  Rory McIllroy showed what winning on the European Tour can do for confidence by playing quite well.  Of course with his talent playing quite well is just about the mental part of the game now.  Watch this kid closely, he has impressive skills.  Stewart Cink made it to the semi finals this year after reaching the final last year.  I can’t quite figure this guy out,  he can play really well for a while, and then fall into a weekend hacker imitation that leaves an audience scratching an itch they didn’t know they had.  Weird player.  Weirder game, which may be all the answer one needs. 

So we’re off to Florida for the Honda Classic. 

 

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. 8thehardway

    Mar 13, 2009 at 12:11 pm

    Geoff is one of two players I won’t watch. John Daly’s one-dimensional, unthinking approach to golf reminds me of how he leads his life and tragicomic overtones ruins the joy of competition for me. Besides, his caddy keeps morphing into Dr. Phil and I never know if it’s a flashback from the 60s or wish-fulfillment gone psychosomatic. His extra-holes performance against Tiger a while back was the last straw.

    I’ve only recently understood why I dislike watching Geoff, golf’s version of Paul Harvey and polar opposite to Daly’s Howard Stern. ‘Unflappable’ has it’s limits and I don’t want to care more about the outcome of his match than he does. Rory’s scowl, Tiger’s pump and Phil’s rolling eyes validate my watching and caring because I react like that; in fact, I’m thinking of revising my list of favorite players to favorite emoters to heighten the vicarious thrills and disappointments I’m entitled to feel during televised tournaments.

    Another point, and no small one for me… how to reconcile his deliberate play with rare, but spectacular failures in strategy. Maybe it’s his way of showing there is some adrenaline clouding his judgement but it’s too little to late… he’s off the list.

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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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