NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOLF PRIDE, THE #1 GRIP ON TOUR
In the aftermath of the Masters, we had to share a recently unearthed gear story from Tiger Woods’ historic 12-stroke victory in 1997.
When TV coverage opened for the final round, Woods was hitting his approach into the par-4 fifth hole. He had just 128 yards remaining to the flag with a wedge in his hand – a shot that, in current times, we likely would see for a player’s third shot given how the hole was lengthened to 495 yards in 2019.
Woods made one of his worst swings of the week and flew the green into the back bunker, leading to a bogey. It was one of only three bogeys he made in the final 63 holes of the tournament.
On his way to the sixth tee box, the then-21-year-old phenom handed the Titleist Professional golf ball to 9-year-old patron Julian Nexsen of Greenville, South Carolina. A reporter from the Washington Times noticed the gift-giving and interviewed Nexsen. The next day, Nexsen’s name was mentioned in a front-page story.
Nexsen kept the ball along with the framed copy of the newspaper and his 1997 Masters badge. For 26 years, it was “a souvenir for the ages,” as Jim Nantz might say.
A few weeks ago, Nexsen decided to part with the golf ball. Woods memorabilia has been all the rage recently – you might recall that a set of his irons used during the “Tiger Slam” recently earned $5.1 million, and even a backup Scotty Cameron putter Woods didn’t even use in competition fetched more than $328,000 at auction – so Nexsen decided he would try the same route.
It’s just a golf ball, right? Think again. The auction started at $500 and, 53 bids later, finished at $64,124. And, yes, the framed newspaper clipping is included.
Before you fall out of your golf cart, consider that this ball might be appropriately valued – or even, dare we say it, undervalued – for one significant reason.
“Unless Tiger himself or his caddie (Mike “Fluff” Cowan) intentionally saved a ball from this historic final round (which we doubt), this may be the only confirmed golf ball from the final round of Tiger Woods’ first major championship victory,” wrote Golden Age Auctions.
Back to modern reality, where we have a few additional gear notes to share.
Adam Scott and the recently sidelined Will Zalatoris have opted to go from a Titleist ProV1 golf ball to a Pro V1x. Both players cited better stability during the ball’s flight as a primary reason for switching. Scott also made wholesale shaft changes, adding a Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X driver shaft and Project X LS steel iron shafts. The aim is to find tighter spin dispersions with his driver and irons, Scott said at the Masters.
TaylorMade has yet to release its new BRNR Mini Driver, but the club already made its way into the bag of some notable players. Bryson DeChambeau (11.5 degrees) and Fred Couples (13.5 degrees) used one at Augusta. Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose tested the club but did not use it in competition. Details on the club are limited, but we will be keeping an eye out for them.
We also circled TaylorMade’s new MySymbol program. The manufacturer is allowing golfers to customize their golf ball with a unique logo rather than having a number on their ball. Available symbols – which are USGA approved – include a pineapple, pizza, flamingo, cactus, mustache, doughnut and fish. Collin Morikawa requested a ball with an image of his goldendoodle, Koa, which was happily fulfilled by TaylorMade.
And finally, last week at the RBC Heritage was another win for FootJoy in the shoe (53 percent) and glove (43 percent) counts.
Sean Fairholm