News

Morning 9: Phil ahead by 4 | The most unusual things about Bryson | Harris English resurgent

Published

6 years ago

Aug 26, 2020

1. Phil leads by 4

Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner on what very much looks like a Mickelson march to victory…“Phil Mickelson on Tuesday moved into even better position to win in his PGA Tour Champions debut.”

“Building on his opening 61, Mickelson fired a second-round 64 that gave him a four-shot lead at the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National. Mickelson is at 17 under par, four clear of Rod Pampling and Tim Petrovic, heading into the final round of the 54-hole event in Ridgedale, Missouri.”

“Mickelson’s 125 total through two rounds is the second-lowest in tour history. Only Bruce Fleisher’s 124 at the 2002 RJR Championship was better.”

Full piece.

2. PopStroke set to open

Greg Hardwig, Naples Daily News…”The Fort Myers facility, the first under his partnership and design team, will open to the public on Saturday, Sept. 12, the company announced Tuesday. Doors will open at 10 a.m. For more information, visit the Popstroke website.”

“PopStroke founder Greg Bartoli had previously announced locations were coming to Naples, on Tamiami Trail, and in Sarasota. The Naples site location is still being finalized. PopStroke’s original location is in Port St. Lucie.”

“PopStroke is a golf entertainment venue that features two 18-hole putting courses, designed by Woods and his TGR Design Team. These will be the first since Woods bought a stake in the ownership and agreed to design the courses for PopStroke facilities about a year ago. The facilities also include outdoor dining with a full menu, a variety of craft beer and other alcoholic beverages, ice cream, outdoor games and a kids playground.”

Full piece.

3. Meet the 70

Sean Martin at PGATour.com filed epithets for all the participants in this week’s Wyndham Championship…

1. Dustin Johnson…Has the most wins (5, tied with Rory), top-5s (11) and top-10s (19) in Playoffs history.

2. Justin Thomas…Defending BMW champ is looking to regain his top spot in the standings.

3. Webb Simpson…Enters BMW after a T3 at Wyndham and T6 at THE NORTHERN TRUST.

4. Daniel Berger…Third-place finish in Boston was his 6th top-5 in his past 8 starts.

5. Collin Morikawa…MC at NORTHERN TRUST was just the second of his pro career.

6. Harris English…Was 149th in 2019 FedExCup, but headed to East Lake after runner-up in Boston.

7. Bryson DeChambeau…Was absolutely dominant in 2015 U.S. Amateur victory at Olympia Fields.

8. Sungjae Im…MC at NORTHERN TRUST but only fell three spots in the standings.

Full piece.

4. Simpson out of BMW to rest up for Tour Championship

Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…”Webb Simpson withdrew Tuesday from the BMW Championship to be rested for next week’s Tour Championship, according to his management team.”

“It’s an interesting move for Simpson, who is No. 3 is the FedExCup standings. With the staggered scoring start at East Lake, he was set to be three shots behind heading into the season finale. With triple points available for the BMW, he’s likely to drop even further; seeds Nos. 6-10, for instance, will begin the week six shots behind.”

“Simpson has played four consecutive weeks on Tour, with top-6 finishes in each of his past two appearances. He’s broken par in 10 of his past 11 rounds and currently leads the Tour in scoring average (68.87).”

Full piece.

5. The 11 most unusual things about Bryson

I mean this in absolutely the most respectful way possible: How could you ever pick 11?

Stephen Hennesey at Golf Digest…“1. Bryson developed his first set of single-length irons at 17. He and his long-time coach, Mike Schy, grinded down a bunch of shaft flexes and clubs to build his first set of irons. This year, Cobra, which signed DeChambeau to an endorsement deal after he turned pro following the 2016 Masters, released a consumer product, Cobra King One-Length irons, along with Bryson’s input.”

“And it’s not just the length of each iron shaft. Bryson’s clubs, which are 37½ inches long, the length of a standard 6-iron, are set at 72-degree lie angles that are 10 degrees more upright than standard. To achieve a consistent swingweight, all the heads weigh 278 grams.

2. When golf’s rules changed in 2019 to allow golfers to putt with the flagstick in, DeChambeau was quick to deliver the science behind why he’d do it.

The amazing thing? Months before the rule went into place, DeChambeau was adament about which events’ flagsticks would be more conducive and beneficial to putting with the pin in: “It depends on the COR, the coefficient of restitution of the flagstick,” he told golf.com in October. “In U.S. Opens, I’ll take it out, and every other Tour event, when it’s fiberglass, I’ll leave it in and bounce that ball against the flagstick if I need to.”

Full piece.

6. The resurgence of Harris English

Shane Ryan with a deep dive into Harris’ quietly brilliant 2020 campaign…“One of the most successful 2020 PGA Tour campaigns, and definitely the quietest, belongs to 31-year-old Harris English. With his second-place finish at the Northern Trust last weekend-thanks to Dustin Johnson, it was a distant second-he moved up to sixth in the FedExCup standings, clinched his spot in the Tour Championship, and has a legitimate chance to win the $10 million first-prize bonus in Atlanta. This is a shocking development, to put it mildly, and the fact that he’s done it despite testing positive for the coronavirus in late June turns English’s story from surprising to jaw-dropping. He’s the ultimate dark horse among the current top 10, which becomes abundantly clear when you consider the names:”

“Dustin Johnson. Justin Thomas. Webb Simpson. Daniel Berger. Collin Morikawa. Harris English. Bryson DeChambeau. Sungjae Im. Jon Rahm. Patrick Reed.”

“If you played the game “which one doesn’t belong?”, even a casual golf fan would have a quick answer. It’s not just name recognition, either; English is the only man on that list who hasn’t won in 2020, and despite being older than everyone but Johnson and Simpson, he’s had, by far, the most modest career.”

Full piece.

7. U.S. Open coverage details

Geoff Shackelford with the overview…“With the U.S. Open’s surprise return to NBC there will be ups, downs, perks and a few remote-control headaches that might include multiple phone calls with older relatives. Be ready to explain Peacock.”

“Good news? …The new Peacock app has a free option and if you’re only casually into the U.S. Open, probably not necessary since it’s largely handling field outlier broadcast windows. Maybe.”

“The bad news? If you’re a cord cutter and willing to pay to stay in one place despite Peacock, Golf Channel and NBC Sports existing under the same Comcast umbrella, you’ll be doing some app switching, updating, password entering, yada, yada. But you’ll survive, I promise.”

“Here is the schedule retaining the same 45 U.S. Open hours as last year on Fox. However, with the need to incorporate Peacock, the U.S. Open is losing 90 minutes of cable coverage each weekday round compared to Fox Sports 1. This year’s event-a one-off played in September at Winged Foot-is down four hours of broadcast television coverage Saturday and Sunday compared to Fox’s 10 hours and 8 hours respectively.”

Full piece, schedule notes.

8. Work smarter not harder

Sean Martin at PGATour.com on how players are using data and technology for more efficient improvement…“Players can only practice for so long, though. Daylight presents a natural limit. Some players have parental commitments to schedule around. Then there’s the law of diminishing returns, and the increased risk of injury that comes from excessive work. Swinging a golf club more than 100 mph can be hard on the body.”

“That’s why players turn to data and technology to make their practice time more efficient. Rory McIlroy, the reigning FedExCup champion, is among the players who relies on stats to show him what to work on.”

“For example, a report he received after the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship showed him that his sand shots weren’t up to his standards.”

“I got a stats report after the three weeks that I had at Torrey Pines, at Riviera, and Mexico, and that’s what I based my practice off going into the next few weeks,” McIlroy said at this year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. “My bunker play wasn’t up to the same standards it needed to be. I needed to get better (with putts) from 6 to 12 feet. It’s stuff that you sort of know anyway, but it’s nice when you have that objective data in front of you.”

Full piece.

9. Phil’s WITB from his first PGA Tour start

A fun one here, assembled by our Johnny Wunder as Lefty is perched atop the leaderboard on the Champions Tour.

Driver: TaylorMade Tour Driver (8.5 degrees) with FlexTwist Graphite Shaft X

3 Wood: TaylorMade Tour Spoon (13 degrees) with FlexTwist Graphite Shaft X

Irons: Ping Eye 2 (1) with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100, Yonex Tour Forged (3-10) with Yonex LTB 600 Boron XX flex

Wedges: Yonex (56) with Yonex LTB 600 Boron X flex, Ping Eye2 (60) with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100

Putter: Arnold Palmer “The Original” 34 inches w/ Leather Wrap Grip

Ball: Titleist Tour 384 100 Balata

Full piece.

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

2 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