Connect with us

News

Morning 9: Are Koepka’s best days behind him? | Bryson bashes TPC Summerlin…inspired by Happy Gilmore? | Another freak tree-related PGA pro death

Published

5 years ago

on

1  Lincicome, Kelly Tran share lead at Womens PGA
AP report…”Brittany Lincicome brought 15-month-old daughter Emery to a recent practice round at Aronimink Golf Club and let her run around the course and plop down on mom’s pink golf bag.”
  • “Back home with dad, the TV was on for the family to watch Brittany do what she does best, as one of the tour’s bigger hitters regularly found the greens she needed to emerge as a contender for another major victory.”
  • “Lincicome and Kelly Tan each shot 3-under 67 on Thursday in windy conditions at challenging Aronimink to share the lead in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.”
2. Bryson bashes Summerlin
Golfweek’s Steve DiMeglio…“Big bad Bryson DeChambeau continued his assault on golf courses the country over by bashing TPC Summerlin into submission in Thursday’s first round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.”
  • “But he was far from the only one that battered the desert layout…A day after he shot 59 on his own ball during the pro-am – and missed an 8-footer for a 58 on the last hole – DeChambeau putted for eagle five times, made a career-best five consecutive birdies and matched his lowest round on the PGA Tour with a bogey-free 9-under-par 62 to grab the lead.”
3. Second freak tree-related PGA pro death this year…
Awful stuff in the wake of the death of PGA pro Justin Riegel a few months ago who was killed by a tree falling on the clubhouse.
  • Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram….“A violent storm blew through Wyantenuck Country Club, located in Great Barrington in Massachusetts’ Berkshire Mountains, late Wednesday afternoon and Sullivan, the head golf professional, drove throughout the course to make sure everyone had left safely after he sounded the weather warning horn.”
  • “As Sullivan drove his golf cart down an access road, a tree fell and killed him. A neighbor called police after seeing a tree had fallen on the cart. Two police officers found Sullivan on the ground near the cart, which was covered by several fallen trees and branches, but they couldn’t revive him, Great Barrington Police Chief William R. Walsh Jr. told the Berkshire Eagle.”
4. Loving and hoping
Our Johnny Wunder…
I LOVE that we are getting PGA Tour action for two straight weeks in Vegas. 1) Because it is seeding season for the OEMs so glimpses of new equipment, potential free agent testing, and the like are all included. 2) We will get two totally different golf tournaments. Shriners will be a low scoring shoot out with a number of players (young and veterans) with a shot to win. ZOZO will be a star-studded potential shoot out OR a tough high scoring affair depending on how they set it up. Shadow can play very tough if they tuck the pins and speed the greens up. Trust me, I saw Tiger/Phil #1, and neither player was any threat to rip it to shreds…and that was an “exhibition”
I HOPE Tiger shows up huge at ZOZO and at the CJ Cup. I believe he needs two REALLY solid tournaments if he has a chance in hell at Augusta. Yes, I said it. He hasn’t played poorly so to speak but he has yet to put it all together for 72 holes. If we get what 99.9% of us want at Augusta he needs 2 top 10’s and maybe even a win in those two.

5. BWM PGA Championship round 1

AP report…”Tyrrell Hatton remembers walking outside the ropes as a wide-eyed 5-year-old and watching his heroes at the BMW PGA Championship, the tournament which inspired him to become a professional golfer.”
  • “Now he’s leading the European Tour’s signature event at Wentworth, although there are no spectators to see it.”
  • “After almost nine months in the United States – during which he won his first PGA Tour title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational – Hatton is back in Europe and continued his strong form with a 6-under 66 to help set the first-round pace Thursday at a tournament he knows so well.”
  • “He was tied for the lead with Justin Harding of South Africa and Adri Arnaus of Spain, neither of whom dropped a shot around the West Course on an overcast day.”
 
6. Quietly chasing senior glory 
JuliaKate E. Culpepper for Golfweek…“The 50-year-old Furyk is having a rookie season to remember on the senior circuit.”
  • “The 17-time winner on the PGA Tour won his Champions debut in August at the Ally Challenge in Grand Blanc, Michigan, followed by another win in September in his second start at the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach.”
  • “While he still plans to play occasionally on the PGA Tour, the former FedEx Cup Champion said the Champions Tour is calling his name a little louder these days.”
  • “I think this is going to be my home and just excited to play some golf,” Furyk said Thursday.
7. Happy Gilmore “re-inspires” Bryson 
Eric Patterson for the Score…“DeChambeau’s inspiration to somehow chase even more distance comes from a surprising source, though.  “You know, I watched ‘Happy Gilmore’ a little while ago and just re-inspired me to try and hit it as far as possible,” DeChambeau said on Wednesday at the Shriners Hospitals for Charity Open.  And though he may not be willing to incorporate the patented Happy Gilmore swing into his game, DeChambeau is still committed to pushing the limits of driver length.”
8. Is the best of Brooks Koepka behind him?
An interesting proposition… Here are a few passages from John Hawkins piece postulating we’ve seen the best from the straight-shooting Floridian…
  • “…It’s an interesting worldview from a guy who now is the it kid, or was until he injured his left knee at a Tour event in South Korea almost a year ago. Koepka actually had missed the cut as the star attraction of a thin field in Las Vegas two weeks earlier, his first MC in 14½ months. No big deal, but when he returned to action in January and looked nothing like his previous self, then factored just twice after the COVID-19 suspension before ending his season after another MC in North Carolina, the meteor of 2017 had begun to resemble a falling star.”
  • “How hurt was/is he? Koepka made it a point to say his knee was fine at various times in 2020, then play poorly and suggest that maybe it wasn’t. Did he return to competition too early and repeatedly aggravate the situation? If so, there is no best-case scenario here. When you’re one of the world’s best golfers, there’s really no such thing as a minor knee injury. It’s a bit like saying someone had a mild heart attack.”
  • “…The real-world assessment of Koepka and his future might look something like this: he’s too injured to perform at his best but not injured enough to undergo a full-blown surgical procedure. Resting the leg hasn’t worked, so we’re looking at a guy with four really cool trophies standing at the crossroads, his career bumping against a certain amount of long-term peril.”
9. Nelly Korda WD
Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols on the best American golfing woman bowing out...”Nelly Korda has withdrawn from the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The World No. 2 opened the tournament with a 1-over 71 at Aronimink and trailed early leaders Kelly Tan and Brittany Lincicome by four strokes.”
“Korda cited discomfort in her back as the reason on her Instagram post, noting that she planned to see a specialist.”

 

Related Topics:

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.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

News

Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

on

Aug 4, 2025

By

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.

Continue Reading

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.

 

Continue Reading

News

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

Published

4 weeks ago

on

Jul 28, 2025

By

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)

Continue Reading

WITB

Whats in the Bag3 weeks ago

Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)

Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.  Driver: Titleist...
Whats in the Bag3 weeks ago

Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2025 Wyndham Championship

Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
Whats in the Bag4 weeks ago

Camilo Villegas WITB 2025 (July)

Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
Whats in the Bag4 weeks ago

WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship

Brandt Snedeker fired a final-round 65 at the 2018 Wyndham Championship to outlast Webb Simpson and C.T. Pan. His 5-under...

Facebook

Trending