News

Five Things we Learned: Thursday at the U.S. Open

Published

2 months ago

Jun 12, 2025

I was on a Google Meet Wednesday evening with some long-ago friends. We started this tradition during the pandemic, and we’ve kept it up, to keep close across distances. They asked, “Who is your pick to win the Open at Oakmont?” I answered, “I don’t know that it plays directly into anyone’s skill set, so I think that it will be someone who jumps up, out of nowhere.” After Thursday’s play, I look pretty savvy.

In 2016, we all wanted Dustin Johnson to win at Oakmont, after he was hosed by Chambers Bay in the closing moments. He came through, despite some attempt by an overzealous rules team to snatch victory away. It’s now 2025, Rory has his career grand slam, while Scottie Scheffler reached the halfway mark for his CGS, at the PGA Championship in Charlotte in May. There’s no one that the U.S. Open owes, so everyone wonders, how cool will Portrush be, if Scottie can somehow win at Oakmont, setting the stage for three majors in one year, and a CGS at age 29?

Back to life, back to reality. Oakmont is an extreme test, even for the United States Open Championship. Golf shots like the ones we see each week on the PGA Tour do not exist. Conditions are firm, and players need to explore alternative methods for keeping the ball on the fairways, let alone on the greens, in regulation. Some players succeed, while others do not. We have a quintet of examples of things that we learned on day one of the 2025 USGA Open Championship, and we are delighted to share them with you.

1. Anything can, does, and will happen at Oakmont, part one

Golf shots do not spin back on Oakmont’s putting surfaces. To combat this unusual feature, we will see many shots gauged to green front, and an anticipation that the ball will roll out to the hole. Max Moldovan found himself atop the hill that precedes the descent to green the first at Pittsburgh’s finest layout. He smartly played to the front of the green, ensuring that his ball would find the putting surface. What happened next was gravy.

2. Anything can, does, and will happen at Oakmont, part two

Patrick Reed was always admired for his ability to make magic happen under the most trying circumstances. His victory at the 2018 Masters is the high point of a career still in development. Reed found himself in the middle of the fairway on the 4th hole, a 621-yard par five hole. Like Moldovan, Reed intelligently played for the front of the green with his three metal, struck the ball perfectly, and made history with a deuce of his own. How rare is the albatross? AI tells us that the actual bird has a wide wingspan, a deep intellect for wind currents, and a spacious glide capacity. That’s the sort of creature that describes a majestic two on a par-five hole.

3. Get out early and get in safely, the Chef Spaun recipe

JJ Spaun has little regard for his career record in the major championships. He has two top-fifty finishes at the Masters, three top-sixty results at the PGA Championship, zero appearances in the Open Championship, and one missed cut in the US Open. How do we explain his performance on Thursday at Oakmont? Spaun teed off at 7:07, on the inward nine, just the third group of the morning to greet holes ten through eighteen. Spaun proceeded to post four birdies. Many would have awakened at the turn, wondered how is this possible? and back-pedaled toward even par. Well, Spaun did move toward even par. He posted nine scores of par on his second nine, and signed a bogey-free scorecard of 66. On Friday, Spaun will play from the first tee at 12:52, and do his level best to replicate the fortune he found on day one. It will be much more difficult. He will no longer be anonymous, and he will confront greens beset by many feet. U.S. Open champions find a way to manage, and the opportunity will be Spaun’s.

4. One Open course is not like the others

Three former U.S. Open champions sit inside the top twelve after round one. Brooks Koepka (Erin Hills and Shinnecock Hills) is tied for third at minus-two. Jon Rahm (Torrey Pines) is tied for sixth at one-under par. Jordan Spieth (Chambers Bay) is tied for eleventh at even par 70. Three shots separate Spieth from the next, former Open champions. Unlike the Masters, where the phrase horses for courses applies, US Open venues vary greatly in their presentation. The most interesting aspect of this trio’s open success is the venues where they won. With the exception of Koepka at Shinnecock, championships were won at non-traditional venues. This makes their success at Oakmont all the more unlikely.

Of the three contending former champions, Koepka appears to be the most formidable. He closed with birdies at 17 and 18, giving him a boost as he moves into a desirable, early tee time on Friday. Rahm was nearly as fierce. His one birdie and one eagle were offset somewhat by a pair of bogeys. Spieth was a swerving rollercoaster, posting five each of birdies and bogeys.

5. What to expect from Friday? The unexpected, of course

We’ve seen eagles and albatrosses, so why not add a 360-yard drive to the crosswalk to the kettle? A golf course with firm fairways certainly opens itself up to monumental pokes from the tee deck. Oakmont encourages this sort of large living, as it does not present sharp, restrictive doglegs on any of its driving holes. If one of the leaders or chasers finds his driving game for the next 54 holes, he’ll have shorter clubs into these diabolical putting surfaces. If he can hold his psychological game together, he might lift the nameless, eponymous championship trophy.

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)