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Tour Rundown: Gutsy finishes all around

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5 years ago

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In Italian and Spanish, Montesano translates as Healthy Mountain. Well, duh, obviously…just look at me! This week, I become Montecalvo, or Bald Mountain, when I participate in Bald For Bucks to raise money for cancer research. Donations of all sizes are welcome, and you can support the cause by clicking this link.

Last week’s professional golf stretched from the gulf of Oman to Singapore, to Australia and New Zealand, across the Pacific Ocean to Arizona, and on to Florida. As much as any other week, it was an international game. For a complete rundown, keep your eyes on the screen and read on.

PGA Tour: Honda Classic to Mitchell in gutsy close

At the 2017 final regular-season event on the Web.Com Tour, Keith Mitchell failed to birdie the easy, par-5 closer, and just missed getting his PGA Tour card. His face told the story. During the playoffs, he played well enough to secure the card for 2018, albeit with less status.

On Sunday, the table turned 180 degrees. Tied with a couple of no-names (cough, Brooks Koepka; cough, cough, Rickie Fowler) on the 72nd hole. Mitchell made an unlikely birdie from a fairway bunker, and won by one stroke over the decorated duo. Having driven in the left fairway bunker, Mitchell eschewed a run at the green, and pitched some 84 yards to the short grass. His 130-yard approach settled 15 feet from the promised land. His putt never wavered, and an inaugural PGA Tour title was his.

European Tour: Oman Open has unexpected winner in Kitayama

Al Mouj did not lay down this week in Oman. The course and its surrounds tested the field with water, wind, and a round-delaying sandstorm. 36 holes were on offer Sunday, to conclude play. The closing marathon took its toll, as challengers fired and fell back. Along the coast where the gulf of Oman meets the Arabian sea, Al Mouj might have kept its trophy, were it not for the closing heroics of Kurt Kitayama. The young American birdied holes 16 and 17 in round four, at precisely the time when his competition found water, rocks, and everything unwanted over the watery, final stretch. What made his victory all the more improbable was his start early Sunday: quad-bogey-bogey-birdie-bogey.

After playing holes 37-41 in 6 over, Kitayama flipped a switch and played the next 31 holes in nine under. Playing together in the final group, Kitayama, Max Kieffer and Joachim Hansen came to the 72nd tee with a chance at victory. Hanson went to a watery grave off the tee, making bogey and dropping to T6. Kiefer had an uphill birdie putt to tie Kitayama, but left it well short after a case of line-obsession. Kitayama was able to calmly two-putt from 15 feet to secure his second European Tour title in four months. In a four-way tie for second, one behind Kitayama, were Kieffer, Jorge Campillo, Clement Sordet and Fabrizio Zanotti.

LPGA: Sung Hyun claims Women’s World Championship with Sunday 64

Another week, another close call for Minjee Lee. These are the stretches that make or break a season, even a career. We’ll get to the winner in a moment, but Australian Lee is so close to a dominant stretch of victories. Here’s hoping that the coming weeks see her scale the mountain. At the top of this week’s podium, the winner of the Women’s World Championship, is another golfer with designs on the number-one ranking. Sung Hyun Park epitomizes the power game of the new generation of golfer. She hits it hard, far and straight! When she putts with precision, as happened during round four, well, 64s also happen.

Both golfers (Park and Lee) were clipped by a single Sunday bogey. It was the only blemish for Lee, against four birdies. Park simply went deeper: three consecutive tweets to begin her round, two more chirps by the seventh hole, and a quartet on the inward nine. Nine birdies on any day are a tough hand to counter, and Lee came up two strokes shy, at 13 under. Both golfers are inside the season points race’s top 10, with Lee at third and Park resting at sixth.

PGA Tour Champions: Cologuard Championship ends 9-year victory drought for O’Meara

Did you hear the one about the professional golfer who birdied eight consecutive holes? On Friday, it was Mark O’Meara. After opening with par at the first, he didn’t make another until the 10th. Turning in 28, O’Meara slacked his way in with eight consecutive pars, then a bogey at the last. Despite the unconscious display of brilliance, all O’Meara had to show for his efforts was a tie for second, one shot behind Kenny Perry. As the leader tumbled on Saturday, O’Meara played a decent round (70) to take a one-shot lead over three golfers. With everything on the line on day three,  O’Meara made eight birdies against one bogey for another 66, and claimed his first Champions Tour title since 2010, by four strokes over Willie Wood, Kirk Tribplett, Darren Clarke, and Scott McCarron.

PGA Tour of Australasia: New Zealand Open to Murray by a whisker

Australia’s Zach Murray played a game of come-and-get-me; countryman Ashley Hall nearly did. Murray opened with 63-65, then closed with 70-68. His efforts reached 21-under par at 266. Hall lay like a lion in the bushes with 67-69-67, then burst home with 65 on Sunday. His 7-under effort on day four nearly caught the champion, but Murray’s early-week fireworks were enough to secure victory. Hall might have done the deed, save for a closing bogey at the par-4 home hole. Murray also made a mess at the last, with a bogey of his own. His eagle-birdie-birdie stretch on holes 13-15 kept the charging Hall at a distance, and established the winning margin.

Ladies European Tour: Canberra Classic in touch with the Dutch

A weekend of 64-68 usually spells wonderful news for golfers, unless you find yourself pitted against Holland’s Anne Van Dam. That was the case for Slovenia’s Katja Pogocar, who entered the final round square with her rival. Her day-three work was a bit choppy, with six birds against three boges. As things went, it was just enough to hold off Jiyai Shin for outright second, by one slim stroke. The day and the week belonged to Van Dam, who secured her fourth tour title by following 63 with 65. The pair were tightly pitted as the closing stretch arrived, when Van Dam went to work. She closed with an eagle and two birdies over the final four holes, two shots better than her competitor. The final margin of victory was three strokes, thanks to the winner’s final-day, unblemished scorecard.

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Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

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Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship

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1 day ago

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May 7, 2024

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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

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.

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SuperStroke acquires Lamkin Grips

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2 days ago

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May 6, 2024

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SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”

“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”

Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.

According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”

CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.

“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.

Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history

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Tour Rundown: Pendrith, Otaegui, Longbella, and Dunlap soar

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2 days ago

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May 6, 2024

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Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.

It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.

PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place

The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.

This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.

With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.

DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four

It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.

It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.

PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella

Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.

64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.

PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win

Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.

The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.

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