News

5 things we learned Thursday at the Masters

Published

5 years ago

Apr 8, 2021

While we all needed a November Masters in 2019, we missed the April rendition that features the Augusta National Golf Club golf course in peak condition. Firm, speedy greens, preceded by similar fairways and exquisite bunkers, were in evidence on day one of the 2021 competition. Mr. Lee Elder joined Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player as an honorary starter, then chairman Fred Ridley proclaimed the tournament underway. The golf that followed was excellent, and the day’s events provided many lessons to the faithful. We’ve distilled them down to five, and are pleased to open Masters week with five things that we learned on Thursday at ANGC.

1. “The margins are tiny” (Some big names played poorly)

We are always caught unaware when one of the game’s grand names turns in a poor first round at the Masters. Perhaps poorly is too strong a word; as Scott Verplank noted in the online coverage of the 15th and 16th holes—the margins for error are tiny.

This year was no different, as Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, and Lee Westwood each turned in a round above 75. This wasn’t horrible when the leader stood at 69, but when that number dropped late in the day, recovery became daunting. Will a mid-60s round on day two, bring them back into the thick of things? Absolutely. In fact, we’d be surprised if at least one of them doesn’t turn in a 66 or better on Friday.

2. Some smaller names played well

No names, outside of the amateur invitees, are of the smallish variety. They arrive via Washington Avenue as top 50-ranked players, or PGA Tour winners, or with some other laurel to create their stature. That said, some of the names are newer to us, and Christian Bezuidenhout, Will Zalatoris, and Brian Harman ended the day inside the top five. The first is a young lion from South Africa, with a game seasoned on the European Tour. The second is a young Demon Deacon from Dallas, who took the Korn Ferry Tour by storm in 2019, and has not let up. The third is the most recognizable name, but with two wins to his credit, Harman wants to trade the “journeyman pro” nametag for one that reads “major champion.” He has challenged in majors before, which should stand him well over the next 54 holes. For Bezuidenhout and Zalatoris, the task will be a bit more arduous.

3. There was a little bit of crazy on Thursday at the Masters

We’re not talking about Vijay Singh holing a long putt at 15 for an ocho moments after he hit the same putt into the pond with his sixth shot (although that did happen.) We’re not talking about Justin Rose’s afternoon round (that one gets its own number further along). We’re talking about Viktor Hovland tossing a triple bogey on the first hole, posting five birdies as a rebound, but adding three more bogeys to shoot one over par. We’re talking about Sungjae Im making a nine at the 15th after clearing the water in two. Hovland is still in site of the leader at +1, but Im followed the big number with a bogey at 16, and signed for 77, twelve back of the lead. Other than Rose (number five, but don’t jump ahead) there were no low numbers on the board. Patience was the order of the day, and Hovland trumped Im in that category.

4. If you go long on 15, stay long

We usually speak about golfers in “Five Things we Learned,” but today, we recall the inspiration for Bobby Jones’ Augusta National: the Old Course at St. Andrews. At the home of golf, strategy at times dictates a play beyond the hole, and even beyond the green. It asks you to play to flat areas for your approach, rather than claim distance and an awkward lie. Nowhere was this more evident than beyond the 15th green. Im and Singh notwithstanding, it was all right to play long on the par 5 as long as you didn’t try to gain too much back with your third. Should the course remain firm this week, players will take a page, nay, a chapter, from the books of Jones and Hogan, and figure out where best to miss.

5. The Rose Series: Justin Rose from the 8th tee on

Do you remember when Sergio Garcia won his green jacket in 2017? He overcame Justin Rose (at that time, the recent Olympic champion and not-too-distant U.S. Open winner) for his first and only major. That loss must still smart, because Rose came out with desire in his eyes this morning. Problem was, he stood at plus-two as he walked off the seventh green, looking anything like a contender.

Over the next 11 holes, Rose posted one eagle and seven birdies, to jet past the clubhouse leaders.

Rose’s drive at the eighth split the fairway, and his metal approach caromed off the left mounds (better lucky than good, unless you’re both) to 15 feet. He drained the putt for eagle, returned to even par, and pressed the accelerator to the floor. After birdies at nine and 10, he played a gutsy recovery from the left pine straw. Landing no more than eight yards from the left pond, Rose reached the green and two-putted for par. He conquered Amen Corner with birdies at 12 and 13 to reach four under, then added a trio of chirpies at 15, 16, and 17, to post 65 on the day.

Rose’s number is all the more impressive when you consider that he was the only golfer toward an afternoon tee time to shoot anything near the 60s. If he can take advantage of an earlier tee time on Friday, his four-shot advantage might grow considerably by the weekend.

News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

1 day ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

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

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

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

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

News

How much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Kristoffer Reitan held his nerve at Quail Hollow on Sunday to claim his first PGA Tour victory and the $3.6 million winner’s check that came with it. The Norwegian fended off a packed leaderboard on a dramatic final day, with Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Højgaard both taking home $1.76 million for their runner-up finishes.

With a total prize purse of $20 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship.

1: Kristoffer Reitan, $3,600,000

T2: Rickie Fowler, $1,760,000

T2: Nicolai Hojgaard, -$1,760,000

4: Alex Fitzpatrick, $960,000

T5: Tommy Fleetwood, $730,000

T5: Sungjae Im, $730,000

T5: J.J. Spaun, $730,000

T8: Ludvig Aberg, $600,000

T8: Harry Hall, $600,000

T10: Patrick Cantlay, $500,000

T10: Matt McCarty, $500,000

T10: Cameron Young, $500,000

13: Justin Thomas, $420,000

T14: Min Woo Lee, $360,000

T14: Chris Gotterup, $360,000

T14: Nick Taylor, $360,000

T17: Alex Smalley, $310,000

T17: Gary Woodland, $310,000

T19: Austin Smotherman, $242,100

T19: Rory McIlroy, $242,100

T19: Keegan Bradley, $242,100

T19: Sudarshan Yellamaraju, $242,100

T19: Kurt Kitayama, $242,100

T24: Patrick Rodgers, $156,643

T24: Pierceson Coody, $156,643

T24: Adam Scott, $156,643

T24: Andrew Novak, $156,643

T24: Harris English, $156,643

T24: J.T. Poston, $156,643

T24: David Lipsky, $156,643

T31: Brian Harman, $114,416.67

T31: Viktor Hovland, $114,416.67

T31: Alex Noren, $114,416.67

T31: Tony Finau, $114,416.67

T31: Nico Echavarria, $114,416.67

T31: Corey Conners, $114,416.67

T37: Sam Burns, $82,187.50

T37: Maverick McNealy, $82,187.50

T37: Akshay Bhatia, $82,187.50

T37: Taylor Pendrith, $82,187.50

T37: Matt Wallace, $82,187.50

T37: Andrew Putnam, $82,187.50

T37: Bud Cauley, $82,187.50

T37: Lucas Glover, $82,187.50

T45: Justin Rose, $60,000

T45: Daniel Berger, $60,000

T45: Ryo Hisatsune, $60,000

T48: Denny McCarthy, $50,000

T48: Aldrich Potgieter, $50,000

T48: Webb Simpson, $50,000

T48: Michael Kim, $50,000

T52: Mackenzie Hughes, $45,187.50

T52: Max Homa, $45,187.50

T52: Brian Campbell, $45,187.50

T52: Jhonattan Vegas, $45,187.50

T52: Matt Fitzpatrick, $45,187.50

T52: Chandler Blanchet, $45,187.50

T52: Jordan Spieth, $45,187.50

T52: Jacob Bridgeman, $45,187.50

T60: Xander Schauffele, $42,500

T60: Robert MacIntyre, $42,500

T60: Ricky Castillo, $42,500

T63: Ben Griffin, $41,250

T63: Sepp Straka, $41,250

T65: Ryan Gerard, $40,250

T65: Si Woo Kim, $40,250

67: Ryan Fox, $39,500

68: Jason Day, $39,000

69: Sahith Theegala, $38,000

70: Sam Stevens, $37,500

71: Hideki Matsuyama, $37,000

72: Tom Hoge, $36,000

Equipment2 weeks ago

Justin Rose WITB 2026 (April): Full WITB breakdown with new McLaren irons

Equipment1 week ago

What’s the story behind Webb Simpson’s custom-stamped irons?

Equipment2 weeks ago

Cadillac Championship Tour Report: Spieth’s sizable changes, McLaren Golf launches, and more

Whats in the Bag3 days ago

Kristoffer Reitan’s winning WITB: 2026 Truist Championship

Whats in the Bag1 week ago

Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2026 Cadillac Championship

Whats in the Bag3 weeks ago

Nelly Korda WITB 2026 (April)

Equipment2 weeks ago

Justin Rose on the switch to McLaren Golf, learnings from previous equipment moves

Tour Photo Galleries2 weeks ago

Photos from the 2026 Cadillac Championship

GolfWRX

5 things we learned Thursday at the Masters

News

5 things we learned Thursday at the Masters