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Morning 9: How many majors will Koepka win? | Getting to know BK’s caddie | eSports comes to the European Tour

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By Ben Alberstadt ([email protected])

May 21, 2019

Good Tuesday morning, golf fans.
1. Koepka’s coach speaks
Coming fresh off the celebration of Brooks Koepka’s fourth major win, Koepka’s long-time coach, Claude Harmon III chatted with Johnny Wunder as he was just about to hop on a plane back to The Floridian.
A bit of their conversation…
  • JW: Brooks is walking off the 18th green after another major triumph. What is the first thing you guys said to each other?
  • CH3: Well, obviously there was a lot of emotion in that moment, but he told me it was the happiest he has ever been on the golf course, and after everything he’s done, that’s a big statement.
  • For him to put in all the hard work and to fight as hard as he did on a golf course that completely changed on the last day and come out on top makes me extremely grateful to be a part of the team that supports that. I believe he will find out more about himself from getting through the final nine holes than he would if he would have had a parade coming in and won by seven.
  • JW: That’s a great point. It seems like he is more apt to win even more majors based on that back nine than he would have otherwise.
  • CH3: I don’t think if you were watching it on TV you could have any appreciation for just how difficult it was. What DJ did yesterday was impossible and having that up ahead applies even more pressure to a leader. Ricky Elliott and BK are looking at the scoreboard and seeing DJ and 3 under and having no idea how that’s even possible. It was that tough.
  • JW: I think Brooks stubbornness is part of his true greatness. Would you agree?
  • CH3: His perspective constantly was “I’m still in the lead and someone is going to have to catch me and this golf course is extremely difficult.” Even after all the bogeys on the back side, he still controlled the lead and kept that mantra. The crowd yelling “DJ! DJ!” actually didn’t piss him off, it woke him up and made him want to hit a good drive and show the crowd he was still leading.

2. Welcome to Brough Creek National!

Our Peter Schmitt spoke with the founders of the (in-progress) backyard golf course that has taken Instagram by storm…
  • “Raise your hand if you’ve ever wanted a golf course in your backyard.”
  • “Of course you have.”
  • “Now leave your hand raised if you actually rolled up your sleeves and made it happen.”
  • “Among the very few people left with their hands in the air are Ben Hotaling, Zach Brough, Evan Bissell, and Mark Robinson, the driving force behind Brough Creek National. That’s right. These guys are building a golf course in their backyard. From scratch.”
  • “The true beginnings of golf aren’t well-documented, but one thing’s for sure: people were playing golf at least 400 years before the first working internal combustion engine. Long before golf course architecture was a multi-million dollar investment before the first dime of revenue trickled in, courses were laid down largely by hand using the natural movement of the land. In that same spirit, Ben happened to notice that there was one particular shot in their backyard that reminded him of the Road Hole at St. Andrews, as it plays over their barn and to a green situated right in front of the road to the property.”
3. How many majors does BK win?
ESPN’s panel of golf experts (and Michael Collins–just kidding…love you, Michael) discusses this subject (and others)
  • “Bob Harig: Seven. He is making it look easy right now, but we all know that it is not. Rory McIlroy seemed destined for double-digit majors five years ago and is stuck on four. Jordan Spieth, same thing. It’s hard to win them, and while he’s got a great formula, stuff happens. And let’s say he does get seven. That is still phenomenal.”
  • “Michael Collins: Twelve … if he stays healthy. I think his philosophy on how to approach tournaments is working pretty damn well so far. Why would he change anything? Let’s say he has 10 more “solid” years — that’s 40 major chances. What has he shown that would make you believe he can’t go 8-for-40?”
  • “Ian O’Connor: I love the fact that Koepka is gunning for 10 or more and, according to his former college coach, gunning for Tiger’s 15 and Jack’s 18. But since his great uncle Dick Groat was buddies with another slugger with blacksmith arms, Arnold Palmer, I’ll give Brooks Arnie’s seven.”
4. Get used to it
….as though you weren’t already.
Tod Leonard of the San Diego Union Tribune…
  • “If there was something we learned from Brooks Koepka’s dominating and then nerve-jangling victory in the PGA Championship on Sunday, it is to step back, put away our biases, and appreciate the history we are seeing.”
  • “Koepka is never going to be as eloquent in sharing his thoughts at Rory McIlroy. He doesn’t possess Jason Day’s all-out candor, or Jordan Spieth’s entertaining nervous chatter.”
  • “Koepka is never going to smile just because we want him to. It seems that only looking into his reflection in a trophy can do that.”
  • “Yet, the man, still a golfing pup who only turned 29 this month, is evolving in the public eye while becoming one of the game’s most intriguing characters.”
  • “We could all do a better job of recognizing that.”
5. Ricky!
An excellent portrait of Brooks Koepka’s caddie, Northern Irishman Ricky Elliott, in this BBC report…
  • “Elliott was a good golfer in his own right, winning titles such as the Ulster Boys Championship and the Ulster Youth Championship as well as representing Ireland at the 1990 European Youths Championship.”
  • “After attending the University of Toledo on a golf scholarship, Elliott tried to make it as a professional before accepting an assistant professional’s post at Lake Nona in Orlando.”
  • “The 42-year-old eventually moved into caddying and worked for the likes of 2003 Open champion Ben Curtis before the job opportunity which would change his life at the 2013 US PGA.”
  • “Claude Harmon was coaching Brooks and he said he needed a caddie for Oak Hill,” Elliott added.
6. European ETour Championship
Interesting stuff…
“The European Tour has teamed up with Dreamhack to launch its first esports competition – the European eTour Championship – at this week’s Made in Denmark presented by FREJA.”
  • “Eight of the best players from around the world in the most popular online golf game “World Golf Tour” by Topgolf will go head-to-head in knockout match play format for a prize fund of $5,000 – the biggest prize pool in an esports golf tournament.”
  • “These eight players represent the more than 15 million players around the world that play World Golf Tour (WGT) for the most realistic golf game experience online or on their mobile devices.”
7. Don’t compare
JT, for one, is having none of the “2000-2001 Tiger vs Brooks” talk…
Per Golfweek’s Roxanna Scott…”You can’t compare any of us to Tiger because the stuff that Tiger did – nobody has come close to. Now if Brooks continues this run and does this for 15 years, yeah you can compare the two somewhat. The guy’s won four majors; Tiger’s won 15,” Thomas said Monday morning at a media event at Ralph Lauren’s headquarters in Manhattan to launch his new PoloGolfxJT collection for the brand.
“They’re just so different. It’s not fair to Brooks either; everyone should be bowing down to him and giving him the utmost respect because what he’s done is nothing short of miraculous and unbelievable. I know I’m jealous of him. I’m just hoping somehow to do some of the same.”
8. Equipment streaks
Golf Digest’s E. Michael Johnson with an interesting note about some equipment-related major championship streaks…
  • “Brooks Koepka has now won three of the past five major championships played and four of eight. How historically dominant is Koepka’s stretch? Only Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan are the only male golfers to have won four majors in a eight-major stretch in the modern era. Koepka’s PGA Championship win has elevated him into elite territory.”
  • “There were a few other impressive streaks in majors solidified on Sunday as it relates to the equipment front. Koepka’s winner’s bag from the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black extended four significant equipment runs in drivers, driver shafts, irons shafts and the golf ball. TaylorMade, Mitsubishi and True Temper have all won the past five majors while Titleist golf balls have found the winner’s circle in eight of the last nine, with Tiger Woods’ win at this year’s Masters using a Bridgestone ball stopping a seven-major winning streak for Titleist.”
9. Another side of BK
Golfweek’s Forecaddie…
“Every so often Brooks Koepka will send Florida State coach Trey Jones a text message that reads – Do you guys need a ride?”
“That translates to a lift in a private jet for the FSU men’s golf team.”
“Jones told the Forecaddie that the now four-time major winner is largely misunderstood. Koepka isn’t going to offer up much information – about his generosity or otherwise -­ unless directly asked. “
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GolfWRX Editor-in-Chief

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  1. Speedy

    May 21, 2019 at 1:09 pm

    We’re used to BK winning majors, and what a breath of fresh air it is.

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Equipment

Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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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

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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.

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Equipment

Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange

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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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