Opinion & Analysis

Me llamo Pablo Larrazabal, y soy campeon

Published

7 years ago

Dec 1, 2019

My Sunday morning was spent in mourning for over three hours. As a Spanish teacher, I could not imagine what Pablo Larrazabal was feeling. five bogeys and one double bogey absolutely suffocated a single, front-nine birdie. The Spaniard turned in 42, six over par, after reaching 11 under through three rounds. Names like Sjoholm, Grace, Besseling, even Schwartzel, were returned to contention. With incredibly sore feet, Larrazabal looked like a wounded weekend warrior, limping along the Leopard Creek golf course. Which of his challengers would win? Certainly not the native of Barcelona.

Wil Besseling owned a two-shot advantage when he reached the 14th tee. He dunked one ball in the drink on that hole and lost his advantage to Joel Sjoholm. The happy-go-lucky Swede was 3-under through 13 holes, but could not notch another birdie coming home. He finished on 7 under par, and sat down in the clubhouse to wait. He would ultimately finish solo 2nd, a fine start to the new season.

Leopard Creek was kind to no one on this day. Brandon Grace dropped shots to par on holes two to four. He would claw back to 1 over on the day, but needed 1 under to reach the top. Fellow South African Charl Schwartzel wrote down one eagle, one birdie…and three bogeys on his outward-nine card. Still, compared with Larrazabal’s gaffes, even par was a miraculous comeback. The 2011 Masters champion played the inward half in 2 under par, joining Grace at 6 under.

Back to Besseling. From a lie in the rough on 18, he still went for a ridiculously-tucked flag in two, hoping to assure a birdie to reach 8 under. As expected, his knuckleball bounded past the flag, over the green, down the slope … and onto the rock wall guarding the peninsula from water. First dumb play of 2020, and it won’t be the last. Besseling made bogey on a sub-500 yard par 5, dropping to 6 under as well.

And yes, Larrazabal and his moaning, groaning, weeping dogs were, somehow, still a part of this tournament’s denouement. The Catalonian made bogey at the par-5 13th but followed with consecutive birdies at 15 and 16. Equally impressive was a massive par save at 17. With the stage set for a heroic comeback, Larrazabal drove into the rough at the last. Unlike Besseling, he was less brave than wise and laid up to wedge distance. His spinner stopped two feet from the hole, ensuring an unexpected, but strategic, birdie, and an inconceivable (in all its “Princess Bride” glory) conclusion to the event. After the lowest of lows times six, Larrazabal had somehow, in some borderline-unearthly manner, claimed his fifth European Tour title, and his first in four years.

Pablo Larrazabal, campeon.

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.