Connect with us

News

Tour Rundown: Week of Redemption

Published

7 years ago

on

The 2018 tour schedules came to a redemptive end on Sunday. Professionals with a variety of sortings-out came to the fore and raised championship prizes in Dubai, Georgia and Florida. There will be golf over the next six weeks, but the majority of it will feature exhibitions of all sizes and flavors. For now, Tour Rundown revels in the achievements of four figures and bids you until later for 2018.

Chucky Three Sticks snatches third tour win on Sea Island

For every tour upstart column, there is a story on a can’t-miss prospect who nearly misses. Charles Howell III (those III are the Three Sticks in his nickname) was the can’t-miss prospect during his time at Oklahoma State. On tour, he lost two playoffs in his first three seasons, but also claimed victory in Virginia. Over the ensuing 15 years, Howell had a successful career, but only one other victory, to go with two more playoff losses. His best finish in a major championship was a tie for 10th in the 2003 PGA Championship. He hasn’t played Augusta since 2012, so the label Journeyman Pro would not be out of place, nor insulting.

On Sunday at Sea Island, Howell held off Patrick Rodgers, a player with a similar pedigree, with birdie on the second hole of a playoff. The victory was the third of his career, following a 2007 playoff win over Phil Mickelson in Los Angeles. 11 years is a long interlude between victories, and the significance was not lost on the titleist. For Rodgers, the bitter taste of defeat is certainly sated by the knowledge that he is one stop closer to his goal of winning on the world’s toughest tour. Over the course of round four, the victor was tied at the top by Webb Simpson, Cameron Champ and Rodgers, but found his winning formula in a blend of grit and patience.

Willett’s resolve is tested on final day of World Tour Championship

Danny Willett has had a rough couple of years. Not as rough as Justin Rose’s early-career run of bad fortune and form, but fairly similar in a compressed manner. The last time he held or shared the third-round lead, he collapsed in round four in Malaysia 2017. His tenacity paid off on Sunday in Dubai, when the 2016 Masters champion claimed his first professional victory in the 2.5 years since that august occasion. Willett held off a charging Matt Wallace and a harder-charging Patrick Reed for a two-stroke victory.

The victory was Willett’s fifth on the European Tour, and second in Dubai. The Yorkshireman birdied three of his final five holes to hold off Wallace (2 under on back nine) and Reed (4 under on inward half) by 2 shots, on 18 under total. Willett’s long road to victory was fraught with challenge, coalescing into a recovery from a serpentine burn on the final hole at Jumeirah Estates. With the form of a champion, he escaped and strode to victory.

Thompson takes Tour Championship title in Naples

Lexi Thompson is an immeasurable talent. We know her height, but not her strength. She has earned 10 tour titles, but lost all three playoffs in which she has participated. Over the summer, she took a one-month leave from tour for a recharging of the soul. With the season-ending tour championship on tap, Thompson had yet to hoist a trophy in 2018.

In Naples this week, she set her sights on her own sort of redemption. Thompson wrested the lead from Amy Olson in round two and set sail for the winner’s harbor. Her final-round 70, her only score outside of the 60s all week, was enough to claim a four-shot victory over upstart Nelly Korda. It took Thompson 40 holes to make her first bogey at the CME Group event on Florida’s west coast. She didn’t make another until round four, when she tripled her week-long total. Three bogeys over 72 holes is an undebatable recipe for success. For Thompson, it validated her decision to put self ahead of expectations, and doubtless sends her into the off-season in a proper frame of body and mind. In the year-long race for tour supremacy, world number one Ariya Jutanugarn rode a final-round 66 to victory.

Abraham Ancer Aces Australia Open Assessment

We couldn’t let 2018 drift away without one last run at alliteration. Abraham Ancer is a rising star for whom success was neither predicted nor obvious. He has played professionally for five years, working his way from Odessa College and the University of Oklahoma, to the Web.Com tour, and now the PGA Tour.

Ancer’s first trip Down Under resulted in the first important victory of his career. After positioning well with matching 69s on Thursday and Friday, Ancer made nine birdies at The Lakes in Sydney on Saturday, signing for 65 and the overnight lead. His third 69 of the week was enough to secure a five-shot win over the home country’s Dimitrios Papadatos, and a boundless amount of confidence as the off-season beckons. With the victory, Ancer also qualified into the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

Related Topics:

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.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

News

Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

on

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.

Continue Reading

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

Published

4 weeks ago

on

Jul 29, 2025

By

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.

 

Continue Reading

News

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

Published

4 weeks ago

on

Jul 28, 2025

By

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)

Continue Reading

WITB

Whats in the Bag3 weeks ago

Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)

Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.  Driver: Titleist...
Whats in the Bag3 weeks ago

Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2025 Wyndham Championship

Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
Whats in the Bag4 weeks ago

Camilo Villegas WITB 2025 (July)

Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
Whats in the Bag4 weeks ago

WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship

Brandt Snedeker fired a final-round 65 at the 2018 Wyndham Championship to outlast Webb Simpson and C.T. Pan. His 5-under...

Facebook

Trending