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Tour Rundown: Long, Li, Lehman and more

Published

7 years ago

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The first full week of tournament golf of 2019 brought a few surprises and some familiar faces. Phil Mickelson began the week in the California desert with a 12-birdie 60, at an event known for producing low scores. Golfers also gathered in Abu Dhabi, central Florida and Hawaii as the European, LPGA and Champions tours sent their first shots of the new year flying. Could Mickelson hold on for victory? Who might join him? Did the Web.Com tour event really begin on Sunday?In a few minutes, you’ll have all the answers.

PGA Tour: first first-time winner of 2019 arrives at Desert Classic

If someone were to have suggested to Adam Long that he would birdie neither par five on the final 9 holes of the Desert Classic, yet still have a chance to win, Long might have scratched his head and chuckled. He was chasing a 3rd-round leader named Mickelson, after all, and pars on the birdie holes would not be good enough to haul Lefty in. Six scores of 3 on the other inward holes were what the golf gods had in mind for the 31-year old. A final-round 65 brought Long his first PGA Tour victory.

For a while, Talor Gooch seemed likely to overtake everyone, but a bogey on the 15th dropped him to 4th at 24-under par. After a tumultuous front nine, Mickelson settled down to a 2-under 34 on the back. A narrow miss on a final-hole birdie putt held the southpaw at 25-under, tied with Adam Hadwin and one stroke behind Long. And the winner? Watch the video below. After his unbelievable approach, Long converted the birdie to finish atop the podium at 26-under par.

European Tour: Lowry opens 2019 with victory in Abu Dhabi

Shane Lowry opened his week with a 10-birdie 62. Unlike Mickelson, he was able to push through to the finish line and capture his rth European Tour title this week. The outward nine saw a massive lead change, as Richard Sterne erased Lowry’s 3-shot, 54-hole lead, adding another 3 strokes on top. Over the final six holes, however, the tournament was decided. Sterne played the stretch in +2, while was 2 shot below par. In the blink of an eye, almost, Sterne’s then-2 stroke advantage evaporated into a final deficit of one, searing stroke. Certainly great viewing, but not the best medicine for either player’s psyche. Early in the season, we see these types of lead changes, as players regain their winning ways. Although Joost Luiten and Louis Oosthuizen each shot mid-60s on Sunday to reach -15, they were never playing for anything but the 3rd-place tie they achieved.

LPGA Tour: Ji wins Diamond Resorts TOC with 2 strokes in hand

Eun-hee Ji began round 4 in Lake Buena Vista, FL, with a pair to spare over Nelly Korda. She ended the day in the same position, but the runner-up was Mirim Lee, and the result might have been less palatable for Ji. After opening with bogeys on the first 2 holes, Ji, recovered with birdies at 3 and 4. Korda didn’t make a birdie until hole 16 and 2 bogeys at 8 and 9 essentially took her out of the running. Ji turned for home in +1 on the day, while Lee played the front half even. Not much happened to the 2-shot margin throughout most of the afternoon. Each time Ji would make a birdie, Lee would counter, and vice-versa. At the 15th, however, Ji’s bogey and Lee’s 16th-hole birdie reduced the lead to 1. As champions do, Ji rebounded once more with birdie at 16, and both players parred to the clubhouse. After winning major titles in her first two seasons on tour (2008 and 9), Ji has now won each of the last 3 seasons. Sunday’s victory was her fifth career LPGA title. Lee sought her 4th tour win, and first since 2017, but will have to wait at least one more event.

PGA Tour Champions: Lehman overtakes Toms for Mitsubishi Electric title

Scorecard summaries offer interesting patterns to the lazy viewer. David Toms entered round 3 at Hualalai with a 4-shot cushion over Tom Lehman. Toms bogeyed his first and last holes on Sunday. Those two strokes could have turned a 1-stroke defeat into the slimmest of victory margins, but there they were, attested and signed. Toms opened with matching 65s, and looked to all the golfing world like the first Champions Tour winner of the new year. Lehman opened with a see-saw 69, lowlighted by a pair of bogeys. On Saturday and Sunday, he became Toms, closing with 14 birdies against 0 bogeys, and his own pair of 65s. Lehman’s final birdie came at the 16th, and he must have envisioned a playoff against the former LSU golfer, until Toms got greedy at the last. Faced with a long birdie putt, Toms bombed his effort 7 feet past and missed the return train as well. Lehman had a tap-in for the win, his 12th on the senior circuit. Bernhard Langer served notice that he will challenge again in 2019, finishing 3rd at -14, 2 behind Toms and 3 from the trophy.

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Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Dan Ellis

    Jan 27, 2019 at 1:24 pm

    I wish they would post WITB from the Champions tour guys.
    They swing closer to us and I would like to see their gear…

    Come on Guys

    Reply Report comment

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Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

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Aug 4, 2025

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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.

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

Published

4 weeks ago

on

Jul 29, 2025

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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.

 

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BK’s Breakdowns: Kurt Kitayama’s Winning WITB, 3M Open

Published

4 weeks ago

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Jul 28, 2025

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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)

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