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Morning 9: Sobering up and the gift of golf | Rahm + Palmer = Ralmer? | No Woods at Wells Fargo

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5 years ago

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By Ben Alberstadt ([email protected])

April 29, 2019

Good Monday morning, golf fans.
1. Palmer-Rahm (Ralmer? Pahm?)
While they may not have a blended name with a great ring (ala Moliwood), this odd couple sure plays some good golf together.
  • AP Report…“Ryan Palmer and Jon Rahm shot a 3-under 69 in the alternate-shot final round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Sunday to win the PGA TOUR’s only team event by three strokes over Sergio Garcia and Tommy Fleetwood.”
  • “The victory was the fourth on TOUR for the 42-year-old Palmer, but first in nearly a decade. Having last won in 2010 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, Palmer waved and gave a thumbs-up to TV cameras as he walked up the 18th fairway with a throng of fans applauding his and Rahm’s impending triumph.”
  • “Palmer-Rahm finished with a 26-under 262 total at the TPC Louisiana, which had dried out considerably since heavy rain delayed the first round by more than seven hours and forced many players to play more than 18 holes on Friday and Saturday to get the event back on schedule.”
2. Meanwhile, in Morocco…
EuropeanTour.com report…“Jorge Campillo ended his long wait for a maiden European Tour win at the 229th time of asking with a two shot victory at the Trophée Hassan II.”
  • “The Spaniard arrived at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam with two second places and a third in his last four events and when he bogeyed two of his first three holes in round four, it looked like he may miss out again.”
  • “But the 32-year-old held his nerve brilliantly, birdieing the 16th and 17th to hit the front at nine under and finish ahead of Americans Sean Crocker and Julian Suri, and South African Erik van Rooyen after a closing 71.”
3. …and in LA…
AP report…”Minjee Lee won the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open on Sunday at Wilshire Country Club for her fifth LPGA Tour title, closing with a 3-under 68 for a four-stroke victory.”
  • “The 22-year-old Australian was projected to jump from fourth to second in the world ranking Monday after her fourth top-three finish in her last seven starts.”
  • “Coming in, the first half of the year that I’ve had, I’ve been hitting it pretty solid and playing pretty solid,” Lee said. “I felt like it was close. I feel pretty good with this one.”
  • “Lee made a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 18th to finish at 14-under 270. She led the last three days, shooting 66-69-67 to take a one-stroke advantage over Nanna Koerstz Madsen into the final round.”
4. Meanwhile, in senior two-man team golf…
AP report…”Tom Pernice Jr. and Scott Hoch completed a wire-to-wire victory Sunday in the PGA Tour Champions’ Bass Pro Shops Legends, opening with Pernice’s hole-in-one on the Top of the Rock par-3 course.”
  • “Pernice used a 7-iron on the 175-yard first hole….”Obviously when they go in, it’s a little bit lucky, but I did hit a very good shot and was fortunate for it to go in,” Pernice said. ”Followed it up with a birdie on 2, so that was a great start.”’
5. Woods to skip Wells Fargo
Golf Channel’s Nick Menta…”Tiger Woods will not play in next week’s Wells Fargo Championship, according Charlotte, N.C. sports radio station WFNZ.”
  • “Woods had until 5 p.m. ET Friday to commit to the tournament.”
  • “An appearance at Quail Hollow seemed a natural fit in the event he was looking to make a competitive start between the Masters and the PGA Championship. Woods won the event in 2007 and made his return to the Charlotte stop last May after a six-year absence, finishing tied for 55th.”
6. E. Molinari outs slow play offenders
Golf Digest’s Ryan Herrington…“In a similar vein, Edoardo Molinari looks to be another pro golfer willing to become a disruptor on the issue. The 38-year-old Italian has frequently taken to Twitter to bemoan the lack of enforcement against slow pokes. Upset with the pace of play at this week’s European Tour event, the Trophee Hussan II in Morocco, he took it upon himself to see if he could stir things up and potentially create some action.”
  • “Edoardo Molinari: It’s time that professional golf does something serious for slow play…5h30min to play 18 holes on a golf course without rough is just too long…way too long! #stopslowplay”
  • “Edoardo Molinari: I didn’t think I was going to cause such a debate with this tweet, however…if the above tweet about slow play gets 1,000 retweets I’ll post the updated list of players being timed and fined on the @EuropeanTour in 2019 as of last Monday!#stopslowplay”
  • “Sure enough, 1,300 retweeted him, and the former U.S. Amateur champion (and brother of reigning Open championship Francesco) made good on his threat promise, revealing the list that the European Tour does not make public but does share with its members.”
7. A win for women
Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols…”The USGA got it right in giving Lewis a place in this year’s field. In fact, the organization said in a statement that it’s taking a fresh look at its policies, most notably the impact maternity leave has on its exemption categories.”
  • “In lieu of a modified policy for 2019, the USGA offered spots to both Lewis and Brittany Lincicome, who had originally planned to defer her exemption to 2020 and is now considering her options.”
8. Sobering up and the gift of golf
Some pretty cool stuff here, as reported by the Manchester Ink Link…
  • “Officer Justin Maguire got to know Mark Yphantis quite well over the years. The 58-year-old Manchester resident drank heavily and Maguire often arrested him. Maguire says despite these unfortunate encounters, he liked Yphantis and had learned they shared the love of golf.”
  • “About a year and a half ago Maguire decided to challenge Yphantis. He told him if he could sober up, he’d take him golfing.”
  • “In January, Yphantis went into rehab and today he is more than 100 days sober.”
  • “On Wednesday, April 24, 2019 Maguire delivered a set of golf clubs to Yphantis. The clubs were donated by Golf and Ski Warehouse. On April 26, 2019 Maguire followed up with a gift certificate for 10 rounds of golf donated by the Derryfield Country Club.”
9. “50-50 chance”
Golf Digest’s Keely Levins…“It seems paradoxical to think that something that benefits women’s golf overall might hurt one of the LPGA’s flagship events. Yet that appears the potential result of the successful launch of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Or more precisely the scheduling of the event the same week as ANA Inspiration, the first major championship on the LPGA calendar.”
  • “Officials with the 48-year-old Rancho Mirage, Calif., tournament and the LPGA are expected to meet next month to discuss the long-term implications of the overlapping events, specifically lower TV ratings and lower on-course attendance. IMG runs the tournament, and listening to the company’s Chris Garrett, who serves as tournament director, it sounds like there’s a reasonable chance that the event could change dates to avoid competing for attention.”

Featured image c/o the Manchester Ink Link
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Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship

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7 hours ago

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May 7, 2024

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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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1 day ago

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May 6, 2024

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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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1 day ago

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May 6, 2024

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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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