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Tour Rundown: Mayakoba tries on a Henley for size | Gemma of a performance

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3 years ago

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It was often written, back in the days of colonial celebration, that the sun never set on the British Empire. It can be written today, that the sun never sets on professional golf. Some event takes place each week, given the vast array of professional circuits across the world. On this first weekend of November, 2022, we report in from Mexico, Japan, Georgia, Virginia, and Morocco. It’s a wonderful game, this golf, and we are fortunate to follow it. Let’s run down a quintet of events in this week’s installment of Tour Rundown.

PGA Tour: Mayakoba Tries On A Henley For Size In 2022’s World Wide Tech

Russell Henley was one of the few golfers who won a major professional event while still an amateur. Henley won a Korn Ferry event on his home (University) course in 2011, then turned professional the next year. After two more wins on the Triple A circuit, Henley graduated to the big tour, and won in 2013. Two more victories followed, in 2014 and 2017. Whenever Henley’s other-worldly putting stroke was fully on, he was a threat to win. This week in Mexico, Henley earned victory number four, by a quartet of shots over Brian Harman.

Henley played stellar golf through 36 holes to take the lead. A pair of 63s was followed by a Saturday 65, and the Georgia native had six strokes in hand over Patton Kizzire. Kizzire went astray on Sunday, posting 71 to seep to a tenth-place tie. Meanwhile, Henley kept the ball in play, posted 71, and claimed the super-cool, chameleon trophy to cap an unlikely, three-week run of Cut-T45-1st.

LPGA: A Gemma Of A Performance Steals The Show In Shiga

It’s not how you start, but how you finish. Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh began this week’s event with 71. Far ahead of her were Japanese golfers Momoko Ueda (65) and Miyu Yamashita (67). Unfazed, Dryburgh chipped away at the differential, but Ueda and Yamashita kept their scores in the 60s through each of the first three rounds. On Sunday, the card deck flipped. It was Dryburgh who went low, posting a second-consecutive 65, while the Japanese pair finally cracked. Both Ueda (74) and Yamashita (72) left the 60s for the first time all week, opening the door for the 29-year old, Aberdeen native to hoist an initial LPGA title trophy.

After two birdies on the opening nine, Dryburgh went on a tear. She gained strokes on four of five holes, beginning with the 11th. One more birdie on the long closer brought her to 20-under par on the week. Runner-up Kana Nagai of the host country could do little more than shake her head at the four-shot gap that separated the pair. After all, when a player improves her career-best from 21st to 1st on the LPGA circuit, what more can you do? Toto, we’re not in Scotland any more.

Korn Ferry Tour: One Round Remains In 2023 Final Qualifying

The Korn Ferry Tour’s final qualifying event is a four-round affair, in sunny Savannah, Georgia. Every golfer that reaches this stage is assured of some status in 2023. The top 40 golfers will be assured a “healthy” number of starts during the first portion of the season. At that juncture, a reseeding of players will take place, and things will really get interesting. Final Qualifying ends on Monday, a journalist’s nightmare.

As of Sunday evening, Chan Kim held a four-shot lead over four golfers, including first-round leader Alan Wagner. The 40th ranked golfer sat in a 13-way tie for 28th, with 16 golfers tied for 41st, one shot back at -2. Final Qualifying is two tournaments in one. The middle of the pack will battle for that all-important 40th placement, while the fellows at the top will trade shots at glory. Be sure to tune in on Monday afternoon to catch all the action and sweaty palms at The Landings.

PGA Tour Champions: Langer Claims Second Win Of 2022

Hale Irwin has been the all-time victory leader on the PGA Tour’s senior circuit since 2007. His total of 45 seemed to be unreachable, until Bernhard Langer joined PGA Tour Champions that same year. With his win today at the Chubb Classic, Langer moved to 44 career victories, one shy of the pride of Joplin, Missouri, with a runaway win over Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee and the USA’s Paul Goydos. Langer’s day-two round of 63 was the class of the week, and it gave him the margin he needed to compel his fellow competitors to take chase. Langer posted 66 on Sunday, ensuring that a 60 would be needed to gain a playoff. Since Fred “Mr. 60” Couples was not in the field, Langer was safe. Jaidee and Goydos tied for second at 11-under 205.

Asian Tour:  Eagle-Birdie Finish Gives Jazz The International Series Morocco

The Royal Dar Es Salam club played host to the Asian Tour this week, and the tournament came down to the final putts. David Puig of Spain took a lead into round four, but could not hold on to the ladder’s top rung. His final-round 73 dropped him to 10-under par, and he finished in solo third place, two behind the winner. In second place was Richard T. Lee. The Canadian journeyman posted 70 on Sunday after a Saturday 74. It wasn’t enough to claw all the way back to the lead he held on Friday evening, but it drew him up past Puig, into second position.

The championship trophy sailed away in the hands of Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond. The 26-year old Bangkokian lurked for three days, then went low on day four with 67. His score was one of five below 70 on the event’s final day, and it could not have come at a better time. The win was his 7th on the Asian circuit, and his first since December of 2019.

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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

Published

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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