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33 Revealing Photos from The Players Championship

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Last week, GolfWRX was live from the LPGA North Texas Shootout, but we’re back on the PGA Tour this week for The Players Championship at the world-renowned TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course — where golf balls go to swim. All the big guns are in the tournament, including 50 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings.

If you haven’t checked out our photos from this week, you can see them here. They’re awesome. But for now, let’s see what the photos showed us in this week’s edition of Revealing Photos.

Slippery grips? Rub ’em with a brick

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Actually, it’s a manicure buffer. Keep the nails smooth and the grips tacky… tough to argue with practicality.

Furyk going super casual on the putting green

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No hat, showing off the full scalp, wearing flip-flops and using what looks to be a Stimp meter as a training aid? I know you live nearby, but jeez Jimmy, you’re in public!

And what’s the word with your toe nails, man?

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Jimmy Bones does know how to roll the rock with the Odyssey Versa #1 Wide (WBW), however, as seen during his win at the 2015 RBC Heritage where he made multiple clutch putts to claim his first victory in five years.

Show ’em the fist pump!

Here it is; this is what all the hype is about

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Tiger and swing coach Chris Como appear to be working on his infamous release pattern. Maybe their working on “traj” and “release pattern” simultaneously?

This is GolfWRX, not National Geographic, but…

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Is this Osprey flying around with half of a fish in his claws? Amazing (and gruesome) photo.

Fowler on the range cracking jokes

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He even got his teacher Butch Harmon to laugh.

The star of this photo is the guy on the left, who truly epitomizes #BucketHatLife — hands in the pockets, pink shirt with the collar popped, casually laughing at a Rickie Fowler joke on the range of a PGA Tour event. Just living the Bucket Hat dream.

Odyssey’s new “Big T” putters spotted at The Players

And why they’re called “Big T,” I have no idea. That’s sarcasm, by the way.

See more photos of Odyssey’s new Big T putters in our forums.

Jason Day messing around hitting some shots lefty

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Weight shift looks like it needs some work. Keep working on it.

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OK. Getting to your right side a little better here. Something’s still off, so maybe you should switch back to righty for now?

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Looks like you made decent contact based on the divot, and the release looks more balanced. You should switch back to righty now, though.

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No? Still working on your lefty swing, huh? If we’re being honest, the move is getting there — a nice full finish. Well done. Seriously, can you go back to right-handed now? The Players Championship is this week. You’ve gotta tournament to prepare for.

NSFW (this photo gallery will end all work productivity)

Impeccable craftsmanship from T.P. Mills.

Bernhard Langer’s bag: like a true GolfWRXer

A collection of different clubs from different OEM’s, and just about all the wedges and irons are dripping in lead tape.

Luke Donald was testing new Mizuno Prototype drivers, fairway woods and irons

It looks as though Donald does have the new driver in play this week, but we have yet to confirm the fairway woods or irons. Regardless, Mizuno fanatics are surely licking their collective chops over these photos for the time being.

Justin Rose is testing a Callaway Mack Daddy PM Grind wedge

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Then again, Rosey has probably tested every wedge on Tour by now. That’s commitment.

Mickelson is carrying three PM grind wedges (56-13, 60-10, 64-10)

And it looks as though he’s switched into Callaway’s new Apex MB irons from the Callaway X Forged ’13 irons this week — while still holding onto the 4-iron from his old set — he’s had in the bag in recent years.

Geoff Ogilvy’s putter has a nice patina

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And by nice patina, I mean it’s probably been laying outside for last decade, has weathered hundreds of rain storms, and has never seen the inside of a head cover. Impressive.

A bag full of bent golf clubs? 

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Or Henrik Stenson’s bag of irons and wedges after a typical 18-hole round?

The DST Compressor training aids have been popping up everywhere in Tour bags of late. The slight bend helps players get the feeling of compressing the ball at impact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hK_gcEfSW4

Stenson, on the other hand, has a tendency to compress the actual golf club itself.

Luckily this isn’t a minimum height for the actual tournament

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Rory and Rickie may not have qualified.

#ReleaseTheKeegans

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Please?

Keegs already took down Jimenez, now he’s going after Phil?

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Calm it down, dude. You’re on a golf course.

Keegan and Phil are good friends, so this is obviously just an ill-timed photograph. Keegan recently addressed his scuffle, and admitted Jimenez “schooled” him.

Is this kid giving Spieth the cold shoulder?

0075fb7e55ba3518f6610c2004ef91d3He must be a Rory fan. I hear they’re rivals now.

The PGA Tour guys are so pampered

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Us miserable hacks have to choose from white or yellow limited-flight range balls. That’s probably the only reason we’re not all out on Tour, too.

Looks like we’re not in Augusta anymore.

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At The Masters, you can get Augusta National’s famous Pimento Cheese sandwich for the same price as a coffee at The Players. I mean, $12.50 for the Skinny Turkey Sandwich?

Charley Hoffman’s Titleist MB irons suffer from road rash

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I’m not sure what the real explanation here is, but it looks like Hoffman’s iron got ran over by a car. Maybe he’s giving himself an excuse to put the new Titleist MB prototypes in the bag?

A good look at Spieth’s half interlock grip.

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Just goes to show that there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

This is Robert Streb’s wedge.

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I don’t even need to fact check this one. A Step Brothers quote in red writing on a Titleist SM5 wedge? He’s the king of the Step Brothers quote. Morgan Hoffmann has been dethroned.

Rickie Fowler’s Cobra Tour Trusty wedges are toe heavy

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His wedges, much like his irons, have tungsten plugs in their toe to push the center of gravity away from the heel and add back some of the swing weight he loses by playing his clubs 0.25 inches shorter than Cobra’s standard.

I’d make a comment about this photo…

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But I can’t figure out who’s bag it is. Oh well.

“Calls may be placed or received only in areas away from play”

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…or during a crucial bunker shot on the 73rd hole in a three-way playoff. Either one.

Note: That’s a Jordan Spieth/Shell Houston Open joke for those that don’t keep up with Tour events. 

Jordan Spieth starring as Daniel-son at The Players

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The 21-year old 2015 Masters Champion is the Karate Kid of the PGA Tour. Get it?

Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth had “Non Splash Brothers” matching stampings in their bags on Wednesday

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The Splash Brothers are the NBA’s Golden State Warriors duo of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson — known for making it rain, or “splash” from beyond the arc.

Making it “splash” in golf usually takes on a different meaning, like dunking a golf ball in the water. Nothing to celebrate there.

Upon clarification, the matching wedges were in the bags of Spieth and Thomas for their caddies to use in the caddie contest held at No. 17 (The Island Green). Obviously, neither caddie would want to splash the ball on that particular hole.

G-Mac is using a Cleveland prototype putter

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Is that felt from a tennis ball on the face (surely it’s not, but that would be pretty cool, no?). Looks like McDowell may have finally ditched the Odyssey White Hot Mallet #7 prototype he’s had in the bag for years.

We’d show you some photos of K.J. Choi when he’s not working out on the range

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But he’s never not working out on the range.

Webb Simpson on the range with a throwback hickory-shafted iron

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“Hey, what’s this wooden thing?”

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“It’s a putter right? You set up like this?”

Jerry Kelly’s Cleveland wedges are printed with $100 bills

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Here’s a fun fact: With only three PGA Tour wins, Kelly has made over $26 million in career earnings.

Show me the money, Jerry. 

PGA Tour caddies have a serious gripe with their treatment at Tour events

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But with a caddie’s own reserved parking spot at The Players, maybe this isn’t the best week to hold a protest.

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He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

21 Comments

21 Comments

  1. Jim Rockford

    May 11, 2015 at 10:29 pm

    I do believe popped collar / bucket-hat man is Snedeker’s caddie.

    Unrelated, what is up with J. Rose’s 8-iron? It looks like he grabbed it from a set of Spalding Executive irons.

  2. Gary O

    May 11, 2015 at 9:49 pm

    Furyk’s training aid: check out “theperfectputter.com”

  3. Sam

    May 11, 2015 at 9:37 pm

    That rory and rickie comment was hilarious!!

  4. Shawn

    May 11, 2015 at 8:18 pm

    Not buying KB’s denial of Pepsi’s comment to Miguel.

  5. Mark

    May 11, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    What is the training aid furyk is using?

  6. RG

    May 11, 2015 at 2:03 am

    It’s Andrew of course dumba#*!! Typo, Andrew knows who the main man is!

  7. Benny

    May 10, 2015 at 8:02 am

    I look forward to this new segment each week. Awesome stuff, love the humur and also the comments. Keep them coming please. Its why Golfwrx is the best site going!

  8. Lordmokoloko

    May 10, 2015 at 1:57 am

    Can you please get rid of the Furyk’s foot picture on the homepage!

  9. MRC

    May 9, 2015 at 8:36 pm

    I can’t stop laughing! Well done….Well said!

  10. Jeffcb

    May 9, 2015 at 9:33 am

    The first shot is a sanding pad for drywall. Used one myself.

  11. RG

    May 9, 2015 at 2:23 am

    Andre my man, my main man! You are large and in charge! Bigger than the Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man! Best thing going on this website. Please keep up the good work, and excuse me, one quick word….
    !Attention All Club Ho’s and Teaching Pros!
    When you start talking about “worn out grooves” and “latest shaft technology” and “more distance” and the “importance’ of these ideas understand this here and now,
    Bernhard Langer hits Hogan Apex 3,4,5 irons from ’92 and Adams MB Black from ’02 AND Vokey wedges that are 20 years old. He has had them in continuous play all this time. All have Hogan Apex shafts that were manufactured in the 1980’s in them. He will take these old worn out ancient tech clubs and beat your brains in. My point:
    Stop hyping the “need replacement” angle. It’s really only “I want new clubs.” Don’t believe me? Go ask Bernhard. And if you think you know more about golf and equipment than him, you need professional help.

  12. greg

    May 8, 2015 at 6:54 pm

    Some good, some okay. Still pretty funny and a good addition to the front page. Thanks, AT

  13. DMcDFrom83

    May 8, 2015 at 6:41 pm

    In what might be one of my silliest oversights, it just dawned on me that not everyone uses an interlocking grip. Of course I have always acknowledged the 10-finger baseball grip s an oddity, but to this day put no thought into an overlapping grip.

  14. Desmond

    May 8, 2015 at 4:09 pm

    Funny stuff…

  15. Nick

    May 8, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    Anyone but a German for #19

    • sgniwder99

      May 9, 2015 at 7:52 am

      Holy crap, that was hilarious. Well played!

    • Rich

      May 9, 2015 at 11:24 am

      Sorry, I don’t understand the reference?

    • Golfraven

      May 9, 2015 at 5:43 pm

      Ok I see. Rather odd. They should have thought about it.

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Equipment

Q&A: Martin Trainer on his Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers” putter, 6.5-degree driver, and “butter knife” 2-iron

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As unbiasedly as I can put it, Martin Trainer has one of the coolest club setups in professional golf. (At some point soon, I’ll put together a top-10 list of “coolest club setups on Tour,” but I know that Trainer will be in the top-10)

What a lineup. He plays a 6.5-degree Wilson prototype driver, a 13-degree Wilson prototype 3-wood, a true blade Wilson Staff Model 2-iron, and a Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers Commemorative” putter!

 

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I mean, look at this 2-iron from address…

To quote the great author R.L. Stine: “Goosebumps.”

On Wednesday at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open, I caught up with Trainer to learn more about his bag setup.

Here’s what he had to say:

You have the Internet going crazy over your bag setup, and your putter. Where’d you pick the Bobby Grace-Greg Chalmers putter up? How long have you had it?

MT: This was from when Bobby Grace came to my course in California: Cal Club. And for whatever reason, they just started having them in the shop. So then I took my buddy’s, started using it, and made, like, a million putts in a row, which is how every putter story begins, I guess.

And then, I bought a couple of my own, used it for years, got to the Tour with it, won on Tour with it (the 2019 Puerto Rico Open). Then, about a year later, started using another putter, did that for a couple years, but now it’s back in the bag.

When did it come back in the bag?

MT: December of this past year. So a few months ago.

What year would you say was the first time you threw that in the bag, or, like, when you bought it?

MT: God…Probably, 2016, maybe? 2018?

Do you remember how much you paid for it?

MT: I don’t know, actually. Maybe $100-150 bucks or something. I think that’s the only golf club I’ve bought between high school and now. Well, two, since I bought two of them.

The driver is interesting, too. What went into the prototyping process?

MT: That was a version of the current driver, but it was the prototype that they first came out with for Tour guys to try. And for whatever reason, I just never switched out to the new one.

It’s just 6.5 degrees, right?

MT: Yeah. Very low loft, yeah.

What kind of ball speed do you have with that these days?

MT: Like high 170’s.

Yeah, that’ll work. And then a 2-iron blade? We’re seeing fewer and fewer of those out here.

MT: Yeah. The butter knife.

Very cool thing to have in the bag. Have you done any testing with driving irons? 

MT: Yeah, I used to have a thicker one, but it was a little offset, and I never hit it that well. And then finally, I started messing around with the butter knife. And I remember the first time I looked down at it, I was terrified. And then I ended up getting used to it, putting it in play, and it’s been in place since. It’s a pretty good club for me.

How far do you carry that? 

MT: Like 235.

A good little wind club, I’m sure.

MTL Yeah, exactly. I can hit it very low. It’s great.

I love it. You have people shook looking at that. Thanks for the time, man. 

MT: Absolutely.

To see more photos and discussion of Trainer’s bag, click here.

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Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (3/28/24): L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max Broomstick with LA Golf Paige Spiranac shaft

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At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max Broomstick putter with LA Golf Paige Spiranac shaft.

From the seller: (@hibcam): “L.A.B. GOLF Mezz.1 Max Broomstick- LA Golf Paige Spiranac Shaft- 44″/79.5. Brand new, never used brown leather cover. The head was professionally anodized from Orange to Blue (Orange looked bad with the Pink shaft so I had it changed). Only a few rounds on this combo. Please see last pic- slight ding on back corner. 8.5-10 condition. THE SHAFT COST $475/ THE PUTTER $625. $799 shipped in the US. ONLY $699 SHIPPED.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max Broomstick with LA Golf Paige Spiranac shaft

This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules

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Spotted: Tony Finau’s driver shaft change at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open

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Tony Finau has always been known as one of the longest players on the PGA Tour, but he has recently been working on adding a little more distance. Last year, Finau averaged 118.3 mph club head speed and 178.08 mph ball speed, all while playing a Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70 TX driver shaft. This year, he has increased his club head speed to 123.93 mph and his ball speed to 183.32 mph.

However, Finau’s overall distance has decreased by two yards in that time. From a fitting perspective, something was amiss. We asked Tony about the shaft change at the Texas Children’s Hospital Open.

“[I’m seeing] better numbers with the spin. My driver’s been a little high spin for me over the last month or so, and so I just figured it was time to probably check out the equipment,” Finau said. “And it definitely showed me that I was using a shaft that’s maybe a little too tip-stiff for me, the way I load the club now. [I’m seeing] better numbers with the spin.”

Finau switched from the Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70 TX into the Diamana GT 70 TX. The newer Diamana GT has a slightly different profile than the D+ Limited with the stiffest handle section in the Diamana lineup. The mid sections between the two are similar stiffness but the tip is just slightly stiffer in the Diamana GT. Both shafts are within one gram of each other in the 70 TX. The torque rating on the GT is 0.1 higher than the D+Limited’s 2.7 measurement.

Mitsubishi lists the Diamana GT as a shaft between the mid-launching Diamana TB and the new low-launch Diamana WB shafts. For most players, it would be considered a mid/low launch and low-spin shaft option. Mitsubishi’s Xlink Tech Resin System makes sure the maximum carbon fiber content is there for smooth feel without reducing the strength of the shaft. MR70 carbon fiber is used for reinforcing the shaft and boron is used in the tip for its high strength and compression properties.

Finau is still using his trusty Ping G430 LST driver in 9 degrees and has the adjustable hosel set to -1 degree of loft (standard lie angle). Finau’s long-time favorite Lamkin UTX Green grip is installed. He definitely has a few extra wraps of tape under that grip as you can see the bulge down where the grip meets the shaft.

One final note: Per Ping’s PGA Tour rep Kenton Oates, Finau’s driver is also adjusted to play with an additional degree of loft to help dial in his desired launch.

We’ll see how he fares with the new setup this week in Houston!

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