major – Golfing Networks

Bridgestone Golf 2026 Tour B Sweeps Weekend Trifecta With 3 Wins Across Major Tours

admin — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 03:35:24 +0000

Innovative New Golf Ball Dominates PGA TOUR, LIV Golf and PGA TOUR Champions

IMAGE LINK: HERE

Covington, Ga. – Bridgestone Golf, the #1 Ball-Fitter in Golf, secured victories across three major Tours in one weekend, including the PGA TOUR (OneFlight Myrtle Beach Classic) with Brandt Snedeker, LIV Golf (LIV Golf Virginia), and PGA TOUR Champions, where Boo Weekley won the Insperity Invitational. The sweep reinforces the Tour-proven performance of the 2026 TOUR B family across various professional circuits, course conditions and playing styles.

Snedeker, who has had a relationship with Bridgestone Golf for over 20 years, secured his big win at the OneFlight Myrtle Beach Classic playing the new TOUR B X. This is Snedeker’s tenth win of his professional career and falls the same year he will serve as captain of the U.S. President’s Cup team.

“I’ve been with Bridgestone Golf throughout my PGA Tour career and I’m happy to see success with the new TOUR B X golf ball,” said Snedeker. “Hopefully there are more big wins to come with the Bridgestone family and my new TOUR B X.”

For Bridgestone Golf staffer Boo Weekley, the Insperity Invitational victory was his first on PGA TOUR Champions. The Florida native used the TOUR B XS to nail down an impressive win as the only player in the field that was bogey free for the tournament with stellar rounds of 66-66-69.

“It’s been close to thirteen years since my last win, and this one is about as sweet as they come,” said Weekley. “I’m so proud of my performance today I can’t put it into words, and I’m thankful that Bridgestone has stuck with me. The new TOUR B XS is the best golf ball I’ve ever played.”

In addition to Weekley and Snedeker, the winner of LIV Golf Virginia also relied on the explosive speed and distance of the new TOUR B X with VeloSurge technology to get the job done.

All four models of the TOUR B family – the TOUR B X and TOUR B XS for swings above 105 mph, and TOUR B RX and TOUR B RXS for swings below 105 mph – are built with VeloSurge technology, delivering a seamless synergy between the mantle and core. The new material discovery features a denser mantle material pushing the Moment of Inertia (MOI) to bounds never seen in a golf ball for increased ball speed and distance.

“We couldn’t be happier to see years of R&D developing the new TOUR B paying off on the professional tours this season,” said Dan Murphy, president of Bridgestone Golf. “Three wins in one weekend further proves that we’ve got the best ball in golf, and we are excited to see our athletes build on this momentum going into another major this weekend.”

For more information, golfers can visit bridgestonegolf.com to use Bridgestone’s online ball selection tool and determine which golf ball best suits their game.

About Bridgestone Golf

Bridgestone Golf manufactures premium golf balls, clubs and accessories under the Bridgestone and Precept brands. The company started making golf balls in 1935 and today has more golf ball design patents than any other company. Beginning in 2006, Bridgestone revolutionized golf ball selection with its custom ball-fitting program, identifying a golfer’s ideal golf ball based on personal swing characteristics. Today, as the #1 Ball-Fitter in Golf, Bridgestone has conducted over four million fittings via a combination of live-fitting, online selection, OTTO Autonomous Ball Fitting. The consumer data gathered from ball-fitting continues to inspire Bridgestone’s innovative new golf ball designs, yielding industry-leading performance products for the entire range of players, from recreational golfers to the best in the world. Bridgestone Golf is proudly represented on international professional tours by Tiger Woods, Fred Couples, Matt Kuchar, Jason Day, Harry Hall, Kurt Kitayama, Boo Weekley, Brandt Snedeker, and Chris Gotterup. Bridgestone Golf is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bridgestone Sports Co. Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo. More information: bridgestonegolf.com.

Media Contact: Emily Scott, JDPR – emilys@jdpr.com

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Major winner dishes on what NOT to do in swing

admin — Thu, 28 May 2026 10:06:46 +0000

Padraig Harrington is talking about the don’ts of golf, and he admits that’s strange, though there certainly are don’ts.

It’s just the word itself.

“I’m normally a very positive person,” he said.

Still, Harrington was ready for what he called “the mega lesson of don’ts.” The thoughts came in a recently posted video to the three-time major winner’s YouTube channel, which has become an instruction must-visit, and his latest post is a must-watch, despite that un-positive vibe. You can view it below, and below that are some comments.

Padraig Harrington’s don’ts of the golf swing

Don’t keep your head down

You’ve heard this one. But it needs to be repeated. “By all means, keep an eye on the ball,” Harrington said in the video, “but your head is nice and relaxed. It doesn’t tuck down onto your chest. For most people, it will rotate a little bit in the backswing, and certainly in the follow-through, it will come up to a high position. … Your head must move.”

Don’t keep your feel still or locked to the ground

During the swing, Harrington wants to avoid a set position. “You can create no speed, no power; you’ll go offline,” he said in the video. “Your feet should move at address … and then move back and forth. So simply little stepping. That’s why we do all these stepping drills. You’ve got to move your feet if you’re going to hit the golf ball.”

Don’t stay down during the swing

Harrington said this is “nearly sacrilege.” “So when you hit the golf ball, you must pop up to hit the golf ball. … OK, so our chest is somewhat staying down, but everything else is coming up. You pop up on the left-hand side. … So, we’ve got to make sure that you do that natural thing. Keep an eye on the ball, but make sure you’re jumping up with those legs. You can keep an eye on the ball, but make sure you’re accelerating up.”

Don’t swing slowly

Your backswing, Harrington said, should be set “at your natural rhythm, whatever that is.” “Some people will be quick, some people will be relatively slow,” he said in the video. “What we do know is that professional golfers, I think, swing three times quicker than amateurs in the backswing. So, the backswing is quite for a natural rhythm at that sort of pace. … So, nice speed to it.”

Don’t swing easy

At times, you will, though, Harrington said. “But you must practice swinging as fast as you can sometimes and then tone it down to play,” he said in the video. “Not tone it down every shot because there’ll be some open drives where you should go flat-out. But in general, do not swing slow and easy. Swing hard and fast some of the time in order that you can swing at a comfortable 90 percent and keep your rhythm.”

Don’t cast

“You’ve got to release the club with your hands as much as you can,” Harrington said in the video. “So absolutely throw that club like you’re going to throw it down the range. … People who cast — and this is like everything else in golf, it’s nearly the opposite — so people who cast put no pressure on the grip at this point and then the force of the club gets thrown out and they lose all their speed and power and strike. … So release the club as hard as you can with your hands from the top of the backswing.”

Don’t spin

“So a bad thought is turning your hips when they’re not connected to anything because that generally brings the hands with it, causing you to swipe across the ball and hit a slice,” Harrington said in the video. “Do not rotate your body. At impact, your shoulders are going to be close to square, maybe 10 degrees open. Your torso would be 30 and maybe your hips 45. … We don’t try and rotate. What we actually do is we push. We push. So, we go down into the left side. And as we’re springing up, we push from the ground, which pushes our hip back, which opens this up, our body stays reasonably square at impact. So don’t think turning is not going to add anything and is usually counterproductive. If you have to think about that, you push your way out by getting on the left side and pushing.”

Can Harrington describe what to do?

He could.

“if you finish your golf swing, post it up on your left leg with the left leg straight, your chest up and high, slight little bit of arch, your right shoulder closest to the target, your head up in the air like that, you’ll probably have done all those other things correctly,” Harrington said in the video. “But remember, avoid the don’ts and try and get that lovely pose at the end and you’ll be doing everything — you’ll be doing it well enough to be a good golfer.”

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AIG Women’s Open purse hits major milestone after latest increase

admin — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:43:31 +0000

Purses and prize money have skyrocketed in women’s pro golf in recent years, and that trend is continuing in 2026. First, the Chevron Championship announced a big increase. Now the AIG Women’s Open is following suit.

On Tuesday, the R&A announced that at the 2026 AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, players will be competing for record purse of $10 million.

AIG Women’s Open purse has tripled in 8 years

The new AIG Women’s Open purse of $10 million is only a modest increase of $250,000 from last year’s $9.75 million total payout. But the tournament’s purse has been increasing regularly for years now, as R&A CEO Mark Darbon noted in the press release announcing the latest increase.

“This is the sixth consecutive year that the AIG Women’s Open prize fund has been increased,” said Mark Darbon. “These consistent and sustainable investments in the prize fund clearly demonstrate The R&A and AIG’s commitment to elevating the Championship on the global stage.”

This course, not Muirfield, will host 2028 Open Championship

By:

Kevin Cunningham

When we look back to recent history, we can see just how dramatic the prize money increases have been for the LPGA.

The last time the Women’s Open was held at this year’s host course, Royal Lytham & St Annes, was in 2018. The total purse that year was just $3.25 million. That means that in just eight years the AIG Women’s Open purse has tripled in size.

Whoever wins this year’s event will take home a record winner’s share of $1.5 million.

How AIG Women’s Open purse compares to other majors

Last week, the LPGA played its first major of the season at the Chevron Championship. And they played for a lot more money than in 2025. The total 2026 Chevron Championship purse was $9 million, up $1 million from the year prior thanks to an infusion from sponsor JM Eagle.

Nelly Korda took home $1.375 million for her Chevron victory.

Just one week before at the 2026 JM Eagle LA Championship, the JM Eagle CEO announced a $1 million purse increase for that event live on TV mid-tournament.

2026 Chevron Championship purse: Payout info, winner’s share

By:

James Colgan

The new $10 million purse at the AIG Women’s Open still surpasses the increased Chevron purse by $1 million. But two other majors offer even bigger purses than the Women’s Open.

Both the U.S. Women’s Open and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship sported $12 million purses last season. But the winner’s shares at those two events were different. At the Women’s PGA, winner Minjee Lee took home $1.8 million. At the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open, Maja Stark earned a whopping $2.4 million for her victory.

But all of the LPGA major winner’s payouts pale in comparison to the CME Group Tour Championship. The LPGA’s season-ending event features a $4 million winner’s share.

How do the LPGA major purses compare to men’s majors? The biggest purse at a men’s majors in 2025 was $21.5 million at the U.S. Open. The smallest men’s major purse was $17 million at the Open Championship.

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Making Major History: How Fujikura and VENTUS made it a clean sweep in 2025

admin — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 03:02:50 +0000

History was made at Portrush as Fujikura made it a clean sweep of winners across all four Major Championships in 2025.

In a season of unprecedented glory and worldwide wins, the position of Fujikura as the consistent choice of champions and the global leader in shaft innovation was confirmed with all four Major winners using VENTUS shafts in their driver – the first time a specialist driver shaft brand has achieved such a feat*.

Fujikura registered its first Major win in 2001, and over the last five years has become the most used driver shaft on the PGA Tour with countless more victories across golf’s biggest tournaments.

The 2025 Major Championship at Portrush demanded the very best in power and accuracy, due to the course’s tight and dog-legging fairways, and greens protected by devilish pot-bunkers and viscous run-off areas.

Ultimately, an ability to control the trajectory of the ball from the tee – as well as being able to attack the par 5s with confidence from the fairway – ensured the winner, Scottie Scheffler, remained in control over the closing two rounds after topping the leaderboard following Friday’s second round.

The win in Portrush was the second Major success of the year for Scheffler, following another runaway victory in the 107th PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. On both occasions, he was able to play with great control from the tee, utilizing the consistency in his long game with a VENTUS Black 7-X in his driver.

The American also trusted VENTUS in his wood shafts, using a VENTUS Black 8-X in his 3-wood (Royal Portrush and Quail Hollow), and VENTUS Black 9-X in his 7-wood (Quail Hollow). It was a shaft line-up that proved critical in delivering two of the most dominant wins of the season across two vastly different layouts.

Fujikura’s journey to making history began in April, with Master’s Champion Rory McIlroy showcasing the ultimate levels of power from the tee and fairway.

Before overcoming the pressure of a play-off, McIlroy had been able to stay in contention and control during regulation play by hitting fairway after fairway with a VENTUS Black 6-X in his driver. The Northern Irishman’s wood shaft line-up included VENTUS Black 8-X and VENTUS Black 9-X (3-wood and 5-wood respectively).

Of all the Major wins in 2025, there was none more thrilling than the third of the year in Pennsylvania, where JJ Spaun claimed the US Open at one of the toughest courses in Major Championship history at Oakmont.

Under the most intense pressure as players struggled with the course’s defences over the back nine on Sunday, Spaun was able to close out victory using the new VENTUS Black 6-X shaft in his driver with tournament-winning birdies at the 71st and 72nd holes, which included driving the green on the 314-yard par-4 17th.

Designed with advanced VeloCore+ technology – Spaun’s victory at Oakmont was the first Major win registered for the new line of VENTUS with VeloCore+ – the VENTUS Black 6-X shaft would provide the stability, accuracy and distance needed to overcome one of the most gruelling tests in golf.

Fujikura also backed up its position as the most used driver and wood shaft among the world’s best players. At the final Major of the year in Northern Ireland, an impressive 43.9% of the field chose the brand’s shafts in their driver (69 out of 157), with 39.3% of players trusting Fujikura in their wood shaft line-up.**

Rory McIlroy used Fujikura (VENTUS Black) shaft in his driver to win The Masters

However, across all four Majors, the numbers prove even more impressive, with 44.9% trusting the brand’s shafts in their driver (255 players out of 568), and 40.7% playing Fujikura in their wood line-up.**

Eric Recher, Director of Marketing at Fujikura, said: “We are proud to have made history by supporting the winners of all four Major Championships in 2025.

“It is testament to the innovation and technology that goes into our driver and wood shafts that so many of the world’s best players rely on the consistency of VENTUS when the pressure is at its most intense.

“Fujikura’s success across the 2025 Majors only adds to our storied history of powering global victories across the professional tours. But we believe the innovation that goes into every product we make will ensure there is a VENTUS shaft option for every level of player throughout their woods and utility clubs.

“Whether you are chasing a Major or your best round at your local course, VENTUS and Fujikura’s full line-up of shafts are designed to elevate every player’s game.”

Purchase Fujikura driver shafts from authorized distributor ValueGolf.com

*Records taken from Darrell Survey

**All figures taken from Darrell Survey

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ROYAL PORTRUSH AND ROYAL CINQUE PORTS TO HOST MAJOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPS – Golf News

admin — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 20:53:15 +0000

The 132^nd Amateur Championship will be staged at Royal Portrush – host to The 153^rdOpen last summer – from 14–19 June.

Stroke play qualifying will take place over the Dunluce and Valley links, with the match play stages on the Dunluce. A pre-qualifier will also be held on 11 June over the Valley.

The renowned Northern Ireland venue has held The Amateur Championship on three previous occasions, most recently in 2014 when Scotland’s Bradley Neil triumphed.

The 124^th Women’s Amateur Championship will be hosted at Royal Cinque Ports for the third time next year.

Royal Cinque Ports will host The 124th Women’s Amateur Championship in 2027 Pic: R&A

The famed links on England’s south-east coast – a Final Qualifying venue for The Open – will welcome the world’s best women amateurs for the first time since 1988. It will also mark the 125^th anniversary of the staging at the venue in 1902.

The R&A Girls’ and Boys’ Amateur championships will be held at Burnham & Berrow and Prince’s respectively from 9-14 August.

The R&A Women’s and Men’s Senior Amateur championships will be played concurrently at Blairgowrie from 6-9 July.

Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Chief Championships Officer at The R&A, said, “It is important for The R&A to continue to underline the status of our amateur championships and international matches as leading events in amateur golf.

“They provide a pathway for elite golfers and give life-changing opportunities, including those that offer exemptions to The Open and the AIG Women’s Open.

“We aim to attract the best amateur players from around the world in 2027 and look forward to staging our championships at some of the sport’s most prestigious venues.”

International matches between GB&I and the Continent of Europe will also take place in 2027 with the Jacques Léglise Trophy and the Junior Vagliano Trophy contested at Golf de Morfontaine in France from 20-21 August.

The dates and venues for the St Andrews Trophy and the Vagliano Trophy in 2027 are still to be confirmed, as are the dates for The Women’s Amateur Championship.

For this year’s championships in Great Britain and Ireland, entries open at the end of this week. Full details can be viewed at www.randa.org

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Bubba Watson criticizes major LIV format change for 2026

admin — Sun, 18 Jan 2026 17:31:44 +0000

Heading into the 2026 LIV Golf season, Bubba Watson is focused on capturing his first LIV win. But the two-time Masters champion is also concerned with a big change the league is making for the new year.

In a new interview, Watson criticized LIV’s decision to dramatically alter its tournament format to 72 holes, provided a defense for the 54-hole format and opened up on Brooks Koepka’s PGA Tour return.

Bubba’s 54-hole defense: ‘Better for the fans when there’s chaos’

Back in November, LIV Golf made the surprising announcement that they would change all of their tournaments from 54 holes to 72 holes.

Though it was a shock to see the league ditch one of its defining characteristics, one that is even represented in the league’s name, there was a very good reason for it: the Official World Golf Ranking.

Since its inception, LIV has failed to earn recognition by the OWGR. As a result, most of its players have tumbled in the world ranking and, most importantly, struggled to qualify for major championships.

LIV’s 54-hole format was one of the sticking points keeping LIV from earning OWGR recognition.

LIV Golf’s sudden shift from 54 to 72 holes is a major-driven stunner

By:

James Colgan

But in a recent interview with the Mirror US Sports’ Sam Frost, Watson stated his public disagreement with the format change.

When asked if he supported LIV’s move to 72 holes, Watson made his opinion as clear as possible.

“Um, no,” Watson began.

But he backed up his opinion with a detailed reasoning. First, he criticized 72-hole tournaments, arguing that more holes lead to more runaway winners and less close action.

“I think we should go three days. And there’s a reason why. I think with the sprint, everyone stays together. When you go four days you’re going to have some more spread out leaders, and it just kind of takes away your last round, right?” Watson argued.

He continued, explaining his belief that 54-hole tournaments result in tighter competitions and invite more “chaos” to the proceedings, and that’s exactly what golf fans are hungry for.

“When everybody’s close battling, it puts more people in the mix on a Sunday or the last round on a Saturday, whichever tournament you’re at, and so that just makes it better for the fans when there’s chaos happening,” Watson said.

Watson’s stance differs from that of LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil. Just last week, O’Neil spoke confidently about LIV’s chances of securing OWGR recognition soon, and the format change is a big reason why.

Watson opens up on Koepka’s PGA Tour return

Watson’s brief interview with the Mirror US Sports didn’t only cover LIV’s format change. It also touched on the biggest news in golf from the past week: Koepka’s decision to leave LIV and the PGA Tour’s decision to let Koepka return (albeit with steep financial penalties).

The way Watson sees it, Koepka’s departure in no way threatens the future of LIV Golf.

“The league’s in a great spot,” Watson said. “One person’s not going to dictate what the league’s doing.”

LIV CEO’s response to Brooks Koepka’s PGA Tour return said something unheard

By:

Josh Schrock

But he also spoke positively about Koepka, revealing that he’s both happy for the five-time major champion and pleased that Koepka was able to choose the pro golf path that best suits him and his family.

“The beauty is, though, now [Koepka] gets to spend more time with his family, that’s what he wants. And so that’s good, that’s great for him. As a friend, I hope he has a great time. It’s great that he’s still playing professional golf. LIV has always been about pathways to play other tours, so it’s great,” Watson said.

As for his own goals for 2026, 72 holes or not, Watson’s focus is simple. He wants to finally hoist his first-career individual LIV trophy and win a championship for his RangeGoats team.

“I want to win on LIV. I haven’t lifted an individual trophy on LIV… I would love to lift a championship trophy for a team on LIV. That’d be another notch on the belt.”

The 2026 LIV Golf season gets underway the first week of February with the LIV Golf Riyadh event in Saudi Arabia.

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