Connect with us

News

Morning 9: Day wins Nelson | PGA CEO on LIV’s pursuit of OWGR points | Unplayable hole

Published

2 years ago

on
By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

Good Monday morning, golf fans, as Jason Day returned to the winner’s circle with a clutch victory at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

1. J-Day ends 5-year winless drought

Golf Digest report…It was anybody’s ball game on Sunday at the AT&T Byron Nelson. And we do mean anybody. Seven different golfers held a share of the lead at some point during the final round at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, including a trio trying to claim their maiden PGA Tour wins.

  • But in the end, it was experience that prevailed. Jason Day, a former World No. 1 who started the round two shots off the lead, rallied with a closing bogey-free nine-under 62 to win for the 13th time in his tour career but the first since 2018.
  • “It’s been a struggling few years, five years since my last win … so to be able to get the win the way I played today was really special,” said Day, who beat Si Woo Kim and Austin Eckroat by one shot with a 23-under 261 total. “I’m very pleased and happy with how things have progressed the last couple years for me.”
Full piece.

2. Jin Young Ko wins dramatic Founders Cup

AP Report…”Trailing by four shots heading into the final round of the Founders Classic, Jin Young Ko got a little inspiration about comeback wins watching fellow South Korean Sung-jae Im rally from a big deficit to win on the KPGA Tour.”

  • “If he could do it, why not her?”
  • “Ko overcame a pair of deficits to win the Founders Cup for the third time in five years, getting the victory on the first playoff hole Sunday when defending champion Minjee Lee three-putted for bogey.”
Full piece.

3. DJ wins in playoff

AP Report…”Dustin Johnson overcame a triple bogey Sunday by making birdie on the 18th hole to join a playoff and another birdie on the 18th to win LIV Golf Tulsa for his first win this year.”

  • “The victory was Johnson’s second since he joined LIV Golf a year ago. He also won outside Boston in a three-man playoff.”
  • “This one required some clutch shots on the closing hole at rain-soaked Cedar Ridge for Johnson to take down British Open champion Cameron Smith and Branden Grace.”
Full piece.

4. DP World Tour: Forsström takes Soudal Open

DP World Tour report…”Simon Forsström recovered from a back-nine wobble with a series of late birdies as he held off the charge of fellow Swede Jens Dantorp to claim his first DP World Tour title at the 2023 Soudal Open.”

  • “Forsström began the day with a slender one-shot lead before extending his advantage to three shots at the turn with birdies on the fourth and eighth.”
  • “But things began to unravel on the back nine as the 34-year-old followed up a double bogey at the tenth with a bogey on the 12th to surrender the lead.”
  • “He bounced back brilliantly, though, holing birdie putts at the 14th, 16th and 17th to take a one-shot lead down the last.”
Full piece.

5. PGA CEO on LIV’s pursuit of OWGR points

ESPN’s Bob Harig…”Waugh said that the OWGR is waiting for the latest LIV response to their application.”

  • “There are certain parts of their structure that can be solved by math, but there may be some pretty fundamental things that are harder,’’ Waugh told the Times. “There’s the potential conflict with the team aspect and then access—how do you get relegated and promoted?
  • “They had our latest response weeks ago and we haven’t heard back. They have made a bad assumption that this will be a quick process. It never has been. Every application has taken a year-plus as far as I’m aware.
  • “I can’t speculate [on how long it will take] because they have not responded. They might have to solve things as well, and it’s not clear whether they’re willing to.’’
Full piece.

6. Unplayable hole at NCAA tourney

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…“The third round of the NCAA Division III Women’s Golf Championship was canceled with almost 60% of the 151-player field finished with play.”

  • “The reason? An unplayable hole.”
  • “While severe weather rolled in and suspended play late Thursday afternoon, it wasn’t rain or lightning that prompted the decision. Instead, it was because of a hole location that was, as the NCAA determined, too severe for play.”
  • “The hole in question was the 308-yard, par-4 sixth at Mission Inn and Resort’s El Campeon Course in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida. According to coaches, the hole had been cut on a 5-percent slope on the right side of the green – and later in the day, course staff watered the putting surface in an attempt to soften the severity of the slope.”
  • “It didn’t help much. Around 8 p.m. ET, the NCAA Division III women’s golf committee finalized the decision to revert the championship back to 36-hole scores and, with more thunderstorms in the forecast for Friday afternoon, shorten the event to 54 holes.”
Full piece.

7. Dufner, Kaymer out of PGA

Golf Channel…”Jason Dufner, who won the 2013 PGA Championship at Oak Hill for his lone major title, withdrew from this year’s edition at the same venue, the PGA of America announced on Friday.”

  • “No reason was provided for Dufner’s withdrawal. He missed the cut at this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson. Sweden’s David Lingmerth replaced him in the field.”
  • “Also withdrawing ahead of the championship was Martin Kaymer. The 2010 PGA and ’14 U.S. Open winner had been battling an injury this year, but has competed in each of the last three LIV Golf events, including this week in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His absence reduces the number of LIV players in the PGA Championship field to 17. He was replaced by Callum Tarren, with Eric Cole now the first alternate.”
Full piece.

8. The most unexpected man in the PGA Championship field?

Mark Whitaker for Golf Digest…”What the visitors do see as they drive up the town’s main road, however, is a cute little nine-hole golf course. Built in 1929 on farmland purchased by local businessmen and artists, Woodstock Golf Club takes pride in the fact Gene Sarazen once played a couple of exhibition matches there. But for scratch golfers, it’s hardly an imposing track: It has no practice range, slowish greens, par 4s all less than 360 yards and just one 463-yard “quote-unquote par 5,” as club professional Chris Sanger jokingly describes it.”

  • “Yet in a plot line that could be described as a cross between “Finding Woodstock” with “Tin Cup,” Sanger is now headed 200 miles west to Rochester, one of 20 club pros to earn a spot in the upcoming PGA Championship at Oak Hill. Sanger finished T-17 in a field of 320 at the PGA Professional Championship two weeks ago, grabbing the last qualifying spot for the major. It’s a remarkable feat not just because of the tiny size of the club Sanger represents, but the fact the 37-year-old was anything but a world traveler before he flew to the four-day tournament in New Mexico.”
Full piece.

9. Winning WITB: Jason Day

Driver: Ping G430 LST (9 degrees @ 10)

Shaft: TPT prototype

3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Max (15 degrees)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 80 X

7-wood: TaylorMade Stealth (21 degrees)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 80 X

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (4), TaylorMade P7MC (5-PW)

Shafts: KBS C-Taper 125 S+

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (52-08F, 56-10S), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks Proto (60-T)

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: TaylorMade Itsy Bitsy Spider Ghost

Ball: Bridgestone Tour B X

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
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.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

News

Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

on

Aug 4, 2025

By

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.

Continue Reading

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.

 

Continue Reading

News

BK’s Breakdowns: Kurt Kitayama’s Winning WITB, 3M Open

Published

4 weeks ago

on

Jul 28, 2025

By

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)

Continue Reading

WITB

Whats in the Bag3 weeks ago

Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)

Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.  Driver: Titleist...
Whats in the Bag3 weeks ago

Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2025 Wyndham Championship

Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
Whats in the Bag4 weeks ago

Camilo Villegas WITB 2025 (July)

Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
Whats in the Bag4 weeks ago

WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship

Brandt Snedeker fired a final-round 65 at the 2018 Wyndham Championship to outlast Webb Simpson and C.T. Pan. His 5-under...

Facebook

Trending