News
5 things we learned Friday at the PGA Championship
The third round of the PGA is upon us, which means that Friday is in the books, and lessons have been learned. The front nine continues to produce more birdies and eagles than the back, so the golfer who saves strokes on the inward half will find an advantage over the weekend. A massive number of golfers tied for the 58th spot, which means that over 75 are through to the weekend. Four things were learned by this writer on day two of the 102nd PGA Championship, and you will learn them, too. As a bonus, the fifth thing learned today are the predictions made, in anticipation of a memorable Saturday at TPC-Harding Park.
1. The plight of the Englishman
England gave professional golf Harry Vardon, JH Taylor, James Braid, Ted Ray, Nick Faldo, Justin Rose, and Danny Willett. Their commonality is the major title. All won at least one. Another passel of flyers of St. George’s cross has been unable to gain membership into this organization, and they include some of today’s most known names: Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Paul Casey, and Ian Poulter. All have exhibited tremendous capacity in team and tour play, yet the illusory major championship has continued to elude them. This week, Tommy Fleetwood and the aforementioned Casey find themselves inside the top ten through 36 holes.
Fleetwood was the first to solve the back nine this week, with four birdies for 31. He was out in 33 strokes, where he had his lone, day-two bogey, and currently sits in 2nd position, at minus-six. Fleetwood’s closest brushes with major glory were 2018 at Shinnecock Hills, where he came 2nd at the US Open, and 2019 at the Open Championship, where Shane Lowry relegated him to another runner-up finish. Casey has two handfulls of top-ten finishes in the big four events, but has rarely challenged, late in the day. His trend is subtle but positive: 68 on day one and 67 on day two. The three-time US PGA Tour winner made more birdies on Thursday, but had a bogey and double count against him. On Friday, his work showed the type of consistency that will serve him well over the weekend. Three birdies against zero bogies brought him to minus-five total. If Casey or Fleetwood can play 36 holes the next two days in minus-six, he should find himself in the thick of things.
2. Haotong Li returns to the spotlight
There was a time, mid 2010s, when Haotong Li was on short lists to break through and win multple times, perhaps even a major. Li broke through at the China Open in 2016, then jumped up another level at the Dubai Desert Classic in 2018. The breakthrough stopped there, at least for a couple of years. Now, it’s 2020, the world has turned upside down at least once, and Haotong Li has the lead halfway through the PGA Championship. Much like his career to date, day two was a tale of of two halves. Over the first ten holes, Li logged five birdies; for the next eight holes, he held onto par and finished the day at 65 for a two-shot lead. No matter which of the six who sit a pair of strokes behind he plays with on Saturday, Li will have to reckon with his own potential and the magnitude of the moment.
3. In the hunt
Haotong Li can be forgiven for hearing the echoing footsteps of two former PGA champions, Brooks Koepka and Jason Day. Also at his heels are Justin Rose (US Open champion) and two of the hottest golfers on the planet, Tommy Fleetwood and Daniel Berger. From this vantage point, Koepka is the greatest threat. I might have written biggest, but that is currently Bryson #BigBangTheory DeChambeau. Concerns about his knee injury have gone away, and the four-time major title holder has the a known look in his eyes. Koepka went round in 68 strokes, and will play with Justin Rose in the third-last pairing. After them will come Berger and Day, with Fleetwood and Li as anchors.
4. Guys we will miss
The 36-hole cut came at one over par, and nearly 80 golfers moved on to round three. As for the rest, home they go. Catching trains and planes out of San Francisco are Rickie Fowler and Marc Leishman, two golfers always at the top of the predictions list, but yet to inscribe his name on a major-event chalice. Zach Johnson went from 66 to 76 and is down the road. Tyrrell Hatton and Joaquim Niemann are also checked out of their respective hotels, as are former PGA champions Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner, and Jimmy Walker.
5. Prediction Time
Most likely to seize the 3rd-round lead: Koepka
Most likely to drop out of the top five: Rose
Most likely to drop out of the top ten: Li
Most likely to jump into the top five: Xander Schauffele (currentl t11 at minus-four)
Most likely to jump into the top ten: Hideki Matsuyama (currently t15 at minus-three)
Biggest round three surprise: Lanto Griffin, but we don’t know why
Golfer who will slowly fade away: Day
- LIKE4
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
News
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
- LIKE8
- LEGIT3
- WOW5
- LOL1
- IDHT1
- FLOP2
- OB2
- SHANK4
News
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
- LIKE0
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
News
Morning 9: Pendrith’s maiden Tour win | Morikawa back with former coach | Brooks victorious
|
- LIKE1
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
Justin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Report: LIV Golf identifies latest star name they hope to sign to breakaway tour
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Brandel Chamblee has ‘no doubt’ who started the McIlroy/LIV rumor and why
-
19th Hole1 week ago
LET pro gives detailed financial breakdown of first week on tour…and the net result may shock you
-
Equipment3 weeks ago
Jason Day on his recent switch into Srixon ZX5 and ZX7 Mk II irons
-
19th Hole5 days ago
Gary Player claims this is what ‘completely ruined’ Tiger Woods’ career
-
Whats in the Bag1 week ago
Team McIlowry (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry) winning WITBs: 2024 Zurich Classic