Connect with us

News

Morning 9: How will Augusta play? | Exclusive talk with Anthony Kim’s caddie | Brooks Koepka: Course designer?

Published

4 years ago

on
By Ben Alberstadt
Email me at [email protected]
November 5, 2020
Good Thursday morning, golf fans.
1. DJ returns to action after COVID-19
Golfweek’s Adam Schupak…”After spending 11 days quarantined in a hotel room, Dustin Johnson ran out of TV shows and movies to watch.”
  • “There isn’t one you can name that I didn’t watch, I don’t think,” said Johnson, noting that “Yellowstone,” was his favorite. “I was just laying around kind of doing nothing. It was one of those things where I was like waiting to get sick because you know you have it, but for me it was very mild and obviously I’m very thankful for that.”
  • “Johnson tested positive for COVID-19 on October 13, and withdrew from the CJ Cup and Zozo Championship, after experiencing achiness, congestion and a mild cough. He tested positive at an off-site location in Las Vegas run by Sanford Health. During a press conference ahead of the Vivint Houston Open, Johnson, who won three times last season and is the reigning FedEx Cup champion, declared himself a picture of health. As for his game with the Masters looming just a week away?”
  • “My health is good. The state of my game is undetermined,” he said.
2. Koepka tees it up at a course he helped design
Bet you didn’t know BK dabbled in golf course architecture! PGATour.com’s Sean Martin…”Koepka was the player consultant on the dramatic renovation that this week’s venue, Memorial Park, underwent before hosting the Vivint Houston Open.”
  • “To be honest with you, I had no aspirations of ever being like I want to design golf courses, nothing, but then being asked to do this, it’s a really cool idea,” Koepka said. “Obviously, I wanted to help Jim out.
  • “I think any time you can play a hand in having some opinion on a course that we’re going to play out here, I think it’s unique, it doesn’t happen very often. And it’s been cool just to see it evolve. I know this golf course is quite difficult. It’s quite long. You’ll see some high numbers, especially if the wind gets up. It kind of resembles a little bit of a U.S. Open. I think some people would say, which I feel like I’ve done pretty good at.”
  • “Famed architect Tom Doak led the renovation with Koepka providing input during on-site visits and over email.”
3. Ferguson: Why it’s OK 4 top-40 players aren’t teeing it up at the 2020 Masters
The AP’s Doug Ferguson picks up his opinion piece pen…”This is not a time for Berger, Hovland, Palmer and English to wonder what they’re missing, because they were never part of the 2020 Masters. This is the time for them to celebrate what they’ve achieved to at least be part of the conversation, and to look forward to the next Masters. They earned it.”
  • “All four are guaranteed spots at Augusta National next April by reaching the Tour Championship, no small feat for any of them.”
  • “Berger and English were out of the top 125 the previous season.”
  • “Hovland was a PGA Tour rookie. Palmer’s game never seems far off, though he had gone six years since he last played in the Tour Championship.”
  • “Now they’re in the top 40, and not likely to lose much ground with only two tournaments left this year after the Masters.”
4. “Ratings ouch”
Geoff Shackelford writes…”Even with a Masters invitation (somehow) on the line and of course, the all important FedExCup points, Brian Gay’s Bermuda Championship win still had fewer Golf Channel viewers than the Timbertech Championship.”
  • “That event featured Darren Clarke holding off Jim Furyk and Bernhard Langer for his first PGA Tour Champions win.”
  • “Saturday’s third round of the Timbertech “won” the weekend and averaged 43,000 in the coveted none-Villages demo.”
5. Lanto’s story
PGATour.com’s Doug Milne with an interesting look at last year’s Houston Open winner and a special individual in his life…”After turning professional in 2010, he would endure years of losing money and gaining credit card debt. In his first 10 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2017, he earned a collective total of less than $5,000.”
  • “I thought about quitting,” Griffin remembers thinking.
  • “What overtook his skepticism, though, was a stubborn perseverance to succeed. Returning to this week’s Vivint Houston Open as the defending champion, his determination clearly paid off. And, it has paid off in more ways – and to more people – than he ever could have imagined.”
GolfWRX Recommends
Do you subscribe to The Golfer’s Journal? If not, and you’re looking to rediscover the soul of the game, check it out. Seriously. What graces the pages is that good.
While the Morning 9 allows you to take a few bites from a tasting menu of the day’s best golf content, the quarterly journal is a multi-course, Michelin star feast—and we think treating yourself (or a golfer in your life with a holiday subscription!) is absolutely in order.
GolfWRX may earn a commission on sales of “GolfWRX Recommends” products.
6. A defense of Election Day golf
Golf Digest’s Sam Weinman wrote yesterday, Election Day…”I am going to play golf. There, I said it. I am going to play golf because I care about the election but I want a break from caring for at least four hours. I am going to vote and then I’d rather be in three feet of fescue than anywhere near my Twitter feed. The spotty cell service at my golf course never seemed like a good thing until now.”
7. How will ANGC play next week?
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…“Thanks to extended forecasts there is some clarity when it comes to next week’s Masters. Following months of speculation, temperatures are expected to linger in the mid- to high-70s for the week with elevated chances of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday.”
  • “For many that’s a welcome reprieve from what could have been for the first fall Masters. Much of the speculation heading into the year’s final major fixated on the potential for much colder conditions in November.”
  • “…Warmer-than-normal temperatures, however, are only part of what promises to make the 2020 Masters a singularly different tournament. Even with spring-like temperatures there are plenty of unknowns when it comes to the game’s most well-known layout.”
8. An exclusive chat with Anthony Kim’s caddie
Our Johnny Wunder spoke with Brodie Flanders…
“JW: What’s your favorite AK moment?”
“BF: I could write a book about my favorite AK moments. There’s so many. He’s been my family for half my life now. I had the pleasure of playing against him in the World Juniors in Japan at 16 to being roommates with him in college at OU, to walking with him for a few years inside and outside the ropes, and even building some businesses together. If I had to single out a moment, it was his back 9 run at the 2010 Masters. AK never feels that he’s out of a tournament and what I always appreciated most about his game was the way he’d close the rounds. It wasn’t unusual for him to go 4-5 under on the last 9.”
  • “On Sunday, he told me on the 13th that if he could go birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie, birdie, he’d win.”
  • “He birdied 13, 14, and on 15 he had almost the identical yardage he had from Saturday. He flushed a 5 iron right behind the hole. Walking over the Sarazen bridge I tried to take it all in for probably the first time that day. I was at the Masters on Sunday with my best friend and he’s making a run. He said to me while reading that eagle putt on 15 “these ppl are about to go f*n nuts… watch this” and then he rolled it in. Goosebumps. He did the same thing on 16. I’ll never forget that day for the rest of my life.”
  • “Two weeks later, he hung it up to have surgery finally. One of many to follow.”
9. Anthony Kim’s 2010 Houston Open WITB
Always fun to take a look at WITBs of seasons past. Here’s AK’s setup for his 2010 win in Houston.
Driver: Nike VR Pro LTD (9.5 degrees @10)
Shaft: UST AxivCore Tour Black 79 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Burner TS (13 degrees)
Shaft: UST AxivCore Tour Black 89 X
5-wood: Nike Sasquatch Dyno (19 degrees)
Shaft: UST AxivCore Tour Black 89 X
Irons: Nike VR Pro MB (3-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Wedges: Nike VR Pro “MT Grind” (54, 59 degrees)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Select Circle T Newport 2
Grip: Scotty Cameron Pistol Red Full Cord
Grips: Golf Pride BCT 60R
Ball: Nike One Platinum
Your Reaction?
  • 4
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP1
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Related Topics:

GolfWRX Editor-in-Chief

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

News

SuperStroke acquires Lamkin Grips

Published

23 hours ago

on

May 6, 2024

By

SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”

“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”

Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.

According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”

CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.

“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.

Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history

Your Reaction?
  • 13
  • LEGIT3
  • WOW7
  • LOL1
  • IDHT1
  • FLOP2
  • OB2
  • SHANK5

Continue Reading

News

Tour Rundown: Pendrith, Otaegui, Longbella, and Dunlap soar

Published

23 hours ago

on

May 6, 2024

By

Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.

It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.

PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place

The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.

This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.

With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.

DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four

It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.

It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.

PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella

Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.

64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.

PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win

Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.

The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.

Your Reaction?
  • 0
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

News

Morning 9: Pendrith’s maiden Tour win | Morikawa back with former coach | Brooks victorious

Published

1 day ago

on

May 6, 2024

By
By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Monday morning, golf fans, as the PGA Tour gives us yet another breakthrough winner.

1. Pendrith wins first PGA Tour title

AP Report…”Taylor Pendrith took advantage of Ben Kohles’ final-hole meltdown to win the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title.”

  • “Kohles overtook Pendrith with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 for a one-shot lead then bogeyed the 18th after hitting his second shot into greenside rough. After having to chip twice from the rough and already looking stunned, Kohles missed a 6-foot putt that would have forced a playoff.”
  • “Pendrith two-putted for birdie on the 18th, holing a 3-footer for a 4-under 67 and 23-under 261 total at the TPC Craig Ranch. The 32-year-old Canadian won in his 74th career PGA Tour start.”
Full piece.

2. Koepka takes LIV title in Singapore

S.I.’s Bob Harig…”Brooks Koepka became the first player to win four times as part of the LIV Golf League, shooting a final-round 68 at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore on Sunday to beat Cam Smith and Marc Leishman by two strokes.”

  • “His timing wasn’t bad, either.”
  • “A few days after offering concern about his game in light of a poor Masters performance, Koepka stepped up and won the LIV Golf Singapore even to give himself a boost heading into the defense of his PGA Championship title in two weeks.”
  • “The year’s second major begins on May 16.”
Full piece.

3. Otaegui wins Volvo China

AP report…”Adrian Otaegui overturned a five-shot deficit to win the Volvo China Open on Sunday, the Spaniard’s fifth tour title.”

  • “Otaegui had been trailing the in-form Sebastian Söderberg after Friday’s round – Saturday’s was cancelled because of thunder and lightning – and he shot 7-under 65 in his final round to win by one shot from Guido Migliozzi, who finished runner up with a 67.”
Full piece.

4. ICYMI: Teen Kim makes the cut

Guardian report…”English teenager Kris Kim became the youngest player to make the cut on the PGA Tour in 11 years after a birdie at the last saw him get through to the weekend of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas with a shot to spare.”

  • “Amateur Kim, the son of former LPGA player Ji-Hyun Suh, made a second-round four-under-par 67, which included a run of five birdies and one bogey over his front nine.”
  • “At 16 years and seven months he became the youngest player to make the cut on tour since 14-year-old Guan Tianlang at the 2013 Masters, and, according to the PGA Tour, the fifth youngest in history.”
Full piece.

5. Winner in a rainout

AP report…”Scott Dunlap was declared the 36-hole winner of the Insperity Invitational when rain washed the final round Sunday, giving Dunlap his first PGA Tour Champions title in nearly 10 years.”

  • “Devastating rain in the Houston area previously washed out the opening round Friday. Players managed to play 36 holes on Saturday, and Dunlap posted a 2-under 70 to take a one-shot lead over Joe Durant and Stuart Appleby.”
  • “That proved to be the winning score when rain soaked The Woodlands Country Club. It was the second 36-hole event in the last three weeks on the PGA Tour Champions because of weather. The other was in the Dallas area.”
Full piece.

6. Morikawa back with former coach

7. Winner’s bag: Taylor Pendrith

Presented by 2nd Swing

Driver: Ping G430 LST (9 degrees)

Shaft: ACCRA TZ Six ST

3-wood: Ping G430 Max (15 degrees)

Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green Small Batch 80 6.5 TX

7-wood: Ping G430 MAX (20.5 degrees)

Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green Small Batch 90 6.5 TX

Irons: Srixon ZX5 Mk II (4, 5), Srixon ZX7 Mk II (6-9)

Shafts: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 6.5 90, 6.5 100 (2-3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Cleveland RTX 6 Tour Rack (46-10 Mid, 52-10 Mid, 56-10 Mid, 60-9 Full)

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Putter: Odyssey Jailbird Versa

Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Flatso 1.0

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

Ball: Srixon Z-Star Diamond
Full WITB.
Your Reaction?
  • 1
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

WITB

Whats in the Bag20 hours ago

Peter Kuest WITB 2024 (May)

Peter Kuest what’s in the bag accurate as of CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Driver: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (8 degrees)...
Whats in the Bag20 hours ago

Kelly Kraft WITB 2024 (May)

Kelly Kraft’s what’s in the bag accurate as of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. More photos from the event here. ...
Whats in the Bag2 days ago

Taylor Pendrith’s winning WITB: 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson

Driver: Ping G430 LST (9 degrees) Buy here. Shaft: Accra TZ Six ST 3-wood: Ping G430 Max (15 degrees) Buy here....
Whats in the Bag2 days ago

Ben Kohles WITB 2024 (May)

Driver: Titleist TSR3 (9 degrees, D1 SureFit setting) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X 3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (15 degrees)...

Facebook

Trending