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Morning 9: Monahan: “Encouraged” by vaccine news—won’t be mandatory for tour players | Tiger on Charlie | PGA COO allegedly assaulted girlfriend

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5 years ago

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By Ben Alberstadt
Email me at ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com and find me on Twitter and Instagram.
December 18, 2020
Good Friday morning, golf fans.
1. Monahan: “Encouraged” by vaccine news—won’t be mandatory for tour players
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said Thursday that the circuit continues to operate in a “six-to-eight-week window” when it comes to COVID-19 and evolving restrictions, but he did acknowledge that the Tour’s return to Florida in March should create new opportunities for more fans.”
  • “It really is hard to predict at this point what that will be. We’re very encouraged by the news around the vaccine and vaccine distribution and paying very close attention to what that can mean as we go into calendar year 2021,” Monahan said. “I think you’ll just see a slow and steady increase in the number of fans that we have on-site, but again, we won’t be the sole arbiter in that. Any steps that we take we’ll be doing in concert with our partners in the local communities where we play.”
2. Tiger’s development/Charlie’s development
Bob Harig contrasts the early (golf) years of Tiger and Charlie Woods in an excellent piece for ESPN…
“Earl all but guided Tiger from the crib to be a golfer. By the time he was 13, Tiger had appeared on the “Today” show, “Good Morning America,” ESPN and each of the network’s evening news shows, among others.”
  • “There is the clip of Tiger on “The Mike Douglas Show” at age 2, putting for a national television audience. Another time he appeared with Bob Hope. Jim Hill, a longtime Los Angeles sports anchor, was one of the first to “interview” Woods when he was barely out of diapers.”
  • “…He was written up in Golf Digest at age 5,” said Golf Digest contributor Tom Callahan, who wrote “His Father’s Son,” a book about Earl and Tiger that was published in 2010. “Hughes Norton [Tiger’s first agent at IMG] read about him in Golf Digest, and Tiger was a preschooler.”
3. Tiger on Charlie
ESPN’s Bob Harig…“In describing the situation Thursday following a pro-am round, Tiger repeatedly invoked a form of the word “enjoy” as he described what the essence of this exercise is all about.”
  • “It’s so much fun to see him enjoying the game,” Woods said. “That’s the whole idea. Enjoy hitting shots and creating those shots. It’s so cool for me to see him enjoy the sport and feeling the shots and hitting it as solid as he is hitting it.”
  • “The format for the tournament is a scramble, which was also used during the pro-am, and there was one instance on the 11th hole where Charlie hit his short approach to a few feet for a kick-in birdie — while Tiger hitting from the same spot was nowhere within birdie range.”
4. Bacon gets his own show….
Golf Digest’s Tod Leonard…”In addition to his duties at “Golf Today,” Bacon will be part of “Golf Central: Live From” coverage from tournaments, while also doing play-by-play and other reporting, the release said. Currently, he hosts a podcast with PGA Tour player Max Homa. Bacon had otherwise disappeared from live television when the USGA announced in June that it was moving the coverage of its championships from Fox Sports to NBC.”
  • “…The new show represents something of a fresh start for Golf Channel, which has experienced a tumultuous year. In February, it was announced that the bulk of the operation would be moving from Orlando to Stamford, Conn. Then, after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, NBC’s on-air personalities took pay cuts, followed by significant layoffs that were announced in June.”
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5. JT and Rory confirmed for Abu Dhabi…..
From the Golf Channel team…”Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy have signed up for the first European Tour event of 2021. Thomas and McIlroy committed Wednesday to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the first of four Rolex Series events on the European Tour schedule. The event is slated for Jan. 21-24, opposite the PGA Tour’s American Express. Thomas is expected to make his 2021 debut in Hawaii, while McIlroy will start in Abu Dhabi. This will be just the fourth full-fledged European Tour start for Thomas, who has previously played at the 2013 Alfred Dunhill Links, 2018 French Open (ahead of that year’s Ryder Cup) and the 2019 Scottish Open.”
6. PGA COO allegedly assaulted girlfriend
Tim Schmitt for Golfweek…“According to new reporting from the Denton (Texas) Record-Chronicle, Darrell Crall, the chief operating officer for PGA of America, allegedly threw his girlfriend to the ground after she refused to return her car keys to him at an address in Frisco, Texas, near the future home of the organization.”
  • “According to an arrest affidavit reported on by the R-C’s Zaira Perez, Frisco police were called to an apartment in the Dallas suburb on Nov. 24 and noticed the victim had a fresh red scratch on her cheek, two scratches on her right hand and two broken nails on her right hand but no redness around her neck.”
  • “The affidavit says she broke into tears while speaking with officers about the incident.”
7. Baylor redshirt freshman Hannah Karg wins professional golf tournament
Adam Woodard for Golfweek…”A redshirt freshman on the Baylor women’s golf team, Karg won the Women’s All Pro Tour’s Kingwood Forest Classic in Kingwood, Texas, on Wednesday, earning a one-shot victory at 4 under. The WAPT hosts professional golf tournaments as the official qualifying tour for the Symetra Tour, the LPGA’s qualifying tour. A native of Hamburg, Germany, Karg, entering her second year in Waco, Texas, shot a pair of 2-under 70s in the opening two rounds before an even-par 72, holding off Maddie Szeryk (-3), a 2018 Texas A&M grad.”
8. Whistling Straits’ proposed sister course receives conditional permit alongside Lake Michigan
The city of Sheboygan’s Plan Commission approved a conditional use permit for Kohler Co. to move forward with development of its new golf course along Lake Michigan. But before the permit can take effect, all pending lawsuits affecting the construction of the course must be closed in Kohler’s favor. Kohler already operates two courses at Whistling Straits, the Straits Course and the Irish, as well as two courses at Blackwolf Run, Meadows Valley and River, as part of the American Club Resort. Both Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run have hosted elite professional events, including major championships.
9. Charlie Woods WITB
What we know about the young maestro’s setup…
Driver: TaylorMade SIM
Shaft: Project X EvenFlow Blue
3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Max
Irons: TaylorMade P7MC Prototype
Wedge: TaylorMade MG2 Prototype
Putter: TaylorMade Spider X (Copper)
Grip: Ping PP58 (Blackout)
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Related Topics:

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.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Moosejaw McWilligher

    Dec 18, 2020 at 10:12 pm

    “Vaccine not mandatory for tour players” – “It’s a choice”… NO, spreading a highly contagious deadly virus is *not* a choice. It’s just a question of whether you’re a terrorist or not. I certainly look forward to some of these whining millionaires being sued for spreading it – though current “admin” is trying to give all the wealthy legal protections so they can profiteer and not concern themselves with the fates of serfs.

    Let’s see how much a choice it is when a golfer famous, beloved and young dies of it. Or someone in Monahan’s family. Jack@**

    Reply Report comment

    • Johnny Penso

      Dec 18, 2020 at 11:29 pm

      Chill out dude, it’s not the end of the world. You go to a country where citizens are force injected with Big Pharma chemicals for which they bear no liability. I’ll stay here. Bye.

      Reply Report comment

      • Moosejaw McWilligher

        Dec 19, 2020 at 1:51 am

        3,000 people died in an incident in 2001, and we started unending wars with two countries spending countless trillions.

        300,000 people die in 2020, but it’s all a “hoax” and masks and vaccines are “personal choice”. Who bears the liability for continuing to spread the virus? Who bears the liability when “re-open” leads to more death and more lockdowns?

        If you think the entire medial world (pharma – sure, plus WHO, CDC, and the vast majority of doctors, nurses and scientists in the world) are ALL involved in a conspiracy and all out to get you… maybe move with Newt to the Moon? Because I’m *sick* of staying inside to protect myself while the stupid and the greedy act as if nothing is happening…

        Reply Report comment

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News

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

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4 weeks ago

on

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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