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The Club Championship
Let's be honest, there's nothing like the Club Championship. It's the competition that allows us to pretend that we are playing a Major, a Ryder Cup. Weeks in advance, for the better players the Club Championship is the only topic of discussion. You can keep your monthly medals and your winter stablefords, nothing is even close to the grand prize that is the Club Championship; thirty-six holes in one day to decide the best player and with no handicaps it means that it really is the best player.
So you've been playing well and practicing better. Maybe this year will be your year. The face of your lob wedge has a dime sized discoloration from where you've worn it away from your incessant chipping and pitching. So what the strike marks on your 3 iron are all over the place, the knowledge that if your can get it within 80 yards you can mix it with the best gives you hope. All you need are two of the best rounds you've never played and you stand a chance.
It's an early start. As one of the unfavored, you tee off at the crack of dawn. You're up at 5.30am to make sure than you're up early enough for a good breakfast before getting to the club to warm up. When you get to the club you nod at the other guys there and wonder if your face looks as drawn as theirs does.
Start simple. Pitching practice first. Nothing too fancy, just some 20 yard pitches and chips. The first one sails way past the flag, the second barely makes it to the green and the third is, oh bollocks, thinned into the woods behind the green… aaaaaaargh! Ten minutes later and the ball is making friends with the flag again. The trajectory is low and the ball is sticking to the face long enough to leap off with a fizz and grab on the second bounce. Your confidence is restored and you even feel a little bounce in your step.
Onto the putting green, the nerves are back. What a stupid game this is, where a 4 foot putt counts as much as a 200 yard long iron. To start you aim at the edge of the green just to get the pace before knocking some at the hole. By some miracle, your practice at home has had an effect (maybe Gary Player was on to something!) and you're pouring it into the cup from short range and lagging it close from distance. Even some of the better players are paying attention. "That's right" you think to yourself, 'I can be one of you'.
Five minutes to your tee time so you make your way to the first tee and visualize the first hole; the par 5 is a genuine 3 shotter with danger all the way down the left so a long iron on the tee is all that's needed. Your name is called and you stride onto the tee, place the ball down, address it and mutter the immortal phrase of the competition golfer "Please please please, just don't screw up".
The 3-iron in your hand manages to feel like a sledgehammer and a feather at the same time. All you are aware of are the watching crowds of your fellow competitors. The twenty people feel like a thousand. You bring the club back as fluidly as a rusty clockwork man, hearing your joints click and pop as you wind up into a position that feels wildly unfamiliar and hope against hope that you don't miss as the club drops back down to the ball.
The ball sings as it flies off the middle of the club face and climbs into the sky. Your heart is in your mouth. It finally comes to rest a fair distance over 200 yards down the fairway in the very edge of the fairway. You control the emotions as you look to your friends who you are playing with… HA!, IN YOUR FACE PLAYING PARTNERS! FOLLOW THAT!
After nearly perfect start, what could go wrong? How about everything? How about no putt over 6 feet dropping? How about 4 lip-outs in the round? How about a 50 yard bunker shot that took a hard bounce and ended up in a tree. IN A TREE DAMMIT! THREE FOOT OFF THE FLOOR! You can't point to a single bad shot and say 'that cost me a double' but it's uphill all the way and you grind it out as well as you can.
At the end of the first round, you shake the hands of your playing partners. Your death's head grin hopefully hides your desire to throw your bag into the nearest lake as you realize that you are comfortably out of the running.
Rather than sit and stew, you take it out on the putting green. All those putts that didn't make it are forgotten in a barrage of drills. All the lip-outs, all the ones that caught the grain and slid from the hole, all forgotten as you drive the ball into the back of the cup. Sod avoiding a 3-putt, make sure you bang the ball home.
Back on the first tee for the second round, you've learned your lesson. A hard cut and the ball is in the middle of the fairway. A lay up and a good wedge leaves you 10 feet from the hole. The putter swings back and forth and the ball is in the hole for a birdie start.
A regulation par at the second but a bogey at the third brings you down to Earth with a bump. Suddenly it's back to being a grind except this time a couple of putts drop and you hold it together. It's still a fight but this time you're not taking a battering. You even make the turn a couple well under what you would expect. Still no threat to the leaders but your playing partners are struggling and reports are that many others are wilting in the heat.
Then it all changes at the turn. Suddenly the game is simple; Tee shot to the middle of the fairway, a mid iron or wedge in and 2 putts. Rinse and repeat. The 3 hardest holes on the course are up next and where better players have faltered, you ghost through them like they were pitch and putt. You even managed to sneak a birdie at a short par 3 when the ball takes a nice kick off a bank from the front of the green and you roll in resulting the 6 footer.
It almost feels too good to be true and at the 18th, it is. The long iron fade becomes a double-cross and you're blocked out behind a tree. The sensible punch out sideways hits a hidden tree root 20 feet away and bounces back almost to your feet. The golf gods giveth and the golf gods damn well take away. On a tough par 4 you walk in with a 7 but still well under what you would normally score.
For a whole hour, you watch the big screen with the scores. Your name is at the top. You take some pictures with your phone knowing that it won't last but enjoying it while it does. Others have crashed in front of you and you are leading the pack right until the final two groups roll in. The very last group is a threeball of the top players in the club. One of them struggled in the second round (you later find out that you scored lower than him) but the other two have dominated the scoring. It was always really going to be between Joe and Sam and this year it's Joe that adds to his trophy cabinet.
You had enough flashes of genuinely great play to trouble the best but inconsistency cost you. Some more practice and maybe a new lob wedge will help. Okay, a lot more practice and some lessons is what you know you need but the way you played is fuel for your dreams.
Who knows, there's always next year…
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.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Jason Day – WITB – 2026 The Memorial
- Chris Gotterup – WITB – 2026 The Memorial
- SungJae Im – WITB – 2026 The Memorial
Pullout Albums
- Jason Day’s 1off Payntr golf shoes – 2026 The Memorial
- JT Poston’s TaylorMade Spider – 2026 The Memorial
- Cameron putter – 2026 The Memorial
- Tommy Fleetwood’s TM Spider putters – 2026 The Memorial
- New Mitsubishi Chemical 1K Pro Orange shaft – 2026 The Memorial
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
A party on the green!
Alvaro’s time comes in Raleigh with his first win @UNCHealthChamp ? pic.twitter.com/2dmtZdbSzk
— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) May 31, 2026
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
Driver: Titleist TSi3 (10 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 70 6.5 TX
3-wood: Titleist TS3 (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 80 TX
7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Project X Denali Black 80 TX
Irons: Titleist T250 (4), Titleist T100 (5-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold AMT (4-6), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (7-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F @47, 50-08F @51, 54-10S @55, 60-04T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48), S400 (47)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom X5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Aaron Rai’s winning WITB: 2026 PGA Championship
Russell Henley’s winning WITB: 2026 Charles Schwab Challenge
Photos from the 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
CJ Cup Byron Nelson Tour Report: Koepka and Kim’s newest putters finally get hot
Charles Schwab Challenge Tour Report: MacIntyre, Åberg and Spaun all switch putters, TaylorMade launches new Spider
Details on J.J. Spaun’s surprise putter switch
GolfWRX Launch Report: 2026 Titleist GTS drivers
Photos from the 2026 Charles Schwab Challenge
PGA Championship Tour Report: Fitzpatrick, Koepka among big-name putter switches for Aronimink
Photos from the ShopRite LPGA
Maria Torres WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4 3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4 5-wood: Ping G440...
Eric Cole WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: PXG Lightning Tour Max (9 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 70 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees) Shaft:...
Si Woo Kim WITB 2026 (May)
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (8.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X Mini driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini...
Wyndham Clark’s winning WITB: 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D Tour (15 degrees) Shaft: Project...
