Opinion & Analysis

Inside the world of counterfeit golf clubs

Published

9 years ago

Mar 25, 2015

Barney Adams

This story was selected as one of the 15 best GolfWRX stories of 2015!

Allow me a bit of forecasting, for those of you planning to buy clubs in the upcoming years. Start saving your money.

The TaylorMade scenario of pushing the market with constant product reached the predictable overload, with the company’s drop in sales giving way to margin-driven efforts. This means higher prices by the major manufacturers, and retailers being held to honoring suggested retail prices. Translation: More out of your pocket when it’s club-buying time.

Some of the lesser-selling brands can view this as an opportunity by striking lower price points. This is nothing new, and past efforts have not been enormously successful. Think of it as “We’re just as good and we cost less.” And the truth is they are just as good, but by selling for a lower price they send a message that they have to because they don’t perform as well.

We may well see the return of counterfeits — not that they ever completely disappeared — but the rapid-release cycle made it difficult for them to compete. By the time they were available, the copied model was already on discount and the “new and better” model was out.

The subject of counterfeits takes some explaining. There are “knock-offs,” which are loosely defined as being very similar to a specific brand, but they do not have the trademark. On reasonable inspection, you can tell they are not the real thing.

Counterfeits are exactly that. They look exactly like the intended product, including the trademark. Knock-offs are legal (and there can still be litigation over brand deterioration), but counterfeits are definitely not.

For the sake of this story, I’ll use the terms interchangeably even though they are technically different. The heads come from China, and equipment manufacturers source in China. So why don’t they switch to the U.S. and protect their brand?

At Adams, I was personally involved in switching from a U.S. source to a Chinese manufacturer (Taiwan in those days). Two dynamic reasons:

The price was much less
The quality much better

The job is to provide your customers with the best product at the best price, so the sourcing was inevitable.

Casting, the process by which most current clubs are made, requires hand grinding and polishing, and it must be done with great accuracy to look right and match the weight specs. Hand grinding foundry cast products is essentially one of the labor functions that the U.S. market couldn’t fill, or it did so at a cost per head that was prohibitive. It’s a lousy job and I speak from experience spending a summer working in a black sand iron foundry in 1956. It’s a miracle I still have my fingers, but the $0.80-per-hour pay was tall cotton in those days.

So along with most of the rest of the golf equipment industry, we got our heads from Taiwan. While some of those sources still exist, much has moved into mainland China. Not unlike the U.S., when the electronics industry moved into Taiwan the choice for a bench job was electronic parts assembly in a relatively clean, quiet environment — or enjoying the noise of the grinders and breathing in the polluted air.

Back in my day, the process of getting good product was arduous, as samples shipped back and forth while we battled the language barrier and what looks good in a head with suppliers unfamiliar with the game. Today, the degree of sophistication is significant; you can download computer files to a tool-making machine in a hamlet in mainland China and have pristine samples back in a relatively short time frame.

For the record, most of the U.S. manufacturers assemble their custom orders while importing stock and packaged sets. Even the majority of milled putters are imported. While small operations will say, “This isn’t us,” their total market share is 1.2 percent with brand awareness comparable.

This positive importing relationship came with, for most of us, an unwanted consequence — counterfeit product. I say, “for most of us” counterfeits closely tracked market popularity. In more than one instance, the source was our own supplier. Tooling that we paid for had an “extra run” for heads that were popular.

On one of my visits, I visited a new foundry and asked to see knock-offs of a popular model from another manufacturer. After inspecting them, I asked to see counterfeits and was taken into another room for a “private showing.” While our main foundry would steadfastly deny those “extra runs,” it wasn’t difficult to find knock-offs.

Quick story about renegade operations. I had made some friends in Taiwan and they took me to a foundry that “specialized” in copies. I kid you not, the entire operation was below a restaurant! You walked down this labyrinth of winding stairs, probably three floors in all and nervously looking around all I could think of was Dante’s Inferno!

The foundry was at the very bottom, and the grinding and polishing levels were on the higher floors, with product delivered by conveyer belt. There was no air circulation, and just one entrance/exit. It was like looking through (and breathing) a world of grainy smoke. The noise was deafening and open bottles of some kind of “white lightning” were on the benches. That part I understood, you had to do “something” to work there.

Think for one millisecond that the owner/operator was terribly concerned about the ethics of copies? The place made such an impression that I can see it to this day; it made my personal foundry experience in the 50″s benign by comparison.

One evening, a Taiwanese man who I considered a friend educated me at dinner. He explained that the world of knock-offs and counterfeiting, while not something to be proud of, was ingrained in the culture. Some suppliers (like him) refused to participate, but the practice was wide spread and looked at as more of an enterprise than some heinous crime.

What he essentially told me was that it was a way of life, and the best thing to do was have our own full-time rep in Taiwan to look after our interests — but even then a very popular model would spawn copies. He very politely warned me that some of the major operators in the world of counterfeiting were not upstanding citizens and could be dangerous.

Since golf equipment today is frozen technically by the USGA, at least in the critical category of distance, it’s essentially a brand-awareness, marketing game. Frankly it’s not unlike the fashion business, as new models must be accompanied by very strong marketing. Counterfeiting in that industry is a major issue and China is one of the main sources.

If my prediction of higher prices for new clubs comes to fruition, the knock-offs won’t be far behind.

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Barney Adams

Barney Adams is the founder of Adams Golf and the inventor of the iconic "Tight Lies" fairway wood. He served as Chairman of the Board for Adams until 2012, when the company was purchased by TaylorMade-Adidas. Adams is one of golf's most distinguished entrepreneurs, receiving honors such as Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in 1999 and the 2010 Ernie Sabayrac Award for lifetime contribution to the golf industry by the PGA of America. His journey in the golf industry started as as a club fitter, however, and has the epoxy filled shirts as a testimony to his days as an assembler. Have an equipment question? Adams holds seven patents on club design and has conducted research on every club in the bag. He welcomes your equipment questions through email at [email protected] Adams is now retired from the golf equipment industry, but his passion for the game endures through his writing. He is the author of "The WOW Factor," a book published in 2008 that offers an insider's view of the golf industry and business advice to entrepreneurs, and he continues to contribute articles to outlets like GolfWRX that offer his solutions to grow the game of golf.

39 Comments

Dave

Apr 23, 2015 at 9:47 am

I thank God every day I am a lefty!!!

Reply Report comment
Gorden

Apr 6, 2015 at 10:59 pm

Barney, you do not have to write new articles all the time just bring up a subject and let everyone write in thier questions in the comments section and you can answer them for all to read…..Love your articles, love your answers (and the questions you get asked) in the comments section after each article…

Reply Report comment
- Barney Adams
  
  Apr 7, 2015 at 5:26 pm
  
  Good idea will bounce off editors
  
  Reply Report comment
Carl Paul

Mar 31, 2015 at 2:56 pm

The “big 5” foundries in China, (Dynamic, OTA, Sino, Advanced & Fu Sheng) were all unwillingly involved with counterfeiting. Not because they cast, forged or finished the counterfeit club heads but because employees would steel first article samples and sell them to the foundries who did manufacture counterfeits. The big 5 took extraordinary steps to keep new designs secret but too frequently an employee would figure a work around. At one foundry, an employee simply walked to the window with a finished head, threw it on to the roof and then retrieved it later. By the way, Dynamic closed its China facility and moved it all back to Taiwan.

Reply Report comment
Rob

Mar 28, 2015 at 9:33 pm

Didn’t Apple find out one of its factories was selling iPads out the back door a couple of years ago?
A friend bought a set of Ping irons last year online from Europe, he actually believed the crap about them being “cosmetic blems”. I started to tell him there is no such thing, but figured why waste the effort, he only plays a couple times a year and he feels good having them.
I almost bought a new graphite Project X shaft on the bay for $35, until I realized the seller has a continual add for them and the wholesale price must be higher than that!

Reply Report comment
Larry

Mar 27, 2015 at 8:05 pm

What would help the everyday golfer is if someone stepped in and inforced fair trade law and took the power to set prices away from the big OEMs. Someone who’s brother in law owned a driving range and pro shop said that an OEM walk in and took away all his stock of thier product because he had a “sale” where he priced the clubs below what the OEM said he had to sell them for…could not even sale clubs at full price and throw in a couple dozen balls, OEM hold all the sellers accountable for the selling price (even free shipping). If a $500 new driver cost $275 wholesale and a seller wants to charge $325 he cannot sell the driver….discount sourses like Walmart could buy thousands of OEM clubs and sell at prices much lower then retail but the golf industry is a protected buisness using the idea they have some kind of power to inforce price something that was outlawed years ago or so we thought.

Reply Report comment
- Larry
  
  Mar 27, 2015 at 8:09 pm
  
  Barney could you replay to this idea, what did you do at ADAMS GOLF to keep your clubs from being sold for what ever the seller wanted to charge, as your products were always sold for same price every where also…..So Barney tells us why the prices on new golf clubs (and balls) are FIXED….
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Barney Adams
    
    Mar 28, 2015 at 7:54 pm
    
    To be 100% clear. I did not run Adams during all of its existence only the early days. My feeling was make superior product and let retailers make their policy. That said we didn’t sell to some of the giant retailers for a variety of reasons. For example we couldn’t live up to their demands to take back unsold product, pay for sales space etc… We tried to forge relationships with retailers with an eye on the long view.
    
    Reply Report comment
Joe

Mar 27, 2015 at 5:03 pm

Bubba you are truly an idiot

Reply Report comment
Tom Wishon

Mar 26, 2015 at 2:49 pm

it isn’t just China. And it isn’t just golf clubs. As any here know who work with sourcing products from outside the USA, regardless where there are large factories making products with consumer demand, there will be counterfeiting of any type of product. Those factories that are very good in their work get the business, and those who are not sometimes revert to the distasteful and illegal use of their skills and equipment to make money.

For those who decry the movement of the clubhead and shaft production business to Asia, there is no question the Taiwan factories got their foot in the door of the clubhead production business because of a low price made possible by a low labor rate. But they kept the business and by the early 2000s, eliminated the US based head making factories to get all the business, for one reason only – they ended up being better at it in all ways.

I began designing heads in 1986. I did head design projects with US factories and Taiwan based factories from day one. I grew to dislike the 15,000 mile round trips 2-3 times a year to Taiwan to do my work. But I also grew to dislike working with the US based factories because it was a royal pain in the rear to have to deal with separate vendors for tooling masters, for dies, for casting, and then for finishing the heads. In Taiwan, they had “one stop shopping”, so to speak, with everything done in one factory facility.

But then around the mid 90s, the better Taiwan factories really, and I mean REALLY, got extremely good at what they do. So good that this was when all the major OEM companies began to jump ship from their US based head factories. Because they HAD to in order to get the best quality in their head production. And the good factories got the quality companies’ orders while the not very good factories reverted to what they felt they had to do to make a living. Plain and simple, I would have loved to make the clubhead development trips to LA rather than Kaohsiung. But it didn’t work out that way because their factories beat the pants off ours. Barney knows. He lived through it too.

Reply Report comment
- Joe
  
  Mar 27, 2015 at 5:02 pm
  
  you missed the major factor. The good ole EPA drove every USA based company out of business.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Tom
    
    Dec 24, 2015 at 11:11 am
    
    the EPA is the right hand of federal law making policies.
    
    Reply Report comment
michael

Mar 26, 2015 at 9:54 am

Shame on all manufactures who do business off shore!

I no longer support the pga show or manufactures that frequent

and condone such practices!

Reply Report comment
- Patricknorm
  
  Mar 27, 2015 at 11:24 am
  
  You view is very naive sir. I know in an ideal world we would manufacture, market and buy products only from their country of origin. Today a premium new driver sells anywhere from $300.00 to $500.00 USD. Using your idealistic logic, mantra , paradigm, nothing shipped from other countries to North America would enter our shores. Or duties from these products would be so high they would limit the dollar amount people would spend on consumer goods.
  Currently many American companies sell consumer products, manufactured in America to countries all,round the world. America has multiple trade agreements with multiple countries around the world. And the reverse is true with countries that ship to America.
  Your 1950’s logic changed when the second world war ended sir. Americans are good at many things, just not everything. Competition is good for trade around the world.
  
  Reply Report comment
Phat

Mar 26, 2015 at 4:19 am

In China this is how it is for any industry – sport, fine art, fashion, electronics – there is literally a knock off available for anything. I say this from my perspective of believing that Chinese people are amazing, intelligent, kind, and acknowledging that many of the great human inventions came from China.

Us westerners whinge about the Asian counterfeit industry, but it is understandable considering what hundreds of millions of ‘everyday’ Chinese people have had to endure over the past 200 years. This of course includes; the opium wars, the Japanese invasion, the Maoist revolution, the sweat shops and cheap labour (for our) luxury goods, the corrupt officialdom, and last but not least, a class division created through a rampant game of catch-up with western capitalism!

Reply Report comment
Don

Mar 26, 2015 at 12:59 am

Thanks for the wonderful article. I remember years ago, being in a golf shop buying balls and someone came in to sell a titanium driver… the pro asked the assistant to put it on the grinder to test the metal in the sole… that was my 1st experience… when I asked about it the pro said he was always suspicious… that was 12 years ago.

I also have a friend who has a set of asian counterfeit clubs, he still uses them, even though the lofts are wrong… he claims they are rejects from a well known brand. He also has a name brand driver that cracked… the asian seller paid for the freight so the club could be returned and then replaced it…

Reply Report comment
ken

Mar 25, 2015 at 11:24 pm

If there are people knowingly buying counterfeit clubs, shame on them.
And the blame for the existence of counterfeit clubs is THEIR FAULT….They are the market. They are to blame.
Without the cheapskates buying the trash, the market for counterfeits does not exist.

Reply Report comment
- RG
  
  Mar 26, 2015 at 12:20 pm
  
  Trash?!?! Some counterfeits are better than the original.
  
  Reply Report comment
Dave

Mar 25, 2015 at 8:30 pm

Barney,
You have barely scratched the surface of counterfeiting. Two years ago at PGA show I was approached from a gentleman who imported granite slabs from China. He explained that there was a gap between each slab of about three inches, and he would be happy to bring into the US Callaway club sets in that gap with no duty taxes because they were invisible. The six iron demo he had was a very cheap clone that had a shaft diameter of .390″ made of filament wound graphite, with perfect graphics. The head was a cast item of very less quality material such as chrome plated zinc, with a $1 grip copy .
The cost per set was US $100. When I asked about the demo item he said I could keep it, it wasn’t worth the cost to do anything else with it.
Ultra inferior product, and logs that matched. But would bring fire-storm from the Cally patent folks, and land my sorry butt in jail for about twenty for parent infringement. Smiles, D

Reply Report comment
- Barney Adams
  
  Mar 26, 2015 at 1:40 am
  
  When I re-read my own story it could have been interpreted that most all Chinese suppliers were involved in counterfeiting. Of course this is not the case in fact the majority are straight up business people and have greatly helped the cost of golf equipment from escalating.
  Then there are the others.
  
  Reply Report comment
mb

Mar 25, 2015 at 7:32 pm

Thanks pretty simple don’t try yo find a cheap deal pay what is right for the product and you want and not worry about great deal and you get buried, manufacturers pay millions to protect us but many will try to find a cheap deal. You have been warned!!!!!

Reply Report comment
Jeff

Mar 25, 2015 at 6:50 pm

At golfsmith the other day and they still have the entire RBZ stage 1 line on display, full price, stock shafts and lots of upgrade costs. I found a G30 in the used clubs area and I’m thrilled. But it’s no mystery to most golfers, who love golf but wouldn’t ever and couldn’t ever keep up with the new products why the industry is hurting.

Reply Report comment
Andy

Mar 25, 2015 at 4:35 pm

Counterfeiters are using more and more sophisticated means to con people out of their money. They register websites in the the country they are targeting, targeted scam emails etc., and as Mike says, they are getting harder to spot. I have also noted that on the counterfeit websites the price gap is narrowing, making them appear more legit. The one thing which will work against the counterfeiters is the growth in club fitting, so as the old saying goes, golfers who know buy from their Pro. On a lighter side, I heard a story of a guy who was given a set of clubs as a retirement present, which as you might have guessed turned out to be fake – must have been a really popular guy at work 🙂

Reply Report comment
RG

Mar 25, 2015 at 3:17 pm

Great article once again Barney.I think people really need to understand the ramifications of continually flooding a market with constant product, but I doubt they will.

Reply Report comment
Carlos Danger

Mar 25, 2015 at 1:24 pm

So…I look at my bag and think that I surely do not have any counterfeit clubs. Every club was bought from a golf store/site, vetted WRXer or from a US seller on Ebay whom I have either bought from before or who has a long history of positive reviews and not the type of equipment you would typically think of as counterfeit. Meaning, if you have a Ebay seller with hoards of 10 degree regular flex Taylor Made R1’s shipping from Indonesia…no way. But if its some dude from South Carolina who is selling unique high end equipment I feel pretty safe/confident that whatever Im buying is legit.

Am I being naive? Am I forgetting that these guys had to get the club somewhere as well and who knows where that was?

I guess what Im asking from Barney is…do you kind of have to be a doofus to fall for a counterfeit club? Do you have to be naive and think that “wow, this $75 Scotty Cameron from Ethopia is a great deal!” to be the type of person who is at risk of getting a counterfeit? Or am I at risk ordering a club from globalgolf.com or from an Ebay seller with 100s of positive reviews that is selling rare high end stuff?

Reply Report comment
- RG
  
  Mar 25, 2015 at 3:05 pm
  
  Always go to the manufacturers website and verify by serial number or you’re a sucker.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Max King
    
    Mar 25, 2015 at 9:48 pm
    
    I tried to verify a serial # with Nike and it was like pulling teeth. The first representative told me they didn’t have a record of serial numbers. So I tried a “live” online person and they were able to verify the serial #. Nike sucks.
    
    Reply Report comment
- barney adams
  
  Mar 25, 2015 at 3:48 pm
  
  if it’s “too good to be true” it probably isn’t.
  
  Reply Report comment
- golfiend
  
  Mar 25, 2015 at 4:31 pm
  
  I’ve met alot of people with excess disposable income who are always trying and buying new clubs. They tend to get rid of their clubs at a very low price through golf for sale forums and ebay. The products are real. But the product may only be as good as the reputation of the seller.
  
  Reply Report comment
golfiend

Mar 25, 2015 at 1:05 pm

Counterfeit golf clubs have been around for some time, especially when it started costing $400-500 for a driver, and in Japan where the price of a driver could be $1200. There are good counterfeit clubs and bad ones in terms of appearance and finish as well as performance. The more expensive counterfeits are almost indistinguishable from the real ones at a price well below retail. Sometimes they are marketed as “tour only.” I bought one of these back in the days thinking it was actually only from the tour van, and I hate to say it but I was killing it with this driver. People who play or deal with alot of clubs are probably the only ones who can distinguish the difference.

Reply Report comment
- MHendon
  
  Mar 25, 2015 at 3:23 pm
  
  You might have been killing it because it had an illegally performing face.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - golfiend
    
    Mar 25, 2015 at 4:23 pm
    
    Yes, I suspected that. Then again, I’ve been to some demo days, and hit the same brand and model drivers (with same stock shaft setup) that were both duds and great. It seems that even with non-counterfeit equipment, there are some variations in performance.
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Faker
      
      Mar 25, 2015 at 9:49 pm
      
      Well if were only killing it to 200 yards then you probably couldn’t really tell from a real one to a fake! Ha!
      But if you pushed the head beyond 50m/s and tried hitting it over 300 yards carry I bet that head would fall apart.
      
      Reply Report comment
      - golfiend
        
        Mar 25, 2015 at 10:25 pm
        
        head didn’t fall apart. i still have it, but stopped playing it due to other equipment available but i am afraid that one day, it will no longer perform. but you’re probably right that many people will not notice a big difference in performance between a real and a fake one.
        
        Reply Report comment
Johnny

Mar 25, 2015 at 12:35 pm

Although the major OEMs like Taylormade, Titleist, Ping, and Callaway are bitter competitors in a stagnant golf market, they work side by side when it comes to counterfeiting. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Reply Report comment
- Greg
  
  Mar 25, 2015 at 4:34 pm
  
  So by that rule… is Taylormade friends with the Titlest counterfeiters?
  
  Reply Report comment
rockflightxl1000

Mar 25, 2015 at 12:29 pm

The one thing that scares me about your article is the margin driven approach reaching a maximum. I feel that if Taylormade already made clubs (used) more affordable and the industry is still shrinking (i.e. less participants) than I fear that golf one day will price itself out of the market for the average working man. I just hope these bootlegged clubs do not create a phenomena where people stay away from golf b/c they don’t know if they’re getting the real thing. I like your articles Barney but I never get a “warm” feeling about the state of the game after reading them.

Reply Report comment
- barney adams
  
  Mar 25, 2015 at 3:46 pm
  
  the industry is replete with folks looking at the glass half full. If my articles are depressing it’s because they reflect the status quo. I have put forth several suggestions aimed at positive results but I am just a voice.
  
  Reply Report comment
Mike

Mar 25, 2015 at 11:26 am

This is the exact same impression I had from my own industry. The counterfeits are readily available of almost everything. You just have to know the right people to see where they are made. My coworker came home with what have been tens of thousands of dollars in handbags in the US for only a couple hundred dollars in China. All of which were identical to the real thing. It is crazy how accurate the counterfeits are.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 RBC Heritage betting preview: Patrick Cantlay ready to get back inside winner’s circle

Published

13 hours ago

Apr 15, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

Just a two-hour drive from Augusta National, the PGA TOUR heads to Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, S.C. Hilton Head Island is a golfer’s paradise and Harbour Town is one of the most beautiful and scenic courses on the PGA TOUR.

Harbour Town Golf Links is a par-71 that measures 7,121 yards and features Bermuda grass greens. A Pete Dye design, the course is heavily tree lined and features small greens and many dog legs, protecting it from “bomb-and-gauge” type golfers.

The field is loaded this week with 69 golfers with no cut. Last year was quite possibly the best field in RBC Heritage history and the event this week is yet another designated event, meaning there is a $20 million prize pool.

Most of the big names on the PGA Tour will be in attendance this week with the exceptions of Hideki Matsuyama and Viktor Hovland. Additionally, Webb Simpson, Shane Lowry, Gary Woodland and Kevin Kisner have been granted sponsors exemptions.

Past Winners at Harbour Town

2023: Matt Fitzpatrick (-17)
2022: Jordan Spieth (-13)
2021: Stewart Cink (-19)
2020: Webb Simpson (-22)
2019: CT Pan (-12)
2018: Sotoshi Kodaira (-12)
2017: Wesley Bryan (-13)
2016: Branden Grace (-9)
2015: Jim Furyk (-18)

In this article and going forward, I’ll be using the Rabbit Hole by Betsperts Golf data engine to develop my custom model. If you want to build your own model or check out all of the detailed stats, you can sign up using promo code: MATTVIN for 25% off any subscription package (yearly is best value).

Key Stats For Harbour Town

Let’s take a look at key metrics for Harbour Town Golf Links to determine which golfers boast top marks in each category over their past 24 rounds.

Strokes Gained: Approach

Strokes Gained: Approach is exceedingly important this week. The greens at Harbour Town are about half the size of PGA TOUR average and feature the second-smallest greens on the tour. Typical of a Pete Dye design, golfers will pay the price for missed greens.

Total SG: Approach Over Past 24 Rounds

Scottie Scheffler (+1.27)
Tom Hoge (+1.27)
Corey Conners (+1.16)
Austin Eckroat (+0.95)
Cameron Young (+0.93)

Good Drive %

The fairways at Harbour Town are tree lined and feature many dog legs. Bombers tend to struggle at the course because it forces layups and doesn’t allow long drivers to overpower it. Accuracy is far more important than power.

Good Drive % Over Past 24 Rounds

Brice Garnett (88.8%)
Shane Lowry (+87.2%)
Akshay Bhatia (+86.0%)
Si Woo Kim (+85.8%)
Sepp Straka (+85.1%)

Strokes Gained: Total at Pete Dye Designs

Pete Dye specialists tend to play very well at Harbour Town. Si Woo Kim, Matt Kuchar, Jim Furyk and Webb Simpson are all Pete Dye specialists who have had great success here. It is likely we see some more specialists near the top of the leaderboard this week.

SG: TOT Pete Dye per round over past 36 rounds:

Xander Schauffele (+2.27)
Scottie Scheffler (+2.24)
Ludvig Aberg (+2.11)
Brian Harman (+1.89)
Sungjae Im (+1.58)

4. Strokes Gained: Short Game (Bermuda)

Strokes Gained: Short Game factors in both around the green and putting. With many green-side bunkers and tricky green complexes, both statistics will be important. Past winners — such as Jim Furyk, Wes Bryan and Webb Simpson — highlight how crucial the short game skill set is around Harbour Town.

SG: SG Over Past 24 Rounds

Jordan Spieth (+1.11)
Taylor Moore (+1.02)
Wyndham Clark (+0.98)
Mackenzie Hughes (+0.86)
Andrew Putnam (+0.83)

5. Greens in Regulation %

The recipe for success at Harbour Town Golf Links is hitting fairways and greens. Missing either will prove to be consequential — golfers must be in total control of the ball to win.

Greens in Regulation % over past 24 rounds:

Brice Garnett (+75.0%)
Scottie Scheffler (+69.9%)
Corey Conners (+69.0%)
Shane Lowry (+68.3%)
Patrick Rodgers (+67.6%)

6. Course History

Harbour Town is a course where players who have strong past results at the course always tend to pop up.

Course History over past 24 rounds:

Patrick Cantlay (+2.34)
Cam Davis (+2.05)
J.T. Poston (+1.69)
Justin Rose (+1.68)
Tommy Fleetwood (+1.59)

The RBC Heritage Model Rankings

Below, I’ve compiled overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed — SG: Approach (24%), Good Drives (20%), SG: SG (14%), SG: Pete Dye (14%), GIR (14%), and Course History (14%)

Shane Lowry
Russell Henley
Scottie Scheffler
Xander Schauffele
Corey Conners
Wyndham Clark
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Matt Fitzpatrick
Cameron Young
Ludvig Aberg

2024 RBC Heritage Picks

Patrick Cantlay +2000 (FanDuel)

With the exception of Scottie Scheffler, the PGA Tour has yet to have any of their star players show peak form during the 2024 season. Last week, Patrick Cantlay, who I believe is a top-5 players on the PGA Tour, took one step closer to regaining the form that’s helped him win eight events on Tour since 2017.

Cantlay limped into the Masters in poor form, but figured it out at Augusta National, finishing in a tie for 20th and ranking 17th for the week in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking. The former FedEx Cup champion will now head to one of his favorite golf courses in Harbour Town, where he’s had immaculate results over the years. In his six trips to the course, he’s only finished worse than 7th one time. The other finishes include three third places (2017, 2019, 2023) and one runner-up finish (2022). In his past 36 rounds at Harbour Town, Cantlay ranks 1st in Strokes Gained: Total per round at the course by a wide margin (+2.36).

Cantlay is winless since the 2022 BMW Championship, which is far too long for a player of his caliber. With signs pointing to the 32-year-old returning to form, a “signature event” at Harbour Town is just what he needs to get back on the winning track.

Tommy Fleetwood +3000 (FanDuel)

I truly believe Tommy Fleetwood will figure out a way to win on American soil in 2024. It’s certainly been a bugaboo for him throughout his career, but he is simply too talented to go another season without winning a PGA Tour event.

At last week’s Masters Tournament, Fleetwood made a Sunday charge and ended up finishing T3 in the event, which was his best ever finish at The Masters. For the week, the Englishman ranked 8th in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach, 10th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking and 16th in Strokes Gained: Putting.

Harbour Town is a perfect layout for Fleetwood, and he’s had relative success at this Pete Dye design in the past. In his four trips to the course, he’s finished inside of the top 25 three times, with his best finish, T10, coming in 2022. The course is pretty short and can’t be overpowered, which gives an advantage to more accurate players such as Fleetwood. Tommy ranks 8th in the field in Good Drive % and should be able to plot his way along this golf course.

The win is coming for Tommy lad. I believe there’s a chance this treasure of a golf course may be the perfect one for him to finally break through on Tour.

Cameron Young +3300 (FanDuel)

Cameron Young had a solid Masters Tournament last week, which is exactly what I’m looking for in players who I anticipate playing well this week at the RBC Heritage. He finished in a tie for 9th, but never felt the pressure of contending in the event. For the week, Young ranked 6th in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and 6th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking.

Despite being one of the longest players off the tee on the PGA Tour, Young has actually played some really good golf on shorter tracks. He finished T3 at Harbour Town in 2023 and ranks 20th in the field in Good Drive% and 16th in Greens in Regulation in his past 24 rounds. He also has strong finishes at other shorter courses that can take driver out of a players hand such as Copperhead and PGA National.

Young is simply one of the best players on the PGA Tour in 2024, and I strongly believe has what it takes to win a PGA Tour event in the very near future.

Corey Conners +5500 (FanDuel)

Corey Conners has had a disappointing year thus far on the PGA Tour, but absolutely loves Harbour Town.

At last week’s Masters Tournament, the Canadian finished T30 but ranked 20th in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach. In his past 24 rounds, Conners ranks 3rd in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach, 3rd in Greens in Regulation % and 24th in Good Drive %.

In Conners’ last four trips to Harbour Town, his worst finish was T31, last season. He finished T4 in 2021, T12 in 2022 and ranks 8th in Strokes Gained: Total at the course over his past 36 rounds.

Conners hasn’t been contending, but his recent finishes have been encouraging as he has finished in the top-25 in each of his past three starts prior to The Masters, including an impressive T13 at The PLAYERS. His recent improvement in ball striking as well as his suitability for Harbour Town makes Conners a high upside bet this week.

Shane Lowry (+7500) (FanDuel)

When these odds were posted after Lowry was announced in the field, I have to admit I was pretty stunned. Despite not offering much win equity on the PGA Tour over the last handful of years, Shane Lowry is still a top caliber player who has the ability to rise to the top of a signature event.

Lowry struggled to score at The Masters last week, but he actually hit the ball really well. The Irishman ranked 1st for Strokes Gained: Approach on the week and 7th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking. As usual, it was the putter that let him down, as he ranked 60th in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting.

Harbour Town is most definitely one of Lowry’s favorite courses on the PGA Tour. In his six starts there, he’s finished in the top 10 three times, including third twice. Lowry is sensational at Pete Dye designs and ranks 7th in Strokes Gained: Total in his past 36 rounds on Dye tracks.

Lowry is perfect for Harbour Town. In his past 24 rounds, he ranks 5th in Strokes Gained: Approach, 2nd in Good Drive% and 5th in Green in Regulation %. If he figures it out on the greens, Shane could have his first win in America since 2015.

Lucas Glover +12000 (FanDuel)

This is one of my weekly “bet the number” plays as I strongly believe the odds are just too long for a player of Glover’s caliber. The odds have been too long on Glover for a few weeks now, but this is the first event that I can get behind the veteran being able to actually contend at.

Glover is quietly playing good golf and returning to the form he had after the understandable regression after his two massive victories at the end of 2023. He finished T20 at The Masters, which was his best ever finish at Augusta National. For the week, Lucas ranked 18th for Strokes Gained: Approach and 20th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking.

Over his past 24 rounds, Glover ranks 9th in Strokes Gained: Approach and 13th in Good Drive %. Harbour Town is a short course that the 44-year-old will be able to keep up with the top players on Tour off the tee. He’s played the course more than 20 times, with mixed results. His best finishes at Harbour Town include a T7 in 2008, but recently has a finish of T21 in 2020.

Glover has proven he can contend with the stars of the Tour on any given week, and this number is flat out disrespectful.

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Vincenzi: The 6 biggest takeaways from the 2024 Masters

Published

17 hours ago

Apr 15, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

The 2024 Masters offered up plenty of excitement throughout the week with Scottie Scheffler delivering when it mattered to live up to his pre-tournament favorite tag. With the year’s opening major now in the books, here are my six biggest takeaways from the 2024 Masters.

Scheffler In a League of His Own

In the most impressive way possible, Scottie Scheffler won the Masters without having his absolute best stuff. For the week, Scottie ranked 19th in Strokes Gained: Approach, which is a category the number player in the world typically dusts the rest of the field in. After a strong approach day on Thursday, the 27-year-old lost strokes to the field on approach on Friday and Saturday, before gaining on Sunday. The iron performance was more than solid, but it was an all-around game that helped Scheffler get it done around Augusta National.

For a year or more, the narrative around Scheffler has been, “With his ball striking, if he can just putt to field average, he’ll be unbeatable.” At Augusta, his ball striking came back down to earth, but his touch around the greens and ability to manage the golf course demonstrated why he is the best player on the planet right now. For the week, Scheffler ranked 1st in the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Green and 24th in Strokes Gained: Putting.

For the time being, there is a major gap between Scottie Scheffler and the second-best player in the world, whoever that may be.

The Future is Now

Ludvig Aberg went into his first back-nine at the Masters with a legitimate shot to win the tournament. When he teed it up on the treacherous 11th hole, he was one behind Scottie Scheffler, who had just stuck one to a few feet on the 9th. By the time he approached his tee shot, which was perfectly striped down the left side of the fairway, he was two behind. Unfortunately, the 24-year-old got too aggressive with his approach at the 11th and found the water, making double bogey. Ludvig rebounded nicely and finished the event in solo second place.

With the Masters now in the rearview, it’s never been more evident that Ludvig Aberg is no longer an “up-and-comer” — he has arrived. The Swede has been an integral part of a winning European Ryder Cup team and has now contended at Augusta National. With a calm demeanor, a picture-perfect swing, and a build and stature that appears as if it was built in a lab, Ludvig Aberg is already amongst the world’s best. I’d be extremely surprised if he wasn’t in the mix at next month’s PGA Championship at Valhalla.

Nostalgia Wins

I try to avoid as many cliches as possible, but there’s something about the Masters that brings out the sentimentality in me. Tiger Woods strategically making his way around Augusta National without all of the physical tools that made him arguably the most dominant athlete in the history of sports will always be riveting, regardless of what score he shoots. Woods made it interesting until a tough stretch of holes on Saturday, but he ultimately wore down, shooting 16 over for the week in difficult conditions. It’s remarkable that the 15-time major champion was able to put together a few solid rounds of golf despite barely playing any competitive golf in 2024. As long as Woods tees it up at Augusta, we will all continue to be mesmerized by it.

Verne Lundquist’s 40th and final Masters Tournament was also a must-watch aspect of the event. The iconic voice of Lundquist and his calls throughout the years still give me chills each time I hear them. Verne is an icon of the game and will be missed in future renditions of the Masters.

The Masters also brings another element that is unique to the tournament. Former champions turn back the clock to battle with the golf course again which creates some amazing stories. There are a few that stick out this year and were an absolute pleasure to witness. 61-year-old Vijay Singh made the cut for the first time since 2018 and shot a pretty incredible even-par, 72 on Sunday. 58-year-old José María Olazábal made the cut as well, reminding us why fellow Spaniard Jon Rahm sought his valuable advice prior to his Masters victory in 2022.

Regardless of who wins, the Masters always delivers.

Bryson Moves the Needle

Plenty will disagree with me on this point, but outside of Tiger Woods, and potentially Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, no one moves the needle in golf as much as Bryson DeChambeau. The uniqueness in which Bryson approaches the game has always been fascinating, and if he gets near the top of the leaderboard at any major championship, whether it’s to root for him or against him, people are interested.

It began on Monday with a pretty bizarre story of DeChambeau using 3D-printed irons that got just got cleared for use by the USGA when the week began. It once again felt like a storyline that would only be possible with a character as eccentric as Bryson. He then raced off to a first-round lead in tough conditions, reminding the world of what made him such a great golfer to begin with. He made some mistakes on the weekend, but still finished a career best T6 at The Masters.

Bryson is more than just quirky; he is a former U.S. Amateur Champion and U.S. Open who I believe will contend for more majors in the future. I will continue to root for DeChambeau, but I’m perfectly content with the fact that plenty will root against him, and I encourage those people to do so. That’s what makes it fun.

LIV Walks Away Empty-Handed

Last year, there were a multitude of questions about LIV players coming into the year’s first major. They had played very limited tournament golf, and critics of LIV questioned whether the 54-hole events were enough to sharpen the players enough to compete against the best in the world on the biggest stage.

The results were fascinating, with LIV players all over the leaderboard. Brooks Koepka held the 36- and 54-hole lead, with Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed finishing T2 and T4, giving LIV three golfers in the top-4 of the leaderboard.

This season, with even more time removed and with some more massive additions to the roster, the intrigue surrounding LIV players at Augusta was once again palpable. While some players, including Bryson DeChambeau, exceeded expectations, I can’t help but walk away from the Masters feeling underwhelmed by the performance of the LIV players.

Brooks Koepka finished runner-up last season and is a certified major championship killer. The 5-time major champ was never involved and simply didn’t have it at Augusta. Dustin Johnson put together a putrid performance, shooting 13 over for his two rounds, making it fair to wonder if his days of contending at major championships are over as he rapidly approaches his 40th birthday.

Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann were both players who were amongst the favorites this week, but Rahm was faced with the daunting duties of defending champion and Niemann proved he was still not quite ready to master the quirks of Augusta National, bleeding strokes both around and on the greens.

To be fair, when all was said and done, LIV had four players in the top twelve at The Masters. Tyrrell Hatton stormed the leaderboard early on Sunday, finishing T9 and earning himself an invite back to Augusta next season. Cam Smith and Patrick Reed put together gritty performances, which isn’t too surprising considering the fact that they both absolutely love Augusta National, but neither ever felt a real threat to win. There’s no doubt the players on LIV are good, and that’s why some encouraging leaderboard positions aren’t enough. They needed to contend.

With no players part of the storyline on Sunday, I view the first major of the year as a disappointment for LIV. The players will head into next month’s PGA Championship at Valhalla with a lot to prove.

Rory’s Struggles Continues

Rory struggling at Augusta National is no surprise at this point. The four-time major champion has now had 10 attempts to complete the career grand slam and has never had a chance to win. His T2 in 2022 was deceiving, the Northern Irishman stormed the leaderboard on Sunday, but was never in contention, and never got within three shots of the winner, Scottie Scheffler.

I didn’t expect Rory to win, but I have to admit that this year felt a bit different. McIlroy played the week prior to the Masters, which he typically doesn’t do, and finished third at the Valero Texas Open. He gained 7.56 strokes on approach and 2.0 strokes off the tee, which told me that his visit with world-renowned swing coach, Butch Harmon, after the Players Championship paid dividends.

McIlroy also approached the media quite differently. He cut his pre-tournament press conference short after only 10 minutes and seemed to be laser-focused on just playing golf.

Despite the different approach to the Masters, the results were the same. McIlroy struggled over the course of the week, finishing T22 (+4) and never sniffed a decent weekend position on the leaderboard. It’s back to the drawing board for McIlroy, and I have doubts that he will ever figure it out at Augusta.

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Vincenzi: The 8 best prop bets for the 2024 Masters

Published

7 days ago

Apr 9, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

We’ve finally reached The Masters and excitement is at an all-time high. The world of golf has been fractured for the better part of two years, but for a week at Augusta National, all of the outside noise will disappear. All of the best players in the world will be together seeking to make history.

RELATED: Vincenzi’s 2024 Masters betting preview: Niemann to play star role at Augusta National

In addition to betting on The Masters champion. This is one of the few weeks of the year where there are so many more markets to explore, with value to be had in plenty of different categories.

Throughout this article, I’ll discuss all of my favorite props and players for the 2024 Masters.

Placement Bets:

Tony Finau Top 5 +750 (DraftKings):

I badly wanted to include Tony Finau in my outright betting selections, but I simply ran out of room on my card. Additionally, it’s slightly difficult to see him hitting the putts necessary to win the Masters on back nine on Sunday. However, I do strongly believe he will play great golf this week at Augusta National.

In his past 24 rounds, Finau ranks 4th in Strokes Gained: Approach is always amongst the best drivers of the golf ball in the game. Back in 2019, Finau had a great chance to win The Masters. I expect him to be hanging around over the weekend once again in 2024.

Gary Woodland Top 20 +550 (DraftKings), Gary Woodland to make the cut -110 (DraftKings):

Last season, Gary Woodland had his best ever finish at The Masters in his eleven tries. The 39-year-old finished T14 and played incredibly steady across all four rounds.

In Woodland’s most recent start at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, he struck the ball incredibly well. He led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach (+8.8) and Strokes Gained: Ball Striking (+10.0).

Gary has been working with Butch Harmon and absolutely flushing the ball both in tournaments and during practice.

Woodland appears to be healthy once again and in a great place physically and mentally. If he can build off his impressive performance at Augusta last year, he can place inside the top ten in 2024.

Additionally, the make the cut number on Woodland seems generous considering the number of players who miss the cut will be relatively small this week. Woodland is striking it well enough to make the cut even if he’s hindered by a balky putter once again.

Thorbjorn Olesen Top 20 +400 (FanDuel):

The Thunder Bear, Thorbjorn Olesen, made his Masters debut in 2013 and finished an incredibly impressive T6 for the week. In the two additional starts he’s made at Augusta National since then, the Dane has continued to be incredibly solid, finishing T44 and T21.

This week, Olesen heads into the week playing some good golf. He gained 3.8 strokes on approach and 5.52 strokes around the green at last week’s Valero Texas Open on his way to a strong T14 finish. Back in January, he won the Ras Al Khaimah Championship on the DP World Tour.

Olesen has the skill set to be successful at Augusta and seems primed for a good performance this week.

Top Nationalities:

Sergio Garcia Top Spanish Player +280 (DraftKings):

I believe Sergio Garcia can get into contention this week with the way he’s striking the ball in addition to his good vibes with a refurbished version of the Scotty Cameron that he used at the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah.

I am slightly concerned about the emotional letdown he may face after losing in a playoff at LIV Miami, but I believe a veteran and former Masters champion should be able to regroup and focus on an event far more meaningful.

This is essentially a tournament head-to-head with Jon Rahm at +280. While Rahm deserves to be respected this week, the history of the lack of success of defending champions at The Masters is difficult to ignore.

Joaquin Niemann Top South American Player -230 (FanDuel):

While I hate paying this much juice, I don’t see a world in which Joaquin Niemann isn’t the top South American this week at The Masters. Joaco comes in playing better golf than anyone in the world not named Scottie Scheffler and has a serious chance to win the green jacket.

He only needs to beat two players: Emiliano Grillo and Camilo Villegas.

Tournament Head-to-Heads:

Justin Thomas -110 over Collin Morikawa

JT isn’t having his best season but is playing a lot better than he is getting credit for at the moment. In the past three months, there are only six players on the PGA Tour who have averaged 1.7 Strokes Gained: Tee to Green or better. Justin Thomas (+1.7) is one of the six and is currently tied with Rory McIlroy (+1.7).

Morikawa, on the other hand, has been extremely poor with his irons, which is incredibly uncharacteristic for him. I can’t help but feel like something is completely off with the two-time major champion.

Tony Finau -110 over Wyndham Clark

I explained in the placement section why I’m so high on Tony Finau this week. With how well he’s striking the ball, it seems as if his floor is extremely high. I’m not sure if he can make the putts to win a green jacket but I believe he will be in the mix similarly to 2019 when Tiger Woods emerged from a crowded pack of contenders.

Clark is a debutant, and while some debutants have had success at The Masters, it certainly poses a challenge. I also don’t believe Augusta National suits Clark as well as some of the other major championship venues.

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