Opinion & Analysis

Hot & Cold: Where strokes were won and lost at the RBC Canadian Open

Published

7 years ago

Jun 11, 2019

In “Hot & Cold,” we’ll be focusing each week on what specific areas of the game players excelled and disappointed in throughout the previous tournament. On Sunday, Rory McIlroy ran away from the field. McIlroy shot a 61 to claim his second title of the year, and here’s a look at where some of the most notable players gained and lost strokes over the four days of action at the RBC Canadian Open.

Hot

Rory McIlroy blitzed Hamilton Golf and Country Club shooting a total of 22-under par, and unsurprisingly, the Ulsterman produced a devastating performance tee to green. McIlroy gained 15.3 strokes over the field tee to green for the week, which is the second-best performance of his career in this area. Additionally, McIlroy gained almost six strokes on the greens – his best performance with the flat-stick in over a year. Check out the clubs McIlroy did the damage with here.

Webb Simpson has had an uneasy relationship with his flat-stick throughout his career, but recently the American has looked as good as anyone on the greens. Last week, Simpson gained 9.1 strokes over the field with his putter – the third-best total of his career.

Matt Kuchar warmed up for this week’s U.S. Open in solid fashion, and much of the 40-year-old’s good work in Canada was done through his putter. Kuchar gained 8.2 strokes on the green last week, which is only his second-best total of 2019 in this area having gained 9.5 strokes with his putter at the Heritage. Not too shabby.

Cold

Bubba Watson suffered a miserable week at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, and the left-hander lost almost six strokes to the field for his approach play over the four days. That negative total is Watson’s worst in this area for three years.

Dustin Johnson looked out of sorts for much of his time in Canada, and the 34-year-old’s short game was the culprit. Johnson dropped a combined 3.1 strokes to the field on and around the greens for the four days of action.

Brooks Koepka is another man whose short game looked rusty north of the border. Koepka lost a combined 2.8 strokes to the field on and around the greens – his worst performance in this area since February.

Opinion & Analysis

AVL: My U.S. Amateur local qualifying experience

Published

6 days ago

Jun 5, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.

I teed off at 10:48 a.m.. With the 7:30 am tee time, you can get a feel for the leaders’ pace, and they were off and running on the challenging setup at Rock Creek.

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Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.

With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.

Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!

Club Junkie

Building my 2026 gamer WITB: Ranking the contenders and new putter projects – Club Junkie Podcast

Published

1 week ago

Jun 4, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

The annual What’s In The Bag build is underway, and on this episode of Club Junkie, Brian breaks down the clubs currently leading the race for a spot in his 2026 gamer setup. From drivers and fairway woods to irons, wedges, and shafts, he ranks the equipment that’s performing best and explains what’s separating the front runners from the rest of the field.

Brian also heads into the workshop to discuss several putter projects currently on the bench. From head options and shaft choices to build ideas and testing plans, he shares what he’s working on and which putters could become serious contenders for the bag this season.

If you’re a gear junkie who loves equipment testing, club building, and the never-ending pursuit of the perfect setup, this episode is for you.

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Club Junkie

Tour Edge Exotics mini driver review + TaylorMade Spider ZT Max first look – Club Junkie

Published

2 weeks ago

May 28, 2026

Brian Knudson

On this episode of Club Junkie, I put the new Tour Edge Exotics Mini Driver to the test and break down the performance, forgiveness, distance, and where it fits compared to a traditional driver or strong fairway wood. If you have been curious about adding a mini driver to the bag, this one is worth a look.

I also dive into the new TaylorMade Spider ZT Max putter that was recently spotted and discuss the growing zero torque putter trend. Plus, there is a closer look at the new Project X Titan Yellow shaft showing up on the PGA Tour and what makes it different from other profiles currently out there.