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Morning 9: Slow play penalty and a loss | Phil on Ryder Cup chances | Brooks-Bryson

Published

4 years ago

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Good Thursday morning, golf fans.
1 Slow play penalty and a loss
Amy Rogers for Golf Channel…“It was a penalty, not a birdie, that determined the outcome of Carlota Ciganda’s match against Sarah Schmelzel on Day 1 of the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play.”
  • “Ciganda, the No. 17 seed, and Schmelzel, No. 48, were tied as they pushed their match to the closing par 5 at Shadow Creek Golf Club. Surprisingly, Ciganda, a four-time member of the European Solheim Cup team, never led during the match – until it was all over. Ciganda birdied the 18th to – seemingly – earn a 1-up win.”
  • “However, following the conclusion of play, the LPGA Tour notified Ciganda that she had been assessed a slow-play penalty at the 18th. Per the policy, Ciganda, who exceeded her allotted time for total strokes taken on the hole, was assessed a loss-of-hole penalty. That awarded Schmelzel the hole and subsequently the match.”
2. Phil on Ryder Cup chances
ESPN’s Bob Harig…”But the 12-time participant said Wednesday that he expects to have to do more in order to be part of the 12-player team that will take on Europe in late September at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.”
  • “If I’m the captain, I’m not going to want a guy that plays well one week in an entire year,” Mickelson said at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas. “And so just because I played really well last week and won a big championship, that does not warrant a spot on the team by any means.
  • “But I know at least I have an opportunity over the course of the next three months to play at a high level consistently and maybe be in a position to add something to the team.”
3. Bryson-Brooks
ESPN report…”Not able to contain their feud to the golf course, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau traded barbs Wednesday on social media.”
  • “After some tongue-in-cheek banter on social media following the announcement that Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and Phil Mickelson would be taking on DeChambeau and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on July 6 in The Match, Koepka entered the fray.”
  • “Sorry bro @AaronRodgers12,” Koepka tweeted, seemingly for Rodgers having to be paired with DeChambeau.
  • “DeChambeau responded, directly to Koepka: “@BKoepka It’s nice to be living rent free in your head!”
4. Still digesting
Cameron Morfit for PGATour.com…“Really it hit me in the last two days what just happened,” Mickelson, 50, said Wednesday from Colonial Country Club, where he is a two-time past champion (2000, ’08).”
  • “The last 72 hours have been a whirlwind. After his media obligations he flew home to San Diego see wife Amy, and the two stayed up until 6 a.m. ET Monday morning, savoring the victory.”
  • “Now he’s in Texas for the Schwab, a commitment he said he never considered not honoring.”
  • “I’m excited to play here because I’ve been playing well,” said Mickelson, part of a threesome with Jordan Spieth and Daniel Berger. “I want to try to carry that momentum into a tournament that I’ve enjoyed many times and fortunate to win a couple of times on a great golf course.”
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5. The Match
Via the Golf Channel Digital team…”Bryson DeChambeau and Aaron Rodgers are set to join the next iteration of “The Match.”
  • “The reigning U.S. Open champion and NFL MVP will face PGA champion Phil Mickelson and Super Bowl champ Tom Brady, it was announced on Wednesday.”
  • “The fourth edition of the made-for-TV event will take place July 6 at The Reserve at Moonlight Basin in Big Sky, Montana. They will play a modified alternate-shot match-play format.”
6. UK participation surges
BBC report…”Golf in the UK and Ireland has been told by the R&A to “seize” its chance to build on a surge in participation.”
  • “An extra 2.3 million adults played in the UK and Ireland in 2020 despite disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic.”
  • “The numbers playing on a nine or 18-hole course in the UK increased by 2.1 million players to 5.2 million – the highest figure recorded this century.”
  • “In Ireland, participation also grew markedly, with an increase of 219,000 on-course players to 540,000.”
7. Reed at home
Golfweek’s Tim Schmitt…”when the nine-time PGA Tour winner gets back home with wife Justine and kiddos Windsor-Wells and Barrett, he insists he checks his dastardly persona at the door.”
  • “The other side of Team Reed where we have Justine as the wife and the two little ones, puts perspective on just life in general. I’m fortunate enough to play a sport for a living and to travel the world, see the world but then at the same time, at the end of the day, I go out and play golf and always you can control is what you do on the golf course,” he said in advance of this week’s Charles Schwab Classic in Fort Worth.
  • “If you go home, it doesn’t matter if I shoot 63 or 73 or 83. When you walk in the door. … you’re their hero. Daddy’s home. They don’t care what happened on the golf course, they are just happy to have me back.”
8. Mickelson’s legacy: Longevity
AP report…“It’s really difficult when you’ve had as much success as I had over a long period of time to charge your batteries, day after day, and go back out and say, ‘Man, I want to do this again,’” Nicklaus said.”
  • “That’s where Mickelson stands alone.”
  • “The list of 24 players who have reached No. 1 since the world ranking began in 1986 does not include Mickelson, who is more accomplished than all but one of them. He has never won a PGA TOUR money title. He has never been PGA TOUR Player of the Year. He is not among the most elite group in golf with the career Grand Slam.”
9. Photos from Colonial
GolfWRX is live this week from the 76th edition of the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club.
  • Marvin Leonard’s dream plays to a par 70 at 7,209 yards, and this year’s tournament features a strong field for the week following a major championship. Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Collin Morikawa, Louis Oosthuizen, and Justin Rose are all putting a peg in the ground in Fort Worth.
  • Speaking of Justin Rose, it looks like Rosey has benched his Mizuno MP-20 irons and returned to TaylorMade P730’s with a few Srixon ZX U irons in the mix as well.

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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

on

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

on

Jul 29, 2025

By

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

on

Jul 28, 2025

By

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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WITB

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