News

GolfWRX GolfWRX Morning 9: Compassgate | Better ball, better Bubba? | Golf’s most entertaining swing

Published

8 years ago

Jun 25, 2018

Good morning, GolfWRX members. As most of you are signed up for our newsletters, you likely already know that I’ve been sending this little Morning 9 roundup of nine items of note.

In case you’ve missed it, or you prefer to read on site rather than in your email, we’re including it here. Check out today’s Morning 9 below.

If you’re not signed up for our newsletters, you can subscribe here.

By Ben Alberstadt (ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com)

June 25, 2018

Good Monday morning, golf fans.

1. Compassgate brewing

Bryson DeChambeau plotted his course to a T9 finish at the Travelers Championship using a compass…literally. Well, he didn’t literally plot a course with the compass (geometry kind, not Boy Scout kind), but he did literally use one.

Unfortunately (perhaps) for DeChambeau, the PGA Tour spotted the former physics major utilizing the device. While it’s highly irregular/quite expected from DeChambeau, the powers that be aren’t certain of the legality of compass use.

Why did the Golf Scientist do this? “Figuring out true pin locations. The pin locations are a little bit off every once in a while, so I’m making sure they’re in the exact right spot.”

Obviously.

2. The swing that’s sweeping the golf world

If somehow you haven’t seen Hosung Choi’s action from the Korea Open, you’re missing out. And really it’s not just the swing, it’s Choi’s whole joie de vivre on course.

Josh Berhow on Choimania:

“The 44-year-old pro blew up social media on Saturday and Sunday while competing in the Korea Open. The golf world fell in love with his one-footed follow through and colorful behavior. Pros tweeted about him, the Golf Channel ran a segment on him, Brandel Chamblee broke down his swing and even Web.com Tour players tried to imitate his swing on the range.

“Unfortunately for the golf world, Choi didn’t receive one of the two invitations to this year’s British Open at Carnoustie (he finished T5), but there’s already a petition in the works trying to get him there.’

Some of the best video, here.

3. Better health + better ball = Better Bubba

Travelers winner Bubba Watson lost 25 pounds during the course of the 2016-2017 season for publicly unknown reasons. He also played a Volvik S4 golf ball: something no other elite PGA Tour professional does.

Watson, who returned to a Titleist Pro V1x for 2018, doesn’t blame the ball. “I don’t think it has had any (role) in my success,” Watson said (per Golf Channel’s WIll Gray). “My clubs weren’t going the distance that I used to. I couldn’t shape it the way I want to. Luckily for me, I know the problem, and the problem was with health and not all these other things.”

Or, maybe it’s the #RVlifestyle

Watson: “The RV lifestyle now, it’s been so much fun, it’s been a blessing to have all the kids there, have the bunk beds, they enjoy it, spending time with other guys with RVs. It’s been a blast, this year’s been like a new year, a rookie season for me.”

4. Rory rising?

Golf Channel’s Will Gray…”Rory McIlroy believes he has work to do on his swing, even if the stats don’t back it up. McIlroy shot a 3-under 67 in the final round of the Travelers Championship, completing a week in which he shot 11 under and led the field in strokes gained: tee-to-green but was last among the 74 players who made the cut in strokes gained: putting.”

“While the Ulsterman lamented a number of misses from close range – 17 from inside 10 feet over the course of the week, to be exact – he contended that the strokes gained data may have been “flattering” his performance with the other 13 clubs.”

“I don’t feel like I hit it that well tee-to-green,” McIlroy said. “It says that I’m probably No. 1 tee-to-green, but it didn’t feel like it. Yeah, obviously I would have loved to have putted better. But I felt like all parts of my game just needed to be a little bit sharper.”

We’ll next see Rory in action at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

5. Nasa!

Ron Sirak on Nasa Hataoka‘s impressive LPGA Tour W:

“Houston, we have liftoff. Nasa Hataoka is a 19-year old from Japan with a very American name, her mother using the initials of the U.S. space program to inspire her daughter to shoot for the stars. It could be that Hiromi Hataoka set the bar too low. Right now, the sky seems to be the limit for Nasa. Hataoka picked up her first LPGA win with a sizzling 63 on Sunday for a six-stroke victory at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, the largest margin of victory on the LPGA this season.”

“Hataoka has now finished in the top-10 in five of her last six starts and rolls into next week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the third major of the year, as someone who has to be considered a top contender. Nasa nearly snared her first victory at the Kingsmill Championship in May, losing a playoff to Ariya Jutanugarn, who birdied both extra holes.”

6. Proud Ping

Cheers to Ping for the major tour double with Bubba winning on the PGA Tour and Matt Wallace capturing the European Tour’s BMW International Open.

Watson’s WITB

Driver: Ping G400 LST (8.5 degrees, at 7.6 degrees) Shaft: Grafalloy Bi-Matrix Pink X-Flex

Fairway Wood: Ping G (14.5 degrees, at 13.2 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Tour Spec 8.2X

Irons: Pin iBlade (2 iron), Ping S55 (4-PW) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Ping Glide 2.0 (52-12 SS, 56-12 SS, 60-06 TS) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Putter: Ping PLD Anser (Blast Finish)

Wallace’s setup…

Driver: PING G400 (8.5 deg; LS Aldila Rogue Silver 70TX tip ¾” 45.5″, MultiComp Black/Black 60 R +2,D4)

Fairway: PING G400 (14.5 deg; (Small Minus) PX HRXDRS YELLOW 76g 6.5 Tip 1.25″, 43″, D3)

Irons: PING i200 (2 iron); PING Prototype irons (3-5); PING iBlade (6-9 KBS C-Taper 130X Black Ltd Edition +1/4″, 1.5 D3)

Wedges PING Glide 2.0 Stealth 46; Prototype Wedge 52,58

Putter: PING Sigma G Darby 32.75″, 2 Deg Loft, 3.5 Upright Two Thumb Classic Grip

7. (An ultimately un)important golf question returns

Is Paul Casey a choker? Casey, who started the final round of the Travelers Championship ahead by four, is now one of four in finishing off 54-hole leads. His 2 over Sundy effort was hardly the stuff of champions, and needing just one birdie down the stretch, he got two bogeys instead.

The counterpoint is Casey merely had a bad day and regressed to the mean following a Saturday 62.

Casey, for his part, mentioned a tight neck, saying he “Didn’t have a comfortable swing to go out there and do something with.”

He also said this, which, well, is apparently a statement about golf: “This is merely kind of posturing for what could be a very good climax.”

8. Brooks’ bacheloring X2

Brooks Koepka, who honored his commitment to the Travelers Championship following his U.S. Open win and respectably tied for 19th, is off to Boston for a bachelor party coming week.

He’ll begin his prep for Carnoustie the next week with…another bachelor party, apparently. “I was really hoping to get some rest…But I don’t know how much that will happen,” BK said after his finish.

9. PSA: Tiger this week

As the earth revolves around the sun, so too does planet golf revolve orbit Tiger Woods (as we all know). So here’s your reminder that he’s in the field this week for the Quicken Loans National.

However, it’s been interesting to see expectations for Woods temper over the course of his comeback, isn’t it? At first, we held our breath with every swing, every tight-gripped hack out of the rough, then, a TW win looked imminent. Heck, he was among the favorites heading into the Masters.

Lately, however, even though he’s turned in decent results, there seems to be a sense that Woods is further from winning after the second major of the year than he was heading into the first. Even though he’s hitting the ball better from tee to green, there’s a feeling that something is fundamentally broken with his putting stroke. It’s odd, isn’t it?

A good week of putting at the National, however, and narratives of a Woodsian coronation at Carnoustie will be everywhere. Further struggles, and Woods at 25-1 to win The Open will seem sensible indeed…even though it perhaps should not.

News

WITB Time Machine: Phil Mickelson’s winning WITB, 2021 PGA Championship

Published

24 hours ago

May 13, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Phil Mickelson made history at the 2021 PGA Championship on Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course. At 50, he became the oldest player to win a major, breaking Julius Boros’s record. Starting the final round with a slim lead, Lefty faced tough competition from Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen. He pulled ahead with key birdies and a standout 366-yard drive on the 16th hole. Finishing 6 under par and two shots ahead, Mickelson claimed his sixth major and second PGA Championship. Many saw his win as an inspiring comeback, showing that experience and determination can still lead to victory in professional golf — and, sometimes, age is just a number.

Driver: Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond (6 degrees @5.5 , green dot cog)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X (47.9 inches)

2-wood: TaylorMade “Original One” Mini Driver (11.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X

4-wood (Sunday only): Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X

Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (16) (Thursday-Saturday), Callaway X21 UT Proto (19 degrees @20.5, 25), Callaway Apex MB ‘21 (small groove) (6-PW)
Shafts: (16) MCA MMT 105 TX, KBS Tour V 125 S+

Wedges: Callaway PM Grind ’19 “Raw” (52-12@50, 55-12, 60-10)
Shafts: KBS Tour V 125 S+

Putter: Odyssey Milled Blade “Phil Mickelson”
Grip: SuperStroke Pistol GT Tour

Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X (Triple Track)

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

More photos of Phil Mickelson’s WITB here.

News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

2 days ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

Rory McIlroy +800 – (Check out his WITB here)

Jon Rahm +1300
Cameron Young +1500
Bryson DeChambeau +1700
Xander Schauffele +1850
Matt Fitzpatrick +1950
Ludvig Aberg +2000
Tommy Fleetwood +2600
Collin Morikawa +3500
Brooks Koepka +3900
Justin Rose +4300
Russell Henley +4600
Si Woo Kim +4700
Justin Thomas +4800
Robert MacIntyre +5300
Patrick Cantlay +5300
Viktor Hovland +5400
Tyrrell Hatton +5500
Jordan Spieth +5900
Sam Burns +6000
Hideki Matsuyama +6200
Adam Scott +6400
Rickie Fowler +7000
Chris Gotterup +7400
Patrick Reed +7400
Min Woo Lee +7800
Ben Griffin +8000
Sepp Straka +8400
Shane Lowry +9000
Akshay Bhatia +9200
Maverick McNealy +9200
Joaquin Niemann +9200
Jake Knapp +9200
Jason Day +9600
Kurt Kitayama +10000
J.J. Spaun +10000
Harris English +10500
Nicolai Hojgaard +11000
Gary Woodland +11000
David Puig +11000
Michael Thorbjornsen +12000
Jacob Bridgeman +12000
Keegan Bradley +12500
Corey Conners +14000
Alex Fitzpatrick +15000
Sungjae Im +15500
Sahith Theegala +15500
Harry Hall +15500
Alex Noren +16000
Thomas Detry +16500
Marco Penge +16500
Kristoffer Reitan +17000
Alex Smalley +17000
Wyndham Clark +17500
Sam Stevens +17500
Keith Mitchell +17500
Daniel Berger +18500
Ryan Gerard +20000
Nick Taylor +20000
Rasmus Hojgaard +21000
Dustin Johnson +21000
Pierceson Coody +23000
Aaron Rai +24000
Jordan Smith +24000
Angel Ayora +24000
Bud Cauley +25000
Matt McCarty +26000
Jayden Schaper +26000
Brian Harman +27000
Taylor Pendrith +27000
Ryan Fox +27000
J.T. Poston +27000
Cameron Smith +29000
Ryo Hisatsune +29000
Michael Kim +29000
Max Homa +29000
Denny McCarthy +29000
Tom McKibbin +30000
Rico Hoey +32000
Matt Wallace +32500
Ricky Castillo +33000
Haotong Li +33000
Michael Brennan +34000
Max Greyserman +36000
Stephan Jaeger +37500
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +37500
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +39000
Aldrich Potgieter +40000
Andrew Novak +42000
Patrick Rodgers +42500
Daniel Hillier +42500
Max McGreevy +46000
Billy Horschel +48000
Chris Kirk +48000
Ian Holt +49000
Casey Jarvis +49000
William Mouw +50000
Steven Fisk +50000
John Parry +50000
Nico Echavarria +52500
Garrick Higgo +52500
John Keefer+55000
Matthias Schmid +57500
Austin Smotherman +57500
Sami Valimaki +60000
Andrew Putnam +60000
Lucas Glover +62500
Daniel Brown +62500
Jhonattan Vegas +75000
Emiliano Grillo +80000
Mikael Lindberg +85000
Adrien Saddier +100000
Bernd Wiesberger +100000
Elvis Smylie +110000
Stewart Cink +130000
Kota Kaneko +130000
David Lipsky +150000
Chandler Blanchet +150000
Andy Sullivan +150000
Joe Highsmith +180000
Adam Schenk +200000
Travis Smyth +200000
Davis Riley +225000
Martin Kaymer +400000
Brian Campbell +400000
Padraig Harrington +450000
Kazuki Higa +450000
Jordan Gumberg +450000
Ryan Vermeer +500000
Austin Hurt +500000
Tyler Collet +500000
Timothy Wiseman +500000
Shaun Micheel +500000
Y.E. Yang +500000
Michael Block+500000
Mark Geddes+500000
Luke Donald+500000
Bryce Fisher+500000
Jimmy Walker +500000
Jason Dufner +500000
Jesse Droemer +500000
Jared Jones +500000
Garrett Sapp +500000
Francisco Bide +500000
Zach Haynes +500000
Paul McClure+500000
Derek Berg +500000
Chris Gabriele +500000
Braden Shattuck +500000
Ben Polland +500000
Ben Kern +50000

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

3 days ago

May 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.