News
USGA relaxes U.S. Open exemption rule for U.S. Am winners

No longer will the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur champions have to make the difficult decision of retaining amateur status to take advantage of the exemption into the U.S. Open.
The USGA announced today that, beginning in 2020, regardless of whether a player turns pro or remains an amateur s/he is still guaranteed a spot in the national open.
Previously, players were only entitled to the U.S. Open/U.S. Women’s Open spot if they maintained amateur status, leading to much handwringing over the decision to turn pro.
“We believe this change gives our champions an important option as they choose whether and when to embark on their professional careers,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA Senior Managing Director, Championships. “Given the significant purses awarded at the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open, we realize how important it is for players to make the most appropriate decision for his or her career, and the positive impact it could have at the outset of their professional careers.”
We’ve seen different schools of thought regarding the “to turn pro or not to turn pro debate,” but what just befell Viktor Hovland is a perfect illustration of the complications created by the old rule.
Hovland, who won the 2018 U.S. Amateur, elected not to turn pro ahead of the 2019 U.S. Open and played (brilliantly) as an amateur, finishing tied for 12th and turning pro after the event. Fast forward to the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, and Hovland isn’t among the 125. Had he been able to compete at Pebble as a pro, he’d have earned enough points to be playing The Northern Trust this week. Instead, he’s heading to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals to try to lock up his card.
The 119th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship is going on now at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point., Mississippi. The U.S. Amateur begins August 12 at Pinehurst.
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Equipment
American Express, Abu Dhabi Golf Championship Tour Truck Report: BK to Srixon? MCA has a ton of new shafts, Rickie goes graphite

TaylorMade
Most of the big action for Team TaylorMade is taking place in Abu Dhabi with Rory and Tommy in the field. After extensive weeks of testing, this is what they have in the bag this week
Tommy Fleetwood WITB
Driver: TaylorMade SIM2 (10.5 degrees @8.5)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana DF 70 TX (tipped 1 inch, 44.75 inches)
3-wood: TaylorMade SIM2 Rocket 3 (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana DF 70 TX (42.5 inches)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana DF 80 TX (41.25 inches)
Irons: TaylorMade P7TF (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Odyssey White Hot Pro 3
Grip: SuperStroke Mid Slim 2.0
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord (D, 3W, 5W, 7W, and wedges), Iomic Sticky @12:30 (irons)
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x ’21 Proto
Rory McIlroy WITB
Driver: TaylorMade SIM2 (10.5 degrees @8.5)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X (45.5 inches, 59.25 lie, D4)
3-wood: TaylorMade SIM2 (15 degrees @13.5)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX (43.25 inches, 58 lie, D4)
5-wood: TaylorMade SIM2 (19 degrees @ 18.25)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P7MB (4-PW)
Shaft: Project X Rifle 7.0 (6.5 in PW)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG2 (52-09SB, 56-12SB, 60-08LB)
Shaft: Project X Rifle 6.5
Putter: TaylorMade Spider X Copper (34.25 inches, 2.5 loft, 70 lie)
Ball: 2021 TaylorMade TP5x (#22)
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord (58R 1+1, logo down)
Matthew Wolff WITB
Driver: TaylorMade SIM2 Max (10.5 degrees @9)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD TP 7 TX
3-wood: TaylorMade SIM2 Titanium (15 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD XC 8 X
Irons: TaylorMade P7MC (3-PW)
Shafts: Project X 6.5
Wedges: TaylorMade MG2 (50-09SB, 56-12SB, 60-09LB)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Grips: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord (+3 double-sided tape)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider X Proto (33 inches, lie at 70, 3.5 loft, D4)
Grip: TaylorMade Red/Black
Ball: TaylorMade TP5 ’21 PIX
Other TM news
Doc Redman put the new Aldila Ascent Red 70 TX in his SIM2 (60 TX pictured below).
Sepp Straka put the new MCA Kaili White 60 TX in his SIM2.
Titleist
The Fujikura Ventus Red trend continues with Russell Henley moving from his KBS TD to Ventus Red 7 X in a TSi4.
Tyler Duncan was testing a custom K Grind lob wedge. He was inspired by Kevin Na’s win and looking at Aaron Dill’s pics on IG. Can you blame him?
Justin Thomas (Abu Dhabi) moved out of Ventus Red 6 TX (tipped 1 inch) in his TSi3 (9 degrees) into a Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 6 X. According to my source, JT was looking for a specific feel with the driver and also one that dialed in the launch windows on a little cutter he has been working on. We will keep you updated if it sticks or if any of the info changes.
Callaway
Akshay Bhatia put the new Apex Utility Prototype in play with a KBS Tour Hybrid Prototype 105 X shaft. Shay also put the new Epic Max LS driver (9 degrees @8.5) with a Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green “Hulk” 75G 6.5 TX.
Kevin Na tested Callaway’s Epic Max LS (9 degrees) with a Graphite Design Tour AD GP 6 X. No need to panic, that original Epic gamer ain’t goin’ anywhere till it keels over and dies.
Phil Mickelson was spotted testing a Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X shaft in a Mavrik Sub Zero. Not confirmed if it will indeed go in play.
Ping
Scott Stallings (non-staff) put a Ping G425 LST (10.5 degrees @11) driver in play with an MCA Kaili White 60 TX (tipped 1 inch @45.25).
Abraham Ancer (non-staff) also converted to the Ping G425 LST (9 degrees @7.75) with an MCA Tensei AV Raw Blue 65 TX (tipped 1 inch @45).
Cameron Champ lost his clubs en route to Palm Desert and the Ping Tour squad had to build a brand new set of sticks from scratch, top to bottom. Thankfully the gamers showed up and Cam was left with a fresh new backup set.
Srixon
Rumor has it that former world No. 1 Brooks Koepka has inked a deal with Cleveland/Srixon to play its Z-Star XV ball, ZX7 irons and Cleveland Zip Core Wedges. Koepka showed up to Palm Desert with a new set of irons with Tour Issue X100 shafts, a Srixon utility, and his trusty Nike Vapor Pro 3-iron and TaylorMade M5 driver with an MCA Diamana D+ Limited 70 TX shaft. We will continue to update to confirm or deny the rumors. Awesome news for Srixon and BK if true.
Cobra
Rickie Fowler made some significant changes to his bag coming into Palm Desert. The Cobra staffer put the REV33 MB’s back in the bag this time with a fresh set of Mitsubishi Chemical MMT 125 TX graphite shafts. Fowler, who has tested quite a few different shafts over the years, going from KBS C-Taper S+ to Tour Issue X100, loved the integrity of the MMT’s.
In testing, they tried a set that was soft stepped as well as the current set that is straight in. The overall takeaway was integrity on mis-hits and hitting a very specific flight window all while keeping spin the same. Fowler also had the new Cobra RadSpeed Driver in the bag with a Mitsubishi Tensei Orange 60 TX shaft.
Jason Dufner put the new Aldila Tour Concept 60 TX in his Rad Speed Driver (70 TX pictured below).
Free Agents
Scottie Scheffler finally swapped out his TaylorMade P730’s for a brand new set of P7TW’s (5-PW). Like his older set, they come fully loaded with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts. Scottie did keep his Srixon Utility 3-iron and Z785 4-iron in the bag, however.
Newly minted free agent Ryan Moore showed up to the Desert with a bag only a true gear junkie could love. The six-company bag featured a TaylorMade SIM Driver, TSi2 3-wood, Srixon hybrids, Mizuno MP-18 irons, and Cleveland Zip Core wedges.
Paul Casey put the Titleist TSi3 driver in the bag with a Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70 TX shaft.
KBS seeded out a new Proto graphite shaft. The yet-to-be-named new edition to the TD line has a higher modulus material on the bottom third to increase stability and lower torque. The feedback with the original TD from players with fast speeds: it needed to be stiffer. This “newer version,” which will probably only come in the category 4 and 5, is very firm.
Patrick Reed went back to his Ping G400 LST driver—that’s all on that.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2021 American Express

GolfWRX is live at The 2020 American Express as the tour returns to the mainland United States following its Hawaii Swing.
Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Patrick Cantlay, and of course the tournament’s host, Phil Mickelson, will all tee it up in La Quinta, California, this week.
We have an abundance of special galleries as new gear floods the tour as players return to the continental U.S. for the first time in 2021, as well as general galleries for your perusal.
Special galleries
- Cameron putters – 2021 American Express
- PXG Gen 4 prototype drivers – new putters
- UST Maymiya LinQ shafts – American Express 2021
- Mitsubishi Kaili & MMT shafts – American Express 2021
- Titleist TSi 2 & TSi 3 hybrids – American Express 2021
- TaylorMade putter cover for Palm Springs/Palm Desert – American Express
- New Aldila Synergy, Ascent & prototype shafts – American Express 2021
- Callaway Apex Pro iron, Epic Driver and fairway, Apex iron & hybrid
- New Perfect Practice training aids – American Express 2021
- New KBS prototype shafts – American Express 2021
- Rickie – Cobra driver & MMT graphite shafts in his irons – American Express 2021
- Cameron putters (#2) – American Express 2021
- Cameron putters – #3 – American Express 2021
- Super Stroke grips – American Express 2021
- Odyssey putter covers – American Express 2021
- Paul Casey putting a Titleist driver in play – American express 2021
- Graphite Design AD HD shafts – American Express 2021
- Anirban Lahiri’s custom Odyssey/Toulon putter – American Express 2021
General galleries
- 2021 American Express – Tuesday #1
- 2021 American Express – Tuesday #2
- 2021 American Express – Tuesday #3
- 2021 American Express – Tuesday #4
- 2021 American Express – Wednesday #1
- 2021 American Express – Wednesday #2
- 2021 American Express – Wednesday #3
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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News
Morning 9: Sony Open: Na wins | Feherty canceled | Eamon Lynch on JT

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Travisty
Aug 6, 2019 at 8:43 am
Finally a smart move by the USGA! Many of the kids who want to turn pro and capture a Tour card will now have more opportunity to do so before the US Open hits, instead of trying to make all that money in the back half of the season once they are officially allowed to turn Pro. This certainly would have helped out Hovland a little this year. This is a great decision by the USGA.
tom
Aug 5, 2019 at 7:23 pm
Good move … but decades too late.
Johnny Newbern
Aug 5, 2019 at 4:04 pm
Such a good move. Well done.