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Morning 9: Women’s Open heading to Muirfield | Koepka’s season over | Year of the short hitter? | Feinstein on Herman

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5 years ago

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1. Women’s Open headed to Muirfield 
Golf Channel’s Randall Mell…“The R&A made big news Wednesday, announcing that Muirfield will host the AIG Women’s Open for the first time in 2022.”
  • “…Martin Slumbers, the R&A’s chief executive, laid out the AIG Women’s Open venues for the next five years, a lineup that includes a return to St. Andrews in 2024. Carnoustie will stage the event in 2021, Walton Heath in ’23 and Royal Porthcawl in 2025.”
  • “Muirfield voted just last year to allow women as members for the first time. The club has hosted the men’s Open 16 times.”
2. Koepka withdraws, ending season
Golf Channel’s Will Gray…“Brooks Koepka has withdrawn from The Northern Trust because of injury, a decision that means his 2019-20 PGA Tour season is over.”
  • “Koepka was expected to make his seventh start in as many weeks at TPC Boston, and at No. 97 in points he likely needed at least a top-20 finish to have any chance of advancing to the 70-man BMW Championship. Instead, he pulled out on the eve of the opening round, citing knee and hip issues.”
3. “Year of the ‘short’ hitter”
PGATour.com’s Cameron Morfit…”Jim Herman, who ranks 188th in driving distance (but seventh in accuracy), won the Wyndham Championship last weekend. Granted, it’s that type of course. Everyone in the field can reach Sedgefield Country Club’s two par 5s in two, and it’s about placement, not power.”
  • “But Herman’s surprise win is also part of a trend. Of the four players with multiple victories this season – Collin Morikawa, Webb Simpson, Justin Thomas and Brendon Todd – only FedExCup leader Thomas is in the top 100 on TOUR in driving distance. (Todd is a distant 205th, ranking ahead of just six players) And get this: The longest guy in the foursome has actually throttled back in order to gain control.”
  • “No, I’m glad you brought it up,” Thomas said from THE NORTHERN TRUST at TPC Boston, where the FedExCup Playoffs begin this week. “… I dialed back in distance with a driver and a shaft just to hit a couple more fairways a round. I carry it probably five, eight yards shorter than I did maybe one or two years ago, but I have a little bit more spin so I can control my ball flight a little bit more and I’m just trying to play from the fairway more.
4. Seven ams added to U.S. Open field
Golf Channel’s Will Gray…“Seven amateurs have been added to the field for next month’s U.S. Open, bringing the total number of amateurs expected to compete at Winged Foot to 13.”
  • “With the COVID-19 pandemic causing the USGA to opt for an all-exempt field this year, seven spots were set aside for the top-ranking players (not otherwise exempt) in the World Amateur Golf Rankings following the U.S. Amateur. Those spots went to Nos. 1-7 in the Aug. 19 rankings: Takumi Kanaya, Ricky Castillo, Chun An Yu, Davis Thompson, Eduard Rousaud, Sandy Scott and John Pak.”
5. Tiger commits to next week’s BMW Championship
PGATour.com staff report…”Tiger Woods has committed to next week’s BMW Championship at Olympia Fields in Chicago, which will mark the first time he’s played in back-to-back weeks on the PGA TOUR in a year.”
  • “Woods is 49th in the FedExCup as he prepares for THE NORTHERN TRUST at TPC Boston this week. He last made back-to-back TOUR starts at THE NORTHERN TRUST and BMW last season. He is no stranger to Chicago-area golf as a five-time winner of the BMW Championship, and finished T20 at the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields.”
6. No hospitality venues at 2021 WMPO  
Via the Arizona Republic…”The Waste Management Phoenix Open is more than five months away, but already the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted “The Greenest Show on Grass.”
  • “Tournament chairman Scott Jenkins announced on Wednesday that most of the hospitality venues that normally make up the infrastructure of the grounds at TPC Scottsdale will not be constructed for the 2021 edition of the PGA Tour’s annual stop in the Phoenix area.”
  • “Due to continued health challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the landscape at the Waste Management Phoenix Open will unfortunately look different this year,” Jenkins said in a statement. “This week, we notified our suite holders that most of the hospitality venues that create our event’s incredible tournament atmosphere will not be constructed. In light of the fact that we usually start building our venues in late September/early October, it is just not prudent to do so under the current circumstances.”
7. Adam Scott reflects
Golfweek’s David Dusek…”If Adam Scott could give his younger self some advice, what would it be?”
  • “I liked a lot of the things that that guy did at the time. He was on a good path,” Scott said with a smile after some thought. “I was kind of on that rise up, being a young pro, but then once you kind of get near the top 10 in the world, it’s a real different level to maintain and push all the way up there.”
  • “Scott briefly attended UNLV and was coached by Butch Harmon as a young pro. At that time, Harmon also coached Tiger Woods.”
  • “I think, you know, looking back on it now, it’s hard to remember exactly the influence and attention and intimidation that Tiger drew to golf tournaments, but it was significant to every player who was out here,” Scott said. “I think if anyone was playing at that time, and they were being honest, there’s no doubt he made a big difference. I think I would have told myself to kind of come up with a strategy to block out exactly what Tiger was doing in making us all feel slightly inferior to him.”
8. Feinstein: “A likable tour pro’s win reminds us when political differences shouldn’t matter”
John Feinstein writes…”Herman once worked for President Donald Trump at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. He has played frequently with Trump-both before and after he became president-and talks often about how much Trump has encouraged him about his golf career through the years.”
  • “Herman is very much a Trump supporter. I am, if you haven’t already guessed, very much not.”
  • “And yet Herman and I get along very well. I remember a lengthy locker-room conversation with him shortly after he won for the first time on tour, in Houston in the spring of 2016. He was my kind of story: a grinder who had won for the first time at age 38 and had come a long way from giving lessons at Trump National. He was bright, funny, clearly devoted to his family. The kind of player I’d like to write about and have a beer with.”
  • “In many ways, Herman is a perfect example in these polarized times of not being defined by politics. This is a lesson I’ve learned through the years covering golf: We can all put politics aside, even now.”

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Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

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Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

on

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

By

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

on

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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WITB

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