News

Morning 9: New Euro Tour schedule | When Tiger made Adam Scott question turning pro

Published

7 years ago

Oct 3, 2019

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt

Email me at ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com and find me at @benalberstadt on Instagram

October 3, 2019

Good Thursday morning, golf fans.

1. Koepka: I don’t play for awards

Golf Channel’s Nick Menta on BK latest display of confidence…This year’s POY vote stirred up debate after Koepka – who won three times and finished in the top 4 at all four majors with a victory at the PGA Championship – lost the vote to Players and FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy.

“Asked on Wednesday for his reaction to the vote, Koepka was initially short….”I don’t play for awards. I just play to win, win trophies, win tournaments,” he said.”

“But then, right when it sounded like he was ready to move on and quash the conversation, the PGA Tour’s alpha dog made a sufficiently alpha comparison.”

“Yeah, it would’ve been great, but I think everybody in this room knows – I mean, LeBron has only won 4 MVPs

Full piece.

2. Stem cell injection

Steve Dimeglio with the previously unknown news of a Brooks Koepka injury and treatment…”Ahead of his season debut in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin, Koepka revealed Wednesday he underwent a stem cell procedure for a partially torn patella tendon. He did it to relieve discomfort and strengthen a left knee that had been bugging him since March.”

“The procedure was performed Sept. 2 in Orlando.”

“It’s stem cell, so they go in and inject it into my knee,” Koepka said. “I’m watching it on the screen, as they were doing it, and it was probably one of the most painful things, I was screaming when they did it.”

Full piece.

3. New Euro Tour schedule revealed

EuropeanTour.com report on the 2020 schedule…”The Rolex Series returns for its fourth consecutive year, beginning with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Presented by EGA (January 16-19) followed by the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open (May 28-31), and the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open (July 9-12), before the BMW PGA Championship (September 10-13) and the Italian Open (October 8-11) take place a fortnight either side of The Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits.”

“The season then concludes with three consecutive Rolex Series events; the Turkish Airlines Open (November 5-8), the Nedbank Golf Challenge Hosted by Gary Player (November 12-15) and the season-finale, the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai (November 19-22) where the 2020 Race to Dubai champion will be crowned.”

Full piece/see the full sched

4. Notable elements of the new schedule

Joe Hughes of National Club Golfer on a few of most noteworthy elements of the schedule.

For example, this on the Irish Open…”Staying with the Irish Open, the tournament will not take up its spot immediately before the Scottish Open and Open Championship in 2020.”

“The three events offered a nice links swing when all scheduled close together but this will no longer be the case.”

“Stacking up against the Rocket Mortgage Classic, the Irish Open will now be played on the last weekend in May and the move should encourage a stellar field to assemble at whichever venue is chosen.”

Full piece.

5. When Tiger beat up on Scott

Golf Channel’s Nick Menta…”Scott was working with swing coach Butch Harmon shortly after turning pro, and Woods was stopping by Rio Secco on his way to Pebble Beach.”

“It was the Sunday before the week of the U.S. Open,” Scott said.

“He closed me out on the 14th, but he double bogeyed the 9th for 63, and I was a bit blown away by what I saw. It was quite windy, and I thought I played quite well. Probably shot about even par and I was nine off the pace. I made probably a throwaway comment to Butch, something like, ‘Maybe I should reconsider turning pro?’

“The only thing that made me feel good was he won the U.S. Open by 15 the next week, so I was quite happy to see that no one else really played like that.”

Full piece.

6. Is Rory right?

Alistair Tait thinks he might be…”Although there are still tournaments left to play on this year’s European schedule, average winning totals are two shots easier than Rory’s first full European Tour season of 2008. The average winning total 11 years ago was 272. It’s 270 this year. Ditto for shots under par. Sixteen under is the average winning tally, while it was 14 under in 2008.”

“Rory was right to feel miffed at finishing T-26 for 15 under in the Alfred Dunhill. He’d have finished higher with that score every year going back to 2008. In fact, 15 under would have won in 2008, and earned him a playoff last year. It would have put him in the top 10, including five top fives, every year except 2013 when he would have placed T-24.”

Full piece.

7. Na the humble?

PGATour.com’s Ben Everill quoting Kevin Na…“I’m not afraid to make fun of myself. Some of these things, you have to be able to own up to it,” Na says.

“Making a 16, it can happen to anybody. I’ve had the yips. … that can also happen to anybody. Because I have been so open about it, I think a lot of people have come to me asking for advice and I love trying to help people where I can.

“It’s important that you are not a person that digs a hole of negativity that you ultimately struggle to get out of. Be open about things. Talk about it. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Full piece.

8. Eye of the Tiger test

Golf Digest’s Peter Morrice…Tiger discusses the subject of trying new equipment in Episode 7 of his “My Game: Tiger Woods'” video series, by GOLFTV and Golf Digest. “A club may perform better than what I have, but if I’m fighting the way it looks, and I have to rely on it on the 72nd hole of a tournament,” Tiger says, “I’m probably not going to give it a chance.”

Tiger talks about having 50 drivers sent to him when he’s considering a change, and his process of eliminating most of them to find a few keepers. First impressions matter to Tiger; in fact, his eye test is the critical first step. “It has to look good, then after that it has to perform at my expectations,” Tiger says. “If it’s not doing those two things, then it’s just not in.”

Full piece.

9. Baseball-golf parallel?

An interesting point from Geoff Shackelford…”Baseball and golf’s launch-angle focus has introduced safety issues in baseball, longer games and a less interesting version of the sport to watch. Similar parallels can be seen in golf. And yet…”

“Craig Calcaterra reports that in a record year for home runs, baseball saw its lowest attendance in sixteen years. While his focus on the price of attending games is no doubt part of the problem, the thirst to see home runs has not been enough to offset the economics. Sound familiar?”

Full piece/link to Calcaterra’s report

News

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

Published

1 day 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.