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11 Revealing Photos from the FedEx St. Jude Classic and U.S. Open Sectionals

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GolfWRX was live this week from the FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee; also on Monday was the U.S. Open Sectional qualifier for the Memphis area, held at both Germantown and Ridgeway Country Club.

If you missed any of the photo galleries, make sure to browse the links below:

Hats off to the USGA and PGA Tour getting on the same page, and having a sectional qualifier just down the road from the PGA Tour event that week. That’s the kind of forward thinking that keeps professional golfers sane. Many of the players were participants in both fields, and here’s how some of the notable names finished up.

DNQ: Lee McCoy, Wesley Bryan, Andres Romero, Ryan Palmer, Scott Stallings, Robert Allenby, Ben Crane and Steve Stricker (who’s playing more this week than he has seemingly all year).

Alternates: Thomas Aiken, Robert Garrigus (Nos. 1 and 2, respectively).

Qualified

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The only player to qualify who isn’t in the FedEx St. Jude field is amateur Sam Burns, a current member of the LSU Tigers Men’s Golf Team.

For FedEx St. Jude Classic participants, I wonder whether qualifying for the U.S. Open, or not qualifying, is more of a distraction during the week? Surely, having to book a tee time at Oakmont for a U.S. Open practice round is a good problem to have, but you never know what will distract the mind of a golfer.

But anyway, let’s reveal some photos in this week’s, Revealing Photos: U.S. Open Dreams.

Wedge stampings

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I think wedge makers have conspired against me since I declared wedge stampings dead. Between Cam Smith’s Kendrick Lamar stampings, and Wesley Bryan’s Breaking Bad and American Sniper stampings, these wedges are some of the coolest I’ve seen on Tour.

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“Gimmie the HeisenWedge.”

See all of the stampings from Smith, and Bryan, who’s making his PGA Tour debut this week, in the gallery below.

In case you’re wondering, and based on Smith’s Twitter, I’m guessing he named his dog Kendrick, thus “Kendrick the Sausage.”

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How to make new clubs look old 

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Slab a pound of lead tape on your irons and let your wedges rust. Just a reminder, these are Titleist 716 T-MB and 716 AP2 irons released in 2016, as well as Vokey SM5 wedges that were released in 2014… although they look as though they’ve been sitting in a used club bin for a decade.

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Magnification

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This is just about the thickest top line I’ve ever seen on a putter. It’s like when your parents start needing reading glasses, and adjust the text on their phone to the biggest font. With this putter, there’s no excuse not to be aligned at your intended target.

And speaking of font-size adjustments, the staff bag pictured below needs some. I can hardly even read Loren’s name.

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I don’t know much about Robby Shelton…

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But I have a feeling he’s not a big fan of the Auburn Tigers.

HZRDUS Slime

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The green, slime-colored outline on the new Project X Handcrafted HZRDUS T1100 shaft is like caution tape; high-speed swingers only. It’s rumored to be extremely low-spinning.

Weapons that work

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Every week we see the Tour guys with the newest, greatest gear in the bag since they’re under contracts with sponsors and whatnot. But it’s always interesting to see what accomplished players are bagging who aren’t collecting paychecks from sponsors. Here, we have Ping G15 clubs, which were released in 2011. And I’ll bet there’s a wear spot the size of a dime on the exact center of those irons.

This photo is from the U.S. Open Sectionals

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You know how I can tell? Three main reasons:

  1. Shorts: Other than U.S. Open qualifiers, when do you ever see a professional golfer wearing shorts?
  2. Morning dew on the greens: PGA Tour courses always have the workers out bright and early to cut and roll the greens, and the practice greens. But those luxuries aren’t always provided at U.S. Open qualifying courses. Welcome to the struggle of a daily golfer.
  3. No fans, ropes, TV towers or sponsor signs around the green: Isn’t it nice? Just him and the golf course, the way golf was meant to be played.

Sock game strong

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Also something you never see during Tour events is the socks of the players, eliminating the opportunity for players to make fashion statements with their socks.

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It’s unfortunate, since socks with stripes and flowers add some undeniable pop to an outfit. But the pants rule also protects any fashion faux-pas like the mid-grays pictured below.

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Maybe it’s best the pros wear pants after all.

Morning disaster

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Isn’t this just the worst? You end up leaving your fresh cup of morning coffee on the roof of your car, and don’t realize until you drive away and go to take your first sip.

The most common injuries for golfers are the wrist and back

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These still photos of Dustin Johnson’s swing explain the reason for both of those injuries.

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Good thing he’s a tremendous athlete who can withstand the bending, twisting and turning, because I’m pretty sure my back would disintegrate if put into that position.

Did you know?

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Cary Middlecoff, or should I say Dr. Cary Middlecoff, was a dentist in the Army before becoming a professional golfer. He finished his career with 40 Tour wins, three major victories, and just over $250,000 in career earnings. Here’s more about his life and career in a New York Times article from 1998, the year of his death.

Tournament patrons, take notes

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If you plan on attending a professional golf event, and you’re not riding around on a segway like the guy on the far left in the picture above, then you’re doing it wrong.

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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.

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Brad

    Jun 13, 2016 at 12:51 pm

    Although it has moved to 2 weeks before or even a week after, the FESJC is usually the week before the US Open and the qualifier is always at Ridgeway CC or Germantown CC. The USGA having it in the same city isn’t something new.

  2. Michael

    Jun 11, 2016 at 8:40 pm

    You were right when you said wedge stampings were dead. This trend jumped the shark long ago.

  3. Nevin

    Jun 11, 2016 at 1:15 pm

    Cary Middlecoff has to one of the most under-appreciated Tour Pros of all time. 40 wins and 3 majors, yet he is hardly discussed, even when the topic is under-appreciated Tour Pros.

  4. greg Moore

    Jun 11, 2016 at 12:44 pm

    The Segway guy got kicked off once security caught up with him.

  5. Weekend Duffer

    Jun 11, 2016 at 12:41 pm

    I wait every week for this article

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Whats in the Bag

Adam Scott WITB 2024 (May)

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  • Adam Scott what’s in the bag accurate as of the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson. 

Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 TX

 

Driver: TaylorMade BRNR (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees), TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 9 X, Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 9 X

7-wood: TaylorMade Stealth (21 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI Black 9 X

Irons: Srixon ZX Mk II (3), Srixon ZX5 Mk II (4), Srixon ZX7 Mk II (5), Srixon Z-Forged II (6-9)
Shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD DI Hybrid 105 X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50-12F, 54-08M), SM9 (LW), WedgeWorks (LW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-54), S400 (LW)

Putter: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Proto

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

See the rest of Adam Scott’s WITB in the forums.

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Whats in the Bag

Pierceson Coody WITB 2024 (April)

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Driver: TaylorMade Qi 10 (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 70 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi 10 Tour (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Black 80 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P790 (3), TaylorMade P7MC (4-6), and TaylorMade P730 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (50-09SB, 54-11SB, 58-08LB)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: TaylorMade TP Reserve Juno

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: TaylorMade TP5x

Check out more in-hand photos of Pierceson Coody’s WITB here.

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Equipment

Why Ben Griffin is making the surprising switch to a Maxfli golf ball

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Ben Griffin might be a little too young to remember some of the iconic Maxfli golf balls that won on tour, but that isn’t stopping him from putting the newest Tour X ball from the brand in play. Today, Maxfli and Griffin announced an exclusive partnership that will see the PGA Tour player using the company’s four-piece golf ball.

While Griffin might be the first PGA Tour player to put a new Maxfli golf ball in play, he isn’t the first profesional golfer to do so. Lexi Thompson has been playing the Maxfli Tour golf ball on the LPGA Tour since the beginning of the 2024.

 

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We caught up with Ben at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas this week to ask him about the new ball switch.

“I was able to finally get my hands on some and try it and immediately I saw faster ball speed with the driver, which is always something every golfer wants to see.

“Then I had to test a lot around the greens and test irons, test spins, test everything like that. Basically, I came to the conclusion that I thought this was probably one of the best golf balls for my game.

“And so I decided to make it official and partner with them and very excited to help kind of launch this golf ball and see where it takes us.”

Griffin’s ball of choice is the Maxfli Tour X, a four-piece golf ball that is made for highly skilled players that want consistent distance off the driver and spin around the green. An updated core design helps add the ball speed that Griffin mentioned and two ionomer mantle layers separate low spin driver shots from higher spin iron and wedge shots. Maxfli uses Center Of center-of-gravity balancing to ensure each ball has consistent flight in the air and roll on the green. Like all golf balls on tour, the Tour X features a cast urethane cover for maximum performance, and it has a tetrahedron dimple pattern to enhance aerodynamics.

It is exciting to see a golf ball at a lower price point — $39.99 at Golf Galaxy — being used by a top 100 ranked player in the world like Ben Griffin, and equipment junkies will be keenly watching his performance with the new ball.

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