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Tour Rundown: The new ocho

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There’s a runaway winner on the tours, every year, and it’s not Tiger nor Nelly, Scottie, nor Bernhard. It’s the DP World Tour and its content maestros. This week, they borrowed Hannah Rae from St. Andre Golf to be a social media trainer. Have a taste of this appetizer with the Minwoo schtick below, then after composing yourself, check out our Tour Rundown, in conclusive order, from Tuesday through Sunday.

TGL @ Week Three: Atlanta Drive shuts out NYGC

In his summary of the second week, Matt Fitzpatrick bemoaned the lack of putts a-dropping. With putts come momentum, and that’s what NYGC hasn’t had over the first two weeks. Make no mistake: they hit some bad golf shots. In the team portion of each match, it’s all about ball in play. Add to their self-inflicted misery, the two bombs that Justin Thomas sank for a win and a halve, and nothing went right for the guys from Gotham.

If there’s a silver lining for the team from Brooklyn, the Bronx, and all points in between, they narrowed the margin of defeat, from seven points to four. Next up, in week four, is the debut of the green goblins, the Boston Common Golf, as Rory and his militia take on Tiger and the Jupiter Links GC.

Is it too early to ask for multiple things to happen at once? A little chip-off or putt-off at the green zone end, while the fellows are blasting away at the full-swing end, would add distraction, drama, and a few more points to the tally.

Korn Ferry Tour @ Great Abaco Classic: the new ocho claims first big victory

Would you call a five-shot win a runaway? We will, in order to vibe with the aforementioned, social-media runaway by DP World Tour. Over on Korn Ferry, the second week of the Bahamas Slide saw a Canadian lad load up on the syllables and the birdies. Sudarshan Yellamaraju (yup, eight syllables) blazed over the final 54 holes in 193 strokes, to leave the entirety of the field in the dust.

Hank Lebioda…remember him? Won last week. He had a shot on Sunday, but needed something in the fractions to overtake SuYell. Russell Knox? He has won on the big tours, but even his 65 on day four was worse than Yella-Mon’s closing 64. The lefty was born in India, but emigrated to Canada (and probably got the portside swing from hockey.) From round two to round four, he dropped 19 birdies, two eagles, and a distant, final bogey on Friday’s second hole!

Let’s call him the Almost-Josh Allen of professional golf. The Mississauga (that’s near Toronto) native hoped for some attention from D1 programs but received no attention. So, he turned pro and has been grinding for checks ever since. The 23-year-old had the week of anyone’s dreams, and let’s hope that it wasn’t a flash in the pan. The KFT gets back on a regular, Thursday-Sunday schedule next week in Panama.

PGA Tour @ Farmers Insurance Open: Put a little English on that, will you?

If Harris English wins a second time in 2025, we have a parlay for 2027. We’ll get back to that later. English held off Sam Stevens and a host of windswept golfers, to win the windswept Farmers IO at Torrey Pines. This won’t be the last we see of Torrey this winter, as it was just named the replacement course for Riviera’s Genesis Open. This won’t be the last we see of English, as age 35 is the new 30, and English has a swing that stands time’s test.

The English-man survived, simple as that. Two of his four rounds this week were over-par 73s, and both were on the South course at the San Diego muni. His third-round 66, over the same 18, concluded with three consecutive birdies. While it didn’t win him the week, it positioned him to stave off the competition. Sunday was not a day for making but, rather, for breaking. With the exception of Stevens, whose 68 defied logic, golfers headed north of par figures in droves. Only two scores in the 60s were recorded, but 10 more at 70 and 71. Less than 20 percent of the Sunday scorecards had red ink on them.

English stood 2 over on the day through five holes. It was then that Andrew Novak made the most unlikely birdie putt ever on five, to momentarily take the lead. English was shocked into action, and produced his only birdie of the day. He followed up with a dozen pars to hold off a game Stevens, for his fifth career PGA Tour title. Back to that parley: English won twice in 2013, then won twice in 2021, eight years on. If he wins a second time this year, he’ll have another duo, four years on from the last. That makes 2027 and two titles a lock. Cheers, English!

DP World Tour @ Ras Al Khaimah Classic: Lana Alejandro del Rey wins big

For a while, both Björk and del Rey were in the mix in the UAE, so you can forgive me for thinking that I had wormholed my way into an alt-music festival. OK, back to this universe. Alejandro del Rey hadn’t won yet on the DP World Tour, when his post-round, Saturday interview featured some admirable confidence. He acknowledged that he had won in other places before and that he knew how to do it. To toss yet another challenge, he suggested that it was a two-man race, between him and Marcus Armitage.

It ended up being a two-man race, and if the pair had switched scores on Sunday, they would have tied in regulation figures. As Gino D’Acampo proclaimed, if my grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bike. The pair did not switch cards, and del Rey signed for 66, while Armitage posted 68. The overnight, two-shot advantage, was increased to four, and it was three more shots to David Puig in the third, thanks to a day-low 65.

What more can you say about Alejandro del Rey? Part of the Spanish contingent that inhabited Tempe, Arizona, during the 2010s, the Madrid native made but four bogeys over 72 holes of competition, with the last coming on Friday’s ninth green. From that point on, he wrote down 17 birdies and 28 pars. Those numbers are nigh-impossible to beat, on any course, during any week. Now that he’s done it once, will he do it again, possibly when the stakes are higher? Del Rey is a furious golfer, lashing at the ball with the vengeance of a jilted lover. That’s what golf needs in 2025. As he said on Saturday after a stellar iron, buenísimo. 

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.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Moo

    Jan 27, 2025 at 2:55 pm

    6 hour round at Torrey though
    The Tour has to change its set ups

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open

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GolfWRX Tour Photographer made the trip from the Memorial Tournament across the country to the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera. Check out links to all the photos below!

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Photos from the 2026 Memorial Tournament

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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.

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Tour Tech Rundown: Heroic Henley

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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

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

  • Driver: Ping 440 LST
  • Metal: Ping G440 Max at 15 degrees
  • Metal: Ping G425 Max at 21 degrees
  • Hybrid: Ping G430 at 25 degrees
  • Irons: Ping Blueprint S 5 through PW
  • Wedges: Ping S159 at 52, 56, and 60 degrees
  • Putter: Ping PLD Anser

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