News

Tour Rundown: No shortage of fall drama

Published

11 months ago

Oct 7, 2024

As American football steams through its fifth weekend. professional golf continues to capture our attention. Thanks to a well-balanced equation for tour championships, the brass ring for the world’s tours spreads across a rainbow of weeks. This first weekend in October saw the arrival of the Korn Ferry tour championship, along with the awarding of a spate of PGA Tour cards for 2025. The DP World Tour returned to St. Andrews for the Dunhill Links. The annual pilgrimage to the home of golf presents the auld toon’s various courses in unique lights. The PGA Tour Champions visited Jacksonville, Florida, for the Furyk & Friends event, while the PGA Tour itself passed through the 20th state for the yearly “I’m going to” Jackson, Mississippi tourney at the city’s eponymous country club.

? ALBATROSS ?@NicoColsaerts makes an albatross at the 16th at Kingsbarns! #dunhilllinks pic.twitter.com/augYNri4kF

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 5, 2024

PGA Tour @ Sanderson Farms: Yu keeps Hossler from winner’s stand

Beau Hossler has done so much during his years on the PGA Tour, that you would think that a victory would have fallen to him at some point. The Californian-born, UTexas-educated golfer has lost twice in playoffs. In 2018, he fell to Ian Poulter in Houston. Now Wiki can add a loss to Kevin Yu, in Mississippi.

For a time, it seemed that neither golfer would figure in the outcome. Keith Mitchell was motoring along through 12 holes, until he forgot how to make a birdie. Five consecutive pars were followed by an excruciating bogey at the last. That miscue kept him out of the playoff, restricting him to a T3 finish with Lucas Glover.

Away did Yu and Hossler fly, to the 18th tee for another go-round. Yu found fairway, while Hossler diverted to the left exit, compelling a lay-up for his second. He pitched to three feet, but never had a chance to make that putt. Yu played his approach to inside six feet, then drained the birdie putt for a walk-off win.

A dart when he needed it most ?@KevinGolfYu has a good look at birdie on the first playoff hole. pic.twitter.com/0glyWvNhDb

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 6, 2024

DP World Tour @ Dunhill Links: Hatton at home of golf

Nicolas Colsaerts hasn’t won in quite some time, and it shows. The Belgian Bomber last hoisted a tour trophy in 2019. Stretches without a sound verdict will play with one’s psyche. Case in point: Colsaerts poured in an approach to the 16th for an Albatross two on the par-five hole, followed it with a birdie, then closed with a double bogey, in round three. Welcome back to the chase, everyone.

The six at the last dropped the tall man a shot behind Tyrrell Hatton. The duo would match 70s in round four, and Hatton would make a delicate up-and-down for birdie at Home, to clinch victory. Hatton did everything in his power to give the tournament away. His double bogey-bogey run at holes 13 and 14 returned three shots to the field. On a long day, when lost holes from previous days were made up, Hatton had enough gas in the tank to make a trio of pars coming home, prior to etching that delightful birdie into the graveyard of greens.

Up and down for victory ?@TyrrellHatton is the Alfred Dunhill Links Champion for a record third time! #dunhilllinks pic.twitter.com/RHNfnuvj4y

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 6, 2024

Korn Fery Tour @ Tour Championship:

In case you weren’t aware of just how busy a week it was at the French Lick Resort, check Twitter/X. You won’t find a bit of footage of Braden Thornberry, the fellow who won the title and a tour card. Thornberry was an afterthought until he wasn’t. He entered the week 51st on the money list, and was the only competitor to move inside the top 30 and earn a PGA Tour card.

It’s a shame, really, as no other tour offers promotion cards at its Tour Championship. Thornberry had the temerity to record a 72nd-hole birdie, to seal a perfect, six-under 66. He reached nine-under par, relegating Alistair Docherty, Doc Redman, and Brian Campbell to a tie for runner-up linen. In January of 2025, Thornberry will join his fellow graduates for a year of grad school, on the PGA Tour.

Kaito on a mission ?

Back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 and he is rolling! pic.twitter.com/x5o9xZ2qbR

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) October 4, 2024

PGA Tour Champions @ Furyk & Friends: It’s Rocco, baby!

Why is it that some players find a way to un-win a tournament? Bob Estes has done this since his PGA Tour days. Estes contends with regularity, yet the loving cups of victory somehow find their way into another’s embrace. Guess what? It happened again in North Florida.

Rocco Mediate is owed a bit by the gods of golf. There is no way that Tiger Woods, on one leg, beats him at Torrey Pines in the 2008 US Open, yet it happened. This week at Timuquana, Mediate was his grinning, impish self. He matched Estes shot for shot through 54 holes of regulation, despite doing his best Hatton impression. Bogeys at 15 and 18 were offset by a birdie at 17.

In the playoff hole, Mediate found the fairway, while Estes landed on sand. His bunker recovery failed to reach the green, and his pitch was not close enough to matter. Mediate reached the putting surface in regulation, took two putts, and recorded par. Estes was adrift with his par putt, and a first Tour Champions title since 2019 (and fifth overall) reached Mediate’s embrace.

The art behind the craft.@RoccoMediate played this beautifully @FurykAndFriends.

He leads by three with four to play! pic.twitter.com/GsfGtXgkC0

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) October 6, 2024

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)