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GolfWRX Morning 9: The Tiger Woods of rock climbing | Jason Dufner’s math lesson | Brutal incorrect scorecard DQ

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7 years ago

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

November 14, 2018

Good Wednesday morning, golf fans.
1. The Tiger Woods of rock climbing
Alex Honnold may be the greatest climber in the world, his free solo ascent of El Capitan (that is, without equipment) is the basis for the documentary “Free Solo,” and his list of big peaks is legendary. However, it’s not Honnold’s accomplishments, but rather his demeanor, that prompted Michael Bamberger to compare the 33-year-old to one Tiger Woods.
  • In his “Best things in golf right now” column for Golf.com, Bamberger writes, Christine and I saw another art-house movie recently, “Free Solo,” a documentary about the extreme rock climber Alex Honnold. It’s outstanding and I mention it here because Honnold, articulate and reflective, must share fundamental qualities with Tiger Woods.
  • “In times of intense fear, Honnold’s sense of himself and what he can do doesn’t contract, it expands. I believe that’s what happens for Woods, too. The climber has no interest in the pursuit of a “happy and cozy” life. That’s pure Woods. Honnold doesn’t actively seek to put his athletic needs ahead of his personal relationships. His body and mental chemistry leaves him no choice. It’s what he is built to do. You could see that DNA in Tiger, too, in his lengthy prime.”

Full piece.

2. Duf does the math
Interesting catch-up with Jason Dufner on the range ahead of the RSM Classic for this unbylined AP piece.
  • “Dufner, who has such a degree, came up with his own version of success on the PGA Tour that at first glance seems outrageous….”You win 2 percent of your tournaments, you probably have a Hall of Fame career,” Dufner said. “You throw in a major and win 2 percent of your tournaments, and you’re certainly in the Hall of Fame.”…Maybe he had Fred Couples or Mark O’Meara in mind.”
  • “Winning every year is extremely tough to do,” Dufner said. “It’s just a fine line out here. You have to have a 95 percent-plus success rate to win,” he said.
  • “He defines success on a hole-by-hole basis in a negative sense. It’s more about what a player doesn’t do wrong as opposed to what he did right. Last week in Mayakoba, he said he had five penalty drops and three-putted three times. That’s not success. Dufner shot 13-under 271 and finished nine shots behind Kuchar.”
  • “I probably had 15 or 20 shots that were not successful,” he said, estimating his success rate at 90 percent.”

Full piece.

3. The always brutal scorecard DQ
Really rough stuff for Tom Murray at Euro Tour Q-School
  • “Through two rounds at Lumine, the Englishman was handily placed on seven-under-par after rounds of 66 and 70. But, unfortunately, his quest to earn his card ended there after signing an incorrect scorecard.”
  • “His score of 70 was correct, but scores on two holes were incorrect, with one higher one lower, and he took to Twitter to explain further.”
  • “So we’re leaving Q School having been DQd. Signed for 70 which was correct but two holes were incorrect, one higher one lower. My fault completely but still just as horrible. Rough end to the season but we will be back stronger.”
  • That’s right, folks. He had the total score right, i.e., the number that matters, but two hole scores were wrong. The Rules are The Rules, I guess, but good grief.

Full piece.

4. 5 clubs that made headlines last year
Interesting stuff from Golfweek’s David Dusek here, looking at some of the events of 2018 on the PGA Tour through the prism of the tools of the game.
  • “An example (technically a set of clubs): Brooks Koepka won his first major championship, the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills, using a set of Mizuno’s JPX 900 Tour irons even though he did not have an endorsement deal with the Japanese company.”
  • “This season the former Florida State standout won the U.S. Open again, as well as the PGA Championship, using the same irons, and still was not getting paid to use them. Forged from a single piece of 1025E mild carbon steel for soft feel, the JPX 900 Tour irons have a compact head and a beveled sole that helps them get in and out of the turf more easily. The extra weight pushed to the perimeter of the heads makes them more forgiving, but these clubs still demand precision.”
5. Manassero misses out
Golfweek’s Alistair Tait…
“Matteo Manassero faces an uncertain future after missing the 72-hole cut at the final stage of European Tour Qualifying School.”
  • “Manassero returned scores of 70-68-76-73 at Lumine Golf Club in Tarragona, Spain to sit at 1 over, seven shots away from the top 70 and ties who advanced to the final two rounds. The four-time winner finished 122nd on this year’s money list after the Andalucia Valderrama Masters, six spots short of keeping his card.”
  • “His Category 18 status means he goes to the bottom of the pecking order next year. He’ll struggle to get into big-money events, instead playing in low budget tournaments like the Mauritius Open, Joburg Open and Belgian Knockout. He’ll have to play exceptionally in those tournaments to have any chance of regaining his card for the 2020 season. Alternatively, he could try to find his way back to the main tour by finishing inside the Challenge Tour top 15 next season.”
6. USGA announces global ranking for disabled golfers
Ryan Herrington for Golf Digest...”In the latest in a series of steps to provide opportunities for disabled golfers, officials with the USGA and R&A announced on Tuesday they will begin to administer a global ranking of players starting in 2019.”
  • “The World Ranking for Golfers with Disability will be run in tandem with the World Amateur Golf Ranking. It will include separate rankings for men and women, building off of the Ranking for Golfers with Disability established by the European Disable Golf Association in 2014.”
  • “John Bodenhamer, USGA Senior Managing Director of Championships, hopes that the involvement of the two governing bodies in the ranking will help spur participation and encourage more competition worldwide for disabled players. Combined with their joint commitment to the disabled golf community through a separate Rules of Golf initiative and a pledge by the USGA to host a national championship for disability golfers, Bodenhamer said “we are working to create meaningful and lasting change to make golf more welcoming.””
7. CME Overhaul
Golf Channel’s Randall Mell…”CME Group CEO Terry Duffy is seriously upping the ante in the women’s game…He’s teaming with LPGA commissioner Mike Whan to overhaul the Race to the CME Globe with the aim of making the season-ending Tour Championship richer, more dramatic and easier to follow.”
  • “Duffy said it’s really about a larger aim to elevate women to a more equitable standing in sport.
  • “Terry just moved the stick,” Whan said in a news conference Tuesday at the Ritz Carlton’s beach resort in Naples. “It’s a game-changing moment for the LPGA.”
  • “The overhaul begins next year with the CME Group Tour Championship’s purse doubled to $5 million. That’s more than the prize money offered in five PGA Tour events and nearly as much as the purse at the PGA Tour’s venerable Desert Classic ($5.9 million).”
  • Additionally… “The points will be scrapped at The Tour Championship. The season finale will be played like a regular stroke-play event, with every player in the field eligible to win the $1.5 million first-place check.”
8. Cold weather questions
E. Michael Johnson examines some persistent myths related to golf in frigid environments.
For example: Do colder golf balls fly shorter?
  • He writes, “To begin with, cold air can affect the performance of a golf ball. Cold air is denser than warm air and creates additional drag on a ball. According to Trackman, the difference is approximately one yard of carry for every 10-degree change in temperature. So theoretically, you’re looking at a loss of four yards if you’re playing in 40 degrees as opposed to 80 degrees. Other factors-such as how the body reacts to the cold, and how wearing extra layers likely limits your backswing-can further impact distance. The takeaway: When playing fall golf plan for at least an extra half club, and if your swing is restricted by being fully bundled up, it might even be a full club.”
9. Why hello, FootJoy Heritage Collection
Golfweek’s Brentley Romine takes a look at FootJoy’s new Heritage Collection, which features some seriously cool items, such as the Heritage Half-Zip Pullover you see below.

Related Topics:

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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