News

Tour Rundown: It’s all in the nickname

Published

9 months ago

Nov 25, 2024

It’s a funny time of year for professional golf. The LPGA and US PGA tours will finish official 2024 play this week, while the DP World Tour gets a jump-start on 2025. Four events feature in Europe-plus’s month, with two in Australia, one in South Africa, and a final week on the island of Mauritius. The LPGA will return at the end of January, while the PGA and DP World Tours will begin new-year’s play during the first three weeks of the extended-weekend month. The week prior to US Thanksgiving gave us three final events to enjoy, before heading off to the holidays in North America. Saddle up your horse with us, as we dive into one final, Tour Rundown, for 2024.

LPGA: Race to the CME Globe: It’s all in the nickname

On the 71st tee, third-round leader Jeeno Thitikul was scratching her head. She sat four-under on the day, but was two shots behind Angel Yin. It was a day for low scores, led by newly-minted hall of famer Lydia Ko and her nine-under 63. That number had elevated Ko from 12th to third. Yin had started the day in a tie with Thitikul, but seemed poised to add a second Tour title to her wiki page.

Thitikul went to work. Split the 71st fairway and approached to eighteen feet. Her putt for eagle had sauce on it, and dove into cup’s bottom, tying her with Yin for first. Split the 72nd fairway, and ziplined an approach five feet below the flagstick’s shadow. With poise beyond her years, the putt was center cut, and Jeeno (aka Atthaya) had claimed the fourth title of her LPGA career, and the one with the biggest paycheck.

Eagle
Birdie

In the most dramatic fashion ?

Watch every shot from @Jeeno_atthaya‘s final two holes en route to her victory! pic.twitter.com/IaGIeHBhAA

— LPGA (@LPGA) November 24, 2024

PGA Tour: RSM Classic affirms that the son of Sun is a tour winner

Maverick McNealy possesses a layered, golf story. He had the benefit of funding from his father, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems. He competed and studied at Stanford, represented the USA in two Walker Cup ties, and won a half-dozen collegiate events. McNealy had zero major amateur victories, zero Korn Ferry wins, and nearly a decade of grinding on the PGA Tour for a resume. This week in Georgia, McNealy outlasted amateur Luke Clanton, a resurgent Daniel Berger, and two-time PGA Tour winner Nico Echavarria, to win an initial tour title.

McNealy and Vince Whaley began day four in a tie atop the standings. Whaley made birdie at the third, but stumbled with bogey and double over his next six holes. He turned in +2, finished at +1 on the day, and descended the ladder, finishing T8 at -13. Luke Clanton has done it all at Florida State. He has achieved everything on the PGA Tour but win, all while competing for the Seminoles and retaining his amateur status. Clanton closed with 68, but made a crushing bogey at the 72nd hole, to finish one back of McNealy. Echavarria also made five at the last, to miss a playoff by a shot. Berger played a solid, unspectacular final round, compiling three birdies and 15 pars on the day.

As for McNealy, it was the stuff of dreams. When he reached the final tee, he sat in a four-way tie atop the dune. His drive found fairway center, and his approach split the uprights, finishing inside six feet from glory. With nothing to gain but glory, McNealy drained his putt and joined the heralded list of tour champions.

A birdie to win on the 72nd hole!

Maverick McNealy is a first-time PGA TOUR winner ? pic.twitter.com/z4eh8utuIR

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 24, 2024

DP World Tour: Australian PGA Championship says, Elvis has entered the building

Elvis Smylie is a 22-year old Aussie pro from Queensland. In October, he won the Western Australia Open, for his first victory on his home tour. That recent triumph will circle back in a few sentences. Smylie opened with 65 at Royal Queensland, in Brisbane, but three rounds remained in the dual, Australian PGA and DP World Tour event. Smylie and the field endured a lost day of golf on Friday, as angry Mother Nature rained down upon the golf course and surrounds.

After Saturday, Smylie sat in a tie with a former Open champion, and another former PGA Tour great was also giving chase. Could Smylie withstand the pressure from Cam Smith and Marc Leishman? Sunday would tell the tale. On day four, Smylie’s recent success buoyed his effort. The lad made four birdies in his first seven holes, to completely gobsmack his seasoned challengers. Smith and Leishman accounted for a total of five bogies and nine birdies on the event’s final day. Each posted 69, and earned silver and bronze status for the week.

Smylie didn’t make another birdie after the seventh green. He didn’t smell bogey all day. His fourteen pars were sufficient to carry him to a two-shot win over Smith, with Leishman a shot farther back. Smylie’s 736th ranking in the world will certainly climb, and a slew of invitations and exemptions will come his way. As the tour moves on to Kingston Heath and Australia’s national open this week, Elvis has entered the building.

The moment Elvis Smylie won his first DP World Tour title! ?#AusPGA pic.twitter.com/5JZNiadar4

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 24, 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)