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Five Things We Learned Friday At The PGA Championship

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3 years ago

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The hatchet man came a-calling on Friday evening in Tulsa. He set the cut at four over par, the equivalent of 144 strokes over two days at venerable Southern Hills. That meant that 70 golfers would remain for the weekend, each with a chance at hoisting the cherished (and heavy) Wannamaker trophy on Sunday evening. 77 golfers, including all 20 PGA professionals, would bid farewell to Perry Maxwell’s dust-bowl diamond, grateful for the time they spent in pursuit of the greatest reward the PGA of America has on offer. Santa Claus, aka the 1991 PGA Championship winner, will not be around for the weekend. Before we plunge into the hot-tub time machine of things we learned on Friday, let’s salute Long John Daly, one last time in Tulsa

5. Bye-Bye For Now

We’ll miss massive shockers Patrick Cantlay, Dustin Johnson, and Scottie Scheffler. We’ll miss surprises Adam Scott, Sergio García, and Kevin Kisner. No offense to the others who missed the cut, but those are the names that we expected to make the weekend. Replacing them for the next two rounds are the likes of Rikuya Hoshino, Shaun Norris, Adam Schenk, Laurie Canter, Aaron Wise, and Seamus Power. Those later six are good, no doubt, but they don’t have the recognition of the first sextet. That’s how these things go, I guess. Hope that the stunned six return to form at Brookline, and that the stunning six parlay this made-major cut into a career bump. We’ll leave you with a bomb from Henrik Stenson, also a major champion and, regrettably, down the road this week.

4. You’re still here? Let’s GOOOOOOOOO!

It starts with Tiger. It continues with Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Reed, Joaquín Niemann, and a few fistfuls of others. There are so many good players around for Saturday and Sunday, and so many great opportunities at Southern Hills, that this PGA Championship might be the best major of 2022. If one of those Friday movers can also be a Saturday mover, he might find himself in Sunday’s final grouping. Being a mover on three consecutive days is asking a lot, but let’s pretend we are Prime and expect next-day delivery on our expectations.

3. Them’s Some Moves!

Speaking of moves, how about Bubba with 63 for 4th position? Or Brooks with 67, to move from gone to maybe? Jason Kokrak went from 74 to 68. Billy Horschel and Lucas Glover went from 75 to 69, to make the cut on the number. Big score drops are out there, and if they hang around for Saturday, this column will feature tomorrow’s Moving-Day mover. We’ll go out on a limb and pick the third-round king. His name is Kevin Na, and he’s going to drop a 64 and move inside the top five.

2. Guillermo Pereira becomes Mito to us all

From a Spanish teacher, here’s my probable source for the nickname Mito. Little Guillermo Pereira, way back in Chile, was known as Little Guillermo, or Guillermito. The first two syllables were dropped, the Mito stuck, and here we are. Snap me if I’m wrong. I like my odds. I like his odds.

Pereira has one-point-five bogeys per round through Friday night. His swing is powerful and tight. There’s nothing esoteric nor indefensible about his action. Pereira knows how to win, but does he know how to quiet la vocecita that speaks when the klieg lights snap on? Saturday will give us our first inkling.

Here’s the clincher. If Pereira can finish as low Chilean, outlasting Joaquín Niemann, he just might become the first man from the Thin Land to earn a major championship carve.

1. Will he?

He finished 2nd at the Masters in 2021. He tied for 6th at the US Open in 2020, and the Masters in 2022. Will Zalatoris has the game for majors. Does he have the game to win a major? He’ll have a fourth chance this weekend. The Zed from Texas and Wake Forest dropped one stroke from his opening 66, on the strength of five birdies and thirteen pars. He’s walking around Southern Hills with that familiar stride and face. It’s the one that says I belong and I can win this tournament. From round one to round two, the only holes that Zalatoris birdied both days, were 12 and 13. He has made birdie on half of the holes at Southern Hills through 36 holes. If that doesn’t spell confidence in all-caps, not much else will. Zalatoris and Pereira will face off in the final pairing on Saturday. Odds are that someone else will have the lead by that hour, and they’ll have to chase it down. We like his chances.

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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.

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Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

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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

Published

4 weeks ago

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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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WITB

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