Tour News
6 Hot Headlines from Day 2 at The Open Championship
A three-hour rain delay early in the morning put a kink in the plans, as the second round of Open was suspended due to darkness on Friday.
A quarter of the field will return to the Old Course at 7 a.m. Saturday to complete their second rounds.
Regardless, plenty of golf took place on Friday, with play continuing until 10 p.m. local time. The leaderboard took further shape and we give you all of the key storylines from a long second day in Scotland.
Englishman charges to the lead
It’s no secret there’s been a long drought for an English Open Championship winner (Nick Faldo last accomplished the feat in 1992). In recent years, Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Ian Poulter and Justin Rose had been the quartet the country believed could end this decades-long problem. Previously, Paul Casey was in that club as well.
All had failed ahead of this year’s event at St. Andrews, but maybe 2015 would be different.
Halfway through this year’s Open, the drought indeed is in good position to fall, because guess which Englishman is one back at the Open through two days… Danny Willett?
That’s right, a 27-year-old who’s virtually unknown in the United States finds himself in second alone on Friday night at the Old Course. In a tournament hyped for Jordan Spieth’s Grand Slam hopes and the big names that could be in line for the Claret Jug, it’s a little bit of a shocking turn to see Willet’s just below the leader’s.
But this will only be a cut Friday storyline. There’s no way Willett can keep atop a stacked leaderboard with major championship pressure, right?
Well, not so fast.
Willett may be unknown in the states, but he is in fact a very good player.
He participated in the 2007 Walker Cup and at one point became the No. 1 amateur in the world. The Englishman has two European Tour wins and currently sits second in the Race to Dubai. One writer deemed him the English Rickie Fowler, and he probably would’ve been even more formidable to this point if not for cumbersome back problems.
Willett will be new to the pressure of a major championship lead (previous best finish is 15th), but don’t be fooled by his lack of recognition in the U.S. He has a chance to hang up there the entire weekend.
Hideki Matsuyama was rock solid
Those strong winds and tougher conditions that were forecast for Friday afternoon? They mostly came about.
With Matsuyama starting his day right on the cutline at Even and finding himself in the worst elements of the round, it appeared the ultra-steady 23-year-old was going to be in a battle to make it beyond 36 holes.
Yeah, sort of what happened… Hideki was 7-under through 10.
The course was softer due to a morning drenching, but the afternoon winds were STRONG and rain came down significantly at times during Matsuyama’s round.
No biggie, Matsuyama just made it all look too simple. He calmly birdied his first four holes, notched another at No. 7 and perfectly drizzled in a 10-footer at nine to complete a frontside 30. He added the cherry on top with this miraculous birdie putt on the 10th.
The 23-year-old’s hot streak halted with two short par misses on Nos. 11 and 12 but he found another birdie on 14 and sits 6-under with four holes to play in his second round Saturday morning.
Overall, Matsuyama just put up an unfathomable level of play in difficult weather Friday afternoon. Two- or three-under in 10 holes was excellent in that weather, but SEVEN??
We already knew that this Japanese star is super talented, but that was on a whole other planet (and Twitter noticed).
Even if he doesn’t win this week, Friday’s round proved that Matsuyama’s first major championship probably isn’t far around the corner.
This leaderboard still resembles Chambers Bay
Remember how I mentioned this yesterday? The similarities have solidified on Friday.
Dustin Johnson remains atop the leaderboard (10-under through 13 holes), and Day (8-under through 11), Oosthuizen (7-under through 11) and Spieth (5-under through 13) all find themselves in line to contend this weekend.
Grace, the fifth big Chambers Bay player, fell off a bit with an even-par round that left him 3-under through 36 holes, but he’s certainly not out of it.
And even as he disappeared, Adam Scott fired a beautiful 67 to post a 7-under 36-hole total and finds himself three back. The Aussie, if you recall, placed T4 at the U.S. Open following a final-round 64.
Charl Schwartzel, who quietly finished seventh at the U.S. Open, is 6-under through 15 at St. Andrews — tied for 10th and four off the lead.
It’s unusual for back-to-back majors to have almost all of the same names thriving. Again, still plenty of tournament left to change that, but pretty interesting nonetheless.
Jordan Spieth’s Grand Slam chances remain within reach
I wouldn’t say the 21-year-old is in prime position to capture his third consecutive major, but he’s certainly within striking distance.
Following a lovely opening-round 67, Spieth fought in the difficult weather Friday afternoon. In 13 holes, Spieth posted three birdies and three bogeys, leaving him at a 5-under total after two days.
The Golden Child currently sits five back and in a tie for 15th, which is lowly for him. But the tournament isn’t even half over yet.
Spieth still has five holes in his second round but let’s compare his progress to the last two guys who had a chance at the Grand Slam coming into the Open: Nicklaus in 1972 and Woods in 2002.
Jack was T3 and one back, while Tiger found himself T9 and two back through 36 holes. Not bad then, Spieth is keeping up pretty well.
With nasty conditions coming tomorrow (see more below), Spieth better be careful. Remember that Woods shot 81 in brutal Saturday weather at Muirfield in 2002, sinking his Grand Slam chances entirely.
St. Andrews’ nastiest conditions are still to come
The high winds and rain throughout Friday — more concentrated in the afternoon — did have an effect on players but a softer course allowed red numbers to continue to flourish to a degree.
Overnight rain is expected Friday night/Saturday morning, yet a softer course cannot save the birdies. The winds forecasted for Saturday are absolutely brutal, I would say even a full step up from what we saw Friday afternoon.
Many players have to finish round two in these gales, and all who make the cut will contend with them in the third round.
Get ready, at least for a day higher scores are coming. We may see something in the realm of Saturday at Muirfield in 2002.
And hopefully for Spieth, the similarities stop there.
Tom Watson takes his final walk
The American who Scotland adopted as a native son completed his final round at the Open Championship on Friday.
Here is a glimpse of Watson’s emotional final walk over the Swilcan Bridge.
Tom Watson takes his last walk across the Swilcan Bridge. pic.twitter.com/jTqGv7OXj8
— Adam Sarson (@Adam_Sarson) July 17, 2015
Nobody, maybe besides Palmer or Seve, has brought as much to the Open over the past half-century as this five-time champion. Watson said farewell to the tournament, and we’ll miss him. But at least we’ll always have the memories of his great Open triumphs (this in particular) and his magical near-miss in 2009.
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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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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans
GolfWRX is live on site this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for the PGA Tour’s one-and-only two-man team event.
As usual, general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums — including some pretty spicy custom putters and headcovers — await your viewing.
Be sure to check back for more photos from the Big Easy, as we’ll continue to update this page with additional galleries throughout the week.
General Albums
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Monday #1
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Monday #2
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Alex Fitzpatrick – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Austin Cook – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Alejandro Tosti – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Davis Riley – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- MJ Daffue – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Nate Lashley – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- James Nicholas – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Kevin Streelman – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Rasmus Hojgaard – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Tom Whitney – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- SangMoon Bae – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Daniel Berger – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Rory McIlroy – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Russ Cochrane – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Aldrich Potgieter – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Steve Stricker WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Drew Brees WITB (Legendary New Orleans Saints QB) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Derek Carr (New Orleans Saints QB) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Thriston Lawrence WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
Pullout Albums
- MJ Daffue’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Cameron putters – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Swag covers ( a few custom for Nick Hardy) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Custom Bettinardi covers for Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Doug Ghim’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Patrick Cantlay spotted testing a Scotty Cameron blade putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
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Siss
Jul 18, 2015 at 11:45 am
Hot headline from Day 2.5 at The Open:
Kevin Casey complains about how the Pros are a bunch of sissies who should be forced to play in gale force winds with the course covered in puddles from a total soaking, about how unfair it is for them to not let the public watch golf as scheduled.
Now do you think the course is playing unfair? They can’t even play the darned place! What would you have said if the wind was blowing 30 mph down the 17th hole from the tee to the green on Thursday, and the players were hitting 8 irons in?
Siss
Jul 18, 2015 at 11:40 am
No mention of how friendly the pin was on 17 on Friday? You sissy