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Tour Rundown: Hot potato Houston Open | Four-lady playoff | Phil

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The middle of November saw the first snows descend onto the lawns of our neighborhood. The flakes did not linger and were gone with the afternoon’s sun. The unraked leaves again showed their colors, and the grey skies foretold the difficulty of the coming months.

Against this backdrop, four golf tournaments drew to a close, and none resembled a foregone conclusion. Each offered its own sense of drama, and this made their viewing quite compelling. Imagine what the playing must have been! Join us as we run these events down, from the Middle East to Houston, and from Florida to Foenix Phoenix.

PGA Tour: Houston Open ends up in Kokrak’s hands after hot-potato finish

Jason Kokrak won a PGA Tour event for the first time last fall. His name was on no one’s lips this week in Houston. The probable winner ranged from Martin Trainer, who led for a round or two, to Scottie Schefler, who seemed poised to break through for a win in his home state, to Kevin Tway, who appeared poised to complete a comeback into the winner’s circle. One by one, the probables slipped away, and Kokrak was the last man standing at Memorial Park.

The magnificent muni was without its usual, fast-and-firm teeth, but it sure challenged many of the world’s best in mid-November. The low round of the week was Scheffler’s Friday 62, but that was the only day when Mem Park gave up low scores with regularity. The weekend was a survival test, and Kokrak’s 131 total eclipsed the remainder of the field. The pride of North Bay, Ontario, posted consecutive birdies from the 13th to the 16th holes, jumping ahead of the chasing pack by two shots.

Scheffler, fresh off a debut on the US Ryder Cup side earlier this fall, looked for all the world like the day’s winner until he made bogey at three of the first five holes on the back nine. Two closing birdies brought him into a tie for second with Tway, and he left town still in search of his first tour title.

LPGA: Pelican Championship decided after four-lady playoff

Her complex armamentarium finally let her down. Nelly Korda had just returned to number one in the world, had played magnificent golf for 63 holes, then came apart on Sunday’s final nine. Bogey at the 12th and triple at the 17th dropped her from the lead for the first time. And then, as if she recalled the last of her five birdies, Korda summoned something at the last, posted a sixth birdie, and joined Lexi Thompson, Lydia Ko, and Sei Young Kim for an improbable, four-way overtime.

How did it all happen? Thompson seized control late but, in an all-too-familiar denouement, gave shots backs even later and dropped from -19 to -17. Ko made four birdies and zero bogeys on the day, and certainly didn’t expect to have a shot at the title. Kim, like Korda, made birdie at the last to jump from a top finish into a chance at victory. Off the foursome trudged to the 18th tee, where Korda ended things quickly.

Nelly ripped an approach into 10 feet at the watery finisher and, for the second time in forty minutes, made birdie. None of her challengers could match her, and the young Floridian had secured her fourth win of the campaign.

European Tour: Dubai Championship boosts Hansen to new heights

Joachim Hansen and Padraig Harrington have a common thing: each made a putt at the 72nd hole to qualify into this week’s World Championship. For Harrington, the birdie meant a tie for eighth position. For Hansen, the putt was much bigger. It meant a second career win on the European Tour, and a tee time on Thursday in the circuit’s biggest event. That, plus the elevation to a new echelon where multiple winners reside.

I’ve used a bit of license in that first paragraph. The putt that won the event for Hansen (see above) came about twenty minutes earlier, at the 71st hole. Faced with a climb up a tier, from the front of the green to the back, with a bit of rightward tilt, the golfer from Denmark did well to negotiate the distance, ending about seven beyond for par. His left-curving effort found the hole’s center, and preserved his one-shot advantage. With par now all that was needed at the five-shot closer, Hansen complied, edged Bernd Wiesberger and Francesco Laporta by one, and breathed. Hansen was so relieved, he left his putter and hat on the 18th green 😉

PGA Tour Champions: CSC Championship ends up in unanticipated hands

Around five o’clock, six golfers were tied for the lead at 16-under par. It was that kind of week in the Arizona desert. Darren Clarke took an early clubhouse lead at 17-under par, but he suspected it wouldn’t last. Jim Furyk, attempting to chase down Bernhard Langer for the season-long title, faltered on the inward half with bogies, when birdies were needed to overcome Clarke. Steven Alker, the New Zealander on the most unprecedented tear in the history of the senior circuit, made a run at a second victory with birdies on his final two holes, but ultimately came up one stroke shy of first position. David Toms closed with matching 65s over the weekend to catch Clarke for third spot at -17.

So who captured the last tournament of the season on Tour Champions? Was it Brandt Jobe, who shot 66 on day four? Nope. How about Paul Goydos, who tossed a nine-birdie 63 onto the scoreboard on day four? Uh-uh. It was Lefty, Phil Mickelson himself, who reminded us how many more wins he would have had in a Tiger-less world. Philly Mick signed for 65 after six birdies and 12 pars. He reached 19-under and had to be relieved that Alker ran out of holes.

As for the season-long Cup chase, Furyk had the opportunity to be the first to win the Cup on both tours, but his T5 finish bailed Bernhard Langer out. One day after beating his age (64) with a Saturday 63, Langer posted three-under, yet dropped to 17th. That number was good enough to secure his sixth CS Cup, and first in three seasons.

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.

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Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

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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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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

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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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