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Morning 9: LPGA schedule, future | Faldo: “I don’t want to visualize golf without fans” | Romo at Maridoe

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5 years ago

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By Ben Alberstadt
Email me at ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com and find me at @benalberstadt on Instagram and golfwrxEIC on Twitter.
April 30, 2020

Good Thursday mornings, golf fans. Just a reminder the Acushnet COVID-19 Relief Charity Golf Auction and Sweepstakes end tonight at 9 p.m. The Titleist, FootJoy, Scotty Cameron family of brands have already raised north of $200K. The big-ticket auction items are incredible (golf with Jim Nantz, custom Scotty Cameron putter fitting from the man himself), but there’s also a sweepstakes (entries starting at $25) to play Pinehurst No. 2 with Webb Simpson. If you have the means and are looking to contribute to COVID-19 relief in a golf-related way, this is your chance
1. What will the immediate future of the  LPGA Tour look like? 
Keely Levins at Golf Digest…“The LPGA Tour announced its planned return to competition in mid-July, with a schedule of 21 events through Dec. 20-the only two off-weeks being Nov. 12-15 (when the men play the Masters) and Nov. 26-29 (Thanksgiving). Once the anticipation about seeing live golf again subsides, the question is: What exactly will the LPGA look like come July and how will it be different?”
  • “The past several weeks have conditioned us to expect bad news, which makes one change to the LPGA truly surprising. Some purse sizes at the remaining events have gone up. How, in the middle of a pandemic that has triggered a global economic crisis, has that happened? LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan and his team say that’s it’s actually really simple: contraction and generous corporate partners. While the tour was able to reschedule many events, nine were unable to find a new place on the adjusted calendar. Some of the sponsors of those tournaments took prize money they were planning to use on their own event and gave it to a tournament that’s still on the schedule.”
  • “They [title sponsors] wanted to be good partners with us and for us. They didn’t really want the credit of ‘here, take our money,’ but they really wanted to help our membership. So it was really, truly relationship-driven and being good partners to the LPGA,” Ricki Lasky, the tour’s chief tournament business officer, said.
2. Details of LPGA pushed-back restart
Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols…”The Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, originally scheduled for June 19-21, will now be held Aug. 28-30, taking the place of the now canceled UL International Crown.”
  • “The KPMG Women’s PGA is the latest major to move to a fall date. Originally scheduled for late June, the championship will now be held Oct. 8-11 at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.”
  • “Four other events that were scheduled to take place earlier this spring and then postponed – Volvik Founders Cup, LOTTE Championship, HUGEL-AIR PREMIA LA Open and LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship – have now been canceled for this season. That’s now a total of eight canceled events for 2020 plus the International Crown.”
  • “The Marathon Classic, Meijer LPGA Classic, new Pelican Women’s Championship and Volunteers of America Classic have all moved to later dates…”
3. Romo happy to help
Brentley Romine at Golf Channel on Tony Romo’s week at the Maridoe Samaritan Fund Invitational…”Mr. Romo has needed a substitute teacher for a few days this week as he competes in a fundraising tournament at his home club, Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas. The Maridoe Samaritan Fund Invitational was created to raise money for the club’s caddies, who have been out of work since late March.”
  • “For Romo, this week’s event has been less about making a statement – the 54-hole event, which features several PGA Tour pros and top amateurs, is the first golf tournament to be played in Texas since the shutdown – and more about giving back. All entry fees ($250 each) will be donated to the caddies while some players have chipped in more.”
  • “I think more than anything, you’re trying to do good for some small causes,” Romo said. “Everyone in our position has helped out in a lot of different ways and it’s great just to see. The fact that it’s here, it’s local and it’s home, it’s just something that as soon as they were doing it, obviously I wanted to help out. Hopefully you’ll see stuff will slowly start to come back and people will be safe and those people who have been in trouble during this, hopefully we’ve been able to help in a small way.”
4. Faldo on golf without fans
Steve DiMeglio at Golfweek quoting the six-time major champion...”I don’t want to visualize that,” Sir Nick Faldo told Golfweek this week about the possible soundless scenarios due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. “I think matches or games or some tournaments are fine without fans, but finals? I would deem the Ryder Cup a final, just like the Super Bowl and the World Series. And the major championships fall in that line, too.
  • “You have to have fans for the atmosphere, I would think.”
  • …”Fans are really more than the atmosphere. They are part of the event,” Faldo said. “I laugh thinking when Tommy Fleetwood does his famous celebration in the Ryder Cup when he holes his putt, he’s going to look around and see nobody and he’s screaming to birds at Whistling Straits? Or Tiger fist-pumps after a huge putt and hears crickets?
5. LPGA testing plans
Golf Channel’s Randall Mell…”PGA commissioner Mike Whan believes testing for COVID-19 could be in large supply by the end of May, but he’s building a safety net by pushing back his tour’s re-start another month to mid-July.”
  • “He wants to make sure his staff and players have a handle on how testing will work in a revamped world of competition.”
  • “He also wants to make sure the communities they are visiting feel good about testing’s prevalence with a global roster of players coming their way.”
  • “I think we’ve bought ourselves a month’s worth of safety and probably sanity, in terms of availability,” Whan said Wednesday in a conference call.”

 

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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

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.

 

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News

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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