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Tour Rundown: Brennan’s overnight-success story

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Four events filled our weekend as October draws near its close. An alternate-year team event was played on the LPGA circuit, while the DP World Tour, PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions rounded out the schedule. It’s wonderful to see international team events on any of the tours, as all of the regional representatives take their role with enthusiam and seriousness. The DP and Chamions tours are still playing for spots in their playoffs and championship, so the tension and stress are palpable. As for the PGA Tour, fall events set the stage for 2026, allowing players to move up in reshuffled rankings. Everything matters and these golfers are good! Time to run it all down in this week’s Tour Rundown.

PGA Tour @ Bank of Utah: Brennan’s overnight-success story

Did you hear the one about the guy who dominated the PGA Tour Americas, to earn exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2026. Well, the punch line is, he won’t use it. That same guy, on a sponsor’s exemption, won the Bank of Utah at Black Desert, earning exempt status on the PGA Tour for 2026.

The Virginia-born Brennan starred for four years at Wake Forest, before turning professional in 2024. He experienced the ultimate success three times in 2025, winning events to finish first on the order of merit. This week in Utah, Brennan opened with 67, before posting 65 on day two to match former UNC rival David Ford at 132. On Saturday, Brennan took the outright lead with 64 on Saturday, easing ahead of Matt McCarty by two. On Sunday, Brennan bent but did not break. He posted two bogies against seven birdies, and left McCarty and others well back. Rico Hoey posted 67 on Sunday to move within four shots and seize second place alone. Six golfers tied for third another two shots back, at minus-sixteen.

LPGA @ International Crown: It’s Australia!

Don’t expect to find the final-day results at the top of the LPGA leaderboard. We need to work a bit of a downward scroll to figure out how it all shook out. Four teams (Thailand, Korea, Sweden, and China) were eliminated during pool play, and the remaining four squads (World, USA, Australia, and Japan) moved on to varied match play competition.

The first semifinal, between USA and Japan, saw the two USA singles competitors win their matches, sealing the move of the Red White Blue to the finals. A Japan win in the pairs match was consolation. The second semifinal witnessed a draw of the singles matches. Charley Hull won for the world team, but Minjee Lee held off Brooke Henderson in match the second. With a spot in the finals of the line, Kyriacou and Kim were able to dispatch Ko and Hsu in twenty holes.

On Sunday, the World team won the third-place tilt over Japan, by two matches to one. The championship was as close to an Australian rout as imaginable. Minjee Lee and Hannah Green won singles matches by 2 & 1, while the pairs match was tied. The ladies from Oz won by 2.5 to 0.5, establishing dominance for the 2025 playing.

DP World Tour @ Genesis Open: Junghwan Lee rides 64 to title

Korea’s Junghwan Lee earned his first DP World Tour title this week, in the central-west region of Korea. He did so by stringing five birdes on his outward nine, and by bouncing back from a Saturday 73 with a Sunday 64. Lee was one of three golfers that made sizable, last-day moves to reach the top four. Unfortunately for Saturday’s leaders, Sunday wasn’t their day.

Lee found eight birdies in total on day four, and shot up the board from 12th to first. He slipped past third-round leader Nacho Elvira of Spain, who posted 71 for minus-eight, three shots in arrears. Laurie Canter moved from 12th to T2 with Evira, on the strength of a closing 67. Italy’s Andrea Pavan moved from 29th to T4 with a 66 of his own.

PGA Tour Champions @ Simmons Bank: That’s the Alker we know

Steven Alker has been quiet (for him) of late. After winning seven times from 2021 to 2023, the Aussie had won but once each in 2024 and 2025. This week in Little Rock, Arkansas, Alker reminded us how dominant he can be on the senior circuit. After opening with 61, the conquering Kiwi posted 66 on Saturday to carry a five-shot advantage into day three. If Richard Green, Tag Ridings (both T2) and Stewart Cink (4th) had been able to turn in a ringer score, they might have found opportunity.

Alker was both brilliant and awkward over the final eighteen. He stumbled to three bogeys, but also notched four birdies and a tenth hole, hole-out eagle to post 69, and keep his would-be pursuers well at bay. The seven-shot win moved Alker to the top of the Schwab Cup chase, and earned him a second victory for 2025. After a three-week hiatus, the tour’s top golfers will compete for all the baubles in Phoenix.

Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 Memorial Tournament

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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

Pullout Albums

 

 

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Tour Tech Rundown: Heroic Henley

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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

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

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Russell Henley’s winning WITB: 2026 Charles Schwab Challenge

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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

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