News

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

Published

2 months ago

Jun 14, 2025

U.S. Open week is down to two days. With three days of practice and two qualifying days in the rearview mirror, the cut has decided the 68 players whose stay has been extended by 48 hours. There will be a low amateur, as Justin Hastings of the Cayman Islands posted 146 to advance to the final 36 holes. Hastings is the first winner of the Latin American Amateur Championship to advance to the full 72 holes. There will be five former winners in Pittsburgh for the weekend. Unfortunately, the defending champion will not be one of them.

Six golfers posted rounds better than par on Friday. Another 15 or so signed for cards at least 10 shots higher than the 70 that Old Man Par claims as his street address. That old saw about We’re not trying to embarrass the world’s best; we’re trying to identify them is open to interpretation. The U.S. Open prides itself on existing as a long march, a grind, a marathon. From its earlier days, when the tournament ended with Saturday’s 36-hole endurance test, the U.S. Open has positioned itself as a test of fitness. The last of those endurance affairs took place in 1964, when winner Ken Venturi nearly died from exhaustion, in the heat at Congressional. In the intervening 60 years, fitness and nutrition advancements have made golfers stronger in all things physical, but the psychological and spiritual tests remain at peak.

At 8:15 pm, the weather whistle blew, stranding 13 golfers on the course. Among them are Thriston Lawrence (T6) and Chris Gotterup (T36), both assured of surviving the cutman’s axe. Not as certain is Philip Barbaree, Jr. He sits at +6 on the 35th green, with a 28-feet putt for par. Bogey puts him right on the line. In other words, one man will have a more sleepless night than any other, this Friday evening.

Ninety years ago, Sam Parks, Jr., won his only PGA Tour event at Oakmont at the year’s Open championship. The other eight Oakmont Open winners are all household names: Armour, Nicklaus, Hogan, Miller, Els, Johnson, Nelson, Cabrera. Each won at least one other major event. Parks remains the outlier, a one-hit wonder at the most diabolical Open venue. Will 2025 recognize another household name, or will another unicorn wear a gold medal on Sunday evening? You’ll have to wait until the fifth of five things that we learned on Friday at the 2025 US Open.

1. How to explain Hovland?

By his own admission, Viktor Hovland was adrift in the world of golf. The heavy metal-loving Norwegian is mellow enough, away from the course, to always find balance in life. In his chosen profession, where he hopes to find greatness, the game has been cruel. And yet, Hovland has worked his way out of the malaise that stalked him over the past year. He played a dramatic second round at Oakmont. Hovland began with birdies at two of his first three holes. He holed for eagle at the short 17th, to reach minus-four on the day, then gave one shot immediately back at the 18th. Birdie at one brought him back to four-deep, and minus-three for the week.

Hovland was not yet finished with the drama. Double at his 11th, followed by a pair of birdies, followed by another pair of bogeys, added up to just eight pars on the day, and a score of 68. Hovland will tee off with Adam Scott in Saturday’s penultimate pairing. As at Oak Hill in the 2023 PGA Championship, he will have the opportunity to add a major title to his young resume.

2. Some like it Scott

Adam Scott on the golf course is simply unfair. He is tall, good looking, bears an inspiring, swing, wears green well at least once a year, and has had either a terrific or an underwhelming career, depending on which person you ask. On Friday, the Aussie turned in a round opposite Hovland’s, yet finds himself in the thick of things, at even par.

Scott had a dozen pars, to go with three each of birdies and bogeys. He never once looked as if he might make a big number, but there were half a dozen occasions when bogey seemed imminent. At each of those stops, the Scott Express somehow found a way to coax a par putt into the hole. Over the first two days, Scott’s salvation was his driver. He’ll need it to sit up, roll over, and obey over the next two days, to have a chance at major glory.

3. Burns bursts forth on day the second

Sam Burns, of the Shreveport Burns, lowered the week’s best by one with a five-under 65 on day the second. Burns played the inward half first, and looked like a man possessed. He notched four birdies into his belt, turning in just 31 strokes. He lost his only stroke on the day to old man par at the first. A leaky drive found the right rough, and his second, although landing well shy of the putting surface, bounded through the green. Burns’ recovery was feeble, and he was forced to two-putt for bogey.

Undeterred, Burns made birdie at two of his next three holes, then parred his way to the clubhouse over the final, five-hole stretch. What was impressive was his bounce-back birdie at the second, his eleventh of the day. Unlike Hovland, who followed success with struggle, Burns reversed that sequence. On eighteen, Slammin’ Sammy found one of those grassy ditches, took a penalty drop, played to about forty feet, and dropped the all-world putt for what we’ve come to know as a US Open par. For the first time in his career, Burns will tee off in the final pairing of a major event. Welcome to the biggest of the big leagues, Burnsy!

4. Is it just me, or …

…has Oakmont found an elixir that brings forth an inexplicable number of hole-outs? It’s like Expecto Noputto has been cast from any number of wands along Pennsylvania’s turnpike. I’m not registering a complaint, office, simply taking note of something that we don’t see happen at Pinehurst, Winged Foot, Merion, Pebble, or any of the other Open rota courses.

We have eagle deuces on 1, 3, 14, 17, an albatross on 4, and an ace on 6. That’s 13 strokes under par for our ringer score, and we’re only halfway through the tournament. Add in the Hatton eagle on 12, and birdies on the remaining 11 holes, and the best-of-field tally is a remarkable 26 under par.

I’ll predict that, over the next two days, three more approach shots find the hole on par fours, and one more par-three tee ball finds the bottom of the cup. That will bring the ringer score to 40, a number that most likely intrigues no one but this writer.

5. How does it end?

In 2013, Justin Rose edged Phil Mickelson at Merion, to claim the US Open and deny the lefthander an elusive national championship. Rose was a decent guy, but everyone was pulling for a Mickelson win, as he had the name value at the time. A dozen years later, Rose has the gravitas and the generosity, while Mickelson’s luster has dulled. The same might be said, albeit not as antagonistically, about the last Oakmont Open winner, Dustin Johnson.

Who might Oakmont and the world like to see hoist this year’s championship trophy? Among the top ten, we have the aforementioned Hovland and Scott, who will spend five hours together on Saturday afternoon. Theirs are the well-known names in the top five. Brooks Koepka, twice an Open champion, sits in a tie for eighth. That’s where it starts to get interesting.

In a tie for 12th, tucked among the Adam Schenks and the Max Greysermanns, is Captain America, Keegan Bradley. What is the current USA side Ryder Cup captain wins the Open? Well, he has to be a playing captain, then. One stroke behind the American flag are Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler. Each has won two different majors, and neither owns a US Open. Chomping at the horse’s bit? You betcha.

The thing about Oakmont is, there’s no water. There won’t be any splash-outs to triple, as you might find at Oak Hill, or even Shinnecock Hills. Oakmont does have grassy ditches, piano keys and church pews, along with massive greens where 100-plus feet putts are found on the regular. It’s a place of a thousand tiny cuts, and a thousand more bruises.

If I tell you that Scheffler will post 68-68 to reach even par and win the title, he won’t. If I tell you that Burns will post another 65, carry a four-shot advantage into Sunday, and hold on for victory, he won’t, either. Oakmont is unpredictable in its predictability. The best that I can offer is, tune in for the next two days. You won’t know what hit you, and you won’t be disappointed.

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)