News

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

Published

1 year ago

Aug 5, 2019

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

Published

4 days ago

Jan 20, 2021

John Wunder

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)

5-wood: TaylorMade SIM2 (19 degrees @18.5)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana DF 80 TX (41.25 inches)

Irons: TaylorMade P7TF (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5

Wedges: Callaway MD5 Jaws Raw (52-10S, [email protected], 60-08T)
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

Published

4 days ago

Jan 20, 2021

GolfWRX Staff

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

General galleries

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

Published

6 days ago

Jan 18, 2021

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt

For comments—or if you’re looking for a fourth—email me at [email protected]. You can also find me on Twitter and Instagram.

January 18, 2021

Good Monday morning, golf fans.

1. Sony Open: Na rallies for win

AP report…”Three shots behind with six holes to play, Kevin Na birdied three straight holes and finished with an up-and-down birdie from behind the 18th green for a 5-under 65 and a one-shot victory in the Sony Open.”

“Na won for the fifth time in his PGA Tour career, and this one looked unlikely when he three-putted for bogey on the 12th hole at a time when there was no room for mistakes.”

“He answered with birdie putts of 15, 10 and 6 feet, and the winning shot was out of the right rough on the par-5 closing hole at Waialae and ran just over the back of the green. He chipped to tap-in range for his last birdie.”

“Na finished one shot ahead of Joaquin Niemann and Chris Kirk.”

Full piece.

2. Kirk retains status

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”In the final start of his major medical extension, in the final round, on the final hole, Kirk stepped on the tee box at Waialae Country Club’s short par-5 finisher likely needing birdie to keep his PGA Tour card. But after finding the left rough off the tee and then short-siding himself in the right rough with his second shot, Kirk faced a difficult, 25-yard shot for his third.”

“The result: A deft pitch to 1 feet, 5 inches, which ended the stress and made the birdie putt much easier. Kirk tapped it in to clinch at least a two-way tie for third, which is what he needed Sunday at the Sony Open to satisfy the requirements of his extension.”

Full piece.

3. Feherty canceled

Dave Shedloski for Golf Digest…”Feherty said he learned in the spring that his show was ending—not long after golf’s COVID-19 shutdown and just weeks after Golf Channel informed staff that it intended to move its operations from Orlando to Stamford, Conn., where headquarters for NBC Sports Group is located.”

“I don’t know what the reasons were for the decision. I think it was a combination of things,” Feherty said via telephone from his home in Dallas. “We haven’t been able to shoot any episodes because of COVID. The Golf Channel move. I don’t know. Maybe it was just time.

“I think a lot of people are going to be surprised that it got canceled. It always sort of amazed me the [number of] people that watched. Ten years is a whole lot more than I thought I would do. I loved doing it.”

Full piece.

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4. WGC-Florida

AP report…”The World Golf Championship is moving from Mexico City to the Gulf Coast of Florida, a change driven by the COVID-19 pandemic that has put restrictions on travel and kept away spectators.”

“The PGA Tour sent a memo to players Friday informing them of the relocation for Feb. 25-28. It will be played at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, co-designed by Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin.”

Full piece.

5. Eamon Lynch’s JT take

Eamon Lynch for Golfweek…”There are two immutable facts in this sorry mess: what Thomas said was as despicable as it was dumb, and Ralph Lauren has the right to decide who is an acceptable ambassador for its products. The company’s decision to drop Thomas won’t sit well with many, but it does not fall under the lazy jargon of “cancel culture.” It’s merely an example of the free market at work. The flip side of those facts is that an isolated, angry comment isn’t the full measure of a man, and that the defense of human dignity isn’t best mounted by an industry that postures while surviving on sweatshops.”

“I have no idea if Justin Thomas is homophobic, having never discussed with him the latest shenanigans on RuPaul’s Drag Race. What I do know is that Thomas is prone to tripping over hot mics on broadcasts. This incident illustrates that not all F-bombs are created equally, that there’s a fine line between being passionate and being a pillock, and for a brief moment Thomas strayed to the wrong side of it. But absent a pattern of hateful comments, there’s no reason to define him by that moment. The social media ecosystem is obviously not a three-strike society, but Thomas is certainly deserving of a second.”

Full piece.

6. What a round

Golf Digest’s Ryan Herrington…”During the third round at Waialae Country Club, a tight par-70 Seth Raynor design, the scoring average for the 73 golfers playing under calm, sunny conditions was 66.66. That translates to the lowest single-round average in a PGA Tour event in 18 years. The last time scores were that red was in 2003 at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, where the scoring average during the third round at Indian Wells in La Quinta, Calif., was 66.28.”

Full piece.

7. Michael Campbell saddened by current state of the game

John Huggan writing for Golf Australia…“Huggan: “Where is your game right now?”…Campbell…”It’s hard to say, because the courses I’m playing right now are so much longer than those on the senior Tour. These kids now hit it so far. They all get me by 20-30 yards off the tee. I used to be the last player – or second-last player – to hit in my group. Now I’m always the first. I’m hitting 7-irons when they are hitting wedges. So they have a huge advantage.”

“Do I like where the game is? Yes and no. A lot of the artistry in the professional game has been lost. It’s very one-dimensional – “hit is as hard as you can and go find it.” Maybe I’m old school, but you hardly ever see anyone playing the way I did anymore. Just about everyone out here plays a one-dimensional game.”

Full piece.

8. Part 2 of Tiger Doc

Adam Schupak summarizes what the second installment offers…”Part two begins with video of Tiger at Mountain Warfare Training Center in La Posta, California, and ESPN’s Wright Thompson tells viewers how 25 days after Tiger buried his dad in 2006, he went there to train with Navy Seals. One of them asks, “Why is the greatest golfer running around playing G.I. Joe?” Thompson recounts. “Tiger looked at him and said, ‘My dad.’ ”

“Thompson concludes that Tiger losing his father left “an Earl Woods size hole in his life.”

“None of this is really new reporting, but the video clips make it seem more vivid and real. Caddie Steve Williams simply repeats what he wrote in his book and had previously told journalists, but when he looks in the camera and says how Tiger, who spent his 31st birthday at a “Kill house” with Navy Seals, considered giving up golf to join the Navy Seals, it feels more believable.”