News
GolfWRX Morning 9: Tom Watson on the distance debate | Why don’t Canadians win the Canadian Open?
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By Ben Alberstadt ([email protected])
July 27, 2018 Good Friday morning, golf fans. .
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1. Watson: make the ball bigger
Tom Watson, British Open maestro that he is, had some interesting things to say ahead of the Senior Open this week.
2. Robert on the rocks
AP Report..“Robert Garrigus made a birdie after a rock saved his ball from water and had a one-stroke lead at 9-under 63 on Thursday when play in the RBC Canadian Open was suspended because of dangerous weather.”
3. Why hasn’t a Canadian won the Canadian Open since ’54? Who knows.
Cameron Morfit says the answer to the question is unclear.
4. Reed vs. the camera crew
“I’m not going [hitting the ball] until y’all get the heck out of here,” Patrick Reed told a camera crew during the first round of the European Tour’s Porsche European Open in Germany.
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5. Tiger in for the Bridgestone
6. How to totally lose your golf game
Funny stuff from Tony at Hooked on Golf
7. JD: 69
Via Golf Channel…”It was looking a lot like 1995 on Thursday at the Old Course – at least for a few hours.”
8. Joh yeah
The eternally entertaining Tiffany Joh took a four-shot lead after a stunning opening-round 62 at the Ladies Scottish Open.
9. Club Pro Guy on tour?
Stephen Hennesey at Golf Digest with the news…”One-handed rakes, punch-out club twirls and Mexican drug cartel run-ins appear like they’re coming to the Web.com Tour’s Kansas City event in a few weeks. The tour announced on Wednesday that they have extended a special exemption into next week’s KC Golf Classic’s Monday qualifier to the Club Pro Guy, one of the best follows in golf social media.”
“But every time, he’s managed to keep his identity unknown-with the Golf Channel blurring out his face. If Club Pro Guy does, in fact, take up the Web.com Tour on this offer, he’ll be showing his face in public. And we’re sure folks will share it on social media, knowing the fascination there is among CPG’s fan base.” |
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Equipment
Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
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Equipment
Spotted: Tommy Fleetwood’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X Prototype putter
Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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Equipment
Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
…The Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.
Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.
Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.
According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.
He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.
Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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Donald
Jul 27, 2018 at 9:46 pm
Canadians don’t have golf ball brains… they got hockey puck brains… and only the puny and old play golf in Canada. Curiously, Canada has many more golf courses per capita than the USA… go figure.
Omm
Jul 27, 2018 at 6:19 pm
It doesn’t have its own league of anything. Why do Canadian teams play in the US? NHL, MLS, NBA, NFL, MLB. Why doesn’t Canada separate itself from the US, and then may be its national pride and nationality will be stronger to spur on proper Canadian nationals to represent its “ country.” Of course you also should quit being a part of the Commonwealth if you want to be taken seriously as an independent nation.
Omm
Jul 27, 2018 at 6:21 pm
And lets not forget that the Canadian Open is a PGA of America event. lol
Donald
Jul 27, 2018 at 9:52 pm
Canada is a parasite country that depends on the USA for it’s existence. Annex the place and end their confusion and misery.
Omm
Jul 27, 2018 at 6:14 pm
It can’t make up its mind on whether to speak English or French
Donald
Jul 27, 2018 at 9:48 pm
Oh, mostly speak English but are governed by the Fremch from Quebec. They are not a melting pot country like the USA… they are multi-cultural and have ethnic ghettoes splitting up the cities and country. Canada is a real basket case country that leaches off the USA… no more.
Omm
Jul 27, 2018 at 6:13 pm
Canada is not a country is why.
Donald
Jul 27, 2018 at 9:50 pm
It’s like a slime coating on top of the USA. Annex them and put them out of their Fremch misery.