News
President Trump to award Tiger Woods the Presidential Medal of Freedom following “incredible comeback in sports and life”
On Monday, following Tiger Woods’ victory at the 2019 Masters, President Donald Trump announced that the 15-time major champion would be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Along with the Congressional Gold Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, and Woods will become the fourth golfer in history to receive the medal.
President George W. Bush awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to both Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, while President Barack Obama bestowed the award upon Charlie Sifford in 2014.
President John. F. Kennedy established the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, and it is an award which on average is handed out just 11 times per year.
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Equipment
Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
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Equipment
Spotted: Tommy Fleetwood’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X Prototype putter
Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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Equipment
Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
…The Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.
Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.
Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.
According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.
He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.
Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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bj
Apr 17, 2019 at 7:47 am
Agent Orange strikes again
Joe
Apr 17, 2019 at 1:02 am
As a Navy veteran, I’ll side with General Matts when he declares trump is an idiot. Mattis will salute Clinton, Bush, and Obama, but won’t salute Trump. He might know a little more about the current president than the hacks around here.
Harry Hoopla
Apr 16, 2019 at 8:44 am
The Presidental Medal of Freedom is a joke. For christ sake Ellen DeGeneres has one.
Patty McReederson
Apr 16, 2019 at 8:33 am
A Presidential Medal of Freedom? Really?? I think an honorary European Tour Membership is more in line here..
Jose Pinatas
Apr 16, 2019 at 8:19 am
Sigh… go away Trump. If he goes away, I will. Maybe worth it for some of you…
Imissalot
Apr 15, 2019 at 6:50 pm
What an honor for Tiger to get this from possibly the greatest president to ever hold the office!
Aj
Apr 16, 2019 at 7:40 pm
Idiot
Boyo
Apr 18, 2019 at 12:20 pm
Your handle says it all!
Unfortunately you and your ilk procreate at a 4 to 1 level to the more intelligent people in this country.
Seth Riser
Apr 15, 2019 at 5:58 pm
No one deserves this award more than Tiger Woods. I hope he waits a couple years and receives it from a real president and not a self-aggrandizing buffoon.
the dude
Apr 15, 2019 at 8:11 pm
…ugh…and you were doing so good…
Pelling
Apr 15, 2019 at 5:51 pm
It’s a shame that the President has to insert himself into Tiger’s story, and ride on Tiger’s coattails. On his own, Trump is a loser, a cheater at golf, and no one wants to have anything to do with him. Maybe by 2020 we will be done with the orange clown and he can employ a foot wedge on his own ball at his own golf course where illegal immigrants toil in violation of the law.
Snowflake
Apr 15, 2019 at 7:07 pm
Most of the pga tour supports this great president. Look it up for yourself. Your opinion is only respected at munis, where you probably spend your time playing
bc
Apr 15, 2019 at 7:56 pm
Yes they support him because he is all about helping the rich get richer, and since most of them are millionaires they like that plan!
Mad-Mex
Apr 15, 2019 at 10:50 pm
Name the last poor person you ever worked for,,,,,,,,, I love his plan and no, I am not rich, just your average ex-illegal who became legal,served for 20+ years, made some smart investments and after 20 year in Fed. Law Enforcement, will retire next year at age 60 on about $7,500 a month.
Nyt
Apr 16, 2019 at 1:45 am
Well done sir, congratulations on your success in life.
Jose Pinatas
Apr 16, 2019 at 8:17 am
7500 a month? That’s rich bro.
Mad-Mex
Apr 16, 2019 at 8:30 pm
Thank You,,,,,
Did not do it alone, great woman next to me. Discussing part is I am considered a “traitor” and sell out by several family members because I don’t “share” my good “luck”.
Big Bad Wolf
Apr 15, 2019 at 11:07 pm
President Eisenhower and broadcast TV help create and promote “Munis” to help the game grow. Private country clubs did nothing but perpetuate exclusiveness and status as it has done from the beginning. If there were no “Munis” the PGA and LPGA Tour would be missing many great players today!