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Morning 9: Svensson’s Sony surge | Spieth | JT | Edoardo Molinari: Flagstick scientist

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5 years ago

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By Ben Alberstadt ([email protected])

January 11, 2019

Good Friday morning, golf fans.
1. Svensson surges at Sony
PGATour.com’s Ben Everill rightly headlined his game story “Svensson sends scribes searching,” because, well, who is this guy?
  • He writes…”The assembled writers were sent scrambling to the PGA TOUR media guide after Canadian Adam Svensson found his way to the top of the leaderboard at the Sony Open in Hawaii.”
  • “It happens sometimes at the beginning of seasons as the new rookie class finds its feet – some of them haven’t found a way into the mainstream consciousness yet.”
  • “Keen followers of the Web.com Tour know the 25-year-old greenhorn won The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic about a year ago and leveraged that into a PGA TOUR card.”
  • “But even they might not know the story that caught the eye of the scribes who awaited him after his career low 9-under 61 at Waialae Country Club gave him a one-shot lead…”
  • It was this….”I was three or four years old and my dad was teeing off and I guess I decided to drive the cart right into the lake,” Svensson said of his toddler days.
2. Up-and-down day for JT
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard...”Justin Thomas began his first round at the Sony Open shooting 4 under on the front nine to climb the leaderboard. It seemed so familiar.”
  • “Although it’s always best to keep thoughts of a 59 out of your mind until the very end, early in Thursday’s round there were a few déjà vu moments for Thomas, when he opened his day with birdies at Nos. 1 and 4 and an eagle at the ninth hole. His 12-footer for eagle at No. 9 was certainly similar to the 15-footer he made two years ago for a walk-off eagle.”
  • “Thomas’ second nine on Thursday, however, took a different turn, with bogeys at Nos. 11, 15, 16 and 17. He closed his day with a second eagle when he holed out from the greenside bunker at the par-5 18th hole for a 3-under 67 that left him tied for 17th place.”
3. Nearly a bad drop for Spieth
Dropping from shoulder height is so 2018, Jordan!
Golf Channel’s Will Gray... “Making his first start of the year at the Sony Open in Hawaii, Spieth had to take relief after his tee shot on the 15th hole landed near a sprinkler head. After years of dropping from shoulder height, Spieth made a move to drop as he had for years. But the new rules require players to drop from knee height, as Bryson DeChambeau (awkwardly) highlighted last week in Maui.”
  • “Thankfully for Spieth, as Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press pointed out, PGA Tour rules official Slugger White intervened to keep Spieth from potentially incurring a penalty:”
  • Doug Ferguson tweeted…”Fantastic. Spieth goes for his first drop of the year, from a sprinkler head, holds the ball out shoulder height and Slugger White jumps in with a “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Eventually got it right.”
  • “Unfortunately for Spieth, the save from White didn’t save his round. He went on to make par on No. 15 but struggled to a 3-over 73 in his first competitive round of 2019, leaving him 11 shots behind leader Andrew Putnam and in danger of missing the cut.”
4. Molinari’s flagstick experiment
Move over Bryson DeChambeau, the other Molinari is doing some sciencing of his own!
  • Alex Myers at Golf Digest...”Molinari, the older brother of recent Ryder Cup star Francesco, enlisted three pros at his golf academy in Italy to conduct the tests. The three used a Perfect Putter, a training aid that ensures you get the same speed and line, in the experiment, which consisted of three different speeds (slow, medium, and fast) and three different lines (center, touching the flagstick, and grazing the flagstick). Molinari, a three-time European Tour winner and 2005 U.S. Amateur champ, says the three pros did 100 “putts” for each combination.
  • “OK, so what did we learn from all of this? As the video sums up, the experiment yielded no difference no matter what you do with the flagstick on slow putts, but distinct advantages for both options on faster putts. On the mid-speed putts, Molinari’s test found taking the flagstick out was the better choice, while on the faster putts, the clear edge went to leaving it in.”
  • “Previously, the most-cited study regarding this issue came from short-game guru Dave Pelz in 1990. Pelz’s tests concluded you should always leave the flagstick in-provided it’s not slanting in any direction-essentially saying it’s acting as a backstop that slows down a golf ball and allows gravity to pull it into the hole better.”
(Molinari’s charts below)
5. Cink to Ping
Ping Golf has announced that six-time winner on the PGA Tour, Stewart Cink, has signed a multi-year deal with the company.
  • The deal will see the American play a minimum of 11 Ping clubs, as he looks to end an almost decade long winless streak on the PGA Tour. Cink had previously been an equipment-free agent (having been a Nike man prior to that) although he had been using Ping clubs for the majority of the last season.
  • Cink will make his first start as a Ping staff player at this week’s Sony Open. According to the company, the 2009 Open Championship winner is expected to have Ping’s G400 LST driver, G400 fairways woods, i25 irons and Sigma 2 Arna putter in the bag this week at Waialae Country Club.
6. Tales from the vault
PGATour.com’s Andrew Tursky...”In the 1970s, Ping began making two gold-plated replica putters for golfers who won major TOUR events using a Ping putter. One of the gold putters went to the player, the other was kept at the company’s headquarters in Phoenix.”
  • “Eventually, the stockpile of gold putters, which mimic the exact specifications of the game-used putters, grew into a collection of nearly 3,000 that are now housed in Ping’s “Gold Putter Vault.” And the collection continues to grow.”
  • “In turn, the Gold vault also houses a stockpile of fascinating stories.”
  • The First of Many…””The first documented putter win (for Ping) was 1962, the Cajun Classic, which was won by John Barnum. I believe it was the (model) 69 series. This tradition of doing gold-plated putters started in the mid-70s, so some of these putters have been added after the fact. The first major was the ’69 Masters with an Anser by George Archer.”
  • “It’s been interesting over the years, people have been becoming more and more aware of it… pros who did win, who never got a gold-plated putter, just because the records weren’t as well kept back then. So if a player reaches out to us and says ‘Hey, I won such and such tournament, but never got my gold putter.’ If it’s documented, we can prove it, we’re happy to give it them. We want as many putters in here as we can get, right?””
7. Allenby the officiant
Golf Digest’s Christopher Powers…:”You may be wondering how this is possible. A simple Google search will yield, among other things, horror stories of Allenby’s reputation with caddies. Now, he’s officiating his new caddie’s wedding. Troyanovich is fully aware of the absurdity.”
  • “People say, ‘Wait, what? [Danny] caddies for Robert Allenby? Isn’t he awful? Isn’t he such a jerk?'” she says. “And we’re like, ‘No, he’s amazing. We love him.'”
  • “Four years ago this week, Allenby went through what remains one of the most bizarre incidents in golf. The four-time PGA Tour winner was allegedly kidnapped, robbed and beaten outside a wine bar in Hawaii shortly after he missed the cut at the Sony Open. The following day, he posted a picture of wounds he suffered on his face that quickly went viral, causing everyone to ask questions about what exactly happened.”
  • “To this day, what occurred in that two-hour period remains unclear. Multiple witnesses disputed his original story in the coming weeks, leading many to believe Allenby had made it up. It should be pointed out that a man was eventually arrested and pleaded guilty to using Allenby’s credit cards, but that didn’t exactly clear anything up.”
8. Hanse’s revisions to No. 4
Jason Lusk at Golfweek…”Much is rightfully made of the raised and crowned greens at Pinehurst No. 2, built by Donald Ross, restored by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and ranked No. 14 on Golfweek’s Best Classic Courses list. When Gil Hanse and his design partner, Jim Wagner, were commissioned to rebuild the resort’s adjacent No. 4 course that reopened in September, they took several styling cues from No. 2 – but not the greens.”
  • “We didn’t want to build a tribute course to No. 2,” said Hanse, whose notable course projects include the Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro, Streamsong’s Black and Doral’s Blue Monster in Florida, Boston Golf Club and Los Angeles Country Club. “We liked the aesthetic and we liked a course that fit the landforms more closely, but we didn’t want to build greens like No. 2. We thought that would be stupid, because the best examples of that kind of greens are literally next door.”
  • “Compared to No. 2, Hanse and Wagner’s Ultradwarf Bermuda greens are much friendlier, unlikely to make a player attempt the same chip shot multiple times after a ball rolls off a domed putting surface. Instead of propelling slightly mis-hit shots into bunkers or scrub, as frequently happens on its famous neighbor, the greens at No. 4 are more accepting of ground-game approaches. Shots are frequently funneled to one section of green or another, even as more daunting target areas accept only perfectly played approaches on well-chosen angles of attack.”
9. The athlete/sponsor pairing we’ve been waiting for
Golfweek’s Dan Kilbridge…”The 2013 PGA Championship winner took to Twitter with the big news that he has partnered with Dude Wipes, the company’s logo appearing on his shirt sleeve and hat.”
  • “Proud to announce my partnership with @DUDEproducts and unleash #DufDUDE on TOUR. Stay clean and join #DUDEnation!”
  • “Dude Wipes are basically a portable alternative to toilet paper, which, come to think of it, might not be the worst thing to bring along to the golf course. Dufner has never been one to take himself too seriously out there, and if there’s anyone who can pull off this endorsement deal with a straight face it’s him.”
(And Dude Wipes, y’all are welcome for the free ad)
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Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship

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May 7, 2024

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GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.

From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.

Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.

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SuperStroke acquires Lamkin Grips

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1 day ago

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May 6, 2024

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SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”

“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”

Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.

According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”

CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.

“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.

Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history

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Tour Rundown: Pendrith, Otaegui, Longbella, and Dunlap soar

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1 day ago

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May 6, 2024

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Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.

It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.

PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place

The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.

This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.

With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.

DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four

It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.

It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.

PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella

Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.

64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.

PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win

Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.

The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.

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