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Tour Rundown: Ko takes 2 titles | Rahm & Rory | Svensson

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3 years ago

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It’s rare that the PGA Tour gets third billing in a Tour Rundown, but when the LPGA and DP World Tour contest their respective tour championships, it’s fitting. The best of the LPGA gathered in Naples at Tiburon for the CME Group Tour Championship, while the DP World Tour reunited in Dubai for the World Championship. The PGA Tour gathered one last time in 2022, this time in coastal Georgia.

Two overnight leaders preserved their advantage to lay claim to the top prize. In the third event, an unproven commodity broke through for a career-changing win. In other words, just another week among the world’s finest golfers. Sometimes, things are perfect.

LPGA: Lydia Ko claims two titles at Tiburon

There have been three eras of Ko, so bear with us as we elaborate them. During the youthful age, Ko won 14 times from 2012 to 2016. No, that’s not a typo. From 2016 to 2018, Ko undertook swing changes and did not record a victory until April of the later year. From 2018 to 2021, Ko again went winless, although part of that dry spell had to do with a little thing called Covid. Since April of 2021, Ko has won four times, including three in 2022. Her latest title came this weekend, at the CME Group Tour Championship. Ko couldn’t have picked a better time for win number three.

Lydia Ko entered the week ranked first in the season-long Race to the CME Globe. Throwing out all the scenarios that would have ensured the title, Ko focused on winning the tournament at Tiburon, in Naples. Round one brought a 65 and the lead, and Friday’s 66 kept her atop the ladder. Leona Maguire of Ireland posted the week’s low round (63) on Saturday and made up seven shots on the leader, who slumped mildly to a 70. Neither golfer was able to separate from the other on Sunday, but Ko remained cool throughout. No other competitor from the field made the necessary move on day four, and the resolution came down to the final pair.

After posting nine birdies against zero bogeys on Saturday, Maguire was only able to make two birdies on Sunday. Had she made no bogeys, she might have tied Ko, but a pair of lost strokes came her way. Lydia Ko made a pair of bogeys on par-five holes, but amassed four birdies on the day, including two during the closing stretch. Ko reached 17-under par on the week, and claimed a pair of titles on November’s third Sunday of 2022.

DP World Tour: Rahm and Rory carry off the hardware

Three massive names came into round four at Dubai, with an opportunity to etch a statement into the 2022 season on the DP World Tour. US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, Series leader Rory McIlroy, and 2019 Dubai champion Jon Rahm sought excellence and glory on Sunday, and Rahm delivered. The Basque bull posted a trio of birdies on the opening holes and withstood back-nine challenges from Tyrrell Hatton and Alex Noren to secure a two-shot win. The title was Rahm’s fifth Rolex Series win and third at the Earth course at Dubai.

Looking back, both McIlroy and Fitzpatrick needed to be near perfection to challenge Rahm on Sunday, but each stumbled early to lose his chance. McIlroy had six birdies on the day, but two bogeys on the outward nine were enough to sink his ship. Fitzpatrick made three bogeys and a double from the sixth to the 12th holes, enough to guarantee that his walk home would not be the one he imagined.

The DP World Tour will begin its 2023 season with a pair of late-November events, before going on hiatus. Contested simultaneously will be the Joburg Open in South Africa, and the Australian PGA Championship. Both events will recognize a champion on Sunday the 27th.

PGA Tour: Svensson flies the Maple Leaf in honor of first Tour title

The final day and half at Sea Island was played in challenging conditions. Wind and cold added layers to torsos and heads, and pushed shots sideways. The third-round leaders had a tough go of it on Sunday, tumbling to 10th and 21st positions. With space to snare the title, names like Callum Tarren, Brian Harman, and Sahith Theegala climbed into contention. That trio would ultimately tie for 2nd place at 17-under par.

The heroics of the day were reserved for Canada’s Adam Svensson. After 70 starts on tour, beginning in 2015, Svensson broke through for his first PGA Tour victory. He did so by turning in a clean card, scratching 12 pars and six birdies into the cardboard. Svensson began the week with a 73, but caught fire in round two with 64. He followed that with a 62 on Saturday, and closed with 64 on Sunday. Birdies at 16 and 17 gave him a two-shot cushion on the way to the clubhouse. Fairway-green-two putts followed, and Svensson had his two-year exemption and a silver cup for the shelf.

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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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