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Morning 9: Scribes’ takes on Tiger’s presser | New putter? | HV3 | Lanto’s story

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5 years ago

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1. The scribes pull-outs from Tiger’s presser…
Always interesting to see what different outlets do with the range of Woods’ remarks.
  • Here’s Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…“The high temperature isn’t expected to creep above 70 degrees this week at the PGA Championship, and Tiger Woods knows that isn’t ideal weather for his surgically repaired back.”
  • “The cooler, damp conditions mean longer warmups, shorter drives – and more layers.”
  • “When it’s cooler like this, I just make sure that my core stays warm, layering up properly,” said Woods, dressed Tuesday in a gray sweater. “I know I won’t have the same range of motion as I would back home in Florida where it’s 95 every day. That’s just the way it is.”
  • “Woods has been bothered by back issues in each of his past two starts. At the Genesis Invitational in February, he complained of back tightness while finishing last among those who made the cut, then skipped three scheduled starts because he wasn’t physically ready. Though he said he would have been fit enough for his Masters defense in April, Woods didn’t play again until last month’s Memorial Tournament. With a quick turnaround between the first two rounds, Woods once again felt stiff in the second round, shot 76 and barely made the cut, ultimately tying for 40th.”
…not worried about lack of competitive action…writes PGATour.com’s Ben Everill…
  • “The veteran has four wins and three runner-ups previously at the PGA Championship and knows TPC Harding Park well from due to his amateur and college career. He’s long had great success in Northern California including winning a World Golf Championships event there in 2005 and being part of the victorious U.S. Presidents Cup team in 2009.”
  • “I feel good. Obviously I haven’t played much competitively, but I’ve been playing a lot at home. So I’ve been getting plenty of reps that way … the results that I’ve seen at home, very enthusiastic about some of the changes I’ve made and so that’s been positive,” Woods added without giving up the changes he referenced.”
  • “Just trying to get my way back into this part of the season. This is what I’ve been gearing up for. We’ve got a lot of big events starting from here, so looking forward to it. This is going to be a fun test for all of us. The rough is up. Fairways are much narrower than they were here in 2009.”
2. What he’s been gearing up for
ESPN’s Bob Harig…”…he made it clear that the majors have been his focus.”
  • “This is what I’ve been gearing up for,” said Woods, a 15-time major championship winner. “We’ve got a lot of big events starting from here, so looking forward to it. This is going to be a fun test for all of us. The rough is up. The fairways are much more narrow.”
  • “The PGA is the first major championship of 2020, rescheduled from May because of the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Open is scheduled for Sept. 17-20 and the Masters for Nov. 12-15; the Open has been canceled.”
  • “I’ve been trying to prepare for the three,” he said. “Trying to figure out my schedule and training programs and playing prep and the things I need to work on for each major venue. It’s just a different calendar order and different time of year.
3. A blunt assessment of Tiger’s chances
Plenty of truth in the NY Post’s Mark Cannizzaro…“there are a lot of factors conspiring to make this a potentially-difficult week for Woods to succeed – whether success is measured by winning the tournament, contending or merely making the cut.”
  • “Let’s start with the fact that by the time he tees off his opening round alongside Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas on Thursday, Woods will have played four tournament rounds of golf in the past 170 days. He’s played in only three tournaments in 2020.”
  • “Add into that equation the weather this week in San Francisco is expected to be cool (60s) and damp (fog, mist marine layer), particularly in the mornings. And Woods’ 44-year-old surgically-repaired body prefers the searing heat and suffocating humidity he plays in at home in South Florida.”
  • “Add to that the fact that there are a dozen younger, better-fit star players who are entering this week in top form…”
4. Reminder: BK is going for the three-peat
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach…”After winning at Bellerive in 2018 and Bethpage Black in 2019, Koepka will try to become only the seventh player in the 160-year history of the major championships — and only the fourth since the start of the 20th century and the first in 64 years — to win a single major three straight times. Walter Hagen was the only player to do it at the PGA Championship from 1924-27, when he won four straight when it was still a match-play event.”
  • …”It would be incredible,” Koepka said at a PGA Championship news conference in February. “Obviously, Walter Hagen is a name everybody knows, every golf fan knows. To even have a chance to put my name with his would be incredible and it would be super special.”
  • “That’s the burden and history-making opportunity Koepka will carry with him this week.”
  • “I just want to play good golf, man,” Koepka said. “It’s simple. You start thinking about all the things that could happen, that’s when, you know, I guess nerve, everything else kind of creeps in. Just stay in the moment and keep plugging along.”
5. The math teacher in the PGA Championship field
Great stuff from Golfweek’s JuliaKate Williams…“It’s no secret 2020 has been a dumpster fire of a year, but Alex Knoll found a glimmer of hope amid the flames.”
  • “After years of working to qualify for the PGA Championship, the Palmerton High School golf coach and math teacher from Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, finally did it.”
  • Largely thanks to the coronavirus, that is.
  • “That’s the only silver lining for COVID in this entire world is I got into this tournament,” Knoll joked.”
  • “Knoll, an assistant teaching pro at Glenbrook Golf Club in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, attempted to qualify for the PGA Championship three times prior to this year. The 35-year-old planned to make his play for a spot in the major tournament during the 2020 PGA Professional Championship at Omni Barton Creek Resort and Spa in Austin, Texas.”
6. HV3’s GD cover story
One of the many excellent questions Mark Whitaker asked Harold Varner III in the for his Golf Digest cover story interview…
  • “After the death of George Floyd, you issued a statement describing it as a “senseless killing” and an act of “evil incarnate.” But you also argued that there are many more good cops than bad and that “burning businesses and police stations is wrong.” Why and how did you decide to take that public stance?”
  • “I didn’t want to say anything, but the way that society is, if you’re Black, you had to say something. Especially if you have any type of platform. Let’s not play dumb and pretend that police brutality has just started happening. We knew it was happening. Now it’s just being brought to light through cellphone video and social media. There has been evil since the beginning of time-I’m a Christian; I believe that. But I also think there is still more good than evil in the world. If you sit and watch a lot of TV right now, you’re not going to hear anything good. You know, it’s why people are talking to me. If it wasn’t about race, I don’t think people would be talking to me right now. But I am accepting that role to be a leader in this situation, to make things better for the next generation.”
  • “So what do think the solution is?”
  • “At the end of the day, I think there needs to be way more accountability. There’s got to be some way to hold the bad people accountable. Just getting everyone on the same page about what’s appropriate and not appropriate.”
7. Lanto’s Players Tribune piece focuses on his formative years in golf
Griffin writes…”And if you want to know who I am, you need to know what The Hill is.”
  • “The local municipality course in Blacksburg is known as The Hill. It’s a short, nine-hole course that you could play all day for nine bucks. It’s got all the little quirks that make up so many of the great muni courses around the country. There’s a pro shop that can’t be much bigger than 1,000 square feet, and it’s got the clubs and the shoes on the wall that you can buy right there. There’s a little patio to soak up some sun after the round. There’s a putting green that sits right beside the clubhouse at the top of the property with an incredible view of Blacksburg. You can see Merrimac and Ellett Valley to the south. To the west, there’s the Virginia Tech Campus and Lane Stadium, where the Hokies play.”
  • “It’s really a beautiful spot for a course. The holes themselves aren’t that much to write home about, but it’s just got that character to it, you know? I’ve brought some friends there from out of a town a few times, even in the last couple of years, and they all feel right at home when they step on the first tee. It’s a great place.”
  • “For a long time in my mind, golf and The Hill were synonymous.”
8. Adam Scott’s perspective
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”For Scott, who returned home to Australia when the PGA Tour halted its schedule in March, it wasn’t whether he wanted to play again this season, he did, it was a question of whether he would be able to return home.”
  • “Traveling internationally at the moment and leaving the family somewhere with uncertainty about rules and regulations changing all the time, for example, with quarantine and self-isolations and all this kind of stuff just made it difficult to really feel confident that I’d leave and be able to go back,” Scott said Tuesday at the PGA Championship, his first start since the Tour’s shut down.
9. Tiger testing a new flatstick
Woods’ vaunted Newport 2 is on the bench…as of Tuesday, and he’s practicing with a Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Timeless Prototype at TPC Harding Park.
This putter was a prototype for the 2020 Special Select line. It has tungsten weighs in the sole to hit the desired swing weight and feel.
Loft: 3.75 degrees
Length: 35.25 (finished with grip)
Lie: 70 degrees
Head weight: TBD (presumably heavier than his 327-gram gamer)
Grip: Ping PP58 Blackout
Woods practiced with a similar-looking putter ahead of the 2019 Open Championship…a Golf Channel report suggests Woods has decided to put the putter in play.

 

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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

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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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