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19th Hole

Wyndham Clark hails one big equipment alteration after Pebble Beach win

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Wyndham Clark came away from the Pebble Beach AT&T Pro-Am with an unexpected victory. The tournament was shortened to 54 holes with horrible weather on Sunday and Monday preventing play from continuing.

On Saturday, the reigning U.S. Open champion stormed up the leaderboard and shot a course record-60. The scorching hot round was in large part due to the putter, as Clark made over 150 feet of putts on the front-9 alone.

Prior to the event starting, Clark felt unsure putting and decided to test out numerous putters on the practice greens. Ultimately, he decided to use Odyssey’s Ai-One Jailbird.

Following his win on Sunday, Clark talked about the putter switch to Golf.com, saying:

“A lot of big changes, but when you were as — when you’re in a spot where I was mentally in putting, you kind of needed a change, just something totally different so you couldn’t complain or have those same feels that I had in previous tournaments.

“So yeah, a lot changed, but I think not having the line on the putter’s been the biggest thing for me.”

The 30-year-old also said talking with his sports psychologist, Julie Elion, helped him decide it was time to switch putters as well.

“Yeah, the brunt of our work has been on the putting recently,” he said. “We’ve been so focused on it, and she kind of told me — she told me this week, she said let’s stop having goals for putting and let’s just move on. We’re putting too much emphasis on the putting. We were trying to have the best attitude we could possibly have, especially coming into greens like this where they are really bumpy, so slopey and it makes it really hard to make putts.”

The changes certainly worked, as a rain-shortened event created a situation where Clark didn’t have to go back out on Sunday to back up a Saturday 60 where he gained 5.3 strokes putting on the field.

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19th Hole

‘Just get back there. F**k sake!’ – Shane Lowry loses cool with cameraman at Open Championship

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Shane Lowry raced out to a hot start on Thursday’s opening round of the Open Championship. On Friday, the Irishman was in cruise control and earned himself a two-stroke lead through ten holes when disaster struck.

The former Open winner hit his tee shot in some high grass, and made an error on his second shot, with the ball shooting left into a gorse bush.

After he hit the shot, Lowry blamed a cameraman for the miscue.

“As I was over the ball I could just see you putting your f—kin’ camera up. Just get outta the way. Just get back there. F—k sake!”

He’d gone on to make double bogey on the hole and is still tied for the lead as things stand.

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19th Hole

Tyrrell Hatton hits out at course setup after opening round at Open Championship

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LIV golfer Tyrrell Hatton has never been shy about voicing his opinion on golf course setups. Back in 2022, the Englishman voiced his displeasure with the hallowed grounds of Augusta National.

“You can hit good shots here and not get any reward for it. It’s unfair at times,” Hatton said. “I don’t agree with that. If you hit a good shot, you should end up near the hole — not short-sided into a bunker because of the slopes that they’ve created and stuff. Yeah, I don’t think it’s a fair test at times, and when you hit good shots and you’re not rewarded for it, it shows.”

This week, Royal Troon is under fire from Hatton.

After his opening round of 73 (+2), he sounded off on the course.

“They didn’t put any tees forward. You can’t reach any of the par-5s on the front nine. Was it 15 or 16, the par-5, you’re hitting a 4-iron off it. Tell me a good par-5 where you’re hitting 4-iron off the tee. There isn’t one.

“Even though they’ve moved the tee back on 17, which I think is a shame, it’s still with the wind today, you’re hitting 5-iron and hoping it can stay on the green. Rory obviously hits it a lot higher and further, and he was hitting 7-iron there. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s a tough hole, and it’s still hard to hit that green. I think it’s a good thing that the wind was playing down because they probably would have left the tee at the back if it was into off the left. Then do you want to watch guys hit 3-wood into a green that’s hard enough to hit with 7-iron?”

Hatton is still firmly in the mix prior to his second-round tee time and will look to make a move to get into position for the weekend.

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19th Hole

Bryson DeChambeau points to equipment issues after disappointing Open Championship start

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Since his incredible victory at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No.2, Bryson DeChambeau certainly has a case to be considered one of the biggest stars in golf. The 30-year-old has grown in popularity due to his success on social media and his popular YouTube channel that appeals to the everyday golfer.

Despite the success and current form on the golf course, DeChambeau got off to a tough start at this week’s Open Championship. The LIV golfer opened with a +5 first round at Royal Troon and struggled to get the wind right all day.

After the round, Bryson spoke to the media about his struggles, initially blaming his equipment.

“I’m not at 190 ball speed, so particularly when I’m hitting driver or 3-wood, those clubs are built for around that speed, that 190 ball speed, and my 3-wood around 180, so colder, firmer conditions the golf ball is not compressing as much.

“I’ve got a chance tomorrow. I’m excited for the challenge. If I have some putts go in and hit some shots the way I know how to and figure out this equipment stuff, I’ll be good.”

DeChambeau added that in addition to his equipment, he’s also not used to playing on wet and windy links courses.

“Yeah, it’s a difficult test out here. Something I’m not familiar with. I never grew up playing it, and not to say that that’s the reason; I finished eighth at St Andrews. I can do it when it’s warm and not windy.”

Friday’s second round will tell if he’s made the necessary adjustments to adapt to the Open Championship conditions.

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