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5 things we learned Thursday at the U.S. Women’s Open

Published

5 years ago

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There shall be no overstating the chaos and pathos of 2020. In that strange fashion that tragedy has, we’ve also been offered a glimpse into the new and the different. In the world of golf, that meant a men’s U.S. Open in September, a Masters in November, and this week, a women’s open in December.

To get the putt rolling, two courses at Champions Golf Club in Houston are in play, the first time this has happened in tournament history. Lack of light compelled the USGA to add this facet to the tournament. Beyond that, it’s all about the players and their feats of strength #Festivus.

Let’s check in on some #WomenWorthWatching and let’s #WatchWomenWork this week at the USGA Women’s Open. Here are five things that we learned on Thursday of the 75th playing of this national championship.

1. Olson leads the pack, thanks to one sweet swing

Amy Olson, a former USGA girls junior champion, took a pass at a 140-yard shot, and it disappeared. Teeing off on the back nine, the Minnesota native stood a +1 through six holes, thanks to a bogey at the 11th, her second on the day. That discrepancy went away when she holed her tee ball at the Cypress Creek course’s 16th hole, and moved to one under. The ace was the only one on the day over both courses, and was quickly followed by a birdie at the the next. Olson added additional stroke-savers at the 1st and the 8th, on her inward half, and reached four-under par. Olson wasn’t the only one to get that low, but she was the only one to stay there. With a game built for USGA courses, expect Olson to stick around for a few more days.

2. Khang and Saso fired and fell back

Yuka Saso was the latest to challenge Olson. The golfer from the Phillipines reached 4 under after nine holes at the Cypress Creek layout, but gave two shots back on the inward half. Khan got even farther, reaching five-under par after her 10th hole, on the Jackrabbit trace. Like Saso, her trek homeward was less than memorable. Khan made a pair of bogeys, then finished off the day with an miserable double bogey at the 18th. The Champions Golf Club courses will afford opportunities to pick strokes up, but it will be the ones that can get away that will determine a champion.

3. Jutanugarn is biggest name near top of leader board

Moriya, that is. Not sister Ariya, the 2018 US Women’s Open champion, but her one year-older sibling. Moriya sits at 3-under par, tied for second spot with Hinako Shibuno of Japan and A Lim Kim of Korea. Well, maybe Shibuno deserves the bigger-name nod. After all, she won the 2019 British Open, out of nowhere. What we’re saying is, after day one, there is a shortage of wattage on the marquee. Sung Hyun Park, Jennifer Kupcho, and the aforementioned Ariya are closest, each at 1-under par, in a tie for 12th. We suspect that Friday, rather than Saturday, will be moving day at this year’s national championship.

4. Who really struggled?

Maria Fassi did battle with Jennifer Kupcho at the inaugural Augusta Women’s Amateur in 2019. Today, she posted +12. Georgia Hall, the 2018 British Open titleist, signed for +10. Angela Stanford, last week’s winner and a Fort Worth native, struggled to a +9 tally. The hottest golfer on the planet, Denmark’s Emily Kristine Pedersen, played her final ten holes in +5 to drop to +4 (might have been jet lag?) Three amateurs (Pauline Roussin, Amelia Garvey, and Maja Stark) all recorded one-under rounds of 70, making the struggles of some, inconceivable. The Women’s Open identifies a new champion as often as it recognizes a storied one. This week might be one of the former, unless a lot happens, and soon.

5. Who lays in wait?

Have a look at the even-par crowd. Inbee Park, Nasa Hataoka, Lydia Ko, and three talented Spaniards (Iturrioz, Ciganda, and Muñoz) along with top amateur Gabriela Ruffels, posted scores of 71 on Thursday. The winner could easily come from that septet. We’ll go out on a limb and pick Danielle Kang, one shot farther back, at one-over par. Kang is the world’s top-ranked player, and doesn’t suffer over-par rounds gladly. Expect a tidy 67 on Friday, as her competitors struggle to match her exploits.

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Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. Catherine

    Jan 19, 2021 at 2:10 am

    This post provides clear idea for the new people of
    blogging, that actually how to do running a blog.

    Reply Report comment

  2. Lupita

    Jan 16, 2021 at 4:47 am

    What’s Taking place i’m new to this, I stumbled
    upon this I have discovered It positively useful and it
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    Reply Report comment

  3. Jim

    Dec 11, 2020 at 11:34 am

    Any Olson is from North Dakota, not Minnesota.

    Reply Report comment

  4. A golfer

    Dec 11, 2020 at 10:33 am

    “ Kang is the world’s top-ranked player” actually Kang is #4 on Rolex ranking and #3 on LPGA money list. Jin Young Ko is #1 on Rolex and Inbee Park is #1 on money list.

    Reply Report comment

  5. A golfer

    Dec 11, 2020 at 10:29 am

    “The ace was the only one on the day over both courses.” Actually Yu Jin Sung aced #4 at Cypress Creek

    Reply Report comment

    • Ronald Montesano

      Dec 11, 2020 at 6:50 pm

      So you guys are saying I need an second set of eyeballs on my words, huh? Can’t dispute that. Hopefully the rest of the text was a bit more accurate. Thanks for pointing out the mistakes. Always can’t believe I made them in hindsight.

      Reply Report comment

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News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

1 day ago

on

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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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

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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News

How much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

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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