19th Hole
Why this golf ball gave Tiger Woods a ‘one or two shots per round’ advantage over the field
On Monday, Graeme McDowell took some backlash from Tiger fans when he tweeted about Woods’ supposed advantage from playing the Nike Tour Accuracy golf ball.
Tiger is the greatest of all time for sure, but in the summer of 2000 he had an unprecedented equipment advantage over the field. Nike had developed the Tour Accuracy, one of the first solid core balls, pre cursor to the Pro V1. Early adoption and huge leaps. https://t.co/0rmB9enzZe
— Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) February 21, 2022
You can now add Woods’ former caddie Stevie Williams to the list of those who are of the opinion that Woods gained a massive advantage with the Nike Tour Accuracy.
During the latest episode of the Chasing Majors podcast, Williams spoke in detail about what the golf ball was able to do for Tiger’s game amidst the greatest season in golf history:
“This golf ball didn’t come by accident,” Williams said. “When Tiger signed with Nike, [the ball] was one of the projects. It didn’t happen overnight. It was a couple years of engineering that went into developing the ball and getting it exactly right. And it wasn’t going to be put into play until such time that it was exactly how he wanted it.”
Williams took over as Woods’ caddie in 1999 and despite the early success, he noticed a big difference once the Nike ball was put into play:
“Tiger had a couple hundred balls in his practice bag — obviously all the balls he wasn’t using at the moment — and he’d go through the same array of shots, but there was an ease for him to do exactly what he wanted to do [with the Tour Accuracy],” Williams said on the podcast. “When he was trying to hit that stinger shot, he’d really have to concentrate on hitting it low and all the mechanics that went with it. But this ball, because it was designed so well, for specifically what he wanted to do, he’d hit the shots he needed with more ease and more confidence. Heading into the 2000 season, this ball was going to be a big factor, I felt.”
Williams went as far as to say that the change in golf balls was quantifiable in how many shots he gained on the field: “Every time you have a golf ball reacting to the way you want to hit it, I think that just frees you up and gives you confidence,” he said. “You’d have to say it was worth one or two shots per round, for sure.”
Considering that Woods’ 2000 season was the most dominant in the history of golf, there may be something to Williams’ comments.
At the end of the 2000 season, Titleist released the ProV1 golf ball. The ProV1 was built with a similar core to the Nike Tour Accuracy, and 47 professionals immediately put the ball in play. The shift of golf balls was one of the biggest transitions of equipment in PGA Tour history.
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19th Hole
TaylorMade signs 15-year-old AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year to an NIL contract
This week, TaylorMade Golf announced that they’ve signed AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year, Miles Russell, to an NIL contract.
In a statement, TaylorMade called Russell “nothing short of remarkable”.
“Miles’ record setting success at his young age is nothing short of remarkable and we are excited he chose us to support him in his growth as a golfer to continue to accomplish his career goals. Identifying and developing the top junior talent in the world has always been a priority for us at TaylorMade. Miles and his family epitomize the type of athlete and human being we are looking to add to Team TaylorMade.”
Russell has broken plenty of records in recent months. This season, he was named American Junior Golf Association’s Rolex Boys Player of the Year, making him the youngest male player to receive the award. The record was previously held by Tiger Woods who was about 10 months older than Russell at the time he received the award.
At age 14, J he became the youngest player ever to win the Junior PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass at age 14.
The 15-year-old also played in his first Korn Ferry Tour event on Thursday, the LECOM Suncoast Classic, and shot a first-round 68.
In the aftermath of the agreement, Russell released a statement.
“I have had a great relationship with the team at TaylorMade for years now and couldn’t be more excited to continue to work with them in the future. TaylorMade has a history of developing the top junior talent in the world to help reach their goals of becoming PGA TOUR and major championship winners. I am looking forward to working with the team to reach those and other goals I have laid out for my career.”
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Group of PGA Tour caddies sign endorsement deal with underwear company
In an interesting turn of events, a group of PGA Tour caddies have signed an endorsement deal with an underwear company.
Geno Bonnalie (Joel Dahmen), Aaron Flener (J.T. Poston), John Limanti (Akshay Bhatia) and Joel Stock (Will Zalatoris) and John Ellis (Wyndham Clark) have signed a deal with the underwear brand, SAXX.
Here are some details about the endorsement deal:
- The deal eclipses six figures in total value, extending what last year marked the first significant apparel agreement with a group of pro caddies. Of note, Geno and John Ellis appeared in the Netflix docuseries, Full Swing.
- The caddies will wear SAXX underwear, shorts and polos on and off the course.
- SAXX will donate $100 to the Testicular Cancer Foundation for every birdie made by the caddies’ players for the rest of the season.
- SAXX will bring the Ball Masters to the masses at the Travelers Championship, hosting a fan activation with underwear giveaways, photo opportunities, appearances from the Ball Masters and more.
- Fans can become an honorary Ball Master, which includes a year’s worth of underwear, among other things. Go to SAXX.com/ball-master-application from now until June 15 to enter.
The partnership is great for the caddies and also represents a great cause.
Check out the video they shared on YouTube:
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Man charged with stealing millions of dollars worth of memorabilia from Augusta National
According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, a man has been charged in Chicago with stealing millions of dollars’ worth of memorabilia from Augusta National.
The man, Robert Globensky, was charged with transporting the memorabilia across state lines.
The report states that between 2009 and 2022, Globensky allegedly transported “millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and historical memorabilia” from Augusta National “and transported to Tampa, Florida, knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”
The document was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Per the court records there is no mention that Globensky worked for the golf club.
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