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5 things we learned on Friday at The 2018 Masters

Published

8 years ago

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Friday is placement day in Georgia, as impending squalls loom large for the weekend. On a second consecutive, blue-sky day in Augusta, it was the conspiratorial winds of Berckmans Nursery that caused competitors to advance, retreat, advance again, and retreat once more. With dusk settling over the Augusta National course, the leader stood 9-under par, the cut fell at 5-over, and challengers could be lumped into three distinct groups: those who can win, those we are waiting to win, and those whose presence is a complete shock. We’ll have a look at all the events of day 2 of the 2018 Masters in today’s installment of 5 Things We Learned.

1) Golfers who haven’t won a Major, but won’t surprise us if they do

Marc Leishman would be any pro golfer’s pick for an impending major champion. You won’t believe how good Leish is, they say. Well, we believe you, after that rope hook into the 15th green, and the subsequent putt for eagle. Leishman lost a playoff for an Open Championship a few years back, so he knows his way around major championship pressure. The Aussie survived a scare at 18, and scrambled his way to par and 7-under at day’s end. He’ll play in the final pairing on Saturday. Patrick Reed has worn the Captain America moniker proudly when representing the USA in Ryder and Presidents Cup matches. The knock on the lad has been his inability to summon the same inspiration when contending in an individual major championship. If you missed his punch-out from the pines on 13, the wedge that followed, and the putt that dropped for birdie, 2018 might be Reed’s year to add a new bit of apparel to his wardrobe.

2) Golfers who haven’t won a Masters, and won’t surprise us when they do

Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson lead this squad. McIlroy has held the lead late on Sunday in Augusta, but the Masters remains elusive, the only major he has yet to claim. McIlroy survived professional and personal slumps, and has found his form at precisely the most appropriate moment. He seemed on the want through the Amen Corner on Friday, but found his form over the closing six holes, playing them in 2-under to reach 4-under through 36 holes. Dustin Johnson’s Sockgate of 2017 has been replaced in the public imagination by Tony Finau’s Anklegate, and the 2016 U.S. Open champion is poised to add another major title to his folder. No one was more of a favorite than Johnson at last year’s Masters, so perhaps the tournament feels like it owes him one. Remember that Johnson came back from his 2015 U.S. Open adversity to claim the title the following year. Lightning might strike twice.

3) Golfers who have won a Masters, and might add another 

Jordan Spieth was everyone’s darling after round one, then started round two with a double bogey. He’s at 4-under par, inside the top five heading into the second half of the tournament. Spieth had every opportunity to mail it in, but the wunderkind showed a gumption he’ll need to contend through Sunday. Sure, he’s finished in the top 2 three times at Augusta, but they don’t give you prizes for yesteryear. Bubba Watson was everyone’s darling before round one, but his opening 73 relegated him to afterthought status. The artistic lefty had some magic in his bag on Friday, never more in evidence than his up-and-down for par, from the left greenside bunker on 18. Spieth should be paired with DJ, while Bubba will match wits with Charley Hoffman or Adam Hadwin in round 3.

4) Golfers who have us completely confuzzled

Henrik Stenson, paging Henrik Stenson. On the day after countrymen Henrik and Daniel Sedin combined to score the winning goal in overtime in their final home game in Vancouver, Stenson stuck around. He has an Open Championship to his credit, besting Phil Mickelson in the greatest game ever played, but he has yet to play well through four rounds in Augusta. A good week to be Swedish? We’ll see. Rickie Fowler had made the longest putt of the day, 66 feet for par at the 6th, until Russel Henley bested him with 82 feet for eagle at No. 15. Fowler coulda shoulda woulda but has yet to do so. His Garcia-esque career, highlighted for so long by a Players Championship, desperately needs a major title. Fowler sits at 2-under par, inside the top 10.

5) And that leaves…the Justins

Justin Thomas, of course. The 2018 PGA champion made a back-nine move to reach the top ten, heading into the weekend. Oh, and Justin Rose, last year’s runner-up and the 2013 U.S. Open and 2016 Olympic champion. With their inclusion, six of the world’s top-9 professional golfers are in the top 10 at Augusta, heading into moving day. I don’t know that a major championship could offer more promise than that. Sure, we’d love to have those two darling oldies in the mix, but Tiger and Phil will have to wait until Shinnecock in June for a chance at major redemption.

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Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

12 Comments

12 Comments

  1. golf123

    Apr 7, 2018 at 9:49 am

    I’m sorry – Rickie Fowler has 4 PGA tour wins…. how is that a resume in ‘need of a major title’? The guy is dining out on the 2014 season when he finished top 10 in all 4 majors… take that away and his career looks a lot more like Bill Haas’ than someone who for some reason finds himself mentioned in the conversation of best player to not win a major…

    Reply Report comment

    • Ronald Montesano

      Apr 8, 2018 at 12:01 pm

      He has 8 professional wins, including the next closest thing to a major (Players Championship), and 2 European Tour wins against strong fields. He is a former Walker Cup, Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup player. He contends regularly in common, WGC and major events. That’s what I use for my justification.

      Reply Report comment

  2. yabba

    Apr 6, 2018 at 11:51 pm

    Tiger in the woods
    Tiger in the sand
    Tiger in the water
    Tiger in the pine cones
    Tiger everywhere !!!!!

    Reply Report comment

  3. ogo

    Apr 6, 2018 at 10:53 pm

    Tiger made the cut but is 13 strokes off the lead… and… he will make a fantabulous charge on Saturday and Sunday to win it all …. NOT … 😛

    Reply Report comment

  4. Bob Parson Jr.

    Apr 6, 2018 at 10:24 pm

    A cheat like Reed doesn’t deserve to win such a prestigious tournament. Reed has been accused of been a cheat for many years. Personally, I would have banned him from the tour years ago.

    Reply Report comment

  5. Simms

    Apr 6, 2018 at 7:52 pm

    Phil looked like a 12 handicap out there today, did not have his head in the game at all..was moving around and never set up to swing all day…Tiger, oh well ten to one that stuff about his girl friend that came out this week is on his mind for sure…but at least Tiger played more like an 11 handicap to Phil’s 12 today….

    Reply Report comment

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News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

1 day ago

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May 12, 2026

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Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

Rory McIlroy +800 – (Check out his WITB here)

  • Jon Rahm +1300 
  • Cameron Young +1500
  • Bryson DeChambeau +1700
  • Xander Schauffele +1850
  • Matt Fitzpatrick +1950
  • Ludvig Aberg +2000
  • Tommy Fleetwood +2600
  • Collin Morikawa +3500
  • Brooks Koepka +3900
  • Justin Rose +4300
  • Russell Henley +4600
  • Si Woo Kim +4700
  • Justin Thomas +4800
  • Robert MacIntyre +5300
  • Patrick Cantlay +5300
  • Viktor Hovland +5400
  • Tyrrell Hatton +5500
  • Jordan Spieth +5900
  • Sam Burns +6000
  • Hideki Matsuyama +6200
  • Adam Scott +6400
  • Rickie Fowler +7000
  • Chris Gotterup +7400
  • Patrick Reed +7400
  • Min Woo Lee +7800
  • Ben Griffin +8000
  • Sepp Straka +8400
  • Shane Lowry +9000
  • Akshay Bhatia +9200
  • Maverick McNealy +9200
  • Joaquin Niemann +9200
  • Jake Knapp +9200
  • Jason Day +9600
  • Kurt Kitayama +10000
  • J.J. Spaun +10000
  • Harris English +10500
  • Nicolai Hojgaard +11000
  • Gary Woodland +11000
  • David Puig +11000
  • Michael Thorbjornsen +12000
  • Jacob Bridgeman +12000
  • Keegan Bradley +12500
  • Corey Conners +14000
  • Alex Fitzpatrick +15000
  • Sungjae Im +15500
  • Sahith Theegala +15500
  • Harry Hall +15500
  • Alex Noren +16000
  • Thomas Detry +16500
  • Marco Penge +16500
  • Kristoffer Reitan +17000
  • Alex Smalley +17000
  • Wyndham Clark +17500
  • Sam Stevens +17500
  • Keith Mitchell +17500
  • Daniel Berger +18500
  • Ryan Gerard +20000
  • Nick Taylor +20000
  • Rasmus Hojgaard +21000
  • Dustin Johnson +21000
  • Pierceson Coody +23000
  • Aaron Rai +24000
  • Jordan Smith +24000
  • Angel Ayora +24000
  • Bud Cauley +25000
  • Matt McCarty +26000
  • Jayden Schaper +26000
  • Brian Harman +27000
  • Taylor Pendrith +27000
  • Ryan Fox +27000
  • J.T. Poston +27000
  • Cameron Smith +29000
  • Ryo Hisatsune +29000
  • Michael Kim +29000
  • Max Homa +29000
  • Denny McCarthy +29000
  • Tom McKibbin +30000
  • Rico Hoey +32000
  • Matt Wallace +32500
  • Ricky Castillo +33000
  • Haotong Li +33000
  • Michael Brennan +34000
  • Max Greyserman +36000
  • Stephan Jaeger +37500
  • Christiaan Bezuidenhout +37500
  • Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +39000
  • Aldrich Potgieter +40000
  • Andrew Novak +42000
  • Patrick Rodgers +42500
  • Daniel Hillier +42500
  • Max McGreevy +46000
  • Billy Horschel +48000
  • Chris Kirk +48000
  • Ian Holt +49000
  • Casey Jarvis +49000
  • William Mouw +50000
  • Steven Fisk +50000
  • John Parry +50000
  • Nico Echavarria +52500
  • Garrick Higgo +52500
  • John Keefer+55000
  • Matthias Schmid +57500
  • Austin Smotherman +57500
  • Sami Valimaki +60000
  • Andrew Putnam +60000
  • Lucas Glover +62500
  • Daniel Brown +62500
  • Jhonattan Vegas +75000
  • Emiliano Grillo +80000
  • Mikael Lindberg +85000
  • Adrien Saddier +100000
  • Bernd Wiesberger +100000
  • Elvis Smylie +110000
  • Stewart Cink +130000
  • Kota Kaneko +130000
  • David Lipsky +150000
  • Chandler Blanchet +150000
  • Andy Sullivan +150000
  • Joe Highsmith +180000
  • Adam Schenk +200000
  • Travis Smyth +200000
  • Davis Riley +225000
  • Martin Kaymer +400000
  • Brian Campbell +400000
  • Padraig Harrington +450000
  • Kazuki Higa +450000
  • Jordan Gumberg +450000
  • Ryan Vermeer +500000
  • Austin Hurt +500000
  • Tyler Collet +500000
  • Timothy Wiseman +500000
  • Shaun Micheel +500000
  • Y.E. Yang +500000
  • Michael Block+500000
  • Mark Geddes+500000
  • Luke Donald+500000
  • Bryce Fisher+500000
  • Jimmy Walker +500000
  • Jason Dufner +500000
  • Jesse Droemer +500000
  • Jared Jones +500000
  • Garrett Sapp +500000
  • Francisco Bide +500000
  • Zach Haynes +500000
  • Paul McClure+500000
  • Derek Berg +500000
  • Chris Gabriele +500000
  • Braden Shattuck +500000
  • Ben Polland +500000
  • Ben Kern +50000

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

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News

How much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

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Kristoffer Reitan held his nerve at Quail Hollow on Sunday to claim his first PGA Tour victory and the $3.6 million winner’s check that came with it. The Norwegian fended off a packed leaderboard on a dramatic final day, with Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Højgaard both taking home $1.76 million for their runner-up finishes.

With a total prize purse of $20 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship.

1: Kristoffer Reitan, $3,600,000

T2: Rickie Fowler, $1,760,000

T2: Nicolai Hojgaard, -$1,760,000

4: Alex Fitzpatrick, $960,000

T5: Tommy Fleetwood, $730,000

T5: Sungjae Im, $730,000

T5: J.J. Spaun, $730,000

T8: Ludvig Aberg, $600,000

T8: Harry Hall, $600,000

T10: Patrick Cantlay, $500,000

T10: Matt McCarty, $500,000

T10: Cameron Young, $500,000

13: Justin Thomas, $420,000

T14: Min Woo Lee, $360,000

T14: Chris Gotterup, $360,000

T14: Nick Taylor, $360,000

T17: Alex Smalley, $310,000

T17: Gary Woodland, $310,000

T19: Austin Smotherman, $242,100

T19: Rory McIlroy, $242,100

T19: Keegan Bradley, $242,100

T19: Sudarshan Yellamaraju, $242,100

T19: Kurt Kitayama, $242,100

T24: Patrick Rodgers, $156,643

T24: Pierceson Coody, $156,643

T24: Adam Scott, $156,643

T24: Andrew Novak, $156,643

T24: Harris English, $156,643

T24: J.T. Poston, $156,643

T24: David Lipsky, $156,643

T31: Brian Harman, $114,416.67

T31: Viktor Hovland, $114,416.67

T31: Alex Noren, $114,416.67

T31: Tony Finau, $114,416.67

T31: Nico Echavarria, $114,416.67

T31: Corey Conners, $114,416.67

T37: Sam Burns, $82,187.50

T37: Maverick McNealy, $82,187.50

T37: Akshay Bhatia, $82,187.50

T37: Taylor Pendrith, $82,187.50

T37: Matt Wallace, $82,187.50

T37: Andrew Putnam, $82,187.50

T37: Bud Cauley, $82,187.50

T37: Lucas Glover, $82,187.50

T45: Justin Rose, $60,000

T45: Daniel Berger, $60,000

T45: Ryo Hisatsune, $60,000

T48: Denny McCarthy, $50,000

T48: Aldrich Potgieter, $50,000

T48: Webb Simpson, $50,000

T48: Michael Kim, $50,000

T52: Mackenzie Hughes, $45,187.50

T52: Max Homa, $45,187.50

T52: Brian Campbell, $45,187.50

T52: Jhonattan Vegas, $45,187.50

T52: Matt Fitzpatrick, $45,187.50

T52: Chandler Blanchet, $45,187.50

T52: Jordan Spieth, $45,187.50

T52: Jacob Bridgeman, $45,187.50

T60: Xander Schauffele, $42,500

T60: Robert MacIntyre, $42,500

T60: Ricky Castillo, $42,500

T63: Ben Griffin, $41,250

T63: Sepp Straka, $41,250

T65: Ryan Gerard, $40,250

T65: Si Woo Kim, $40,250

67: Ryan Fox, $39,500

68: Jason Day, $39,000

69: Sahith Theegala, $38,000

70: Sam Stevens, $37,500

71: Hideki Matsuyama, $37,000

72: Tom Hoge, $36,000

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