News

PGA Tour Spotlight Moves Up the California Coast

Published

16 years ago

Feb 9, 2010

Some will call this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach national Pro-Am a preview of the United States Open Championship set to play out over the same venue this June. However, those that do may not be looking as close as they should.

Sure the four champions of the Pebble Beach hosted U.S. Open’s – Tom Watson, Tom Kite, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods, also have Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Trophies (or versions of them under various sponsorship reigns) at home but that is about as far as the comparison should go.

As many players have stated, it does not take a lot of rounds to gain enough knowledge to play Pebble Beach Golf Links, the host of a three-course tournament rotation, well but playing there in February is far different than playing it in U.S. Open conditions.

Rain has already been falling this week on the Monterey Peninsula and the course set-up will be much softer than what the USGA will lay out from June 17-20, 2010. Yes, the 40 yard fairways at Pebble Beach have already been narrowed to almost half that span but at this time of year drives will land softly on them. Come June those same drives will be bouncing off wildly into the rough.

Of course, many players already know this, and combined with the normally slow pro-am format, a fair number of the tour’s best players, including last week’s winner Steve Stricker, will not be present this week in Northern California.

That is not to say that the field will not be flush with quality players. The overall recognition level of the combatants maybe the strongest of the season so far, rivaling the attendance at the limited-field season-opening SBS Championship.

Last year’s winner of the rain shortened event, Dustin Johnson, will be trying to improve on his third-place finish last week at Riviera in pursuit of his third PGA Tour victory. Just five men have won AT&T National Pro-Am’s in back to back years and undoubtedly Johnson would like to join the names of Snead, Middlecoff, Watson, O’Meara, and Nicklaus in having completed the feat.

Other leading players in the field this week include perennial contender (but yet a victor) Mike Weir, the now #3 player in the world, Phil Mickelson, and Padraig Harrington. Luke Donald could also be a factor, considering his ability to keep the ball in play and his high confidence level based on a second-place finish last week.

This year the players will not have to endure Poppy Hills GC (often soggy at this time of year), the layout has been replaced by the more acceptable Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Shore Course. It will join Pebble Beach GL (Host) and Spyglass Hill in the tournament rotation for the first time since 1977.

The Shore Course is highly regarded by all who have played it. It was revamped in 2004 by the team of Forrest Fezler and Mike Strantz. It was the last project for the artistic Strantz who lost his fight with cancer the next year.

Of course, we cannot forget that there is an amateur side to this pro-am. The usual cast of suspects are back. With Golf Channel providing early round coverage you can expect a lot of air time for Ray Romano as he is the subject for their new Hank Haney Project rolling out on March 1^st.

Joining Romano and likely to show up in the TV coverage will be quarterbacks Tony Romo and Tom Brady, along with celebs Huey Lewis, Chris Berman, George Lopez, Chris O’Donnell, Michael Bolton, Kenny G. and John O’Hurley.

Golf Channel will have live broadcasts from 3 P.M. to 6 P.M. (all time quoted as EST) on Thursday and Friday. CBS picks up the weekend from 3 P.M. until 6 P.M. on Saturday and from 3 P.M. until 6:30 P.M. on Sunday.

Notes:

The event got its start in 1937 when Sam Snead won the first Bing Crosby hosted tournament in Rancho Santa Fe and won $500.

The winner this year will pick up $1.116 million out of the $6.2 million purse.

This year celebrates 25 years with AT&T as the primary sponsor.

The 3-course rotation began in 1947 and then included Pebble Beach , Cypress Point Country Club, and Monterey Peninsula Country Club.

—

This report provided to GolfWRX.com by Flagstick Golf Magazine (www.flagstick.com)

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)