Tour News
By Any Other Name: The Women’s PGA Championship
The frequently-quoted line, spoken by Shakespeare’s Juliet, reads like this: “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Its application to Thursday’s stunning, joint announcement by the PGA of America and the LPGA Tour, is appropriate. Beginning in 2015, the LPGA Championship will be renamed the Women’s PGA Championship. The event will not simply continue as one of the women’s tour’s premier events; it will soar to a new level, thanks to a unique and potent collaboration. As announced by LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan and PGA of America Chief Executive Pete Bevacqua, the rechristened event will rotate among major markets, beginning next year at Westchester Country Club near New York.
The announcement was fittingly made in renowned studio 8H of NBC studios in New York. The home of the ever-trendy Saturday Night Live show played host to guests from the NBC network, the LPGA, the PGA of America and the Metropolitan Golf Association. Also in attendance were officials from KPMG, the audit, tax and advisory service that will provide corporate sponsorship of the tournament.
All of this would be big news for the LPGA Tour; that its flagship, major championship is at the center of the focus made the occasion singular. In an instant, women’s professional golf leaped from the moderate anonymity of the Golf Channel to the looking glass of major network presentation.
“What’s powerful to us is the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, one of the majors in women’s golf, is not just going to be a success on the golf course at the major championship level but it’s going to be more of that. It’s going to be a celebration of women’s golf and women in business.”
These words reference a diverse quilt that seemed previously unattainable. After struggling through the first decade of the new millennium, the LPGA Tour appeared to have a future in the dustbin of sporting history. Then Mike Whan arrived on the scene as commissioner and everything changed. Not overnight, mind you, but the wave has grown larger and stronger with each month and each year of Whan’s tenure. The latest announcement is both impressive and suggestive. It is impressive in its magnitude, yet suggestive regarding what Whan might accomplish next.
And yet, there is something bittersweet in the announcement. The city of Rochester, New York, will depart (perhaps temporarily) from the LPGA’s schedule. An event had been held consecutively in the Empire State’s Flower city for over 40 years. One of the strongest, most stable sponsors of the tour will also take (hopefully briefly) a hiatus. Wegman’s Food Markets sponsored a regular-status event from 1998 to 2009. From 2010 to this year, Wegman’s stepped up its support by hosting one of the tour’s five major championships. Whan revealed that a change was in the wind for some time.
“We have known for a while in our negotiations that Wegman’s that that tournament was going to need to make an adjustment and credit to Wegman’s, they gave us years to think about how to transition and it was really classy,” Whan said. “If you can pick a perfect title sponsor, it would be somebody that would give you 40 years of commitment and when they know it’s going to wind down, they give you plenty of time to make sure you transition.”
Rather than focus all attention on what was lost, let’s return to what the LPGA Tour, the PGA of America and KPMG Services have gained. A presence in a major U.S. media markets, a foothold in the women’s game, healthy financial backing, distribution across a major television network and the chance to contest the event over some of the finest golf courses in the land make the Women’s PGA Championship a complete and utter triumph for all of the parties involved.
For Stacy Lewis, one of the top-10 female golfers in the world, the television aspect made all the difference.
“One of the things I’m excited about is the network TV on the weekend,” Lewis said. “That’s one thing, the Golf Channel is great, we get our golf fans there. But until we get outside of the golf and we get our fans that don’t watch the golf fans, get them into our sport and they see us, they see what great athletes we are, that’s when we go to the next level. So that’s what this tournament is going to do.”
In a word, bravo!
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
GolfWRX is on site this week at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Plenty of golfers who competed in the Masters last week will be making the quick turnaround in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as the Heritage is again one of the Tour’s Signature Events.
We have general albums for you to check out, as well as plenty of WITBs — including Justin Thomas and Justin Rose.
We’ll continue to update as more photos flow in from SC.
Check out links to all our photos, below.
General Albums
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #2
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Justin Thomas – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Rose – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Chandler Phillips – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Nick Dunlap – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Thomas Detry – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Austin Eckroat – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Jason Day – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Will Zalatoris – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Patrick Cantlay – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Ludvig Aberg – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Collin Morikawa – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Sam Burns – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Stephen Jaeger – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
Pullout Albums
- Wyndham Clark’s Odyssey putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- JT’s new Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Thomas testing new Titleist 2 wood – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey putter with triple track alignment aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Scotty Cameron The Blk Box putting alignment aid/training aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey Ai One Eleven T putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Christian Bezuidenhout – testing new Callaway Ti 340 mini driver – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele testing the Callaway Ti 340 mini driver & the DUW – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Byeong Hun An, two new L.A.B. Golf putter builds with “T” alignment – 2024 RBC Heritage
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Valero Texas Open
GolfWRX is on site this week at the Valero Texas Open.
The event has been around since 1922, making it one of the oldest on the PGA Tour calendar. Over the years, it’s been held at a variety of courses across the Lone Star State, but it’s found its home at TPC San Antonio in recent years. Some of the biggest names in golf have taken home the title here, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, and Ben Crenshaw.
GolfWRX has its usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs and special pull-out albums. As always, we’ll continue to update the links below as more photos come in from TPC San Antonio.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Ben Taylor – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Paul Barjon – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Joe Sullivan – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Wilson Furr – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Willman – SoTex PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Jimmy Stanger – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Rickie Fowler – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Harrison Endycott – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Vince Whaley – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Kevin Chappell – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Christian Bezuidenhout – WITB (mini) – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Scott Gutschewski – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
Pullout Albums
- Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Taylor with new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Swag cover – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Greyson Sigg’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Davis Riley’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Josh Teater’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hzrdus T1100 is back – – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Mark Hubbard testing ported Titleist irons – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Tyson Alexander testing new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hideki Matsuyama’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Cobra putters – 2024 Valero Texas Open
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
GolfWRX is on site in the Lone Star State this week for the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
General galleries from the putting green and range, WITBs — including Thorbjorn Olesen and Zac Blair — and several pull-out albums await.
As always, we’ll continue to update as more photos flow in. Check out links to all our photos from Houston below.
General Albums
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Monday #1
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Monday #2
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #2
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Thorbjorn Olesen – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Ben Silverman – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Jesse Droemer – SoTX PGA Section POY – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- David Lipsky – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Martin Trainer – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Zac Blair – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Jacob Bridgeman – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Trace Crowe – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Daniel Berger – WITB(very mini) – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Chesson Hadley – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Callum McNeill – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Rhein Gibson – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Patrick Fishburn – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Peter Malnati – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Raul Pereda – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Gary Woodland WITB (New driver, iron shafts) – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Padraig Harrington WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
Pullout Albums
- Tom Hoge’s custom Cameron – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Piretti putters – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Ping putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Kevin Dougherty’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Bettinardi putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Erik Barnes testing an all-black Axis1 putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Tony Finau’s new driver shaft – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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ken
Jun 2, 2014 at 8:07 pm
In my opinion those running the LPGA Tour have some misguided belief that send the Tour all over the planet is a good idea.
I say, dump the least watched overseas event and put a tour stop in Rochester
Ronald Montesano
Jun 2, 2014 at 9:05 pm
Many Asian-born players means go where the fans are. If Wegmans wants a tour stop in Rochester, it will get one.
Ronald Montesano
May 31, 2014 at 12:13 am
It is a shame for Rochester, which seemed bullet-proof with Wegmans around. Now it might be the second coming of Corning.
Hunterdog
May 30, 2014 at 7:27 pm
Good for the LPGA! Too bad for Rochester and Upstate New York. Other small markets take note and good luck.