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Morning 9: Power wins in Bermuda | Ko splits with Foley | Phil on future

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2 years ago

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco and Matthew Vincenzi.
For comments: [email protected].
October 31, 2022

Good Monday morning, golf fans, as Seamus Power notched his second win on the PGA Tour over the weekend.

1. Power in Bermuda

AP report…”Seamus Power did enough right and left all the mistakes to PGA TOUR rookie Ben Griffin on Sunday to win the Butterfield Bermuda Championship for his second TOUR title.”

  • “Power took the lead for good with a 25-foot birdie putt at the 14th. A bogey on the final hole gave the Irishman a 1-under 70 and a one-shot victory over Thomas Detry, who earlier had holed a bunker shot on the 18th for birdie and a 67.”
  • “But it was Griffin who had the best chance.”
  • “Just more than a year after Griffin was working as a loan officer, he had a shot at winning on the PGA TOUR and going to the Masters. He started the back nine at Port Royal with back-to-back birdies, putting him at 5 under for the day and with a two-shot lead over Power.”
  • “And then it all fell apart.”
Full piece.

2. Jordan Smith finally nabs his second

BBC report…”England’s Jordan Smith broke down in tears after finishing on 30 under par to win the Portugal Masters and claim his first victory since 2017.”

  • “The 29-year-old triumphed by three shots, having led from the first round at Dom Pedro Victoria.”
  • “It’s just nice to finally get this second win,” said the Wiltshire golfer.
  • “Malaysia’s Gavin Green finished second, with Finn Tapio Pulkkanen five shots further back in third and England’s Eddie Pepperell fourth on 21 under.”
Full piece.

3. R&A chief: “Open not banning anyone”

Golf Digest’s John Huggan…”Along with the other three majors, he has obvious decisions to make when it comes to exemptions and qualifying criteria for the Open.”

  • “We’ll go public in January/February with what we are going to do with regard to LIV golfers,” he says. “But if you want a guide, go back to what I said in July. We’re not banning anyone. We are not going to betray 150 years of history and have the Open not be open. The name says it all. And that’s important. What we will do is ensure that there are appropriate pathways and ways to qualify. I’m looking forward to seeing Cam Smith tee-up around 9:40 a.m. on the first day of the Open next year. The Open needs to set itself aside from what’s going in terms of disagreements and make sure we stay true to our principle, which is to have the best players in the world competing.”
  • “Like it or not though, the opinion of the R&A chief executive is one that carries weight within the seemingly endless debate and controversy caused by well-financed Saudi Arabia’s venture into golf. And yes, Slumbers has a view, one shared by many golfers.”
  • “I worry about some of the discussions going on at the moment,” he says. “I’m not going to go into detail though. It’s not really my responsibility. But I worry about pathways being eroded. And I worry about the loss of values. Why do 99 percent of people play golf? Because they feel it is good for them. They enjoy being with their friends. They enjoy the integrity golf requires. Not many play because they might win a large check. I certainly don’t.
Full piece.

4. Future LIV league plans?

Golfweek’s Adam Woodard…”The main talking points focused around the 12 teams.”

  • “LIV says it’s aiming for a business model would eventually be similar to that of the other major team sports in the United States, such as the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, and officials hope that franchising its teams will create a revenue stream that the upstart circuit solely funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund currently doesn’t possess.”
  • “Our belief is that, it might not be from the get go, but people understand team sports. They play team sports,” said LIV Golf chief operating officer Atul Khosla. “Yes, they have a favorite player as well, it is no different from anywhere else, but they do relate to being associated with a team. We feel like that trend can continue in golf, as well.”
  • “The concept I understand is new in golf, but the inherent human nature of our aspect of wanting to associate with the team, that is not.”
Full piece.

5. LIV final: DJ, 4Aces roll

AP report…”Dustin Johnson watched the final putt of his season roll in, pumped his right fist and waited for the party to begin.”

  • “Another big celebration. Another big check, too.”
  • “Johnson drove the green on the 370-yard par-4 16th to set up an easy birdie that provided a bit of breathing room, Patrick Reed birdied his last hole to put their squad ahead for good and 4Aces GC captured the season-ending LIV Golf team championship at Trump National Doral on Sunday by 1 shot over Cameron Smith and Punch GC.”
  • “The victory capped a monster earnings year for Johnson, by far the biggest money winner in the first year of LIV. Including his $18 million for winning the season-long individual title, Johnson finished with $35,637,767 in earnings.”
Full piece.

6. Phil on the phuture

Golfweek’s Adam Woodard…”Eternally an optimist, Mickelson looked to the future after Thursday’s round and praised how far the upstart circuit had come over the last eight months since his incendiary comments.”

  • “I’m pretty surprised at how far LIV has come because there was a lot of uncertainty, like who would play in London. You look at the strength of the league now and you have a lot of really strong players and you have a lot of really strong characters in the game,” said Mickelson. “Whether you love them or hate them, there’s a lot of guys here that people want to see.”
  • “The 52-year-old also couldn’t help but mention a desire for more LIV events to go international next season when the series transitions to the 14-event LIV Golf League, going as far as saying, “We’re having a lot of current tournaments on multiple tours coming to us wanting a LIV event.” Does that mean a bridge could be built to cover the widening gap between LIV and the PGA and DP World tours? Time will tell.”
Full piece.

7. Asia Pacific Am

John Huggan for Golf Digest…”Armed with a one-shot lead and with the honor on that penultimate tee, Bo Jin hit the shot you just can’t hit. Short and left of its intended target, the ball was always headed for the inevitable splash landing. Taking his chance next, Harrison Crowe made no such mistake, his tee shot finding the safety of dry land, maybe 30 feet from the pin.”

  • “Double bogey for Jin and par for Crowe duly followed, swapping ownership of the one-shot edge. And when both made par on the 477-yard 18th it was over. The third Australian to win this title, Crowe shot a closing 72, his worst score of the week. But the 13-under-par aggregate with which he started the final round was just enough for the 54-hole leader to get things done. Only Jin, T-3 last year in Dubai and T-8 in 2019, was close. Another Aussie, Jeff Guan, and Ryuta Suzuki tied for third, four shots back.”
Full piece.

8. Ko splits with Foley

Golweek’s Beth Ann Nichols…”Lydia Ko parted ways last month with instructor Sean Foley. The former world No. 1 took to Instagram to make the announcement, noting that they decided to go their own ways as a coach and player for “logistical reasons,” but that Foley will always remain a close friend and mentor.

  • “When I first met Sean, I was in a place where I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself and in my game,” Ko wrote. “Over the past two years he has helped me evolve as a better player and person. Our time together was full of so much learning, laughter.”
  • Ko, 25, recently won at the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea for her 18th career title, calling this her most consistent year yet. A two-time winner this season, Ko leads the LPGA in scoring, and she leads the Rolex Player of the Year race with 11 top-5 finishes in 20 starts.
Full Piece.

9. Seamus Power WITB
Driver: Ping G430 LST (9 degrees @9.25)

Shaft: Accra TZ6 Proto 65 M5

3-wood: Ping G430 MAX (15 degrees)

Shaft: ACCRA TZ6 Proto 75 M5

7-wood: Ping G430 MAX (18 degrees @17.75)

Shaft: ACCRA TZ5 Proto 85 M5

Irons: Ping iBlade (4), Ping Blueprint (5-PW)

Shafts: Accra TZ5 1050 M5 (4), Project X 125 6.5

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 (50-SS, 54-SS, 58-TS)

Shafts: Project X 125 6.5

Putter: Ping PLD3 Mallet

Grip: Ping PP58

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord
Full WITB.
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Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship

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15 hours 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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