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Morning 9: Homa a new dad | F1 star joins TMRW Sports | Charges for hitting ball into Grand Canyon

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco and Matthew Vincenzi.
For comments: [email protected].
November 2, 2022

Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as attention turns towards Mayakoba.

1. Congrats, Homas!

Kevin Prise for PGATour.com…”Max and Lacey Homa welcomed their first child Sunday, son Cam Andrew, Homa announced Monday on Twitter and Instagram.”

  • “Homa reported that Cam is “happy, peaceful and happy.” Lacey underwent complications around the birth, Homa said, requiring multiple surgeries and time in the ICU. She was released to the postpartum room earlier Monday to reunite with her husband and newborn son.”
  • “My wife is a freaking super hero,” Homa said on Instagram. “I’ve truly never been more proud and impressed.”
Full piece.

2. Fatherly advice from Finau

Cameron Jourdan for Golfweek…”On Tuesday during his pre-tournament press conference ahead of the 2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in Mexico, Finau was asked what advice he had to give Homa, whose son Cam was born Sunday.”

  • “The best parenting advice I have is just take care of your wife, that’s it,” Finau said. “The wife is the one that runs the home, and women run the world. My mom and my wife are two of the strongest people that I know, probably the two strongest people that I know. The best advice I have for any husband is take care of your wife. If Max does that, the family and the kids will be just fine.”
Full piece.

3. Report: Elevated event opt out

Golf Digest’s Dave Shedloski…”The tour announced in August that players would be eligible for their portion of the $100-million bonus in the Player Impact Program only if they competed in the 13 elevated events plus three more of their choosing in the 2023 portion of the current schedule.”

  • “But the directive, a portion of which was read to Golf Digest, stated that the PGA Tour Policy Board has voted to allow players to skip one elevated event “for personal or professional reasons only.” Furthermore, the board determined that a fall event could count as one of the three optional starts.”
  • “Still to be determined—and it’s not clear if it will be discussed at the upcoming board meeting on Nov. 14 in Sea Island, Ga.—is whether players who hold membership on the DP World Tour would be allowed to designate an event on the European circuit as one of their three electives.
  • The PGA Tour and DP World Tour forged a strategic alliance in 2020 and strengthened their merger last June with the onset of the rival LIV Golf series.”
  • “The PGA Tour’s directive, sent to players and copied to tournaments on Oct. 25, explained that the policy board had determined that, “those players eligible for the distribution of the Player Impact Program are subject to the mandatory participation requirements, which states that they must play the elevated events, if eligible, and three additional FedEx Cup events. The policy board has adjusted this requirement to state that the player would be allowed to miss one of those elevated events for personal or professional reasons only. … They may count one of the fall events towards one of their three FedEx Cup requirements.”
  • “The penalty for not satisfying all elements of the mandatory participation requirement is limited to the bonus distribution for the Player Impact Program.”
Full piece.

4. Chicago Golf Club lands Walker Cup

Brentley Romine for Golf Channel…”After previously hosting a dozen USGA championships, Chicago Golf Club has been awarded two more.

The USGA announced Tuesday that the Seth Raynor masterpiece in Wheaton, Illinois – and one of the USGA’s five founding clubs – will host the 2033 U.S. Women’s Open and 2036 Walker Cup.”

  • “The history of the USGA and American golf can’t be told without Chicago Golf Club, and just over 125 years after hosting its first USGA championship, we’re thrilled to announce our return for two additional significant events,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA chief championships officer. “With the tremendous support of its members and some of the game’s most iconic architecture, we’re confident that Chicago Golf Club will deliver memorable moments and an opportunity for golf fans around the world to see one of America’s finest golf venues.”
  • “Chicago Golf Club was established in 1892 by Charles Blair Macdonald, the USGA’s first vice president and U.S. Amateur champion who also designed the club’s original 18-hole layout in 1893. A year later, Chicago Golf Club became one of the USGA’s five founding member clubs.”
Full piece.

5. Dusek: Distance debate coming to a head

David Dusek for Golfweek…”The USGA and the R&A, the governing bodies of golf, proclaimed that they feel distance is a problem for the game in February 2020, and since that time, they have slowly and methodically been studying equipment testing methods, equipment designs and different aspects of the game to come up with a solution.”

  • “The deadline for manufacturers, industry insiders and stakeholders to send the USGA and R&A feedback, information and research was Sept. 2. Now, with the holidays approaching and just two months remaining in 2022, the USGA and R&A are reviewing submissions and developing concepts they could announce soon to reduce distance.”
Full piece.

6. An impactful coach

Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols…“The USGA and the R&A, the governing bodies of golf, proclaimed that they feel distance is a problem for the game in February 2020, and since that time, they have slowly and methodically been studying equipment testing methods, equipment designs and different aspects of the game to come up with a solution.”

  • “The deadline for manufacturers, industry insiders and stakeholders to send the USGA and R&A feedback, information and research was Sept. 2. Now, with the holidays approaching and just two months remaining in 2022, the USGA and R&A are reviewing submissions and developing concepts they could announce soon to reduce distance.”
Full piece.

7. DJ’s team shakeup

Mark Schlabach for ESPN…““Only two days after capturing LIV Golf’s first team championship at Trump National Doral in Miami, 4 Aces GC captain Dustin Johnson is shaking up his team’s roster for 2023, sources confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.”

  • “Talor Gooch is moving to the Niblicks GC, which is captained by Bubba Watson, and Johnson’s squad is replacing him with Peter Uihlein. Watson told ESPN last week that he plans to change the name of his team before next season.”
  • “Uihlein, a former world No. 1-ranked amateur and 2010 U.S. Amateur champion, finished third in the season-long individual points race in LIV Golf’s inaugural season, which earned him a $4 million bonus.”
Full piece.

8. Lewis Hamilton joins TMRW Sports as investor

Gabrielle Herzig for GolfDigest…“Tiger Woods’s and Rory McIlroy’s new media and entertainment company—has announced that Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton will be joining as an investor. The news comes in anticipation of a full list of investors that will be released Wednesday, per TMRW Sports’ Twitter account.”

  • “I’m excited to welcome a strong group of investors across sports and entertainment to @TMRWSports,” Woods wrote on his Twitter account. “And first up to join me and @McIlroyRory on the team: F1 great @LewisHamilton.”
  • “As a seven-time F1 world champion, Hamilton is a fitting addition to the duo of golf greats in Woods and McIlroy. The British Mercedes driver holds the record for most wins, pole positions, and podium finishes in the sport. In addition to his world-class F1 résumé, Hamilton is also an avid golfer. In May, Hamilton teamed up with Tom Brady in a fundraiser event at Miami Beach Golf Club ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.”
Full Piece.

9. Woman facing charges for hitting ball into Grand Canyon

Michele Thiel for Yahoo…”A woman is facing charges for hitting a golf ball and a golf club into the Grand Canyon, according to a statement from the park.”

  • “On October 27, the Grand Canyon National Park’s Facebook page posted a screenshot showing a woman at the edge of the canyon’s South Rim, near Mather Point, with the golf club in the air.”
  • “Do we really need to say, ‘don’t hit golf balls into the Grand Canyon?'” the caption read, adding that “throwing objects over the rim of the canyon is not only illegal but can also endanger hikers and wildlife who may be below.”
Full Piece.
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Equipment

Spotted: Tommy Fleetwood’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X Prototype putter

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Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.

This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.

Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.

The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.

Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.

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Equipment

Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange

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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article. 

…The Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.

Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.

Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.

Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.

According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.

He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.

Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.

Head over to PGATour.com for the full article. 

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Equipment

Details on Justin Thomas’ driver switch at the Wells Fargo Championship

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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article. 

So, with a couple of weeks off following his latest start at the 2024 RBC Heritage, Thomas sought to re-address his driver setup with the remote help of Titleist Tour fitting expert J.J. Van Wezenbeeck. About two weeks ago, Thomas and Van Wezenbeeck reviewed his recent driver stats, and discussed via phone call some possible driver and shaft combinations for him to try.

After receiving Van Wezenbeeck’s personalized shipment of product options while at home, Thomas found significant performance improvements with Titleist’s TSR2 head, equipped with Thomas’ familiar Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 60 TX shaft.

Compared to Thomas’ longtime TSR3 model, the TSR2 has a larger footprint and offers slightly higher spin and launch characteristics.

According to Van Wezenbeeck, Thomas has picked up about 2-3 mph of ball speed, to go along with 1.5 degrees higher launch and more predictable mishits.

“I’d say I’d been driving it fine, not driving it great, so I just wanted to, honestly, just test or try some stuff,” Thomas said on Tuesday in an interview with GolfWRX.com at Quail Hollow Club. “I had used that style of head a couple years ago (Thomas used a TSi2 driver around 2021); I know it’s supposed to have a little more spin. Obviously, yeah, I’d love to hit it further, but if I can get a little more spin and have my mishits be a little more consistent, I felt like obviously that’d be better for my driving…

“This (TSR2) has been great. I’ve really, really driven it well the week I’ve used it. Just hitting it more solid, I don’t know if it’s the look of it or what it is, but just a little bit more consistent with the spin numbers. Less knuckle-ball curves. It has been fast. Maybe just a little faster than what I was using. Maybe it could be something with the bigger head, maybe mentally it looks more forgiving.”

Head over to PGATour.com for the full article. 

 

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