News
Tiger, Phil cut a promo | European Tour schedule reshuffle | WGHOF popularity contest
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1. Tiger-Phil promo
Oh boy. WWE’s got nothing on these two!
2. European Tour schedule shuffle
ESPN’s Bob Harig…”The European Tour on Monday released its 2018-19 schedule, with several changes occurring, many in response to the overhaul of the PGA Tour’s schedule.”
3. DL3 taking blame
Just when you thought the 2018 Ryder Cup was dead and buried…”I dropped the ball on two or three things that could have helped, and I apologized to Jim…I should have seen some of those things coming.” (Davis Love III to Golf Digest).
But what things!?
4. Best Young Teachers in America
GD’s biennial ranking is here…Here’s a look at a few who are new to the list.
JASON BARRY / 30
Mercer Oaks G. Cse., West Windsor, N.J.
$110/hr.
JASON BIRNBAUM / 36
Manhattan Woods G.C., West Nyack, N.Y.
$250/hr.
JESSICA CARAFIELLO / 35
Innis Arden G.C., Greenwich, Conn.
$140/hr.
SCOTT CHISHOLM / 33
Rolling Green G.C., Springfield, Pa.
$170/hr.
JOE COMPITELLO / 33
Plainfield C.C., Edison, N.J.
$175/hr.
SARA DICKSON / 31
The Country Club, Brookline, Mass. $130/hr.
GREG DUCHARME / 27
Michael Breed Golf Academy at Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, New York City
$300/hr.
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5. A sister act not to be overlooked
Geoff Shackelford rightly points out how impressive the fact that both Korda sisters are now LPGA Tour winners is. Quoting Al Lunsford of the LPGA…
An associated question: What percentage of casual golf fans know Annika Sorenstam’s sister won a tournament?
6. Popularity contest?
Also from Shack commenting on a Reuters piece regarding the WGHOF… “Steve Mona said eligibility is not strictly based on playing record, as it shouldn’t be-Captaincy’s, course designs, influence as a media member and other influencer intangibles should help push some over the finish line.”
“But then there is this face-in-the-palms admission from someone paid lavishly to not to say stupid things….”The Fame element is part of it. Some people were just more popular than others when they were on tour.” (Mona)”
“Still not sure where that leaves us with Monty. But there you have it. A popularity contest. On the record. It’s cronyism gone public.”
7. Roberta Bowman
Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols…The LPGA Tour’s Executive Leadership Team welcomes a new member…”The LPGA has named former board member Roberta Bowman as its new Chief Brand and Communications Officer. Bowman will oversee communications, public relations, television, website/digital, social media, branding, marketing and the LPGA’s creative department in the newly created position.”
“Bowman served six years on the LPGA board. Whan called her a “true visionary” for the tour….Bowman spent most of her business career at Duke Energy in Charlotte, N.C., retiring in January 2012 as Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer. She spent 25 years with the company, spending the bulk of the time as Chief Communications Officer and President of the Duke Energy Foundation.”
8. No ams allowed!
So says Randall Mell writing about amateur inclusion in the LPGA Tour’s Q-Series.
9. New Pro V1, Pro V1x debut on Tour this week
Our Gianni Magliocco…”On Monday, players were given a chance to practice with the final version before many put the ball in tournament play this Thursday. Titleist’s Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls have been the most popular golf balls on Tour for some time, and at last year’s John Deere Classic 126 of the 156 players in the field (81 percent) played a Pro V1 or Pro V1x ball.
The Las Vegas stop has become customary with the introduction of the new prototype additions from Titleist, ever since they introduced the original Pro V1 prototype at TPC Summerlin in 2000.
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Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.
From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.
Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Akshay Bhatia – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matthieu Pavon – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rory McIlroy – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
Pullout Albums
See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.
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SuperStroke acquires Lamkin Grips
SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”
“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”
Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.
According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”
CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.
“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.
Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history
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Tour Rundown: Pendrith, Otaegui, Longbella, and Dunlap soar
Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.
It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.
PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place
The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.
This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.
With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.
360° and in!
A nervy par save by @TaylorPendrith to remain one back as he seeks his first PGA TOUR victory @CJByronNelson. pic.twitter.com/LVFXUSidSg
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 5, 2024
DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four
It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.
It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.
.@adrianotaegui birdies the 16th to tie the lead at -17 ?#VolvoChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/p4tfE5DRJa
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 5, 2024
PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella
Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.
64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.
.@TBalla21 eagles 17, shoots 65 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the KIA Open. pic.twitter.com/TTOL2LxSdh
— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) May 4, 2024
PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win
Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.
The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.
Off the green? No worries for @ScottDu12500063
8-under solo leader @InsperityInvtnl pic.twitter.com/hoj5OujL5C
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 4, 2024
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Jamie
Oct 30, 2018 at 10:51 am
Thanks for acknowledging WGHOF cronyism. A black eye on the sport. Some of us have known of this popularity contest for a while.