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Morning 9: McIlroy poised? | Bryson to bomb it | JT: Fans make the major | Phil 2006 WITB

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4 years ago

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1. Rory back from diaper duty with a fresh perspective
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…“During the time off from his day job, McIlroy said he fully embraced every aspect of fatherhood.
  • “I actually changed the first two diapers, so I’m very proud of that. But yeah, I’ve got my hands dirty; put it that way,” he said with a laugh on Tuesday at Winged Foot…”
  • “I think that’s maybe something that I haven’t done so well in the past is I haven’t left my job at the office; basically, I’ve brought it home with me, and I’ve let it affect my mood and how I am,” said McIlroy, the winner of the 2011 U.S. Open. “I think having that little bit more perspective definitely helps.”
2. JT: fans make the major
ESPN report…”Justin Thomas, who said having no fans on site this week at Winged Foot Golf Club — as well as last month at Harding Park for the PGA Championship — takes away from the experience.”
  • “[The PGA] didn’t feel anything remotely close to a major,” Thomas said Tuesday at Winged Foot. “It is a shame because Harding and here are just two terrific major championship venues, especially here in New York with the very passionate fans they have here.
  • “To not be able to experience that takes away a lot of a championship, let alone a U.S. Open. Especially coming down the last nine and on Sunday, it’s going to have a big impact, I think. At least I know I miss them, and I wish they could have been out here. But it’s night-and-day different.”
Additionally, JT had this to say…“I’ve never experienced so many times where you could use a backstop on a putt, which is an odd thing to say and probably picture, hearing me say it, but I’ve hit a lot of lag putts the last few days, and more often than not I’m able to like use a slope past the hole to get to where a pin is going to be, which is very bizarre.”
  • “It is, it is hard to tell on TV, but yeah, the viewers at home are going to see some pretty bizarre stuff and probably a lot of putts and chips that make us look pretty bad. If you’re into that stuff, then you’re going to like this week.”
3. Bryson plans to overpower Winged Foot…48-inch driver in his future?
Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…“I’m hitting it as far as I possibly can up there,” he said after a practice round Tuesday at the U.S. Open. “Even if it’s in the rough, I can still get it to the front edge or the middle of the green with pitching wedges or 9-irons. That’s the beauty of my length and that advantage.”
  • “DeChambeau’s strategy, not surprisingly, runs counter to some of his peers, who said they were going to emphasize putting the ball in play more often to avoid the long, gnarly rough. In fact, just a few minutes before DeChambeau’s presser, Rory McIlroy spoke in the interview area. “I’d still take hitting fairways over hitting it 350 in the rough here,” McIlroy said.”
4. Lynch: Patience key for TW
Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch….“Winged Foot, on the other hand, is that rarest of fabled major venues: one where Woods’ record is undistinguished, though not quite forgettable. In the last U.S. Open contested here in 2006, he missed the weekend cut in a major for the first time in his professional career with a pair of 76s. That Open had been his first start after the death a month earlier of his father, Earl, a memory Woods revisited on Tuesday.”
  • “When I didn’t win the Masters that year, that was really tough to take because that was the last event my dad was ever going to watch me play. He passed not too long after that,” he said. “And quite frankly, when I got ready for this event, I didn’t really put in the time. I didn’t really put in the practice, and consequently missed the cut pretty easily.”
  • “Woods bounced back pretty well from that missed cut, winning ’06’s two remaining majors at the Open and PGA Championship. Those were, respectively, the 11th and 12th major victories of his career. There have been just three since, the most recent two being among the most improbable of all: a fifth Masters green jacket in ’19 and, eleven years earlier, his last (to date) U.S. Open title, accomplished on one leg at Torrey Pines.”
5. Portland Classic shortened to 54 holes
AP report…”The LPGA Tour’s Portland Classic set for this weekend has been reduced to 54 holes because of poor air quality caused by wildfires that have been burning across the West.”
  • “The course and practice facilities at Columbia Edgewater Country Club remained closed Tuesday, and Wednesday’s Pro-AM has been canceled. The air quality in Portland has been at dangerous levels because of the wildfires in Oregon, Washington and California.”
6. LPGA adds another Drive On Championship…cancels two events in Asia
David Song for Golfweek…”Coming off the momentum of a dramatic ANA Inspiration, the LPGA announced on Tuesday that a new tournament will be added to its schedule.”
  • “Golf fans will be treated to the LPGA Drive On Championship – Reynolds Lake Oconee, Oct. 22-25, in Greensboro, Georgia.”
  • …”The tour also announced the cancellation of the BMW Ladies Championship and the Toto Japan Classic. Both events will return next year.”
7. Mickelson’s 2006 Winged Foot WITB vs. today
Compiled by our Johnny Wunder for PGATour.com
Here is Phil Mickelson’s WITB from the 2006 U.S. Open and what he’s playing for the 2020 edition.
2006 U.S. Open
Driver: Callaway FT-3 Tour (8.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana Blue Board 73X
3-wood: Callaway X (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana Blue Board 73X
Irons: Callaway X Tour (2-PW)
Shafts: Project X Rifle (Satin) 7.0
Wedges: Callaway X Forged (54, 60)
Shafts: Project X Rifle (Satin) 7.0
Putter: Odyssey PM Proto Mallet Blade #9
Grips: Royal Grip Sand Wrap
Ball: Callaway HX Tour
2020 U.S. Open
Driver: Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero (9 degrees)
Shaft: KBS TD 70 C5 TX
3-wood: Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero 3+ (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: KBS TD 80 C5 TX
5-wood: Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero (18 degrees)
Shaft: KBS TD 80 C5 TX
Irons: Callaway Epic Forged (4-7), Callaway Apex MB (8-PW)
Shafts: KBS Tour V 125 S+ (4-PW)
Wedges: Callaway MD3 (56 degrees bent to 53.5), Callaway PM Grind ’19 “Raw” (60-12, 64-10)
Shafts: KBS Tour-V 125 S+
Putter: Odyssey WHXG Blade “Phil Mickelson”
Grip: SuperStroke Pistol GT Tour

Full piece.

8. Scott Fawcett’s Winged Foot strategic suggestions

The founder of Decade-a golf course management strategy several players on the PGA Tour, including Bryson DeChambeau, use-talked with Daniel Rapaport at Golf Digest.
“The sixth at Winged Foot is the prototypical risk-reward hole. At 321 yards, it is by far the shortest par 4 on the West course. It also has the narrowest fairway, a little more than 20 yards wide, with a bunker down the left…”
  • “On holes like these, there are two options-get aggressive and go for the green, or play conservative and lay back with an iron. At least, that’s the old approach to strategy, the one that ruled the day in 2006.”
  • “Going for the green is the only play,” says Scott Fawcett, architecture be damned. Fawcett, 47, is the creator of DECADE, a data-based course-management system that has steadily grown in popularity among PGA Tour players. “One-hundred percent the only play.”
  • “The fairway is only 24 yards wide short of that bunker. You’re just not going to hit that often enough to make it worth the distance you’re giving up. Say you hit it around 75 percent of the time. So 25 percent of the time, you miss the fairway and you’re 120 away. You’re so dead it’s ridiculous.”
  • “Instead, Fawcett will tell his players to go for it. Except don’t aim at the green. Aim just left of it. Because that’s the centerline of a 65-yard shot pattern at 300 yards-which is about average dispersion for a tour pro in competition. And, according to Fawcett’s philosophy, that gives you the best chance of making the best score. If you hit the green, fantastic. If you miss the green in the bunker right, easy enough. If you miss it left, just get it somewhere on the putting surface and grind out a par.”
9. Tiger’s Scotty Newport 2 backup at auction
A few of these have hit the block in recent years…bid is already at $30K

 
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Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship

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12 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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