News

5 things we learned Friday at the Masters

Published

5 years ago

Nov 13, 2020

Greater than all other lessons on this November Friday at Augusta was this: there are bogeys at Berckmans. No one gets out without losing a stroke somewhere; it’s the golfers that minimize there impact, that post a number. Consider Cameron Smith, who had four bogeys on the second day but closed with four birdies and an eagle over his final six holes, to reach minus-four on the day, minus-nine through two rounds. Consider also, Bryson DeChambeau, who posted a triple and four single bogies over his first 12 holes on Friday. No amount of birdies will offset wayward action of that level. No, it’s not rocket science, but it is easily forgotten. It will prove itself over the weekend, when a Masters champion will don a green jacket, appropriate for this particular season.

Let’s uncover five things that we learned on Friday at the Masters.

1. Without patrons, competitors go about their business

Even at serene Augusta National, it’s impossible to go about a round of golf and unhear what the assemblage of patrons opines. A gallery of attendees is vocal, whether attempting to assist or derail a player. In each case, the suggestions and admonitions reach a golfer’s ears, and they doubtless impact the execution of subsequent shots. Without this interference, it’s the golfer and his ball. Some suggest that this Masters, like the 2020 Open and PGA before it, is somehow less of a major competition for this reason. In my opinion, these events represent pure golf competition more than other years, without the impact of the witnesses. Don’t get me started on the views, which are vast and to die for.

2. May the odds be in your favor

There are two gunslingers currently in the top ten. Their names are Im and Cantlay. Neither betrays any sort of emotion, each goes about his business with the cold precision of a western outlaw or lawman (there wasn’t much separation between the two, doncha know?) Im is competing in his first Masters, but is an incredibly-complete 22 year old, and might win this week. Cantlay led the event through 69 holes last year, but faltered down the stretch. It is an odd fact that only one, first-time attendee (after the inaugural playing, of course) emerged victorious, and that was in 1979, when Ed Sneed wretchedly handed the event to Fuzzy Zoeller. From what I’ve seen thus far, Im can win. Cantlay can win. A gunslinger might win.

3. Is it Hideki’s time?

Here he comes, edging his way into the top five. Hideki Matsuyama has four birdies on the day with zero bogeys and will complete his round on Saturday with holes 16 through 18. The 7-iron he will hit on Redbud, to begin his third day of competition, will probably be easier than driver on 15 or 17. I like his chances of reaching nine-under, right off the bat. Matsuyama lives and dies by the flat stick. Through 33 holes, he averages 1.5 putts per green, with only one three-putt. Those are spectacular numbers for Augusta. Should they continue, watch out.

4. What about Rahm?

The Masters always has a marvelous leaderboard for one simple reason: only the best compete. Five amateurs and a handful of former champions are all that resists a perfect field. It’s easy to lose track of a guy like Jon Rahm. Along with Bryson, Rahm is one of the best interviews in the game. Neither one is capable of playing the cards close to the vest; they WANT you to know what they are feeling. Neither should go contrary to this natural impulse. In Rahm’s case, it walks, hand in hand, with powerful, emotional golf. Rahm was in the mix on Sunday last year, and has matured in every way, with each passing year. He begins Saturday with a five-feet putt for birdie at the 13th. When that putt drops, Rahm will reach 9-under, the current, clubhouse lead. From there, who knows?

5. The cut

The current cut line sits at even par. The biggest (in so many ways) name outside the line is DeChambeau. He needs to play his remaining six holes in 1 under par to slide back to even and play the remainder of the weekend. Matthew Wolff (77) had a forgettable Friday, as did Tyrrell Hatton (74). Both players will miss the final 36 holes, despite riding waves of positivity all the way up Washington Road. Sitting inside the current cut line are two amateurs. John Augenstein reached 6 under par at one point, before easing back to minus-three. He will certainly play the final two rounds and receive an amateur medal. Andy Ogletree, who defeated Augenstein in the 2019 U.S. Amateur final, has eight holes left in his day, and balances precariously on the even-par tightrope. Augusta, you’ve won our hearts again.

News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

1 day ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

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

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

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

News

How much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

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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GolfWRX

5 things we learned Friday at the Masters

News

5 things we learned Friday at the Masters