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Tour Rundown: Big macs | Steph’s celebration | Linn Grant

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10 months ago

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For golf fans across the world, July signals the arrival of ground golf on telecasts. Four wondrous tournaments play out across streams and sets around the globe. Doesn’t matter if it’s heathland or linksland, or some delicious hybrid of the two. The ball bounces and ricochets and caroms, befuddling fans and perplexing players. Just think about it: we have three more weeks to watch this marvel.

The most famous shot of the week came in a semi-pro event, featuring those guys we hate because they excel at more than one sport. Steph Curry showed us all how to celebrate a walk-off eagle at the Celebrity Tour event. Amateurs everywhere, take note, and then take a lap with our Tour Rundown.

DP World Tour @ Scottish Open: Two big macs have birdie fest at Renaissance

Rory McIlroy and Robert MacIntyre gave golf fans a wild close to the Scottish Open. MacIntyre is the Scottish talent that the home of golf has yearned for, since Sandy Lyle ceased playing like Sandy Lyle. Young Bobby made a startling eagle at the 10th hole, and closed with an outrageous birdie at the last. He marked 14-under par as the clubhouse lead, then waited for the final four groups to make their trek homeward.

On the day, Tom Kim, Tommy Fleetwood, and Scottie Scheffler had made runs at the title , which seemed in reach, for all the world. Rory McIlroy, the 3rd-round leader, was in the midst of another Rory Final Round. You know the type: four bogeys by the turn, two shots returned to old man par. No one knows the final-round affliction better than the Northern Irishman, and no cure was in site for his tarantella. And then, middle-aged Rory suddenly became young Rory for the closing nine holes. Birdies at 11 and 14 gave him hope, and a stout iron to the 53rd green brought him to a tie with Bobby.

Then, McIlroy did an audacious thing. He drove the fairway, hit to the green, and drained a ten-feet putt for his first-ever, Scottish Open title. What could Bobby and all the rest do, but nod and clap? On the eve of the year’s final major championship, McIlroy had become great again. It’s been nine years since his last major victory, and perhaps Hoylake will bring him glory once more, as it did in 2014.

A note on Rory. He came into the game when the bar had been raised by Tiger Woods. When Tiger came into the game, there was some fitness and little technology. His main competition was in its twilight year, and a certain left-handed golfer was the only, major threat to his reign. Rory contends with fitter, more intelligent, more committed golfers, on a daily basis. It’s time to stop making comparisons between previous generations and this one. Wins are more preciously achieved than they were at the turn of the millennium.

LPGA @ Dana Open: Grant gathers first LPGA victory in Ohio

Linn Grant amassed four bogeys over her 72 holes of play this week in Sylvania, near Toledo. That was a fine start. She followed the first course with buckets of birdies and the occasional eagle. She even holed from the fairway for a deuce on Saturday’s 11th hole. Grant wasn’t the only golfer to post four rounds in the 60s this week, but she found a way to make her scores slightly better than those of her pursuers.

An opening 64 gave Grant the co-lead with Jaravee Boonchant. Her 133 total through 36 stood her in a three-way tie for the top spot. It was Saturday’s spectacular 62 that cleared her path to solo first. Her advantage was six shots over her nearest pursuer, so the only obstacle between her and the podium’s top spot, was malaise. The Sweden native took care of business early on Sunday, marching to a three-under total through 13holes. A wee bogey bump at the 14th shined a bit of light for the chasers, but Grant added one more birdie, at the home hole, to conclude the day’s events.

PGA Tour @ Barbasol Championship: Normann defeats Kimsey in one-hole playoff

The Barbasol Championship represents many things to many golfers that you may never have heard of. Money toward keeping a tour card, exemptions that come with a victory, and a spot in the following week’s Open Championship for those not yet qualified. This week brought all those perqs to rookie Vincent Normann, a Swede by way of Florida State. Normann played well on Sunday, but was given a chance at glory when 54-hole leader Trevor Cone made double bogey at the penultimate hole. Cone and Adrien Saddier finished one shot out of a playoff, at 21-under par.

Tied with Normann after regulation was England’s Nathan Kimsey. The pair returned to the watery 18th, and both showed the nerves of the unproven. Each golfer missed the fairway, and then the green. Just when it looked like bogey would send the pair back to the tee for hole number two of overtime, Normann hit a marvelous recovery shot to two feet, to save par. When Kimsey could not match, it was a Normann conquest.

Korn Ferry Tour @ The Ascendant: Lindheim claims 3rd KFT title with clean Sunday card

Nicholas Lindheim has been around a while. The American won on PGA Tour Latinioamérica in 2014 and 2015. He won on the then-Web.Com tour in 2016 and 2017. Unlike his contemporaries, Lindheim was never able to make the final ascent to the PGA Tour. With his win this week at The Ascendant, he may finally climb the ladder’s final rung.

Alejandro Tosti held the 54-hole lead in Colorado, but the Argentine slipped to a Sunday 71, and tie for 4th position. Parker Coody closed with 67 to take third place, while Max Greyserman returned a 66 on day four, to stake a claim for solo second. Lindheim knew it was his day, when he nearly drove the 3rd green, then holed his pitch for eagle. 15 holes and 4 birdies later, Lindheim reached 20-under par and a two-shot advantage over Greyserman.

PGA Tour Champions @ Kaulig: Stricker claims another Senior Major

I don’t want to say that Steve Stricker is toying with his competition, but what else do you call it when a guy wraps a 73 with two slices of 65 bread? That’s what Stricker did over the first three days, and those efforts were enough to give him the lead with one round unsettled. On Sunday, a series of challengers stepped forward. First there was Harrison Frazar. Next came Scott Parel, Finally, here was David Toms. None of the huntsmen could quite track the Wisconsin native down, and Stricker closed with 69 to reach 11-under par on the week. His 269 at Firestone was enough to hold off David Toms by three, and win a seventh senior major title.

Stricker opened with three birdies in his first ten holes, forcing the hands of the competition. No one was on track to go low, so the poster child for second careers steered the boat into port with two more birdies and a bogey on the inward half. It was textbook Stricker play that finished the task: find the fairway, find the green, make or nearly make the putt. No one will ever match Bernhard Langer nor Hale Irwin, but Stricker’s body of work on Tour Times Two is certainly top ten in history, perhaps top five.

PGA Tour Canada @ Quebec Open: Lamb outlasts wolves in Canada

There was rain at Golf Chateau-Bromont, but not the kind that plagued states like Vermont and New York. The precipitation that fell on this golf course, had a softening effect on the greens. Players shot at flags, and the final total of 22-under par to the winner was part and parcel for the week.

Lamb did not post above 66 all week, and even that score was three shots higher than his other scores. Lamb closed with 63, his low round of the week. It could not come at a better time. Nearby, David Kim was quietly building a mighty effort. Kim was three-under on the front nine, then four under par on the inward half. His 62 was the week’s low round but, thanks to Lamb’s gritty performance, Kim could make up but one shot on the leader. The victory was Lamb’s second in two events, and locked up a Korn Ferry Tour card for the 2023-2024 PGA Tour

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Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

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May 14, 2024

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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

Pullout Albums

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Morning 9: Is it Rory’s time? | Stricker WDs | Why Valhalla is a great major venue

Published

2 days ago

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May 14, 2024

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as we gear up for the PGA Championship from iconic Valhalla.

1. Is now the time Rory finally ends major drought?

BBC’s Iain Carter…”But given the imperious form he showed in Charlotte last week, perhaps this is the PGA Championship to rekindle the ruthless streak of old. And not just because he is back at Valhalla (the Nordic word for the hall of the fallen).”

  • “It also became clear last week that McIlroy is somewhat persona non grata to the PGA Tour’s Policy Board. His views on a global future for this damagingly split sport do not seem to chime with the American dominated body.”
  • “His offer to return to the board from which he resigned earlier this year was rejected and he has been left as a mere non-voting member of the “transaction committee” dealing with a potential deal with Saudi Arabia.”
  • “McIlroy insists there are “no hard feelings” but there should be.”
  • “No player has worked harder for their sport during this period of unprecedented tumult and the board has rejected someone many people regard as the game’s most articulate and enlightened international voice.”
  • “Now is, surely, the time for McIlroy to feel slighted and respond with his clubs. Play as though he has a chip on his shoulder, but in the knowledge that he is generationally the most consistent golfing force out there.”
Full piece.

2. Scheffler in for PGA Champ after birth of child

Jaclyn Hendricks for PGATour.com…”Scottie Scheffler and wife Meredith’s bundle of joy has arrived.”

  • “The couple welcomed their first child, just weeks after Scheffler claimed his second Masters victory in three years.”
  • “Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig tweeted Saturday that the baby was born and Scheffler will play in this week’s PGA Championship — the second major of the season.”
  • “There’s been nothing official from Scottie Scheffler, his team or the Tour… But word is he will be at Valhalla for the PGA next week after winning four of his last five tournaments, including the Masters. He is currently on the Tuesday interview schedule for 3:30 p.m. #babyborn,” Harig wrote over the weekend.”
Full piece.

3. “Erik van Rooyen, friends and family live in honor of ‘Trazzy’”

  • That’s the headline of Ryan Lavner’s superb piece on Erik van Rooyen and his departed best friend Jon Trasmar. An excerpt would be an injustice. Go read it!
Full piece.

4. Stricker out of PGA citing fatigue

AP report…”Steve Stricker decided Sunday to withdraw from the PGA Championship at Valhalla, citing the difficulty of playing four times in a span of five weeks.”

  • “Stricker, 57, was eligible by winning the Senior PGA Championship last year. He, John Daly and Phil Mickelson are the only players to have competed at Valhalla each of the previous three times the PGA Championship was held there.”
Full piece.

5. Why Valhalla is a great venue for major championships

Garrett Morrison for The Fried Egg…”But before we start slinging mud (of which there will be plenty in Kentucky this week), let’s pause to think about why Valhalla tends to generate close final-round battles featuring elite players. It’s not magic: the course has long par 3s and 4s, narrow fairways, and smallish greens surrounded by rough and bunkers. This style of design and setup, which practically defines the PGA Championship’s modern brand, gives an outsize advantage to a skill that many star players share: power. Length off the tee and the ability to muscle the ball out of rough to a well-protected green will be near-prerequisites for contending at this week’s PGA Championship. If Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, and Bryson DeChambeau show up with any kind of short-game and putting form, they will be in the mix on Sunday. And the presence of such A-listers on the leaderboard will further burnish Valhalla’s reputation as a serious venue.“

  • “It does not follow, however, that Valhalla is a great golf course. In fact, I find it a fairly mediocre and bland one. Very few holes offer multiple options of the tee (the exceptions being the short par-4 fourth and the double-fairway par-5 seventh), most of the greens lack memorable contouring, and the recovery shots from around the fairways and greens are one-dimensional and repetitive. So even if Sunday turns out to be a barn-burner, the first three rounds, when the focus will be on the course and the shots demanded, will probably be sleepier, aside from the inevitable Blockie walk-and-talk.”
Full piece.

6. Dunne resigns from policy board

Mark Schlabach for ESPN…”Jimmy Dunne, who last year helped negotiate the PGA Tour’s controversial framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, resigned from the tour’s policy board on Monday.”

  • “In Dunne’s resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, Dunne wrote that “no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with PIF” and that “my vote and my role is utterly superfluous” now that player directors outnumber independent directors on the policy board. Dunne’s resignation was effective immediately.”
  • “It is crucial for the Board to avoid letting yesterday’s differences interfere with today’s decisions, especially when they influence future opportunities for the tour,” Dunne wrote. “Unifying professional golf is paramount to restoring fan interest and repairing wounds left from a fractured game. I have tried my best to move all minds in that direction.”
  • “Along with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, Dunne and policy board chairman Ed Herlihy secretly negotiated the framework agreement with the PIF, which is financing the rival LIV Golf League. Monahan and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan announced the deal on June 6. Most PGA Tour players — including some player directors — were unaware of the deal until it was announced on TV.”
Full piece.
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Tour Rundown: Rose blooms, Rory rolls

Published

3 days ago

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May 13, 2024

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This week last year, I found myself praying to the weather goddesses and gods that Rochester would be spared their wrath over the next seven days. The 2023 Oak Hill PGA Championship (that was slated for August when the contract was signed) was on the horizon, and I wanted my region to show well. Things turned out fine, with all four seasons making an appearance, a PGA Professional (Blockie!) stealing hearts, and a proven champion in Koepka (although I was pulling for Viktor.)

This year, no concerns. Louisville will shine this week at Valhalla, but we’ve matters to consider before we look to four days of coverage this week. Nelly did not win on the LPGA this week, so who did? The PGA Tour held two events in the Carolinas, and Tour Champions celebrated a major event in Alabama. Four noteworthy events to run down, so let’s head to RunDownTown and take care of business.

LPGA @ Founders Cup: Rose blooms

There was a sense that Rose Zhang might have a role in the 2020s version of the LPGA. After winning everything there was in amateur golf, she came out and won her first tournament as a professional. That was last May and, let’s be honest, who among us thought it would take 12 months for Zhang to win again? Rhymes with hero, I know.

This week in New Jersey, eyes were on Nelly Korda, as she made a run at a sixth consecutive win on the LPGA circuit. Korda ran out of gas on Saturday, and that was just fine. Madelene Sagstrom and Zhang had turned the soiree at Upper Montclair into a battle of birdies. Gabriela Ruffels came third at nine-under par. No one else reached double digits under par but Sagstrom and Zhang. They didn’t just reach -10…they more than doubled it.

Sagstrom had the look of a winner with five holes left to play. She was three shots clear of Zhang, at 23-under par. The Swede played her closing quintet in plus-one, finishing at 22-deep, 13 shots ahead of Ruffels. That performance we’d anticipated from Zhang? It happened on Sunday. She closed with four birdies in five holes to snatch victory number two, by two shots. Spring is a lovely time for a Rose in bloom.

PGA Tour @ Wells Fargo: Rory the Fourth is crowned in Charlotte

Xander Schauffele is a likable lad. He has an Olympic gold medal on his shelf, and a few PGA Tour titles to his credit. Even X knows that even par won’t get much done in a final round unless conditions are brutal. They weren’t brutal at Quail Hollow on Sunday. X posted even par on day four. It kept him ahead of third-place finisher Byeong Hun An but gave him zero chance of challenging for the title.

Paired with Xander in round four was the King of Quail, Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman had previously won thrice at the North Carolina track, and he was champing at the bit to gain some momentum on the road to Louisville. While Xander scored increasingly worse along the week (64-67-70-71) McIlroy saved his best round for the final round. Thanks to five birdies and two eagles, McIlroy ran away with the event, winning his fourth Wells Fargo by five over Schauffele.

PGA Tour @ Myrtle Beach Classic: a little CG won the inaugural week

It always seemed odd that the PGA Tour had zero stops along the Grand Strand each season. This week’s event seemed odd in that the golfers played the same course each day, and there were zero handicaps involved. Most events at Myrtle Beach involve hundreds of amateurs at dozens of courses, with all sorts of handicaps.

The Dunes Club is a Robert Trent Jones Sr. course, down toward Pawley’s Island. It claims what used to be considered an unreachable, par-five hole, the watery 13th. Nothing is unreachable any longer, including a 22-under par total for a six-shot win. Chris Gotterup, a former Rutgers and Oklahoma golfer, played sizzling golf all week and won by a sextet of shots. Gotterup opened with 66, then improved to 64 on Friday. His Saturday 65 sounded a beacon of “come get me,” and his closing 67 ensured that second place was the only thing up for grabs.

Chasing the podium’s second level were a bunch of young Americans. In the end, Alastair Docherty and Davis Thompson reached 16-deep, thanks to rounds of 64 and 68 on Sunday. They held off six golfers at 15-under par. The victory was Gotterup’s first on tour and should be enough to get him a Wikipedia page, among other plaudits.

PGA Tour Champions @ Regions Traditions: Vindication for Dougie

Doug Barron, if I recall correctly, was suspended by the Powers That Be, way back in 2009, for testosterone. He was naturally low in the hormone, so he took supplements. This did not sit well with certain admins, so he was put on the shelf for 18 months. Not cool.

In 2019, Barron came out on the Tour Champions. He won in August. The next year, despite the craziness of Covid, he won again.  Barron hit a dry spell for a few years. He kept his card, but accrued no additional victories. In late April, Barron showed serious signs of life, with a t2 at Mitsubishi. This week in Birmingham, he jumped out to a lead, lost it, then gained it back on Saturday. With major championship glory on the line, Barron brought the train into the station with 68 on Sunday.

Stephen Alker, the man who could not lose just two years ago, gave serious chase with a closing 63. He moved up 11 slots, into solo 2nd on Sunday. He finished two shots back of the champion. Two shots ain’t much. Cough once and you drop a pair. Third place saw a three-way tie, including last year’s winner (Steve Stricker) and runner-up (Ernie Els.) Despite the intimidating presence of the game’s greats, however, Doug Barron had more than enough of everything this week, and he has a third Tour Champions title to show off.

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