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Morning 9: Noren fires 61 | Henderson hits every green | Homa starts fast at Nedbank

Published

3 years ago

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

Good Friday morning, golf fans, as day two of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship gets underway.

1. Noren fires blistering 61

ESPN report…”Alex Noren worked hard on his wedge game and it paid off Thursday in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship with a 10-under 61, giving him a two-shot lead over four players on a calm day at Port Royal.”

  • “With barely any breeze, Noren was dialed in. He set a tournament record with 11 birdies, and his 61 broke by two shots his lowest score on the PGA Tour.”
  • “Vince Whaley, Dylan Wu, Robert Garrigus and D.J. Trahan were at 63.”
Full piece.

2. Els opens 2-shot lead in Phoenix

AP report…”Ernie Els opened with four birdies in five holes and never really slowed until he finished with an 8-under 63 for a two-shot lead Thursday in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.”

  • “The 35-man field at Phoenix Country Club effectively is playing for second place in Schwab Cup points race. Steve Stricker, who won six times this year, clinched it before the postseason even began and then had to withdraw from the PGA Tour Champions finale.”
  • “Stricker said his father was admitted to the hospital in Wisconsin on Monday afternoon and he felt it was best to stay with his family.”
Full piece.

3. Homa starts fast in South Africa

ESPN report…”After his longest break from golf and time spent on safari, Max Homa felt anxious about the state of his game heading into the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.”

  • “He needn’t have worried.”
  • “Homa holed a 16-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to shoot a 6-under 66 on Thursday and join Nicolai Hojgaard, Dan Bradbury and Vincent Norrman in a share of the first-round lead in Sun City in the next-to-last event of the European tour season.”
Full piece.

4. Henderson putts for birdie on every hole

AP report…” Brooke Henderson was bothered by seeing so many low scores before she even teed off Thursday on the LPGA Tour. She just went out and putted for birdie on every hole, opening with an 8-under 62 for a 1-shot lead in The Annika.”

  • “Henderson made a long birdie putt on her final hole, the par-3 ninth, for a 29 on the front nine to move past a group that included Jin Young Ko and Patty Tavatanakit.”
  • “Up until this year, ball-striking has definitely been a strength of mine, and hasn’t been as sharp as I would like the last couple months,” said Henderson, who switched irons recently and felt she was headed in the right direction.”
Full piece.

5. 31-year-old PGA Tour record broken

Golf Digest’s Alex Myers…”It had been nearly a month since Adam Long missed the short grass off the tee when he finally hit an errant drive on the 15th hole of Thursday’s opening round of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. By then, however, the 36-year-old had already shattered a 31-year-old PGA Tour record—albeit a pretty obscure one.”

  • “Long arrived in Bermuda with an amazing streak of accuracy having hit 58 consecutive fairways. And when he found another one on the par-5 second hole at Port Royal Golf Course, he broke the record of 59 set by Brian Claar back in 1992.”
  • “Had everyone not come up and said something to me the last 24 hours, I probably wouldn’t think about it as much as I did,” Long told reporters after his round. “But it was in my mind, for sure, to start. Hit a hybrid on the first and then the second fairway’s really hard to hit. Luckily it was kind of into the wind so I hit a driver and hung in the fairway somehow and perfectly in the middle, so after that I was just kind of coasting.”
Full piece.

6. $1 million…and she’s not even playing this week

Kent Paisley for Golf Digest…”The largest payday being claimed on the LPGA Tour this week is likely to go to someone who isn’t even playing at the Annika driven by Gainbridge, the penultimate event on the 2023 calendar. Angel Yin, the leader of the season-long Aon Risk Reward Challenge, stayed away from Belleair, Fla., in part due to being in position to win the $1 million prize awarded to the LPGA player who has the lowest scoring average on a designated hole from tournaments played throughout the 2023 season (and identical competition takes place on the PGA Tour, Tyrrell Hatton winning this year).”

  • “With the Annika event the last one counting toward the prize, Yin (-.933 for the year) can only be pass by Atthaya Thitikul (-.889), but it would require Thitikul to make two eagles at Pelican Golf Club’s par-5 14th over the four days. For the season, the Thai native has made just seven.”
  • “I really didn’t think I had a chance, because to me, Aon is a lottery,” Yin said last week with the knowledge she was all but certain to be the 2023 winner. “It’s really difficult to maintain under par consistently throughout the entire year and not mess up.”
Full piece.

7. Lexi resurgent

Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols…”This week, Thompson tees it up in the newly renamed Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, where she’s been runner-up to Nelly Korda the past two seasons. It’s her first start since that inspired run at making the cut on the PGA Tour.”

  • “Thompson said Pelican Golf Club, an exclusive club in Belleair, Florida, is in the best shape she’s ever seen it. She appreciates that she can play aggressively here and hit driver more than most tour shops. Her familiarity with Bermudagrass helps massively.”
  • “Ruggiero has worked with a number of male touring pros over the years. Former students include Lucas Glover and Robby Shelton. Thompson appreciates his straightforward approach.”
  • “Tony will tell you how it is and that’s great for me,” she said. “That’s how I respond. We laugh together and it’s not super uptight.”
Full Piece.

8. Why Vijay Singh has red numbers written all over his irons

Our Andrew Tursky…”On Tuesday at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club, I noticed that Singh had big red numbers ­written all over his Srixon irons.”

  • “After a closer look, it became clear that the numbers were each one digit higher than the “actual number” that’s stamped into the sole of the irons by the manufacturer.”
  • “So…what’s the deal? Why the mismatching red numbers?”
  • “As confirmed by Brian Rhattigan, who builds Singh’s clubs on the traveling Champions/PGA Tour equipment truck, Singh doesn’t like the look of offset on his irons. In case you don’t know, “offset” refers to the distance between the leading edge of the iron face, and the hosel of the iron. If there’s a large gap between the hosel and the leading edge, then the club is said to have a lot of offset.”
  • “Again, Singh does not like offset. He prefers the leading edge and the hosel to match, or even have “onset,” which is when the leading edge is actually in front of the hosel.”
Full Piece.

9. Photos from the Champions Tour: Charles Schwab Cup Championship

  • Check out our photos from Phoenix!
Full Piece.

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.

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News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

1 day ago

on

May 12, 2026

By

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

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

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

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News

How much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

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

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