News

Tour Rundown: In non-major news…

Published

2 years ago

Jun 24, 2024

In non-major news (read about Amy Yang’s PGA Championship win here), the pros got together for some early, northern hemisphere-summer golf. They met in southeast but upstate New York, Connecticut, Oklahoma, and Holland. On Saturday in Cromwell, Cameron Young saved par at the last hole to post a score of 59. He began Sunday with four consecutive birdies, and we thought he might never make another par. He cooled off, sadly, but did secure a top-ten finish.

Let’s be honest: after a major-championship week with a dearth of birdies, we should always have a birdie-fest where scores approach 30-under par. 59 should always be possible. Travelers gives us that relief. It’s the miracle drug we crave, after watching far too many putts and approach shots trickle off greens, into bunkers and scary places.

I normally don’t put together a Tour Rundown the week of a major championship, but with golf camp ending last Friday, I had some time on my hands. Time to get down with Rundown for this third week of June.

History for Cameron Young!

A 9-footer for par on 18 cards him a 59 @TravelersChamp ? pic.twitter.com/IXYhp3w7Jw

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 22, 2024

PGA Tour @ Travelers: Playoff? Scottie gets number six

Some golfers just win. 2024 should go down as one of the top-fifteen, great years on the PGA Tour. Scottie Scheffler has six wins so far, including one major title. He still has the Open Championship ahead of him, plus other events, plus the playoffs. It seems unlikely that he won’t secure another win or two. Imagine an eight-win season. Imagine that people forget about what happened in Louisville. Wowzers.

This week’s win was Scheffler’s first playoff of 2024, and the third of his career. He’s two and one in overtime, which means little to nothing in the long game. Scheffler came to 18 at River Highlands with a one-shot advantage over Tom Kim. Scheffler’s approach should have downslopped, but didn’t. He had a tricky putt for three to end it all, and left it three inches shy, in the jar. Kim’s approach might have been two inches to the right, dropped in for eagle, and ended things right there, but instead, it spun back to ten feet. He jarred it. Playoff.

The brief extra session saw both golfers find fairway, then Kim went for the win and found the sand. His fried egg left him zero chance of a close up and down, and his long putt for par went astray. Scheffler played for the center of the green, took two putts, and walked off with career win number fifteen. After the two at -22, Tom Hoge and Sungjae Im tied for third place at -20.

Scottie throws it in close, and Tom Kim finds the bunker on the first playoff hole. pic.twitter.com/HT0CJj5TgE

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 23, 2024

DP World Tour @ KPMG: Playoff?? Migliozzi can’t miss

If we’re going after translations, miglio in Italian is mile, so migliozzi would be a heap of miles. It’s odd that we would have a translation for miles, in a land where the kilometer is king, but that’s humanity for you. We do know that Guido Migliozzi has walked many miles, in pursuit of golfing greatness. He won a pair of DPWT title in 2019, then grabbed another, post-pandemic, in 2022. After a stirring week in the Netherlands, Migliozzi now has a quartet of championship trophies to his name, and a bit of impetus in the trek toward the year’s final major.

Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard held the lead on Saturday evening, but he and Andrea Pavan came up one shot shy of the three-man playoff. Hojgaard posted 70 on day four, but a 16th-hole bogey did him in. Pavan moved way up on Sunday with 65, but even a birdie at the last was not enough to extend his day. You see, all the cool kids were throwing fours at the par five closer: Hojgaard, Pavan, Migliozzi, and Joe Dean. The only one to make par was Marcus Kinhult. If the Swede had made four, we’d be writing about him.

Migliozzi made six birdies on the 18th hole this week. He had four during regulation play, and two more in act five. He, Dean, and Kinhult owned the hole on the first go-round, but only Migliozzi made four at 18 during the second extra hole. If the KLM organizers and The International club members are savvy, they’ll christen the closing hole as, what else, the Migliozzi Mile.

Five AMAZING shots from the @KLMOpen ?@DP_World | #KLMOpen pic.twitter.com/rRkNiMfxF0

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) June 24, 2024

Korn Ferry Tour @ Compliance Solutions: No slack from Pak

John Pak had what is known in medical circles, as a large-posterior lead, with 18 holes left to contend. Some tour golfers love an advantage, while others are well-aware of the onset of complacency. Pak did himself few favors when he made bogey at Sunday’s second hole. The last direction he needed to head was north. Fortunately, he righted the ship and played three-under the rest of the way. He finished on 23-under par, and liked his position.

Jackson Suber and Davis Shore found the fire that lit Pak’s first three rounds. Pak had a 66, a 65, and a 64 over the first three days. Suber and Shore went one better. Each signed for 63 on day four, and shout up the leader board. Suber’s card was clean, with nine birdies on the day. He had seven on his inward half, for a closing 29. Shore inked eight birdies, a bogey, and an eagle over his final 18 holes. For their efforts, Suber earned solo second place and Shore, a T4. Pak won in 2023 on PGA Tour Canada, and now has a KFT win on his dossier.

He dunked it! ?

John Pak extends his lead to five with 13 to play @cschampgolf. pic.twitter.com/n3y24rboj5

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) June 23, 2024

PGA Tour Champions @ DSG: Irish eyes are smiling, again and again

It’s a safe bet that property values in Endicott, New York, will go up when Padraig Harrington takes up residence. In 2022, the great champion won the Dick’s SGO by three blows. Last year, he eaked out a one-stroke win. This year, Harrington won his third consecutive DSGO, again by one slim shady shot.

Harrington held the 36-hole lead after Saturday’s festivities, and he was nearly chased down by one of the 2022 runners-up, Mike Weir. On Sunday, Paddy was all over the board, with an eagle, a pair of bogeys, and some birdies. He was not at his consistent best, but he was good enough. A four-under 68 came his way, and brought him to 15-under par.

Try as he might, Weir could not close the final gap. He had six birdies on the day, but his bogey at 13 was his undoing. He eclipsed the third-place trio of Mark and the Kens (Hensby, Duke, and Tanigawa) but could elevate no higher. The victory was Harrington’s eighth on the senior circuit. For a man who still relishes junior tour competition, there’s no end in site for the workhorse from Dublin.

317 yards of carry.
177 MPH ball speed.@Padraig_H puts himself in perfect position on 18! pic.twitter.com/XBhBNaRoNp

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) June 23, 2024

News

5 Things we Learned: Thursday at the U.S.. Women’s Open

Published

17 hours ago

Jun 5, 2026

Ronald Montesano

Gone are the days when the U.S. Women’s Open was held at Scenic Hills or Churchill Valley. Fine courses that they are (or were, as Churchill Valley went bankrupt a decade ago) there is something to be said for the venue. Not all Women’s Open playings need to take place on Men’s Open venues, but some should. This week in Los Angeles, the Women’s Open visits Riviera Country Club for the first time. Down the road, we will visit Inverness, Oakmont, Interlachen, Oak Hill, Chicago Golf, and Merion. That is quite the murderer’s row (1927 Yankees reference) of golf clubs.

What can we expect from the 2026 tournament? Greatness and uncertainty. Unlike the PGA Tour, which visits Riviera each February, the LPGA does not, so the women will not have nearly the body of work over the George C. Thomas layout. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe they’ll play #10 smarter than the men do. Maybe they’ll figure some things out that their male counterparts can not. For today, we’ll try to find five things to learn, and share them with you.

First, this ain’t your momma’s U.S. Open course

How do we know? Well, so far, only one previous champion currently sits inside the top thirty. That would be Minjee Lee, the 2022 winner at Southern (NC) Pines. Lee made par on her first nine holes, the inward side at Riviera. She dropped birdie putts on the first and ninth holes (ten and eighteen for her day) and tallied another seven pars, for 69. She sits three shots off Jennifer Kupcho’s opening 66. Don’t worry about Kupcho; we’ll get to her. After Lee, defending champion Maja Stark ranks T30 at even par, joined by three other, former winners.

What Minjee did, is the sort of thing that wins U.S. Open titles. She guided her ship safely past swells, and made a move when the waters calmed. The fewer the bogeys, the more likely Minjee figures in the outcome on Sunday evening in Pacific Palisades. Off the tee, Lee was unmatched. She hit 14 of 14 fairways. Her iron play was a bit loose in comparison. She putted for birdie on 12 of 18 holes, which meant that her recovery short game was on point. Lee was ten yards longer on measured driving holes than the field average, and was below the field average (a good thing) in putting.

Second, the amateurs beat a loud drum

Three of the world’s top amateur golfer posted 70, placing them four off the lead, in a tie for 14th place. Canada’s Aphrodite Deng, Spain’s Paula Francisco Llaño, and Colombia’s Maria José Marin, showed the professional world that their game is strong. Both Deng and Francisco Llaño collected five birdies on the day. Should they match that output on day two, and minimize the foozles, they’ll be the topic of conversation on Saturday morning. Marin, the 2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion and an NCAA team semifinalist last week, played a game similar to Minjee Lee: few mistakes and few taken risks.

The last amateur to post the low medal score for 72 holes was Jenny Chuasiriporn in 1998. She lost a playoff to Se Ri Pak, who matched her plus-six effort at Blackwolf Run. The last amateur to win the U.S. Women’s Open was Catherine Lacoste in 1967. The amateurs are stronger than they’ve ever been, but the professionals have not allowed them to close the gap. A victory by one of the college set would be a cannon shot heard round the world. Could it happen? Absolutely. Is it likely? Not at all.

Third, let’s talk Kupcho

Jennifer Kupcho won the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur. She won three times on tour in 2022, including the Chevron, a major title. She won a fourth event in 2025, but has not established the winning credentials projected on her after 2022’s marvelous coming-out.

Kupcho hails from Colorado, and spent four years in the Carolina Piedmont, at Wake Forest Universtiy. Neither of those locales cries out I’ll be at home at Riviera, but here we are, after a seven-birdie performance. Kupcho posted birdie on each of her first three holes, and added four more (against two bogeys) to assume a one-shot advantage over Korea’s Sei Young Kim.

Kupcho drove the ball decently, approached moderately well, but putted lights out on Thursday. Her 26 putts were tied for best in show on day one. There might just be something about the putting surfaces at Riviera that aligns with Kupcho’s vibe. If that is the case, just get the ball on the green, anywhere, and let the flatstick do the lifting.

Fourth, how young is Sei Young?

Sei (pronounced “So”) Young Kim won a dozen times from 2015 to 2020. She took time off from winning until 2025, shen she captured a thirteenth LPGA title. Like Kupcho, Kim has hardware from one major event, the 2020 Women’s PGA Championship. How to explain the five years away from victory? No idea. When Sei Young was in contention during the prime of her career, the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

What to expect over the next three days at Riviera? Anyone’s guess. It might be the 2015-2020 Sei Young, or it could be the 2021-2025 version. Kim began her day with birdies at 10 and 11, then settled into a stretch of pars before her solitary bogey at the 4th (her 13th) hole. Kim regained her composure and reeled in three birdies to close the front nine. Her four-under performance trails Kupcho alone, and there is a real chance that Sei Young will produce a second score in the 60s and take a bit of control of the tournament.

Fifth, we’re giddy for Gaby

Although I cannot place my finger on why, it seems that each year, Gaby Lopez pops up on the U.S. Open leaderboard. She hasn’t figure out how to remain in contention, but here we are, in 2026, and Lopez is once again in the mix. The three-time champion on the LPGA circuit had a stunning first nine holes, turning in minus-five. She reached six deep at her tenth hole, but then gave three shots back coming home. Which Gaby will show up on Friday, and for how long? If back-nine Gaby can somehow channel front-nine Gaby, all outcomes are within reach. If the loose play continues, Lopez’ wiki page will add one more T41 to her majors column.

Tour Photo Galleries

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

Published

2 days 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

4 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