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Morning 9: How Rahm raised his game | Bubba: Golf was stale | Phil’s OWGR workaround

Published

2 years ago

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

Good Thursday morning, golf fans, as day one of the 2023 Mexico Open gets underway.

1. How Rahm raised his game

Justin Ray writing for PGATour.com quantifies Rahm’s improvements this season…”On the surface, Rahm didn’t seem to have much to clean up in terms of ball-striking one year ago. Entering the 2022 Mexico Open at Vidanta, Rahm led the TOUR in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and greens in regulation. In four of his first five full seasons on TOUR, he wound up in the top-10 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. Nobody could characterize Rahm as anything less than elite when it came to his game off the tee or with his irons.”

  • “Perhaps, though, that’s what makes his approach play improvement even more impressive. Rahm has made a quantum leap this season from a very good approach player to arguably the best in the sport. The TOUR’s current leader in Strokes Gained: Approach per round, Rahm is gaining half-a-stroke more per round in that metric than he was at this time one year ago. On approaches from the fairway, Rahm is averaging 29 feet, 4 inches from the cup. That’s 16 inches better than this time last year, and about three-and-a-half feet better than the TOUR average.”
Full piece.

2. Duffy: Improved PGA, LPGA Tour partnership needed

Patricia Duffy for Golf Channel…”Monahan played the front nine with Korda and LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. He was able to play two holes on the back nine with current U.S. Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis before he had to catch a flight back to Florida.”

  • “Even though his visit was short and he wasn’t able to stay for the tournament, the PGA Tour’s leader made an effort, and the LPGA’s stars took notice.”
  • “I think he realizes that they need to do more,” Lewis told Golfweek. “He said that to me multiple times … it’s just now whether we can push it forward and actually do something about it.”
  • “Financially, professional golf is growing.”
  • “You see it on the PGA Tour, with its new designated-event model and ever-increasing purses; you see it in the pecuniary premise of LIV Golf; and you see it in the creation of non-traditional golf-related products, like the TGL golf league that’s set to launch in 2024.”
  • “But all of the above are benefitting men.”
Full piece.

3. Bubba Watson: Golf was kind of stale

Elliott Heath for Golf Monthly…”Bubba Watson revealed some bold plans for LIV Golf that involve teams having their own golf courses, or ‘stadiums’, while he claimed that the professional game had become “stale” prior to LIV arriving on the scene last year.”

  • “…I know what our business plan is and business model is. We are talking about having teams from different parts of the world,” he said.
  • “We are talking about having our own golf courses that, basically, we’ll call them our stadiums. We are talking about having golf academies to help young golfers, but also young golfers that want to play at our level, just like any other sports team around the world. So there’s a lot of dreams and aspirations and a lot of things that we’ve already accomplished in less than a year, but we still want to keep going forward.”
Full piece.

4. Phil’s OWGR workaround

Evin Priest for Golf Digest…”Mickelson has an idea for an alternative.”

  • “We have to come up with a qualifying mechanism that is inclusive, and if the [OWGR] isn’t going to be inclusive, then they have to find another way,” he said Wednesday ahead of LIV’s Singapore event. “Maybe they take the top five or top 10 [in LIV’s individual points standings], or winners on LIV? They’re going to have to find a way to get the best LIV players in their field if they want to have the best field in golf and be what major championships are about. So they’re already looking at that.”
  • “The top 10 on LIV’s current points standings four tournaments into their 14-event 2023 schedule are: Peter Uihlein, Charles Howell III, Gooch, Carlos Ortiz, Patrick Reed, Sebastian Munoz, Koepka, Danny Lee, Brendan Steele and Dean Burmester.”
Full piece.

5. Rahm the winner

Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan…”What’s more interesting is that by Strokes Gained, Rahm wasn’t even the best player of the past 12 months! That honor goes to Rory McIlroy, who, according to Data Golf, averaged 2.66 strokes gained over the field in 22 events in that span, while Rahm was just behind at 2.62. McIlroy had four wins in that same stretch, including the Tour Championship (where he won both the actual tournament and the lowest 72-hole score), but couldn’t capture any majors. If nothing else, this highlights just how good Rahm is at winning; seven wins in 15 top-10s means that when he was anywhere close to the lead, he managed to ring the bell about half the time, while McIlroy had the exactly same number of top-10s—15—but won at about half of Rahm’s rate.”
Full piece.

6. Back-to-back aces?

Dan DeLuca for the Naples Daily News…”John Nicholson and George Rand were playing in a foursome last Thursday at The Glades Golf & Country Club in Naples when something amazing happened.”

  • “The septuagenarians sank consecutive holes-in-one on the 15th hole of the club’s Palmetto course, a feat nearly unheard of, and for good reason. The National Hole in One Registry puts the odds of consecutive aces by two different golfers on the same hole at 17 million to 1.”
Full piece.

7. Like signing Zava

AP report…”Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are making an audacious — and very public — bid to entice Gareth Bale out of retirement to play a season at Wrexham.”

  • “Bale, a Wales great who retired after the World Cup at age 33, offered his congratulations to Wrexham’s celebrity owners following the team’s promotion to the fourth tier of English soccer at the weekend.”
  • “In a response to Bale’s video message, McElhenney wrote on Twitter: “Hey Gareth Bale let’s play golf, where I totally won’t spend 4 hours trying to convince you to un-retire for one last magical season.”
Full piece.

8. Homa’s big idea

9. KFT Photos

  • Check out our galleries from this week’s Korn Ferry Tour event!
Full piece.

Related Topics:

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

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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