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Morning 9: Tiger: I’m not too rusty | How would Jack fare on tour today? | WGHOF rule change

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4 years ago

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By Ben Alberstadt
Email me at [email protected] and find me at @benalberstadt on Instagram and golfwrxEIC on Twitter.
January 22, 2020
Good Wednesday morning, golf fans. Best wishes to all navigating the sea of khaki and quarter-zips at the PGA Show today!

 
1. Not too rusty
ESPN’s Bob Harig…”Now he’s back at Torrey Pines, where he’s won eight times as a professional, looking to build back up and with an eye on getting his 83rd PGA Tour victory, which would pass Sam Snead for the record.”
  • “I feel like I ended the year on a good note, and I felt like my game really didn’t need a whole lot of dusting off,” Woods said Tuesday before his first practice round, where he is testing some new equipment.
  • “I didn’t touch a club until my birthday [Dec. 30]. That was the only day I touched a club since the Presidents Cup [ended Dec. 15]. Just wanted to get away from it, I was a little bit fried physically, mentally, emotionally and just wanted to have it all end.
  • “Played on my birthday with my son, and we had a great time. Very similar to what I used to do with my dad [Earl] on every one of my birthdays when my dad was still alive.”
2. Tiger on catching Jack
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”Woods renewed his chase of Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships with victory No. 15 last spring at the Masters.”
  • “To even get to the number I’m at right now, 15, is a lot. Not too many guys who are around have seen that kind of number before,” Woods said. “It’s just going to take time. It took Jack about 26 years to get to it; it’s taken me 20 some odd years to get to mine.”
  • “There were a number of years where I didn’t compete and didn’t play so those were some missed opportunities,” Woods said. “But I’m playing again now so these are blessed opportunities, I didn’t think I would have these.”
3. The Modern Bear
Superb concept and execution from Daniel Rappaport at Golf Digest. On the occasion of Jack Nicklaus’ 80th birthday, Rappaport tries to answer the question of how the 18-time major champion, in his prime, would fare on today’s PGA Tour.
From his investigation into Jack’s driving distance…”Clearly, Nicklaus had a physical and length advantage over his competitors. But just how long would he have been with today’s equipment and technology? If you take Lee Trevino for his word: freakin’ far. “If Jack in his prime could have played the clubs and balls these guys are playing today, he would have hit that sumbitch 400 yards,” Trevino told Golf Digest in 2010, with characteristic color. “I’m dead serious.”
  • “A search for a more scientific answer is hamstrung by a lack of data. There was no ShotLink in the 1960s or ’70s, and the first year the PGA Tour kept driving distance as an official stat was 1980. Luckily for us (and somewhat randomly) IBM did, for whatever reason, decide to measure driving distances for 11 tournaments in 1967, when Nicklaus was 27 and in his physical prime.”
  • “The results, as uncovered by our Mike Johnson: Nicklaus averaged 276 yards, the longest on the PGA Tour. He was 4.5 percent longer than the average distance of 260.2. Extrapolate that 4.5 percent advantage to the 2018-’19 season, when the average was roughly 293.8 yards, and a player with Nicklaus’ advantage would have averaged 307 yards.”
  • “But there’s another relevant data point here, and it paints a slightly different picture. Nicklaus was 2.15 percent longer than the rest of the top 10, meaning there was a bit of a gap between he and the next-longest players. If we translate that advantage to last season, he’d have averaged 318.71 yards, which would have led the tour. So if we average those two figures-307 yards and 318.71 yards-we get 312.9 yards. That would have ranked fourth on tour last season, ahead of bombers like Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau, Gary Woodland and so many more.”
4. Day: “I was angry”
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”The Australian was supposed to be a big part of the International team’s game plan at last month’s Presidents Cup, but his ailing body wouldn’t allow it and he was forced to watch the matches from his couch.”
  • “Every time I would watch the Presidents Cup coverage, I was angry,” Day said Tuesday at the Farmers Insurance Open. “I had to go up to the barn to kind of either ride or do some sort of exercise to get some frustration out, because I really wanted to be there.”
  • “Day is making his 2020 debut following eight weeks of rehabilitation on his back, which caused him to withdraw from the matches at Royal Melbourne after captain Ernie Els made him a captain’s pick.”

 
5. Don’t change the rules
Golfweek’s Adam Schupak is not a fan of what the WGHOF is doing…”The World Golf Foundation Board of Directors have lost their minds. They announced on Tuesday that it was lowering the age for eligibility to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame to 45. Just four years ago, it raised the age from 40 to 50, a move that was universally praised.”
  • “The Hall said the age was lowered this time to make “an effort to ensure the game’s greats from around the world are actively recognized and celebrated.”
  • “This change happened for one individual and one individual only: Tiger Woods, who just so happens to turn 45 in December.”

Full piece.

6. Spieth looking to go back in time
There’s a thought. Golf Digest’s John Strege…”Fairways and greens became so elusive that even his vaunted short game was incapable of mitigating his misfires. The worst season of his career followed his second worst season, reflected in his plummeting world ranking. He is now ranked 46th, his worst position in more than 6 1/2 years, since midway through his rookie season in 2013 when he was in the midst a steady climb. Note, too, that he hasn’t won since the British Open in 2017.”
  • “So it was time for a reset, and, by chance more than choice – he was going to begin 2020 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, but withdrew with illness – he has returned to where it all began, the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. He made his professional debut here, in 2013, and though he missed the cut, he went on to post the first of 11 tour wins, earning nearly $4 million in the process.”
  • “…”Hopefully ready to bounce back to where I’ve been in the past. That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen right away, but kind of build to that. I feel like I got out of the offseason tournaments, the fall tournaments, what I wanted to an extent. It was a little trial and error. So big picture I have a really good frame of mind, which should allow me to build some patience into getting my game where I want it to be.”

Full piece.

7. Tempering expectations
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”Woods’ efforts to temper expectations are understandable but if new woods, specifically his driver, is all that stands between Tiger and Tour history those attempts are sure to be ignored.”
  • “Tiger’s health will always be the great unknown, and he did have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee last fall, but his body of work since coming off the surgeon’s table suggests he is, at least at the moment, injury-free – even if he doesn’t paint a perfect picture.”
  • “When I was younger it was I had more good days than bad, feeling wise,” Woods said. “Now at 44 I feel more bad days than I do good days. I think all of you at my age or older can relate to that. I think that’s the hardest part about being an older athlete.”
8. Spieth: From slow player to reformer
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”Spieth was part of the process to develop the Tour’s new pace-of-play policy as a member of the policy board and considered the circuit’s shift to a program that focused on individual pace of play a step in the right direction.”
“You can’t just improve pace of play. You can’t say, ‘Oh, our rounds are going to go from 4:40 [hours] to 3:40,’ it just doesn’t happen,” he said. “But if you can limit the individualized significant overtimes, then I think, overall, it’s just a better product that we’re putting out there, whether it’s people in your own group or how it appears to the public.”
9. Tiger Woods WITB
So, what’s Tiger Woods playing this week? As you can see, he’s testing new TaylorMade SIM woods, with the rest of his artillery being the usual suspects.
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Whats in the Bag

Michael Block WITB 2024 (May)

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13 hours ago

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May 13, 2024

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  • Michael Block what’s in the bag accurate as of the PGA Championship.

Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 “Dot” (9 degrees @7.5)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (15 degrees @14.25)
Shaft: 2024 Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 X

5-wood: TaylorMade M5 (19 degrees @17)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Orange 70 TX

Irons: TaylorMade Stealth UDI (4), TaylorMade Proto (5-9)
Shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD DI Hybrid 85 X (4), Project X 6.5 (5-9)

Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind 4 (46-09SB, 60 [unconfirmed]), TaylorMade Milled Grind 2 (52-09S, 56)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

See the rest of Michael Block’s WITB in the forums.

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Whats in the Bag

Brooks Koepka WITB 2024 (May)

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13 hours ago

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May 13, 2024

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  • Brooks Koepka what’s in the bag accurate as of the PGA Championship.

Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 “Dot” (10.5 degrees @9.75)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D Limited 60 TX (44.5 inches, tipped 1 inch)

3-wood: TaylorMade M2 Tour HL (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

Irons: Nike Vapor Pro (3), Srixon ZX7 Mk II (4-9)
Shaft: Fujikura Pro Tour Spec 95 X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore Tour Rack Raw (46-10 Mid), RTX6 ZipCore Tour Rack (52-10 Mid, 56-10 Mid, 60-6 Low)
Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (46), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (52-60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5.5

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord (Midsize)

Ball: Srixon Z-Star Diamond

Check out more in-hand photos of Brooks Koepka’s clubs here.

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Equipment

Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (5/13/24): Full set of ‘Tiger Slam’ clubs

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18 hours ago

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May 13, 2024

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At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a full set of ‘Tiger Slam’ clubs.

From the seller: (@CaymanS): “During the year of recovery from leg surgery that never quite healed, I was bored.  One thing led to another, and I ended up gradually building/acquiring the individual pieces to complete a set of “Tiger Slam” clubs.  They are what Tiger played to win 4 consecutive majors, which nobody has ever done.  This is not an exact replica of course, but something close that fit me to play a few times per year and experience what Tiger did.  But my bad leg, 4 shoulder tears, and age prevents me from the ball-striking needed to enjoy these to their fullest.  They may not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially since the driver and fairway shafts are regular flex and most players good enough to play these will need to change them, but it’s not a perfect world.  I am not a historian on this stuff, but my research indicates these are the same models Tiger used, with slightly different specs to fit me.

Full set $1,600, or…

…a donation for a Pro Kids fundraiser, or…

Driver: $70

Fairway: $250

Irons: $1,100

Wedges: $100

Putter: $350″

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Full set of ‘Tiger Slam’ clubs

This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules

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WITB

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Michael Block WITB 2024 (May)

Michael Block what’s in the bag accurate as of the PGA Championship. Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 “Dot” (9 degrees @7.5) Shaft:...
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