Connect with us

News

Mike Davis will no longer be in charge of U.S. Open course setups

Published

7 years ago

on

After 13 years in the role, CEO of the USGA Mike Davis is stepping down from his position as head of course set up at the U.S. Open.

Speaking to Jaime Diaz at Golf Channel, Davis was quick to stress that the voluntary decision had been made before last year’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, which saw a baked-out course in windy conditions during the third round of the event wreak havoc on a day where several players vehemently complained about the unfairness of the test.

“This decision has been in the works for more than two U.S. Opens. Whether people want to believe that or not, that’s for them to decide.”

Shinnecock Hills is not the only U.S. Open where Davis has come under fire in recent years. At the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, the shocking conditions of the greens were brutally criticized by players who compared the putting surfaces to “broccoli” and “cauliflower.” While at Erin Hills in 2017, Davis’ late decision to shave the rough down caused controversy, leading (in part) to the joint lowest winning U.S. Open score in history.

For Davis, it was that U.S. Open at Erin Hills which proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“I was frankly stretched too thin, and especially stretched too thin U.S. Open week for other things I needed to be doing in my position.”

Despite stepping down from his role as head of course setups at the U.S. Open, Davis plans to move further into his CEO role of the USGA, and he will still be involved in the course set up team, though just in an advisory role.

Davis’ successor in the role will be John Bodenhamer, who will run all 14 of the organization’s national championships, including taking charge of the course set up for next year’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

While talking to Golf Channel, Bodenhamer stressed how in his new role, he would be aiming for better communication with the players, while attempting to break the recent tradition of the golf course being the main story of the U.S. Open.

“We aren’t going to make all of them happy, but they should understand that we aren’t trying to trick up the course or make it ridiculously hard. As set-up people, the last thing we want to be is the story. The last thing. We want it to be about the players and the golf course.”

 

 

 

 

 

Related Topics:

Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at gianni@golfwrx.com

9 Comments

9 Comments

  1. IMO

    Jan 8, 2019 at 12:44 am

    ABOUT TIME!!!

    Reply Report comment

  2. Sedge

    Jan 7, 2019 at 3:47 pm

    [disclaimer: this rant is a bit of a tangent to the original article, I understand]

    It begs the question as to why these courses need to be [in the words of Zach Johnson] “manipulated” in such a way that the benchmark for winning a golf tournament is EVEN par. I think that the USGA ought to break down their previous model for setting up a golf course with the uniform idea of level par winning the Open and starting rather with the players in mind and putting together a setup that is married to the course through the use of data in this era of abundantly useful “strokes-gained” metrics. From there, let the winning score be what it is, so long as the winner is clearly the best that week.

    It’s such an unenviable task to say the least and to be in an executive role, no-less the CEO of the USGA AND have to set up the golf course is bizarre. Well, I say “have to” when in fact this is clearly something that should have been delegated by Davis a long time ago.

    That said, playing devil’s advocate to my aforementioned rant is this. If the goal of the US Open is to have the greatest of champions, let’s look at the last 8 winners: Brooks Koepka x 2, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Martin Kaymer, Justin Rose, Webb Simpson, Rory McIlroy. Not a bad group.

    Reply Report comment

  3. Dill Pickelson

    Jan 6, 2019 at 7:41 am

    The clown show at the USGA will still figure out a way to mess up the course setup.

    Reply Report comment

  4. 2putttom

    Jan 5, 2019 at 11:44 pm

    John Bodenhamer, he’s a good guy

    Reply Report comment

  5. Peter

    Jan 5, 2019 at 6:03 pm

    I didn’t watch the US open last year for the first time in 15 years. It is by far my least favourite major. Instead of doing their job they let the equipment manufactures run the game and now that the ball flies crazy long distances, the USGA now tries to combat it by making their set-up unplayable. They should have done their job and not let the equipment manufactures ruin our great game.

    Reply Report comment

  6. scooter

    Jan 5, 2019 at 12:57 pm

    “Stupid is as stupid does” … Forrest Gump

    Reply Report comment

  7. Speedy

    Jan 4, 2019 at 2:21 pm

    What took them so long?

    Reply Report comment

  8. A. Commoner

    Jan 4, 2019 at 1:35 pm

    Hey boss, the kitchen gets awfully warm, doesn’t it? True; especially for those ‘who stay too long.’

    Reply Report comment

  9. Patricknorm

    Jan 4, 2019 at 11:46 am

    Good news if you’re a fan of golf , especially the U.S. Open and most certainly for those competing as an amateur or pro. A major golf tournament shouldn’t be a test to see who hand handle unplayable conditions which were brought upon by a committee. And why does the USGA think that par is the benchmark of good golf? Shine o i is one of the best courses in the world, yet I’ve never seen how good it can be because the course was baked out by the committee. Ideally, the USGA should let the PGA Tour assist in the U.S. Open set up. I am allowed to dream.

    Reply Report comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

1 day ago

on

May 12, 2026

By

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

Continue Reading

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

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.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

Continue Reading

News

How much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

Kristoffer Reitan held his nerve at Quail Hollow on Sunday to claim his first PGA Tour victory and the $3.6 million winner’s check that came with it. The Norwegian fended off a packed leaderboard on a dramatic final day, with Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Højgaard both taking home $1.76 million for their runner-up finishes.

With a total prize purse of $20 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship.

1: Kristoffer Reitan, $3,600,000

T2: Rickie Fowler, $1,760,000

T2: Nicolai Hojgaard, -$1,760,000

4: Alex Fitzpatrick, $960,000

T5: Tommy Fleetwood, $730,000

T5: Sungjae Im, $730,000

T5: J.J. Spaun, $730,000

T8: Ludvig Aberg, $600,000

T8: Harry Hall, $600,000

T10: Patrick Cantlay, $500,000

T10: Matt McCarty, $500,000

T10: Cameron Young, $500,000

13: Justin Thomas, $420,000

T14: Min Woo Lee, $360,000

T14: Chris Gotterup, $360,000

T14: Nick Taylor, $360,000

T17: Alex Smalley, $310,000

T17: Gary Woodland, $310,000

T19: Austin Smotherman, $242,100

T19: Rory McIlroy, $242,100

T19: Keegan Bradley, $242,100

T19: Sudarshan Yellamaraju, $242,100

T19: Kurt Kitayama, $242,100

T24: Patrick Rodgers, $156,643

T24: Pierceson Coody, $156,643

T24: Adam Scott, $156,643

T24: Andrew Novak, $156,643

T24: Harris English, $156,643

T24: J.T. Poston, $156,643

T24: David Lipsky, $156,643

T31: Brian Harman, $114,416.67

T31: Viktor Hovland, $114,416.67

T31: Alex Noren, $114,416.67

T31: Tony Finau, $114,416.67

T31: Nico Echavarria, $114,416.67

T31: Corey Conners, $114,416.67

T37: Sam Burns, $82,187.50

T37: Maverick McNealy, $82,187.50

T37: Akshay Bhatia, $82,187.50

T37: Taylor Pendrith, $82,187.50

T37: Matt Wallace, $82,187.50

T37: Andrew Putnam, $82,187.50

T37: Bud Cauley, $82,187.50

T37: Lucas Glover, $82,187.50

T45: Justin Rose, $60,000

T45: Daniel Berger, $60,000

T45: Ryo Hisatsune, $60,000

T48: Denny McCarthy, $50,000

T48: Aldrich Potgieter, $50,000

T48: Webb Simpson, $50,000

T48: Michael Kim, $50,000

T52: Mackenzie Hughes, $45,187.50

T52: Max Homa, $45,187.50

T52: Brian Campbell, $45,187.50

T52: Jhonattan Vegas, $45,187.50

T52: Matt Fitzpatrick, $45,187.50

T52: Chandler Blanchet, $45,187.50

T52: Jordan Spieth, $45,187.50

T52: Jacob Bridgeman, $45,187.50

T60: Xander Schauffele, $42,500

T60: Robert MacIntyre, $42,500

T60: Ricky Castillo, $42,500

T63: Ben Griffin, $41,250

T63: Sepp Straka, $41,250

T65: Ryan Gerard, $40,250

T65: Si Woo Kim, $40,250

67: Ryan Fox, $39,500

68: Jason Day, $39,000

69: Sahith Theegala, $38,000

70: Sam Stevens, $37,500

71: Hideki Matsuyama, $37,000

72: Tom Hoge, $36,000

Continue Reading

Announcement

Our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use have been updated as of January 29th, 2026. Please review the updated policies here Privacy Policy | Terms of Use. By continuing to use our site after January 29th, 2026, you agree to the changes.

WITB

Whats in the Bag2 days ago

Alex Fitzpatrick WITB 2026 (May)

Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus...
Whats in the Bag3 days ago

Kristoffer Reitan’s winning WITB: 2026 Truist Championship

Driver: Ping G440 Max (9 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 60 TX 3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees) Shaft:...
Whats in the Bag1 week ago

WITB Time Machine: Rory McIlroy’s winning WITB, 2021 Truist Championship

Rory McIlroy’s victory at the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship 2021 (now the Truist Championship) marked a significant return to form,...
Whats in the Bag1 week ago

Collin Morikawa WITB 2026 (May)

Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Tour (14 degrees) Shaft:...

Facebook

Trending