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Morning 9: 2 tours, 2 victory droughts ended | Rubenstein on Connery | Shinkwinning | 2 aces this year for 10-year-old

Published

5 years ago

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1. Gay a winner again at 48
Kevin Prise for PGATour.com…“Since the PGA TOUR’s Return to Golf in June, the 48-year-old was without a top-25 finish in 11 starts. He had made 169 starts since his last TOUR title, The American Express in 2013.”
  • “…The University of Florida alum carded a final-round 64 at the Bermuda Championship, capped off with a birdie at the 72nd hole, ultimately good for a playoff with Wyndham Clark at 15 under. Gay won with a birdie on the first extra hole – again the par-4 18th at Port Royal GC.”
  • “With his fifth TOUR title, Gay becomes the oldest TOUR winner since Davis Love III at the 2015 Wyndham Championship. He gains entry into next year’s Sentry Tournament of Champions, PLAYERS Championship and Masters Tournament, in addition to earning 500 FedExCup points.”
2. Shinkwinning! 
Reuters report…”England’s Callum Shinkwin won his maiden European Tour title when he beat Finland’s Kalle Samooja in a playoff to win the Cyprus Open after both golfers finished 20-under overall in a dramatic finale on Sunday.”
  • “Shinkwin, 27, was two shots behind Samooja with two holes to play and sank a birdie on the 17th before holing a 54-foot putt for an eagle on the par-five 18th, his second eagle at the hole after one in the third round.”
  • “Samooja managed to birdie the 18th to force the playoff but missed a birdie putt while Shinkwin sank his own birdie to win his first title in his 112th event.”
3. Phil headed to Houston
Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…“Phil Mickelson has decided to play in the PGA Tour’s Vivint Houston Open, not the PGA Tour Champions event, in his final tuneup before the Masters.”
  • “Last week Mickelson said he was exploring whether to tee it up in Houston at Memorial Park – a course he’d never seen – or at the senior event at Phoenix Country Club. Also complicating his decision was the Tour allowing 2,000 fans per day in Houston, marking the first time a Tour event in the U.S. has permitted spectators since the Players Championship. Mickelson later told GolfChannel.com that the fans wouldn’t be a deciding factor.”
4. Special Temporary status for Zalatoris 
Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…“We should be seeing a lot more of Will Zalatoris on the PGA Tour.”
  • “Entering the Bermuda Championship, the 24-year-old Wake Forest product needed just three points to achieve special temporary membership. He cliched the designation by making the cut on Friday and then made things official Sunday with a closing 68, T-16 finish and 59 FedExCup points.”
  • “Yeah, it’s exciting,” Zalatoris said. “I thought I had a pretty good chance of it in Vegas. Obviously a couple points short. I’m glad I got it done in one week. If I kind of let that wander a little bit, it wouldn’t have been fun.”
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5. Clarke wins TimberTech
“Craig Dolch syndicated in Golfweek…“It has been nine years since Darren Clarke had a victory toast, but he showed Sunday he still knows how to win and celebrate.”
  • “Clarke birdied the 18th hole to win the TimberTech Championship by a shot over defending champion Bernhard Langer and Jim Furyk. It was Clarke’s first victory since the 2011 British Open, and Clarke celebrated with a champagne toast outside the Broken Sound clubhouse.”
  • “I haven’t had one of these in a while,” Clarke said. “I was drunk for a week the last time I won. I imagine I’ll wake up with a headache tomorrow.”
6. Icon of the screen…and links
In his excellent piece on the passing of Sean Connery, Score Golf’s venerable Lorne Rubenstein wrote this: “…in that summer of 2000, Nell and I lived in Dornoch, Scotland, a village I had first visited in 1977. It remains my favourite course and village, way up in the Highlands. Connery loved Dornoch and wrote in his 2008 book Being a Scot that, “During the filming of Goldfinger, I learned the essential challenge of links golf in Royal Dornoch.”
  • “He also loved the entire country in which he was born. Connery was born in Edinburgh and was a strong supporter of Scottish independence. I contacted him and he agreed to write the foreword to A Season in Dornoch, my account of that summer of 2000 when we lived in a roomy, chilly flat above a bookshop a five-minute walk from the links.”
  • “As a Scot, I’m drawn to links golf and its enduring challenges,” Connery wrote. “It’s quite naked golf. There aren’t many trees, or features to aid your alignment. Much is left to the imagination, and to picturing the shot. Then there’s the wind, always a factor on a links. You’re required to play run-up shots, and to work the ball this way and that.”
7. Two aces this year…and he’s 10!
Joe McLean for Flagstick Golf…“In a normal year, the McMahon family would have been balancing Spring Hockey with Competitive Soccer throughout the summer for their son Mason. This year, it was golf and fishing for 10-year-old Mason who joined the Ottawa Hunt club in July and got out to play as much as possible.”
  • “…During his rounds of golf this summer, Mason scored two holes-in-one. Yes, two.”
  • “The first was on September 8th on the 7th hole at Stonebridge Golf Club. He scored the perfect shot from the white tees with a 4 hybrid from 137 yards. The second was on October 15th off the green tees on the 4th hole on the West course at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club. A 7 iron did the trick from 110 yards.”
8. Hickory finds its way back to Pinehurst
Shaun Tolson of Morning Read on Pinehurst’s new hickory club rental program…“It’s a fun experience for individuals who have never done it and also for people who might play hickories once or twice a year,” Barksdale said of renting a set and playing the No. 1 course, the No. 3 course, or The Cradle, Pinehurst’s nine-hole short course. (Although the hickory clubs can be rented for play on any of Pinehurst’s course – even the resort’s revered No. 2 layout – it’s on the resort’s aforementioned shorter courses that Barksdale and his team encourage their use.)”
“They go out there with no expectations whatsoever and simply enjoy the game. It really does give you an appreciation for the early years of golf and how talented those individuals really were.”  Renting a set of hickory clubs for a round at Pinehurst, which costs $50, can impact more than just a singular round of golf. The simple act of carrying those clubs to the driving range can pave the way for noteworthy introductions and interactions.”
9. Gay’s winning WITB
Driver: TaylorMade SIM (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade SIM (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 X
Hybrid: Callaway Apex (20 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White Hybrid 90 TX
Irons: Srixon Z U45 (4), Srixon Z 745 (5-PW)
Shafts: Project X 6.0
Wedges: Vokey SM8 Raw (50-12F, 56-14F@55, 60-10S@59)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Spinner
Putter: Scotty Cameron TN2
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Grips: Iomic

 

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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

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.

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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

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)

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