Tour News
Wins by McIlroy and Scott ignite golf’s charge to the U.S. Open
In a year of golf that’s lacked headlines, Rory McIlroy’s come-from-behind win at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth looked as if it would be the game’s top story, but another one of the game’s stars made an even larger statement about his game at the Crowne Plaza Invitational.
Adam Scott entered the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, having just ascended to the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf. That made Scott the 17th player in history to achieve the ranking, but he received it rather unceremoniously, assuming the spot without even playing the week before.
It was now Scott’s opportunity to make a statement of his own: that he was not just a placeholder of the No. 1 ranking for the time being, but the best player the game currently has to offer.
Scott just squeaked inside the cutline after his second round at Colonial, but he really turned it on from there, with back-to-back 66’s on the weekend that put him into a sudden-death playoff with fellow 2013 major champion Jason Dufner at 9-under par.
In the playoff, Scott drained a 15-footer for birdie on the second playoff hole, a must-make as Dufner had less than half that distance for his birdie. After Dufner rolled in his putt, the duo moved on to Colonial’s 18th hole where Scott continued to show off the ball striking prowess that helped him climb to golf’s No. 1 spot.
Dufner fanned his approach to the green to the right, leaving a putt of more than 30 feet for birdie. Scott threw a dart to 5 feet with his wedge from the fairway and went on to make the putt, winning the tournament and also becoming the first player to win all four PGA Tour events held in the state of Texas.
Considering Scott hadn’t reached the No.1 spot in the world as a result of winning tournaments this year on the PGA Tour, his lead (in terms of points) on the other top-3 players in the world was far from safe. Due to Henrik Stenson’s 3rd place finish at the BMW PGA Championship earlier that day, Scott needed a T13 or better on Sunday to retain his spot amongst the top of the world rankings list.
A statistic that stands out about Scott is that he has won all three of the playoffs he has played on the PGA Tour. When it comes to playoffs in golf, winning usually is a product of pulling off clutch shots and converting must-make putts. Tiger Woods, the man who has held the N0. 1 spot for longer than any another since the rankings were introduced, has a playoff record of 11-1. Vijay Singh, another former World No. 1, has a playoff record of 8-4. While the world ranking system hadn’t been introduced during their respective careers, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer both had a playoff record of 14-10.
The point is that great players tend to pull off big shots and big putts when it matters most. Since Scott’s epic collapse at the 2012 Open Championship, where he bogeyed his final four holes to lose by one shot to Ernie Els, it seems that when the pressure has been on, he has delivered: a characteristic that, through time, all of the game’s greats share.
With the U.S. Open at Pinehurst just around the corner, golf finally has two of the biggest names in the game back the winner’s circle just in time for what is always an important summer. Other than Bubba Watson’s second Green Jacket, up until Sunday, this year’s season would probably have been recognized as a little stale. On multiple occasions, the headliners on Sunday’s have taken a back seat to first-time winners, but as my good pals Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza would say, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
Just to refresh everyone’s memory, the four tournaments leading up to the Masters were won by a second-time winner and three first-time winners on the PGA Tour. First was John Senden at the Valspar Championship, who hadn’t won on Tour since the 2006 John Deere Classic. Second was Matt Every at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where Adam Scott and Keegan Bradley held the top-two spots going into Sunday. Third, Steven Bowditch won at the Valero Texas Open by shooting a final-round 76. Finally, Matt Jones won in a playoff against Matt Kuchar at the Shell Houston Open for his first win on the PGA Tour.
Golf has been yearning for a big name to step up to the plate, and it seems that for the first time this season the two players destined to command the game for the next decade (Scott and Mcllroy) have stated that they are up for the challenge.
In the few days between Adam Scott claiming the No.1 spot and actually teeing it up last week, there seemed to be an uncertainty on whether the “Official” No. 1 was in fact the best player in the game. Scott, with his seemingly perfect golf swing firing on all cylinders and a clutch putter when it mattered most, showed the world how ready he is to take on such a massive title in the sport.
For the game’s elite, the No. 1 ranking is the end goal, and they all say the same thing; “Winning takes care of everything.” Having claimed the No. 1 spot without event touching a club, Scott needed to validate his status with a win. He won, and I guess that means it has been taken care of.
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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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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans
GolfWRX is live on site this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for the PGA Tour’s one-and-only two-man team event.
As usual, general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums — including some pretty spicy custom putters and headcovers — await your viewing.
Be sure to check back for more photos from the Big Easy, as we’ll continue to update this page with additional galleries throughout the week.
General Albums
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Monday #1
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Monday #2
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Alex Fitzpatrick – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Austin Cook – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Alejandro Tosti – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Davis Riley – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- MJ Daffue – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Nate Lashley – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- James Nicholas – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Kevin Streelman – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Rasmus Hojgaard – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Tom Whitney – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- SangMoon Bae – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Daniel Berger – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Rory McIlroy – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Russ Cochrane – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Aldrich Potgieter – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Steve Stricker WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Drew Brees WITB (Legendary New Orleans Saints QB) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Derek Carr (New Orleans Saints QB) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Thriston Lawrence WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
Pullout Albums
- MJ Daffue’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Cameron putters – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Swag covers ( a few custom for Nick Hardy) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Custom Bettinardi covers for Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Doug Ghim’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Patrick Cantlay spotted testing a Scotty Cameron blade putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
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Peter
May 28, 2014 at 10:13 am
Firstly john senden was not a first time winner and secondly you mention playoffs and greg norman held the no1 spot for 331 weeks and has a horrible playoff record
Zak Kozuchowski
May 28, 2014 at 10:52 am
You’re right about Senden, Peter. That error has been corrected.