Connect with us

News

Morning 9: Open Championship qualifying fields | Seth Waugh to leave PGA role | Rocket Mortgage photos

Published

on

By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

Good Thursday morning, golf fans, as day one of the Rocket Mortgage Classic gets underway.

1. Charlie Woods grouped with sons of other championship-winning dads at Future Masters

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”Days after qualifying for his first USGA championship, Charlie Woods finds himself in a notable grouping at the one of the longest-running junior tournaments in the country.”

  • “Woods, 15, who qualified last week for the U.S. Junior Amateur next month at Oakland Hills, will play in the Press Thornton Junior Masters, which begins Thursday at Dothan Country Club in Dothan, Alabama. The event, now in its 75th year, has seen the likes of Shaun Micheel, Stewart Cink, Hudson Swafford,Blayne Barber, Ollie Schniederjans and Robby Shelton win titles in the 15-18 age division.”
  • “Woods will be grouped with Jacob Immelman, a Clemson signee and son of Masters champ Trevor Immelman; Liam Curtis, son of Open champ Ben Curtis; and Henry Kuehne, son of Hank Kuehne, a former U.S. Amateur champ who won twice on the Canadian Tour.”
Full piece.

2. Open Championship qualifying fields set

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”Final qualifying, which is 36 holes, will be held at four sites across the U.K. on Tuesday: Burnham and Berrow Golf Club in Burnham-on-Sea, England; Royal Cinque Ports in Deal, England; West Lancashire Golf Club in Blundellsands, England; and Dundonald Links in Troon, Scotland, just north of Royal Troon.”

  • “Highlighting final qualifying is Justin Rose, who played 14 straight Open Championships until missing the 2022 Open at St. Andrews. Rose was low amateur at the 1998 Open, where he tied for fourth at Royal Birkdale, and owns three top-10s in 20 career Open appearances. He tied for 22nd at the 2016 Open at Royal Troon.”
  • “Also teeing it up are 16 current LIV players: Sergio Garcia, Carlos Ortiz, Marc Leishman, Jason Kokrak, Sebastian Munoz, Sam Horsfield and Kieran Vincent at West Lancashire; Graeme McDowell, Branden Grace and Eugenio Chacarra at Royal Cinque Ports; Peter Uihlein and Danny Lee at Dundonald Links; and Anirban Lahiri, Abraham Ancer, Jinchiro Kozuma and Laurie Canter (reserve) at Burnham and Berrow…”
Full piece.

3. Dutch golfer denied Olympics by their own country despite qualifying

Kent Paisley for Golf Digest…”The LPGA Tour posted on Tuesday that Dewi Weber had qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics, and that could have been the culmination of a dream for the Dutchwoman. Text messages poured into Weber’s phone congratulating her on the accomplishment, a fitting celebration just a week ahead of her wedding.”

  • “However, Weber, 28, has had to painfully answer that, despite being eligible for Paris, the Netherlands will not allow her to play. Her homeland had four golfers eligible—Anne van Dam being the other golfer on the women’s side, and Darius van Driel, Joost Luiten for the men—but because of the nation’s separate qualification rules for golf, only van Dam will represent the Dutch.”
  • “Our own country is saying we don’t think you’re worthy of being an Olympian, and you’re not worthy of representing the Netherlands,” Weber told Golf Digest on Tuesday. “And that, honestly, that hurts. We even asked them, ‘Hey, is this about money? Like, we will pay for it ourselves. Our Federation will pay for it.’
Full piece.

4. Charlie’s odd autograph

Our Matt Vincenzi…”LPGA Tour player, Charley Hull, is one of the most popular women’s golfers on the planet. The 28-year-old is a great golfer, but recently has gained popularity due to the fact that she openly smokes cigarettes on the golf course during events.”

  • “This past weekend, Hull was once involved with a cigarette on the golf course, this time signing one for a fan.”
  • “A signed cigarette is quite the souvenir, and I’d imagine that one cigarette that will never be smoked.”
Full piece.

5. Waugh to leave PGA of America CEO role

AP report…”Seth Waugh is leaving the PGA of America after six years as CEO, a period marked by a sharp boost in golf participation and PGA membership and the move of its headquarters from Florida to a massive complex in Texas.

  • “Waugh was the CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas when he joined the PGA of America board as an independent director and then was hired to lead the 30,000-plus members in 2018.”
  • “His contract was up for renewal on June 30, and Waugh decided not to renew.”
  • “It feels like the right time, not only personally but professionally,” Waugh said. “We’ve accomplished an awful lot in the six years. The game has never been in better shape. Participation is at an all-time high. It’s growing in all the ways we hoped it would.”
  • “The fastest growth is women and people of color. We try to make the game look like the rest of the world, and maybe have the world behave more like our game.”
Full Piece.

6. Photos from the Rocket Mortgage Classic

  • Check out all of our galleries from this week’s event!
Full Piece.

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

on

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

on

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

on

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

Facebook

Trending