News
Phil lays up on par 5 tee with an iron, hooks it into the water, gets roasted on Twitter
Predictably, Phil Mickelson — who finished dead last at the 2018 Tour Championship (24 shots back of Tiger Woods) — is struggling so far at the 2018 Ryder Cup, and it’s only just begun for him.
Phil was kept on the bench for the morning fourballs, and he then teed it up with Bryson DeChambeau for the afternoon foursomes (alternate shot) against Sergio Garcia and Alex Noren. The pairing raised some eyebrows amongst critics, but hey, you never know.
Historically, Phil is not a great driver of the ball; that can be costly around Le Golf National, which has hazards in play off many tees, and penal rough. At the par-5 third hole — a three shot hole for most — Phil decided to play it safe by using an iron in order to get his playing partner Bryson a shot from the fairway.
That’s not what happened. Instead, Phil hooked it into a hazard.
View this post on Instagram
Iron off the tee on a par 5 into the drink. Is that Phil Mickelson or Tursky? #rydercup #golf #lefty
Golf Twitter had a field day. Here’s a look at some of the… feedback.
What the PHIL?! Iron layup off the tee on a par 5 and it’s in the water… #RyderCup #GoUSA pic.twitter.com/JVdOiMcCcR
— Brian Gulish (@BrianGulish) September 28, 2018
PHIL JUST LAYED UP OFF THE TEE WITH AN IRON ….. ON A PAR 5….. INTO THE WATER #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/LwHbvUbmDa
— Pappy Slap (@Go_HamBURGHlar) September 28, 2018
We’ll next see Phil out 6th during Sunday singles. #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/DFE0iYZRqY
— robmillertime (@robmillertime) September 28, 2018
Phil #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/sCdMSagziy
— JJ Gottschalk (@jjgottschalk) September 28, 2018
Phil Mickelson is a dead set liability on this golf course, where driving accuracy is at a premium. Expect him to play the minimum amount of matches this weekend #RyderCup
— Darren Murphy ???? (@MrDMurphy) September 28, 2018
This Phil & Bryson pairing might go down in history as the worst ever. #RyderCup
— Shook not Stirred (@RTM59) September 28, 2018
Classic “lay up off the tee with an iron on a par 5 and duck hook it into the water” there from Phil.
— GolfWRX (@GolfWRX) September 28, 2018
Phil and Bryson are currently 5-down through 7 holes in the afternoon Foursomes match to Noren and Garcia. Not good.
For more on the Ryder Cup, click here.
- LIKE62
- LEGIT4
- WOW6
- LOL16
- IDHT2
- FLOP3
- OB2
- SHANK10
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.
- LIKE2
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL1
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK1
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
- LIKE24
- LEGIT2
- WOW2
- LOL1
- IDHT1
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
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.
- LIKE42
- LEGIT11
- WOW3
- LOL4
- IDHT2
- FLOP2
- OB0
- SHANK7
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Justin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
LET pro gives detailed financial breakdown of first week on tour…and the net result may shock you
-
19th Hole4 days ago
Report: LIV star turns down PGA Championship invite due to ‘personal commitments’
-
19th Hole1 week ago
Gary Player claims this is what ‘completely ruined’ Tiger Woods’ career
-
Whats in the Bag2 weeks ago
Team McIlowry (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry) winning WITBs: 2024 Zurich Classic
-
Equipment3 days ago
Details on Justin Thomas’ driver switch at the Wells Fargo Championship
-
Whats in the Bag4 days ago
Keegan Bradley WITB 2024 (May)
Dave r
Sep 28, 2018 at 6:27 pm
Turned out exactly as it should have. And tiger is not going to be very successful with captain America as his partener Two egos bigger than the lake Phil hit his ball into. Oh tiger you forgot to smile get the fron off your face and enjoy it there’s more to life than watching you stepping on your lower lip all day..
Hilton
Sep 28, 2018 at 4:25 pm
This is what happens when the American with the 2nd most Ryder Cup loses puts the American with the most loses out with a rookie who had a mental meltdown at The Open earlier in the year.
Carson Henry
Sep 28, 2018 at 1:37 pm
I mean realistically they ran into one of the best Foursome rounds in RC history … Garcia and Noren were -5 thru 9
Bob Jones
Sep 28, 2018 at 1:22 pm
This is too funny.
Brian
Sep 28, 2018 at 12:49 pm
Why is he even on the team???
Scheiss
Sep 28, 2018 at 11:29 am
I like it. A lot. lol. That was fun.
Jack Nicholas
Sep 28, 2018 at 11:18 am
????????????????????????