WGT Golf News

WGT player Kriztjan has won the 2013 Virtual U.S. Open.

There were over three million rounds played in the 2013 Virtual U.S. Open tournaments, and the top 213 qualifiers competed in two championship rounds in July. In the first round, Kriztjan posted a 55, the low score of the championship, and backed it up with a solid 57 in the second round, to shoot 112 for the victory.

Finishing close behind with strong performances were AgentBrown123 with 57-57 for 114, stevenharkin with 57-58 for 115, and ragefire with 57-58 for 115. They were followed by other top WGT Players with impressive performances on Merion in challenging conditions and the fastest greens.

See Full Leaderboard

Kriztjan has been playing WGT since Feb 2011 with more than 4,000 ranked rounds and over $23,000 in career earnings. Kriztjan is a member of the Transgressional Country Club, as is AgentBrown123 and stevenharkin, so a very strong performance from this top country club.

Kriztjan is the fifth Virtual U.S. Open Champion, joining these elite WGT players with this virtual title...

• Kriztjan - 2013 Virtual U.S. Open Champion, Merion
• StoneColdKiller - 2012 Virtual U.S. Open Champion, Olympic
• mrenn29 - 2011 Virtual U.S. Open Champion, Congressional
• BolloxinBruges - 2010 Virtual U.S. Open Champion, Oakmont
• NASAGolfer - 2009 Virtual U.S. Open Champion, Bethpage

Congratulations to everyone involved! Merion is now available in all game formats on WGT, including stroke play, match play, skins, country club events, free tournaments and paid tournaments like Ready-Gos.

That's right, five years ago today, on July 18, 2008, WGT made our first blog post.

It was about the WGT helicopter photographing the Pinehurst #8 golf course. Interestingly, WGT was back at Pinehurst last month, five years later, shooting Pinehurst #2 for next year's Virtual U.S. Open. This original post was also before WGT released our first full strokeplay course Kiawah Island in October of that year.

Five years later, WGT has grown to over 7 million registered players who have played over 300 million virtual rounds on 18 different golf courses. WGT is not only the biggest online golf game, but recently WGT became the largest website in the golf industry, with the most global visitors and most time on site of any other website in golf.

Thanks to ALL the WGT Players for ALL their support, and we've got a lot more planned for the next five years to grow the game even more.

Play the Korbel Toast Life Challenge tournament on WGT for special Edgewood Tahoe and Korbel prizes.

This free, closest-to-the-hole tournament is hosted on the beautiful Edgewood Tahoe golf course, site of the American Century Championship tournament this month.

Everyone who enters gets a free Korbel virtual golf ball, and three lucky sweepstakes winners will get special prizes, including a grand prize golf trip for two to Edgewood Tahoe, a custom Korbel golf bag and other Korbel gear.

Enter & Get Free Ball

Note: this special WGT tournament is limited by law to players from the USA who are 21 years of age or older, and runs now thru 7/27/13.

Michelin has partnered with WGT to host The Michelin Challenge tournament, featuring a total purse of more than 100,000 WGT Credits.

This free stroke play tournament is on Congressional, site of the recent AT&T National PGA Tour event.

Play as many times as you want and compete only against players in your same WGT tier, with the top 70 scores in each tier splitting a total purse of more than 100,000 WGT Credits. 

Play Free Tournament 

* The Michelin® Challenge tournament is free to enter, open to WGT players in all countries and runs thru 7/31/13. See rules for more details.

There are tens of thousands of virtual Country Clubs on WGT, with millions of WGT players competing in private Country Club tournaments with their friends online, and WGT Country Clubs just got better!

Country Club Improvements

• Merion - compete on Merion, host of the 2013 U.S. Open championship
• Tiered - separate tournaments into tiers like Pros, Masters and Legends
• Uneven Lies - challenge top players with the hardest possible conditions
• Single-Play CTTH - fast closest-to-the-hole tournaments with more challenging single-play format

Visit Country Clubs

If you haven't joined one yet, Country Clubs are a great way to always have a group of WGT friends to play with and compete in private Country Club tournaments. It's easy to find clubs looking for new members!

The top 213 WGT players have qualified and are currently competing in the 2013 Virtual U.S. Open Qualifier on WGT for the ultimate title and a grand prize trip to next year's U.S. Open at Pinehurst #2.

The Virtual U.S. Open Championship consists of two stroke play rounds on Merion under challenging conditions and the pressure of single-play. Currently topping the leaderboard are AgentBrown123 with a combined score of 114, and PRIESTESS and rowlets, both with combined scores of 118.

Watch the Virtual U.S. Open Leaderboard

Here's a quick look at the current top scores...

• AgentBrown123 is from the USA, a member of the Transgressional Country Club, and shot a first round 57 matched by a second round 57.
• PRIESTESS is from the UK, a member of the Aphrodite country club, and shot a 58 followed by a 60 in each of the two Championship rounds.
• rowlets is from the USA, a member of The Yellow Brick Road Country Club, and shot a first round 57 followed by a second round 61 on Merion.

Here's a video replay of PRIESTESS with a chip-in on Merion hole 15, using a MAX Spin Wedge and a Nike 20XI ball.

Another reminder to the WGT players competing in the Championship, be sure to save your Merion replays so they can be eligible to be included in the final video highlights that will be posted to WGT, YouTube and Golf Channel later this month.

Enjoy free rentals of virtual clubs on WGT this Saturday and Sunday.

Try out all the latest virtual equipment. Play the sleek new all-black TaylorMade R1 driver, the popular Odyssey Versa putter, or any of the top virtual clubs from Callaway, Cleveland, Nike, Ping and TaylorMade.

Rent Free Clubs

*Offer available to WGT players renting virtual clubs from 7/6/13-7/7/13, free 24-hour rental period, and clubs can be re-rented during that time.

The popular TaylorMade R1 driver just got a new all-black look for a limited time on WGT.

The new Black R1 virtual driver has quickly become a top seller on WGT, with more distance and forgiveness in the stunning all-black design, available for a limited time this summer only.

See New Black R1 Driver

* The TaylorMade All-Black R1 Driver unlocks at Levels 11, 48 and 93 and are available in the WGT Pro Shop.

WGT partner, Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday is hosting a special tournament for WGT players in the USA and Canada.

Play the free Golf Holiday Summer Classic tournament on WGT for your chance to get a new TaylorMade R1 Driver prize. One lucky sweepstakes winner chosen at random will win the real driver, not the virtual version on WGT.

Play as many times as you want in this 18-hole stroke play tournament on Kiawah, site of the 2012 PGA Championship.

Enter Free Tournament

* Special tournament is free to enter and runs thru 7/31/13, open to residents in the USA and Canada only. See rules for details.

The 2013 Virtual U.S. Open Qualifier on WGT has finished, and 213 top players have qualified to play in the Championship, competing for the ultimate title and the grand prize trip to next year's U.S. Open at Pinehurst #2.

The Virtual U.S. Open Championship consists of two strokeplay rounds on Merion under challenging conditions and the pressure of single-play.  Off to an early start are veterans Hanswurst72 with a first round 56, and mrenn29 with a 57, followed by three players tied at 58, bulfrog2004, Kurtsbuford and tinybo. 

Watch the Virtual U.S. Open Leaderboard

Just like in the real U.S. Open, the 2013 Virtual U.S. Open is an international field, with 6 countries represented in the Top 10 scores currently posted... 

• Hanswurst72 is from Germany, a member of The Elite CC country club, and recently won the WGT Legends tournament with Uneven Lies on Merion, so he's got the experience and momentum. 
• mrenn29 is from the USA, a member of The Deviations, and the 2011 Virtual U.S. Open Champion, so he has a proven history of taking on the pressure of these single-play championship rounds.

Here's a video replay of Kurtsbuford playing Merion last month, with an amazing hole-in-one on the 256-yard par-3 third hole, using a TaylorMade R11S 3-wood and a Nike 20XI ball, which just misses hitting Virtual Cam #3! 

And a reminder to the WGT players competing in the Championship, be sure to save your Merion replays so they can be eligible to be included in the final video highlights that will be posted to WGT, YouTube and Golf Channel later this month.