News

Stricker Tops Leaderboard at Barclay’s

Steve Stricker used seven birdies to vault past K.J. Choi and into the 54 hole lead at The Barclays on Saturday. Mr. Choi’s mundane 70 allowed ten players to creep within five shots of the lead. Hunter Mahan tied his second tournament record in five weeks with nine birdies, all from 12 feet or less, in a round of 62 to put himself into a tie with Rich Beem for third. Another shot back are Geoff Ogilvy, Rory Sabbatini, and Woody Austin, whose name has become a fixture on leaderboards of late. Steve Flesch, Kenny Perry, and Ernie Els stand another shot back heading into today’s final round.

Published

19 years ago

Aug 26, 2007

Eric Schuster

Steve Stricker used seven birdies on his way to the 54 hole lead at The Barclays, the first time he’s been in this position since the last century. His 65 sent him past second round leader K.J. Choi and into first alone. In his last four events, two of them majors, Mr. Stricker has shared the lead or been a shot behind only to come undone. His last event, the PGA Championship, his putter, of all things let him down.
"One of these times, it’s going to come out in my favor," said Stricker, whose 14-under 199 tied the 54-hole tournament record.

Mr. Choi allowed all kinds of folks back into the tournament when his driver let him down on the back nine. A birdie birdie finish salvaged a 70 and share of second place. The round of the week belonged once again to Hunter Mahan, who tied a tournament record for the second time in five weeks with a stellar 62 that left him tied for third with Rich Beem.

Mr.Beem is perhaps the most desparate of the contenders, he has to finish in the top 10 in order to advance in these playoffs. The first eight holes it appeared Mr. Beem was in the process of packing his bags, however an eagle at the ninth righted his game and he finished with 69. "It’s going to be fun for me," Beem said. His round might have been even better had he not left his last two wedge shots outside 30 feet. "But I can’t complain about anything," Beem said. "I played some pretty good golf today."

Geoff Ogilvy had a 69, four shots behind Mr. Stricker along with Woody Austin , whose name keeps popping up on leaderboards, and first and second round leader Rory Sabbatini. Steve Flesch, Kenny Perry and Ernie Els were another shot back at nine under par. So there are ten players within five shots of the lead.

Mr. Stricker has had a marvelous year to this point, considering he lost his card in 2005. He was comeback player of the year in 2006, not an award you necessarily want to ever be in consideration for but, if it happens then one that becomes an acceptable achievement. Not having won since 2001, he’s managed to make the President’s Cup team for the first time in eleven years and placed himself in contention numerous times this year. "I haven’t been beating myself up about not winning any of those events, but obviously, I would like to win," Stricker said. "It’s been a long time since I’ve won, and I’m just going to try to bring as many positive thoughts to the table tomorrow as I can."

As for Mr. Mahan, he’s not finished outside the top 25 all year, and of his nine birdies yesterday none was outside of twelve feet. Can you say "dialed in". Talk about pitching darts, that’s closer to sticking the ball into your pocket and just casually dropping it on the green. "I just tried to keep playing good and give myself a ton of opportunities, and made some," Mahan said. How’s that for understatement of the week?

If any of the top seven heading into today’s round claim the trophy they also receive, as an added bonus, the lead in the Fedex Cup race. Of course, the caveat with that comes the reality that one Mr. Tiger Woods has yet to tee it up. Enjoy it while you can fellas.

Disclaimer: I am an unabashed fan of Wisconsin golfers, so if it ever appears I’m playing favorites it’s because I am and fully intend to do so going forward. Anyone who choses to winter in a land where you have to plug your car in so it will start( which also makes it unfit for human habitation so I’m attempting to get the federal government to come rescue us the next time it dips to 30 below zero) is a crazy person I can relate too. You haven’t lived until you’ve hit the range with snow on the ground. Hooray for Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker, great golf games; questionable sanity.

News

WITB Time Machine: Phil Mickelson’s winning WITB, 2021 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

May 13, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Phil Mickelson made history at the 2021 PGA Championship on Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course. At 50, he became the oldest player to win a major, breaking Julius Boros’s record. Starting the final round with a slim lead, Lefty faced tough competition from Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen. He pulled ahead with key birdies and a standout 366-yard drive on the 16th hole. Finishing 6 under par and two shots ahead, Mickelson claimed his sixth major and second PGA Championship. Many saw his win as an inspiring comeback, showing that experience and determination can still lead to victory in professional golf — and, sometimes, age is just a number.

Driver: Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond (6 degrees @5.5 , green dot cog)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X (47.9 inches)

2-wood: TaylorMade “Original One” Mini Driver (11.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X

4-wood (Sunday only): Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X

Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (16) (Thursday-Saturday), Callaway X21 UT Proto (19 degrees @20.5, 25), Callaway Apex MB ‘21 (small groove) (6-PW)
Shafts: (16) MCA MMT 105 TX, KBS Tour V 125 S+

Wedges: Callaway PM Grind ’19 “Raw” (52-12@50, 55-12, 60-10)
Shafts: KBS Tour V 125 S+

Putter: Odyssey Milled Blade “Phil Mickelson”
Grip: SuperStroke Pistol GT Tour

Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X (Triple Track)

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

More photos of Phil Mickelson’s WITB here.

News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

3 days ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

Rory McIlroy +800 – (Check out his WITB here)

Jon Rahm +1300
Cameron Young +1500
Bryson DeChambeau +1700
Xander Schauffele +1850
Matt Fitzpatrick +1950
Ludvig Aberg +2000
Tommy Fleetwood +2600
Collin Morikawa +3500
Brooks Koepka +3900
Justin Rose +4300
Russell Henley +4600
Si Woo Kim +4700
Justin Thomas +4800
Robert MacIntyre +5300
Patrick Cantlay +5300
Viktor Hovland +5400
Tyrrell Hatton +5500
Jordan Spieth +5900
Sam Burns +6000
Hideki Matsuyama +6200
Adam Scott +6400
Rickie Fowler +7000
Chris Gotterup +7400
Patrick Reed +7400
Min Woo Lee +7800
Ben Griffin +8000
Sepp Straka +8400
Shane Lowry +9000
Akshay Bhatia +9200
Maverick McNealy +9200
Joaquin Niemann +9200
Jake Knapp +9200
Jason Day +9600
Kurt Kitayama +10000
J.J. Spaun +10000
Harris English +10500
Nicolai Hojgaard +11000
Gary Woodland +11000
David Puig +11000
Michael Thorbjornsen +12000
Jacob Bridgeman +12000
Keegan Bradley +12500
Corey Conners +14000
Alex Fitzpatrick +15000
Sungjae Im +15500
Sahith Theegala +15500
Harry Hall +15500
Alex Noren +16000
Thomas Detry +16500
Marco Penge +16500
Kristoffer Reitan +17000
Alex Smalley +17000
Wyndham Clark +17500
Sam Stevens +17500
Keith Mitchell +17500
Daniel Berger +18500
Ryan Gerard +20000
Nick Taylor +20000
Rasmus Hojgaard +21000
Dustin Johnson +21000
Pierceson Coody +23000
Aaron Rai +24000
Jordan Smith +24000
Angel Ayora +24000
Bud Cauley +25000
Matt McCarty +26000
Jayden Schaper +26000
Brian Harman +27000
Taylor Pendrith +27000
Ryan Fox +27000
J.T. Poston +27000
Cameron Smith +29000
Ryo Hisatsune +29000
Michael Kim +29000
Max Homa +29000
Denny McCarthy +29000
Tom McKibbin +30000
Rico Hoey +32000
Matt Wallace +32500
Ricky Castillo +33000
Haotong Li +33000
Michael Brennan +34000
Max Greyserman +36000
Stephan Jaeger +37500
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +37500
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +39000
Aldrich Potgieter +40000
Andrew Novak +42000
Patrick Rodgers +42500
Daniel Hillier +42500
Max McGreevy +46000
Billy Horschel +48000
Chris Kirk +48000
Ian Holt +49000
Casey Jarvis +49000
William Mouw +50000
Steven Fisk +50000
John Parry +50000
Nico Echavarria +52500
Garrick Higgo +52500
John Keefer+55000
Matthias Schmid +57500
Austin Smotherman +57500
Sami Valimaki +60000
Andrew Putnam +60000
Lucas Glover +62500
Daniel Brown +62500
Jhonattan Vegas +75000
Emiliano Grillo +80000
Mikael Lindberg +85000
Adrien Saddier +100000
Bernd Wiesberger +100000
Elvis Smylie +110000
Stewart Cink +130000
Kota Kaneko +130000
David Lipsky +150000
Chandler Blanchet +150000
Andy Sullivan +150000
Joe Highsmith +180000
Adam Schenk +200000
Travis Smyth +200000
Davis Riley +225000
Martin Kaymer +400000
Brian Campbell +400000
Padraig Harrington +450000
Kazuki Higa +450000
Jordan Gumberg +450000
Ryan Vermeer +500000
Austin Hurt +500000
Tyler Collet +500000
Timothy Wiseman +500000
Shaun Micheel +500000
Y.E. Yang +500000
Michael Block+500000
Mark Geddes+500000
Luke Donald+500000
Bryce Fisher+500000
Jimmy Walker +500000
Jason Dufner +500000
Jesse Droemer +500000
Jared Jones +500000
Garrett Sapp +500000
Francisco Bide +500000
Zach Haynes +500000
Paul McClure+500000
Derek Berg +500000
Chris Gabriele +500000
Braden Shattuck +500000
Ben Polland +500000
Ben Kern +50000

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

4 days ago

May 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.