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Morning 9: Tiger’s new normal | KFT members can earn US Open points | Rory: Major is close

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3 years ago

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco and Matthew Vincenzi.

For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com
December 20, 2022

Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as we inch closer towards the holiday season.

1. KFT members now able to earn points for making U.S. Open cut 

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…“Nine Korn Ferry Tour members made the cut in this year’s U.S. Open at The Country Club…If it had been 2023, those players would’ve earned KFT points for their play.”

  • “The Korn Ferry Tour announced Monday morning that starting with next year’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, KFT members will earn KFT points equivalent to the non-member FedExCup points earned for completing 72 holes at the major championship. The rule change, which was approved by the PGA Tour policy board and KFT player advisory council, is meant to avoid penalizing KFT members for qualifying for the U.S. Open, which often coincides with the KFT’s Wichita Open and forces players to miss a valuable week on their main tour.”
Full piece.

2. Tiger’s new normal for 2023

Golf Digest’s Luke Kerr-Dineen…“In many ways it was a fitting end for the 2022 season for Tiger, and a reminder of what’s ahead of the man who turns 47 next week. Teeing it up at all during the Masters in April was a victory in itself, and a platform to build upon that was never quite realized. In obvious discomfort at the PGA Championship in May, Tiger withdrew after three rounds and skipped the U.S. Open. The Open returning to St. Andrews in July, where he missed the cut, proved another false dawn, as did his planned return at the Hero World Challenge, the tournament he hosts and which he pulled out of just three days ahead of the opening round.”

  • “It was a tough year,” he said on Sunday, “but also one of the more rewarding years I’ve had in a while.”
  • “…Now I get to truly recover and heal and progress forward on this,” Woods said, “because there’s so many good things that I’ve been able to do physically, be able to hit the golf ball and practice and do everything in a standstill. But I haven’t been able to get from point A to point B, and we’re obviously going to work on this.”
  • “It’s a cliché to call this Tiger’s new normal, but that’s what it is. His offseason will be filled with work to get his body back into shape, as he prepares to fight through another season.”
Full piece.

3. Rory: Closer to winning a major than I’ve been in a long time

Eric Haughan for RTE Sport…“After a mostly satisfying year on the course – and a tumultuous season off it – Rory McIlroy this week declared that he hasn’t “felt this good ahead of a major championship campaign in a long, long time”.

  • “I’m really excited for the Majors next year,” McIlroy concluded. “I haven’t felt this good going into a season – especially a Major season – in a long, long time.”
  • “[The St Andrews disappointment] was really tough at the time. I thought ‘this is the chance. I’m going to win that fifth Major finally after seven or eight years’, or whatever it was.
  • “It didn’t happen and it’s really hard to see the picture clearly at that time,. But a week or two after that, you reflect on it and think ‘I’m way closer to winning a Major now than I have been in a long time.
Full piece.

4. Daly: Riding in a cart is a disadvantage

Via our Matt Vincenzi…”Daly, who’s taken a cart via exemption in the past, argued that taking a cart isn’t an advantage, and is actually a disadvantage in competitive golf.”

  • “I’m not embarrassed to take a cart. It’s not helping my golf game by any means,” Daly said. “I would rather walk and play golf because then you have time to settle down on a good hole or a bad hole and you’re walking instead of just getting in the cart and going up and hitting the shot. It’s actually a big disadvantage. But if I could walk, I’d definitely do it.”
Full piece.

5. Lynch: Why Greg Norman would rather run his mouth than run the numbers

Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch…“In the cagey language of consultancy, the report was a throbbing, neon stop sign. McKinsey created a decision matrix that was then ignored, and LIV was launched with no market research to determine whether it was a product craved by anyone other than Norman and the players and agents who would burrow into MBS’s purse. That McKinsey’s assessment was ignored illustrates just how few people in Riyadh needed to be sold a bill of goods for LIV to get this far. Concomitant to that is how few people must lose faith before the plug is pulled.”

  • “Regardless of whether their ultimate ambition was to use golf for reputational enhancement rather than commercial returns, even the Saudis have an inflection point at which they will no longer be taken for fools. It’s farther along the road than most, but it exists. For all of his indefatigable bluster in public, Norman must realize that LIV is moving inexorably toward a reckoning when his words will cease to matter against the sobering reality of the numbers.”
Full piece.

6. Daly’s interesting lifestyle claim

Our Jason Daniels…”This week’s PNC Championship has seen some of the most worthy of personalities miked up, with none of Lee Trevino, Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth ever afraid to speak their minds. Daly may be the most polarising of those, but he is nothing but honest.”

  • “Many years ago he blamed former coach Butch Harmon for demonising him as a drunk, forcing an opinion to the golfing world that “kind of destroyed my life for a little bit,” but in his PNC interview, Daly proudly spoke that: “If I knew that I was going to live this long, I would have taken worse care of myself.”
  • “The words ‘flawed genius’ may never have been put to better use for a golfer.”
Full piece.

7. Youngest NIL deal in history

Our Jason Daniels…”Much has been written about the attention placed on Charlie’s (Woods) shoulders at such a young age, something the 15-time major champ is keen to protect against, so imagine his thoughts at the news that a six-year-old golfer now has a NIL deal. Yes, SIX YEARS OLD!”

  • Golf gear company Sunday Golf recently held a press conference showcasing Patton Green with his father Matt, discussing the revelation that the golf phenom has signed the Name-Image-Likeness deal, making this the youngest such partnership in sports history.
Full piece.

8. TrackMan’s golf tour

From a press release…”TrackMan, the world’s leading developer of golf performance tracking technology and indoor golf simulators, announced today the launch of a new professional indoor golf tour: The NEXT Golf Tour Powered by TrackMan.”

  • “For nearly 20 years, we’ve stood behind players as they chased their dreams in professional golf,” said Klaus Eldrup-Jørgensen, TrackMan co-founder and CEO. “With the launch of NEXT, we’re creating a new way to play professional golf — on virtual courses, in a TrackMan simulator.”
  • “Launching January 4 with a six-event schedule, each stop on the NEXT Golf Tour consists of one 18-hole individual stroke play round on a select TrackMan Virtual Golf course. The guaranteed minimum purse for each tournament is $100,000. Men and women will compete straight-up from different tee boxes, and players with a handicap of 3.4 or better are encouraged to join. Tournament rounds can be played on any TrackMan simulator worldwide.”
  • “The entry fee is $130 (including 25% Danish VAT and a small handling fee) per tournament. The field will be capped at 250 players for the first two events. $100 of each entry fee is added to the purse, so the more players in the field, the greater the payouts. For example, the winner’s share of a 250-player NEXT Golf Tour event will be at least $17,000, and the top 30% of the field will receive a paycheck.”
Full piece.

9. Tiger Woods: Christmas choir leader
Our Matt Vincenzi…”The day we’ve all been waiting for has arrived.”

  • “No, it isn’t the start of the 2023 golf season, it’s the release of the Taylormade Golf Christmas card video.”
  • “In the video, we see Tiger Woods acting as the conductor of the chorus while Rory McIlroy seemingly forgets the words to “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”.
  • “The ad also features TaylorMade athletes Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood, Scottie Scheffler and Charley Hull.”
Full piece.
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Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

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News

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

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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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WITB

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