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Morning 9: Tour player Netflix docuseries coming | DP World Tour x PGA Tour of Australasia | Cam’s Cameron

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By Ben Alberstadt
For comments—or if you’re looking for a fourth—email me at ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com.
January 13, 2022
1. Tour player Netflix docuseries
Our Matt Vincenzi…”The streaming service giant, Netflix has revealed its plans for a docuseries profiling some of the biggest names on the PGA TOUR.”
  • “Netflix recently had a great deal of success with a similar show following Formula 1 racing titled, Drive to Survive. It seems they are going down a similar path with the upcoming golf series.”
  • “The cast announced for the show has no shortage of superstars and includes: Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Rickie Fowler, Tommy Fleetwood, Sergio Garcia, and many other big names.”
  • “A PGA Tour spokesperson said that the organization had been intrigued by “all-access” documentaries for several years, including Formula 1’s Drive to Survive, the NFL’s Hard Knocks and ESPN’s Last Dance but “had not found the right combination of production partners, players, and a distribution partner until now.”
  • “Filming quietly began a few months ago, with a handful of golfers sitting down for interviews to get the process started.”
2. DP World Tour x PGA Tour of Australasia
AP report…”The DP World Tour – formerly known as the European Tour – strengthened its links with the PGA Tour of Australasia by announcing on Wednesday an extension of their partnership through 2026.”
  • “The deal will provide members of the Australasian tour more opportunities, such as two additional cards and further exemptions to compete on the rebranded World Tour, as well as an increase in prize money for some tournaments.”
  • “The World Tour also has partnerships with the PGA Tour and South Africa’s Sunshine Tour, strengthening its position amid looming competition from a Saudi-backed company – fronted by Greg Norman – which has put $200 million into 10 new tournaments on the Asian Tour.”
3. Gina Kim turns pro
Joel Beall for Golf Digest…”One of the best amateurs in women’s golf is ready to make the leap.”
  • “After securing playing status at the LPGA Q Series last month, Gina Kim has decided to forgo her senior spring season at Duke University and turn pro.”
  • “Kim, 21, helped lead the Blue Devils to a national championship in 2019 and was a two-time All-American. In 2021 she captured both the ACC Women’s Golf Championship and the North and South Women’s Amateur. Kim appeared for the Americans in last August’s Curtis Cup, which the United States won for the first time on foreign soil since 2008.”
4. Wie West
Golf Digest’s Keely Levins…”Michelle Wie West has committed to playing the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, beginning January 20th, Golfweek first reported. When she tees it up at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Fla., it will be her first round on the LPGA Tour since June 2021, when she finished T-46 in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.”
  • “Wie West played six events in 2021, missing the cut in four of them. Her first event in 2021 was the Kia Classic; at that point, she hadn’t competed on tour in nearly two years. Her time away from the game to heal an injured wrist was extended after she found out she was pregnant. She gave birth to Makenna in 2020, the first child for Wie West and her husband, Jonnie West.”
One for the Memory Banks is a hilarious, and poignant, memoir about Luke Reese’s fascination-turned-obsession with golf and about the friendships forged by a mutual love of the great game played on great courses. Part travelogue, part biography, part memoir, One for the Memory Banks captures the give and take of competition and conjures these memories and relationships in technicolor. Through vignettes, Luke Reese carries readers on a sweeping journey across the UK and Ireland, introducing them to a motley crew of people who share a passion, and reminding them what makes golf so great.
5. Cam’s Cameron
From our piece for PGATour.com…”Smith putts with a Scotty Cameron 009M prototype. Generally, the 009M is a traditional Anser-style putter most similar to the retail Newport line. The “009” is a reference to San Diego’s zip code, where Cameron’s studio is located, while the ‘M’ stands for ‘masterful.’”
  • “Smith said he put the slant-neck Scotty in play at last year’s Sony Open in Hawaii, pointing out that the club is celebrating its birthday this week at Waialae Country Club.”
  • “He’ll certainly want to buy it a gift. The Australian was 10th in Strokes Gained: Putting last season and is fourth in the young 2021-22 campaign. He led the field in that statistic last week at Kapalua, as well.”
  • “Smith said he prefers a slant neck and, when considering a new putter last year, told Cameron and company he wanted the neck design in whatever club he would test.”
  • “There’s lots of cool stamps in the back there as well,” Smith said. “I’ve always loved the dot on top. I’ve never been a line guy. I feel like I can just feel the putter a little bit better. I don’t get so obsessed with the line. I feel like I’m able to just hit a good putt, and a good putt out of the middle means more chances of going in.”
6. Incredible feat
Our Jason Daniels…”Ask any handicap golfer their dream shot, and in most cases, it will be the elusive hole-in-one.”…“Some may even say recording an albatross – three under par – is their flight of fantasy.”
  • “Imagine, then, recording both in a five-hole stretch.”
  • “The Irish Examiner recently highlighted that very feat, performed by Rowan McCarthy, a 20-handicapper playing Wembley Golf Course in Perth, Australia.”
  • “A member of the Irish Perth golf society, McCarthy, who now posts as @shankmagic on Instagram, told the Irish Examiner, “On 12, the hole-in-one, it was a beautiful 7-iron, 169 metres, that drew towards the hole, hit the front of the green and leisurely rolled towards the hole and dropped in dead weight.”
  • “Then on 15, the albatross, it was 185 metres with a 5-iron, downhill, using the bank adjacent the green, ran towards the hole, hit the flag and dropped. I might have caught that one a bit thin.”
  • “According to the golfer himself, “Statistically, the chances of a hole in 1 are 12,000-to-1 and an albatross is 6 million-to-1. The odds of one of each in the same round…who knows? Some say it is 72 billion to one. It is a day I will never forget.”

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

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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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