News

The Masters 2011: A Land of Green Dreams

Published

14 years ago

Apr 4, 2011

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

For most North American golfers nothing gets the juices running more than the thought of the Masters. The annual rite of Spring signifies not only the first major championship of the year but, for many, the true start of the golf season for the fans…errr, patrons, themselves.

It’s been an unusual year on the PGA Tour and professional tours around the world. The lack of domination by a single player has made many feel that this year’s Masters is a wide-open affair where just about any of the top players could slide into a green jacket. That is, before this past Sunday.

The defending Masters champion, Phil Mickelson, was a man with an untidy record for 2011 coming into the Shell Houston Open, making it very easy to believe he would be just another member of the pack chasing in Augusta. That all changed with his performance at Redstone where a 63-65 weekend and 18 birdies in those final 36 holes pushed him on to the lips of many as the front-runner for this week.

His play at Houston might have convinced many that Phil would be a best bet at the hallowed grounds where he has already earned three green jackets but his past overall record really makes him stand out. The teaming of length, intelligence, and short game wizardry make Augusta a fertile ground for players like Phil and his modern rival, Tiger Woods.

With Phil’s recent form he will be considered far ahead of Woods, despite Woods’ four titles and a tie for fourth last year.

There is no doubt about it; Phil is the easy choice as the frontrunner. In 17 career professional starts at the Masters Phil has an amazing 12 top-10’s including his three wins and 11 top-10’s in his last trips to the most glorious course in Georgia. His only missed cut came in 1997.

With a win this week Mickelson would attain a historic standard, not only would he join Jack Nicklaus (1965-66), Nick Faldo (1989-90), and Tiger Woods (2001-02) with wins in back-to-back seasons but he would also enter the vaulted class of Nicklaus, Palmer, and Woods as a four-time winner..

Which brings us to one of the biggest questions of the Masters; just how will Tiger Woods perform and could he possibly surprise the field (and the world) with a win? Logic says he should be discounted but with his record of nine career top 5 finishes (the same as Phil), he has the knowledge and history component of a potential winner covered but is currently lacking the confidence provided by a repeatable swing. I would expect to see flashes of brilliance from the Tour’s active win leader but with the demands of 72 strenuous holes needed to win a green jacket, I have my doubts about him being a real contender come the back nine on Sunday. He has not won in his last 17 PGA Tour starts dating back to the 2009 BMW Championship.

As the current #1 ranked player in the world I have heard lots of talk about Martin Kaymer and his chances this week but Kaymer has been a skilled player for some time and that has not translated to success at Augusta National. In his three starts at the Masters he is yet to make a cut and is a collective 12-over par in six official trips around the nearly 7,500-yard layout. He is riding a streak of top-ten finishes in the last three major championships but the skill set in those events are slightly different than those necessary to tackle Alister MacKenzie’s masterpiece.

As for my pick this week? I will take Phil for #4 with Hunter Mahan as a backup. Mahan tied for 8^th at Houston last week and earned the same position last year at the Masters. As long as Hunter can hit greens and eliminate the need to get up and down too often he has the possibility of fulfilling his own Green Dream come Sunday night.

The other players I have my eye on will be Anthony Kim and Nick Watney. Kim had one round of 65 in the 2009 and 2010 Masters. His 2009 round included 11 birdies showing he has not fear of this golf course.

Masters Notes:

-Vijay Singh will be making his 67^th consecutive start in a major championship, the longest active streak. Mike Weir is second place in that category with this Masters being his 48^th start in a major.

-The Perennial Ryegrass rough is cut at just 1.38” in length.

– Twenty players will be making their first start at the Masters, including Arjun Atwal, David Chung, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Hiroyuki Fujita, Peter Hanson, Gregory Havret, Charley Hoffman, Jin Jeong, Kyung-Tae Kim, Lion Kim, Martin Laird, Hideki Matsuyama, Jeff Overton, D.A. Points, Kevin Streelman, Peter Uihlein, Jhonattan Vegas, Mark Wilson, Gary Woodland.

– Six amateurs will be participating: David Chung, Jin Jeong, Lion Kim, Hideki Matsuyama, Nathan Smith, Peter Uihlein.

– Eight players qualified for the Masters via 2011 TOUR wins in the first 12 weeks: Jonathan Byrd, Mark Wilson, Jhonattan Vegas, D.A. Points, Aaron Baddeley, Rory Sabbatini and Gary Woodland.

The Masters

Dates: April 4-10, 2011

Where: Augusta National Golf Club; Augusta, GA

Par/Yards: 36-36—72/7,445

Field: 98 (as of April 1, 2011)

Format: 72-hole stroke play

Defending Champion: Phil Mickelson

Purse: TBD Winner’s Share: TBD

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)