News

Morning 9: Unique Masters coverage ahead | Tiger’s first Masters caddie | Ridley: Distance gains not good for Masters

Published

6 years ago

Nov 12, 2020

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt

Email me at [email protected]; and find me on Twitter and Instagram.

November 12, 2020

Good Masters Thursday morning, golf fans.

1 Unique Masters coverage cometh

Wynston Wilcox for the Augusta Chronicle… “With no patrons hustling around the course, following their favorite golfers and filling Augusta National Golf Club with the roars prompted by a beautiful chip, hole-in-one or eagle putt, CBS announced plans to experiment with camera angles it wouldn’t have been able to provide.

“Right now, we’re still working on it,” said Lance Barrow, coordinating producer for golf on CBS.”

“He added that they will “try some shots between now and Thursday,” and make a “game-time” decision on whether to send them live. He also said they are experimenting with live drones in the practices rounds and could utilize those as well.”

Full piece.

2. Young guns….

FiveThirtyEight’s Josh Planos…”There are few sporting events as resolutely American as the Masters Tournament, a weeklong devotional to piano-tickled marketing materials, polo-and-khaki ensembles and high-definition flora. If the 2019 Masters gave us an opportunity for apex patriotism, with Tiger Woods completing the ultimate comeback with a win amid the Georgia pines, the 2020 Masters should feature encore potential with plenty of red, white and blue atop the leaderboard. All but four of the current top 15 golfers in the world were born in the U.S., which is unusual enough on its own. But the Americans are also skewing young: Seven of the 111 are under the age of 30. From 2000 to 2019, there was an average of only two under-30 American golfers entering Masters week ranked in the top 15.”

Full piece.

3. Augusta weather check

Brendan Porath writing for the Gray Lady herself!…”For all the concerns about a frigid Masters, temperatures should approximate April with forecasts of highs in the upper 70s and lows in the 60s throughout the weekend. Warming up for a round in benign early morning temperatures should come as a relief to the fused back of the 44-year-old defending champion.”

“Instead, thunderstorms will likely be a far greater threat than the temperature. Players said the course appeared to be playing longer and that chipping around the greens could be impacted if rain rolls across Augusta. But turfgrass experts said the greens, notoriously speedy, tricky and maintained to the point of obsession, should play similarly to April.”

“That place is as different as any other course in the world,” said Gerald Henry, a turfgrass management professor at the University of Georgia. “The pressures that I’d explain that are happening at your local golf course just don’t exist out there — and that’s intentional, obviously.”

Full piece.

4. Rory McIlroy knows the fact that he should win a Masters isn’t helping him win one

BBC report…”When asked about those comments, world number five McIlroy replied: “I’d like to think so but nothing’s given in this game. You have to go out and earn it. You can’t just rely on people saying that you’re going to win one. Greg Norman never did. Ernie Els never did. There are a lot of great people that have played this game that have never won a Green Jacket. It’s not a foregone conclusion, and I know that. I have to go out and earn it and play good golf.”

Full piece.

5. Tiger’s first Masters caddie

Excellent writing from Ian O’Conner, who begins impactfully…”Tommy Bennett did not want to caddie for Tiger Woods at the 1995 Masters.”

“I didn’t want no damn amateur,” he recalls. “I wanted that green jacket.”

“He wanted to carry for Dicky Pride, a promising young pro who had won a PGA Tour event the previous summer in Memphis, Tennessee. But Pride’s sponsor preferred a different man on his bag, and so did Jack Stephens, the investment banking magnate who was the chair of Augusta National Golf Club. Twenty years after Lee Elder had become the first African American invited to play the Masters, and five years after the club had accepted its first African-American member, Stephens knew that Woods was primed to become the game’s first Black megastar. Like Earl Woods, Tiger’s father, and Butch Harmon, Tiger’s coach, Stephens wanted to assign the rookie a tour caddie who knew his way around.”

Full piece.

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6. David Duval positive for COVID-19

The Augusta Chronicle’s Jason Lusk…”David Duval, the former World No. 1 golfer and now a broadcaster with Golf Channel, will miss this week’s Masters after having tested positive for COVID-19. After testing positive on his way to Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, the 49-year-old television analyst returned to his home in Denver.I’m so sad not being a part of the Masters coverage this week,” Duval said Tuesday night on Twitter. “I flew to Atlanta and drove to Augusta Sunday. I went straight to the testing site and got tested. Like so many other Americans I was apparently unknowingly exposed to COVID and tested positive. … “As of now I have no symptoms. I drove home straight thru the night and am in quarantine in my basement.”

Full Piece

7. Ridley: Distance gains not good for Masters

Rex Hoggard for Golf Channel…“I think we are at a crossroads as relates to this issue,” Ridley said. “I do think that we’re coming closer to a call to action.”

“Ridley didn’t offer any details on what that action might be, although he did reference a report on distance that is scheduled to be published next year. He added that the club is reluctant at this moment to start any major changes, like in 2002 and ’06, that dramatically lengthened the course. But he also didn’t dismiss the option.”

“As it relates to our golf course, we have options, and we will take the necessary action to make sure we stay relevant,” he said.”

Full Piece

8. “Finally changing”

Christine Brennan for Golfweek…”For several generations, the white men who ran the club either forgot, ignored or willfully disregarded the vastness of their responsibilities, other than to do a bang-up job of encouraging more white men to play golf.”

“But over the past couple of years, and especially in 2020, current events have conspired with the more open-minded younger men now leading the club to begin to make amends.”

“In 2018, in his first Masters press conference as the club’s new chairman, Fred Ridley stunningly announced that the club was going to hold an annual women’s amateur championship right before the Masters.”

“Just this week, Ridley announced the following: Lee Elder, who became the first Black man to play in the Masters in 1975, will be an honorary starter with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player at the 2021 tournament; the club will fund a women’s golf program at Paine College, an historically Black college in Augusta, and endow scholarships for male and female golfers at the school in Elder’s name”

Full Piece

9. Dustin Johnson: Lover of Masters sandwiches

Golf Digest’s Mercer Baggs…”The Masters Tournament has more traditions than you can count, so it might be difficult for someone to name a favorite.”

“Unless you’re Dustin Johnson.”

“I don’t know if it’s really a tradition, but my favorite thing about the Masters is the sandwiches,” said the current world No. 1.

“Which sandwich?”

“All of them.”

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