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NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOLF PRIDE, THE #1 GRIP ON TOUR
When Justin Thomas and Doug Ghim were together in the penultimate pairing during the final round at the Players Championship, two of Thomas’ putters were in play. Ghim had been experimenting earlier in the week and ended up using Thomas’ backup Scotty Cameron X5 Flow Neck putter on his way to getting in contention. Thomas, for his part, had no idea.
It’s far from the first time this has happened. Rickie Fowler’s original Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS was originally a Tiger Woods backup. Woods himself used Mark O’Meara’s backup Ping Anser 2 putter to finish one stroke shy of a playoff at the 1998 Open Championship – which was won by O’Meara.
Lee Westwood’s run of great play coincided with putting a new set of Ping i210 irons in the bag at Bay Hill. The irons were built exactly the same as the previous set, but he had the 8-iron through gap wedge strengthened a half-degree – fresh grooves on irons tend to add slightly more spin than worn wedges and can affect how far the ball carries.
Frustrated with his driver during the Players Championship, Louis Oosthuizen decided to offer it to a child watching him on the 15th hole during the third round. Undaunted by having the par-5 16th ahead of him, Oosthuizen hit consecutive 3-woods and made an eagle.
Jon Rahm added two Callaway Epic Speed Sub Zero-T fairway woods, having offered his personal feedback on the look and feel of the club. They have a deeper face and more camber on the sole which helps for players who have steep angles of approach. Rahm received prototypes before leaving for the tournament and liked them so much that he immediately put them in play.
During the third round of the Players Championship, a camera showed Bryson DeChambeau using a tool on the bottom of his Cobra King Ltd Black driver head. Adjustments to drivers are not allowed while play is going on, but DeChambeau was tightening a spaceport that often comes loose at the high speeds he hits the ball. The club was released in 2015 and DeChambeau was playing for Southern Methodist University at the time, not challenging 200 mph ball speed and carrying the ball 340 yards. The driver wasn’t designed for such incredible speeds and requires DeChambeau to regularly tighten the spaceport throughout each round.
Adam Scott’s use of the $790 AutoFlex driver shaft has come to an end. He’s back in a Fujikura Ventus Red 7X shaft for his Titleist TSi2 driver.
Sean Fairholm