News

Battle of #1’s At Copperhead

Published

14 years ago

Mar 15, 2011

By Scott MacLeod, via Flagstick Golf Magazine (www.flagstick.com)

Where do the #1 players in golf congregate? Apparently it’s not reserved for Major championships and World Golf Championship events anymore. At least that is what you might believe if you catch the action at the Transitions Championship this week.

The decade-old event has had a meteoric rise on the PGA Tour player-preference scale for a number of reasons but that is likely lost on most golf fans who simply know that World #1 Martin Kaymer, current #1 in the Fed-Ex Cup Points race Mark Wilson, and 2010 Fed-ex Cup winner Jim Furyk are all in Palm Harbor, Florida this week.

Furyk is the defending champion and he will be joined in the brigade attempting to best the Copperhead Course at the Innisbrook Resort by last week’s winner Nick Watney along with five other players who have already won on the PGA Tour in 2011: Jonathan Byrd (Hyundai Tournament of Champions), Rory Sabbatini (The Honda Classic), Johnson Wagner (Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun) , Bubba Watson (Farmers Insurance Open) , Mark Wilson (Sony Open in Hawaii, Waste Management Phoenix Open). Furyk’s win returned him to the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour after a winless drought of 2 years, 7 months, and 21 days. It began a run that saw him three tournaments in 2010 culminating in the FedEx Cup title and the 2010 PGA Tour Player of The Year Award.

Kaymer, making his first appearance at this tournament, leads the international contingent, all getting them games ready for The Masters in a few weeks. Joining Kaymer will be England’s Paul Casey, Spain’s Alvaro Quiros, Sweden’s Peter Hanson, Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa, and 17-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero. Each of those players ranks within the top 55 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

With a late entry John Huston completes the parade of champions at the Transitions with every past winner in the field. Last year defending champion Retief Goosen came the closest to ever repeating with a 5th place finish.

Furyk’s four rounds in the 60’s was the first time it had been done by a winner since 2004 when Vijay Singh pulled off the feat. K.J. Choi also won the event with four sub-70 scores in 2002.

Of course you can’t discuss the Transitions Championship without addressing the Copperhead Course itself. It is a fearsome foe that can tear up even the best of golfers. In 2010 Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa (the 19-year teenager will be making his 3^rd appearance in the Transitions this week) went from striping the ball on the range to firing a big score on his opening nine on his way to an early exit.

Other youngsters in the field this week, like 2010 U.S. Amateur Champion Peter Uhlein who is playing on a Sponsor’s Exemption, hope to avoid the same fate but that is tough task for even the most skilled players.

As a player you need to look no further than the Greens Superintendent, Ryan Stewart, as an indication of what you will be dealing with at Innisbrook. Stewart it no stranger to tough courses having spent three years working at the famed and fearsome Carnoustie Golf Links. You can see that influence at the 13^th hole on the Copperhead Course were Stewart revamped a bunker in 2009 with stacked sod as deep as a golf cart against the bulkhead.

Each year the course has ranked in, or near, the top ten for highest scoring average on the PGA Tour with a median score well over par on the par 71 layout. It has some very narrow spots with heavy penalties for golf balls struck off-line. No less than seventy-five bunkers (the largest guards the green on the signature double-dogleg par five, 15^th hole) and nine water hazards mark the course that features up to eighty feet of elevation change.

Playing a prominent role in that resistance to scoring has been the final three holes, dubbed the “Snake Pit.” Any player who can get past them in a cumulative score near even par will greatly improve their chances of winning. Both Retief Goosen (2009) and Jim Furyk (2010) did just that in their respective wins, each playing the trio in even par cumulatively through four rounds.

One winner will hoist a trophy this week and earn almost a million dollars but not without taking a few lumps courtesy of the Copperhead.

For the poolies my dark pick of the week is Stephen Ames. The veteran is coming off a tied for third on Puerto Rico and finished in a tie for 6^th here last year. Also watch for Nick Watney to continue his winning streak; he finished 4^th in 2010.

2011 Transitions Championship

Dates: March 14-20, 2011

Where: Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club (Copperhead Course); Palm Harbor, FL

Par/Yards: 36-35—71/7,332

Field: 144

FedExCup points: 500

Format: 72-hole stroke play

Defending Champion: Jim Furyk

Purse: $5,500,000; Winner’s Share: $990,000

This report provided to GolfWRX.com by Canada’s 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)