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Tour Rundown: Ko takes 2 titles | Rahm & Rory | Svensson

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1 year ago

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It’s rare that the PGA Tour gets third billing in a Tour Rundown, but when the LPGA and DP World Tour contest their respective tour championships, it’s fitting. The best of the LPGA gathered in Naples at Tiburon for the CME Group Tour Championship, while the DP World Tour reunited in Dubai for the World Championship. The PGA Tour gathered one last time in 2022, this time in coastal Georgia.

Two overnight leaders preserved their advantage to lay claim to the top prize. In the third event, an unproven commodity broke through for a career-changing win. In other words, just another week among the world’s finest golfers. Sometimes, things are perfect.

LPGA: Lydia Ko claims two titles at Tiburon

There have been three eras of Ko, so bear with us as we elaborate them. During the youthful age, Ko won 14 times from 2012 to 2016. No, that’s not a typo. From 2016 to 2018, Ko undertook swing changes and did not record a victory until April of the later year. From 2018 to 2021, Ko again went winless, although part of that dry spell had to do with a little thing called Covid. Since April of 2021, Ko has won four times, including three in 2022. Her latest title came this weekend, at the CME Group Tour Championship. Ko couldn’t have picked a better time for win number three.

Lydia Ko entered the week ranked first in the season-long Race to the CME Globe. Throwing out all the scenarios that would have ensured the title, Ko focused on winning the tournament at Tiburon, in Naples. Round one brought a 65 and the lead, and Friday’s 66 kept her atop the ladder. Leona Maguire of Ireland posted the week’s low round (63) on Saturday and made up seven shots on the leader, who slumped mildly to a 70. Neither golfer was able to separate from the other on Sunday, but Ko remained cool throughout. No other competitor from the field made the necessary move on day four, and the resolution came down to the final pair.

After posting nine birdies against zero bogeys on Saturday, Maguire was only able to make two birdies on Sunday. Had she made no bogeys, she might have tied Ko, but a pair of lost strokes came her way. Lydia Ko made a pair of bogeys on par-five holes, but amassed four birdies on the day, including two during the closing stretch. Ko reached 17-under par on the week, and claimed a pair of titles on November’s third Sunday of 2022.

DP World Tour: Rahm and Rory carry off the hardware

Three massive names came into round four at Dubai, with an opportunity to etch a statement into the 2022 season on the DP World Tour. US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, Series leader Rory McIlroy, and 2019 Dubai champion Jon Rahm sought excellence and glory on Sunday, and Rahm delivered. The Basque bull posted a trio of birdies on the opening holes and withstood back-nine challenges from Tyrrell Hatton and Alex Noren to secure a two-shot win. The title was Rahm’s fifth Rolex Series win and third at the Earth course at Dubai.

Looking back, both McIlroy and Fitzpatrick needed to be near perfection to challenge Rahm on Sunday, but each stumbled early to lose his chance. McIlroy had six birdies on the day, but two bogeys on the outward nine were enough to sink his ship. Fitzpatrick made three bogeys and a double from the sixth to the 12th holes, enough to guarantee that his walk home would not be the one he imagined.

The DP World Tour will begin its 2023 season with a pair of late-November events, before going on hiatus. Contested simultaneously will be the Joburg Open in South Africa, and the Australian PGA Championship. Both events will recognize a champion on Sunday the 27th.

PGA Tour: Svensson flies the Maple Leaf in honor of first Tour title

The final day and half at Sea Island was played in challenging conditions. Wind and cold added layers to torsos and heads, and pushed shots sideways. The third-round leaders had a tough go of it on Sunday, tumbling to 10th and 21st positions. With space to snare the title, names like Callum Tarren, Brian Harman, and Sahith Theegala climbed into contention. That trio would ultimately tie for 2nd place at 17-under par.

The heroics of the day were reserved for Canada’s Adam Svensson. After 70 starts on tour, beginning in 2015, Svensson broke through for his first PGA Tour victory. He did so by turning in a clean card, scratching 12 pars and six birdies into the cardboard. Svensson began the week with a 73, but caught fire in round two with 64. He followed that with a 62 on Saturday, and closed with 64 on Sunday. Birdies at 16 and 17 gave him a two-shot cushion on the way to the clubhouse. Fairway-green-two putts followed, and Svensson had his two-year exemption and a silver cup for the shelf.

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Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

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Equipment

Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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1 day ago

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May 10, 2024

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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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Equipment

Spotted: Tommy Fleetwood’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X Prototype putter

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2 days ago

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May 9, 2024

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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.

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Equipment

Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange

Published

3 days ago

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May 8, 2024

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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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