News

Tour Rundown: Eckroat corrals second Tour title, down Mexico way

Published

10 months ago

Nov 11, 2024

There has been a spate of news about Rory McIlroy locking himself in an attic somewhere, in search of a reimagined and redefined swing path. For the faithful, his work over Abu Dhabi’s Yas Links this week was monumental. For the rest of us, it was more of the same. His scores were terrific, and his shots were beyond the reach of mortal man. In the end, however, it was a top-FITB (fill in the blank) finish, a dalliance with the podium, but not a win. At this stage in Rory’s career arc, all that will make a difference for the historians are victories. Rory Daniel McIlroy will turn 36 in May of 2025. He is ten years distant from his fourth and last, major title. He has 40 career wins, but he’s a dad and a husband, and a player in the chess game of international golf. His legacy is affirmed if not completely defined, and that will have to do, for now.

Early November brought a journey for me to my alma mater. The weather was unseasonably warm in the Piedmont, and the camaraderie with brothers far outweighed the football loss under the lights of Friday night. The LPGA traveled to the island of Oahu, in the USA’s 50th state, for its Lotte Championship. The DP World Tour visited the aforementioned, middle-east kingdom. The PGA Tour took up residence at the tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, while the PGA Tour Champions closed its season in Phoenix, at its tour championship.

The time for Tour Rundown to rest is a fortnight off. With the DP World Tour’s conclusion slated for next week, and the right brackets of the LPGA and PGA a week beyond, we’ll tip our caps and turn to salute a memorable year of golf. For now, let’s enjoy the antipenultimate installment of my favorite, Sunday-evening activity, and run us down a little tour action.

PGA Tour: Eckroat corrals second Tour title, down Mexico way

You must be a bit of a traveler when you’re outside the upper echelon of world golf’s competitors. The PGA Tour season concludes with a trek from Japan to Mexico, then Bermuda, before a final stop in coastal Georgia. It’s a flyer-miles bounty, but is certain to stretch the physical and mental energies of the contestants.

There is a tendency for fall events to produce opportunities for non-winners to secure a critical, first tour title. Max Greyserman, Justin Lower, and Carson Young each came on strong this week in Los Cabos, and each reached the stretch with a chance to haul in an inaugural victory. Unfortunately for them, they ran up against a fellow who was them just eight months ago. Austin Eckroat earned his first tour title in March, at the Cognizant Classic in Florida. That experience with success was essential to Eckroat’s performance on Sunday.

Despite a bogey at the fifth hole, Eckroat went out with six birdies for 31, then added another four over the first five holes on the inward nine. His electric charge forced the contenders to change their strategy and go for broke. Eckroat added one more birdie at the 17th, then made an odd bogey at the par-five closer. Despite never leaving the fairway, Eckroat stumbled to a six. By that point, victory was no longer in doubt.

Among the chasers, Lower closed with eagle to finish one behind Eckroat, at 23-under par. Young matched him with a birdie at the last, while Greyserman finished with a pair of birdies, for solo fourth spot.

10-under thru 17 and leader by 3.

Austin Eckroat heads to the 18th tee eyeing his second TOUR victory @WWTChampionship! pic.twitter.com/Htws5szCfq

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 10, 2024

LPGA: A-Lim is A-List with second LPGA win

Kim A-Lim was, until today, a footnote in golf’s chronology. She was a 2020 major champion, the year of Pandemic golf, at an odd site, in an unfamiliar month. She won the US Women’s Open at Champion’s Creek, in Houston, in December. With wind blowing and temperatures dropping, Kim held off Ko Jin-Young and Amy Olson by a single shot.

This week, almost four years on, A-Lim recorded a second, LPGA victory, in a much warmer climate. She closed with birdie at the par-five 18th to craft a two-shot win over young Russian golfer Nataliya Guseva. The runner-up posted four rounds in the 60s, and reached 16 shots under par for the week. She was a stroke better than third-place finisher Auston Kim, for the best finish in her nascent career.

Kim A-Lim began the week with an impressive eagle, and never looked back. She tallied 26 birdies over four rounds, and added a second eagle on day three, with an ace at the ninth hole. Simple math reveals that she gave back 12 shots over four rounds, but when you save as many strokes as she did, sometimes it just doesn’t matter. The LPGA circuit will travel to Belleair, Florida this week, before concluding the year down Florida’s gulf coast, in Naples.

A Lim Kim currently holds the lead at -16 but there’s been a lot of movement today ?

The final round of the LOTTE Championship is live now on @GolfChannel pic.twitter.com/GSv842QoWH

— LPGA (@LPGA) November 10, 2024

DP World Tour: Good Waring to you!

The DPWT sealed the wax on its final, regular-season event this week in Abu Dhabi. The tour’s best will put a bow on 2024 next week in Dubai, at the Earth course. The Race to Dubai has concluded, with Rory McIlroy some 1500 points clear of second-place Thriston Lawrence. What’s left to settle are individual-event winners, so let’s get to that, beginning with this week at Abu Dhabi.

First came Tommy Fleetwood, with his opening 62. He drifted away, into a jam-up at . Next was Paul Waring, who signed for 61 on Friday, bounding past everyone to the leaderboard’s summit. Day three received a 62 from Thomas Detry, yet Waring preserved his lead, weakly, with a weather-impeded 73. Sunday’s finale promised both much and little, as Europe’s best measured themselves against time, space, and humanity.

Sunday welcomed charges from McIlroy (64), Matthew Wallace (63) and Tyrrell Hatton (64). Wallace and McIlroy were joined at 21-deep by Thorbjorn Olesen, in a tie for third spot. Hatton reached 22-under par as Paul Waring toured the 15th hole, throwing a scare into the double-overnight leader. After pars at 15 and 16, Waring closed in marvelous fashion. Birdies at 17 and 18 gave the Englishman his second career tour title. Six years after winning in Sweden, Waring added a bookend vase to his prize shelf.

“Would you believe it!” @PaulWaringGolf birdies the penultimate hole to take a one-shot lead to the 18 ?#ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/u3IAVpSWUM

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 10, 2024

PGA Tour Champions: Father Time has just enough for 47th senior triumph

It was appropriate that Bernhard Langer passed Hale Irwin for Tour Champions titles at the US Open. A great achievement deserved a major spotlight. With the weight of that accomplishment off his shoulders, Langer took a bit of a break from the lamp, but returned this weekend with a vengeance. The two-time Masters winner went out in 30 shots on Sunday, then survived a bumpy back nine to hold off Richard Green and Steven Alker by one.

After posting six birdies on the front nine, Langer was anything but efficient on the homeward half. He made bogey at 10 and 11, then stabilized the rudder a bit, with birdie at the 13th. His second shot whacked a tree at 17, leading to a third bogey. With the heart of a lion, Langer closed with birdie on 18, reaching 66 on the day and minus-18 for the week. Try as they might, Green and Alker could not chase Langer down. Alker made par at the last, when he needed birdie. Green closed with a pair of birdies, matching Alker for second, one shot behind the winner.

Winning is hard.

Bernhard Langer’s approach on 17 hits a tree.

He’s now tied for the lead heading to 18. pic.twitter.com/rguzFyodv1

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) November 10, 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)