NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
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The PGA Tour season may be coming down to the last few events, but players are still interested in finding equipment tweaks that will push them closer to winning the FedEx Cup.
Justin Thomas arrived in Memphis with a new Titleist TSR3 driver, which replaced his Titleist TSi3. He remained in a 10-degree clubhead with a minus-3/4 degree setting to create an effective 9.25 degrees of loft. Thomas is the latest in a long line of players to make the switch. Cameron Smith won the Open Championship with a 10-degree TSR3, the first major triumph with the new line, and Will Zalatoris used an 8-degree TSR3 to win his first PGA Tour event this week.
Thomas was strong with the driver last week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, ranking No. 9 in strokes gained off-the-tee.
Meanwhile, Thomas got a laugh out of Joohyung “Tom” Kim having wedges stamped with the same word that Thomas has imprinted on his wedges: Radar. Kim conceded that Thomas was part of the inspiration for doing so.
“He's a rookie, I guess now officially, so maybe I'll just create a little fake invoice and put it in his locker,” Thomas said.
Bounce was a big topic for Rory McIlroy last week, and we’re not referring to his joyful walking around the course. McIlroy routinely alters the bounce on his 58-degree TaylorMade MG3 lob wedge based on course conditions, and he did so again last week.
Soft, grainy conditions warrant more bounce so the club won’t dig into the turf. McIlroy has gone as high as 14 degrees of bounce this year in those cases. When conditions were firm at St. Andrews last month, McIlroy brought the bounce down to 7 degrees.
The wiry Bermudagrass around TPC Southwind necessitated 11 degrees of bounce, McIlroy determined.
On the greens, there were new Scotty Cameron putters unveiled in Memphis. The Masterful+ and Timeless+ come with the same classic shape as the Newport, but there is extra width on the flange for a bulkier look.
Rickie Fowler grabbed a Timeless+ and immediately shot an opening 65 before his week began to unravel. He said he has used five different putters in competition this year, the latest being a last-minute addition.
“Drew (Page), one of the reps who was a teammate of mine at Oklahoma State, he just happened to have (the Timeless+) out on the putting green on Tuesday,” Fowler said. “Hit a couple putts with it, everything looked good, felt good. Messed with it a little bit more yesterday and decided to give it a shot.”
Poor putting has haunted Fowler, once among the game’s elite on the greens. His strokes-gained-putting finishes during the past four years reflect a stunning drop-off from 13th (2019) to 60th (2020) to 126th (2021) to 179th (2022).
“One of the biggest issues over the last year or two is I'm just not putting anywhere near what I'm used to or I know I can,” Fowler said. “That does a lot with momentum and confidence and freeing you up from the rest of the game, not feeling like you have to necessarily hit it super close to make birdies.”
Sean Fairholm