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Tour Rundown: Cink runs away with Heritage | Ko breaks three-year drought

Published

3 years ago

Apr 18, 2021

A week after a major championship can have a bit of a hangover feel to it. When one ends with the welcoming of a first-time major winner, as we have had the past two weeks, it’s a double blessing. Patty Tavatanakit claimed the ANA Inspiration by two with her distance and consistency, while Hideki Matsuyama captured our attention with stellar execution and respectful dignity. In other words, this week had a lot to live up to, and it did precisely that.

Let’s roll up and run down the tour action that we saw the third week of April.

PGA Tour: Cink runs away with Heritage

Stewart Cink has made a habit of winning now and then for the past 24 years. He has a major title on his resume, and has represented the USA nine times in international team matches. In his third year on tour, Cink won on Hilton Head Island for the first time. He repeated in 2004, then waited 17 years to claim a third Heritage title, by four shots over Harold Varner III and Emiliano Grillo.

Despite a height of six feet four inches, Cink has never been a long hitter. As a result, a course like Harbor Town suits his game more than does a 7500-yard track. After 11 years away from the winner’s circle, Cink claimed the Safeway Open last fall by two strokes. That win, over Harry Higgs, was not an easy one. In complete contrast, this week in South Carolina was complete dominance by Cink.

The Georgia Tech Bulldog opened with a pair of 63s, to move past first-round leader Cameron Smith, who opened with 62. Scores in the low 60s went away on the weekend, and Cink was able to close with 69-70, and embrace victory. Collin Morikawa stood second to Cink after 54 holes, but showed surprising weakness on Sunday. the 2020 PGA titleist and 2021 WGC-Workday winner ran out of birdies on day four, and limped home with 72 for T-7.

LPGA Tour: Ko breaks three-year drought with seven-shot margin

There was a time when Lydia Ko did the things she did this week, on the regular. Three wins in 2014, followed by five in 2015 and four the next season, gave us a sense of what might be generational dominance. As she reached age eighteen, the wins vanished. Ko went two years without a victory, but claimed a playoff triumph in 2018. Throughout 2021, traces of the old/young Ko returned, and it became a matter of time until she won again. Two weeks ago, she chased Patty Tavatanakit to the 72nd green at ANA Inspiration, and settled for a runner-up finish.

After this week’s resurgence, the principal question is: how far back has Lydia Ko returned? A seven-shot, runaway victory over the tour’s top talent is more than just a comeback; it’s a statement. Nelly Korda, Inbee Park, and Sei Young Kim tied with Leona Maguire for second, a touchdown and extra point behind. They played well, but mull these numbers turned in by Ko on the week: one bogey in 72 holes (hole eleven on Thursday); three bogey-free round; 29 birdies in 72 holes, with no fewer than six on any of her four scorecards. Yup, that’s a statement. Should be a fun 2021, if Lydia Ko finds the road all the way back.

European Tour: Catlin wins Austrian Open playoff over Kieffer

Talk about a buried lede. While it’s true what the headline says, it’s barely the story. There was a playoff, but we’ll get to that. John Catlin had two previous wins on the European Tour, while Max Kieffer came close in 2013, losing a playoff for the Spain Open. In regulation time, Kieffer staked an early advantage, playing the first seven holes in six-under, highlighted by an eagle at the 4th. Bogey at 9 and 11 slowed his roll, but he rebounded with birdie at 13 and 15, to reach minus-fourteen on the week. Catlin was flawless over his 18 holes, pairing seven birdies with eleven pars, for day-low honors and his own place at the 14-deep table. Both surged past third-round leaders Martin Kaymer (70 for solo third) and Alejandro Cañizares (74 for t-seventh) and gained a spot in a playoff. That’s when the fun began.

The 18th hole at the Diamond Country Club, near Vienna, is a par three over water, with a solitary bunker on the right edge of the green. Catlin and Kieffer reached the green in regulation the first three (yup, there were more) turns through. Par and par were followed by birdie, and back to the tee they went for a fourth time. On the fourth occasion, Catlin found the sand, but went up and down for par. Kieffer once again found the putting surface, but was unable to coax his putt for two into the hole. On tour the fifth, Catlin once again found sand, but Kieffer did him one better. In this case, it was three worse.

Kieffer’s tee ball came up short of the fronting wall, and found water. His pitch from the drop zone landed pin high, and spun back into the water. His second pitch, his fifth shot, landed twenty feet beyond the flag, then spun even harder, once again back into the drink. Exasperated, Kieffer took the juice off his third pitch, landed on the green, then made the putt for an inglorious eight. Dumbfounded by his good fortune, Catlin pitched out of the sand, took two putts for bogey, and claimed his third European Tour title.

Korn Ferry Tour: Uihlein claims second stateside win at MGM Resorts

Peter Uihlein might qualify as one of the top professional golf stories of the last decade. After a decorated amateur career, in which he won the US Amateur and shined for the USA side at the 2009 Merion Walker Cup matches, Uihlein landed in Europe, where he played the Challenge and Main tours for seven years. Uihlein won twice in the old country, then returned to the USA for the 2017-2018 season. He has remained in his home country ever since, amassing a number of top-twenty finishes on the PGA and Korn Ferry tours, including a win at the 2017 Nationwide Children’s Hospital championship.

This week, the 31-year old returned to the winner’s circle in Las Vegas, claiming the title by four strokes over a former European Tour rival from the states, David Lipsky, and Jamie Lovemark. Uihlein opened with 68, and stood two shots out of the first-round lead. He improved a stroke on day two, but lost a shot to the lead, as Adam Svensson jumped up with 64. The Canadian struggled on the weekend, finishing with 72-78 for a 22nd-place finish. Uihlein established himself on day three with another 68, one shot ahead of Jamie Lovemark, a fellow US Amateur champion. The two would match wits on day four, and the front nine would write the story.

Uihlein was clean through nine, posting four birdies and five pars. Lovemark had three birdies of his own, but stumbled with four bogeys on four other holes. As Lovemark faded, Lipsky arrived. The 2010 Big Ten champion, an amateur contemporary of Uihlein, gained a stroke on the eventual winner on the outward half. He was all pars from 10 through 14, then gained two more strokes at 15 and 16. After a fifth birdie at the 11th, Uihlein’s played the final seven holes in plus-two, bringing the final margin to four shots and making the final result closer than it appeared.

Champions Tour: Stricker secures sixth senior title at Chubb

Steven Charles Stricker can be forgiven for a dearth of Champions Tour titles over the past 24 months. As captain of the 2021 (nee 2020) USA Ryder Cup side, Stricker has played a majority of weeks on the regular tour, scouting the talent. When Covid-19 pushed the team matches a year, Stricker was compelled to extend his stay with the young-uns a bit longer. This week, the Wisconsin native logged in to the west-coast Florida stop on the experienced tour, and came away with a one-shot victory.

Fred Couples led the show for two rounds, posting 63-69. He continued his downward trend on Sunday with 71, and dropped five slots, to a tie for sixth position. Fellow super-senior Bernhard Langer started strong, with 65-68, but experienced day the last struggles of his own, and tied Couples for sixth after a 70 of his own. Sweden’s Robert Karlsson stood equal with Couples after 36 holes, and provided Stricker’s most formidable challenge on the final day.

On Sunday, Stricker found his finest form, posting five birdies against zero bogies for 67. Karlsson also signed for a quintet of birdies on Sunday, but stumbled with a pair of bogies, at the 7th and 14th holes. Those missteps flipped the two golfers’ positions, and the Mayor of Madison escaped with a one-shot win.

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Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship

Published

19 hours ago

May 7, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

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

2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Monday #1

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship

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

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SuperStroke acquires Lamkin Grips

Published

2 days ago

May 6, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

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

Published

2 days ago

May 6, 2024

Ronald Montesano

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.

360° and in!

A nervy par save by @TaylorPendrith to remain one back as he seeks his first PGA TOUR victory @CJByronNelson. pic.twitter.com/LVFXUSidSg

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 5, 2024

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.

.@adrianotaegui birdies the 16th to tie the lead at -17 ?#VolvoChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/p4tfE5DRJa

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 5, 2024

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.

.@TBalla21 eagles 17, shoots 65 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the KIA Open. pic.twitter.com/TTOL2LxSdh

— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) May 4, 2024

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.

Off the green? No worries for @ScottDu12500063

8-under solo leader @InsperityInvtnl pic.twitter.com/hoj5OujL5C

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 4, 2024

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