News

Tour Rundown: Reed a Farmers winner, Casey triumphs in Dubai

Published

5 years ago

Feb 1, 2021

Our return to manifold events was short-lived, alas. With nearly a month between events on the LPGA, PGA Tour Champions, and Korn Ferry tours, our attention focuses on the twin titans of Europe and America. The colonial tour rolls into sunny San Diego for a Torrey Pines trek, while the old world circuit remains in the Middle East, on the eastern edge of the Emirates’ Persian Gulf peninsula. Each tour promises to be thick with drama, both on and off the course, so Thumbs Up and away we go with this week’s Tour Rundown.

PGA Tour: Farmers Insurance Open is Reed’s 9th Tour Title

Patrick Reed outplayed his pursuers on Sunday at Torrey Pines. Toney Finau did NOT win again, Sam Harrop. Viktor Hovland fell apart unexpectedly, and Carlos Ortiz did even worse. Reed and Ortiz entered the final round in a first-place tie at minus-ten strokes. Hovland, Jon Rahm, and Lanto Griffin (all winners on tour) sat two shots behind the leaders, suggesting that some sort of multi-player shoot out might be in the offing. Sadly, it never transpired. Reed moved ahead with an eagle-birdie run at the 6th and 7th holes, fought through a single bogey at the 8th, and played two-under golf the rest of the way. His closing 68 produced a five-shot triumph over a quintet of runners-up: Finau, Hovland, hometown lad Xander Schauffele, Ryan Palmer, and Henrik Norlander. Ortiz tumbled all the way to a tie for 29th, thanks to a wretched 78 that will be dispatched to the memory closet as soon as possible.

Greatness isn’t always palatable — Patrick Reed got himself mucked up in a controversy again this week. Unlike his dalliance with sand at the 2019 Hero World Challenge, this one was more clumsy-carp than Thanos. Reed was the best golfer in the Farmers field this week; and as a one-time major titleist and multi-capped international team contestant, has shown that he is one of the best when he is on his game. He bears an odd similarity to Sergio Garcia, in that both make childish decisions, despite their advancing years. For those of us who’ve never danced with greatness, their actions are difficult to unpack.

Those final rounds — Francesco Molinari and Luke List took nearly as much away from Sunday as Reed. The pair tied for low round of the day at 66, and sailed 29 spots up the leader board, into a tie for 10th. List’s 66 bookended his first round, and only a listless 77 on Friday kept him (theoretically) from challenging more. Molinari has struggled to find the form that left him on Masters Sunday 2019, and the world is a better place when the serene Italian contends.

See you soon, Torrey — Our attention returns to La Jolla in 134 days, when the world’s best will tee it up on the South course. The first open at TP gave us Tiger v. Rocco, with Lee Westwood oh-so-close to a first major. Rocco is gone to the Champions Tour, and Tiger’s status is always uncertain. Westy, meanwhile, is coming off a resurgent season that saw him capture the Race To Dubai on the European Tour. We’ll once again resign ourselves to the worst closing hole in major championship golf (even worse than the 18th at Bethpage Black) and hope that the drama and the principle actors will overcome that element. If you told us that the event would be played on the North course, we might do handsprings for a week.

European Tour: Dubai Desert Classic to Casey for 15th Tour Title

Paul Casey birdied the 72nd hole, not for a heroic victory, but for a four-shot margin over South Africa’s Brandon Stone. Stone was paired with Sergio Garcia, who fell away early, while Casey marched the last round with third-place finisher Robert MacIntyre of Scotland. Stone did fine work to recover from an opening 38, courtesy of three bogies against zero birdies. He played the second nine in minus-three, to return to level par on the day. MacIntyre sat like a hunter at minus one through eight, until an inexplicable, four-bogie run ended his day. He made a second birdie at the 14th, but his effort on this day was fortunate to allow a tumble of only one spot on the leader board.

Attacking the golf course — Casey began his fourth round in solid fashion, with pars and birdies over his first five holes. The highlight, which might just as easily have been a lowlight, was a pitch-in for birdie at the par-three fifth hole In an on-course interview, Casey described the missed green with a wedge as not one of his best. Needing to float his recovery out of the thicker stuff, over the fairway surround, and onto a green running left and away, the 43-year old Englishman checked all the boxes. Alighting on the green, the ball reeled with determination, as if the bottom of the hole were predetermined. Asked how he had conjured such a shot, and what his plans were for the day, Casey indicated that being ruthless, attacking the golf course, was his only consideration. Having worked for three days thus far, the plan should not change.

Low rounds and things like that — Casey did what he had to do, to convince the others that they had to gamble. His final-round 70 was his fourth of the week at that number or better. On Sunday, Casey was bad at times (three bogies) and at other times, brilliant (five birdies.) He never threatened to scratch a large number (double or worse) on his scorecard, and forced his pursuers to take risks. Among the entire field, the low number on the day was the 67 posted by Denmark’s Rasmus Højgaard. If MacIntyre had posted that number, all other things being equal, he would have nipped Casey by two shots. Højgaard’s five-under performance moved him 26 spots, inside the top ten.

That putt — Something about reading tales of heroic acts in our youth, I guess. We love to point to pivotal moments and turning points in any story. It’s hard to look at Sunday’s final round in Dubai, and not remember Casey’s 13-feet putt for bogey at the 15th hole. After taking too brave a line on the par three, Casey received his comeuppance with a banked lie in thick cabbage. His chop-out was more salad than needed, and the ball failed to reach the green. A subsequent pitch sailed the ball to the far edge of the frog hair, but a courageous stroke with the flat stick limited the damage to one lost shot.

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