News

GolfWRX Morning 9: R.I.P. Jarrod Lyle | Bellerive up to speed? | Tiger the underachiever?

Published

8 years ago

Aug 9, 2018

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt ([email protected])

August 9, 2018

Good Thursday morning, golf fans.

1. R.I.P. Jarrod Lyle

Jarrod Lyle is dead at 36. I think it’s disrespectful to say he “lost” the battle. It’s disrespectful to say anyone cancer kills loses, because it suggests they could have or should have done more/something different to win. Sometimes, saying someone “lost” a battle to cancer is like saying he lost a battle to an oncoming semi. There’s no “fight” there.

Jarrod Lyle didn’t lose anything. With his openness and courage he inspired, and he’s a reminder of multitudes suffering from cancer and other horrific diseases every day. We need to do everything we can to fund research, yes, but we also need to support those who are suffering and their families and relegate neither to the shadows.

Per an Australian Associated Press report…”Lyle, 36, spent his final days surrounded by loved ones when he decided to go into palliative care after ending treatment for myeloid leukaemia.”

“He is survived by his wife Briony and daughters Lusi, 6, and Jemma, 2.”

“It breaks my heart to tell everyone that Jarrod is no longer with us,” Ms Lyle said in a statement. “He passed away peacefully at 8.20pm last night having spent his final week in Torquay among his family and close friends.”

There’s aGoFundMe for Lyle’s family, here. Please donate.

Also, kudos to Bryson DeChambeau for choosing the Lyle family as the beneficiaries of his $25,000 PGA Championship Long Drive winnings.

2. Bellerive getting up to speed

Golfweek’s Forecaddie reports Bellerive’s greens are weathering the weather well.

“The Forecaddie admires a lot about the work of PGA setup man Kerry Haigh, but never more than when he digs in on his career-long refusal to discuss green speed…With Bellerive’s heat and stressed greens, The Man Out Front asked Haigh if the .125 mowing height was going to be lowered for the first round, as a locker room notice to players suggested.”

“We’ve made adjustments during the week, including today, so we have made specific adjustments, and we’ll continue to monitor it,” the stone-faced assassin of public Stimpmeter readings said. “But we’re very comfortable and love where we’re at today.”

“Specifically, The Forecaddie spotted rollers for the first time all week Wednesday, thanks in part to yesterday’s 1.5 inches of rain and cooler temperatures. As dreadful as the rains were for keeping the course firm, the moisture and cooler weather allowed superintendent Carlos Arraya to push the sensitive surfaces.

“The greens are quicker than they were the last two days, and they’re very close to what we are hoping they will be for the four days,” Haigh said. “We love where they’re at. They’re rolling beautifully. And Carlos Arraya and his team, just unbelievable, great job.”

3. The wrong Tommy

Here’s an outrageous real thing that actually happened.

“Tommy Fleetwood received a surprise this week when noticed that a $154,480 check from the European Tour had been deposited into his bank account..Because he wasn’t that Tommy Fleetwood.”

“Turns out the European Tour made a clerical error and sent out the winnings from last month’s Open Championship to the wrong Tommy Fleetwood. Instead of going to the 11th-ranked player in the world, an American club pro at Streamsong Resort in central Florida instead was shocked to find the six-figure check in his account – sandwiched between a supermarket payment of $14.37 and a service fee of $16.” (Golf Channel report)

4. Golf’s odd couple

Karen Crouse filed an excellent look at a subject you’re likely tired of hearing about: the Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson bomance.

“But those earlier versions, of Woods and Mickelson in their 20s and 30s, have given way in middle age to models that are more similar than not. Mickelson, 48, has turned himself into a sleeker machine who nosed out a player nearly half his age, Justin Thomas, the defending champion of the P.G.A. Championship, to win a World Golf Championships event in Mexico City in March for his 43rd PGA Tour victory – and his first in four years.”

“And Woods, 42, has become less isolated and more welcoming. The steely focus that made him so intimidating in his heyday is still there, but after the last putt drops, he is quick to smile and socialize with other players. After five years spent battling debilitating back pain that required four surgeries, Woods described himself on Tuesday as “very blessed” and said, “It’s a dream come true” to simply be back playing tournament golf.”

More.

5. Speaketh JT

A couple of lines from Justin Thomas as he prepares for his PGA Championship title defense.

“The part of defending isn’t as difficult as just winning any golf tournament in general. I mean, any player here this week, it’s very hard to win,” Thomas said. “It doesn’t make it any harder that I’m trying to defend.”

“You can learn as much as you want from anything. It’s just the hard part is sometimes recognizing what you learned…I learned from the British Open and I missed the cut. I learned from the Travelers when I finished 50th or whatever I finished. You learn every week. It’s sometimes the lessons are bigger than others.”

6. Latest on PGA HQ move

Geoff Shackelford writes…”In his final PGA Championship news conference as CEO, Pete Bevacqua addressed possible a headquarters move to Frisco, Texas…”That’s still certainly a possibility, but it’s also a possibility that we’ll stay in southern Florida or even look at other opportunities around the rest of the country,” Bevacqua said.”

“Opening up the potential for a move to other parts of the country added a new twist to the organization’s push to modernize its buildings in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla…This is something that started two years ago, where we all came to the conclusion that our current headquarters, those current buildings, although they’re in a wonderful part of the country, just weren’t getting – not getting it done for us,” said Bevacqua, who is moving to a new role at NBC Sports overseeing multiple properties, including Golf Channel.”

7. 14 points for golf

Writing for the Armchair Golf Blog, John Coye says…”Joe Kirkwood’s autobiography, Links of Life. Kirkwood was an Australian golf professional who won 13 times on the PGA Tour and was also known as a trick shot artist. His book was published privately in 1973. Kirkwood told his story to Barbara Few and the story has an introduction by Lowell Thomas, the famous news commentator, one-time chairman of the American Golf Hall of Fame and a friend of Kirkwood.”

“Kirkwood took the challenge and dictated 14 points that Thomas had framed on the wall of the locker room at the Western White House golf course…Thomas added the 14 points to his introduction of Links of Life. Here they are:”

1. Relax, relax, relax!

2. When addressing the ball, stand almost straight, sitting back slightly on your heels.

3. Extend hands, arms and club out straight. That is, don’t drop your hands as though putting them in your lap.

4. Grip should always be the same. If you want a hook or a fade, a low shot or a high one simply alter your stance.

5. For instance if you want a high shot, open your club face and stand behind the ball.

6. Get biggest arc possible. Slow backswing. Slight hesitation at top.

7. Stay almost flat footed through swing until after ball is in flight and club head is out where it should be on the follow through. It’s okay to sway a light as you pivot, but your head must not move too much. On your pivot be sure to bring left shoulder way under.

8. Imagine you are looking underneath the ball. Avoid closing club face.

9. Whatever you do don’t let your body get ahead of your hands and the club.

10. Don’t fight the wind. For example, on the Quaker Hill course, in playing the 7th where the wind often is from the West, hit a fade to the left and allow wind to bring the ball around. This way you will get more distance.

11. On pitch and chip shots keep arms still. Arms, hands, club all on piece.

12. On pitch and chip shots use slow easy rhythmical stroke, with a follow through. Don’t snap at the ball!

13. In rough, or any bad lie, open club face in order to cut through trouble.

14. In getting out of traps spank the sand with club head. Use light touch; easy stroke. Don’t bang at it. After rain, or in any hard sand, use a very light touch, caress it.

8. Tiger the underachiever?

Brandel Chamblee would certainly say he’s done nothing more than offer his honest, reasoned opinions on Tiger Woods throughout his career.

The Golf Channel analysts’s detractors, however, feel Chamblee has an anti-Woods bias at best and makes incendiary remarks that he knows aren’t true for attention, at worst.

The most recent example of Chamblee telling his truth regarding Woods came on the Golf Digest podcast.

“I would argue he got the least out of his talent of any player, maybe in history,” Chamblee said. “What other player would you have imagined was going to win 30 major championships? Twenty-five, 30 major championships and 100-plus events? There’s no other player that any of us would ever have imagined – I think he was better than any of us ever imagined. But once he got going, we thought, well . . . he’s going to be Genghis Khan to the record books.”

9. Bittersweet for Bevacqua

Golf Channel’s Nick Menta…”For the first time since the news was announced, outgoing PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua addressed his upcoming move to NBC Sports.”

“The past, roughly six years at PGA of America have been wonderful,” he said. “As many of you know, I’ll be moving on to NBC Sports. But what made that decision, at least a little bit easier for me, is the fact that I know I’ll still be so involved with golf and still so involved with the PGA of America, such a wonderful organization, and with the friends I’ve made, like Kerry [Haigh], who I absolutely think the world of, my fellow staff, the board, the officers.”

“Bevacqua is taking over in the newly created role of NBC Sports Group president. He will oversee NBC Sports programming, marketing and digital, in addition to the company’s regional cable networks and all NBC’s golf businesses.”

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 Memorial Tournament

Published

1 day ago

Jun 1, 2026

Ben A

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

Pullout Albums

News

Tour Tech Rundown: Heroic Henley

Published

2 days ago

Jun 1, 2026

Ronald Montesano

Around the world, the golf wheel spun this final week in May of 2026. From New Jersey to Austria, with stops in Korea, Texas, and North Carolina (don’t let me route your next trip) the world’s finest put their golf games on display. There were three playoffs, some known commodities and some new talent. It was the sort of week that we hope to have at this point in the seasons. June and July afford double-digit major events, and perhaps, one of this week’s champions will use this success as a springboard to new heights. Time to run it all down, tech style, in this week’s Tour Tech Rundown.

Thanks to WITBHub, Today’s Golfer, GolfWRX, and Inside Tour Golf for initial research into equipment.

PGA Tour @ Charles Schwab Challenge: Heroic Henley denies Cole

Eric Cole did nearly everything that a fellow can do, to secure a first PGA Tour title. He stayed one shot clear of Ryder Cup player Ben Griffin. He kept US Open champion Gary Woodland and wunderkind Michael Brennan two shots distant. He posted 70 on day four to reach twelve under par. And then, Russell Henley revealed his Dr. Strange cloak. Henley made 47 feet of birdie putts on holes 16, 17, and 18, to jump from minus-nine to twelve-deep, and secured a spot in a playoff with Cole. The duo returned to the final tee, and put on a stripe show.

Both golfers found the fairway off the tee, and Henley improved on his regulation play with an approach to four feet. Cole did himself proud, tucking an iron to a dozen feet, but he was unable to convert the putt for three. Henley is one of the best putters on tour, and he proved it once more by draining a putt for a fourth consecutive birdie, and a sixth PGA Tour title. For Eric Cole, that first victory should come, and soon. He has done everything necessary to earn the chalice lift.

Henley’s Suitcase

Driver: Titleist TSi3 at 10 degrees. Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 70g 6.5 TX
Metal: Titleist TS3 at 16.5 degrees. Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist TSi2 at 21 degrees. Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT hybrid 100 TX
Iron: Titleist T250 4-iron. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf AMT Tour White X100
Irons: Titleist T100 5-6 irons. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf AMT Tour White X100
Irons: Titleist T100 7-9 irons. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 at 48 and 50 degrees. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 at 54 and 60 degrees. Shaft: rue Temper Dynamic Golf Tour Issue S400
Putter: Titleist Scotty Cameron T5 Tour Prototype

LPGA @ Shoprite LPGA: Welcome back, Celine!

Soo Bin Joo had her eyes on a maiden LPGA title. She held the lead after two rounds, then hit a red light at the intersection of can-I and how-To. Joo posted plus-two on day three in New Jersey, and dropped to a T4 finish, which was still a career-best for the young Korean golfer. Instead of a new face, a familiar face returned to the top of the podium.

Celine Boutier was the It Girl in 2023. She collected four victories, including a major title at Evian. Boutier reached world number one status, then simply faded into the background. No wins came her way over the next 30 months. On Sunday, she collected LPGA victory number seven, at the same trace as LPGA victory number two.

Day three saw Boutier manage the windswept Seaview Bay course with six birdies and a bogey. She was challenged in the end by Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol, who signed for a 66 of her own. Yubol came up one shot shy of the top ladder rung. Finishing in third place at -7, two back of the winner, was Ireland’s Lauren Walsh.

Celine’s Suitcase

Driver: PXG 0311 Black Ops Tour-1 at 9 degrees. Shaft: Graphite Design AD IZ-5
Hybrid: PXG 0311 Black Ops at 19 and 22 degrees. Shaft: KBS Hybrid Prototype
Hybrid: PXG 0311 Gen5.
Iron: PXG 0311 P Gen 4 5-9 irons
Wedge: PXG 0311 T Gen 4 PW
Wedges: PXG 0311 Sugar Daddy II at 50, 54, 58 degrees
Putter: Bettinardi Studio Stock 3 DASS

DP World Tour @ Austrian Alpine: KK? KK!

Kota Kaneko has a rhythmic name. It has strong vowels and a run of voiceless stops in its crunchy K sounds. On Sunday in Austria, Kaneko put a stop to a challenge from Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia and everyone else, and claimed a first-ever title on the DP World Tour. Gouveia did well to reach 16-under par over four days, but Kaneko held firm, two shots in the clear.

Davis Bryant of the USA also forged a strong challenge for the win. He ended in a tie with Gouveia for second place. Kaneko began and finished his final round in a bit of a malaise, but he caught fire midway through. Birdies at 10, 12, and 13 provided the necessary cushion to cruise to the finish line without breaking a serious sweat.

Kaneko’s Suitcase

Driver: Ping Max G440
Metals: TaylorMade Qi4D at 15, 16.5, 21, and 24 degrees
Irons: TaylorMade P760 5 and 6 irons
Irons: TaylorMade P7TW 7-9 irons
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design at 46, 52, 56, and 60 degrees
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Cruiser Arm Lock #7

Korn Ferry Tour @ UNC Health Championship: Improbably Alvaro

Alvaro Ortiz may have had a bit of scare on the outward nine on Sunday, but he came through in clutch fashion in the end. Ortiz began the day bogey-double, and added another double bogey at the 11th hole. He was mired in a downward trend, spiraling away from the top of the leader’s board. Ortiz found hope at the 14th, where his first birdie of the day tumbled home. Inspired, he closed with birdies and 17 and 18 to catch Ross Steelman at 10-under par, and the duo returned to the 18th deck for overtime.

The extra session concluded in brief time. Ortiz, buoyed by his newly-retrieved confidence, hit the fairway with driver, then approached to six feet and drained the putt. Gobsmacked, Steelman could do little more than smile and applaud, as his run at the top came to a close. The victory was the first for Ortiz on the KFT, and will implant him squarely in the chase for a PGA Tour promotion.

Alvaro’s Suitcase

Driver: Ping G430 MAX driver at 9 degrees loft
Metal: Ping G430 MAX 3W
Iron: Ping iDi Driving Iron
Irons: Ping Blueprint S irons
Wedges
Putter: Scottsdale TR Piper C

A party on the green!

Alvaro’s time comes in Raleigh with his first win @UNCHealthChamp ? pic.twitter.com/2dmtZdbSzk

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) May 31, 2026

LIV @ Korea: Me llamo Joaquin

Chile’s Joaquin Niemann had been away from the LIV winner’s circle throughout all of 2026. This week in Korea, he reminded us that he is still a force to consider. Niemann chased down Taylor Gooch over the closing holes at Asiad Country Club, then claimed victory with a hole-one birdie in extra time. Bryson DeChambeau claimed solo third, one shot in arrears at minus-eleven. Dustin Johnson finished on fourth, one putt farther back.

Niemann’s Suitcase