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M9: PIF chair being sued | On forgiveness and Grayson Murray | American Express photos

Published

2 years ago

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

Good Wednesday morning, golf fans, as next up on the PGA Tour is the American Express.

1. PIF chair being sued

Adam Crafton for the Athletic…”Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the chairman of Newcastle United and LIV Golf, faces being sued for allegedly “having carried out the instructions” of the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), with “the malicious intent” of “harming, silencing and ultimately destroying” the family of the country’s former intelligence chief, Dr Saad Aljabri.”

  • “The claims are made in legal papers that were dispatched to Al-Rumayyan at multiple high-profile locations — including St James’ Park, Newcastle United’s home stadium, during the second week of January.”
  • “Al-Rumayyan is the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), the state’s sovereign wealth fund that acquired an 80 per cent stake in the English Premier League club Newcastle United in October 2021.”
Full piece.

2. On forgiveness and Grayson Murray

Golf Digest’s Joel Beall…”In a vacuum, it has the makings of a redemption narrative. Addiction issues are a beast so many battle in the shadows, and to do it on a public stage—and to come out the other side—is not only admirable but inspirational. Quick as sports fans are to judge, they are also happy to forgive, especially those who are contrite. Couple these serious affairs with the notion that golf loves its players who are able to return from a stay in the wilderness, Murray has all the makings of a tale worth rooting for.”

  • “In that same breath, it’s fair to wonder if Murray truly is a changed man. Did he find religion, did he find stability … or is he simply off social media, his abrasive, divisive and conspiratorial thoughts no longer amplified? It’s also easy to seem at peace after victory; will he still be the same guy we saw in Hawaii if he begins to miss cuts?”
  • “These are questions for Murray, but really they’re for us, those who watch this sport from close and afar. For all of its beauties, golf does not do well when things are not black-and-white, and you better believe Murray is painted in gray. And the short answer is, there is no universal answer, and that’s alright. We can admire the strength it takes to rebuild one’s life the way Murray has and hope that he can be a force of good while still being skeptical of how his life is lived. Or Murray can truly be clean yet still have a habit of making things a mess. These are not conflicting ideologies or mutually exclusive, for us or him. It’s OK to forgive, and it’s OK not to forget.”
Full piece.

3. Brutal DQ

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”According to a KFT media official – and first reported by Monday Q Info – Lyras teed off on No. 10 to begin his opening round at Sandals Emerald Bay Golf Club. He hit his drive, and then his next shot found the water – or so Lyras thought. He dropped another ball, only for one of his playing competitors, who was closer to the green, to find Lyras’ original ball in play.”

  • “So, Lyras picked up the dropped ball and would eventually make bogey with his first ball.”
  • “Later on his first nine, Lyras realized he’d made a mistake, and a rules official was first notified, per the media official, with Lyras’ group walking to the 18th hole, their ninth of the day.”
  • “Initially, the rules official was unsure of the penalty, but after getting clarification, Lyras was disqualified because he didn’t play out the hole with his substituted ball, which was in play once he dropped it, and didn’t correct his mistake before teeing off on the next hole.”
Full piece.

4. Sergio doesn’t like Rory’s LIV take

Our Matt Vincenzi…”While speaking on the “Stick to Football” podcast, Rory McIlroy suggested that LIV could become the “IPL of golf”.”

  • “To me, what I would LIV love to turn into is almost the IPL of golf”, McIlroy said.
  • “IPL in cricket – they take two months off the calendar. You’ve got four weeks in May and four weeks in November and you do this team stuff and it’s a bit different, a different format.
  • “If they were to do something like that, I’d be like ‘yeah, that sounds like fun’ because at least you’re working within the ecosystem. It’s not like the Saudis in football are trying to take over the entire sport, where the Saudis exposed some of the flaws in the structure of professional golf.”
  • “They’ve been able to completely disrupt our game with that money so it exposed some of those flaws so hopefully we can put our heads together and think about what is best for the game going forward.”
Full piece.

5. RTR

PGATour.com staff…“In an Instagram story posted by Justin Thomas on Monday, Burns is seen with “RTR” shaved into the hair on the side of his head.”

  • “I love your new haircut @samburns66,” wrote Thomas. “For sure didn’t lose a bet and did it on your own RTR.”
Full Piece.

6. Niemann hits out at ‘unfair’ OWGR

John Turnbull for Bunkered…”Chile’s Joaquin Niemann played twice in November, winning the ISPS Handa Australian Open in the process, and returns for another crack at rankings points in Dubai this week.”

  • “The 25-year-old, who is now ranked 70th in the Official Golf World Rankings (OWGR), has turned his attention to the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, amid frustrations over an ‘unfair’ ranking system.
  • “It is pretty unfair right now what the world rankings shows,” Niemann told the Mirror.
  • “It says the top 100 players in the world right now, but I don’t think this is the right ranking…I am going to Dubai for the DP World [Tour] just because of [ranking] points and to try and get into the Masters.”
Full Piece.
7. Photos from The American Express

  • Check out all of our galleries from this week’s event!
Full Piece.

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News

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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News

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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WITB

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