19th Hole

10 insights from an account of a Tiger Woods equipment testing session

Published

6 years ago

Jan 2, 2018

Oh to be a fly buzzing around Medalist’s driving range for a Tiger Woods equipment testing session! Golf Digest’s longtime equipment scribe, E. Michael Johnson had that honor, and he filed a treasure-laden report for GD.

If only we could have been along for the cart ride! But alas, we’re left not with FOMO, but rather, SAHMO: sadness at having missed out.

Needless to say, you’ll want to read the full piece. However, we’ve pulled 10 insights from the article that will be of particular interest to GolfWRX members.

1. Tiger Woods has played the same iron specs since he was a kid

2. Woods has also tested equipment in much the same manner for his whole career

3. TaylorMade is developing a TW prototype muscle back iron

…and Mike Taylor, who worked on Woods’ irons at Nike, is helping with the effort.

4. At one point, he said this about the prototype 6-iron

“The look is sweet, but the window is different. But it feels great going through the ground; feels fantastic. Everything is right, we just need to bring that flight down.”

5. Tiger’s preferred iron profile is…

Woods likes “an iron with a longer blade length, thin sole and slightly squared off toe,” according to Johnson.

6. He’s all about “how the ball flies”

In 2003 Woods told Johnson, “I’m all about how the ball flies, how it looks shortly after it leaves the club…If I look up and don’t see the ball right there—I mean, right where I expect it to be—then we have a serious, serious problem.”

7. “Cheating” with Trackman doesn’t give the full picture, according to Tiger

“It’s nice that we can cheat out here and use Trackman, but ultimately I need to see how it fits on the course,” said Woods. “Can it hit a low cut, can it hit a low draw? I want to ride the wind. I want to challenge this corner. I want to take it over that bunker. Things of that nature.”

“For instance, right before the Hero, I had a 3-wood I was using last year before I stopped playing. On the range I hit it fantastic. On the course, I couldn’t hit it. It had too much toe droop right before impact. When I tried to turn it over, I’d hit this toe-pop-up. The golf course showed that. I had to hit golf shots. It’s not just about making it look good [on the range].”

8. Tiger was hitting drivers incredibly well

Johnson writes, “His launch conditions habitually included ball speeds of 180 miles per hour, spin rates in the 2,200 to 2,400 range with launch angle between 11 and 13 degrees…His carry distance routinely reached 315 yards.”

9. Tiger knows if a driver will work for him before he swings it

Johnson writes, “As with his irons, look with the driver is vitally important to the 14-time major champion. “I know when I’m waggling it,” he said. “If I feel it matches up to me, then it frees up my swing.”

10. The driver that he seemed to like the most was a 9-degree M3 440

Needless to say this only takes us a few steps into the goldmine that is any first-hand account of a Tiger Woods’ equipment testing session. You should absolutely head on over to Golf Digest and read Johnson’s piece to journey deeper.

Your Reaction?

LIKE136
LEGIT10
WOW2
LOL1
IDHT0
FLOP1
OB0
SHANK7

19th Hole

Man charged with stealing millions of dollars worth of memorabilia from Augusta National

Published

22 hours ago

Apr 18, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, a man has been charged in Chicago with stealing millions of dollars’ worth of memorabilia from Augusta National.

The man, Robert Globensky, was charged with transporting the memorabilia across state lines.

The report states that between 2009 and 2022, Globensky allegedly transported “millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and historical memorabilia” from Augusta National “and transported to Tampa, Florida, knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”

The document was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Per the court records there is no mention that Globensky worked for the golf club.

New here?

Find out more about GolfWRX and the GolfWRX forums.

Your Reaction?

LIKE1
LEGIT0
WOW1
LOL2
IDHT0
FLOP0
OB0
SHANK0

19th Hole

Talor Gooch: 54 holes is more exciting for the fans

Published

23 hours ago

Apr 18, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

Over the past few weeks, two of LIV Golf’s biggest stars, Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson, have both expressed that they believe LIV could go to 72 holes.

While speaking to BBC Sport, Rahm said he “wouldn’t mind” going to 72 holes.

“If there ever was a way where LIV could go to 72 holes I think it would help all of this argument a lot.”

“The closer I think we can get LIV Golf to some other things the better. I think it would be for some kind of unification to feed into a world tour or something like that.

“I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but I definitely wouldn’t mind going back to 72 holes.”

Phil Mickelson, while speaking after his final round at The Masters, also said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if LIV went to 72 holes.

“I don’t think it makes a difference either way. We’ve got mini-tours playing 54, Champions Tour playing 54. I wouldn’t be surprised if some or all of LIV events went to 72. I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. I enjoy the competition.”

Another one of LIV’s top players, Talor Gooch, expressed on Wednesday that he feels quite differently.

“It’s just funny to me, this arbitrary number of 72.”

“Why is it not 90? “Why is it not 108? We just decided to make that number the number, for what reason?”

“Everyone’s talked about world ranking points and all this stuff, but no one’s talked about what do the fans enjoy more?”

“People want something that’s going to be more exciting. And I personally think that the 54 holes is more exciting for the fans.”

After Gooch’s comments, I decided to get some fan feedback for myself, making a poll on X. With about 4,500 votes in at the time of writing this, roughly 84% of voters in the poll indicated they’d prefer 72 holes to just 16% saying they’d prefer 54.

Rahm prefers 72 holes
Gooch prefers 54 holes

Where do the fans stand?

— Matt Vincenzi (@MattVincenziPGA) April 17, 2024

New here?

Find out more about GolfWRX and the GolfWRX forums.

Your Reaction?

LIKE3
LEGIT0
WOW0
LOL2
IDHT2
FLOP2
OB2
SHANK16

19th Hole

Brandel Chamblee has ‘no doubt’ who started the McIlroy/LIV rumor and why

Published

2 days ago

Apr 17, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Earlier this week, rumors began to fly that Rory McIlroy could be making a shock switch to LIV Golf which caused quite the stir on social media.

However, on Tuesday, McIlroy emphatically shut down those rumors, telling Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town:

“I honestly don’t know how these things get started. I’ve never been offered a number from LIV and I’ve never contemplated going to LIV. Again I think I’ve made it clear over the past two years that I don’t think it’s something for me.

It’s unfortunate that we have to deal with it and this is the state that our game’s in. I’m obviously here today and I’m playing this PGA Tour event next week and I will play the PGA Tour for the rest of my career.”

Golf Channel analyst and longtime LIV critic, Brandel Chamblee, took to social media before McIlroy’s statement to point the finger at “Saudis/LIV,” who he believes started the rumor:

I have no doubt that this rumor was started by Saudis/LIV… to benefit Saudis/LIV after such a poor showing, as a group, at The Masters.

I’d be very surprised if this turns out to be true. https://t.co/SWNgjHtWSM

— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) April 16, 2024

When one user pushed back on Chamblee’s claim that LIV golfers had a poor showing at the Masters, Brandel went further into why he believes the opening major of the year was a failure for the breakaway tour.

You think they paid 3 billion for a few top tens and to be +82 as a group at major? A senior citizen beat some of their “stars” and almost all the game’s of LIV players have deteriorated since they sold their souls to the Saudis who only bought a moment in time… nothing else. https://t.co/xERkYsztIJ

— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) April 16, 2024