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Bag Chatter’s Masters Picks
Azaleas in bloom, Magnolia Lane, Green Jackets… these are just a few of a golfer’s favorite things.
For much of the country battling snow, it seemed spring would never arrive. However, now that snow is melting we can focus on The Masters. The Bag Chatter Staff has diligently applied all their golfing insight into their tournament picks. Will Tiger continue his dominance? Can Augusta National play even tougher than last year?
D. Grannan
Winner: Tiger Woods has been the most dominant player on the planet recently and I don’t foresee anything different come April and Augusta. This golf course is tailor made for Tiger; if his putter cooperates he should win his 5th green jacket. His focus is to peak at he majors and he usually plays very, very well at them.
Runner Up: Who will come in second? That is where it gets a little tricky. I tend to go with players who are running hot into Augusta. Padraig Harrington is one of those players. Quoted as saying he peaks in the 3rd week of playing 3 weeks in a row, Augusta happens to be the third week in a row. Aside from a poor shot on the final hole at the Zurich, Harrington looked spot on for the week and should be in good form for Augusta. Another player who is playing very well right now is Andres Romero. Fresh off of his first PGA tour victory, and was in contention at last years Open until his late round collapse, could be poised to make a run.
Dark Horse: My dark horse is Stuart Appleby. He has had a solid year this year but has just failed to put it all together. Maybe he can manage to do that at Augusta.
Final Score: Winning score will be even to 2 over par. Last year, Zach Johnson won with a score of one over par. They have made some slight adjustments to the course, and with continued improvement on the equipment front, I see even to 2 over par winning the tournament.
A. Raehtz
Winner: I just can’t select anyone but Tiger Woods right now. He is definitely on a hot streak, and there are few courses more perfect for his game than Augusta. Let’s be honest, there are two tournaments that Tiger sets his schedule around: The Masters and The Open.
Runner Up: I think that Phil Mickelson has what it takes to win, but Tiger will hold him off down the stretch. There has been a little inconsistency with Phil as of late, and I think that might be trouble for him on Sunday.
Dark Horse: Freddie Couples is going to do well this year at Augusta. He has already proven that he can win, and he posted a 29 on his second nine Saturday at the Shell Houston Open. This guy knows how to go low, and his back seems to be doing well for the time being. I see him in the top ten and possibly making a run at the leaders.
Final Score: I see something around -5 being the winning score. The course should be hard and fast, and we will get a look at what they tournament committee had in mind with the changes.
T. Schoch
Winner: How can you pick against Tiger? He’s on such a roaring tear.
Runner Up: Instead of a Runner-up, I’ll pick Contenders down the stretch: Phil may or may not be there. If he starts well, I think he’ll be in the top five. I don’t see him winning when Tiger is in top form. Phil’s got the talent, but perhaps not the psychology. So, watch Geoff Oglivy. He’s red-hot, confident, and unflappable.
Dark Horse: I’m going with Steve Stricker. He’s a low-putt machine and if he can light his own fire, he’ll contend. Also, another dark horse waaay back in the stable might be Hunter Mahan. He didn’t play well at Shell, but man, he can go low. And if you’re going to cage a tiger, you need a hunter.
Final Score: I’ll take a stab at -13.
K. Vakamudi
Winner: Every thread of common sense I have wants to pick Tiger Woods. However, I can’t do it. Tiger began the year with a red hot putter – when it cooled just slightly he was dealt his first loss in six months. I just can’t see his incredible putting continuing. My pick is Geoff Ogilvy. Riding momentum of a great win at the CA Championship and a solid weekend finish in Houston, I see this as being the perfect opportunity for Ogilvy to validate his U.S. Open win.
Runner Up: This is where I think Tiger will finish. His record is perfect after holding the 54 hole lead, but not so great when coming from behind. I see Tiger finishing in second much like the U.S. Open.
Dark Horse: Aaron Baddeley, another young Australian is coming into form and has all the tools to win a major. He has ample length, excellent touch around the greens, and is a very consistent putter. Yes, I know no Australian has ever won The Masters, but no dome team had ever won the Super Bowl until the St. Louis Rams proved it could be done.
Final Score: With great conditions in the forecast until Saturday I can see the score going a little lower than last year’s massacre. My prediction is a winner at -6.
M. Anderson
Winner: Choosing anybody but Tiger is always going to be long odds. Augusta is all about the short game and Tiger has the best in the business. Few can match him with a wedge in hand and nobody but nobody drains clutch putts like he does.
Runner Up: Justin Rose. He really established himself last year winning the European Order of Merit and has the game to do well around Augusta. He led after the first round last year and was only one shot off the lead with 2 holes to go before a poor drive and an unlucky bounce knocked him out of contention. Philly Mick should do well but I’m not sure that the mental side of his game is at its strongest right now.
Dark Horse: Possibly a bit of euro bias but I pick Sergio. He’s just too talented to not do well but, like always, it depends on his putting. He appears to be carrying a little bit of damaged confidence after the playoff at The Open but if he gets the flat stick going AND keeps it together on a Sunday then maybe we can finally see him win a major. Admittedly that a pretty big IF and AND but he can’t keep falling at the last hurdle, can he?
Final Score: -4. Last year the scores were at the mercy of the conditions when in freezing conditions the third round became ‘the cold day in hell’. While the same is unlikely to happen this year, the likelihood of a some rain and wind means that the teeth of Augusta are going to be just that little bit sharper than they otherwise would be and keep the score a little closer to even par.
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...
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