Tour News
Top Storylines from Day 3 at The Open Championship
Once again, a delay greatly impacted play at the Open Championship.
On Friday, there was a three-hour stoppage because of rain and on Saturday that delay jumped to nearly TEN-AND-A-HALF HOURS due to heavy winds.
Played was suspended at 7:32 a.m. local time (after 32 minutes of golf) and resumed around 6 p.m. There was only enough time for the remaining groups left to finish their second rounds, so not much action to parse through.
Regardless, here are a couple of headlines to take away from this odd day.
Dustin Johnson Remains out in Front
We finally have 36 holes in the books (the third round will resume at 8:15 a.m. local time Sunday with twosomes off of No. 1 tee, the final round will be contested on Monday), and Dustin Johnson is still your leader.
The 31-year-old American closed out his final five holes in even par, posting a birdie and a bogey en route to a 10-under 36-hole total, which puts him in the lead by one.
He controversially had to play two holes in sketchy conditions, but he retains his top post. Oddly, despite his many major contentions, this is Johnson’s first 36-hole lead at a major. We’ll see if the redemption story he is authoring right now will have a happy ending in two days.
The R&A vs. the Weather
This is really the main storyline today.
It’s easy to bash the R&A and plenty of people are doing it (the players especially). I’ll preface then by saying, the organization did some things right.
For one, the R&A was correct to delay play for this lengthy period. The balls were rolling on the greens after players had already marked them and placed them back.
The craziest example came at the expense of Louis Oosthuizen.
To force players to deal with that would be patently unfair.
Brendon Todd made a good point about the fear of the ball potentially moving back into the putter at address (which would cost the player a stroke).
Also, if the ball blows away further from the hole like it did with Oosthuizen, players must putt from the longer distance, even though the ball originally stopped closer to the hole minutes before.
The R&A came out correct as well in halting play as soon as possible at the 11th hole, as that green was the most exposed and clearly unplayable very soon in the action.
However, there was plenty that went wrong.
Play started at 7 a.m. and went on for about 30 minutes in the fierce wind. It was a curious decision to play in the first place considering the conditions proved quite quickly to be unplayable.
The R&A came up with this explanation:
An update from The R&A on the state of play at #TheOpen. pic.twitter.com/4LvIixxPI6
— The R&A (@RandA) July 18, 2015
If you trust this reasoning, well, the R&A is not out of the clear. After all, the 11th green proved too exposed almost instantly and play was halted there while it continued elsewhere on the golf course. Weird. It’s tough to justify having some players battle the conditions while others remain put. Even if just one hole is unplayable, the action should be suspended.
Most egregious, though, was that St. Andrews should have been designed to remain playable even in these high winds. It has for centuries in the past. The greens are kept slow in anticipation that strong winds will come and balls won’t move because the surfaces aren’t slick.
Well, Brendan Porath of SB Nation put it best, these St. Andrews greens that should be stimping at 6, 7 or 8 were pretty much at 10. That is way too fast for a links that should hold these winds fine.
Also, remember how the R&A restructured that 11th green in order to avoid wind delays? Welp, that green was still the biggest culprit in this wind suspension.
Now, we have the full third round on Sunday and an Open that is finishing on Monday. Part of this is the product of weather the R&A can’t control. But some of it is the R&A’s mishandling of the situation.
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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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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
GolfWRX is on site this week at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Plenty of golfers who competed in the Masters last week will be making the quick turnaround in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as the Heritage is again one of the Tour’s Signature Events.
We have general albums for you to check out, as well as plenty of WITBs — including Justin Thomas and Justin Rose.
We’ll continue to update as more photos flow in from SC.
Check out links to all our photos, below.
General Albums
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #2
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Justin Thomas – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Rose – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Chandler Phillips – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Nick Dunlap – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Thomas Detry – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Austin Eckroat – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Jason Day – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Will Zalatoris – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Patrick Cantlay – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Ludvig Aberg – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Collin Morikawa – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Sam Burns – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Stephen Jaeger – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
Pullout Albums
- Wyndham Clark’s Odyssey putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- JT’s new Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Thomas testing new Titleist 2 wood – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey putter with triple track alignment aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Scotty Cameron The Blk Box putting alignment aid/training aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey Ai One Eleven T putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Christian Bezuidenhout – testing new Callaway Ti 340 mini driver – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele testing the Callaway Ti 340 mini driver & the DUW – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Byeong Hun An, two new L.A.B. Golf putter builds with “T” alignment – 2024 RBC Heritage
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
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Chuck
Jul 19, 2015 at 2:28 pm
For anyone seriously interested in the fine points of golf equipment, this post by Geoff Shackelford at his blog is required reading:
http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2015/7/18/old-course-news-pushing-green-speeds-to-the-brink.html
The Saturday wind delay was directly related to green speeds. And green speeds are directly related to modern standard tricks with golf architecture, intended to protect par (never mind the overall integrity of the character of play in general) from ever-increasing distances produced by equipment technology.
You're worse than Ben
Jul 18, 2015 at 9:07 pm
Why did you leave tiger missing the cut out
That’s what we wanted you to write about
So we could comment “why does everything have to be about him”
I feel cheated
other paul
Jul 19, 2015 at 12:38 am
Yeah, where are the poor Tiger stories?