News
Morning 9: Kokrak breaks through in Vegas | High-end mini golf on the horizon? | No new tee box for 13 at Augusta?
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1. Door finally opens for Kokrak
10 years of knocking… AP report…“Jason Kokrak was playing for the 233rd time in his 10th season on the PGA Tour without ever having won, so he didn’t need any reminders Sunday in the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek that anything would come easily.”
2. El Pirata!
Great win for a man with an equally great nickname. EuropeanTour.com report…“Adrian Otaegui produced a brilliant closing round of 63 to storm to his first 72-hole stroke play victory on the European Tour at the Scottish Championship presented by AXA.”
3. Move over, Bernhard!
Hank Kurz, Jr. for the Associated Press…“Phil Mickelson likes to play aggressively and found the PGA Tour Champions’ stop at The Country Club of Virginia the perfect place to begin his preparations for the Masters.”
4. Age brings wisdom…
Humor with a touch of smugness AKA Phil being Phil. Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine with these remarks from Mickelson prior to the Dominion Energy…
“Even if I beat all 78 guys, it would still be a letdown,” Mickelson said Thursday at Country Club of Virginia. “I made so much more last time I played, that I just didn’t see the benefit. Sorry.”
5. High-end Putt Putt?
Montreal Gazette’s John Meagher…“Times are tough for local merchants coping with the economic fallout of COVID-19, but West Island businessman Lee Naylor says the pandemic also presents new opportunities.”
6. “Look no further than the players on the LPGA Tour”
Ashleigh McLaughlin for LPGA.com…
…”many parents are finding a pipeline of reliable role models in female professional athletes. And it’s not just talent that makes those athletes an ideal choice. The added bonus that comes with their influence is that female athletes inspire girls to take up and stick with playing a sport, an activity that research shows can improve girls’ mental well-being, physical health and academic achievement. Of the sports identified by the Women’s Sports Foundation as the most effective in promoting healthy development, golf sits near the top of the list, giving girls a lifelong game from which they can gain great benefit.”
“Whether girls choose golf or not, they’ll have no issues finding a professional golfer whose story they can connect with. The LPGA is full of bright personalities, beat-the-odds successes, and women whose roads are diverse. One example is LPGA player and major winner Mo Martin. Standing at just 5’1″, Martin’s stature isn’t what you’d expect of a professional athlete, and her path to climbing the ranks wasn’t traditional for a pro golfer either. Growing up, Mo’s family of five lived in a 900-square-foot house next to a Jack in the Box fast-food restaurant. She has fond memories of splitting a spicy grilled chicken sandwich five ways, an exercise in making the best of things she learned growing up. Her father saw golf as a potential outlet for his kids, and what they lacked in financial means he made up for in ingenuity…”
7. No new tee box for 13 at Augusta
Dylan Dethier for Golf.com…“Will, when and should the 13th hole at Augusta National ever be lengthened? Those have been key Masters talking points for years, although recently we’ve gotten some clarity.”
8. Neck injury forces a weekend withdrawal for Jason Day
Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…“Jason Day began Sunday’s final round of the CJ Cup just five shots off the lead and playing in the penultimate group.”
9. Jason Kokrak’s winning WITB
Driver: TaylorMade SIM (9 degrees @8.5)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 85 M5 Proto
3-wood: TaylorMade M5 (15 degrees @14.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke 80
Irons: PXG 0311T Gen2 (3-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM8 (52-12F, 56-14F, 60-08M)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Bettinardi Studio Stock 38
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
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Equipment
Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
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Equipment
Spotted: Tommy Fleetwood’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X Prototype putter
Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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Equipment
Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
…The Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.
Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.
Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.
According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.
He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.
Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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