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Five Things We Learned: Friday at the Women’s PGA Championship

Published

2 months ago

Jun 21, 2025

About the only standardized element of professional golf majors is the distance. In time, that is. Four rounds of 18 holes total 72 holes, usually over four days of competition. After covering events for a passel of years, the routine develops. Round one recaps involve surprises and expectations. Which top players performed as anticipated, combined with which ones did not, and which lesser-known golfers played above their level of expectation. Those from whom nothing was expected, and not much resulted, fall away.

Rounds two and three are about positioning, with the weight gathering after each day. If a golfer remains in contention through 36 holes, she becomes a story line. Through 54 holes, and she becomes a focal point. Day three is equal parts exciting and depressing. The excitement stems from the play that positions golfers for the final march. The depression results from the awareness that just one day remains.

On Sunday, it’s about turmoil, nerves, stumbles, achievements, and glory. You hope, desperately, that someone will make a morning charge that matters. Turning in minus-five to close within eight shots, is delightful, but seldom bears fruit. If no one makes a move, the field of likely contenders is reduced. The multi-board chess match begins, and one golfer remains with untoppled pieces in the end. Today, we find ourselves with two rounds behind us, and two to go. Let’s have a thorough read of the five things we learned on day two of the Women’s PGA Championship.

1} We know Jeeno

Jeeno Thitikul had a one-shot advantage over Minjee Lee at the conclusion of round one. Thitikul extended that margin to three shots by the end of the 36th hole. Now, she faces the necessity of performing among the final groups, under the watching eye of onsite and television audiences, if she wishes to add a major title to her professional vitae.

Thitikul has accrued seven, top-ten finishes in major events, since she began playing them in 2017. In 2022, she earned three of them, while finishing top-25 in the other two. That year also saw her best Women’s PGA finish, a solo fourth at Congressional.

On Friday, at Fields Ranch East, Thitikul gave us more of the same play we witnessed on Thursday. Pars were her friend, bogeys were scarce, and birdies outweighed bogeys. On the windswept fairways of northeast Texas, the Thailand Thitan kept her composure and served notice that the pursuers will need to give greater chase, if they wish to reel her in.

Thitikul has been especially strong around the turn. She has played holes 7 through 12 in seven-under par over the first two days. If she manages to reach those safe spaces under par on day three, watch out.

2} Minjee Lee and Rio Takeda

The back nine continues to give trouble to Minjee Lee. She played it in par figures, barely, on Thursday, and went two-over through that section on Friday. To her credit, she bounced immediately back with a two-under front nine. to return to minus-three and keep Jeeno the leader within reach. Lee will join Thitikul in the final pairing of round three, beginning play at 1:25 local time.

Joining the two-time major champion in second spot is Japan’s Rio Takeda. The co-runner up in this year’s US Open started even worse than Lee on Friday. Takeda also played the inward half first, turned in plus-two 37, then added another bogey at the par-five first. The final eight holes saw a reversal of fortune, as Takeda closed with four pars and four birdies, to post minus-one 71 and join Lee near the top.

Takeda will tee off in the penultimate pairing, at 1:16. She will join Lexi Thompson in the moving day mambo. With a pair of top-ten finishes in the national open of the USA, Takeda is growing in comfort under the klieg lights of major championship golf. Saturday represents another step, another opportunity, to advance.

First birdie of the round for @minjeegolf! #KPMGWomensPGA pic.twitter.com/Iv2W0AZwIZ

— KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 20, 2025

3} Ahh, Lexi

Lexi Thompson dialed back her play for 2025. She announced that she would fewer events this season, essentially setting the stage for a semi-retirement. The time away has done her well, as she enters day three at Fields Ranch East in a tie for second. She will tee off in the penultimate partnering, with Rio Takeda.

After opening in par figures on Thursday, Thompson played two-under par golf on Friday to move into fourth place. Thompson feels at home at the Women’s PGA, with three top tens over her near-two decades of major championship play. This showed as she produced a three-under front nine. He solitary bogey came at the par-five 18th. Oddly, the first and the 18th have given players their share of fits, despite playing as par-five holes on the card.

What will Lexi need over the weekend, to have a chance at victory? Honestly, no one knows. We’ve borne witness to so many close calls over the years, that we cannot make the slightest prediction. Victory is on tap for Lexi this weekend, but the blend of ingredients remains a mystery.

4} The 60s

They were a time of turbulence, of experimentation, of love. That decade, that era, feels as distant as the last score in the 60s at Fields Ranch East. In truth, it came on Friday, but there was just one score of three-under par. It was registered to the name of Charley Hull, who secured four birdies agains one bogey. In so doing, Hull moved 94 spots to the good, making the cut, moving inside the top 25.

There are plenty of marvelous shots to report, but they tend to come on the same hole. There were a pair of hole-outs at the 14th, but those other 17 holes seem to be about as challenging as any one might conceive. Rounds in the 60s will continue to be treasured, and if a playe like Hull adds another two, she might find herself hoisting the Womanamaker Trophy on Sunday evening.

5} Prediction Time

There are two ways that we can go with Saturday. The first is that Jeeno Thitikul extends her lead to five shots or more. No lead is ever safe in major championship golf, given the extreme nature of the set-up and conditions, and the enhanced value of the victory. A third round atop the leader’s board would provide equal parts validation and tension for Thitikul. A fourth round would loom, before the trophy would be hers.

The other way to go, is a surge in play from the chasers, or a drop-off in performance from Thitikul. Rather than a many-shot lead, Sunday would offer a packed house in the expensive seats, with an old west shootout on day four. I’m inclined to go with the former scenario, but not by much. As Fields Ranch East is an unknown commodity, and no player has been able to find a mid-60s score through two rounds, there’s little chance that someone will break out with a magical, majestic round. Anticipate something of a Saturday soccer match, as players jostle for the slightest edge.

News

Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

Aug 4, 2025

Ronald Montesano

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.

Card III and Bacha both miss their birdie tries on the first playoff hole.

We’ll play 18 again @OspreyOpen. pic.twitter.com/vNpHTdkHDg

— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) August 3, 2025

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 29, 2025

GolfWRX Staff

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.

News

BK’s Breakdowns: Kurt Kitayama’s Winning WITB, 3M Open

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 28, 2025

Brian Knudson

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)