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Tour Rundown: Keegan captures first W in 4 years | Otaegui earns his 4th

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3 years ago

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This writer doesn’t mind admitting that he feels conflicted over the state of professional golf in today’s world. It’s challenging to separate personal feelings from professional writing, especially when the topic moves from mildly controversial to polarizing. Such is the case with the LIV Golf enterprise. For the first time this year, a member of the collective won an event on one of the world’s major tours. Much debate took place over the weekend, about how the DP World Tour should have handled promotion of that golfer’s performance. Nothing is ever certain, and little is anticipated with accuracy. This week’s Tour Rundown focuses its lens on three events across the globe and strives for balanced, honorable writing.

PGA Tour: Zozo is Keegan’s first win in four years

Keegan Bradley will one day be more than a footnote in golf’s history. The gangly, broomstick-wielding golfer rose to the top of the game in the early 2010s, thanks in part to uncanny putting with the chest-anchor method. Six years of scarcity ensued until his fourth win arrived in 2018. Another four years passed before the New England native won again, this time in Japan.

Eyes this week were on Rickie Fowler, who reportedly had reunited with swing coach Butch Harmon, and stood on the brink of a drought-cleanse of his own. Fowler also has five wins to his credit, but none since 2019. On the strength of a second-round 63, Fowler leaped to the top of the leaderboard, and his 66 in round three kept him there.

Bradley and Fowler went at it on Sunday in Chiba. Keegan was 3 under on the day, and cruising toward victory, until a bogey at the par-5 14th slowed his roll. Another at 16 dropped him back to a tie with Andrew Putnam, with Fowler one behind. Bradley hit a decent approach to the 17th, then rolled in the putt for birdie, to return to 15 deep. Putnam closed bogey-birdie to tie Fowler, who posted birdie at the last to finish oh-so-close.

DP World Tour: Otaegui earns fourth DP World Tour title at Valderrama

It was a nice, two-week stretch in Spain for the Vizcaya contingent. After fellow Basque Jon Rahm earned a Spanish Open title last week in Madrid, Adrián Otaegui decided to get in on the action in Andalucía. Otaegui surged far ahead of 36-hole co-leader Min Woo Lee with a sparkling 64. The questions that lurked were, could the 29-year-old Iberian hold on to his six-shot advantage? The answer was a definitive Bai.

The chasers needed the leader to go out in something-over-par on the outward nine, to have any shot at drama. When he turned in 3-under 32, Otaegui needed only to cross the finish line, to secure his first title in his home country. Previous titles had come in Scotland (twice) and Belgium. At the 11th, Otaegui played from rough to rough to rough, ultimately making bogey at the par 5 hole. This would prove to be his only stumble on day four, and a final birdie at the home hole gave him a six-shot victory over Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren. Only South Africa’s Zander Lombard played better than the champion on Sunday, and Lombard never figured in the title chase.

PGA Tour Champions: Back-and-forth at SAS becomes Couples runaway 

If you thought that the five consecutive birdies that Fred Couples made to close the front nine were impressive, what was your take on the SEVEN CONSECUTIVE BIRDIES that he made to close the inward half? When we tuned in, Jerry Kelly had taken the lead and Couples had yet to make a birdie through four holes. Not saying that we were the lucky charm, but his dual runs suggest that we were 😉

Couples posted the first 60 of the 2022 season on PGA Tour Champions, and it could not have come at a better time. More than 60 months had passed since Boom Boom had last won on the circuit, and he certainly could have been forgiven for wondering if his time on the victory podium was done. With the 12 birdies, Couples finished at 20 under par, six shots clear of his closest pursuer. Forgive him if he didn’t want a wake-up call from his dream round. Expect a run on yellow golf balls this week.

As for Steven Alker (second place at -14) and Kelly (third place at -12), they certainly had to wonder what runaway shopping cart blew by them at two hundred miles per hour. The tour moves on to the Country Club of Virginia for the Dominion Energy Charity Classic this week.

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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.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Dr. Phil

    Oct 17, 2022 at 11:04 pm

    Keegan is a weirdo.

    Reply Report comment

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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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News

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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