News

Valero Texas Open Preview: Bringing The Heat In Texas

Published

14 years ago

Apr 12, 2011

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

Temperatures will soar to more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit each day this week in San Antonio but it will be more than the weather that is heating up as the Valero Texas Open plays out.

There will be a diverse field on hand at TPC San Antonio as it hosts the Valero Texas Open for the second straight year. With The Masters having wrapped on Sunday the majority of the tour’s star power is taking a pass on Texas but at least a few players will bring back nine momentum from Augusta National to the Lone Star State.

One of those will be Australian Adam Scott who has to be considered the headliner in the field in Texas. Scott is not only coming off a tie for 2^nd place at The Masters, he is also the defending champion this week.

In 2010 more than 3 inches of rain on second day of this tournament sent the schedule far off kilter. As a result the Sunday included 36 holes of golf, the first time that had happened since the 2009 John Deere Classic.

After opening with 71 and 70, Adam Scott brought his full arsenal of game for the 36 hole Sunday sprint where he fired 66, 67 to reach fourteen under par. That allowed him to slip past Swede Fredrik Jacobsen for a one stroke victory, his seventh career PGA Tour win. That also made him the very first winner on the AT&T Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio – a co-design by Greg Norman and Sergio Garcia.

Scott closed with seven birdies in his final round and made bogey on the very last hole to add a little drama to the proceedings. When Jacobsen missed a 17-foot putt for birdie on the 72^nd hole to tie, Scott had earned his third consecutive PGA Tour victory in the state of Texas. He previously won the 2007 Shell Houston Open and the 2008 HP Byron Nelson Classic.

Scott also became the first player to win in his first appearance at the Valero Texas Open and the first Aussie to win the Texas Open since Bruce Crampton accomplished the feat in 1964.

That win, along with his Sunday charge at Augusta, should make Scott a man not to bet against this week.

Another man who made a run up the leaderboard on Sunday in Georgia is my real focus and hot pick for this week. That would be native Texan Ryan Palmer. After a rough start on Sunday at The Masters that saw Palmer blow to three over par for the day after three holes, he fought back admirably and went four under par for his last six holes to secure his first top-ten in a major championship.

In 2010 Palmer tied for 9^th at the Valero Texas Open, mostly on the strength of his course record tying score of 64 in the final round. Palmer can really bang the ball (a necessity on the 7,522 yard long AT&T Oaks Course) and has proven that he is comfortable in challenging the course as his 18 birdies in last year’s tournament attests to. This all adds up to a lot of confidence and why I make him out as the player with the best chance of going head to head with Adam Scott this week to challenge for a win.

Also keep an eye on Jimmy Walker who has shown flashes of brilliance this year with three top-tens in nine starts. He also had a tie for 3^rd at the 2010 Valero Texas Open. This is a home game for Walker as a San Antonio resident and a former Baylor Bear. There can’t be enough said for sleeping in your own bed during to a tournament week to make you feel mighty relaxed.

There will also be six major champions in the field in San Antonio but none will be more dangerous that Angel Cabrera and Geoff Ogilvy who were also in the mix on Sunday at Augusta National.

And one last note for this week. In a unique touch the courtesy cars in San Antonio are Ford F-150 King Ranch pick-ups. The trucks are part of the Valero Texas Open’s campaign of being “unapologetically Texan.”

Saddle up cowboys; it’s going to be a hot one! It may not be a major but with $6.2 million on the line including $1.116 million to the winner the competition should be just as hot as the temperatures.

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)