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GolfWRX Morning 9: Americans get it in gear | Phil thrills | RIP Dave Anderson

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1. International Crown
Meanwhile, in Incheon, South Korea…AP Report…With a typhoon approaching and rain falling, Michelle Wie and Jessica Korda had plenty of opposition to overcome on the second day of the UL International Crown.
  • “Wie and Korda led the way as the United States won both fourball matches against Thailand on Friday to move to the top of Pool B in the eight-nation tournament.”
  • “It was tough out there,” Wie said. “It was cold, it was raining. It was not ideal temperature … but it turned out pretty well.”
  • “Organizers tried to complete two rounds on Friday because of the approaching Typhoon Kong-rey, but play ended in the middle of the third because of the conditions….Wie and Korda bounced back from Thursday’s loss to Sweden by defeating Moriya Jutanugarn and Pornanong Phatlum 6-and-4. Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson made it two wins in a row with a 4-and-3 victory over Ariya Jutanugarn and Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong.”
  • “The two victories at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Seoul, give the defending champions six points. Sweden is next with four points while Japan and Thailand have three each.”
2. And at the Alfred Dunhill Links…
European Tour report on round one at the Links…”Marcus Fraser and Matt Wallace both birdied their final holes to take a share of the lead after a challenging opening day of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.”
  • “The two men are having contrasting seasons on the European Tour, with Wallace a three-time winner in 2018 and Fraser battling to keep his playing privileges from 175th in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex.”
  • “On a day of high winds and very difficult scoring, the Australian carded a 68 at the Championship Course Carnoustie to get to four under, where he was joined by Wallace who matched his score over the Old Course at St Andrews.”
3. RIP Dave Anderson
John Strege at Golf Digest with the news…”Dave Anderson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning sports columnist with the New York Times and a long-time contributing writer at Golf Digest, has died. He was 89…Anderson had a passion for golf, playing it and writing about it. It was after covering the Masters and before playing a round of golf that he learned that he had won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.”
  • “He received the Red Smith Award from the Associated Press Sports Editors Association for contributions to sports journalism in 1994, the Dick Schaap Award in 2005 for outstanding journalism, was inducted into the National Sports Writers and Sportscasters Hall of Fame in 1990, and in 2014 became the fourth recipient of the PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing.”
  • “I put that right on the same level as the Pulitzer Prize,” Anderson told Golf Digest of the latter award, citing the fact that the three previous winners – Roger Angell, Golf Digest’s Dan Jenkins and Frank Deford – were “three of my great heroes in life.”
4. Phil didn’t advise picking himself in fantasy…
Perhaps you saw the video yesterday from Wednesday at the Safeway Open–a fan asking Phil Mickelson whether he should roster the left-hander in his DraftKings lineup. Mickelson advises him not to.
Well, through one round at least, Mickelson looks like an excellent choice.
Lefty opened the Safeway Open with a bogey-free 65 that included a stretch of six-straight birdies.
5. Best third quarter ever!
Press release…“Golf Channel posted its most-watched third quarter ever (126,000, P2+) across a 24-hour period, up 9% vs. 2017 (116k).”
  • “September was Golf Channel’s most-watched September ever (132k), up 33% vs. 2017, and becomes the third month this year to set a most-watched milestone (January and March).”
  • “Golf Digital’s most-streamed quarter ever with 342 million minutes streamed, up 72% vs. 2017…Golf Digital’s record-setting pace in 2018 includes video starts already setting its most-engaged year ever with 53.4 million starts with the full fourth quarter still remaining.”
6. Speaketh the Jack
Digest has a roundup of some of the Golden Bear’s bon mots.
A few…
  • “Aim and alignment are by far the most important elements of the act of moving a golf ball from A to B. Rub the magic lamp, get the genie to give you any golf swing of your choice from history, and, if you don’t direct it correctly from the beginning, it still won’t reduce your present score by even one measly stroke.”
  • “Even the gutsiest players learn they can’t try the hero shot all the time.”
  • “You first have to see the trouble, then think positively about playing away from it. Some players might say they just “let it happen.” Well, you don’t ever just let it happen.”
  • And of course…”I believe the Ryder Cup is an exhibition by some of the best golfers in the world, great entertainment and an exercise in sportsmanship, camaraderie and goodwill. The individual performances, good or bad, don’t determine who the best players in the world are. Nor does the side that happens to win determine on what side of the Atlantic the best golf is played. Too many people believe otherwise, and that helps make the matches too contentious among the teams and their fans.”
7. Bud’s back
Excellent feature from PGATour.com’s Helen Ross on Bud Cauley’s accident and return to action this week.
  • A morsel…”The first thing Bud Cauley remembers after the accident is seeing the paramedics who had pulled him out of the back seat of the BMW.”
  • “The car had veered off the road, hit a culvert and gone airborne before striking a tree, then three others. The BMW finally came to rest in a ditch.”
  • “Cauley, who was one of four people in the car, was having trouble breathing because he had a collapsed lung. He also had a concussion, six broken ribs and a fracture in his left leg.”
  • “It was really scary, first waking up,” Cauley recalls. “Obviously, first in your mind is your quality life going forward. And then I thought about … golf and was I going to be able to play again and play the same way. All those things I worried about for a while.”
8. Tyrrell Hatton’s Sunday night accommodations
Regarding the Europeans’ victory celebration…”Sunday night was a bit messy,” Hatton told Sky Sports. “I got back into my room at four in the morning. And then, always the sign of a good night is when you fall asleep next to the toilet.”
Always the sign of a good night, indeed.
9. Cheers, Mark Mulder
He’s getting about 1 percent of the fanfare Steph Curry did during his Web.com Tour starts, but former MLB pitcher, Mark Mulder, playing on a sponsor’s exemption, fired an opening-round 3-over 75 at the Safeway Open. He’s tied for 134th after one round, ahead of Jamie Lovemark, Wesley Bryan, and Adam Hadwin.

 

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.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Robert

    Oct 5, 2018 at 12:29 pm

    Guess NBC/Golf Channel execs like the results but golf is really getting tough to watch. The seemingly endless interruptions of golf action by “commercial tsunamis” have forced me to record and later fast forward through the commercial breaks to watch the golf.

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Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

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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

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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

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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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