NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
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J.J. Spaun was a relative bright spot for Team USA at Bethpage Black, winning his singles match as well as four-ball point partnering with Xander Schauffele against Jon Rahm and Sepp Straka. On a podcast two weeks ago, Colt Knost revealed why Spaun – despite ranking among the best ball strikers and drivers on the team – wasn’t able to contribute more against the Europeans, sitting out both foursomes sessions because he was the only U.S. player who uses a Srixon Z-Star Diamond ball.
Playing a round together in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Thursday before the Ryder Cup – in which Spaun showed good form by shooting 60 – Knost asked Spaun for some off-the-record intel about who he might get paired with at Bethpage Black.
“I know I’m not playing alternate shot,” Spaun said, according to Knost. “Yeah, part of it, I’m the only one who plays a Srixon golf ball.”
“I looked at him like, you’re, in my opinion, a top three ball striker on that team, and alternate shot’s all about giving yourself chances for birdie,” Knost told the Straight Facts Homie podcast. “He’s a great driver of the ball. He’s a great iron player. He’s also a great putter, as we’ve seen. He’s really good.”
Knost said he understood why captain Keegan Bradley might sit Spaun out of the first session as a rookie Ryder Cupper, but couldn’t justify keeping him out of the lineup on Saturday morning after the U.S. team fell behind and got little production from its Friday partnerships between Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley and the doomed duo of Collin Morikawa and Harris English.
“(Spaun) and Scottie played pretty good Friday afternoon (four-ball), they just got beat,” Knost said. “They were 9-under; the other team was 11-under. I couldn’t believe that he wasn’t thrown out there Saturday morning.”
After showing signs of being his old self by delivering three points in the U.S. team’s losing cause at the Ryder Cup, Schauffele put it all together to win for the 10th time in his career – but the first since his 2024 Open triumph – at the PGA Tour’s fall Japan stop in the Baycurrent Classic.
He hit every fairway and 16 of 18 greens in regulation in the final round to hold off Max Greyserman trying to win his first tour event. Schauffele led the field with 25 birdies.
Schauffele’s game seems rejuvenated since returning to competition after missing the Tour Championship for the first time and becoming a new father during the time off. But he’s regained his confidence with his familiar flatstick after struggling all season outside the top 125 in strokes gained putting and flirting with a new Odyssey model.
Schauffele showed up on Sunday at the BMW Championship at Caves Valley in August with an Odyssey Toulon Le Mans Tour center shaft putter instead of his usual Toulon Design Las Vegas Prototype 7CH, with which he won both his 2024 majors.
Schauffele changed out his grips from Golf Pride’s standard Align to its new Align Max MCC Plus 4, preferring the 25-percent higher ridge that helps position hands on the club. According to Brett Zollman, Golf Pride’s tour manager, Schauffele “really likes the feel of the enhanced rib” as well as the tackier texture of the new grips.
Scott Michaux