Connect with us

Tour News

Tour Mash: Vegas, Broadhurst, Lindheim take titles

Published

on

For the male touring professionals, this week provided a respite between major championships. Golfers traveled to the Toronto suburbs from Scotland and Alabama to battle for another national open in Canada. For the women, a unique team event pitted eight top teams in suburban Chicago, while the senior men had their own major championship at Carnoustie for the Senior British Open.

Let’s mash it up.

Vegas bounces back from Barbasol disappointment with Canadian Open victory

Hopes were high on Sunday that a Canadian, and an amateur at that, would end the 62-year streak of a foreign champion at the RBC Canadian Open. Jared du Toit entered the final round in the final pairing one shot behind overnight leader Brandt Snedeker and his 9-under total. Plenty of other story lines had developed, from U.S. Open champ Dustin Johnson to rising star Jon Rahm of Spain to other unheralded players like Steven Wheatcroft, Martin Laird and Ricky Barnes.

In the end, it was an unheralded player who closed with three birdies to crush the playoff hopes of Laird, Rahm and Johnson. Jhonattan Vegas, who shot 60 but failed to close the deal last week at the Barbasol Championship, birdied four of his last six holes to finish a 12-under par, one clear of the aforementioned trio.

Vegas lagged a 45-foot eagle putt to within a foot on the final green to clinch his second PGA Tour victory, and his first since the 2011 Bob Hope Classic. Minutes later, Rahm had a 10-foot putt of his own for eagle and a tie, but missed. Laird was unable to birdie the last to tie. Johnson, having eagled the par-5 sixteenth, made a valiant run at another eagle, but his chip for three at the home hole finished 2 feet off. Heartbreak of the day, however, went to Steven Wheatcroft.

Related: Wheatcroft blames bunker for tournament-losing shot

In a greenside bunker in two — and needing an up and down to force a playoff — the Wheatcroft skulled his sand shot into the pond fronting the green.

Broadhurst takes advantage of competitors’ struggles in Senior British Open

When Miguel Angel Jimenez made his Saturday move with 65 at Carnoustie, establishing a four-shot advantage over second-place Paul Broadhurst, two things seemed certain: the Spaniard would improve on last year’s 4th-place finish, and he would make chasing him down a near-impossible task.

No one anticipated two doubles and a bogey on Sunday, a three-over 75 in the final round that would drop him to 7-under a tie for 3rd place.

Paul Broadhurst, Jimenez’ partner in the final round, took advantage of the collapse with a Sunday surge. The Englishman, with son Sam as his caddie, turned in a perfect card, pairing four birdies with 16 pars for a two-stroke win over Scott McCarron.

McCarron was the first man to seize the lead during Jimenez’ tumble, but was unable to stay on top. Bogeys on Nos. 16 and 18 (he did the same on Saturday) dropped him from 11-under to 9-under. After playing the back nine in even par on Thursday, Broadhurst figured out the secret to the inward half and played it better than anyone else the rest of the week. He was 3-under over that stretch on Sunday, clinching his first senior major championship.

Team USA scores an unlikely comeback win at the UL International Crown

Unlike other team events, it’s never over until it’s over at the UL International Crown. Nor it is predictable. Team USA found itself 0-2 after Day 1 of competition, mired in last place in its half of the draw. England surprised the Americans, and took a sizable lead, while Chinese Taipei offered an equal surprise in its bracket. After three days of foursomes play, plus a playoff, five teams moved into the Sunday singles play to decide the champion.

The foursome of Christy Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Gerina Piller and Lexi Thompson clawed its way back on Days 2 and 3, and found itself among the five finalists, with Taipei, Korea, England and Japan. Australia, China and Thailand were eliminated prior to the finals. Players were seeded and each team faced each other team once in a unique format.

Stacy Lewis led off for team USA with a win against Japan, while Gerina Piller followed suit with a win of her own against Taipei. In what proved to be the critical match, Christy Kerr dispatched Mel Reid of England, giving the Americans three wins on the day and an insurmountable 13 points. Despite three wins of its own on Sunday, Korea fell one agonizing point shy of a tie at the top.

Lindheim leaps into Web.com Tour top-15 at Utah Championship

Coming into the week in Lehi, Utah, Nicholas Lindheim sat 83rd on the Web.com Tour money list. Saturday evening, he slept on a lead for the first time in two years, hoping that this time around, he would see it through. On Sunday, Lindheim held steady at the golf club at Thanksgiving Point and doubled his one-stroke advantage over J.J. Spaun into a two-stroke victory, finishing at 15-under par. With the win, Lindheim moved to $153K and change on the year, good for a spot in the top-15 on the money list.

Lindheim acknowledged that his tee to green game was far from perfect all week long, and that his short game had proven to be the saving grace. In Round 4, the 31-year-old Californian made six birdies and four bogies on his way to a 69. Spaun played in a funk on the outward nine, turning in 1-over on the day. Three birdies on the inward half gave him a chance, but bogey at the last sealed his fate.

For most of the day, Lindheim’s greater challenge came from Xander Schauffele, who made seven birdies and an eagle on the day. Fortunately for Lindheim, the youngster also penciled in three bogies for 65 and third place alone, three behind Lindheim and one back of Spaun.

Seong and Lee take titles at U.S. Junior

Eun Jeong Seong had won a national junior championship before, so her return to the title match was more a validation of her skill than anything else. Paired against good friend Andrea Lee of California, Seong found herself five holes down on two occasions during the morning 18 of the championship match. With calm, the Korean golfer worked her way back into the match, one hole at a time. By day’s end, the match stood 4 and 2, in Seong’s favor, and a second national junior title was hers.

In contrast, Min Woo Lee had seen his sister (Min Jee Lee) hoist a national junior trophy and he desperately wanted one of his own. Lee got that desired title with a 2 and 1 victory over Noah Goodwin of Texas. Goodwin held the lead on six different occasions over the course of the first 18, but by the halfway point of the match the two were tied. With four holes to play, Goodwin had a 1-up lead, but watched helplessly as Lee scorched the Honors Course in Tennessee, winning holes 33-35 with par-birdie-birdie to close out the match.

Your Reaction?
  • 2
  • LEGIT1
  • WOW1
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open

Published

on

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

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.

Your Reaction?
  • 17
  • LEGIT2
  • WOW0
  • LOL4
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP1
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 Players Championship

Published

on

On the heels of Scottie Scheffler’s dominant victory at Bay Hill, the PGA Tour heads a little farther north in Florida to TPC Sawgrass this week for The Players Championship. And of course, GolfWRX is on site to get a look at what the players are playing.

We’ve already spotted a new Titleist mini driver this week, and there’s plenty more.

Check out our photos below!

Pullout Albums

 

 

Your Reaction?
  • 4
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW1
  • LOL2
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational

Published

on

GolfWRX is on the ground in Orlando ahead of the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge.

We’re assembling our usual collection of WITB photos, general galleries, and of course, gear inspired by the King himself.

We’ll continue to add to the photos below as more flow in from Florida.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.

Your Reaction?
  • 24
  • LEGIT6
  • WOW1
  • LOL2
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

WITB

Facebook

Trending