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Morning 9: DJ: POY | “Let Winged Foot be Winged Foot” | Branden Grace’s COVID-19 saga

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4 years ago

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1. DJ: PGA Tour POY
PGATour.com staff report…“The PGA TOUR announced today that Dustin Johnson has been named the 2020 PGA TOUR Player of the Year as voted by the TOUR’s membership for the 2019-20 season. Scottie Scheffler was voted 2020 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year.”
  • “PGA TOUR members who played at least 10 official FedExCup events during the 2019-20 season were eligible to vote.”
  • “Johnson, 36, of Jupiter, Florida, won the FedExCup for the first time in his career, winning twice in the FedExCup Playoffs and three times on the season. The three victories, which came at the Travelers Championship, THE NORTHERN TRUST and the TOUR Championship, tied Johnson with Justin Thomas for the most on TOUR and marked his fourth season with at least three wins. Johnson moved to 27th on the all-time wins list with 23 career PGA TOUR victories and extended his streak of consecutive seasons with a win to start his career to 13, becoming the fourth player to reach that mark (others: Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods).”
2. Hoggard: Let Winged Foot be Winged Foot 
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…“Every major championship in recent years has felt like an unflinching staring contest between the game’s best players and the rules makers who appear to be growing increasingly weary of ever-increasing driving distances.”
  • “Winged Foot is a major championship blue blood and a chance for the USGA to subdue the distance debate by keeping the game’s best and brightest on their toes and somewhere around par.”
  • …”When it comes to set up, for the USGA, less should be more. If Winged Foot is simply allowed to be Winged Foot, with no tricks or gimmicks, it’s a product that more often than not challenges the world’s best while simultaneously evoking begrudging respect.”
3. COVID-19 a double-edged sword for Branden Grace
Golf Channel’s resident grinder, Rex Hoggard, again…”Branden Grace lost a chance at a U.S. Open spot because of a positive COVID-19 test result and eventually got into the field because of the same thing.”
  • “On Aug. 1, Grace was forced to withdraw from the Barracuda Championship after testing positive for the novel coronavirus. He was tied for second place after two days and rounding into shape just in time for the PGA Championship.”
  • “I was really disappointed with the way things happened,” Grace said on Monday at Winged Foot. “In Reno, I was playing well and then pretty much costing me the spot to get into [the U.S. Open]. I couldn’t compete the next week at the PGA, missing that one I was really bummed … [and] this is my favorite major, the U.S. Open.”
  • “On Sunday following a closing 68 at the Safeway Open, the “circle [went] around a little bit,” Grace explained when the USGA informed him he’d moved from first alternate and into the field at Winged Foot when Scottie Scheffler withdrew because of a positive COVID-19 test.”
4. Nichols: A wall around a compelling finish 
Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols weighs in on the wall…“Yet the wall created unnecessary controversy. It wasn’t easy to accept an obstruction on an island green even with seats there for important guests. But we did because someone has the pay the bills, and on the LPGA title sponsors are vital at the majors.”
  • “Take out the seats and the guests though, and it simply didn’t make sense.”
  • …”Tune in for the big finish! Nelly Korda! Brooke Henderson! Lexi Thompson!”
  • “Fans who don’t normally watch the LPGA might have flipped over to Golf Channel for the conclusion, only to become instantly perplexed by the presence of a wall.”
  • “The LPGA can make it right in 2021, by taking the finishing hole back to its roots as an island green and eliminate the grandstands. At the very least, move them as far out of play as possible and downsize. Make the closing par 5 a true championship test, one that puts risk back into the equation.”
5. Horsfield positive for COVID-19
BBC report…”England’s Sam Horsfield will miss this week’s US Open at Winged Foot, after testing positive for Covid-19.”
  • “The 24-year-old returned a negative test last week, but tested positive after arriving in New York for what will be the second men’s major of 2020.”
  • “Horsfield qualified for the US Open by winning two of the six events that made up the European Tour’s UK series.”
  • “American Scottie Scheffler, 24, has also withdrawn from the tournament after a positive test.”
6. Little John wins
David Song for Golfweek…“Former PGA champion John Daly may not be out of the woods yet when it comes to his illness, but at least he has something to cheer about.”
  • “John Daly II, otherwise known as “Little John,” is Daly’s 16-year old son. He is also the newly-crowned winner of the International Junior Golf Tour’s Fall Kickoff event, which took place Sunday at Bishops Gate Golf Academy in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida.”
  • “Daly II held off the charge of Filip Jakubcik, birdieing his last hole to finish 12 under. His final-round 4-under 68 kept him one shot ahead of Jakubcik for the win.”
7. Federal prison for Masters schemer
AP Report…”A Georgia man was sentenced Monday to more than two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a scheme that used stolen identities to obtain tickets to the Masters golf tournament.”
  • “Federal prosecutors say Stephen Michael Freeman, 42, of Athens, and three family members in Texas sold those tickets for a profit.”
  • “U.S. District Court Judge Randall Hall in the tournament’s hometown of Augusta sentenced Freeman to 28 months in prison. More than a year had passed since Freeman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. His parents and a sister also entered guilty pleas last year and were sentenced to three years on probation.”
8. Mickelson battling driver difficulties as he returns to Winged Foot
Golf Channel’s Will Gray…“As Phil Mickelson prepares to return to the site of one of his biggest heartbreaks, he admits that there is work to do.”
  • “Mickelson broke par in all four rounds at the Safeway Open, finishing the week at 10 under and at one point playing 48 straight holes without a bogey. But that score still left him in a tie for 44th in Napa, 11 shots behind winner Stewart Cink, and came after a week during which Mickelson struggled off the tee. He hit only 12 of 56 fairways, a stat that’s in part due to the tight confines at Silverado Resort & Spa but also ominous given what lies ahead next week.”
  • “I’ve got some things to work on, but it’s not far off,” Mickelson said. “I’ve got to drive the ball well, my short game needs to be sharp, putting needs to get sharper on faster greens. Lag putting, that’s going to be key. All those things.”
9. Tour Truck Report
Johnny Wunder is calling on all his sources for the inside scoops from the tour trucks at Winged Foot ahead of the U.S. Open.
Pull up a seat at the table for a full plate of equipment info.
From the Ping tour truck
  • Louis Oosthuizen had some fresh Glide 2.0 “Stealth” wedges built (50-SS, 54-SS) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts
  • University of Texas standout Cole Hammer tested some new Anser style putters
  • Eddie Pepperell added a whole set of Glide Forged wedges (52, 56, 60) (KBS Tour 130X shafts)
  • Joaquin Niemann is testing a G410 7-wood (20.5 degrees). Graphite Design AD DI 80 X shaft as well as an i210 (3-iron) with a Graphite Design AD DI 85X Hybrid. He’s looking for a 240-yard club.
  • Cam Champ is testing a G410 hybrid (19 degrees) with a Fujikura Ventus Blue 10 X shaft.
From the Titleist tour truck
  • Jimmy Walker is testing a new TSi 5-wood (18 degrees @17.5). Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X shaft.
  • Charlie Howell is now in the TSi3 driver, 3-wood, 7-wood. The driver has MCA Tensei White AV Raw 65 TX, 3-wood has a Fujikura Atmos Black 7 X, and 7-wood 8X.

 
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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. JThunder

    Sep 15, 2020 at 1:38 pm

    It’s funny how a guy goes to jail for 2 1/2 years for Masters ticket scheme… whereas billionaires who deliberately defraud citizens for their life savings and tank the entire economy see no jail time.

    Reply Report comment

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Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship

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9 hours ago

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May 7, 2024

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GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.

From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.

Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.

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SuperStroke acquires Lamkin Grips

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1 day ago

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May 6, 2024

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SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”

“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”

Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.

According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”

CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.

“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.

Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history

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Tour Rundown: Pendrith, Otaegui, Longbella, and Dunlap soar

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1 day ago

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May 6, 2024

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Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.

It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.

PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place

The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.

This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.

With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.

DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four

It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.

It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.

PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella

Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.

64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.

PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win

Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.

The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.

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