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Not All Sun and Fun at Sony Open in Hawaii

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By Scott MacLeod, via www.flagstick.com
As the rains hammered down in Honolulu the question today wasn’t “who’ll be the winner of the first full field event on the 2011 PGA Tour?” but “who has new and untested raingear in the bag?”
 
With luck, however, this 72-hole tournament will reach its full conclusion by Sunday evening and every question you could possibly have about the 2011 Sony Open in Hawaii will be answered. Sadly, based on the forecast, rain will be a factor every single day.
 
With the 32-man winners-only Hyundai Tournament of Champions in the rear view mirror the PGA Tour season begins in earnest Thursday and that means different things for every player. For many veterans it is time to shake off the rust from what could be a several month break from competition while the thirty-five rookies in the field this week will make their tentative first tension-filled steps into the biggest arena in their sport.
 
With much of the worldwide golf audience dealing with winter weather and thirsting to see live golf action from one of the most beautiful places on earth, a lot of eyes and expectations will be on the pros playing this week.
 
Defending champion Ryan Palmer had a whirlwind season last year and is eager is to be back at the Seth Raynor designed Waialaie Country Club that was so favorable to him in 2010. As he told me last summer at the RBC Canadian Open on a casual evening away from the course. “It was great to win in Hawaii. I’m looking forward to going back there as a past champion for as long as I can.”
While Palmer is chasing a repeat victory, he will have to contend with a strong field of other proven winners.
 
Among those will be last year’s runner-up, Robert Allenby, two-time champion Ernie Els, and perennial contender Charles Howell III. Add to that list more great ball-strikers like Steve Stricker, Stuart Appleby, Matt Kuchar, Jim Furyk and Tim Clark.
 
The ability to hit the ball solidly is vital in the windswept holes of Waialaie where missed greens serve up trying shots from the 2.5” Bermuda rough.  Palmer was third in greens in regulation in 2010, a statistic that set-up his winning score of 15 under par.
 
The rookies will be running theme this week during the late-day broadcast so we can all expect to learn a few things about these emerging players. Those that are best to keep firmly in sight will be those who have at least some Nationwide or PGA Tour experience or success at those levels. 2010 Nationwide Tour money list leader Jamie Lovemark easily comes to mind. My other picks to play well from the rookie class are Daniel Summerhays and Bobby Gates who proved their abilities last year on the Nationwide Tour. You can expect that some lesser-known player will pop up on the leaderboard at some point – resulting in a focus to a degree that they have never even imagined.
 
My only unsolicited (and likely unwanted) bit of advice for both veterans and rookies this week? It’s the first full-field event of the year; there really is no pressure (I’m lying). More than anything; hit fairways and try to stay dry…
 
Fun fact: The First PGA Tour Hawaiian Open Golf Tournament was held in the fall of 1965. Hawaiian Opens (under various sponsorships) have been held at Waialae since 1928.
 
Event Summary –
 
Dates: January 10-16, 2011
Where: Waialae Country Club; Honolulu, HI
Par/Yards: 35-35—70/7,044
Field: 144 (first full-field event of the season)
Format: 72-hole stroke play
Defending Champion: Ryan Palmer
Purse: $5,500,000; Winner’s Share: $990,000

This tournament report provided to GolfWRX.com by Canada's Flagstick Golf Magazine (www.flagstick.com)
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Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship

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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

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.

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SuperStroke acquires Lamkin Grips

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SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”

“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”

Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.

According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”

CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.

“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.

Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history

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Tour Rundown: Pendrith, Otaegui, Longbella, and Dunlap soar

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Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.

It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.

PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place

The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.

This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.

With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.

DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four

It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.

It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.

PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella

Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.

64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.

PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win

Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.

The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.

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