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Tour Rundown: Tony Finau earns Houston Open win in a walk | Nelly completes comeback from illness

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3 years ago

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November brings football glory to university and professional teams across the United States of America. It also brings chances at redemption, at inauguration, and at awareness. Five tours disputed time-honored events this weekend, and five champions gave thanks for the opportunity to ply their trade this late in the year. It’s not the cauldron of the majors, nor is it the caldera of international team play, but it is challenging and difficult. Let’s take a run down events from Arizona to South Africa to Houston to Egypt to Florida. Sometimes, a handful is a good thing.

PGA Tour: Tony Finau earns Houston Open win in a walk

The man who learned to win, Tony Finau, had a five-shot advantage after 36 holes in Houston. His lead shrunk to four on Saturday evening, but grew to seven after nine holes on Sunday. How do you play with an eight-shot lead? Sloppily, it turns out. Finau closed with a three-over par 38 on the inward half. It wasn’t enough to jeopardize his victory, but it certainly brought up questions about his ability to close, no matter the circumstance.

Finau’s third win of the 2022 campaign was, for 87 percent of the week, a master class. He posted 22 birdies against three bogeys, over the first 63 holes. Needing a one-under finish to reach minus twenty on the week. The back nine on Sunday was nobody’s masterpiece, but it got the job done for the 33-year old from Utah.

LPGA: Nelly completes comeback from illness with win at PWC

Three storylines had our attention on Sunday in Belleair, Florida. Allisen Corpuz, on the strength of twin 65s, made a run at an inaugural, LPGA victory. Lexi Thompson sought to end a three-year victory drought, and Nelly Korda hoped to complete a comeback from an illness that had sidelined her for much of the season. Any one of those victories would have made for a compelling story.

Corpuz started off slowly on Sunday. She had seven pars on her scorecard before a bogey at eight dropped her farther back. Three birdies and another bogey on the back gave her 69 on the day and a solo third finish, the best of her career. Thompson seemingly finds a new way to un-win a tournament each week. On Sunday, consecutive bogies at 11 and 12 were sandwiched by Korda birdies at 10 and 13. That four hole stretch cost Thompson four strokes.

As for Nelly, seven birdies over the first 17 holes gave her a two-shot cushion on the final tee. Playing safely for bogey, the young Floridian earned the eighth win of her career, and first since last year’s Pelican.

DP World Tour: Fairway Jesus claims first tour title since 2019 event

With three holes remaining in the Nedbank Golf Challenge, Shubhankar Sharma, Ryan Fox, and Tommy Fleetwood sat even at 11-under par. The closing holes at Gary Player Country Club are a study in H2O avoidance. Each demands a low-percentage shot over the wet stuff, and each is fraught with potential for tournament shape-shifting.

Sharma is an unproven commodity, and he was the first to falter. Bogey at 16 and 17 dropped him to nine under par, and he finished there, in solo third position. Fox has learned how to win of late, but with great length comes great potential for wayward landing. His bogey at the last dropped him out of a tie in gut-wrenching fashion, and he finished solo second at ten deep.

It was Fleetwood, aka Fairway Jesus, who held steady over the closing stretch with three boring pars. All those Ryder Cup gauntlets have steeled his nerves, at least when playing with lesser talent. Fleetwood ground out a ho-hum triumvirate of fairways and greens, and claimed his sixth tour title. His fifth also came at the Nedbank, so his appetite for the Sun City course is developing.

 

Asian Tour: Ogletree claims International Series Egypt at Madinaty

Andy Ogletree was one of the COVID generation of golfers, whose senior seasons and professional summers were derailed by the world pandemic. 2020 seems so long ago, but for this group, it was the worst of times. Ogletree has lived the journeyman life since leaving Georgia Tech and the college game, including Monday qualifying, world events, and the inaugural LIV event in London. This week in Egypt, Ogletree gained himself some confidence and some bankroll as he raced to a four-shot win over Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger.

Ogletree began the week with 66, then added 64 and 65 to earn a three-shot advantage through 54 holes. Plenty of golfers posted rounds in the mid-60s, but the tournament would always come down to the final group. Ogletree and Wiesberger went at it in fierce fashion, ensuring a back-nine duel. Each had one bogey and a bucket of birdies on the front nine, with Ogletree one shot better. The Austrian eagled the tenth to gain a shot back (against Ogletree’s birdie!) but the young American did not wilt. Wiesberger reduced the deficit to two at the 13th, but could not get any closer. The 16th decided matters, with Ogletree making birdie against bogey for his opponent. The walk down the final 100 yards wasn’t easy, but the winner closed with birdie to claim an inaugural major-tour win.

PGA Tour Champions: Harrington closes Champions season in style

Padraig Harrington had built himself quite a lead after a Saturday 62. Alex Cejka figured that he’d make the Irishman sweat a bit on Sunday. The German played his first seven holes in five-under figures, putting a bit of a crease in Harrington’s victory stroll. Prince Padraig responded with a birdie run of his own, and Cejka cooled waaaayyy off. He would not make another birdie for eleven holes, and by then the victory would be in no doubt.

Harrington’s seven-shot victory was one for the record books. He played no round higher than 66 on the week, and amassed 27 birdies and one eagle. His second bogey of the week came with 40 holes remaining, and his scorecards were flawless on Saturday and Sunday. His four-round tally of 257 shots set a Champions Tour record. With his victory, the Irishman threw a scare into Steven Alker, in the season-long race for the Charles Schwab Cup. In the end, Harrington finished in second place, as Alker clinched a championship of his own.

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Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

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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

on

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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WITB

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