Tour News

Tour Mash: John Daly is a winner on the Champions Tour

Published

4 years ago

May 8, 2017

John Daly returned in a champagne supernova (or shower), the LPGA Match Play and the European Tour Golf Sixes crowned their first champions, and a Charlotte staple on the PGA Tour moved east to Wilmington for one year only. No majors, but tons of excitement. Let’s find out exactly what happened on the professional tours the first week of May 2K17.

PGA Tour Champions: Daly wins for the first time since 2004

Soak it in. Here's how @PGA_JohnDaly won his first PGA TOUR Champions event. ???? pic.twitter.com/4pIRA0GfCA

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 8, 2017

It’s unheard of to close with three consecutive bogeys and win the tournament, but John Daly has made a career out of the “unheard of.” Fortunately for the big man from Arkansas, none of his pursuers could figure out the final three of holes at The Woodlands.

Tommy Armour III was neck and neck with Daly, but bogeyed his final two holes to finish tied with Kenny Perry at 13-under par. The 57-year-old was also in search of his first Champions Tour triumph, but he faltered when the heat rose. Perry is no stranger to the Champions Tour podium, and a spectacular eagle at No. 13 brought him to the chase. Zero birdies over the closing five holes relegated him to a tie for the runner-up spot with TA3.

PGA Tour: Harman wins No. 2 at Wells Fargo

The final round from a different angle.

Follow us on Snapchat!
????: pgatoursnaps pic.twitter.com/c3RZCCVVkg

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 8, 2017

Brian Harman simply got it done. His homeward half on Sunday saw a bit of everything: miraculous par saves, three-whacks, birdie bombs and a sprinkling of greens in regulation. No one anticipated that the Georgia native would stare down the PGA Tour’s hottest player (Dustin Johnson) and a resurgent champion (Pat Perez), but stare them down he did!

Johnson was returning to the PGA Tour after his freak back injury in Augusta last month, and he nearly claimed the Wilmington (N.C.) version of the celebrated Charlotte tournament. Johnson shot the low round on Sunday, matching his 5-under Saturday effort with an identical round on Sunday. Trouble for the big man was, he came up one birdie short. Perez also had his chance, making four birdies down the stretch to match Johnson at 9-under, one back of the champion. A double-bogey 6 on the 14th did the 2017 Mayakoba champion in.

Harman was simply unflappable down the stretch. A wee hiccup of a three-putt on the No. 15 muddied the waters, but closing birdies from 5 and 28 feet, respectively, on Nos. 17 and 18 cinched the win for the left-hander.

European Tour: Inaugural Golf Sixes goes Denmark

After 3 holes: 0-1
After 5 holes: 2-1#GolfSixesDEN ???????? pic.twitter.com/V6agC1AZMY

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) May 7, 2017

This weekend on the European Tour saw two-man teams representing 16 countries battling it out in six-hole matches. Throw in a shot clock to ensure no one plays slowly and you have the recipe for an attention-grabbing event. It was called the European Tour Golf Sixes, and it offered unprecedented pace and excitement on the table from start to finish at the Centurion Club in England

In the end, it was the Danish pairing of Lucas Bjerregaard and Thorbjorn Olesen who dispatched the Australian partnership of Sam Brazel and Scott Hend, 3 holes to 1. Earlier in the day’s semifinal matches, Denmark had sent off Italy, while the Aussies bid farewell to the host country.

Each of the holes of Golf Sixes took on a unique character. An array of ancillary contests and attractions added to the pressure and excitement of the uber-quick competitions. Get down early and you were certainly finished. Here’s to more events like this one!

LPGA Tour: Sei Young Kim wins Lorena Ochoa Match Play

.@TheAmyRogers takes you through the exciting final day @LOYMEXICO & how Kim and Jutanugarn made it to the final match ==> pic.twitter.com/totakBT5Am

— #CMEFinalStretch ???? (@LPGA) May 7, 2017

The first rule of match play is that there are no guarantees. The hot hand wins the day, regardless of seeding and current form. Sei Young Kim of South Korea knows a thing about this format, though. She has competed in three playoffs on the LPGA Tour and triumphed in all. On Sunday, she made the Lorena Ochoa Match Play at the Club de Golf Mexico her sixth victory with a 1-up win over Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn.

The final paired a No. 2 seed with a No. 1, but it was the lower seed who jumped out to a 3-up lead after the first three holes. Jutanugarn fought back valiantly, narrowing the gap to one hole at the final tee. She was unable to secure one more birdie, and it was Kim who hoisted the victor’s trophy. With the win, Kim earned $250,000. Mi Jung Hur of Korea outlasted Michelle Wie in 22 holes to claim the third-place match.

Web.com Tour: PGA Tour LA grad Ashley earns first win

Stuck inside a memory.

A day that Nate Lashley won't soon forget. ???? pic.twitter.com/TWh2cKxXJc

— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) May 8, 2017

Nate Lashley picked up where he left off at the end of 2016. After three victories on PGA Tour Latinoamerica earned him the honor of Order of Merit winner, Lashley headed off to the Web.com Tour with full status. Returning to the comfortable environment of the Caribbean, Lashley played his final three rounds at Corales Puntacana in 18-under to leapfrog the rest of the competition and claim his first Web.com Tour victory.

Victory wasn’t easy for the 34-year-old University of Arizona alum. Rafael Campos, one of the hottest players on the tour, had the 54-hole lead and showed little evidence that he would falter. A 71st-hole bogey for the golfer from Puerto Rico, who tied for seventh last month at the PGA Tour’s Shell Houston Open, cleared the green for Lashley. He triumphed by one over Argentina’s Augusto Nuñez. Campos, Seth Reeves and Tyler Duncan finished in third, two behind the winner’s 20-under tally.

Your Reaction?

LIKE37
LEGIT2
WOW2
LOL2
IDHT0
FLOP0
OB0
SHANK3

Tour Photo Galleries

WGC-Workday Championship Tour Truck Report: New putter for Rory, more AutoFlex experiments

Published

5 days ago

Feb 25, 2021

John Wunder

First and foremost, prayers and love to Tiger Woods and his family.

TaylorMade

Rory McIlroy is going back to an older model putter this week at Concession swapping his Spider X for a TP Juno.

Robert McIntyre AKA “Bobby Mack” put a new TaylorMade Rescue ’21 Hybrid ([email protected]) in the bag with a Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black Hybrid 100 6.5 TX.

Matthew Wolff put a new TaylorMade (19) UDI in the bag with a Mitsubishi MMT 125TX.

Collin Morikawa was testing SIM2, SIM2 Max hybrids this week with Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX shafts.

Dustin Johnson alongside TaylorMade’s Keith Sbarboro was testing SIM2 drivers with Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X, Fujikura Speeder Evolution 661 and an LAGP Proto.

Callaway

Jon Rahm made adjustments to his Mavrik Sub Zero 5-wood to optimize launch. The 5-wood has 16.4 degrees of loft and a Black Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8X. The adjustments were to the lie of the club going from 59.8 to 58.9 and weight distribution from 12g Front/6g Back to 10G Front/6g Back. Dialed.

Min Woo Lee put a new Epic Speed ([email protected]) with a Fujikura Ventus Red 7X. Lee also debuted his new logo which is on fire.

Titleist

Genesis Invitational champion Max Homa tested TSi2 5-woods to give him some options for some of the tee shots at Concession. It’s equipped with a Graphite Design Tour XC 8 TX.

Lanto Griffin swapped into a shorter driver going from 45 to 44.5 in his TSi3 (10). Griffin’s driver has a Project X HZURDUS Smoke Black 70 6.5TX

Justin Thomas put a TSI3 (9) in the bag this week. The new set up is powered by a Mitsubishi Diamana ZF TX

Ping

Cameron Champ switched back into a shorter length Ping G425 LST this week going from 45 to 44.25 inches. The shaft is a Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green 70 6.5 TX (@44.25 , Tip 1.5, D4 SW).

Louis Oosthuizen did something interesting. He had a Ping build him a G425 LST (10.5 @ 9.4, Small -) with the company’s lightweight Alta Slate CB 55 stiff shaft. The 2010 Open Champion was looking for a softer feel with the driver, which isn’t surprising, considering he was seen taking a hard look at Adam Scott’s TSi with an AutoFlex. The whippy lightweight plot thickens…

Ping released a bunch of new putters this week for seeding. Multiple staffers tested them and we will see on Thursday if any go in play.

Cobra

Cobra’s Ben Schomin (and king of the mullets) is doing something to Bryson’s driver—wanted to post this because of the respect for Ben’s hair. Hair aside, Bryson did put a new LAGP Axis Blue 6X in his driver and was also testing new Rad Speed 3 Woods.

Misc/Free Agents

Tommy Fleetwood swapped out his Callaway MD5 Jaws wedges for a set of Titleist Vokey’s (52M, 56M, and 60T) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts.

Adam Scott (Titleist staff) was testing long center shafted Odyssey Two Ball 10.

Your Reaction?

LIKE88
LEGIT3
WOW0
LOL3
IDHT0
FLOP1
OB1
SHANK9

Tour Photo Galleries

Interesting photos from WGC-Workday (plus links to all 9 galleries)

Published

5 days ago

Feb 25, 2021

Ryan Barath

This week, the PGA Tour is at Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida, where we were on-site Tuesday and Wednesday to spy some interesting things from the grounds and on the range as players were getting ready to battle for a $10.5 million purse at the WGC-Workday Championship.

Don’t forget you can check out all our image galleries in the GolfWRX Tour Equipment forum.

Frankin 2-Ball

There is a lot going on with the center-shafted 2-Ball Ten. It has weight plugs epoxied into the sole cavity, a hand-drawn marker line on the alignment discs, and a White Hot OG insert—and did I mention it has a long grip?

Speaking of 2-Ball…

The aforementioned 2-Ball Ten caught the attention of Adam Scott, and he was spotted messing around with it around the putting green.

Iron covers: the new trend?

Before you start thinking Bubba Watson was the trendsetter, it was actually Aaron Rai who has been using iron covers longer. Indeed, he won while using them at the 2020 Scottish Open.

JT’s putter cover flex

JT with the full flex on his fellow players as he has his own “Inspired by” Justin Thomas cover in the bag.

Santa?

Does Santa moonlight as a caddy on the PGA Tour?

Xander: Always working

A few weeks ago it was a Quintic. This week, it’s an iPad on a very clever stand. Xander is always working hard on his putting!

Louis Loves that Callaway wedge

Louis Oosthuizen has been a long-time Ping guy, but the one club he can’t seem to shake is his Callaway PM grind wedge.

A couple of guys talking putters

Collin Morikawa—with his TaylorMade FCG Spider—was spotted talking to Rory McIlroy, who looks to have gone back to a TaylorMade Juno blade putter from his Spider.

Fleetwood hanging onto his TVD Vokey wedge

Tommy Fleetwood has transitioned almost his entire bag to TaylorMade, but a couple of the holdout include a classic Vokey TVD wedge.

More Autoflex testing on tour?

Adam Scott looks to be more than just a fashion influencer out tour. Louis Oosthuizen was spotted talking with Mr. Scott about his Autoflex shaft and even gave it a few wiggles.

DJ testing all kinds of shafts

Look at this action!

As reported last week in the Genesis Invitational Tour Truck Report, DJ was testing a new LA Golf shafts DJ Proto, and this week at the WGC, it looks like the testing continues. He was spotted hitting his tried-and-true Fujikura 661, a Ventus, and the LA Proto. What will go into play Thursday, nobody knows (I mean we will, of course…).

Testing looked to have continued on Wednesday—DJ was rotating through three different drivers on the range, along with some prototype putters on the green.

Laurie Canter with Honma blades

Although not a household name (yet), Laurie Canter is inside the top 100 in the official world golf rankings and has a very interesting bag of clubs—including Ping woods, Honma blades, and both Callaway and Titleist wedges.

New Ping putter line spotted

Ping loves to seemingly randomly drop new putters, and although we don’t have the tech story on these yet, we can conclude that there is some sort of insert technology to go along with some sort of heavy (likely tungsten) heel and toe weights to boost MOI.

Check out all of our galleries below

Your Reaction?

LIKE13
LEGIT3
WOW2
LOL2
IDHT1
FLOP1
OB1
SHANK1

Tour News

Genesis Invitational Tour Truck Report: DJ testing driver shafts, Xander’s new irons

Published

2 weeks ago

Feb 17, 2021

John Wunder

It’s always a big week at Riviera, but from a tour truck standpoint, it was actually pretty mellow. Some testing here and there with the big news being DJ testing a bunch of driver shafts. Anytime a world No. 1 does anything to his setup, it’s always news.

Titleist

Brian Harman switched into a Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 5 X in his TSi2 (9 degrees).

Lanto Griffin went from TSi2 (10 degrees) driver to TSi3 driver (10 degrees). His shaft of choice is the Project X HZURDUS Smoke Black 70 6.5 TX.

Aaron Dill AKA @vokeywedgerep

Lots of fresh grooves this week (staffers)

Cam Davis 60T

Jordan Spieth 60T

Matt Jones 60-12D

Adam Scott 60-12D @10 (new)

Robert Streb 60-04L

“Adam Scott is making changes to his 60-12D. Mentioned with firmer conditions, he wanted to feel less forward bounce on his lob wedge. Took his 60-12D and reduced forward bounce and camber down two degrees. This allowed the face to get closer to the ground and move his strike a little higher up the face in increasing his launch slightly.”

Ping

Scott Harrington put a new G425 LST 3-wood (14.5 degrees) in the bag this week. It’s equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X shaft.

Kevin Streelman (non-staffer) added a bit of loft to his G425 LST (9 degrees). Streelman still has the five-plus-year-old Aldila Rogue Silver 125MSI 70 TX.

TaylorMade

Collin Morikawa tested irons with TaylorMade rep Adrian Rietveld working back into a combo set he has preferred in the past. The current combo this week with TaylorMade’s P7MC (4-6) into P730 (7-PW) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts.

Collin Morikawa WITB

Driver: TaylorMade SIM (8 degrees @ 9.5)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Titanium “Rocket” (14 degrees @ 13.5)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited D+ 80 TX

Hybrid: TaylorMade SIM2 Max Rescue (19 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White Hybrid 100 TX

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

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM8 (52-12F, 56-14F) TaylorMade Hi Toe2 (60-07LB)

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: TaylorMade FCG

Ball: TP5 21

Rather monumental potential iron shaft switch for Rory McIlroy: @trottiegolf shared a truck ticket with an order for a new set of P7MB’s with True Temper Dynamic Gold X7’s. We will see if they go in play.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Chris Trott (@trottiegolf)

Dustin Johnson was doing some serious shaft testing this week and was spotted with a LAGP Proto “Made for DJ” prototype. Johnson is currently trying to find a shaft that would complement the SIM2/Max head. This particular prototype has a VERY stable tip, which complements DJ’s desire to never miss it left.

LAG DJ Proto 2 of 2 (LAG made two trotos to test). The shaft is 73 grams, which is a bit heavier than his normal gamer.

If it goes in this week, we will get more info. Stay tuned.

Callaway

Xander Schauffele put a new set of “Raw” TCB irons in play (4-PW) with Nippon Pro Modus3 130X shafts. Xander was also testing a Mavrik Sub Zero 4-wood with a Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 X and Mavrik 7-wood with a Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 X. He will also most likely have his Mizuno MP-20 HMB 3-iron in play this week at Riviera.

Kevin Na tested an Epic Speed Sub Zero Triple Diamond (9 degrees) with a Graphite Design Tour AD GP 6 TX shaft.

Francesco Molinari tested an Epic Speed Triple Diamond driver (9 degrees) with a Fujikura Ventus Red 6 X and an Epic Speed 3-wood (15 degrees) with a Fujikura Ventus Red 7 X.

Marc Leishman was also testing Epic Speed Triple Diamond (9) with a Fujikura Speeder EVO IV 757 TX.

ScottEG/KBS

Luke List had a new set of PXG 0311 ST irons built up with KBS Tour V 125 S+ shafts.

Bryson Dechambeau made some loft adjustments to his SIK Proto putter. BAD was looking to add a bit of loft to get the ball on top of the grass a bit better heading into the Florida swing.