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Morning 9: Surprise Players leader | Ace at 17! | Cam Smith tees it up near Sawgrass

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2 years ago

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com
March 10, 2023

Good Friday morning, golf fans, as day two of The Players gets underway from TPC Sawgrass.

1. Players: Ramey leads after rd. 1

PGATour.com staff…”Chad Ramey didn’t look like a PLAYERS Championship rookie on Thursday as he cruised around TPC Sawgrass in a flawless 8-under 64 to take the lead in the suspended first round. The 30-year-old from Mississippi, who won the 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship, birdied six of his first 11 holes to sprint out of the blocks, then birdied Nos. 16 and 17. He’s one shot ahead of Collin Morikawa (65).”

  • “Not easy at all,” said Ramey, who started the week ranked 174th in the FedExCup. “I might have made it look that way but it wasn’t easy at all. It was fun, first time to shoot a score on such an iconic course like this. You can’t ask for any more.”
  • “Ramey led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting, gaining more than five strokes on the greens. He has missed the cut in nine of 14 starts this season and does not have a top-25 finish but Thursday he was the best player on TOUR. His 64 was one shot off the course record at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course.”
Full piece.

2. Cam Smith tees it up in Florida

Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch…”Smith played with friends and posed for pictures with fans at The Yards, a nine-hole course that sits one mile down the driveway from the course where the world’s best players are competing.”

  • “He looked great. You can tell in his eyes he’s a quality young man,” said one golfer who spoke with Smith during his visit Thursday morning. “Extremely cordial and personable.” Staff at The Yards confirmed that Smith played on Thursday morning, but declined further comment.
  • “The 29-year-old Australian won the 2022 Players Championship and went on to victory in the 150th Open at St. Andrews. One month after his Open win, Smith joined LIV Golf, the Saudi-financed rival league. That move earned Smith an immediate suspension from the PGA Tour. He last competed at the Tour Championship in August.”
Full piece.

3. Criticism from the “rank and file”

Golf Digest’s Dave Shedloski…”Veteran Ryan Armour has taken to referring to himself and some of his fellow PGA Tour members as “the mules” of the organization in light of the tour’s new scheduling paradigm, and he argues that the tour’s plan to turn seven designated tournaments into limited-field, no-cut events beginning in 2024 is a recipe for driving more good players and aspiring young talent to rival LIV Golf.”

  • “Speaking as a member of the tour’s Player Advisory Council and as a representative for the rank-and-file, Armour pulled few punches in his assessment of the proposed realignment of the tour’s schedule that includes 16 designated tournaments, half of which will feature fields of 70-80 players and no cut. And he was not alone in taking a few swings. Golf Digest spoke to a number of players about the plan that was presented to them in a meeting on Tuesday at the Players Championship—and apparently was passed in a surprise vote nine days ago by the PGA Tour Policy Board during the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Sentiment ranged from hope to unease to downright indignation…”
  • “I think what bothers me most about this,” Armour said at TPC Sawgrass, “is that we all were in the same [PAC] meeting in San Diego [in January] and there were serious concerns about going forward with this. We talked about the value of full fields, what it means for hospitality, for fans who want to watch golf all day, what the tour experience is all about. And then they went forward with it. If this was such a great idea, we should have done it 20 years ago when Tiger was winning everything. These guys aren’t Tiger Woods. None of them are. The current hierarchy on the tour … what makes this generation of 20- and 30-year-olds so special to benefit the most from this?”
Full piece.

4. ICYMI: The ace at 17

PGATour.com staff…”Hayden Buckley made a hole-in-one at the 125-yard 17th hole in the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship on Thursday morning.”

  • “It was the second career ace on the PGA TOUR for Buckley, 27, whose tee shot with a pitching wedge landed behind the pin and spun back into the hole. The crowd erupted and Buckley threw his hat in air, touching off a wild celebration with his caddie, Brian Mahoney, and playing partners Taylor Montgomery and Adam Long.”
Full piece.

5. “LIV has lost”

Michael Rosenberg for Sports Illustrated…”LIV Golf has already lost its battle with the PGA Tour. Whatever happens in courtrooms and to golf rankings over the next year will not change that. With its new schedule featuring elevated events, the PGA Tour has co-opted the one argument in favor of LIV: That the best players in the world will compete against each other. The PGA Tour has also minimized the incentive for anybody to leave for LIV now—top players can make a fortune, and lesser players should have a clearer path to becoming top players.”

  • “Most importantly, the Tour has solidified its reputation as the premier men’s golf league in the world. This week’s Players Championship will be missing its defending champion, the since-defected Cam Smith, but Smith will miss the Players more than the Players will miss him. As a competitive entity, LIV Golf has zero credibility. It will never give Smith the platform or feeling he had at TPC Sawgrass last March.”
  • “LIV Golf is a morally indefensible operation, funded by the murderous, propaganda-spreading Saudi Arabian government with no plausible business plan. But even if you forget where the money is coming from, you cannot forget it is there. For every single player who joined LIV, money was the No. 1 factor. There are no exceptions. Any golf fan understands this.”
Full piece.

6. Photos from The Players

  • Check out all of our galleries from the PGA Tour’s Flagship event!
Full piece.

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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

on

Jul 29, 2025

By

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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