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Morning 9: A major win overshadowed by “the Great Wall of Dinah” | Cink | Tiger at Winged Foot | Kisner’s COVID tweet

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5 years ago

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1. Magic at the 72nd, steadiness at the 73rd make Mirim Lee a major champ
“This major was marred, however, by the advertising…that was ridiculously erected around the 18th green…” James Corrigan at the Telegraph accurately writes regarding the final stretch at the ANA Inspiration.
My feeling: The blue barrier benefitted Brooke Henderson (a little) and Mirim Lee (a lot) distracting from a finish that, absent the beneficial breaks, would likely have seen Nelly Korda hopping into Poppy’s Pond.
  • Anyway, the winner… “Ranked 94th, Lee chipped-in twice in the last three holes at Mission Hills, Palm Springs to fight herself into the shootout against Nelly Korda, the world No 3, and Brooke Henderson, the world No 9. And when she birdied the first sudden-death hole the title was hers to enjoy. As was the traditional jump into Poppie’s Pond behind the 18th green.”
  • …”It is fair to say that Korda and Henderson were completely stunned. All day, it had been a head-to-head and yet neither of them prevailed. In the searing heat, the advantage changed hands between the duo, this way and that, and even with a few holes to play it was almost inconceivable that someone else would come through.”
  • “Credit to Lee, 29, who had not won for three years but who showed she had what it takes when finishing second at the 2016 AIG Women’s Open at Woburn, including a record-equalling 62.”
2. Safeway: Cink wins
AP report…”Sparked by a strong short game, Cink won the season-opening Safeway Open at 47 years old Sunday for his seventh PGA Tour victory and first since that win at Turnberry 11 years ago.”
“Making it more special? Cink won with 23-year-old son Reagan alongside as his caddie, with wife Lisa — in her fifth year of cancer remission — watching from beyond the ropes.”

Full piece.

3. A South African wins in Portugal

AP report…”South African George Coetzee shot a 5-under 66 to win the Portugal Masters by two strokes on Sunday.”
  • “Coetzee finished at 16 under par after birdies on two of the last three holes to seal the victory over Englishman Laurie Canter, who also shot a 66.”
  • “Tommy Fleetwood (64) ended another shot back after making a late charge with four birdies in his last seven holes, including the final two. The Englishman was tied for third with Swede Joakim Lagergren (65), who also finished strongly with birdies on Nos. 14, 16 and 17.”
4. From done with the game to KFT winner
Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…“Curtis Thompson was done. Now, he’s a Korn Ferry Tour winner.”
  • “The 27-year-old Thompson captured the Evans Scholars Invitational on Sunday, making birdie on the final hole for a closing 2-under 70 at Chicago Highlands Club in Westchester, Illinois, to finish a shot clear of Will Zalatoris (64) and Jimmy Stanger (66).”
  • “It was the first KFT – and world-ranked – victory for Thompson, who two years ago gave up playing professional golf.”
  • “After a disastrous season on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2018, he lost his card and decided to quit the game. He picked up the bag for his sister, LPGA star Lexi Thompson, and got a job looping at Pinetree Golf Club back home in Boynton Beach, Florida. During his sabbatical, Thompson also finished his degree (he turned pro early out of LSU in 2014) and got married.”
5. Tiger arrives at Winged Foot
Golf Digest’s Daniel Rapaport…“Woods arrived at Winged Foot Golf Club on Sunday afternoon for some light practice and a nine-hole round, playing the back nine a full four days before he’ll tee it up in the year’s second major.”
  • “Wearing shorts, [EDIT: And an untucked shirt, I might add!] Woods returned to the iconic Mamaroneck, N.Y., layout to prepare for his first tournament there since the 2006 U.S. Open, where he did something he’d never done in his pro career to that point: missed the cut in a major. (That was also the first tournament start he had made since the death of his father, Earl.) He’s been back much more recently, though-Woods played a full 18 with Justin Thomas three weeks ago, when both players stopped over en route to The Northern Trust in Boston.”
 
6. ICYMI: Kisner’s COVID tweet
ESPN’s Bob Harig…”Golfer Kevin Kisner issued an apology and the PGA Tour put out a statement in response to the golfer’s tweet on Saturday morning in which he says he made a “reckless comment” about the guidelines that are in place to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.”
  • “Kisner, a two-time PGA Tour winner who is also a member of the tour’s policy board, responded to former NBA player Rex Chapman, who tweeted on Friday that parents of his friends have died from COVID-19 and that one of his own children was diagnosed with the virus.”
  • “Guess they can’t follow the guidelines,” was Kisner’s reply.
7. A most interesting win
AP report…”Miguel Angel Jimenez completed a wire-to-wire victory Sunday in the Sanford International, the PGA Tour Champions’ first event with fans since returning from a break for the coronavirus pandemic.”
  • “Jimenez closed with a 5-under 65 at Minehaha Country Club to beat Steve Flesch by a stroke. The 56-year-old Spanish star won for the second time this season and 10th on the 50-and-over tour.”
  • “How am I going to celebrate?” Jimenez said. “We start already. We have some wine here, it’s my favorite drink. Nice cigar, Arturo Fuentes. … The short period you’re going to be here in this world, enjoy yourself.”
8. Phil was hardly alone… 
PGATour.com’s Sean Martin…“Winged Foot may have been his best chance to win his national championship. Playing in the final group, he arrived at 18 needing a par to win. Instead, his drive sailed off a hospitality tent and his recovery shot ricocheted off a tree and nearly bounced back to his feet. He made double-bogey instead. “
  • “I am such an idiot,” Mickelson famously said afterward. “This one hurts more than any tournament because I had it won.”
  • “His 6 at the last hole dropped him to 6 over par for the tournament, one shot behind winner Geoff Ogilvy.”
  • “He wasn’t the only one who lost the 2006 U.S. Open with bogey, or worse, on 18. PGATOUR.COM recently spoke to the others to illuminate all of the craziness that occurred on Winged Foot’s closing hole:”
9. Cink’s winning WITB
Driver: Ping G410 LST (10.5 degrees @11.5, Big +)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD XC 6 TX (45.25 inches)
3-wood: Ping G410 (14.5 degrees @13.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green 70 6.5
7-wood: Ping G410 (20.5 degrees @19.75)
Shaft: Accra FX 2.0 360 M5
Irons: Ping i210 (4-UW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (+1/2 inches)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM8 Raw (56-08M, 60-04L)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (+1/2 inches, D6 swing weight)
Putter: Ping Vault 2.0 Ketsch
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

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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.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Moosejaw McWilligher

    Sep 14, 2020 at 6:26 pm

    So, Kisner pushed for fans to come back to golf ASAP for “revenues”… and then he’s going after people for catching the virus. Hypocrite, idiot, both? Yeah, Chapman was right to reject the apology.

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News

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

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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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