News

Tour Rundown: Golf takes a distant seat to life and loss

Published

2 years ago

May 27, 2024

Somewhere in the annals of my golf writings, words certainly appear that express frustration, if not disdain, for the college arc of Grayson Murray. Ignorance is no longer an excuse, and my inability to recognize the signs of the emotional health and mental health struggles that he faced, must be laid bare.

I, along with the entirety of the golf world, and a good portion of the USA, mourn the heartache and loss that the Murray family suffers. Their accomplished Grayson is no longer with us, a victim of suicide. They must have hoped, as did we, that the winter victory in Hawaii signaled an awareness and an ability to manage, the triggers and the doubts that fueled his suffering.

“Everyone here could be a difference. The difference.”
@HarryHiggs1991 honored Grayson Murray in his speech after winning @VisitKnoxOpen. pic.twitter.com/q9xcLmvNPm

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) May 26, 2024

On Friday, May 24th, Grayson Murray left our world a poorer place. His transparency about his battles, his uncertainties, and his temptations, brushed aside a veil that obscures the challenge that world-class athletes of all genders and gender identities, confront on a daily basis. Anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, self-doubt, and more. Social media doesn’t help. Sometimes the traditional media doesn’t help. Sometimes, it is all a hindrance.

It is time to stop the search for the next anybody. It is time to stop placing expectations for success and acchievements and accolades on anyone’s shoulders. It is time to begin saying that tomorrow can be better, and we are here to help and no matter who you are, nor how you present, you may cry and vent and request and, most importantly, step away from the microphone and the spotlight. Life matters most.

Professional golfer Grayson Murray died by suicide yesterday. He struggled with alcoholism and mental health issues for years.

In January he won his second PGA Tour event, the Sony Open in Hawaii. During the press conference after the tournament, instead of letting him celebrate… pic.twitter.com/Dkps3eBiiF

— MAZE (@mazemoore) May 26, 2024

PGA Tour @ CS Challenge: Riley manages game and path to victory

Davis Riley had to wonder if Colonial 2024 would be similar to Valspar 2022. In the later, Riley held a two-shot advantage through 54 holes, but fell to Sam Burns in a playoff. This week, Riley again carried a lead into the final round, but this time, it was four shots. And this time, the man chasing him was the world’s top-ranked player and current Masters champion, Scottie Scheffler. Knowing that no one gives you anything, Riley set off on Sunday afternoon.

On an eerie day in Fort Worth, Riley’s golf was inconsistent and unspectacular. He had ten pars, four birdies, and four bogeys. He never looked like the fellow that posted three, mid-60s rounds on the previous days. Fortunately for him, Scheffler resembled neither the Masters champion nor the world number one. Scheffler played three-over par golf the majority of the day, until two late birdies brought him to minus-nine, and a tie for second with Keegan Bradley.

An oddly-uncomfortable, five shots better was Riley, who claimed his first PGA Tour victory, after two wins on the training circuit, the Korn Ferry tour.

A five-shot lead for Davis Riley!

He bounces back from an early bogey @CSChallengeFW. pic.twitter.com/igxS5oG3QI

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 26, 2024

Korn Ferry Tour @ Visit Knoxville: Higgs is biggs with second in a row

Harry Higgs may return to the PGA Tour one day, but does he really need to do so? For the second consecutive week, the big-tour exile turned in a stunning stretch run, culiminating in a playoff appearance. This week, he and Frankie Capan III matched birdies on the first extra hole, before Higgs made a stupefying eagle three at the par-five closer.

Capan had to wonder what he had to do, in order to secure victory. After posting 62 on Saturday, he closed with 66 on Sunday, including a final-hole birdie to tie Higgs at the top. Quade Cummings nearly joined the pair in overtime, posting 61 on the strength of a fourth-hole ace and eight birdies. It was the 18th that did him in, as he failed to find a ninth birdie there.

The two-man playoff lasted two holes. After both Capan and Higgs posted birdie the first time through, both men reached the green in two, with chances at eagle. From 36 feet, Higgs made; from closer in, Capan missed. With one more KFT victory, Higgs will receive an in-season promotion to the PGA Tour.

“My caddie and I, we’re two for two now on high fives.”

A couple of moments @harryhiggs1991 is never going to forget. ? pic.twitter.com/zDQck6J0ez

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) May 26, 2024

DP World Tour @ Soudal Open: Elvira claims second tour win

Saint’s Day is almost as big a deal in Spain as birthday. Ignacio “Nacho” Elvira, decided to move Saint Ignatius Day up a couple of months, and celebrate in Belgium. Elvira held off a charging Thomas Pieters, preserving the lead he claimed on day two.

Day one saw an albatross, a back-nine 28, and an opening 62, all courtesy of Sam Jones the golfer. The pride of New Zealand had a decent front side of two-under 34, then turned up the heat on the inward half. Four birdies were followed by the deuce at the long 17th, and the Kiwi nearly made it 27 for 61 at the last. Jones would ultimately finish in a respectable, seventh-place tie, three behind the winner.

Elvira opened with a pair of 64s, then posted 67 on Saturday. His four-shot advantage on day four dwindled to one, but he was never caught. Unable to rekindle the flame of his opening 36 holes, Elvira made an important birdie at the 11th, on the heels of the day’s second bogey. Elvira closed in unspectacular but effective fashion, posting seven consecutive pars to finish one ahead of the triumvirate of Pieters, Romain Langasque, and Niklas Norgaard.

The DP World Tour travels to Germany this week for the European Open. 2023 champion Tom McKibbin of Northern Ireland will attempt to defend his maiden tour title.

After nearly going out of bounds, @nachoelvira87 produces THIS recovery shot ?#SoudalOpen pic.twitter.com/KPv1SgYYFB

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 26, 2024

PGA Tour Champions @ Senior PGA Championship: Bland on the run

Richard Bland became something of a late-forties, folk hero among golf fans, before he departed the traditional tours. The Englishman passed the age of fifty, and gained a bit of opportunity in senior events. Bland was eligible for this week’s Senior PGA Championship in Michigan, and he turned opportunity into achievement, with a three-shot margin of victory.

For most of the week, it seemed that golf’s most recent, social media darling, was destined to triumph. Greg Chalmers, the self-effacing and mildly-derelict, Australian southpaw, kept improving with each round. He went 69-68-66, to enter Sunday in a tie with Ernie Els. The South African provided little motivation for Chalmers, continuously stumbling from bogey to birdie. Els finished minus-one on the day, and T6 on the week. Chalmers faced a new opponent, in the guise of the resurgent Bland, and over the final three holes, succumbed to a trio of bogeys that dropped him from contention, to solo third.

Bland appeared to do damage to his chances on Saturday. His score of 74 was three to the wrong side of par, and dropped him out of the lead for the first time all week. Sunday saw a stunning return to form, with eight birdies and an eagle on his card. The eagle at the 15th drove a dart into Chalmers, and may have been the strike that began the three-bogey run for the Australian. Despite a pair of bogeys, Bland’s closing 63 was low round of the week, and shot him past all challengers, to a first senior win and major.

Wow. How’d Richard Bland do that!

Catch all the action LIVE on @Peacock.#SrPGAChamp pic.twitter.com/eOBkgwCtEB

— KitchenAid Senior PGA Champ (@seniorpgachamp) May 26, 2024

Tour Photo Galleries

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

Published

8 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

3 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