Tour News
5 Things We Learned on Day 3 of The Open
5. Bones Can See The Future
At the beginning of the NBC Coverage, Dan Hicks asked Jim “Bones” MacKay what he expected to see out on the course today. After a few quick explanations of the conditions and the setup, Bones quickly said, “Don’t tell Johnny, but I could see a 62 today.” Sure enough, Branden Grace went on a few hours later to post the lowest round ever in a Major Championship (unless you’re Dan Jenkins and can’t let go of the past).
Branden Grace just tied Hogan’s 62.
— Dan Jenkins (@danjenkinsgd) July 22, 2017
Hogan’s 62 in 1942 wartime U.S. Open was 10 under. Lipped out putt for 61.
— Dan Jenkins (@danjenkinsgd) July 22, 2017
The final putt that put @BrandenGrace in the history books: pic.twitter.com/xqZK3fgaku
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 22, 2017
Grace played spectacular golf, which is not uncharacteristic of the young South African. He had a chance to win the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay until he was derailed on the par-3 16th that year. Not everyone gets another chance to win a major, but Grace put himself right in the mix with a 62 that’s sure to break Johnny Miller’s heart. He also happened to pick Spieth as the winner this year, or at least the guy he was keeping his eye on. Not exactly a dark-horse pick, but that doesn’t take away from the apparent success of his pick thus far.
4. Lack Of Poor Weather Is An Equalizer
The Open Championship boasted an average age of 39 for the winner over the last couple of decades, but with a lack of wind and rain on Saturday experience is less of a factor. Soft and slow greens allowed for players to take aim at pins and sink downhill putts you’re not supposed to make. The best round in major history was shot today by a 29-year-old South African without a major victory and the leaderboard has as many 20-somethings as it does wily veterans. Richie Ramsay and 20-year-old Austin Connelly posted a pair of 66s today, which puts Connelly in the second to last group. Even though Spieth and Kuchar are three shots clear of the field, anyone could shoot another 62 tomorrow and put the pressure on if the weather holds.
3. Stenson’s Open Championship Hangover Is Long Gone
We’ll always remember the duel from last year at Royal Troon when Phil Mickelson lost by three shots after shooting a final-round 65. Stenson’s form since last year’s win hasn’t been great, but after posting his own 65 today he’s in the mix. If the “Ice Man” hits his signature frozen rope 3-woods and iron shots, then it could be a final round to remember. Stenson’s rental house was broken into earlier in the week, and while this could cause undue stress on a typical player, it could also provide just enough distraction from the golf at hand to prevent nerves from setting in. Golf is a funny game, and you never know what outside factors could hurt or help a player’s game. He proved to us last year that he can sink putts when he needs to, and without the added pressure of being the final group, Stenson could go out early and post a number that rattles the field.
2. Kuchar Has Staying Power
Matt Kuchar has long been a beloved pro by golf fans, but to this point, he’s been unable to take his game to the next level and break through in a major. The adage used to be in golf, “put yourself in contention enough times, you’ll eventually come out on top.” The young guns on tour have thrown that path to victory out the window, but that hasn’t stopped Kuchar from hanging around leaderboards for the past decade. Nobody would have faulted him if he’d shot even par and dropped a few spots today, but he didn’t. Despite making a horrific double bogey on No. 16, he rallied with an impressive bunker shot to set up a tap-in birdie on No. 17. He followed that with an incredible shot from the left rough on No. 18 to set up one of only nine birdies on the final hole in Round 3. Kuchar missed the putt, but who can blame him after Spieth sank an uppercut of a putt just before. With eight top-10s and 19 top-25s in majors, Kuchar is due to hold a trophy, but it’s going to take something magical to oust the young gentleman.
1. Spieth Could Be Wire-To-Wire King
Taking a three-shot lead into Sunday, having held at least a share of the lead for three rounds, Jordan Spieth could be only the second player in history to win two majors in wire-to-wire fashion. The other player? Rory McIlroy. Spieth made it around Royal Birkdale with a bogey-free 65 today capped off by an incredibly clutch birdie on No. 18. A win tomorrow makes him the second-youngest player to ever win three legs of the career grand slam, behind only Jack Nicklaus. It also means he’ll have a winning percentage of 15.7 percent in major championships at the age of 23, finishing inside the top-25 in 53 percent of major appearances. Spieth simply needs to repeat what he did in the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February to hoist the Claret Jug. If today was any indication, and with no Rae’s creek at Royal Birkdale, he’ll have no problem doing so.
Three shot lead! @jordanspieth has the advantage heading in to Round 4. For more videos visit https://t.co/Y0Ljiq6Hze. #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/G6drB70d9Z
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 22, 2017
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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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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Valero Texas Open
GolfWRX is on site this week at the Valero Texas Open.
The event has been around since 1922, making it one of the oldest on the PGA Tour calendar. Over the years, it’s been held at a variety of courses across the Lone Star State, but it’s found its home at TPC San Antonio in recent years. Some of the biggest names in golf have taken home the title here, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, and Ben Crenshaw.
GolfWRX has its usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs and special pull-out albums. As always, we’ll continue to update the links below as more photos come in from TPC San Antonio.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Ben Taylor – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Paul Barjon – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Joe Sullivan – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Wilson Furr – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Willman – SoTex PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Jimmy Stanger – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Rickie Fowler – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Harrison Endycott – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Vince Whaley – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Kevin Chappell – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Christian Bezuidenhout – WITB (mini) – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Scott Gutschewski – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
Pullout Albums
- Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Taylor with new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Swag cover – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Greyson Sigg’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Davis Riley’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Josh Teater’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hzrdus T1100 is back – – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Mark Hubbard testing ported Titleist irons – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Tyson Alexander testing new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hideki Matsuyama’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Cobra putters – 2024 Valero Texas Open
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
GolfWRX is on site in the Lone Star State this week for the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
General galleries from the putting green and range, WITBs — including Thorbjorn Olesen and Zac Blair — and several pull-out albums await.
As always, we’ll continue to update as more photos flow in. Check out links to all our photos from Houston below.
General Albums
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Monday #1
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Monday #2
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #2
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Thorbjorn Olesen – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Ben Silverman – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Jesse Droemer – SoTX PGA Section POY – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- David Lipsky – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Martin Trainer – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Zac Blair – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Jacob Bridgeman – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Trace Crowe – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Daniel Berger – WITB(very mini) – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Chesson Hadley – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Callum McNeill – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Rhein Gibson – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Patrick Fishburn – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Peter Malnati – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Raul Pereda – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Gary Woodland WITB (New driver, iron shafts) – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Padraig Harrington WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
Pullout Albums
- Tom Hoge’s custom Cameron – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Piretti putters – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Ping putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Kevin Dougherty’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Bettinardi putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Erik Barnes testing an all-black Axis1 putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Tony Finau’s new driver shaft – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
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