As we move through June, into July and August, scarcely a week goes by that does not celebrate a major championship on one of the three principal tours. The women, men, and senior men have some action going on, and this week saw the playing of the U.S. Senior Open in Colorado. Last week, it was the Women’s PGA and next week, the Evian Championship on the LPGA circuit. All wins are valued wins, but certain events offer an opportunity for players to ascend to a new echelon of champion.

Last week, Minjee Lee earned a third career major title at the PGA. She will need to double that number to reach the career top 10. Her game suggests that the potential exists. With both Evian and the Women’s Open left in 2025, Lee can add to her confidence and her tally with a win either week. In April, we witnessed the ultimate golf-life achievement at Augusta National, as Rory McIlroy joined the handful of golfers with career grand slams on the men’s side. This week at Broadmoor, a smiling Irishman added to his senior major total. Let’s review that one right now, by firing up the engine on this week’s Tour Rundown.

PGA Tour Champions @ U.S. Senior Open: Son of a Garda earns second U.S. Senior Open

Padraig Harrington will turn 54 years old at the end of August. He won three majors on the regular tour, all in the space of 13 months. He has been a fixture and a contender in the regular tour’s big events since 1997, when he tied for fifth in the Open Championship. In 2021, Harrington tied for 4th at the PGA, on the cusp of his 50th birthday. This week at the Broadmoor, Harrington earned a second U.S. Senior Open title. Despite his longevity and his mastery of the game, Harrington holds those two U.S. Open titles as his two senior majors. It’s not easy to win a tour event, let alone a major, at any level.

Here’s how he did it this week: From day two, three names occupied the top of the leaderboard in the Centennial State. Harrington, Stewart Cink, and Mark Hensby stood tied after 36 holes, at 134 strokes. On day three, the trio posted matching 68s, suggesting that a barnburner was in store for day four. On Sunday, a lad from the Canary Islands nearly upstaged the triumvirate. Miguel Angel Jimenez, a thrice senior major winner, posted the low round of the week (64) to advance three stations on the board, to minus-nine. He needed a bit of a wobble from the leaders, and he received it from Hensby. The Australian struggled early, middle, and late, posting three-over to drop into a tie for 4th, at five-under par. Jimenez received no more assistance, as Cink and Harrington dueled to the conclusion.

Cink moved to three deep on the day, and minus eleven, on the strength of four consecutive birdies on the front nine. Harrington was his equal, securing the same number of birdies and bogeys (four and one) on the outward half. Coming home, the course was not nearly as generous. Harrington played home in even par, signing for 67 and eleven-under par. Cink made a late bogey, at the fifteenth hole, and the matter was settled.

PGA Tour @ Rocket Mortgage Classic: AP to the top of the class in Detroit

We suspect that we’ll all be saying this name a good bit in the future, so let’s learn how to pronounce the first name of the 2022 Amateur champion. It’s Alld-Rich, with emphasis on the Alld. That was at the age of 17 years young. In 2024, Potgieter became the youngest Korn Ferry Tour winner, at 19 ripe turns round the sun. Surname pronunciation? Pot-gui-tur, with stress on the Pot. It was a matter of little time before he won on the PGA Tour, given his ability to make bushels of birdies, all with a look of extreme calm on his face. This week in Detroit, Aldrich Potgieter survived five extra holes at Detroit Golf Club, and secured an inaugural title on the show tour.

From day one, eyes were on the young South African. He’ll turn 21 in September, but his manner and game suggest a golfer wise beyond his years. Potgieter opened with a 62, but gave up the lead on day two, posting 70. Chris Kirk, a six-time winner on the PGA circuit, paired 65s to reach the halfway pole at 130 strokes. Jake Knapp moved into contention, improving eleven shots from his opening 72. His day-two 61 would stand as the low round of the week, but Knapp wanted more. Like Potgieter and Kirk, Knapp contended to the finish.

On day four, Potgieter signed for 69, including a few nervy putts for par at the end. Max Greyeserman and Kirk each posted 67s on Sunday to tie for the top spot at 22-under par. One slim shot behind sat Knapp and Michael Thorbjornsen. Both Knapp and Thorbjornsen needed birdie at the last to join the trio at the top, but neither could secure one final shot. They tied for fourth at 21-under par.

Kudos to Rocket Mortgage and Detroit Golf Club, for a unique playoff format. The golfers played the 18th and then the 15th. At the later hole, a par three, Kirk took three putts from a distance away, and his week concluded. Potgieter and Greyserman headed to 16, then 14, each sawing the other off with par-birdie. Finally, upon returning to the short 15th, Potgieter was able to convince an 18-foot birdie putt to drop, after Greyserman had scared the hole with his birdie effort.

LPGA @ Dow Classic: Twice the fun as Lee and Im prevail in playoff

There was a time when two-player events were relegated to the silly season, that time in November and December when golf was still around, but essentially an exhibition. These days, nearly every tour has a partner event that figures not only in the regular season but in the exemption column and money list as well. The women of the LPGA spent the week between majors in Michigan, having some fun and some hard work in a two-player shootout. Days one and three saw foursomes (alternate shot) play, while days two and four saw fourball (better ball) format. For the uninitiated, neither of those styles is scramble golf, the kind that we play in charity events.

Is it difficult to move from one format to the other? Absolutely. Ask Jennifer Kupcho and Leona Maguire, who posted 60 on day two to assume the lead, then 72 on day three, to surrender it. They finished well back in the pack. Sunday was a low-scoring affair, as scores of 59, 60, and 62 figured in the outcome. Miranda Wang and Lindy Duncan posted eleven-under 59 to move from -7 to -18. Their work earned a tie for third spot. Lexi Thompson and Megan Khang were nearly as sharp. They scribbled ten birdies on their scorecard, to reach 20-under par on the week. Joining them at that number were Somi Lee and Jin Hee Im. The Korean pair, with eleven LPGA Korea titles between them, were in rarefied air on the LPGA circuit.

The playoff hole featured a return to foursomes, and it finished quickly. Both teams hit shots inside ten feet, and Lee-Im converted first. Needing to make their putt to extend the playoff, Khang-Thompson broke hard left, and both Somi Lee and Jin Hee Im had a maiden tour title.

DP World Tour @ Italian Open: Adrien Saddier is now a title holder

Adrien Saddier turned professional a decade ago. He had worked his way up from the Challenge Tour (where he won in 2018) to the DP World Tour, but had yet to taste victory on the feature circuit. Saddier and countryman Martin Couvra were neck and neck through three rounds, with Couvra holding a one-shot advantage. On Sunday, Saddier flipped the script and captured the national championship of Italy.

Couvra played wonderful golf all week. That’s the sort of thing you do when you finish second. He was in the 60s each round and was able to bounce back from rough patches, with his share of birdies. Through nine holes on Sunday, neither Couvra nor Saddier appeared intent on running away with the tournament. On the inward half, Saddier posted the numbers of which dreams are made. He wrote down five birdies and four pars on his scorecard and escaped to a two-shot margin of victory. Finishing at 12 under was Couvra, and it was another pair of strokes more to the third-place tie of Dan Bradbury and Calum Hill.

Korn Ferry Tour @ Memorial Health: All smiles from Smotherman

It’s certain that we won’t write about Austin Smotherman next year in the Korn Ferry Tour slot for Tour Rundown. The California native and Southern Methodist U alumnus won for the second time on the KFT this season. Smotherman sits atop the season-long points list, 250K ahead of second-place Johnny Keefer. He’ll ascend to the PGA Tour in the fall, unless he earns a mid-season promotion with a third victory.

Smotherman began day four a quartet of shots behind leader Alvaro Ortiz of Mexico. Nearly chasing them down was Sandy Scott, who posted 60 on the day. Scott leaped 19 spots in the standings to 23 under par and a tie for third. Ortiz played quite solid golf on day four, overcoming a solitary bogey with four birdies. His 68 was his highest score of the week. Unfortunately for him, Smotherman was electric on Sunday. Mr. Loomis CA turned in 31, on the strength of four birdies. On the second nine, he holed his second at the 12th hole for eagle, then added two more birdies to finish on 63 for the day. His total of 25 under par was one ahead of Ortiz, who was equal parts satisfied and disappointed.

LIV @ Dallas: Reed fortunate to win in Dallas

Patrick Reed stood tall through three rounds of LIV Dallas, but struggled to seal the deal on Sunday. That has not been a trademark of his career. In the end, he was tracked, caught, but not defeated. Reed won on Sunday with birdie at the first playoff hole. It’s worth a look at how this transpired.

Reed was all over the course on Sunday’s outward nine. Two birdies and five bogeys brought him to the turn at plus-three on the day. Leaking oil everywhere, he turned to grit and posted nine pars coming home. He finished on 6 under par, earning a spot in a four-way playoff. Paul Casey (even), Louis Oosthuizen, and Jinichiro Kozuma (each minus four) scaled the board to tie Reed on one half-dozen beneath par.

The quartet returned to the 18th tee, a par-4 hole. Reed summoned a birdie, his first in more than a dozen holes, to eliminate the challengers.

Jinichiro Kozuma is your individual leader in Dallas ?

He leads by 1 with thee-to-play ?

Watch the finale on FS2 and stream on the LIV Golf App ?#LIVGolfDallas @IronHeadsGC_ pic.twitter.com/LhfSL8Nit5

— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) June 29, 2025