News

Five Things We Learned: Saturday at the PGA Championship

Published

2 years ago

May 21, 2023

You have this story line and you have that story line, but the only story line that matters is the one that you are following. There are golfers from this league in contention, and that tour in contention, and then there is that fellow with the day job, who is still in the top ten after three identical scores. The 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill offers a restored East course, light years better than the one that hosted the 1980 and 2003 and 2013 PGA Championships, and those three were magnificent. Despite the Thursday frost delay, and the Friday surprise showers, and the Saturday consistent drizzle, we have 54 holes in the books, a one-shot lead for a two-time PGA champion, and a PGA professional close at hand. We learned 500 things on Saturday, but our goal in the next 50 syllables is to distill them down to five things that we learned on Saturday at the 2023 PGA Championship. Here goes!

1. Brooks Koepka posted four-under par on Saturday to take the lead

The 2018 and 2019 PGA Champion had one bogey on the day on Saturday, and more than compensated with five birdies to reach six under par. As Koepka ascended, others dropped away, and the Florida native found himself with the lead by one. Koepka’s most recent stint in a Sunday final twosome did not end well. He slipped away from a run at the title and finished tied for second.

Since 2021, there were many distractions for the four-time major titleholder. An injury or two, a defection to a rival organization, an enhanced feud with a fellow professional. Koepka revealed that one specific element held him back over the past 36 months.

I think everyone misconstrues the confidence for just the injury. You ask any athlete if they are hurt, and they can’t do something. I mean, imagine if you can’t get out of bed or can’t walk. You’ve got a pebble in your shoe, you kind of start to adjust, and that’s the thing. I just got into bad habits. It’s tough. You can’t play. I came back too soon and played for too long. But look, I moved on from that now, so I’m pretty pleased.

Koepka finds himself paired with Viktor Hovland in the final twosome on Sunday. Hovland is looking for a breakthrough in a major event. He has dallied with glory before, and has won multiple times on the PGA Tour. Koepka’s goal is to find major title number five, and reassert his place in the golf elite.

On a day where many struggled, Brooks Koepka surges.@ROLEX | #ROLEX pic.twitter.com/HlSdxbxZ0r

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 20, 2023

2. Viktor Hovland wants to join the major club

Speaking of Hovland, he has three PGA Tour and two DP World Tour victories. Five is usually the age when we want to wear our parents’ shoes or be treated differently. Hovland’s performance in major events to this point has been less than examplary. He has one top five (British Open) and a pair of top ten (Masters and British Open) finishes, and that’s all. Hovland was tied with Koepka until the final hole, when he made bogey to drop back a shot. At this point, every shot matters.

…when I’m hitting it where I’m looking, I can kind of use that to my advantage and play a little bit smarter instead of sometimes when you feel like you’re hitting it well, it’s easy to just try to go for everything, and then you short-side yourself a couple more times than you normally would have, and now you kind of gave away that advantage that you already had by hitting the irons well. I’m just kind of giving myself a lot of looks from the middle of the green.

Unlike Friday, when the former US Amateur champion slid an iron into the green from the right side of the fairway, the closing hole won the challenge. Hovland’s drive went left and his approach went right. Unable to get up and down from the front bunker, he settled for five and is looking up toward Koepka and history.

A little witchcraft with the sand wedge from Hovland ?#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/SBxoDTSXTX

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 20, 2023

3. Corey Conners and Bryson DeChambeau are merely decoration

As much as folks want to make a big deal of DeChambeau’s return to his sort of normalcy, and as much as we want to root for the Ontario kid, no news of significance will come from this pairing on Sunday. Conners had the lead to himself on 16 tee, but found a bunker and made a mess of the recovery. He tapped in for double bogey, and made a pair of pars coming home.

Yeah, I didn’t make great contact there. I saw everybody looking up in the air. I did that as well. I thought it maybe skipped up. But you know, didn’t see anything land and was pretty certain it was embedded there. The ball was below my feet and didn’t quite adjust for that. Wish I could have that one back.

The final three holes are all gettable, with a deep fairway drive, but Conners failed to capitalize. As for DeChambeau, his double at six and his bogey at thirteen each came at precisely the wrong time. His game is too erratic to win a Oak Hill. Unlike Winged Foot, where he was able to bomb and gouge his way to victory, Oak Hill demands a complete game that is not yet part of the DeChambeau weaponry.

Corey Conners is feelin' good, livin' better. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/NJGy7DnLbX

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 20, 2023

4. You Blockhead!

Let’s dish~all five things we learned could center on Michael Block, the working-class hero from Mission Viejo, California. Block was a curiosity on day one. On day two, he was the only survivor from the PGA Professional cast. On Saturday, he was a guy who held up to the pressure of being paired with a US Open champion, on the third day of a rigorous PGA Championship test. 54 holes in, Block is still standing, and shows zero sign of wavering. Maybe it’s because he has the proper perspective, and sincerely deflects all praise to the folks around him.

No, honestly just played really smart with John Jackson, my caddie. He made a couple great
calls on clubs, especially on that back nine. On 14 up the hill when I was doing the earpod thing for the television coverage. He had me take an extra club, which was just enough. I made a birdie there, and along with the next hole, the par-3, I took another club because of him and made another birdie. He was huge.

We’ll go on a limb and predict another 70 for Block on Sunday. Why not? It won’t be enough to win, but it will be enough to secure a top-ten finish, a bunch of exemptions, along with bragging rights for year. What more can a working man want?

What a day for @pga Coach Michael Block. @ROLEX | #ROLEX pic.twitter.com/tZ4kZaSXSE

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 20, 2023

5. Our pick for the title

Not since 1919 has an Englishman lifted the Wannamaker trophy in victory. That was “Long” Jim Barnes at Engineers Country Club, on Long Island. We have a suspicion that “Long” Justin Rose is going to end that drought, and secure a second major title for the white and red flag. Rose will maneuver through the first nine in one- or two-under par, and gain a stroke or two on the leaders. He will survive a near-disaster on the 11th or 12th holes, and then make three birdies coming home. With four pairing after him, he’ll have a nervous wait before finally receiving the news that he has won the 2023 PGA Championship. His only quandry? Where to play more~Merion or Oak Hill?

Justin Rose moves into a tie for 2nd at -3 after consecutive birdies?#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/irdCGizsLG

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 20, 2023

News

Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

Aug 4, 2025

Ronald Montesano

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.

Card III and Bacha both miss their birdie tries on the first playoff hole.

We’ll play 18 again @OspreyOpen. pic.twitter.com/vNpHTdkHDg

— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) August 3, 2025

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 29, 2025

GolfWRX Staff

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.

News

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

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 28, 2025

Brian Knudson

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)