Tour News
Kraft recap: Slipped through the net
By Vince Robitaille
GolfWRX Contributor
As I started writing this, right around the 16th hole on Sunday, Jack Nicklaus’ old mindset of lying low, letting others beat themselves and hand him the championship came to my mind. That being said, when those words sprung forth in my brain, I.K. Kim was the beneficiary of the present given up by Karin Sjodin and Hee Kyung Seo, not the generous soul … but then, there was the 18th green.
Career-defining moments are just that, career-defining. Whenever a name is brought up in the conversation, there’s that sudden flash, that vivid image of the highlight, whether grandiose or not, of one’s work. Tiger’s merry-go-round chip in at the 16th in the 2005 Masters, Nicklaus’ putt on the subsequent hole 19 years before, and Watson’s wedge from the rough on the 17th at Pebble Beach that led to his first U.S. Open victory, are, but a few of those glorious moments. Distressingly, I.K. Kim’s missed 1-footer on the 18th green seems to be more appropriately placed in the as exclusive, yet immensely undesirable group of those whose missed opportunity forever hunted them and forged their legacy. While she negotiated the par-5 final hole in perfect fashion up until then, thus distancing herself from Jean Van de Velde’s Carnage in Carnoustie, she couldn’t avoid pulling a Doug Saunders. Obviously heartbroken and shaken from the event, Kim went on to succumb, in a 1-hole playoff, to the hands of Sun Young Yoo; the latter draining a 15-foot birdie en route to her second LPGA Tour win and first triumph in a major. Hopefully for I.K. Kim, who hit all 18 greens in regulation on Sunday, her sixth top 5-finish in a major will only spark a Roryesquerun that will see her bouncing back in July on the grounds of Blackwolf Run.
I don’t know what’s more surprising, that missed putt or the fact that 314 words into this recapitulation of the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the name Yani Tseng had yet to be mentioned. In fact, while the World No.1 seemed poised to make it four-straight, this weekend, with opening rounds that had her comfortably sitting in first place at 8-under, a stroke ahead of Haeji Kang. That being said, one couldn’t help but to pick up on the exacerbation of her short-distance putting woes; Tseng, much like her past few weeks, missed several putts under 10 feet, on Thursday and Friday, on her way to 31 and 30 putts respectively, while recording 28 and 29 through the weekend. Putts per round, however, as we’ll show soon enough, can be misleading if taken independently. Her flatstick issues, this time around, yielded more consequences as her showcase of ball striking, while still stellar in comparison to the field, wasn’t up to the level that she accustomed us to, namely near-perfection. As an example, going back to her putts per round, this statistic, which would seem to indicate an improvement through the tournament, was offset by the fact that Tseng hit 16 greens in regulation during each of the first two rounds in opposition to solely 12 and 11 on Saturday and Sunday. It goes to show how dominating a figure Tseng is, when a sub-par performance still had her in the last threesome on the first major Sunday of the season with her sight -not her hands – set on the Dinah Shore Trophy. The lone golfer in front of her, at that point, was one longing to get back in the winner’s circle, a luxurious spot she hadn’t visited since her days in Stillwater, Okla.
After six winless years on the LPGA Tour and an uneventful start to the championship, the ever-smiling Karin Sjodin had two days that would have anyone grinning. On Friday, after a quick start with a birdie on the par-5 2nd hole, the Swede shaved four additional strokes around the turn at Nos. 7, 9, 10 and 11, before exchanging birdies and bogeys on the last two holes of the day to hand in a 5-under 67. Moving day was more of the same for the former All-American who carded a 4-under 68 — the lone blemish coming by way of a bogey on the par-4 12th – highlighted by a bombing 287.5 yards driving average that enabled her splendid iron work to takeover and net her 17 greens in regulation. Then, for yet another one of our characters, there was Sunday.
The merry Swede took a running start, on the faithful day, by sinking an eagle putt on the par-5 2nd, a hole on which she totaled 5-under through the Championship. Although not even Tom “Durrr” Dwan could have read the slightest of worries on Sjodin’s face after dropping back the aforementioned two shots before the turn, one could feel the wind shifting, both literally and figuratively. As a matter of fact, gusting winds proved themselves to be, as predicted, a major player on Sunday as World No.1 Yani Tseng suffered, much like other high ball hitters amongst the last pairings, through the first two thirds of her final round, while earlier threesomes, revered wind-players and players with low ballflights shone. Whereas our pre-tournament favorites to put an end to the “Tseng Streak”, Stacey Lewis and Angela Stanford, were of those making a late surge — both of them finishing on the first two pages of the leaderboard with cumulative scores of 7-under and 5-under – it was 2011 Rolex Rookie of the Year, Hee Kyung Seo, that managed to ride the prevailing breeze. The South Korean nestled herself in first place, by way of 5 birdies over her first 12 holes, before crumbling rapidly to an aggregate result of 7-under through four consecutive bogeys, starting on 15th. Just like this, the one golfer who seemed to be on the receiving end of a nicely wrapped Nicklaus-type present, relinquished it, leaving the prize unattended on the kitchen table and us, bewildered onlookers, ever puzzled.
And so, we’ve come full circle. Four were, at one point, in a tie for first place at 9-under, I.K. Kim, then, distancing herself from the pack and looking like the obvious champion, was ultimately left there shell-shocked, a mere foot away from victory. Having gone unnoticed throughout the final day and posting a 3-under 69 to establish the benchmark score of 9-under a few groups before Kim, Sun Young Yoo quite amazingly sneaked in and came out on top. To be quite honest, had I not seen it with my own eyes and had I simply read a recap of April 1st events, I would have dismissed it as a good April Fool’s prank. After all, one laughed hysterically as she got out of Poppy’s Pond, one smiled throughout the day no matter what was thrown her way, and one simply couldn’t believe that she had been caught.
Click here for more discussion in the “LPGA/Ladies golf talk” forum.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 PGA Championship
GolfWRX is on site this week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the PGA Championship.
While we see fewer equipment changes and new gear seeding at major championships, we get a look at custom gear and looks into the bags of players we rarely see, which is just as exciting. In the case of the PGA Championship, this means a look at the gear some of the PGA Professionals who qualified for the tournament will be gaming, and LIV players, such as Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed.
Check out links to all our albums from Valhalla below and check back throughout the week as we continue to update.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Michael Block – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Patrick Reed – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cam Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Josh Speight – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Takumi Kanaya – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kyle Mendoza – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Adrian Meronk – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jordan Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jeremy Wells – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jared Jones – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Somers – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Larkin Gross – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tracy Phillips – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jon Rahm – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Keita Nakajima – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kazuma Kobori – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- David Puig – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Ryan Van Velzen – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brad Marek – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Chris Gotterup – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rich Beem WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Phil Mickelson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Matt Dobyns – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Lucas Herbert – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jason Dufner – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Daly – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Taylor Gooch – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dean Burmester – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dustin Johnson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
Pullout Albums
- Ping putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Bettinardi covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cameron putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Max Homa – Titleist 2 wood – 2024 PGA Championship
- Scotty Cameron experimental putter shaft by UST – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – new Ping putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka’s new Cameron putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s Cobra bag and Aerojet driver – 2024 PGA Championship
- Super Stroke grip – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tiger Woods – 2024 PGA Championship
- Michael Block’s new TaylorMade “Proto” 7-iron, from address – 2024 PGA Championship
- Odyssey putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
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News
Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Akshay Bhatia – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matthieu Pavon – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Keegan Bradley – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Webb Simpson – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Emiliano Grillo – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Taylor Pendrith – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Kevin Tway – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
Pullout Albums
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rory McIlroy – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Eric Cole’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matt Kuchar’s custom Bettinardi – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Justin Thomas – driver change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler – putter change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s new custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Tommy Fleetwood testing a TaylorMade Spider Tour X (with custom neck) – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Cobra Darkspeed Volition driver – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
GolfWRX is on site this week in McKinney, Texas, at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson (FKA the AT&T Byron Nelson).
Last year at TPC Craig Ranch, Jason Day ended a five-year winless streak. J-Day is in the field again, as are Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, and Will Zalatoris.
We have our usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums for your perusal. As always, we’ll continue to add links to additional albums as they make their way to us from the Lone Star State.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Pierceson Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kris Kim – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- David Nyfjall – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Jarred Jetter – North Texas PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Richy Werenski – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Wesley Bryan – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Parker Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Peter Kuest – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Blaine Hale, Jr. – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kelly Kraft – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Rico Hoey – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Pullout Albums
- Adam Scott’s 2 new custom L.A.B. Golf putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Scotty Cameron putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Ben Griffin playing Maxfli golf ball
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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