NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS

BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOLF PRIDE, THE NO. 1 GRIP ON TOUR

Tony Finau, who lost in a playoff at the WGC-HSBC Champions, played his usual collection of 11 Ping clubs, beginning with the company’s G400 driver all the way to the gap wedge. But the odd thing was his not using a Ping putter, given the company’s history and their sponsorship of him. Instead, Finau wielded a Piretti Elite putter. He also had 56- and 60-degree Titleist Vokey SM7 wedges in hand.

Add Justin Thomas to the list of those switching putters in mid-tournament. Thomas did it two weeks ago at the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges, putting a Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Timeless GSS in play for the weekend after opening with a Cameron X5 Flow Neck. It paid off with a seven-birdie outburst in the final round for a 68 and a tie for 36th, but he had tied for fifth with the X5 in the CIMB Classic the week before. He did not play the WGC-HSBC Champions last week. ... Brooks Koepka’s CJ Cup win, which vaulted him to the top of the world ranking, was his fifth on the PGA Tour, all playing a Titleist Pro V1x.

Sergio García’s switch to Callaway at the start of the year paid off with an early victory in Singapore, and although he struggled in subsequent months, he got back on track with a stellar Ryder Cup performance and a victory at the recent Andalucía Valderrama Masters. Said García of the Callaway Chrome Soft X ball, “My golf ball feels really nice. It’s definitely much better around the greens for me. It was important for me to make sure I liked the golf ball (when he signed with Callaway). It’s very important to me to see and feel that you can work the ball, and flight the ball. And that’s obviously one of the reasons why I decided to come to Callaway. ... I love the ball flight. I can hit it both ways, left to right or right to left.”

Tim Cronin