NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOLF PRIDE, THE #1 GRIP ON TOUR
Webb Simpson has built his career around superb iron play. Coming into this past season, the North Carolinian had collected seven consecutive seasons ranking in the top 40 for strokes gained approach – in six of those seasons, Simpson finished in the top 25.
So it came as a surprise when Simpson’s approach game faltered this season. He has only registered one top-10 finish in 13 starts and ranks No. 117 in the FedEx Cup standings, in large part because his strokes gained approach had fallen to No. 84 on the PGA Tour following the Wells Fargo Championship. That put him in uncharted territory. Since his rookie season in 2009, Simpson has made the playoffs every season and never finished worse than 85th (2010).
There are signs, however, that the former Wake Forest Demon Deacon is making progress. Simpson decided to change irons at the PGA Championship, going from the muscle-back blade Titleist 620MBs to the cavity-back Titleist T100s. The T100s are forged but have the look of a blade at address while still having a cavity-back to increase forgiveness.
Simpson, who missed seven weeks of last season with a lingering neck injury, has seen some immediate rewards from the switch. He tied for 20th at the PGA Championship and tied for 27th at the Charles Schwab Challenge, lifting his strokes gained approach ranking to No. 66 in the process.
“I've had a couple of short stints with non-blades in my career but not many,” Simpson said at the PGA Championship. “I haven't been hitting my irons great. Approach to the green is typically a strength for me; this year it's been a weakness, and I've struggled out of the rough. I keep getting told that these irons I'm playing (the T100s) are better out of the rough, better with distance control, better with mis-hits, and so I guess I was being stubborn but finally listened and I really like them.
“They're not a whole lot different than mine, the way they look, but we've had good results with them so far.”
Paul Tesori, Simpson’s caddie and instructor, persuaded his player to make the switch after a difficult week at the Wells Fargo. Tesori traveled to Quail Hollow, Simpson’s home course, and the two dug some clubs out of Simpson’s garage.
“Thankfully I live on the golf course, so we drove to my garage, picked up this other set – honestly I didn't know if I had this other set still,” Simpson said. “I don't know if Titleist will like this or not, but if I don't use a set, I give it to a friend. I'm trying to spread the word for Titleist, you know. So I might have given it to a friend, but I see them in there, we bring them out, and all the numbers we tested were way better.
“So I still wasn't certain that I was going to put them in this week, so I have both. But yeah, the biggest thing for me is when I look down I want to make sure it looks good, and then after that all I care about is the numbers and how it's going to perform out of the rough, and so far they've passed the test.”
His progress will be something to watch throughout the summer. If it does come down to the last week for him to get into the playoffs, he should have confidence: Simpson has nine top-10 finishes at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, throughout his career.
Sean Fairholm