News
5 things we learned: Friday at the British Open
Yesterday we hinted that the morning and afternoon waves at Royal St. George’s (aka Sandwich) were mostly equal, in terms of weather conditions and impact. Others observed that the winds picked up in the afternoon but, in all honesty, they weren’t that different. Perhaps a stroke was lost, but nothing like we’ve seen in past Opens. Despite exaggerated warnings of difficult morning conditions on Friday by some outlets, two scores of 64, one of 65, and two of 66 were reported as players moved up the board, into contention.
Today, the cut danced back and forth between plus 1 and plus 2, before finally settling on the former. 77 golfers reached the tee for round three, including Bryson DeChambeau, who played the final five holes in minus 2 to make the cut on the number. From all these tidbits, we’ve extracted five things learned from Friday at the 149th Open Championship. Have a glance with us.
When you realise there's still two-and-a-half more days of this magic ?#TheOpen pic.twitter.com/HMwqRYmv19
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2021
1. Magnificent Matthias
It’s rare that we lead with someone chasing silver, rather than gold, but when an amateur signs for a 65 at Royal St. George’s, the die is cast and the route, selected. Germany’s Matthias Schmid, who recently completed his time at the University of Louisville, began day two at four shots beyond par. By morning’s conclusion, he had regained five with a bogey-free 65, and sat at minus-one on the week, safely inside the cut line. Twice the winner of the European Amateur, Schmid is currently the 12th-ranked amateur in the world, and is playing in his second Open Championship. Schmid’s round equaled the lowest ever posted by one who plays for glory and not for money. China’s Yuxin Lin is the only other amateur currently on the safe side of the plus-1 cut wall. Schmid and Lin will do their own battle this weekend, hoping to claim the low amateur’s silver medal.
Three birdies in five holes!?
Matthias Schmid is boosting his hopes of securing the Silver Medal?
Follow all of the action ? https://t.co/xYY44zAFs3#TheOpen pic.twitter.com/05fIqb3DtC
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2021
2. Gigantic Jigger Thomson holes in one to gain a Saturday tee time
It seems like everyone wanted to make it to the weekend, but none did it in more spectacular spectacular fashion than Jonathan Thomson. The Englishman measures in at six feet nine inches tall, but made bogey at 15 to drop to plus 1, exactly on the cut line. With one swing of his iron at the 16th, Thomson move to 1 under par with an improbable ace. He followed that with birdie at 17 and stands proudly at minus 2 through 36 holes. Let’s all raise a jigger of whatever to the welcome figure of Jonathan Thomson.
A big man with the big moment ?
6' 9" @jigger_thomson sends the crowd wild at 16 with the first ace of the week ? #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/FAnBYb3boV
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2021
3. Mighty Collin
Despite making his Open debut on the most psychologically challenging of the Open rota of courses, Collin Morikawa proved to be the class of the early set of Friday tee times. Paired with Corey Conners (who made the cut) and Sebastián Múñoz (who did not), Morikawa posted seven birdies through his first 14 holes. He drove poorly at 13 and 14 (bunker and thick rough) but escaped for par and birdie at each hole. His only blemish was a bogey at the 15th. The nearly-500 yard par four is playing first in difficulty through 1.5 rounds, and the California native missed a third consecutive fairway with his driver. Another recovery was not in the cards, with Morikawa ultimately missing a five-feet putt for his par.
Offer any player in the field an even-par total after missing three consecutive fairway, and he’ll most likely accept the deal. After the morning wave, Morikawa sat three ahead of South Africa’s Daniel Van Tonder, who negotiated five birdies from the course after a fifth-hole bogey set him in arrears on the day.
.@collin_morikawa's 6??4?? in 60 seconds…. pic.twitter.com/lW4WzMlW42
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2021
4. “I’m still number one” Johnson stands at seven deep
With all the heroics of the first two days at Sandwich, add one more name to the mix: Dustin Johnson, he of two major titles and a near-miss the last time the Open visited Royal St. George’s. The tall man from South Carolina had himself a day on Friday, posting seven birdies against two bogeys for 65. He moved from minus 2 to minus 7, good for a tie for fourth spot with Scottie Scheffler and Dylan Fritelli. Johnson had bogey at the 3rd and 15th holes, but made birdie at the last to position himself for a weekend charge.
He wasn’t the only big name to make a sizable move on day two. U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm had 64 to reach minus 5, and Brooks Koepka had 66 to reach the same figure. Oh, and don’t forget defending champion Shane Lowry, who carded 65 on day two to reach four-under par. The weekend on the southwest coast of England promises a memorable champion and an even-more memorable slate of challengers.
Don't count out Brooks Koepka?????
A brilliant birdie at the 16th lifts him to -3?
Follow all the action here ? https://t.co/xYY44zAFs3 #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/up3kJViNoz
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2021
5. Louis part touis
You didn’t think we’d forgotten him, did you? The major champion golfer of the year is working hard, hard, hard to become the Champion Golfer of the Year for a second time. Oosthuizen played spectacular golf for a second consecutive day, and reached the 34th hole of the week at 12 under par. He made four at the par-three, antepenultimate hole, but still managed to finish at 129 for two rounds, a new championship record. His performance to date is just two better than early leader Morikawa, but is historic in a way that demands we pay little attention to that late-round hiccough. Oosthuizen posted four birdies on the day, an concluded a sizzling, three-hole stretch on the inward half with an eagle-three at the par-5 14th.
Catch him if you can??@Louis57TM, who once won The Open by seven shots, is now three clear?
Watch his final four holes here? https://t.co/nF1CsC3YNF#TheOpen pic.twitter.com/jClxwh0cZT
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2021
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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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Todd
Jul 16, 2021 at 7:05 pm
I’d love to see a WITB for Jigger.