Tour News
Top Storylines from Day 3 at The Open Championship
Once again, a delay greatly impacted play at the Open Championship.
On Friday, there was a three-hour stoppage because of rain and on Saturday that delay jumped to nearly TEN-AND-A-HALF HOURS due to heavy winds.
Played was suspended at 7:32 a.m. local time (after 32 minutes of golf) and resumed around 6 p.m. There was only enough time for the remaining groups left to finish their second rounds, so not much action to parse through.
Regardless, here are a couple of headlines to take away from this odd day.
Dustin Johnson Remains out in Front
We finally have 36 holes in the books (the third round will resume at 8:15 a.m. local time Sunday with twosomes off of No. 1 tee, the final round will be contested on Monday), and Dustin Johnson is still your leader.
The 31-year-old American closed out his final five holes in even par, posting a birdie and a bogey en route to a 10-under 36-hole total, which puts him in the lead by one.
He controversially had to play two holes in sketchy conditions, but he retains his top post. Oddly, despite his many major contentions, this is Johnson’s first 36-hole lead at a major. We’ll see if the redemption story he is authoring right now will have a happy ending in two days.
The R&A vs. the Weather
This is really the main storyline today.
It’s easy to bash the R&A and plenty of people are doing it (the players especially). I’ll preface then by saying, the organization did some things right.
For one, the R&A was correct to delay play for this lengthy period. The balls were rolling on the greens after players had already marked them and placed them back.
The craziest example came at the expense of Louis Oosthuizen.
To force players to deal with that would be patently unfair.
Brendon Todd made a good point about the fear of the ball potentially moving back into the putter at address (which would cost the player a stroke).
Also, if the ball blows away further from the hole like it did with Oosthuizen, players must putt from the longer distance, even though the ball originally stopped closer to the hole minutes before.
The R&A came out correct as well in halting play as soon as possible at the 11th hole, as that green was the most exposed and clearly unplayable very soon in the action.
However, there was plenty that went wrong.
Play started at 7 a.m. and went on for about 30 minutes in the fierce wind. It was a curious decision to play in the first place considering the conditions proved quite quickly to be unplayable.
The R&A came up with this explanation:
An update from The R&A on the state of play at #TheOpen. pic.twitter.com/4LvIixxPI6
— The R&A (@RandA) July 18, 2015
If you trust this reasoning, well, the R&A is not out of the clear. After all, the 11th green proved too exposed almost instantly and play was halted there while it continued elsewhere on the golf course. Weird. It’s tough to justify having some players battle the conditions while others remain put. Even if just one hole is unplayable, the action should be suspended.
Most egregious, though, was that St. Andrews should have been designed to remain playable even in these high winds. It has for centuries in the past. The greens are kept slow in anticipation that strong winds will come and balls won’t move because the surfaces aren’t slick.
Well, Brendan Porath of SB Nation put it best, these St. Andrews greens that should be stimping at 6, 7 or 8 were pretty much at 10. That is way too fast for a links that should hold these winds fine.
Also, remember how the R&A restructured that 11th green in order to avoid wind delays? Welp, that green was still the biggest culprit in this wind suspension.
Now, we have the full third round on Sunday and an Open that is finishing on Monday. Part of this is the product of weather the R&A can’t control. But some of it is the R&A’s mishandling of the situation.
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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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Chuck
Jul 19, 2015 at 2:28 pm
For anyone seriously interested in the fine points of golf equipment, this post by Geoff Shackelford at his blog is required reading:
http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2015/7/18/old-course-news-pushing-green-speeds-to-the-brink.html
The Saturday wind delay was directly related to green speeds. And green speeds are directly related to modern standard tricks with golf architecture, intended to protect par (never mind the overall integrity of the character of play in general) from ever-increasing distances produced by equipment technology.
You're worse than Ben
Jul 18, 2015 at 9:07 pm
Why did you leave tiger missing the cut out
That’s what we wanted you to write about
So we could comment “why does everything have to be about him”
I feel cheated
other paul
Jul 19, 2015 at 12:38 am
Yeah, where are the poor Tiger stories?