News

Tour Rundown: Week of Redemption

Published

8 years ago

Nov 19, 2018

The 2018 tour schedules came to a redemptive end on Sunday. Professionals with a variety of sortings-out came to the fore and raised championship prizes in Dubai, Georgia and Florida. There will be golf over the next six weeks, but the majority of it will feature exhibitions of all sizes and flavors. For now, Tour Rundown revels in the achievements of four figures and bids you until later for 2018.

Chucky Three Sticks snatches third tour win on Sea Island

For every tour upstart column, there is a story on a can’t-miss prospect who nearly misses. Charles Howell III (those III are the Three Sticks in his nickname) was the can’t-miss prospect during his time at Oklahoma State. On tour, he lost two playoffs in his first three seasons, but also claimed victory in Virginia. Over the ensuing 15 years, Howell had a successful career, but only one other victory, to go with two more playoff losses. His best finish in a major championship was a tie for 10th in the 2003 PGA Championship. He hasn’t played Augusta since 2012, so the label Journeyman Pro would not be out of place, nor insulting.

On Sunday at Sea Island, Howell held off Patrick Rodgers, a player with a similar pedigree, with birdie on the second hole of a playoff. The victory was the third of his career, following a 2007 playoff win over Phil Mickelson in Los Angeles. 11 years is a long interlude between victories, and the significance was not lost on the titleist. For Rodgers, the bitter taste of defeat is certainly sated by the knowledge that he is one stop closer to his goal of winning on the world’s toughest tour. Over the course of round four, the victor was tied at the top by Webb Simpson, Cameron Champ and Rodgers, but found his winning formula in a blend of grit and patience.

On Sunday, Charles Howell III ended the longest drought between TOUR wins. He needed two extra holes at @TheRSMClassic to do it.

Highlights from Round 4: pic.twitter.com/pjEsjDV0Pa

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 19, 2018

Willett’s resolve is tested on final day of World Tour Championship

Danny Willett has had a rough couple of years. Not as rough as Justin Rose’s early-career run of bad fortune and form, but fairly similar in a compressed manner. The last time he held or shared the third-round lead, he collapsed in round four in Malaysia 2017. His tenacity paid off on Sunday in Dubai, when the 2016 Masters champion claimed his first professional victory in the 2.5 years since that august occasion. Willett held off a charging Matt Wallace and a harder-charging Patrick Reed for a two-stroke victory.

The victory was Willett’s fifth on the European Tour, and second in Dubai. The Yorkshireman birdied three of his final five holes to hold off Wallace (2 under on back nine) and Reed (4 under on inward half) by 2 shots, on 18 under total. Willett’s long road to victory was fraught with challenge, coalescing into a recovery from a serpentine burn on the final hole at Jumeirah Estates. With the form of a champion, he escaped and strode to victory.

Danny played it…#DPWTC #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/nTlhtoH0NH

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 18, 2018

Thompson takes Tour Championship title in Naples

Lexi Thompson is an immeasurable talent. We know her height, but not her strength. She has earned 10 tour titles, but lost all three playoffs in which she has participated. Over the summer, she took a one-month leave from tour for a recharging of the soul. With the season-ending tour championship on tap, Thompson had yet to hoist a trophy in 2018.

In Naples this week, she set her sights on her own sort of redemption. Thompson wrested the lead from Amy Olson in round two and set sail for the winner’s harbor. Her final-round 70, her only score outside of the 60s all week, was enough to claim a four-shot victory over upstart Nelly Korda. It took Thompson 40 holes to make her first bogey at the CME Group event on Florida’s west coast. She didn’t make another until round four, when she tripled her week-long total. Three bogeys over 72 holes is an undebatable recipe for success. For Thompson, it validated her decision to put self ahead of expectations, and doubtless sends her into the off-season in a proper frame of body and mind. In the year-long race for tour supremacy, world number one Ariya Jutanugarn rode a final-round 66 to victory.

Abraham Ancer Aces Australia Open Assessment

We couldn’t let 2018 drift away without one last run at alliteration. Abraham Ancer is a rising star for whom success was neither predicted nor obvious. He has played professionally for five years, working his way from Odessa College and the University of Oklahoma, to the Web.Com tour, and now the PGA Tour.

Ancer’s first trip Down Under resulted in the first important victory of his career. After positioning well with matching 69s on Thursday and Friday, Ancer made nine birdies at The Lakes in Sydney on Saturday, signing for 65 and the overnight lead. His third 69 of the week was enough to secure a five-shot win over the home country’s Dimitrios Papadatos, and a boundless amount of confidence as the off-season beckons. With the victory, Ancer also qualified into the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

Highlights from the final day at #AusOpenGolf ??@PGAofAustralia @TheLakesGC @Abraham_Ancer https://t.co/SNGTh6aqUG

— #AusOpenGolf (@AusOpenGolf) November 18, 2018

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open

Published

4 hours ago

Jun 3, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX Tour Photographer made the trip from the Memorial Tournament across the country to the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera. Check out links to all the photos below!

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 Memorial Tournament

Published

2 days ago

Jun 1, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site this week at the Memorial Tournament, with both Alistair Cameron and Tour Photographer Greg Moore on the ground in Dublin, Ohio, where a strong field is assembled to pay homage to the Golden Bear.

In addition to WITB galleries, we’ve already been treated to an in-hand look at Tommy Fleetwood’s new TaylorMade Spider putters.

Check out links to all our photos below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

News

Tour Tech Rundown: Heroic Henley

Published

3 days ago

Jun 1, 2026

Ronald Montesano

Around the world, the golf wheel spun this final week in May of 2026. From New Jersey to Austria, with stops in Korea, Texas, and North Carolina (don’t let me route your next trip) the world’s finest put their golf games on display. There were three playoffs, some known commodities and some new talent. It was the sort of week that we hope to have at this point in the seasons. June and July afford double-digit major events, and perhaps, one of this week’s champions will use this success as a springboard to new heights. Time to run it all down, tech style, in this week’s Tour Tech Rundown.

Thanks to WITBHub, Today’s Golfer, GolfWRX, and Inside Tour Golf for initial research into equipment.

PGA Tour @ Charles Schwab Challenge: Heroic Henley denies Cole

Eric Cole did nearly everything that a fellow can do, to secure a first PGA Tour title. He stayed one shot clear of Ryder Cup player Ben Griffin. He kept US Open champion Gary Woodland and wunderkind Michael Brennan two shots distant. He posted 70 on day four to reach twelve under par. And then, Russell Henley revealed his Dr. Strange cloak. Henley made 47 feet of birdie putts on holes 16, 17, and 18, to jump from minus-nine to twelve-deep, and secured a spot in a playoff with Cole. The duo returned to the final tee, and put on a stripe show.

Both golfers found the fairway off the tee, and Henley improved on his regulation play with an approach to four feet. Cole did himself proud, tucking an iron to a dozen feet, but he was unable to convert the putt for three. Henley is one of the best putters on tour, and he proved it once more by draining a putt for a fourth consecutive birdie, and a sixth PGA Tour title. For Eric Cole, that first victory should come, and soon. He has done everything necessary to earn the chalice lift.

Henley’s Suitcase

Driver: Titleist TSi3 at 10 degrees. Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 70g 6.5 TX
Metal: Titleist TS3 at 16.5 degrees. Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist TSi2 at 21 degrees. Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT hybrid 100 TX
Iron: Titleist T250 4-iron. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf AMT Tour White X100
Irons: Titleist T100 5-6 irons. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf AMT Tour White X100
Irons: Titleist T100 7-9 irons. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 at 48 and 50 degrees. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 at 54 and 60 degrees. Shaft: rue Temper Dynamic Golf Tour Issue S400
Putter: Titleist Scotty Cameron T5 Tour Prototype

LPGA @ Shoprite LPGA: Welcome back, Celine!

Soo Bin Joo had her eyes on a maiden LPGA title. She held the lead after two rounds, then hit a red light at the intersection of can-I and how-To. Joo posted plus-two on day three in New Jersey, and dropped to a T4 finish, which was still a career-best for the young Korean golfer. Instead of a new face, a familiar face returned to the top of the podium.

Celine Boutier was the It Girl in 2023. She collected four victories, including a major title at Evian. Boutier reached world number one status, then simply faded into the background. No wins came her way over the next 30 months. On Sunday, she collected LPGA victory number seven, at the same trace as LPGA victory number two.

Day three saw Boutier manage the windswept Seaview Bay course with six birdies and a bogey. She was challenged in the end by Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol, who signed for a 66 of her own. Yubol came up one shot shy of the top ladder rung. Finishing in third place at -7, two back of the winner, was Ireland’s Lauren Walsh.

Celine’s Suitcase

Driver: PXG 0311 Black Ops Tour-1 at 9 degrees. Shaft: Graphite Design AD IZ-5
Hybrid: PXG 0311 Black Ops at 19 and 22 degrees. Shaft: KBS Hybrid Prototype
Hybrid: PXG 0311 Gen5.
Iron: PXG 0311 P Gen 4 5-9 irons
Wedge: PXG 0311 T Gen 4 PW
Wedges: PXG 0311 Sugar Daddy II at 50, 54, 58 degrees
Putter: Bettinardi Studio Stock 3 DASS

DP World Tour @ Austrian Alpine: KK? KK!

Kota Kaneko has a rhythmic name. It has strong vowels and a run of voiceless stops in its crunchy K sounds. On Sunday in Austria, Kaneko put a stop to a challenge from Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia and everyone else, and claimed a first-ever title on the DP World Tour. Gouveia did well to reach 16-under par over four days, but Kaneko held firm, two shots in the clear.

Davis Bryant of the USA also forged a strong challenge for the win. He ended in a tie with Gouveia for second place. Kaneko began and finished his final round in a bit of a malaise, but he caught fire midway through. Birdies at 10, 12, and 13 provided the necessary cushion to cruise to the finish line without breaking a serious sweat.

Kaneko’s Suitcase

Driver: Ping Max G440
Metals: TaylorMade Qi4D at 15, 16.5, 21, and 24 degrees
Irons: TaylorMade P760 5 and 6 irons
Irons: TaylorMade P7TW 7-9 irons
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design at 46, 52, 56, and 60 degrees
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Cruiser Arm Lock #7

Korn Ferry Tour @ UNC Health Championship: Improbably Alvaro

Alvaro Ortiz may have had a bit of scare on the outward nine on Sunday, but he came through in clutch fashion in the end. Ortiz began the day bogey-double, and added another double bogey at the 11th hole. He was mired in a downward trend, spiraling away from the top of the leader’s board. Ortiz found hope at the 14th, where his first birdie of the day tumbled home. Inspired, he closed with birdies and 17 and 18 to catch Ross Steelman at 10-under par, and the duo returned to the 18th deck for overtime.

The extra session concluded in brief time. Ortiz, buoyed by his newly-retrieved confidence, hit the fairway with driver, then approached to six feet and drained the putt. Gobsmacked, Steelman could do little more than smile and applaud, as his run at the top came to a close. The victory was the first for Ortiz on the KFT, and will implant him squarely in the chase for a PGA Tour promotion.

Alvaro’s Suitcase

Driver: Ping G430 MAX driver at 9 degrees loft
Metal: Ping G430 MAX 3W
Iron: Ping iDi Driving Iron
Irons: Ping Blueprint S irons
Wedges
Putter: Scottsdale TR Piper C

A party on the green!

Alvaro’s time comes in Raleigh with his first win @UNCHealthChamp ? pic.twitter.com/2dmtZdbSzk

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) May 31, 2026

LIV @ Korea: Me llamo Joaquin

Chile’s Joaquin Niemann had been away from the LIV winner’s circle throughout all of 2026. This week in Korea, he reminded us that he is still a force to consider. Niemann chased down Taylor Gooch over the closing holes at Asiad Country Club, then claimed victory with a hole-one birdie in extra time. Bryson DeChambeau claimed solo third, one shot in arrears at minus-eleven. Dustin Johnson finished on fourth, one putt farther back.

Niemann’s Suitcase