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Sentry TOC Tour Truck Report: New sticks, new companies, and Patrick Reed buys his own threads
Happy 2021! The PGA Tour is at Kapalua for the Sentry Tournament of Champions, and with the electricity around the Rahm Callaway signing and new TaylorMade gear hitting the streets, there is a ton to track.
Here is a list of who had new gear in the bag to kick off the year.
Titleist
Justin Thomas finally put the new Titleist TSi3 (9 degrees) into the bag fully equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Red 6 X. The Ventus Red is gaining popularity little by little with Adam Scott and now Thomas switching into it. The new set up saw JT keeping his launch constant from the old TS3 set up all while going from 176 to 179mph ball speed and dropping spin from 2300 to 2100.
Richie Wereksnki also added a Ventus Red 6 X to his yet-unreleased Titleist TSi4 (10 degrees @9.25, D1 SureFit)
Lanto Griffin joined the long driver crowd with a fresh new TSi2 (9 degrees) with a Project X HZRDUS Black 65 6.5 @46 inches.
Adam Scott made some fairway wood switches adding a 15-degree TSi2 3-wood with an old-school Fujikura P95 and a TSi2 7-wood with a Graphite Design Tour AD DI 10 TX.
TaylorMade
Dustin Johnson tested the new SIM2 and SIM2 Max heads in 9 and 10.5 degrees. The world No. 1 tried both heads with his trusted Speeder 661 Evolution and a Ventus Black 6 X. DJ will also put the SIM2Max HL (16.5) 3-wood in play with a Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X.
Collin Morikawa tested SIM2 (10.5) and SIM2 Max (9). Word is on course he was going back and forth between the SIM2 (10.5 degrees @9) and his current gamer SIM (8 degrees @8.5) both with the MCA Diamana D+ Limited 60 TX. Morikawa also has a new Spider FCG putter in the satchel as well as the new Sim2 3-Wood ([email protected]) with an MCA Diamana D+ Limited 80TX
Ping
Cameron Champ switched into the new Ping G425 LST (10.5) with a Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green (Hulk) 70 G 6.5 TX.
Michael Thompson is now in the new Ping G425 LST (10.5) with a Fujikura Ventus Black 6X.
Joaquin Niemann also added the new Ping G425 LST (10.5) with a Graphite Design Tour AD DI 7 TX.
Tony Finau added swing weight to his entire set over the winter. The reason was to reduce a left miss, and after some tweaking, he ended up adding two to three swing weights across the board. The irons went from D3 to D5+ (D5.5).
Mackenzie Hughes put the new Ping G425 Max (9) in play with a Project X Hzurdus T1100 60G 6.5.
Callaway
Jon Rahm showed up with a whole bag of new Callaway gear
Driver: Callaway Proto Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Tour Green 75 TX
4-wood: Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero (16.5)
Shaft: Aldila Tour Green 75 TX
5-wood: Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero (18 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI (Black) 8 X
Irons: Callaway UT Proto (3), Callaway Apex Proto (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
- TBD on UT or 5 Wood
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Forged JPN (52-8, 56-12, 60-10)
Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
Putter: TaylorMade Spider X
Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X
Marc Leishman added a prototype Odyssey putter to his bag. The putter has an OG White Hot insert, and sources tell me Leishman loved the feel of the face straight away.
Xander Schauffele put a new Callaway Triple Diamond Prototype driver in play. The 9-degree (@8) head is loaded with his usual Graphite Design Tour AD BB 7X (custom black finish) shaft. Xander, like Rahm, also has the new Apex Prototype irons in play with Nippon Pro Modus3 130 X. The irons are rumored to have less offset, thinner top line, shorter blade length, and no Flash Face Cup.
Srixon
Hideki Matsuyama swapped shafts in his Srixon ZX5 driver (9.5 degrees) from a Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX into a Graphite Design Tour AD MD 8X XX (that’s right). The prototype shaft is a modified XC with a soft butt section and a very stiff tip.
Free Agents
On the fashion front, Patrick Reed who parted ways with Nike at the end of 2020, showed up in head-to-toe G/Fore apparel. The coolest part about the story is that Reed was such a fan of the brand that instead of signing a deal or expecting it for free, the 2018 Masters Champion went online and put all of his gear on the old AmEx like everyone else. According to my source, he’s loved G/Fore clothing for a long time and insisted that he get it like everyone else. Well done, PR.
This is what a representative from Team G/Fore had to say
“We are happy anytime we hear someone is enjoying our products and though Patrick is not on our roster for 2021, we are glad to learn he enjoys our gear!”
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Morning 9: Scheffler repeats at Players | Monday PIF meeting | McIlroy takes another shot at Norman
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Tour Rundown: Matching luggage for Scheffler
For those of us from another generation, the disruption of the golf world that we knew well is both exciting and unsettling. The two most potent disruptors are rival golf leagues, not unlike the turmoil seen in the NCAA, and the Anchorman-style gangs of golf reporters. Reconciled to a past era are the dominance of the U.S. PGA Tour and the monthly golf magazines. One element that will not change, at any time in the foreseeable future, however, is the sanctity of the grand slam and golf’s four male major championships. While the LPGA and the PGA Tour Champions have seen a light and added fifth and sixth power titles, the men’s game remains staunchly in the 20th century.
This last topic surges in pertinence each March, just before the playing of The Players Championship. Two camps stake tents and run banners up the poll. One cries out for elevation of the PC to major status, while the other digs a trench around its impregnable quadrilateral. My personal take is this: Every four years since 2016, golf is played at the Olympics. Is Olympic Gold the equivalent of a major title? Yes, it is. It comes around every 1,500 days and brings elite golfers together in competition at the most important athletic event and venue. In my mind, Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele earned major titles in Brazil and Japan, as did Inbee Park and Nelly Korda. As for the Players Championship, why not? The field is stronger by ranking than any major event, and the golf course demands every shot that golfers can create.
The Players Championship is so important to the U.S. PGA Tour that all other tours under its umbrella take the week off. No Korn Ferry, no Tour Champions. The LPGA and the DP World Tour follow suit, which shrinks the amount of watchable golf to two events. On that sour note, let’s run down this week’s play, beginning with the Players Championship and ending with the Asian Tour in Macau.
PGA Tour @ Players Championship: matching luggage for Scheffler
Scottie Scheffler is making a bid to be the player of his generation. From the previous one, a fair number have taken leave from traditional competition. The Johnsons, Koepkas, and Reeds from the 1980s no longer play the events that stand the test of time. The born-in-the-90s generation had its first great champion in Jordan Spieth until he took leave of the senses that brought him to golf’s pinnacle. Spieth’s descent ran opposite Scheffler’s rise.
Scottie Scheffler had won nothing on the PGA Tour until February 13th of 2022. He won on that day in Phoenix, then won three more times by the middle of April. One of those wins was the API at Bay Hill. Last week, Scheffler won for a second time at the Orlando course. Last March, Scheffler won his first Players Championship, by five shots over Tyrrell Hatton. On Sunday, Scheffler dived headfirst into a cauldron of fierce competition. Facing challenges from Olympic champion Schauffele, Open champion Brian Harmon, and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, Scheffler breathed. As the only man to reach 20 under par, he earned a second consecutive title at Sawgrass and reminded us that it has been two years since he won the Masters and that he is on a tear.
It all began at the fourth on Sunday for Scheffler. After pars at the opening three holes, Scheffler’s driving wedge from 92 yards landed 20 feet shy of the hole, took one large bounce, then spun left, trickling into the hole for eagle. He followed that incantation with another birdie, then two pars. The stretch from 8 to 12 was where the champion made a statement. His quartet of birdies over that run, brought him to 19-under par and let the pursuing pack know that even lower than the winning 17 under in 2023 would be necessary.
And the trio was game. Harman and Clark both dipped below 70, to reach 19 under at the final pole. Schauffele could not find a similar gear and closed with 70 — 69 would have earned him a playoff with Scheffler. It was the extra gear, the ability to go low when all things mattered, that eleveated the now two-time champion to the top of the podium. In five of his eight tour wins, Scheffler has posted a sub-70 round on day four, and four of those have been 67 or lower.
With elegant precision, Scheffler applied the final thrust at the par-5 16th. He played safely away from Pete’s Pond on the right, into the left greenside bunker at the back of the putting surface. His bunker shot was thing of exquisite accuracy, trickling to a planned stop about 20 inches from the hole. The birdie concluded matters and rang the sort of bell that Dye courses tend to display.
The greenside bunker is not a problem for the defending champ.
Scottie Scheffler’s birdie at 16 moves him back into a share of the lead @THEPLAYERS. pic.twitter.com/aEi7onLZPE
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 17, 2024
Asian Tour @ International Series Macau: Catlin earns playoff victory
There are two sorts of golfers that compete on the Asian Tour, which makes no secret of its alliance with the LIV. The first are the AT stalwarts, the ones who play as golfers have always played, with little guarantee and much pride. The others are the ones who compete on the LIV, eschewing both risk and pride for the guaranteed payday. Their deal costs them world ranking points, so they play in AT events, hoping to qualify for golf’s major events.
This week in Macau, one of those LIV golfers shot 60 on Sunday and did not win the tournament. Hard to believe, you say? Aye, but when another golfer shoots 59 in the third round, follows it up with a 65 on day four, then makes overtime birdie twice at the par-five closer, the razor’s edge of great golf is sharpened. Thus did it happen with American John Catlin and Spaniard David Puig.
It was Catlin who signed for 59, and it took a twisting, eagle putt at the last to enshrine the first-ever, sub-60 on the Asian Tour. It was Puig who closed the gap on Sunday with a 60 of his own, which featured a bogey at the lengthy fifth hole, but was followed by seven birdies and an eagle over the next 13 holes. Catlin had a six-feet putt for the regulation win, but missed. In extra time, Puig nearly holed for eagle at 18, then tapped in for birdie. Catlin’s second danced along the OOB perimeter, before ending on an access road. His drop and pitch left him another six feet to remain alive, and this time, he converted.
At the second go-round of the par-5 finisher, Puig found the green in two, but took three putts from nearly 50 feet. Catlin confronted another challenging pitch for his third, and once again, his wedge game won the day. He tapped in for birdie and the win.
5??9?? ? @JohnCatlin59 eagles the 18th to shoot the first 59 on the Asian Tour ?? #whereitsAT #ThisISEverything #InternationalSeries @intseriesgolf pic.twitter.com/RV9gYy1SIp
— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) March 16, 2024
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Morning 9: Rory, Xander, Clark share Players lead | Rory on controversial drop | AK misses Macau cut
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curtis
Jan 29, 2021 at 11:23 am
Rahm is really going to regret signing w/Callaway, just like Sergio was. Whole new bag, ball, etc.go ahead and save my comment, next year he will be about 20 in the WGR and go back to TM.
Henny Bogan
Jan 21, 2021 at 10:22 am
Doesn’t some commentator on Golf Channel have to attack G/Fore for making a pro pay for his or her own gear?
Jamescaure
Jan 15, 2021 at 3:58 am
https://hurricaneseason2021.net
Storm Laura was a Category 4 blow that was the deadliest and the most malignant wind-storm of 2020. It caused an estimated devastation of $14.1 billion with a perfect of 77 fatalities.
It was also the strongest hurricane to perpetually whip Louisiana. The highest zephyr expedition reached around Hurricane Laura was 149 miles per hour but the continued suddenness fell a scarcely under it between 135 and 140 miles per hour. Without a scruple, Storm Laura had uncountable destructions and awkward the Midwest on a large scale.
Wind-storm Laura fundamental made landfall on August 27 and it was gone in two days, moving northwest of the midwest with 15 miles per hour, but reaching operating higher speeds with higher gusts. Even after making landfall on August 27, Hurricane Laura continued poignant for the duration of 2 days.
The locations that got damaged away Twister Laura the most were eastern Texas and Louisiana. Extraordinarily, Cameron Louisiana had the biggest influence since it was the first unearthing that Wind-storm Laura made landfall. It catch-phrase the most casualties as marvellously as structural expense, causing millions of dollars in damages merely in that area. All in all that only almost 200 people lived there, it comes as no out of the blue that Hurricane Laura was the most bitter cyclone to the residents of the census-designated place.
After reaching its highest off the wind fart hear of abruptness accelerate and making landfall, Blow Laura in due course moved northwest of the midwest and when all is said disappeared, leaving behind 77 apathetic and over billions of dollars in damages in total.
Peterkak
Jan 14, 2021 at 8:37 am
https://hurricaneseason2021.net
Bigo
Jan 10, 2021 at 7:17 am
Patrick Reed and Mossimo Giannulli, two cheaters that are made for each other
Holden Tudiks
Feb 11, 2021 at 5:32 pm
Your mom comes in a close 3rd.
Reid Thompson
Jan 8, 2021 at 2:07 pm
There is nothing cool about any Patrick Reed story.
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chuckd
Jan 7, 2021 at 9:41 pm
……and because no manufactures want to design clothing for Man Boobers!!
Benny
Jan 7, 2021 at 7:26 pm
JW – are Rahmbo’s Apex Proto’s blades or the Pros?
John Wunder
Jan 9, 2021 at 8:35 am
They are Apex Pro prototypes
Greg
Jan 7, 2021 at 1:18 pm
Why so much hate for Patrick Reed? Reed Derangement Syndrome?
Darren Black
Jan 31, 2021 at 5:07 pm
Totally agree. He paid like a $250,000 penalty in the form of a 2stroke penalty at that one tournament. He is a masters champ and I hope he wins today. He’s all in at the Ryder cups etc, people need to chill on PR.
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joshua jackson
Jan 7, 2021 at 8:56 am
I am neither impressed nor congratulatory of dudes with millions of dollars purchasing their own clothes.
DS
Jan 10, 2021 at 1:26 pm
Certainly not congratulatory but when you see someone who doesn’t have to buy a certain type of clothing that needs to perform, and the person has millions and many other options, it’s a pretty good upvote for the clothing line.
Yotrepo
Jan 7, 2021 at 7:42 am
I just decided not to buy any g fore clothes.
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Mike
Jan 7, 2021 at 3:48 am
Patrick Reed is paying for his own clothes because no clothing company is willing to sign him.
Benny
Jan 7, 2021 at 7:25 pm
I can promise you that is NOT the case. The dude is a STUD and you can expect many more wins. Sure he cheats and was rumured to cheat in college but he cannot cheat all the time yet still wins.
gwelfgulfer
Jan 8, 2021 at 9:47 pm
He cheated you out of having a decent opinion Benny…
Benny
Jan 9, 2021 at 2:19 pm
Haha!!