News

Morning 9: Masters ratings boost | Rahm No. 1 | Insane par round

Published

3 years ago

Apr 12, 2023

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

Good Wednesday morning, golf fans, and as we look towards the RBC Heritage, another PGA Tour designated event.

1. Masters: Final round best TV ratings of any golf telecast in 5 years

Alex Myers for Golf Digest…”The final round averaged drawing 12.06 million viewers, which was up 19 percent from Scottie Scheffler’s win in 2022, according to CBS. That also makes it the most-viewed golf telecast on any network since the 2018 Masters…”

“According to CBS, viewership peaked on Sunday between 7 and 7:15 p.m. ET with more than 15 million people tuning in to see Rahm put the finishing touches on his first Masters win and second major title.”

“The network totaled 16.251 million viewers in combined average viewership during a marathon Sunday that began with the conclusion of the third round.”

Full piece.

2. Rahm No. 1

Patricia Duffy for Golf Channel…”Four months into 2023 and we’ve already seen the world No. 1 title pass between three guys on four different occasions.”

“The undisputed Big 3— Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy — have been playing musical chairs since February 12, when Scheffler took the top spot from McIlroy for the first switcheroo of the year. Now, Rahm is back on top for the second time this year after his Masters win.”

Full piece.

3. The new Ryder Cup torchbearer?

Oliver Brown for the Telegraph…”What Ballesteros has bequeathed to Rahm, though, is a consuming passion for the Ryder Cup. Just as the great Seve derived his deepest satisfaction from crushing his US opponents, Rahm called the experience of beating Tiger Woods in singles in Paris five years ago the “best feeling of my life”. In the wake of his emphatic four-stroke victory to claim the Green Jacket, Rahm has a pivotal role to perform at the contest in Rome this autumn. Quite simply, Luke Donald, the European captain, is duty-bound to make him his on-course leader.”

“The identity of Europe’s Ryder Cup talisman has been fraught with uncertainty since Seve’s pomp. Ballesteros was such a galvanising force that Mark James once said: “He could have played with my mum, who doesn’t even play, and it wouldn’t have surprised me if they had got half a point.” Despite a formidable European record in winning four of the past six match-ups, there is no natural substitute for the Seve effect.”

Full piece.

4. The short shelf life of Brooks Koepka’s “clutch” gene

Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan with the tally of times Koepka has recently held or been near the lead in majors — in addition to BK’s inability to get the gearshift out of neutral at the Masters Sunday.

“2019 Masters: Tied for the lead heading into 12, makes double bogey, plays 3 under the rest of the way but loses to Tiger by a shot.”

“2019 PGA Championship: Holds a seemingly insurmountable seven-shot lead on the field heading into the final round, reaches 13 under by the tenth hole, then falls off a cliff, making five bogeys in the last eight holes. Only Dustin Johnson’s equally rough pressure play down the stretch saves the day for Koepka, who nearly blew the biggest final round lead in major history.”

“2019 U.S. Open: Fights to within a shot of Gary Woodland on the back nine, but plays the last seven holes in over over, with no birdies, to lose by three.”

“2021 PGA Championship: Takes a one-shot lead over Phil Mickelson on the first hole on Sunday, immediately makes double bogey, finishes with a 74, the second-worst score of anyone in the top 16, to lose by two.”

“2021 U.S. Open: Shoots a respectable Sunday 69 to finish T-4, but was arguably never a real threat to Jon Rahm.”

Full piece.

5. Jordan Spieth expecting exciting week

Riley Hamel for Golfweek…”according to defending champion Jordan Spieth, Harbour Town Golf Links could produce a more diverse leaderboard.”

“I think on a course like this, it’s going to be more unique than any of the ones that we’ve experienced in any of the elevated events so far because you have a course where it doesn’t matter about length,” he said Tuesday after the ceremonial cannon shot. “You just have to golf your ball around. It’s an advantage if you hit it far and straight, but you’ve got to take risk on more than you do other places if you want to try and keep hitting driver.

“It could be just such a massively bunched leaderboard of such big names, it’s got the potential to be as exciting an event as we’ve seen this year.”

Full piece.

6. Cantlay responds to slow play critics

7. What a round!

8. WITB Time Machine: Wesley Bryan’s winning WITB at the 2017 RBC Heritage

Driver: Callaway GBB Epic (8.5 degrees)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana Blue S+ 70 TX

3-wood: Callaway GBB Epic (15 degrees

Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Red 75 X 6.0

Hybrid: Callaway Apex (18 degrees)

Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI Hybrid 95 X

Irons: Callaway Apex Pro 2016 (4-PW)

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Callaway MD3 Milled (50-10S, 54-10S), Callaway Mack Daddy Forged (58-08)

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey Metal X Milled #2

Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X

Grips: Iomic

Full piece.

9. Photos from the RBC Heritage

Check out all of our galleries from this week’s event!

Full piece.

News

WITB Time Machine: Phil Mickelson’s winning WITB, 2021 PGA Championship

Published

20 hours ago

May 13, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Phil Mickelson made history at the 2021 PGA Championship on Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course. At 50, he became the oldest player to win a major, breaking Julius Boros’s record. Starting the final round with a slim lead, Lefty faced tough competition from Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen. He pulled ahead with key birdies and a standout 366-yard drive on the 16th hole. Finishing 6 under par and two shots ahead, Mickelson claimed his sixth major and second PGA Championship. Many saw his win as an inspiring comeback, showing that experience and determination can still lead to victory in professional golf — and, sometimes, age is just a number.

Driver: Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond (6 degrees @5.5 , green dot cog)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X (47.9 inches)

2-wood: TaylorMade “Original One” Mini Driver (11.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X

4-wood (Sunday only): Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X

Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (16) (Thursday-Saturday), Callaway X21 UT Proto (19 degrees @20.5, 25), Callaway Apex MB ‘21 (small groove) (6-PW)
Shafts: (16) MCA MMT 105 TX, KBS Tour V 125 S+

Wedges: Callaway PM Grind ’19 “Raw” (52-12@50, 55-12, 60-10)
Shafts: KBS Tour V 125 S+

Putter: Odyssey Milled Blade “Phil Mickelson”
Grip: SuperStroke Pistol GT Tour

Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X (Triple Track)

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

More photos of Phil Mickelson’s WITB here.

News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

2 days 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

3 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.