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GolfWRX Morning 9: A surprise Ryder Cupper | She didn’t know she was leading the tournament | Move over, Cosmo Kramer

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7 years ago

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By Ben Alberstadt (ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com)

September 3, 2018

Good Monday morning, golf fans. Time to step into the white golf pants for one final round…
1. A surprise European Ryder Cupper?
Made in Denmark winner, Matt Wallace may not be a household name. He may, however, be on the European Ryder Cup squad later this month.
  • As Golfweek’s Alistair Tait writes...”Wallace couldn’t have done much more to impress the European captain in the last tournament counting toward European qualification. With Bjorn watching, the 28-year-old birdied five of the last six holes in a closing 5-under 67 to reach 19 under and get into a four-man playoff with fellow Englishmen Lee Westwood, Steven Brown and Jonathan Thomson. Wallace birdied the two extra holes to win.”
  • Captain Thomas Bjorn will make his four selections Sept. 5
Meanwhile in the States…heading into Monday’s final round, the top of the Dell Technologies Championship leaderboard looks like this…Abraham Ancer (-13)…Bryson DeChambeau (-12)…Tyrrell Hatton (-12)…Cameron Smith (-11)…Justin Rose (-11)
2. The best golfing Kramer since Cosmo?
Kramer Hickok went wire-to-wire at the DAP Championship, the second of four Web.com Finals events.
  • AP Report…”Playing to improve his PGA Tour status after earning one of 25 cards from the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list, Hickok shot his second straight 2-under 68 to finish at 14-under 266. He matched the Canterbury Golf Club record Thursday with a 63 and had a 67 on Friday.”
  • “Hickok earned $180,000 for his first tour victory to push his season total to $373,635. He has jumped from 23rd to second among the 25 regular-season qualifiers in the first two tournaments, earning a series-best $198,000. The 26-year-old former University of Texas player was the Canadian tour player of the year last season, winning twice.”
  • “Six-time PGA Tour winner Mahan and Jones each shot 67. They wrapped up PGA Tour cards, each earning $88,000. Jones is fourth in the series standings, with $112,000, and Mahan fifth with $102,500.”
3. The year of living painfully
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard with a thin slice of Tiger Wood’ path since Woods tweeted, “Dr. gave me the ok to start pitching” one year ago.
  • “Since his fourth back surgery, a fusion on his lower back, Tiger had gone to ground and understandably so. At the time there was no end to the questions that swirled around his possible return and not a single answer. At least not a meaningful answer.”
  • “Until that day when his doctors had given him a green light to resume, however tenderly, golf activities, Tiger didn’t know if he’d ever be able to play golf again. He didn’t know if his fused back could withstand the torque of arguably the game’s most explosive swing. And he certainly didn’t know if he’d ever stand on the first tee at PGA Tour event again.”
4. TW & BAD
Bob Harig reports Bryson DeChambeau and Tiger Woods were plenty friendly during their first tournament pairing.
  • “Tiger Woods is usually one to go about his business during a round of golf, with the small talk kept to a minimum….But even he couldn’t avoid the verbal onslaught he got Sunday from Bryson DeChambeau, who has played numerous practice rounds with Woods but was paired with him for the first time in competition during the third round of the Dell Technologies Championship.”
  • “He’s my childhood idol,” said DeChambeau, 24, who is coming off a victory last week at the Northern Trust. “I’ve admired him my whole entire life. And to be finally able to play with him under tournament conditions, it was different. I was a little nervous, for sure. But I was able to get out there and execute shots and worry about my game and focus on hitting the best shots possible. And I was able to play really well like that.”
  • DeChambeau joked last week that Woods sometimes tells him to “shut up and hit the ball,” and he might have been inclined to do so Sunday, so often was the three-time PGA Tour winner in his ear. But Woods seemed fine with it.”
5. She didn’t know she was leading the tournament by 4…
Keeley Levins with the report on Marina Alex’s steely Sunday performance, which included a singular spot of discipline…”Marina Alex trailed by six strokes at the beginning of the final round of the Cambia Portland Classic on Sunday. But when she made the turn at Columbia-Edgewater Country Club, she was leading. Alex had birdied the last five holes of the front nine to turn in 30.”
  • “Behind her, the duo of Minjee Lee and Georgia Hall were faltering in the final group. Both Lee andHall have won in 2018, setting up the expectation that Sunday’s final round was going to turn into a duel between the two. But Hall’s 75 and Lee’s 77 put them well behind Alex.”
  • “The former Vanderbilt All-American had spent the entire day avoiding any glimpse of a leader board. So she was completely unaware that she held a four-stroke lead while standing on the 18th tee. Only when she got within 150 yards of the green did she finally asked her caddie where they stood.”
How is that humanly possible?
6. Oh no, Joe!
Disaster for Joe Durant at the PGA Tour Champions’ Shaw Charity Classic.
  • Ryan Herrington reports…”Durant was on the par-4 17th hole, sitting at 14 under par. He played the opening 11 holes at Canada’s Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club in five under, but had bogeyed the 13th and 15th to fall into a tie for the lead with Scott McCarron.”
  • “Looking a birdie to retake the lead on the penultimate hole, Durant missed, leaving himself around a foot to finish with a par. Surely he was thinking get this in and get on to the par-5 18th, a hole where birdie was in play and the chance for his fourth career senior win was real.”
  • “Unfortunately for Durant, McCarron moments later made a birdie on the 18th to jump to a two-stroke lead. So when Durant wound up birdieing the 18th himself, he wound up finishing one agonizing stroke short of a playoff.”
7. Hatton didn’t buy that putter at Golf Galaxy after all…
…well, he did, indirectly, but the Englishman wasn’t the one who physically did the shopping last week.
“I was on an app, a video, with him, because I was too embarrassed to go into the store to buy a putter,” said Hatton at the Dell Technologies Championship. “Obviously he made a good choice. But it’s just one of those things, it’s not obviously normal that this happens.”
8. Do you really understand “strokes gained?”
Of course you do, on some level, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t sit in on Trey Pezzetti’s 101- level course.
  • “In 2011, the PGA Tour introduced ShotLink, which is a real-time scoring system that captures data points on all shots taken during PGA Tour events. ShotLink measures the distance from the hole, as well as categorizing shot types like tee, fairway, rough, sand, and green.”
  • “Mark Broadie, a professor at Columbia Business School, took the data from ShotLink and helped develop a new way to analyze putting performance. This new statistic was called “strokes gained: putting,” and it measures the number of putts a golfer takes relative to the PGA Tour average from that same distance. Strokes gained putting recognizes that sinking a 20-foot putt represents a better performance than sinking a three-foot putt, even though they both count as a single putt and a single stroke on the scorecard.”
  • “This was revolutionary because golfers no longer had to rely on the number of putts per round to understand their putting performance. Strokes gained also provided a unified way to measure an individual golfer against his opponents on the PGA Tour.”
9. Remember this kid?
In case you missed it (which I admittedly did), the kid who had this exchange with Phil Mickelson during a DTC practice round last year caddied for him in the pro-am of this year’s event.
  • “If I could hit my 3-wood 260, I would probably go for it,” Riley told Mickelson last year, in a video that made the rounds on social media. Mickelson had playfully asked the crowd if he should go for the green in two during a practice round.
  • “I like the way you think...Riley, you can caddie for me anytime,” Mickelson responded.
Here’s Mickelson telling Riley about the importance of a sharp needle.

 

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Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

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Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

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Aug 4, 2025

By

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.

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

Published

4 weeks ago

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Jul 29, 2025

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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.

 

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BK’s Breakdowns: Kurt Kitayama’s Winning WITB, 3M Open

Published

4 weeks ago

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Jul 28, 2025

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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)

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WITB

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