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Morning 9: “Healthy” Tiger at Sawgrass…working with a putting coach too | What PXG means | Vokey on Woods’ 2001 wedges

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By Ben Alberstadt ([email protected])

March 12, 2019

Good Tuesday morning, golf fans. PSA to all anti-Tigerites who will email me about the abundance of TW items. There are several Woods-related stories included today. Read items 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9 only.
1. Woods arrives at Sawgrass “healthy”
Per USA Today’s Steve DiMeglio…”I feel good, man.”…Those were the words of Tiger Woods as he arrived Monday at TPC Sawgrass to begin preparing for The Players Championship, the PGA Tour’s aflagship event that begins Thursday.”
Channeling James Brown? Better than channeling Nine Inch Nails (“Hurt”).
  • DiMeglio also writes…”He said he’ll play a 9-hole practice round Tuesday before meeting with the media.”
  • “I didn’t want to push it. No need to,” Woods said of his decision to bypass one of his favorite tournaments. “Not at my age. Can’t do that anymore.”
2. …and works with putting coach Matt Killen
Our Gianni Magliocco writes…”Tiger Woods says he is fit and healthy ahead of this week’s Players Championship, and the 14-time major champion has putting coach Matt Killen alongside him at TPC Sawgrass as he seeks his third title at the event.”
  • “Golf Channel’s Tim Rosaforte broke the news on social media, and the move represents the first time Woods has had an instructor of any type since his split with Chris Como in 2017.”
  • Here’s the tweet: “@TimRosaforteGC…. Back of the range @TigerWoods was working with @killengolf. I’ll have more tonight on Live From Players @GolfChannel”
  • “Woods struggled with the flat-stick at his last outing at the WGC-Mexico, where he three-putted six times. That event represented the first time that Woods has lost strokes to the field on the greens at a tournament since the Northern Trust back in August, and over his previous 24 rounds, the 43-year-old ranks 42nd in this week’s field for strokes gained putting.”
3. In or out?
Golf Digest’s Mike Stachura pointed out Francesco Molinari holed the most significant “flagstick in” putt of the new era.
  • “The great debate over whether to leave the flagstick in while putting got another endorsement Sunday when Francesco Molinari holed a swerving 44-footer for birdie with the pin in on the 18th at Bay Hill to cap his closing 64 and the Arnold Palmer Invitational victory. However, one of the world’s leading putting instructors and the resident expert on putting at the TPC Sawgrass thinks the flagstick’s value just might end up being more mental than physical.”
  • He also writes, “….Molinari was of at least two minds when it came to his putt on 18. He said his brother, Edoardo, has produced research questioning the value of leaving the flagstick in, and those findings mirror the research conducted for Golf Digest by Tom Mase, a professor of mechanical engineering at California Polytechnic State University. The research project from Cal Poly showed that breaking putts were holed 80 percent of the time with the flagstick out, but only 56 percent of the time with the flagstick in…”
4. What PXG, Honma mean
Geoff Shackelford quotes and comments on a few portions of Brian Costa’s WSJ item on the expansion of the luxury golf club market.
“I was thinking that PXG’s driver price drop signaled a weakening of the high end club market, but as WSJ’s Brian Costa writes, Honma’s entry into the U.S. and other signs suggest an expansion…”
“There was this from Mark King, ex-Taylor Made CEO:
  • “‘How do you justify these prices? How do you justify the price of a Lamborghini?'” said Mark King, the former chief executive of TaylorMade who is now a consultant to Honma. “‘People don’t understand what’s under the hood, nor do they care. There is a certain status it represents.'”
  • “And yet…’U.S. retail sales of golf equipment grew 8% from November 2017 to November 2018, at $2.6 billion, according to market data compiled by NPD Group. Matt Powell, a sports industry analyst for the company, said that growth was largely driven by low-cost, entry-level gear.'”
5. Voke on Woods’ 2001 Players-winning wedges
Andrew Tursky talked to the maestro of wedgecraft, Bob Vokey, about Tiger Woods’ wedges, gamed during his 2001 Players Championship win.
  • “As Vokey explained, Woods used two Titleist Vokey 200-series wedges — a 258-08 sand wedge and a 260-06 lob wedge — during his tenure as a Titleist staffer. Vokey says he “lightly touched the heel” of each wedge for a slight bit of heel relief, and that Woods “liked a certain radius” of the leading edges.”
  • “Woods’ 58-degree wedge, which originally had 8 degrees of bounce on it, was no ordinary 58-degree wedge. According to Vokey, Woods liked the look of a 58-degree wedge, but he had it bent to 56 degrees, since playing a 58- and 60-degree wedge left too small of a yardage gap. Bending the wedge 2-degrees strong gave the wedge 6 degrees of bounce rather than 8, though. Comparatively speaking, 6 degrees is not a lot of bounce for a sand wedge. Knowing this, Vokey cautioned Woods that the low-bounce sand wedge might “grab” the turf too much, and Woods ultimately made the proper adjustments.”
6. Remembering TW’s U.S. Am win at Sawgrass
PGATour.com’s Sean Martin with an excellent reflection on Tiger Woods’ U.S. Amateur victory at TPC Sawgrass in 1994.
  • “…The wiry Woods, wearing a striped shirt and large straw hat, let out a violent fist pump after holing his birdie putt on the Stadium Course’s iconic par-3. It’s an image that has a permanent place in his career’s highlight reel. For many, it was the first time they witnessed one of Woods’ electric celebrations.”
  • “He was once 6 down to Trip Kuehne in the Amateur’s final match. That putt gave Woods a 1-up lead. He won the 18th hole, as well, to become the youngest player to hoist the Havemeyer Trophy.”
  • “He was 18 years old and still weeks from starting his college career at Stanford. It was the first of three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles that preceded his 80 victories on the PGA TOUR.”
7. Get well, Double P!
Pat Perez posted on Instagram that he “blew out” his Achilles, saying “See y’all down the road somewhere.”
According to the scuttlebutt, Perez sustained a freak injury in the gym.
8. Masters odds update
Per Golf Channel’s Will Gray…”Here’s a look at the other notable odds via the Westgate, with the Masters now just four weeks away”
10/1: Dustin Johnson
12/1: Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose
14/1: Justin Thomas
16/1: Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka
18/1: Jon Rahm
20/1: Bryson DeChambeau
25/1: Bubba Watson, Jason Day, Tony Finau, Tommy Fleetwood
30/1: Phil Mickelson, Francesco Molinari, Hideki Matsuyama
9. Tell us how you really feel, Zac Blair!  
Zac Blair on Twitter...
  • “Here’s my take … the players is a HUGE golf tourney … 1 that I’m positive any pga tour member would absolutely LOVE to win … but it’s not a major & I don’t think it’ll ever be a 1 when everyone is trying to shove it down your throat as a 1 … Just let it be the Players”
  • “So again to recap … it’s a HUGE event … it’s the best field in golf by a long shot … biggest payday in golf … but it’s not a major …. BUT I don’t think that should take away from how great the event it … it’s amazing … just stop trying to spoon feed it as a major”
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6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Chuck

    Mar 13, 2019 at 11:01 pm

    The Vokey 200 series and 400 series (Vokey’s personal favorite) are still to this day the best looking shapes he’s ever made.

    I’d love to compare Tiger’s current custom wedges to some old Vokey 200’s.

    Reply Report comment

  2. Joey5Picks

    Mar 12, 2019 at 3:57 pm

    Grown men look ridiculous wearing a cap backwards.

    Reply Report comment

  3. Thomas A

    Mar 12, 2019 at 10:26 am

    Pat Perez in the gym?!?! His Achilles didn’t stand a chance.

    Reply Report comment

  4. Martin Ayers

    Mar 12, 2019 at 9:25 am

    Finau paying less than Molinari.. and Rickie on same line of betting as Brooks and Spieth .
    Go home Vegas, you’re drunk!

    Reply Report comment

    • Swirley

      Mar 12, 2019 at 8:54 pm

      I guess you don’t understand how it works.

      Reply Report comment

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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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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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