News

U.S. Open Second Round Recap

After a relatively easy first day, Oakmont proved why it is known as one of the toughest courses in the world in the second round.

Published

18 years ago

Jun 16, 2007

K Vakamudi

Oakmont Church Pews After the first day of play, many golfers were on the verge of calling Oakmont "easy". On the second day, Oakmont decided to fight back. With the minor exception of Paul Casey’s round of 66, Oakmont stole the headlines and story away from the players as the thick rough, and hardened greens frustrated the best players in the world.

Now that second round play has closed, the spotlight has focused squarely on the USGA’s ability to keep the course in check and avoid a repeat of the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock where some of the greens became so hard and fast that stopping any shot became an impossible task. When Tiger Woods was asked if he thought the USGA was allowing Oakmont’s conditions to get away from them, he replied, "It’s close. It’s right on the edge, I think. The first green, that was — thank God I have spikes on, because I think it would have slipped right off the back."

However, Woods was not the only player voicing his concerns about the USGA’s course conditions. After finishing his second round at +7, Phil Mickelson walked off the course frustrated, with a painful injured wrist and addressed the media. To the surprise of many, he was upset with the USGA allowing a course to play so difficult it presented risk to players, "Well, it’s disappointing to dream as a kid about winning the U.S. Open and spend all this time getting ready for it and have the course setup, injury, you know? To think that the end of this tournament — you’re trying to win and hit great shots but you’re also trying to not end your career on one shot, which — or at least suspend it for a while. That’s a little disappointing, yeah." At the end of play, Mickelson finished just one shot outside the cut line and was left with a year to re-evaluate his preparation and continue his dreams of winning a U.S. Open.

Jim Hyler, Chairman of the USGA’s Chamionship Committee, responded to the criticism by saying, "We listen to what he says, but it won’t have an impact on what we do [to the course]. It’s our national championship, so we want it to be a rigorous test. We’ve had tough rough at the U.S. Open for years. We like where we are right now, we don’t pay attention to scores." However, Hyler did say that crews would be out at night to water the greens, in an attempt to slow them down, and would be paying close attention to the 10th and 12th which were playing especially difficult today.

While the average score for the field was a staggering 76.9, England’s Paul Casey shocked the field by carding a 66. Casey played the USGA’s game, missing only one fairway and reaping the benefits by carding five birdies and only one bogey throughout his round. Casey said, "A 66 is way beyond my expectations. I’m still a bit surprised. The goal was to go out and shoot something level, a couple over maybe, and finish below probably 10-over and try to get into the weekend." Interestingly, Casey admitted that the only time during his round he was nervous was putting out for par on his last hole, the 9th, with many other players watching from the practice green, "I don’t like playing in front of my peers," Casey said. "I feel like everybody’s critiquing." There was not much about Casey’s round to critique, in fact many players were shocked that anyone was able produce such a low score with the difficult Oakmont conditions.

Nevertheless, Casey’s 66 was not enough to vault him up the leaderboard. The top spot belonged to Angel Cabrera. The Argentinian shot 71 today to bring his two round total to even par – 140 and take a one shot lead over Bubba Watson. With such a premium being placed on driving accuracy and the difficulty of the rough, it came as quite a suprise to some to see the tandem of big hitters at the top of the leader board. However, neither one particulary fit hte U.S. Open mold of fairways and greens. Watson hit only 57% of his fairways and 61% of the greens in regulation. Yet, both find themselves sharing the 36 hole lead. Watson said, "The one thing, everybody keeps saying in the interviews, they say that if your game is off any bit; so if your game is on, anybody has a chance to win. Anybody that’s playing good, all it has to take is that one week you play great, and you can win."

Pos	Player	R1	R2	Tot
1	Angel Cabrera	69	71	E
2	Bubba Watson	70	71	+1
T3	Aaron Baddeley	72	70	+2
T3	Justin Rose	71	71	+2
T3	Stephen Ames	73	69	+2
T3	Nicholas Fasth	71	71	+2
7	Paul Casey	77	66	+3
T8	Brandt Snedeker	71	73	+4
T8	Tom Pernice Jr.	72	72	+4
T8	Carl Pettersson	72	72	+4

News

Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

Aug 4, 2025

Ronald Montesano

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.

Card III and Bacha both miss their birdie tries on the first playoff hole.

We’ll play 18 again @OspreyOpen. pic.twitter.com/vNpHTdkHDg

— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) August 3, 2025

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 29, 2025

GolfWRX Staff

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.

News

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

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 28, 2025

Brian Knudson

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)