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USA Team Azinger Wins Ryder Cup

The professional pen-wielders said Paul Azinger’s team was a serious underdog in this years version of the Ryder Cup. After all, Tiger Woods wasn’t playing due to injury, while Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard, Stewart Cink, and Jim Furyk had all been utilized as cleaning solvent by the Euros in Cups past. The rest of the squad a bunch of Cup rookies whose underwear was sure to shrink so small as to make breathing a conscious activity.

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18 years ago

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The professional pen-wielders said Paul Azinger’s team was a serious underdog in this years version of the Ryder Cup.  After all, Tiger Woods wasn’t playing due to injury, while Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard, Stewart Cink, and Jim Furyk had all been utilized as cleaning solvent by the Euros in Cups past.  The rest of the squad  a bunch of Cup rookies whose underwear was sure to shrink so small as to make breathing a conscious activity.

  Nick Faldo’s European squad had a bunch of guys with winning Ryder Cup experience led by Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington and Miguel Angel Jimenez.  It was a given these guys would come in to Kentucky and make putts from all over the yard leaving the US squad cleaning their wounds and drowning their sorrows with imported Tennesee Whiskey. 

Something happened on the way to the mugging.   How about the only American not to win a match being Steve Stricker, the captains selection whose putting prowess is well documented managed a half point over the three days. The rest of the US team won two matches each save Mr. Mickelson, Ben Curtis and Mr. Cink who won one match apiece.   Compare that to the European squad members who won no matches; Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, Soren Hansen, Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and Lee Westwood.  If I had been offered a wager on that group being winless, I’d have lost a nice tidy sum.  Mr. Faldo’s controversial captains picks, Justin Rose and Ian Poulter were 3-1-0 and 4-1-0 respectively.  I’d say 7 of the 11.5 total points confirms the wisdom of those selections.

 

Anthony Kim dismantled Mr. Garcia during Sunday singles, recording 3’s on the first four holes and playing the front nine 4 under par thanks to two birdies and an eagle for a 3 up lead.  He closed Mr. Garcia out 5 & 4 with two more birdies along the way.  Quite a display from a young man on the way to the top of his sport.  It was marvelous to watch great golf shots and the exuberance of youth.  The talent was obvious, as was the sense that the best is yet to come. 

Kenny Perry was a man living a dream.  His goal, as anyone who paid any attention to golf this year, was to make this team.  To see him Sunday roll in putts of various lengths in jumping out to a 3 up lead was to see a man performing at his best.  When Henrik Stenson turned his game around on the 10th hole by making a birdie, Mr. Perry followed with a birdie of his own on the 11th hole.  Mr. Stenson birdied the 12th, Mr. Perry the 13th, Mr Stenson the 14th, Mr. Perry the 15th, a remarkable stretch of golf as one could ask to see on any stage.  Mr. Perry then closed out the match on the 16th hole with a par.   Exciting stuff.

Boo Weekley started Sunday riding his driver like a horse into battle, a vision I will never forget.  All three days Mr. Weekley waved his arms exhorting the crowd to cheer louder, antics which got under the waistband of Mr. Westwood on Friday.  Mr. Weekley subsequently stayed calm until everyone had holed out before returning to his role as cheerleader.  If there ever was someone so obviously having fun with this atmosphere, it was Mr. Weekley.  For a man not know for his putting prowess, he made enough to earn 2.5 points.  The game is certainly easier when you’re having fun, both to play and to watch.

Hunter Mahan, captain’s choice maligned by both talking heads and pen wielders alike for speaking his mind about the inanities surrounding the Ryder Cup, only won more points than anyone for the US team.  I liked his selection immediately because the guy can putt and has streaks where he makes everything he looks at during a round.  Witness his 5 rounds of 62 in 5 years on tour.  This is a player who can go low consistently.  Putting wins Ryder Cups, so give me all the putters you can find. He and Justin Leonard’s two wins Friday helped the US to an early lead they never surrendered.  He almost stole a half point from Paul Casey Sunday when he made a side hill bomb on the 17th hole, but gave it back with a drive into the hazard on the 18th hole. 

I should leave Phil Mickelson alone, but can’t, really I just can’t help myself but to say this is not the format for Mr. Mickelson.  His putter just let him down too many times all weekend. They say that Ryder Cup pressure will expose the weakness in your golf game and it surely did that today.  18 hole match play is just not his forte.  Too bad, because Mr. Mickelson is someone who could have real fun with this environment.  Maybe he should stay home next time.

So the day ended with Team USA holding the Cup.  For some, Captain Azinger with be hailed as a genius for his changing the rotation of events on Friday, and in allowing for 4 captains selections.  His course set up will probably be praised to the heavens as a feat similar to that of walking on water, hey he even got the way they cut the grass in the rough named after him.  Captain Nick Faldo will be swatted around in the British press like a badminton birdie for his team losing to a bunch of underdog nobodies.  Neither will deserve everything handed out by the all knowledgable press monkies.  These two did a great job promoting the event, witness all the made for the tube competitions they aired because there was nothing else to show. What we saw was an entertaining event, the first such in 9 or so years.  It did what it was supposed to do, show us how good these guys really can be, and how funny the game of golf can be at times. 

I salute both teams, the last three days were as entertaining as any tournament this year.  I thank you all for your stellar performances.

 

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6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. bobsuruncle

    Sep 26, 2008 at 1:14 am

    Great golf all round. It looks like the side with the burden of expectations (this year – Europe) has faltered again. The stars with the burden placed on them to “carry the team” on both sides, especially Europe’s Big 3, faltered. Historically, the world #1&2 also didn’t deliver for the USA. Perhaps they should just loosen up and relax to play their best.

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  2. cody

    Sep 23, 2008 at 7:15 pm

    i think this was one of the most exciting molments in golf for me ever. Even though the Americans were slated as the underdogs for not having Tiger. I KNEW that they were going to win because they did not have Tiger, they had a bunch of young bloods that wanted to win very very badly. that is all the ryder cup takes determination and a will to represent ones county> I hope future American ryder cup captains take not and look for young hot players that want to go and wail.

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  3. mark

    Sep 23, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    Great golf to watch. GREAT for golf itself. Very well done T.V. even when I had to use the mute button when Mr Miller rambled on. Course conditions and set up looked fantastic. Both captains and there interactions made it even better. Celtic Manor here I come. Thank god for that ancient Scott so long ago who had that wonderful idea.

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  4. ander

    Sep 23, 2008 at 9:06 am

    justin rose wasn’t the other captain’s pick, that would be paul casey. good article though.

    Reply Report comment

  5. Joef

    Sep 22, 2008 at 5:25 pm

    How on earth do you bash Mickleson but praise Kim? Mickleson is not a great match play player no doubt there..But Remember he had to Birdie the last 2 holes on His own Friday to salvage that match he also played very well in the first match which they might have won if Anthony Kim had not duffed the shot out of the bunker on 18. Also he kind of fell apart on Saturday Morning which is why He did not play Saturday afternoon and what did it take to beet mickleson and Mahan on Saturday afternoon? Robert Karlson went lights out and shot 6 birdies on the back..Mickelson finished Even 1-2-2 thats 2 points for 2 against…YEah what a smart comment Dont show up next time…Anthony Kim praised Phil for helping Him..

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  6. Frankie

    Sep 22, 2008 at 10:23 am

    This was VERY exciting! Some will say that because the Americans won is the reason I think it was great (true) but to see Mr. Karlsson make putts for everywhere says one thing to me…. look out world “this guy is good!” Mr. Poulter gained a lot of respect from me as I love the guy that has fire in his gut and he does, there is nothing wrong with showing some emotion, then there was Mr. Garica shouting after holing the long put for birdie and Mr. Stricker (I think) holing out on top of that! Just a great Ryder Cup.

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News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

1 day ago

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May 12, 2026

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Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

Rory McIlroy +800 – (Check out his WITB here)

  • Jon Rahm +1300 
  • Cameron Young +1500
  • Bryson DeChambeau +1700
  • Xander Schauffele +1850
  • Matt Fitzpatrick +1950
  • Ludvig Aberg +2000
  • Tommy Fleetwood +2600
  • Collin Morikawa +3500
  • Brooks Koepka +3900
  • Justin Rose +4300
  • Russell Henley +4600
  • Si Woo Kim +4700
  • Justin Thomas +4800
  • Robert MacIntyre +5300
  • Patrick Cantlay +5300
  • Viktor Hovland +5400
  • Tyrrell Hatton +5500
  • Jordan Spieth +5900
  • Sam Burns +6000
  • Hideki Matsuyama +6200
  • Adam Scott +6400
  • Rickie Fowler +7000
  • Chris Gotterup +7400
  • Patrick Reed +7400
  • Min Woo Lee +7800
  • Ben Griffin +8000
  • Sepp Straka +8400
  • Shane Lowry +9000
  • Akshay Bhatia +9200
  • Maverick McNealy +9200
  • Joaquin Niemann +9200
  • Jake Knapp +9200
  • Jason Day +9600
  • Kurt Kitayama +10000
  • J.J. Spaun +10000
  • Harris English +10500
  • Nicolai Hojgaard +11000
  • Gary Woodland +11000
  • David Puig +11000
  • Michael Thorbjornsen +12000
  • Jacob Bridgeman +12000
  • Keegan Bradley +12500
  • Corey Conners +14000
  • Alex Fitzpatrick +15000
  • Sungjae Im +15500
  • Sahith Theegala +15500
  • Harry Hall +15500
  • Alex Noren +16000
  • Thomas Detry +16500
  • Marco Penge +16500
  • Kristoffer Reitan +17000
  • Alex Smalley +17000
  • Wyndham Clark +17500
  • Sam Stevens +17500
  • Keith Mitchell +17500
  • Daniel Berger +18500
  • Ryan Gerard +20000
  • Nick Taylor +20000
  • Rasmus Hojgaard +21000
  • Dustin Johnson +21000
  • Pierceson Coody +23000
  • Aaron Rai +24000
  • Jordan Smith +24000
  • Angel Ayora +24000
  • Bud Cauley +25000
  • Matt McCarty +26000
  • Jayden Schaper +26000
  • Brian Harman +27000
  • Taylor Pendrith +27000
  • Ryan Fox +27000
  • J.T. Poston +27000
  • Cameron Smith +29000
  • Ryo Hisatsune +29000
  • Michael Kim +29000
  • Max Homa +29000
  • Denny McCarthy +29000
  • Tom McKibbin +30000
  • Rico Hoey +32000
  • Matt Wallace +32500
  • Ricky Castillo +33000
  • Haotong Li +33000
  • Michael Brennan +34000
  • Max Greyserman +36000
  • Stephan Jaeger +37500
  • Christiaan Bezuidenhout +37500
  • Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +39000
  • Aldrich Potgieter +40000
  • Andrew Novak +42000
  • Patrick Rodgers +42500
  • Daniel Hillier +42500
  • Max McGreevy +46000
  • Billy Horschel +48000
  • Chris Kirk +48000
  • Ian Holt +49000
  • Casey Jarvis +49000
  • William Mouw +50000
  • Steven Fisk +50000
  • John Parry +50000
  • Nico Echavarria +52500
  • Garrick Higgo +52500
  • John Keefer+55000
  • Matthias Schmid +57500
  • Austin Smotherman +57500
  • Sami Valimaki +60000
  • Andrew Putnam +60000
  • Lucas Glover +62500
  • Daniel Brown +62500
  • Jhonattan Vegas +75000
  • Emiliano Grillo +80000
  • Mikael Lindberg +85000
  • Adrien Saddier +100000
  • Bernd Wiesberger +100000
  • Elvis Smylie +110000
  • Stewart Cink +130000
  • Kota Kaneko +130000
  • David Lipsky +150000
  • Chandler Blanchet +150000
  • Andy Sullivan +150000
  • Joe Highsmith +180000
  • Adam Schenk +200000
  • Travis Smyth +200000
  • Davis Riley +225000
  • Martin Kaymer +400000
  • Brian Campbell +400000
  • Padraig Harrington +450000
  • Kazuki Higa +450000
  • Jordan Gumberg +450000
  • Ryan Vermeer +500000
  • Austin Hurt +500000
  • Tyler Collet +500000
  • Timothy Wiseman +500000
  • Shaun Micheel +500000
  • Y.E. Yang +500000
  • Michael Block+500000
  • Mark Geddes+500000
  • Luke Donald+500000
  • Bryce Fisher+500000
  • Jimmy Walker +500000
  • Jason Dufner +500000
  • Jesse Droemer +500000
  • Jared Jones +500000
  • Garrett Sapp +500000
  • Francisco Bide +500000
  • Zach Haynes +500000
  • Paul McClure+500000
  • Derek Berg +500000
  • Chris Gabriele +500000
  • Braden Shattuck +500000
  • Ben Polland +500000
  • Ben Kern +50000

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Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

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GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

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How much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship

Published

2 days ago

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May 11, 2026

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Kristoffer Reitan held his nerve at Quail Hollow on Sunday to claim his first PGA Tour victory and the $3.6 million winner’s check that came with it. The Norwegian fended off a packed leaderboard on a dramatic final day, with Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Højgaard both taking home $1.76 million for their runner-up finishes.

With a total prize purse of $20 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship.

1: Kristoffer Reitan, $3,600,000

T2: Rickie Fowler, $1,760,000

T2: Nicolai Hojgaard, -$1,760,000

4: Alex Fitzpatrick, $960,000

T5: Tommy Fleetwood, $730,000

T5: Sungjae Im, $730,000

T5: J.J. Spaun, $730,000

T8: Ludvig Aberg, $600,000

T8: Harry Hall, $600,000

T10: Patrick Cantlay, $500,000

T10: Matt McCarty, $500,000

T10: Cameron Young, $500,000

13: Justin Thomas, $420,000

T14: Min Woo Lee, $360,000

T14: Chris Gotterup, $360,000

T14: Nick Taylor, $360,000

T17: Alex Smalley, $310,000

T17: Gary Woodland, $310,000

T19: Austin Smotherman, $242,100

T19: Rory McIlroy, $242,100

T19: Keegan Bradley, $242,100

T19: Sudarshan Yellamaraju, $242,100

T19: Kurt Kitayama, $242,100

T24: Patrick Rodgers, $156,643

T24: Pierceson Coody, $156,643

T24: Adam Scott, $156,643

T24: Andrew Novak, $156,643

T24: Harris English, $156,643

T24: J.T. Poston, $156,643

T24: David Lipsky, $156,643

T31: Brian Harman, $114,416.67

T31: Viktor Hovland, $114,416.67

T31: Alex Noren, $114,416.67

T31: Tony Finau, $114,416.67

T31: Nico Echavarria, $114,416.67

T31: Corey Conners, $114,416.67

T37: Sam Burns, $82,187.50

T37: Maverick McNealy, $82,187.50

T37: Akshay Bhatia, $82,187.50

T37: Taylor Pendrith, $82,187.50

T37: Matt Wallace, $82,187.50

T37: Andrew Putnam, $82,187.50

T37: Bud Cauley, $82,187.50

T37: Lucas Glover, $82,187.50

T45: Justin Rose, $60,000

T45: Daniel Berger, $60,000

T45: Ryo Hisatsune, $60,000

T48: Denny McCarthy, $50,000

T48: Aldrich Potgieter, $50,000

T48: Webb Simpson, $50,000

T48: Michael Kim, $50,000

T52: Mackenzie Hughes, $45,187.50

T52: Max Homa, $45,187.50

T52: Brian Campbell, $45,187.50

T52: Jhonattan Vegas, $45,187.50

T52: Matt Fitzpatrick, $45,187.50

T52: Chandler Blanchet, $45,187.50

T52: Jordan Spieth, $45,187.50

T52: Jacob Bridgeman, $45,187.50

T60: Xander Schauffele, $42,500

T60: Robert MacIntyre, $42,500

T60: Ricky Castillo, $42,500

T63: Ben Griffin, $41,250

T63: Sepp Straka, $41,250

T65: Ryan Gerard, $40,250

T65: Si Woo Kim, $40,250

67: Ryan Fox, $39,500

68: Jason Day, $39,000

69: Sahith Theegala, $38,000

70: Sam Stevens, $37,500

71: Hideki Matsuyama, $37,000

72: Tom Hoge, $36,000

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