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Tour Rundown: Crowe over Bo | Butterfield Bermuda to Power

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3 years ago

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Halloween and Día de los muertos have arrived in the United States, and golf aficionados around the country have posted meme after meme about “scariest hole” and “scariest shot.” Let’s make one thing clear: the only scary element of golf is in the competition. Island greens are fun, until something is on the line. Great golf is marvelous, until the concern for its end becomes apparent. This week, the world’s tours went on pause, except for the PGA and DP World Tours. Fortunately, the Asia-Pacific Amateur also held its annual rite of recognition, this year in Thailand. Why is it important? For many reasons, although two stand out (read on!) It’s time to run down a triumvirate of tournaments in this week’s Tour Rundown…Boo!

Asia-Pacific Amateur: Crowe emerges after Bo sinks

Harrison Crowe carried a two-shot advantage into the final round of the APA. The Asia-Pacific is one of the amateur tournaments that earn the winner a spot in the next year’s Masters and Open events. It’s understandable, then, that Crowe went out in 39 strokes, courtesy of three bogies and zero birdies. His closest pursuer, Bo Jin of China, took advantage of Crowe’s struggles and made up five shots over the outward half. Jin posted three birdies against one bogey, and looked to be the deserving recipient of the trophy and the invitations.

As is often written about the Masters, the tournament doesn’t really begin until the final nine holes on Sunday. So too, did the denouement of the 2022 Asia-Pacific Amateur. Jin pulled off an incredible eagle at the par-four 14th to reach 15-under par. One would think that his deuce would have sealed the deal, but Crowe didn’t go away. The Australian made three consecutive birdies from 11 through 13, then followed with a fourth at the par-five 15th. Tired yet? Well, Jin posted a bogey at 13, but then Crowe made one at 16. The island green 17th, reminiscent of Pete Dye’s 17th at Sawgrass, caught Jin and he made a double bogey to Crowe’s par. After more back-and-forth than a tennis match, Crowe had a one-shot advantage on the 72nd tee. We’ve run out of words and energy, so suffice it to say that Crowe had to get up and down for the win, and left himself a five-feet putt for the title. What happened next was …

PGA Tour: Butterfield Bermuda belongs to Power

Ben Griffin and Seamus Power began the final round in Bermuda in a two-way tie for the top spot. Each had found a way to 18-under par, albeit with different numbers. Power posted three consecutive 65s, while Power went 65-64-66. With neither golfer having a massive track record for victories on tour, the door was open for either to claim the title, but also for the large pack giving chase.

Griffin lit the Port Royal course over the first eleven holes, playing the stretch in five-under par figures. Precisely when it looked like he would take a choke hold on the trophy, his grip collapsed. Four consecutive bogeys were followed by a crushing double at the 16th, and Griffin tumbled from 23-under par to minus 17. His week’s work brought him a tie for third spot, even with Kevin Yu and Patrick Rodgeres.

Power stood three-under par on the day through 12 holes, then suffered his first bogey of the day at the 13th. He would not make another par, yet unbelievable, would find a way to the winner’s podium. Three more bogies (15, 16, 18) were nearly balanced by birdies at 14 and 17. Thomas Detry quietly moved up the leader board, posting 67 on the day to reach 18 under par. Needing five at the last to secure a second tour title, Power breathed on his downhill, five-feet putt for par, then tapped in from three inches for the win.

DP World Tour: World’s trendiest country crowns its Masters champion

Portugal is popping and hopping, banging and slaying among the world’s gastronomic elite. Some of its neighborhoods have been recognized as smoking by the party people of the younger set. Its golf is pretty solid as well, and the south-coast town of Vilamoura welcomed the DP World Tour’s finest to its greens this week. This week, the Dom Pedro Victoria golf course played host to the year’s most inconceivable exhibition of golfing skill.

To begin, Gavin Green signed for three rounds of 64, and one of 65, to reach 27-under par. That demonstration was good for second place on the week. Tapio Pulkkanen (-22) and Eddie Pepperell (-21) represented the double-consonant brigade well, but their tallies only brought a third and fourth place finish, respectively.

The glory of the week was reserved for England’s Jordan Smith. The 31-year old golfer opened the week with a 62, then stumbled to 67 in round two. The game was afoot, until it wasn’t. Smith posted another 62 on Saturday, and suggested that he could not remember another time when he was playing as well. With Green maintaining the pressure, Smith etched a 63 into the scorecard on Sunday, and finished the week at 30 strokes under par.

Green’s 257 tied the previous low total for strokes on the DP World Tour. Nice consolation prize, right? Smith didn’t just win his second career title on the DP World Tour, and first in five years. He eclipsed the total-strokes record by three shots, and the below-par record (previously -29) by one. Indeed, he was playing some pretty good golf!

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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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