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Full field for LIV Golf opener unveiled (with a few surprises)
The field is set for the first tournament of the controversial LIV Golf Series.
The three-round, 54-hole, no-cut inaugural LIV event is set to take place from June 9-11 at the Centurion Club outside of London, England.
Some notable players in the field include Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Kevin Na, Martin Kaymer, Richard Bland, Louis Oosthuizen, Sam Horsfield, Matt Jones, Brandon Jones, and Talor Gooch.
Here is the full field for the event:
The total purse for the first event is $25 million. $20 million will be awarded in the individual portion of the tournament with $4 million going to the winner.
The PGA TOUR is expected to provide details about what the punishment will be for those competing in the LIV Golf Series shortly. Commissioner Jay Monahan previously said players teeing it up in a LIV Golf event will face suspension and a potential lifetime ban.
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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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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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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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Disgusted Guy
Jun 9, 2022 at 7:17 am
Who knew Rory was such a sage? He said decisions solely based on money rarely end well. Well done that man!
I hope the PGA tour breaks it off in their butts. Money grabbing over pampered bums.
This won’t end well for the B players that jumped. Can’t compete on the “real” tour and as long as Bernhard is on the senior tour they can’t win there. If we never hear from Johnson, Garcia, Westwood or McDowell again we will be OK. Was always a massive Phil fan but a dumb move on his part.
Name a major sport ($$$$) that isn’t a monopoly? WNBA excluded.
Don’t like the rules move on and find another way to make a living. This one has a stink that won’t go away.
The $40 mil Phil pissed away gambling would have changed the life of generations of your family if used properly. It all came from being a member of the PGA tour. He’s doing OK.
If you look at the players that jumped there is a common thread- waning skills due to age, never had top skills, want the big payday at the end, etc.
They really don’t care about the game or giving back.
Remember what Sergio said- I can’t wait to get out of here.
Screw ‘em.
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dave d
Jun 2, 2022 at 2:21 pm
This whole thing is clearly all about Greg Norman wanting to get paid untold millions per year simply to be Greg Norman…visible, charismatic, feisty.
He found some suckers (the Saudis) to fulfill his dream. What do you figure he’s making per year on this as leader? $10M? $50M $100M? Sadly, the players choosing to participate will be collateral damage as Norman takes a huge check from the Saudis for a year or two — as long as this fantasy can be sustained, which won’t be long with this kind of a field — and Norman will walk away with a bunch of money, no harm done.
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Brian
Jun 1, 2022 at 11:09 am
Ironic that Poulter would job a social media boycott to protest racial discrimination by users on the platforms but he’ll happily take money from a royal family that openly discriminates against 50% of its own citizens.
Jafar
Jun 1, 2022 at 10:25 am
The number of high ranking amateur players should be the biggest concern for the PGA. Why grind it out on the KF Tour when you can bank 20 million out the gate.
Don
Jun 1, 2022 at 10:23 am
Some will sell their integrity for the almighty dollar, if they even had any.
derek gzaskow
Jun 1, 2022 at 9:06 am
um, where’s Phil I thought he was going? $75 per day not bad for Pumpkin ridge, Tulsa was 250 per day, let the ;lawsuits commence!
Pingback: Amateur golfer has reportedly received an unbelievable sum to play in LIV Golf series – GolfWRX
Chad
Jun 1, 2022 at 8:51 am
I hope this tour runs the PGA into the ground.
Hopp
Jun 1, 2022 at 8:21 am
Here is the list of people chasing money to replace their integrity.
Gary
Jun 1, 2022 at 8:25 am
Yeah, like the LPGA, The NBA, NASCAR and all the other sport entities who play in Saudi sponsored events and territories.
Geno452
Jun 1, 2022 at 4:46 pm
NBA?… NASCAR?…. LPGA (actually it is the Ladies European Tour not the LPGA) Don’t know where you came up with NASCAR and NBA but… hey… I don’t know everything either.
Gary
Jun 1, 2022 at 8:29 am
Yeah, like the LPGA, The NBA, Nascar, The European Tour and all the rest of sports entities who play in events taking place and/or sponsored by/or with Saudi groups. So much hypocrisy and dishonesty.
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Bob
Jun 1, 2022 at 12:15 am
Well, bye. C-list losers and has-beens.
LOL.
reqq
Jun 1, 2022 at 5:41 am
you’re not wrong lol.. whos gonna watch that..like zero hype
Gary
Jun 1, 2022 at 8:23 am
Congrats to Johnson, Garcia, Na and all the rest for having the courage to stand up to the PGA and its dictatorial regime. Pro Golfers are independent agents and are allowed to practice their craft wherever and whenever they wish. The PGA needs to be sued.
Jed
Jun 1, 2022 at 9:58 am
Comedian
John Krug
Jun 1, 2022 at 10:09 am
Laughable comment.
Gary
Jun 1, 2022 at 3:11 pm
I guess we will see how funny it all is if and/or when it ends up in court. Time will tell.
Brian
Jun 1, 2022 at 11:10 am
You’re right. They should jump ship from one “dictatorial” regime and take their paychecks from an ACTUAL dictatorial regime.
Geno452
Jun 1, 2022 at 5:16 pm
First off.. it’s the PGA TOUR not the PGA. Big difference there. Also if the players are independent contractors, which they are, they can pretty much play when and where they want. The PGA Tour as an organization is well within it’s rights to say who can and cannot play in one of it’s events. They are not beholding to any of the players that play on their tour. If you want to play in a PGA TOUR event and can meet their qualifications then you can play. If one of their qualifications happens to be the fact that if you play on the LIV Tour you don’t meet the qualifications for the PGA TOUR then…. well then that’s it… you don’t qualify. So I wish anyone that tries to sue good luck… they’ll need it.
Tomas
Jun 1, 2022 at 5:58 pm
The PGA tour can give A Job to however they whishes
RJ
Jun 2, 2022 at 10:50 am
What? The tour is run by the players. There is no owner it’s a player run organization. Plus it’s a charitable organization that helps to donate millions to various charities at each event. It has made these greedy, morally bankrupt players millions and does so many things to help them it’s ridiculous. You have no clue what your taking about