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Ally Ewing wins LPGA Match Play | Thomas shells out to help Visacki | Feng’s pre-consolation match WD

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3 years ago

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Good Tuesday morning, golf fans.
1. Ally Ewing wins LPGA Match Play 
AP report…”Ally Ewing won the LPGA Match Play on Sunday on another long, hot afternoon at Shadow Creek, beating Sophia Popov 2 and 1 for her second tour victory.”
  • “Ewing won the difficult par-4 14th with a 60-foot birdie putt to take a 2-up lead and closed out her German rival with a double-bogey halve on the par-3 17th in the final event before the U.S. Women’s Open next week at Olympic in San Francisco.”
2. Thomas shells out to help Visacki 
Our Gianni Magliocco…”Justin Thomas’ generosity to aid a fellow tour pro has left golf fans in awe, and may well have provided the feel good story of 2021 in the process.”
  • “According to Rick Gehman, the founder of RickRunGood.com and the host of the First Cut Podcast by CBS Sports, Thomas cut a check from his own pocket at Colonial to help Michael Visacki continue his dream of competing regularly on tour.”
  • “Visacki hit the headlines last month when footage of him calling his proud father after qualifying for his first-ever tour event went viral.”
3. Feng’s pre-consolation match WD
Kent Paisley for Golf Digest…”After losing her semifinal match to Sophia Popov, 1 up, on Sunday morning at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play, the 10-time LPGA winner from China went to tournament officials and said she was conceding the consolation match…”
  • “Feng played a total of 112 holes over five days, more than anyone in the tournament. On Saturday alone she played 41 holes, outlasting her opponents in extra holes in both the Round of 16 and the quarterfinals.”
  • “…There were quite a few times when I was on the course I was like, You know what, you’ve tried your best already. Yeah, maybe you just … you don’t have to give it your 100 percent. You know, if you make any mistakes, it’s acceptable,” Feng said Saturday.
4. 2021 PGA Tour University class
Adam Woodard for Golfweek…”Ladies and gentlemen, meet the inaugural PGA Tour University class.”
  • “On Monday evening after the completion of stroke play at the 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club, 15 men’s collegiate golfers punched their tickets to professional golf.”
  • “The top-five players in the PGA Tour University standings – John Pak (Florida State), Davis Thompson (Georgia), Austin Eckroat (Oklahoma State), Chun An Yu (Arizona State) and Garett Reband (Oklahoma) – receive Korn Ferry Tour membership and will be exempt into all open, full-field events beginning with the BMW Charity Pro-Am, June 10-13, through the conclusion of the regular season.”
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5. “No freaking clue”
Golf Channel’s Mercer Baggs with Jordan Spieth’s remarks following a befuddling final-round performance at the Charles Schwab Challenge…“I could have shot even par today and won the golf tournament, but from the very get-go, just a really bad start, and then tried to fight my way through it,” Spieth said. “But I was just really off with my golf swing. I really lost it this weekend. You just have to be in control around Colonial.”
  • “Spieth ended the day with five bogeys and two birdies. He lost strokes to the field in strokes gained: tee to green, approach the green, around the green and putting.”
  • “I was taking the club back and had no freaking clue where it was going to go,” he said. “It’s very rare that you’re in the lead or close to the lead on a Sunday when that’s the case, and it’s not the most enjoyable feeling, but I’ve never been shy on grit, and really belief, in knowing that anything can happen. It was with me ‘til the end, until the shot came off left on 18.”
6. Kokrak’s new ride 
Kokrak’s new ride…”Jason Kokrak edged out local favorite Jordan Spieth at Colonial Country Club to take home a ‘Texas-sized prize’ of $1.35 million, the Leonard Trophy, a Colonial signature Scottish tartan plaid jacket and a 1946 Dodge Power Wagon.”
  • “I’m a big guy with a big truck with a big jacket and a big paycheck,” Kokrak said after winning at Colonial Sunday. “So I guess everything’s bigger in Texas, right? The truck, I looked at it the entire week. It’s a little small in that cab for me, but I’ll tell you what, it is a cool truck and I think it’s something that I’ll keep for myself for a long period of time to commemorate that victory.
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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 John Deere Classic

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1 day ago

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Jul 2, 2024

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GolfWRX is on site this week at the 2024 John Deere Classic. With the Scottish Open next week and The Open Championship two weeks away, those who have qualified will be looking to shore up their games in Silvis, Illinois, before heading to European shores.

On the equipment front, we spotted some new SuperStroke x Marvel grips and got an in-hand look at impressive custom Scotty Cameron putters. Our WITB galleries already feature a look at Jason Day’s wares, and general complement the spread.

Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more photos from TPC Deere Run!

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying about the photos and join the discussion in the forums.

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Protected: Highlights from the Wilson Golf Product Testing and Fitting Experience at Pinehurst

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Jul 1, 2024

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Tour Rundown: #QueenMel and a “Bland” U.S. Senior Open

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Jul 1, 2024

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A wee bit to the north and east of my hometown is a jaunty little ‘burg called Medina, NY. No one would ever consider it to be a golf mecca, but for this week at least, it is. Why? The 2024 Amateur Champion of the world, Melanie Green, hails from Medina. With a sense of regional pride, I salute #QueenMel, who emerged from 36-hole, medal qualifying and six head-to-head matches, to win 2-up in the 36-hole final at Portmarnock. Miss Mel won the last three holes, two with birdies, to join great USA winners like Babe Zaharias, Louise Suggs, and Kelli Kuehne.

Now, let’s run down all the world’s tours this week. We followed a national championship (Men’s US Senior Open) from storied Newport Country Club, the PGA Tour at Detroit, the DP World in Italy, the LPGA doing the tandem thing around Michigan, and the Korn Ferry down Illinois way. We’re spoiled during these summer months, full stop. Might as well enjoy these riches.

PGA Tour @ Rocket Mortgage

The results that came out of Detroit Golf Club on Sunday caused a few heads to be scratched. Nowhere to be found were the mid-60s numbers that traced across the leaderboards like sunflowers in Carmona. Missing, too, as the sun waned in the sky, were the expected, clutch performances of golfers chasing victory.

We’ve grown accustomed to birdies down the stretch, and numbers like Bhatia’s 72nd-hole bogey, and Young’s closing five-five-five, seemed strange and unfamiliar. Bhatia’s take that he knows how to close tournaments, and that it simply didn’t happen on this day, was equal parts explanation and compensation. Teachers teach well, writers write well, and golfers put the ball in the hole. That’s the measure of victory.

The lifting of the tournament trophy was left to Cam Davis, who did what the others could not. He concluded play with 70 for -18 on the week, hoping for a second RMC in four years. On his heels, all tied for second at -17, were Davis Thompson, Min Woo Lee, Aaron Rai, and Bhatia. Beyond Akshay, none has tasted tournament success on the US PGA Tour. Davis posted birdie at 17, then waited. Thompson made a late rush, with birdies at three of his final five holes. He needed one more. Lee took five shots at the final hole; he needed one fewer. As for the two-gloved Rai, his even-par 72 on the day left him a shot away from playoff.

USGA @ Senior Men’s Open

Any hope that Hiroyuki Fujita held for finishing off the US Senior Open at Newport, went distantly away, courtesy of two unregistered opponents: fog and rain. The golfer that had played so brilliantly over 3.5 days (16-under through 63 holes) was forced to consider the ramifications of his situation. The golfer whose five cuts made in regular-tour majors included zero, top-forty finishes, stood three shots clear of the field, with no tourist guide to bring him home. Sunday’s dawn proved that he was mortal, and the game was afoot.

No worse pursuer than Richard Bland might have appeared. The Englishman had won his last USA start, and it was also a senior major championship. Bland captured the Senior PGA Championship in late May, winning by three shots over Australia’s Richard Green. The SPGA runner-up was also among the chasers at Newport, but a top-five finish would once again be his destiny. As for Bland, he did what experienced winners do. Consecutive birdies at 14 and 15 on Monday served notice that there would be no easy stroll home for Fujita. The Japan Tour stalwart stumbled over the same stretch of holes, posting bogey on three of his first four holes on day five.

Precisely when it appeared that Bland would conclude matters in regulation, he posted bogey at the 18th and dropped back to 13-under par. Fujita found the same number, and the duo went off to the first, two-hole playoff in US Senior Open history, and the first overtime session since 2014 in Oklahoma. After two pars each in the regulation session, they went to single-hole elimination. Each made bogey at the 18th, but the fourth hole gave resolution. Bland was able to earn a sandy from the greenside bunker, while Fujita was unable to secure par. Congratulations to Richard Bland on a second senior major in 2024.

LPGA @ Dow Championship

Both Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand) and Yin Ruoning (China) will represent their nations in the 2024 Paris Olympic games. Olympic competition is individual-only for golf, which is a missed opportunity. Teaming to win medals for your country is the epitome of Olympic success. It’s a bit odd, then that the two would find success in a team-style, warm-up event on the LPGA circuit.

For most of the week, two golfers from the USA appeared destined for victory at Midland Country Club. Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho finished 36 holes in 128 strokes. They gave one back on Saturday, with 67, but came home on Sunday with a third 64 for the week. Despite an early passel of birdies, they were unable to save a single shot over the closing stretch. They finished at 21-deep for the week.

Paired with them, Thitikul and Ruoning were also finding par after par as they headed for home. At the watery 18th, Thitikul stuffed her tee ball inside fifteen feet, then read the surface flawlessly, and hit her mark. The putt broke slightly right, into the center of the cup. With that closing birdie, a playoff was avoided and a send-off celebration of Olympic calibre was in the works.

DP World Tour @ Italian Open

16 months had passed since Marcel Siem last savored a DP World Tour win. His triumph at the Indian Open, in February of 2023, might have been a bit distant to leave residue of confidence. As he traversed the final arc of the Cervia golf course, his gaskets had unsealed and oil leaked everywhere. An outward 32 was undone by four bogeys from holes 11 to 17. The last one had dropped him from the lead, and only a majestic finish could return a chance at salvation. After he drove the fairway and reached the green at the closing trace, Siem assessed a 22-feet putt for birdie and found cup bottom.

In that moment, the round of 65 that England’s Tom McKibbin had fashioned, was no longer enough. He would need to do a bit more work, to secure a second Tour title. The duo returned to the final tee deck, and Siem once again faced a birdie putt. His approach was played brilliantly to about ten feet, but the putt drifted right. By the grace of gravity, it caught enough of the circle to fall downward, and a sixth career title belonged to the German champion.

Korn Ferry Tour @ MHC by LRS

Max McGreevy has tasted the bitterness of defeat and savored delicious victory on the professional golf tours. He has lost a playoff on the PGA Tour, and now won twice on the Korn Ferry orbit. This week, McGreevey overcame a wee miss on the penultimate hole, to secure victory at green 72, with a xxx birdie putt. He and runner-up Steven Fisk each clinched a PGA Tour card for the 2025 season, based on 2024 peformance.

McGreevy eased a 36-yard pitch within two feet of the hole, at the par-five 16th, on Sunday. He converted the birdie putt and moved a shot lower than Fisk, with two holes to face. At 17, he played safely away from the tucked flag at the watery par three, and eased his 55-feet putt to precisely the same distance (26 inches.) And then, he missed. Gone was the lead, and present were the doubts.

As champions do, McGreevy refocussed and found his spot on the 18th fairway. His approach from 186 yards settled a dozen feet from the flagstick, and his read on the downhill slider was accurate. The putt dropped, and McGreevy avoided overtime.

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