News

Tour Rundown: Pick me, pick me! (Tiger looking in the mirror)

Published

7 years ago

Oct 28, 2019

The way she’s playing, Tiger Woods might want to consider using a Team USA Presidents Cup pick on Danielle Kang. Nah, she didn’t win this week, but was she close! Only 3 tours were in action in the penultimate week of October, but the results were stunning. A prodigal golfer triumphed in her home country, a man on the edge of losing his tour card kept it and won! And the captain can now justifiably pick the player, after winning the inaugural PGA Tour event played in Japan. In the altered words of golfer and writer John Updike: Tiger, Run.

ZOZO goes to TIWO by three over Hideki

Is it me alone, or does ZOZO look an awful lot like 2020?

So many things to mention, so little space. Tiger tied the Slammer for most tour wins ever, with his 82nd victory. Tiger won the first-ever PGA Tour event in Japan. Tiger bionically comes back from September surgery to win in convincing fashion. Tiger can now justifiably pick Tiger for the USA Presidents Cup side.

Remember 1997? Young Tiger started off the Masters with 40 on the front nine. Kinda-sorta spotted the field an advantage, as he romped to victory from that point on. 2019 ain’t much different, kiddos. Old Tiger started bogey-bogey-bogey on Thursday, then won by 3 over hometown Hideki. Still spotting leads, still closing deals.

Some will say, Tiger had a few wins along the way against half-fields, without cuts, yadda yadda. So did Sam Snead. At the end of the day, both are legends and numbers tell a fraction (get it? numbers? fraction?) of the story.

Did you think that Tiger wouldn’t pick Tiger, given his sense of history? The last playing captain in team golf that matters was Arnold Daniel Palmer, in 1963. Tiger won the Masters this year. He’s pretty good. Tiger winning the ZOZO in late October means, he’s still pretty good. There goes one of four Captain’s picks. It will be pretty cool to see his vice-captains run the show, while Tiger plays. Our prediction: Captain Tiger will play Team Member Tiger on Thursday and Saturday morning, giving the later plenty of rest for Sunday’s required singles, while allowing the former to captain 2 of the 4 preliminary rounds.

Oh, by the way, did you know that the Olympics next year will be contested in Japan? Tiger’s big in Japan.

Brown snares Portugal Masters with remarkable European Tour comeback

Steven Brown, among many, came into this week with a precise goal: preserve European Tour playing privileges for 2020. Justin Walters of South Africa had a similar target; he finished 2nd and succeeded. Jack Singh Brar also hoped to be here for another year-with an 8th-place result, he will be. Brown outdid them all. With a heroic lash of a fairway metal on the 12th hole, the Englishmen found himself 8 feet from eagle. He converted the putt for 3 on the par-5 hole, and moved into a tie for the lead on the next green. With 6 closing pars, not an easy task on the Dom Victoria course, Brown held off Walters and South Africa’s Brandon Stone, for a 1-shot triumph.

Stone had played enviable golf all day, until arriving at the closing third of the course. He stood three shots below par on the round, but made bogey at the 13th and the 16th. Ironically, both hole were par 3s, and Stone had the comfort of teeing the ball as he pleased. Unable to make birdie at the watery 17th and 18th holes, the 3-time winner found himself one shot shy of a playoff. His consolation, though, was a jump from nowhere into the top 100, enough to keep him playing in the Race To Dubai playoffs’ first round in Turkey, in November.

Ha Na Jang wins LPGA’s BMW Ladies Championship on home Korean soil

In May of 2017, the LPGA lost a wondrous competitor, when Ha Na Jang put family first and returned to the Korean LPGA circuit. 25 years old at the time, Jang was one of the rising stars and her departure left a bit of a hole on tour. In the two years since, she has won four times on the KLPGA, as well as winning the Australian Open on the LPGA tour. This week, Jang reminded fans of her skill when she came from a stroke behind to reach 19-under par in regulation. Her 65 in the final round was enough to gain a playoff with last week’s winner, Danielle Kang of the USA.

Jang eagled the 11th hole to jump-start her inward half. She birdied 3 more holes on the trek to the clubhouse. Ahead of her, Kang had scorched the fairways of the LPGA International Busan, carving 8 birdies into the first 13 holes of her scorecard. Unable to squeeze any more strokes from her round, Kang also reached the 19-under figure. The two champions, 3 shots clear of 3rd-place Amy Yang, headed out for extra holes. Each depended on her wedge game for a par save at the 1st extra hole. Kang lipped out for birdie on the 2nd bonus hole, astonished at the game’s cruelty. On hole number 3, Jang made good on her birdie effort, and claimed her 5th career LPGA title.

News

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

Published

12 hours 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

1 day 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

2 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