NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
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Coming on the heels of three consecutive weeks of a major championship sandwiched between two PGA Tour signature events, the Rocket Mortgage Classic field in Detroit last week was going to always have a hard time drawing top-10 talent.
Unless, however, the tournament considered different top-10 lists.
The Rocket Mortgage loaded up with next-generation talent by inviting the No. 1 finisher from PGA Tour University (Michael Thorbjornsen), the No. 1 AJGA-ranked junior amateur (15-year-old Miles Russell), the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 men in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (Jackson Koivun, Ben James and Luke Clanton, respectively) and the No. 1 amateur finisher in the Masters and U.S. Open (Neal Shipley, who recently turned pro).
Thorbjornsen is the newest PGA Tour member thanks to his valedictorian PGA Tour U finish, and he scored a T39 in his professional debut at the Travelers Championship. The Stanford grad uses a 10-finger grip instead of the conventional overlap or interlocking.
“I haven’t made any grip changes in my whole career,” he told PGATour.com. “I guess when I was 5 or 6 years old, I would go with a complete baseball grip and would have no thumbs on the club, so I think putting thumbs on the club definitely helps, especially at this level. I’ve had it my whole life. I haven’t really needed to change it or felt the need to change. So, we’re rocking with it, and will continue to do so for the rest of my career.”
Shipley – who finished T53 and T26 to take low-amateur honors at Augusta National and Pinehurst No. 2, respectively – tied for ninth in his pro debut two weeks ago at the PGA Tour Americas’ Victoria Open. He games a bag full of Ping tools: G430 LST driver and 3-wood; i230 (3), Blueprint S (4) and Blueprint T (5-9) irons; s159 wedges (46, 50, 54 and 60); and Ping PLD Anser putter.
Koivun, James and Clanton each competed in Detroit before heading to this week’s Arnold Palmer Cup to play for the U.S. team at Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland. Both Clanton and James made the cut in Michigan.
Koivun – a rising sophomore at Auburn – is just three points shy of joining Gordon Sargent in earning his PGA Tour card via PGA Tour U’s Accelerated program. He’s a Titleist guy – TSR3 driver; T200 (3), 620 CB (4) and 620 MB (5-PW) irons; Vokey Design SM10 (46, 50 and 54) and WedgeWorks (60) wedges; and Scotty Cameron T5.5 putter – with the exception of his Ping G430 LST 3-wood.
The diminutive Russell – just 5-feet-7-inches and "probably 120" pounds – is the furthest away from a professional life but already a familiar name after becoming the youngest player to make the cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event in April.
Russell brought a bag full of TaylorMade equipment for his PGA Tour debut on a sponsor’s exemption at Detroit Golf Club. His TaylorMade MG4 60-degree lob wedge and TP Soto putter are stamped with his nickname: “Smiles.”
The rest of Russell’s bag includes: TaylorMade Qi10 LS driver; Qi10 Tour 3-wood; Qi10 5-wood; TaylorMade P770 (4) and P7MC (5-9) irons; and full set of TaylorMade MG4 wedges (46, 52, 56 and 60).
Scott Michaux