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 PGA Championship
GolfWRX is on site this week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the PGA Championship.
While we see fewer equipment changes and new gear seeding at major championships, we get a look at custom gear and looks into the bags of players we rarely see, which is just as exciting. In the case of the PGA Championship, this means a look at the gear some of the PGA Professionals who qualified for the tournament will be gaming, and LIV players, such as Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed.
Check out links to all our albums from Valhalla below and check back throughout the week as we continue to update.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Michael Block – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Patrick Reed – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cam Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Josh Speight – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Takumi Kanaya – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kyle Mendoza – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Adrian Meronk – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jordan Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jeremy Wells – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jared Jones – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Somers – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Larkin Gross – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tracy Phillips – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jon Rahm – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Keita Nakajima – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kazuma Kobori – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- David Puig – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Ryan Van Velzen – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brad Marek – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Chris Gotterup – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rich Beem WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Phil Mickelson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Matt Dobyns – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Lucas Herbert – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jason Dufner – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Daly – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Taylor Gooch – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dean Burmester – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dustin Johnson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
Pullout Albums
- Ping putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Bettinardi covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cameron putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Max Homa – Titleist 2 wood – 2024 PGA Championship
- Scotty Cameron experimental putter shaft by UST – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – new Ping putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka’s new Cameron putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s Cobra bag and Aerojet driver – 2024 PGA Championship
- Super Stroke grip – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tiger Woods – 2024 PGA Championship
- Michael Block’s new TaylorMade “Proto” 7-iron, from address – 2024 PGA Championship
- Odyssey putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
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News
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
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Monday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Akshay Bhatia – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matthieu Pavon – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Keegan Bradley – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Webb Simpson – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Emiliano Grillo – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Taylor Pendrith – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Kevin Tway – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
Pullout Albums
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rory McIlroy – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Eric Cole’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matt Kuchar’s custom Bettinardi – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Justin Thomas – driver change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler – putter change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s new custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Tommy Fleetwood testing a TaylorMade Spider Tour X (with custom neck) – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Cobra Darkspeed Volition driver – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
GolfWRX is on site this week in McKinney, Texas, at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson (FKA the AT&T Byron Nelson).
Last year at TPC Craig Ranch, Jason Day ended a five-year winless streak. J-Day is in the field again, as are Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, and Will Zalatoris.
We have our usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums for your perusal. As always, we’ll continue to add links to additional albums as they make their way to us from the Lone Star State.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Pierceson Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kris Kim – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- David Nyfjall – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Jarred Jetter – North Texas PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Richy Werenski – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Wesley Bryan – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Parker Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Peter Kuest – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Blaine Hale, Jr. – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kelly Kraft – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Rico Hoey – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Pullout Albums
- Adam Scott’s 2 new custom L.A.B. Golf putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Scotty Cameron putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Ben Griffin playing Maxfli golf ball
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.