News

Morning 9: Match Play format perspectives aplenty | The best swing in golf? | McIlroy: I don’t “need” to win the Masters

Published

7 years ago

Mar 27, 2019

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt ([email protected])

March 27, 2019

Good Wednesday morning, golf fans.

1. There’s a reason match play is played only once per year on the PGA Tour…

…so says the AP’s longtime scribe, Doug Ferguson in a meditation of this week’s deviation from medal play.

A morsel…”But even with the change, it still doesn’t solve one problem that exists in just about any format – the longer the tournament goes, the less interesting it gets because there are fewer possibilities.”

“Think back to The Players Championship two weeks ago when eight players had a share of the lead on the final day. In the Match Play, it comes down to two players over the final four hours, and that’s assuming it lasts that long. Watson only had to play 12 holes to win.”

“There are 12 matches involving 24 players on Saturday. There are four matches involving the same four players on Sunday, and that includes the consolation match, which is for world ranking points, FedEx Cup points, the difference of $138,000 and mostly something to fill dead time on television.”

And this side of the coin...”Imagine having a corporate hospitality tent on the 18th hole. Last year, only three of the 16 matches on the weekend even reached the 18th hole.”

Full piece.

2. Don’t worry about the format!

Geoff Shackelford reads between the lines of some of the match play tournament in general, format in particular, hand wringing (and offers something of a rebuttal to the sentiments above”

“With 64 of the world’s top 66 showing up two weeks before the Masters, this should be a time to celebrate a welcome format change from stroke play.”

“Turns out, the new and compressed schedule dynamics had no effect on the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Gone are the days of top players dreading “the vagaries” of match play.”

“Yet we’re back to the same old, same old match play chatter: the sponsor isn’t happy with the format. After years of everyone hating to see top players headed to the airport on Wednesday night, the WGC consists of three guaranteed matches via pool play followed by single elimination over the weekend, leaving only four players to entertain the galleries.”

“Translation: not enough golfers are passing by the corporate tents on weekends even though attention on the golf is fleeting at best, non-existent when the shrimp cocktails come out.”

Full piece.

3. Tiger looking forward to new format

Continuing with the theme…

ESPN’s Bob Harig… “…Tiger Woods will face Patrick Cantlay, Brandt Snedeker and Aaron Wise this week during the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship, his first experience in the new format.”

“I really haven’t played a whole lot of match play since 2013 and I’m looking forward to it,” said Woods, who played in the Presidents Cup that year and in the 2018 Ryder Cup — his only match play opportunities since.

“I’m looking forward to the fact that I just get to focus on one guy. Each and every shot is different, and you don’t really care what the rest of the field is doing. I just have to beat the guy standing in front of me.”

Full piece.

4. McIlroy: I want to win the Masters, but I don’t need to

Bill Speros at Golfweek…”McIlroy spoke about the upcoming Masters and the desire to win at Augusta National to complete his career Grand Slam Tuesday during his pre-tournament press conference.”

“There’s a difference between a personal desire and a need,” he said of getting that elusive major victory in April. “I would have said a couple of years ago, ‘I need a to win a Masters. I need a green jacket.’ Where now it’s: ‘I want to. I want win it. I’d love to win it. But if I don’t, I’m OK.’ And I think that is the difference.”

Full piece.

5. The best swing in golf?

…according to Brandel Chamblee, this could be it.

Golf Digest’s Keely Levins…”Brandel Chamblee fired off a hot take on Twitter, saying LPGA rookie Anne Van Dam might have the best swing in golf. GolfWeek’s Beth Ann Nichols tweeted about Dam’s impressive length off the tee, (she’s No. 1 in driving distance, averaging 292 yards) and Chamblee responded with…”She may well have the best swing in golf right now.”

Full piece.

6. Tiger talks equipment

Excellent work by Andrew Tursky at PGATour.com snagging a few minutes with TW at the TaylorMade tour truck/travelling warehouse event ahead of the Match Play, including Woods talking openly about Mike Taylor’s involvement in his irons and wedges.

TURSKY: With the switch to TaylorMade wedges from Nike, it seems like you’re changing out wedges more often. I saw you with a new wedge at THE PLAYERS, and then you had one in bubble wrap today [at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play practice round]. It seems like you’re able to change wedges more often. Can you speak to that?

WOODS:…But after use, at home practicing, bunker work, the grooves started getting worn down so I would send one in, have that re-blasted. That [wedge] would move into the back of the order. Then I had the fresh ones, and I’d wear that one out. Then that would get re-blasted, and eventually they’d come around and I used all 8 sets twice. Then once those were done – so 16 go-arounds – now we have to start it all over again, because they can’t get anymore spin on them. It’s a lot easier now, going through what we had to go through; those long testing sessions, a lot of work with Mike Taylor, a lot of work in the grind room. But when I had them right, I didn’t have to think about it, all I had to do was go hit. But once I wore them out 16 times, we had to restart the process.

TURSKY: You mentioned Mike [Taylor]. He was such a big part of building your golf clubs. Is he still involved at all with these new irons?

WOODS: Yeah, he worked on all these irons. He worked on all my wedges. I talk to him probably every few weeks, giving updates on how I feel, things that I think could be better. He’ll bounce a few ideas off me, what I think, what direction we need to go down the road, how can we make them any better than what they are. And this is the same process I went through all those years when I was working with him at Nike. But now working with him at TaylorMade, it’s a lot more seamless.

Full piece.

7. Rory could be No. 1 again

Who doesn’t love OWGR No. 1 scenarios? The man who could become No. 1 this week, it seems…

James Corrigan at The Telegraph… “….And the prospect of jumping from fourth to the top of the rankings, a previously stated aim he will achieve if he emulates his 2015 success in this event and Dustin Johnson fails to reach the semi-finals and Justin Rose the final?”

“No, not really,” he said, when asked if it was a big thing. “The big thing is winning my match tomorrow.”

Full piece.

8. A visit to Lamb Crafted; details on expansion plans

Our Johnny Newbern paid a visit to Tyson Lamb’s shop for a look at how the putter-building phenom works. Lamb shared details about the company’s plans for expansion as well.

And right now, it’s not enough to meet demand. Today, accessory sales (ball markers, divot tools, headcovers) are keeping the company moving forward. But Lamb wants to be able to focus on putters. With growth, that should be possible soon. The company is moving headquarters to a new facility in Plano, Texas, with much more space. And more importantly, more machines.

“If we were only making putters, we wouldn’t be in business,” Lamb said. “Revenue and customer based growth is strictly through accessories. We can make 15,000 products in a year and maybe make three to five hundred putters in a year. And that is going to increase astronomically when we move. Right now, we have two machines and if both are making accessories, we have nothing to make putters on. By the end of next year, we will more than likely have 5 machines. Plus, more people and more storage.”

Full piece.

9. High praise for Haotong’s hat

Golf Digest’s Coleman Bentley commented on the European Tour’s Instagram video of Phil Mickelson admiring Haotong Li’s accessorizing ahead of the Dell Match Play.

“…When Phil tells you he’s feeling your drip, you say and please and thank you, sir. Just ask Haotong Li, who could hardly believe his luck when Phil sauntered over at the Dell Match Play on Tuesday to say what’s up and compliment Haotong on his bold new headwear direction.

“The best part of this video is obviously Haotong’s reaction-a mixture of terror and elation that Phil even remembered his name, let alone noticed his new Powder-on-Safari lid. “It saves on sunscreen,” Li quips, barely containing his glee as Phil shouts “It’s hard to pull off but you’re doing it!”

Full piece; see the video here.

News

Charles Schwab Challenge Tour Report: MacIntyre, Åberg and Spaun all switch putters, TaylorMade launches new Spider

Published

2 days ago

May 29, 2026

Alistair Cameron

There must be something in the water. Or potentially on the greens. A whole host of big-time players decided that the Charles Schwab Challenge was the perfect place to test out new putters.

With the 2026 U.S. Open just around the corner, defending champion J.J. Spaun made a surprising switch away from his center-shafted Df3 and into L.A.B. Golf’s OZ.1i HS – the heel-shafted mallet putter.

“Just something I kind of wanted to change the way the putter was looking, just a completely different look than the DF3 that I’ve been using for the last year and a half,” Spaun told GolfWRX about the swap. “So it’s just easier to line up for me with less onset looking design, and it’s just something I felt like switching it up and seeing how it goes.”

You can find more about the putter and the reasoning behind Spaun’s change here.

Robert MacIntyre also decided to change the flatstick at Colonial Country Club. He’s using a custom Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5R. The Scotty team created a specially-milled face featuring horizontal grooves and shortened the plumber’s neck to increase toe hang.

Another custom feature of the build is the welded wings added to the rear of the putter, similar to those found on the Phantom 11 head.

It’s potentially part of a major overhaul to his bag. The Scot has recently switched from the Titleist Pro V1 to the Pro V1x golf ball, added the new GTS2 driver, and is currently testing a GTS 3-wood that could replace his ancient TaylorMade AeroBurner 3-wood.

Ludvig Åberg joined the trio of superstars making alterations on the greens. He’s added a Scotty Cameron Phantom 3.2.

It’s not Åberg’s first putter switch of the season. He had been using different versions of his usual Odyssey Versa #1 head to try to get better speed control on the greens.

? Ludvig Åberg is using a new putter! He’s playing a @ScottyCameron Phantom 3 head. First major putter switch, although he has been changing loft and heads in the Odyssey #1 style this season.
Here’s a Phantom 3 built for him earlier in the season https://t.co/oGrNk6p0hz pic.twitter.com/edRbpk22m4

— Alistair Cameron (@ACameronWRX) May 28, 2026

Currently, a Tour-only offering, the Phantom 3 head is a half-moon mallet shape. Like the previous version that GolfWRX captured at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which Åberg never put in play, the current version appears to feature the Studio Carbon Steel face insert and chain-link face milling. Instead of the all-black version one, Åberg’s current flatstick is in the metal finish.

Rico Hoey’s make-shift Jailbird

Some of the best builds on Tour have a certain Frankenstein theme to them.

Odyssey decided to do this when breeding a turtle and a bird together. The result, Rico Hoey’s latest broomstick.

The custom Jailbird S2S Tri-Hot head includes an aluminium-milled insert from the unreleased TRTL head, which the team machined down to fit the face of the Jailbird after removing the usual Ai-Dual insert.

The team also filled the wings of the putter with epoxy to redistribute mass away from the face, with the metal insert weighing more than the original.

Hoey was also spotted with a custom Damascus Milled Jailbird Mini broomstick. Check out the full gallery here.

Brant Snedeker’s full WITB

Arguably, the PGA Tour’s feel-good story of the year so far was 45-year-old Brandt Snedeker returning to the winner’s circle for the first time in nearly 8 years.

His victory didn’t come without some equipment updates, either. The Presidents Cup Captain added the 2016 M2 driver equipped with a Fujikura Speeder Evolution 661. It’s a shaft that’s even older than the driver.

The historic driver setup might have been added because Snedeker was missing some antique vibes. He recently switched out his 2-decade-old Odyssey Rossie White Hot XG for a TaylorMade Spider Tour X.

He first put the Spider in play at the Cognizant Classic. Still, at the Valspar Championship, he tested TaylorMade’s True Path Alignment versus without, and preferred the added aim benefits he was getting. In previous testing, the biggest thing Snedeker noticed was the launch and how quickly the ball got to true roll from the Spider and its Pure Roll insert compared to anything else he had tried.

Check out Snedeker’s full what’s in the bag during this week’s episode of “Inside the Ropes” from Colonial.

Everything’s bigger in Texas

TaylorMade Golf chose the second stop of a Texas two-step in Dallas as the spot to launch the tour’s latest Spider putter.

On-site Monday at Colonial Country Club, GolfWRX’s Tour Photographer Greg Moore captured the new Spider ZT Max putter ahead of the Charles Schwab Challenge.

The Max version of TaylorMade’s zero-torque putter style has a larger footprint than the original ZT, which will likely lead to a higher MOI thanks to wider perimeter weighting.

The original ZT is made of high-density 303 stainless steel at the front, and then a lower-density 6061 aerospace aluminum on the back to create a high-MOI foundation, with a center shaft featuring slight forward shaft lean and 25mm onset behind the leading edge.

The Spider ZT Max also appears to use the ZT cambered sole, which is also seen on the recently Tour-launched Spider Tour, Tour X, F and V models, which were first spotted at the RBC Heritage.

Brian Harman gamed the original Spider ZT for his victory last year at the 2025 Valero Texas Open, and the putter also saw victory on the DP World Tour in the hands of Michael Kim for his FedEx Open de France win.

Check out the full gallery here.

Odds and Ends

Project X officially Tour launched the Titan Yellow shaft, just a few days after Wyndham Clark played it for the first time and won The CJ Cup Byron Nelson. The shaft features a smoother feel in the handle compared to past Project X wood shafts, along with a firm midsection and firm tip. The Synex Technology allows a player to feel more load in transition without losing the feel of the clubhead. Titleist launched the GTS300 back at Quail Hollow, and just a few weeks later, it’s in the bag of Justin Thomas. Could this be a test run for Shinnecock?

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the ShopRite LPGA

Published

3 days ago

May 28, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX Tour Photographer Greg Moore was on site in Galloway, New Jersey, ahead of the ShopRite LPGA powered by Wakefern to snap some WITB photos and more.

Check out links to all the photos below!

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

Odyssey putters – 2026 ShopRite(LPGA)

News

Club Junkie WITB, week 18: Driver still needs a grip!

Published

4 days ago

May 27, 2026

Brian Knudson

Back again for week 18 with another new bag for this week’s league night! Last week I played well but lost so hoping to get back on the winning side of things. I am pretty excited to get this driver out on the course as I think it is a legit sleeper in the category. It is also time to break out some newly built irons from JP Golf that look awesome and hopefully play just as good! Here is what is in the bag this week.

Driver: PXG Lighting Tour-Mid (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Red 6s

4-wood: Wilson Dynapwr Carbon (16.5 degrees @ 16)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 7s

Hybrid: Callaway Apex Ti Super Hybrid (21 degrees @ 20)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Red 9x

Utility: Mizuno JPX One (22 degrees @ 23)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black 85s

Irons: JP Prime (5-PW)
Shafts: UST Mamiya Dart V 105 F5

Wedge: Cleveland RTZ (50-10 MID)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 s

Wedge: Cleveland RTZ (56-10 MID)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 s

Wedge: Cleveland RTZ (50-8 ADAPT)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 s

Putter: Mizuno M.Craft City Osaka
Shaft: TPT Pulse 50

Ball: PXG Xtreme Tour

Bag: Ghost Anyday Black Ops Stand Bag