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Matteson Captures Frys.com Open

Troy Matteson birdied the second playoff hole to win the Frys.com Open a second time (the first was when the event was in Las Vegas before it became Justin Timberlakes event). When you follow a second round 61 with the same score in the third round, setting a Tour record in the process, it would seem an indicator the golfing gods have decided to smile on you for the week. “That’s as good as I can play,” Matteson said. “I really don’t have to worry about playing better than that, because that’s it.” How could he say anything else? Just the thought of back to back 61’s causes my head to shake in disbelief. Amazing.

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Troy Matteson birdied the second playoff hole to win the Frys.com Open a second time (the first was when the event was in Las Vegas before it became Justin Timberlakes event).  When you follow a second round 61 with the same score in the third round, setting a Tour record in the process, it would seem an indicator the golfing gods have decided to smile on you for the week. 

“That’s as good as I can play,” Matteson said. “I really don’t have to worry about playing better than that, because that’s it.”  How could he say anything else?  Just the thought of back to back 61's causes my head to shake in disbelief.  Amazing.

Joining Mr. Matteson in the playoffs were Rickie Fowler and Jamie Lovemark, a pair of players attempting to win enough money to avoid Q School next week.  Mr. Fowler turned pro after the Walker Cup matches and has earned $553,700 in just two events, good enough for 136th place on the money list and exempting himself from the first stage of Q School.  He may perhaps have managed to exempt himself into the finals.  He still has a chance to avoid the school altogether if he can play well next week at the Viking Classic.  Mr. Lovemark has earned $453,872, or not quite enough to gain conditional status.  He could roll the dice and play next week in an effort to avoid Q School altogether, but that is just too big a gamble because if he doesn't begin school next week he can't rejoin at a later date.  So it'll be off to the first stage next week.

This is the time of year when a lot of players are trying to secure status on the Tour for next year.  Not that they won't necessarily have a place to play, but to play with the big boys at least some of the time they need to win some money.  Some say it's a lot of pressure, and I agree there is pressure involved, but not like the old days.  Oh here we go again, another you think times are tough now you should have been around in my day and we had to walk 6 miles one way to school through 23 foot snow drifts, barefoot, uphill both ways kind of story.  Well, I guess it is kinda.  Even the guy at number 150 on the money list has made over $437,000 this year, and he gets to play on the big tour sometimes next year.  The tenth place money leader on the Nationwide tour has made $300,000 this year.  Not exactly chump change.  So you've got a place to play next year pretty much sewn up.  No Monday morning qualifiers, one round to make the field and then play like crazy to make a check and get into the next event knowing the car needs tires and you haven't eaten anything but peanut butter and jelly for 12 weeks and if don't cash a check soon you're gonna run out of jelly.  Just where did you think the phrase "playing hungry" came from,huh? 

 

Not the same at all.  That kind of talk is really just splitting hairs.  Say you are Brad Adamonis, ranked 162nd at the moment, playing on average one tenth of a stroke per round higher this year compared to last year when you finished 121st on the money list.  You need to make $104,000 to reach the 150th place on the list.  Think it's hard to swallow on Thursday morning knowing you've got one event to reach that goal?  Or that you need to double your yearly winnings to catch the 125th ranked David Duval?  How do you feel if on Friday you're standing on the first tee at +2 and the leaders are at -6?  Fast forward to the 10th tee where we find you're still at +2.  Tough place to be, not the end of the world by any stretch, not even close.  It's why they play the game..  There is nothing quite so satisfying as knowing you need to perform to be rewarded.  I've heard it described as being fully involved in life, from moment to moment.  Living in the now.  That's what all the mental game gurus preach. It's fun to watch these end of the year tournaments, to see who can do, when it matters at this moment.  Of course it also helps when so many Sunday NFL games are lopsided wipeouts, but that's a different story altogether.

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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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Tour Photo Galleries

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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