News

Morning 9: Cantlay hat deal runs out | Ryder Cup pros defend Zach | Stats of the year

Published

3 years ago

Nov 22, 2023

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Wednesday morning, golf fans, as we approach Thanksgiving Day.

1. Pat’s hat

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”According to DealBook, Goldman Sachs opted not to renew its contract with Cantlay, the world’s fifth-ranked golfer, who it signed to a three-year deal in 2020. Cantlay initially repped Goldman’s online consumer banking platform, Marcus, on his headwear but more recently has featured just the Goldman name.”

“…This, of course, isn’t the first news about Pat’s hat. Cantlay made headlines a couple months ago when rumors swirled that he was refusing to wear a hat at the Ryder Cup out of protest for not being paid to compete in the international team competition. Cantlay denied the claims, instead saying that he wasn’t donning a hat because the team’s headwear didn’t fit well.”

“Cantlay also was supposed to play the Hero World Challenge in two weeks in the Bahamas, but he was taken off the final commitment list along with friend Xander Schauffele.”

Full piece.

2. LPGA stats of the year

Kent Paisley for Golf Digest…

“83,962…Approximate total mileage between all 35 LPGA events this season, including the Hanwha LifePlus International Crown in San Francisco and the Solheim Cup in Spain. For a frame of reference, that dizzying amount is three trips around the earth’s circumference (or almost six times as far as Forest Gump ran during his five-time trip across the United States).”

“25.95…The average age, in years, of winners on the LPGA in 2023, down from 27.32 in 2022. Only two players 30 or older won this year, with Ashleigh Buhai (34.08) at the ShopRite LPGA Classic alongside Yang (34.31). The youngest winner was Alexa Pano, who turned 19 the day she claimed the title at the ISPS Handa World Invitational in August. Pano was one of two teens to win in 2023, joining Chanetee Wanassean at the Cambia Portland Classic.”

Full piece.

3. Smith’s Olympic hopes

Evin Priest for Golf Digest…”Cameron Smith has conceded he may have to travel to the far corners of Asia in 2024 to keep his dreams of playing golf in next summer’s Olympics in Paris alive.”

“One of the consequences of Smith’s 2022 defection to LIV Golf—which had its application to receive Official World Golf Rankings points for its no-cut, 54-hole events denied in October—has been his plummet down the OWGR. The problem is, the Olympics uses the OWGR as a basis to determine who qualifies to compete in its event.”

“When Australian star Smith joined LIV in the fall of 2022, he was ranked No. 2 in the World and the reigning Open champion with six-time PGA Tour winner to his credit. Now, he’s 18th—and only after a runner-up the previous week in the Asian Tour’s Hong Kong Open.”

Full piece.

4. Hubbard sets mark for most starts in a season

Golf Digest’s Tod Leonard…”As strange as it is to consider, the PGA Tour campaign that ended on Sunday at the RSM Classic stretched all the way back to the first round of the Fortinet Championship on Sept. 15, 2022. Over that entire period, there were 51 weeks in which tour events were staged, sometimes with two being held per week.”

“That is an incredibly long “season,” one that was necessitated by the tour tweaking its schedule in ways big and small, and ultimately going back to a calendar-year schedule that begins in 2024.”

“…That all fed straight into the insatiable desire to play and travel for tour veteran Mark Hubbard. So much so, that the 34-year-old set a PGA Tour record for the most events played in one season as Hubbard racked up a whopping 39 starts over 15 months.”

Full piece.

5. PGA Tour stats of the year

Justin Ray for PGATour.com…

“Rahm’s improved approach play…”Through the first several months of 2023, there was nobody playing better golf than Jon Rahm. At The Sentry, Rahm put together the biggest final-round comeback to win of the season, starting that Sunday seven shots off the lead. When Rahm won his third tournament of the season at The Genesis Invitational, it was the fastest in a calendar year that a player had won three times since Johnny Miller in 1975.”

“Rahm brought that incredible form with him to Georgia in April for the year’s first major championship. With his victory there, Rahm became the first European player to win both the U.S. Open and the Masters. Not that the week got off to the best start – the Spaniard made double-bogey on the opening hole of the tournament, becoming the first player to do that the week of a Masters win since Sam Snead in 1952. It helped to have one of the best ball striking performances in the history of the Tournament: Rahm hit 85 percent of his fairways and 72 percent of his greens in regulation, benchmarks not dually reached by a Masters winner since Ben Crenshaw in 1995.”

Full Piece.

6. Rory, Shane, Luke and MJ

AP report…”The Ryder Cup celebration didn’t end in Rome, at least not for Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy.”

“In the second part of an interview with The Irish Independent, they talk about their flight home to South Florida and then McIlroy inviting Lowry over for lunch the next day. A bottle of wine was opened. And then another. And lunch turned into dinner.”

“Captain Luke Donald soon joined them, as did Michael Jordan.”

“Rory and Luke started texting him, and the next thing we’re sitting there drinking with Michael Jordan, just the four of us,” Lowry said. “He’s very much a pro-USA guy. I think it was the first Ryder Cup he hadn’t been to in 25 years, so we gave him a good slagging.”

“McIlroy said Jordan stayed from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Among the topics: Pay for play, of course.”

“He told a story about the U.S. basketball team, the Dream Team at the Olympics in ’92. ‘Do you not think I could have got paid to play in the Olympics?’” he said. ”‘These people are missing the point of what it means.’

“He saw the long-term value of winning an Olympics, and said he ended up doing way better than if he had taken money there and then.”

Full Piece.

7. Ryder Cup pros jump to defense of Zach

Tom D’Angelo for Palm Beach Post…”Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele spoke to The Palm Beach Post last Friday about the disappointing week at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome. Europe dominated the U.S., winning 16.5-11.5.”

“The three players were attending the opening of Panther National, a course co-designed by Thomas and Jack Nicklaus.”

“The No. 1 regret he should have is we should have played better,” Thomas said. “We all told him that, ‘Zach, it’s easy to look back after a week where they just played monumentally better and we did not play well. It’s easy to say you should have changed things.’

“We just should have played better for him.”

“Fowler said he had no complaints about how Johnson handled the team.”

Full Piece.

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open

Published

2 hours ago

Jun 3, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX Tour Photographer made the trip from the Memorial Tournament across the country to the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera. Check out links to all the photos below!

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

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