News
Morning 9: Tour updates | One-week offseason | Forgotten father of Skins Game?
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By Ben Alberstadt
Email me at ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com and find me at @benalberstadt on Instagram and golfwrxEIC on Twitter.
October 18, 2019 Good Friday morning, golf fans. Get out there and enjoy some fall golf this weekend!
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1. CJ Cup
AP report on the action on Jeju Island, where tournament favorite Justin Thomas has surged to the top…”Justin Thomas shot a 9-under 63 on Friday to take a two-stroke lead at the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges, putting himself in position to win his second PGA Tour event in South Korea in three years.”
2. French Open
With round 2 underway, here’s the post-round one report from Reuters…”George Coetzee and Ryan Fox carded six-under-par 65s to share the lead in the French Open first round on Thursday as the European Tour returned to Le Golf National in Paris a year after the course hosted the Ryder Cup.”
3. Hole-in-one and a second-round lead
AP report…”Brooke Henderson made a hole-in-one and shot an 8-under 64 to take the lead in the second round of the Buick LPGA Shanghai on Friday.”
4. One-week offseason
The Forecaddie with an interesting scheduling observation…”The Man Out Front could not get past the dates for the Korn Ferry Tour playoffs.”
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5. Molinari splits with caddie
Our Gianni Magliocco writes…”Francesco Molinari has parted ways with his caddie Pello Iguaran, who has been on the Italian’s bag for the last four years.”
6. Tiger’s back, but is he ready?
ESPN’s Bob Harig, always a voice of reason, breaks down Tiger Woods’ activities since last playing professional golf, along with what he has on the docket, before concluding..”All of this assumes a level of health and fitness that went missing for the latter part of 2019. Woods turns 44 on Dec. 30 and performing at a high level — competing and winning tournaments — depends so much on his ability to properly prepare, let alone be fit enough to compete with the best in the world.”
7. How the Skins Game started
Speaking of skins, great stuff from Adam Schupak for Golfweek on the forgotten man from the genesis of the beloved event…”When Steve Sesnick read about the upcoming reboot of the Skins Game in Japan headlined by Tiger Woods, he couldn’t help but feel a moment of pride like that of a proud parent. And why not? It was further confirmation that his concept – even if he believes it has outlasted its expiration date – still works.”
“More than 35 years ago, Sesnick claims that he conceived the concept that became one of the most successful made-for-TV franchises in all of sports: four of golf’s biggest names, competing in a go-for-broke format over two days during Thanksgiving weekend when golf traditionally was dark, college football was limited, and even the NFL had two fewer games to compete against.”
8. Record rounds in the 60s
Viktor Hovland’s incredible play continues…Golf Channel’s Carson Williams…”A day after setting a PGA Tour record with his 18th consecutive round in the 60s, Hovland was at it again Friday during the second round of the CJ Cup in South Korea where he carded his 19th straight round in the 60s. The newly-minted Tour member drained a testy par putt at the par-4 ninth to keep his streak alive.”
9. Tiger’s Olympic goal
Reuters report…”Tiger Woods says next year’s Tokyo Olympics are a “big goal” as he looks to add to his decorated career.”
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News
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News
2026 PGA Championship betting odds
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
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
- 2026 PGA Championship – Monday #1
- 2026 PGA Championship – Monday #2
- 2026 PGA Championship – Monday #3
- 2026 PGA Championship – Monday #4
- 2026 PGA Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2026 PGA Championship – Tuesday #2
- 2026 PGA Championship – Tuesday #3

WITB Albums
- Dustin Johnson – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Bryce Fisher – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Jon Rahm – WITB (mini) – 2026 PGA Championship
- Martin Kaymer – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Francisco Bide – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Travis Smyth – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Cameron Smith – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Chris Gabrielle – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Jared Jones – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Ian Holt – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Ben Kern – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Angel Ayora – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Zach Haynes – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Daniel Hillier – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Mikael Lindburg – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Paul McClure – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Garrett Sapp – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Austin Hurt – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Mark Geddes – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Adrien Saddier – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Patrick Reed – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – WITB – 2026 PGA Championshi
- Derek Berg – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Timothy Wiseman – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Tyler Collett – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Andy Sullivan – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Jesse Droemer – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Michael Block – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Jordan Gumberg – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Braden Shattuck – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship
- Elvis Smylie – WITB – 2026 PGA Championship

Pullout Albums
- Cameron putter covers – 2026 PGA Championship
- Custom Cameron made for Brooks to test – 2026 PGA Championship
- Cameron putters – 2026 PGA Championship
- Haotong Li’s custom Cameron putter – 2026 PGA Championship
- L.A.B. Golf putter covers – 2026 PGA Championship
- TaylorMade putter covers – 2026 PGA Championship
- New L.A.B. Golf VZN.1i putter for Adrien Saddier – 2026 PGA Championship
- Odyssey putter covers – 2026 PGA Championship
- TaylorMade staff bag and covers – 2026 PGA Championship
- Callaway staff bag and covers – 2026 PGA Championship
- Xander with a new Odyssey milled 7X putter – 2026 PGA Championship
- Srixon driver head cover – 2026 PGA Championship
- Bettinardi covers – 2026 PGA Championship

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Equipment2 weeks agoJustin Rose WITB 2026 (April): Full WITB breakdown with new McLaren irons
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Equipment1 week agoWhat’s the story behind Webb Simpson’s custom-stamped irons?
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Equipment2 weeks agoCadillac Championship Tour Report: Spieth’s sizable changes, McLaren Golf launches, and more
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Whats in the Bag3 days agoKristoffer Reitan’s winning WITB: 2026 Truist Championship
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Whats in the Bag1 week agoCameron Young’s winning WITB: 2026 Cadillac Championship
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Whats in the Bag3 weeks agoNelly Korda WITB 2026 (April)
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Equipment2 weeks agoJustin Rose on the switch to McLaren Golf, learnings from previous equipment moves
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Tour Photo Galleries2 weeks agoPhotos from the 2026 Cadillac Championship

