News

Tour Rundown: Fox on the run, one Kupcho to go

Published

3 months ago

Jun 9, 2025

June arrived last week, but I was on hiatus. An overnight to Poughkeepsie with our state qualifiers left me exhausted and unable to summon the mental acuity needed to produce a scintillating installment of Tour Rundown last week. I hope that you were able to soldier on, in my absence, and I hope that this week’s return helps to ease your pain and to salve your wounds. It does for my own.

Every which way you turn, there’s golf. Think of the events that we aren’t covering this week: Palmer Cup and Dogwood Invitational on the amateur side. Professional events around the world. It’s the gravy train time of year, so rejoice. We see you in Toronto, and New Jersey, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Holland, and Virginia. Don’t worry, your paragraphs are nearly done. Let’s run down a solid six-pack of professional golf in this week’s Tour Rundown.

PGA Tour @ Canadian Open: Fox is on the run

It has been a year since Robert MacIntyre won his first PGA Tour event in North America. Two years have passed since Nick Taylor holed the putt of 1,000 inches to end the Canadian curse on his homeland’s open. One thing we can say about our friends north of the border is that their national championship does not lack for drama and excitement. This year, Sam Burns made up a boatload of strokes on the 54-hole lead, but was caught by Ryan Fox. The pair went off to four holes of playoff golf, until a majestic three-metal decided the week.

Matteo Manassero held the lead at the three-quarter pole, but could not bring his horse to the finish line. His fine work ended in a tie for sixth spot, three blows away from the playoff. Burns moved up 15 spots on the week thanks to a nine-birdie effort. Both he and Fox made birdie at the 72nd hole. Each would face the watery par 5 on four more occasions. Each of the first three ended in stalemate pars. On the fourth extra trek, Ryan Fox risked all with a mighty swing of the three-metal. The shot soared to the heavens, fluttered back to earth without care, and settled inside fifteen feet of the hole. Two putts were good for a birdie that Burns could not match. And just like that, Fox had a second PGA Tour win for 2025.

LPGA @ ShopRite: One Kupcho to go, please

A dozen years ago, Ilhee Lee won her only LPGA title at the age of 24. She triumphed in the Bahamas, but has yet to return to the winner’s place on the podium. Lee had the ~~leed~~ lead through two rounds of the LPGA’s annual stop along the Jersey shore. After eight holes on Sunday, she had to wonder what had transpired overnight. Three bogeys had dropped her from the top slot of the board for the first time all week. Taking advantage of her slip was Jennifer Kupcho, a three-time winner in 2022.

Lee rallied in brilliant fashion. Encouraged by a birdie at the ninth, she played her final 10 holes in 6 under par, including a 29 on the inward half. Lee reached 14 under par, but it wasn’t enough. The problem was Kupcho. Despite a pair of day-three bogeys, the Wake Forest alumna slapped seven birdies onto her card, including three in the final five holes. Her 66 eased her past Lee by one shot, earning her a fourth LPGA title.

DP World Tour @ KLM Open: It’s about Syme

Connor Syme of Scotland has had a few invitations to the ball this season, but until this week, the Kircaldy lad was winless on the DP World Tour. Everything changed in both a week and an instant, as Syme survived a maudlin Sunday (two birdies, one bogey) and held off Sweden’s Joakim Lagergran by two for the inaugural victory.

The two-shot margin of triumph was slimmer than appearance suggested. Syme’s lead was four shots on the final hole. He played the par-5 closer gently, accepting par without need for drama. Lagergren, steamed no doubt from bogey at the 15th and 17th, unleashed the hounds of hell on the final hole. He closed with eagle to cut the winning gap in half, but the outcome was never in doubt.

Korn Ferry Tour @ BMW Charity: Smotherman by three over trio

Austin Smotherman has won twice on the KFT. His first victory was an end-to-end endeavor. He led all four rounds in 2021 at the Simmonds Bank Open. This week in upstate South Carolina, he was nearly as impressive. After opening with 65, Smotherman erased his three-shot deficit with a day-two 62. Carl Yuan posted the week’s low round of 61 on Saturday, to take the lead away from the Californian, but Smotherman wasn’t finished. He closed with 67 on Sunday, after 66 on Saturday, to dispatch all the chasers.

Yuan, Sebastian Cappelen, and Piereceson Coody all finished on 263, for a 22-under par total. With birdies on three of his final four holes, Smotherman pulled away from the peleton to win by three shots. As if paying homage to Nick Taylor’s playoff bomb at the 2023 Canadian Open, Smotherman closed in style, with a cross-country make of his own, on the final green.

Talk about a dramatic finish ?@Austin_smosmo for the win from across the green @BMWCharityProAm. pic.twitter.com/5969MXoQHZ

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) June 8, 2025

PGA Tour Champions @ AFI Championship: Bjorn & Clarke claim team event

Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clarke were two golfers who survived the Tiger Woods era. Each had opportunities to claim major glory during the 20-year period when Tiger was at his best, but only Clarke was able to snatch a British Open title. The extended-life tour that is the PGATC, offers a remembrance of how well certain golfers played in their heyday.

Bjorn and Clarke opened the week with rounds of 59 and 58, to take a three-shot advantage into the final round. Can you imagine posting 58 and losing two shots to another team? That’s what Steve Stricker and Mario Tiziani had to do to remain close with 18 to go. Their day-two 56 included 13 birdies and a Stricker eagle. Bjorn and Clarke made eight birdies in Sunday’s four-ball format. They had a pair of bogeys, but stayed ahead on a slower day. Only the pairings of Cejka-Kjeldsen and Barron-Pride were able to gain ground. Their rounds of 59 and 60, respectively, pulled them into a four-way tie for second, four strokes behind the winners.

Teammates in sync ?

Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjørn lead by four (!) with one hole to play @AmFamChamp! pic.twitter.com/cZtxHVN6Jf

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) June 8, 2025

LIV @ Virginia: It’s Niemann once more

A number of golfers found their way onto page one of the LIV leaders’ board on Sunday. Names like Lahiri, McDowell, and Pieters made runs at the trophy for LIV’s eighth event of 2025. Chile’s Joaquin Niemann edged past all of them, with a minus-8 63 over the Robert Trent Jones course. Niemann’s work on the rebel circuit has been exemplary. It remains to be seen if he will be able to translate that achievement to the traditional major events.

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)