News
Is a new green to blame for the carnage on the 17th hole at The Players?
During the first round of The Players at TPC Sawgrass, there was an unusual amount of shots hit into the water around the island green 17th hole, especially considering the relatively calm conditions that mother nature delivered.
In total 35 balls found the drink – and it should be noted that there are a couple more groups that still need to finish their first-round since it was suspended due to darkness.
During the first-round (to this point) the total of 35 balls in the water puts it only second behind the 2007 first-round where the final tally was 50 – but the difference being it was a much windier day. It had a lot of players questioning whether it was the fault of the green?
The reason is the 17th green was rebuilt this past summer of 2020 to improve the overall health of the green complex. The contours and shaping were kept identical to the previous design, but new greens take time to mature and although it might look the same as others on the course it’s what’s underneath that counts.
From the USGA
“New putting greens are highly susceptible to thinning and wear injury because they have not yet developed a thin layer of organic matter between the grass and the soil. This thin mat layer is necessary for the grass to be resilient and receive incoming shots without experiencing exploding ball marks and collapsing edges around the hole. The mat layer is formed as the grass goes through its normal growing processes, depositing old leaves, stems, and roots. Maintenance practices such as aeration and topdressing make sure that the mat layer has enough sand intermixed amongst the old plant material, so it does not become excessive and hold moisture.”
This underlying layer could be just that much firmer than other greens around The Stadium course which is causing players issues in judging bounce and roll-out. Although it’s a small sample size the majority of the balls that did find the water did so over the back vs short so the data would suggest it is a likely cause.
One player that took notice was Justin Thomas who brought up the 17th green during his post-round press conference.
“That green is substantially firmer than the rest of them, I would say. I had a 5-iron on 2 today that rolled out probably eight paces and then I had a pitching wedge on that hole that rolled out like six. So that, it doesn’t add up.”
Whether firmer or not, the 17th green always creates lots of drama and excitement at The Players and the rest of the tournament is going to be exciting to watch.
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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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Rory Mcllroy
Mar 15, 2021 at 6:27 pm
It’s all Bryson’s fault!
Ondra
Mar 13, 2021 at 3:06 am
Why is JT complaining ? No practice round before Players ?
Slap Happy
Mar 14, 2021 at 3:32 pm
JT will cry his way around the course.
Throat Puncher
Mar 12, 2021 at 7:50 pm
I want to punch Jimmy Roberts in the throat.
Ty Tryon
Mar 12, 2021 at 10:28 am
They all should have figured that out during their practice round(s). The health of the course comes first, the players have to figure out how to handle those changes
sprcoop
Mar 12, 2021 at 11:08 am
Exactly what I was thinking. Not rocket science. It’s not like all the greens are identical. What about high spots on the green being harder etc.? Whiner.