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Cherished Championship – The 110th U.S. Open
Nicklaus, Watson, Kite, Woods. The last four winners of United States Open Championships contested at the Pebble Beach Golf Links. It’s a prestigious list and one every player in the field wants to join at the 110th playing of the U.S. National Championship.
But few win U.S. Opens; most simply survive better than their peers. That wasn’t the case in 2000 when Tiger Woods lapped the field but this year looks a lot different than those halcyon days of just a decade ago.
Woods is in the field this week, as in Tom Watson as each will have very different perspectives on what this Open will mean to them. For Watson, undoubtedly it will be a swan song, while Woods is hoping it will signify his return to the game at a championship level.
Like any major championship there are dozens of storylines to follow but before you pay attention to the front runners have to give respect to what is championship is really about. Every dreamer with enough ability can qualify to play in this event, adding an element unseen for most of the year, save for the British Open Championship.
The dream of young American golfers, the one they play out on the putting green as a child, is to win their national championship, and whether you are five times runner-up Phil Mickelson or Stanford standout Joseph Bramlett, you have that opportunity before you this week on the Monterrey Peninsula.
Homegrown Contenders
Mickelson, as the number 2 ranked player in the world and the best player who has come closest but is yet to win the U.S. Open, is “the guy”. He is the one the weight of America rests on this week. He has been in position to succeed before and if he can find fairways at Pebble (no easy task but considerably easier given the positive weather forecast for the week) it is his championship to win or lose. That is written with no disrespect to any non-American players but being that is his OWN National Championship gives him that more motivation and the edge.
In a couple days of practice at Pebble, Tiger Woods has been the polar opposite of his 2000 form. A decade ago he knew where the ball was going each and every time. This week, in practice at least, there appears to be little consistency in the results of each and every shot. It is hard not to imagine that he will find some sort of a swing to play with come Thursday when he tees it up in Group 39 with Ernie Els and Lee Westwood. Even so, by the end of the day he just might be the high man in that illustrious trio. It is just too tough to say but the memories of 2000, when he won by 15, just might be the fuel he needs to light his fire. Either way, it will be entertaining to watch.
As for other U.S. contenders – there are plenty of options. Hunter Mahan and Sean O’Hair, out of the Sean Foley stable, could make this their breakout championship. Steve Stricker is always a good pick and if you want dark horses – try David Duval or Shawn Micheel. Duval is determined to win a U.S. Open and Micheel, a man who knows how to win a major, is coming off a strong week in Memphis. Zach Johnson has both the ability and mindset to win a major and should not be discounted.
Foreign Invasion
Westwood, Westwood, Westwood. After a win last week the Englishman will grab a large portion of the spotlight. But the #3 player in the world, in my estimation, was rather erratic last week. And variable shots will buy nothing but trouble this week on the gnarly U.S. Open layout strewn with wild grasses and innumerable unplayable lies.
For foreign content on the leaderboard I’ll stick to the straight and narrow players, given the layout and the inherent penalties for getting off-line. Tim Clark (Players Championship) and Luke Donald (Madrid Masters) have wins this year and might be ready for Major Championship glory. Watch too for fairway and green specialists like Stephen Ames.
Ground Resistance
Like any recent U.S. Open, while one player may end up hoisting the trophy, the golf course will always be the winner.
At 7040 yards and playing to a par of 71, on paper Pebble Beach Golf Links does not look the typical U.S. Open configuration but as we know from past Championships here, only the best players will prevail.
Playing 194 yards longer than it did for the 2000 U.S. Open , length is not a huge factor at Pebble, but keeping a ball on the fairway and on the correct part of the greens (n fact, just hitting them), will be. Favourable weather should help players manage their fairways and greens in regulation but it is all too easy in a major to worry about where NOT to hit it than the opposite.
No hole will stand as a better barometer of play than hole #2. After an opener where birdie is a real possibility, the 502 –yard, par four, 2nd will be ready to slap players in the head and remind them that they are playing in a U.S. Open.
If they survive the first 8 holes they will get another reminder on the 9th, a par four playing 505 yards this week where the tilting fairway effectively plays half its yardage.
If players can manage to avoid disasters at those two holes they might be in the running.
And lastly, if the Championship is close, it will all come to down to the 17th and 18th holes. The tricky 208-yard 17th has been the home to U.S. Open drama in the past and there is no reason to think that another on-the-stick shot (Nicklaus, 1972), or chip-in (Tom Watson) on the way to victory cannot happen again.
Come Father’s Day on Sunday the chances are good an emotionally charged moment will take place on one of the most beautiful golf holes in the world, the 543-yard, 18th at Pebble Beach. The par five is an ideal canvas for drama with the ocean looming left.
There could be no better backdrop for any player, whether a first-time major champion or repeat victor, to make their U.S. Open dreams come true.
This report provided to GolfWRX.com by Flagstick Golf Magazine (www.flagstick.com)
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
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
- 2025 Wyndham Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2025 Wyndham Championship – Tuesday #2
- 2025 Wyndham Championship – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Chandler Phillips – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Davis Riley – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Scotty Kennon – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Austin Duncan – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Will Chandler – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Kevin Roy – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Ben Griffin – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Peter Malnati – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Ryan Gerard – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Adam Schenk – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Kurt Kitayama – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Camilo Villegas – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Matti Schmid – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
Pullout Albums
- Denny McCarthy’s custom Cameron putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Swag Golf putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Karl Vilips TM MG5 wedges – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- New Bettinardi putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Matt Fitzpatrick’s custom Bettinardi putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Cameron putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
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)
‘Why would anybody want to change that swing?’ – Brandel Chamblee says PGA Tour star was wrong to change his swing
‘The stupidest freaking thing I’ve ever heard’ – Billy Horschel slams Open idea suggested by Padraig Harrington
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Golfer proudly posts photo of ball mark on iron, receives immediate roasting
WITB Time Machine: Matthew Wolff’s winning WITB, 2019 3M Open
Oakmont Country Club bans Wyndham Clark over locker incident; Reveals specific conditions to earn reinstatement
Adam Scott puts Callaway blades in the bag at Wyndham Championship
Report: LIV star fires caddie and coach in shock shake up
Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’
The championship formula: How 3 key stats separate winners from the field
Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)
Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist...
Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2025 Wyndham Championship
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
Camilo Villegas WITB 2025 (July)
Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Brandt Snedeker fired a final-round 65 at the 2018 Wyndham Championship to outlast Webb Simpson and C.T. Pan. His 5-under...
