Why Keegan Bradley has major motivation at BMW

Golf is back once again in the Olympic Games after returning for the Rio games in 2016. Now in Tokyo, both the men and women will play on the East Course of the Kasumigaseki CC, a private club in Saitama, a little over 30 miles northwest of Tokyo. The course is 92 years old and was renovated four years ago to add length (and difficulty) in preparation for the games taking place in 2020. The course measures 7,447 yards, is a par 71 and should have bentgrass greens. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: INTL GOLF $700K Gold Golfer [$200K to 1st] STRATEGY Up to 60 golfers (in both men’s and women’s events) will be competing in a stroke-play, four-round, no-cut event similar to a World Golf Championships (WGC) event. Top-ranked players Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau have tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be competing. Patrick Reed (+1400, $10,100) has taken DeChambeau’s place on the United States team. The men’s tournament starts on July 29 and finishes on Aug. 1. Tom Fazio was responsible for renovating the course to fit the modern tests and parameters of today’s game. Fazio lengthened the course, added fairway bunkers where golfers should hit their drives and reshaped the greens similar to what’s on TOUR. The fairways are treelined and wide and the greens will be huge, so proximity to the hole will play a factor this week. Fazio says this course reminds him of Donald Ross’ designs in the Northeast (Plainfield CC, Sedgefield CC). If we know anything about Ross courses, it’s all about the second shot and position golf Off-the-Tee. Other Fazio courses on TOUR are Firestone CC (WGC-Bridgestone), a redesign of Quail Hollow (Wells Fargo), Conway Farms (BMW Championship in 2013, 2015 and 2017) and Shadow Creek (2020 CJ Cup). With no cut, all six golfers are going to make the weekend. Similar to WGCs, placement points and birdie or better scoring are a must if you want to win a GPP this week. The top five golfers in birdies or better gained over the previous 24 rounds are (starting from highest) Rory McIlroy (+1200, $10,300), Sungjae Im (+2800, $9,000), Sepp Straka (+25000, $6,400), Cameron Smith (+2800, $8,900) and Xander Schauffele (+800, $10,700). GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Justin Thomas (+1100 to Win, $10,900 on DraftKings) When in doubt, zoom out. Over the previous 50 rounds, Thomas ranks seventh in DraftKings points gained over the field and third in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. Thomas’ recent finishes aren’t pleasant for the fourth-ranked golfer in the world, with only one top 10 since his win at THE PLAYERS back in March. Still, he’s got one of the best win rates outside of Collin Morikawa (+650, $11,200) among the top players, winning a tournament, on average, every nine events dating back to the BMW Championship in 2019. Thomas gets even better when it’s a no-cut event, ranking first in Strokes Gained: Total over his previous 50 rounds in these events, and with nine of his 14 wins coming in this format. Paul Casey (+1200 to Win, $9,500 on DraftKings) Casey’s success this season started with a win overseas at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and has continued throughout the season on TOUR with three top 10s and three top 5s since then. Over the previous 50 rounds, Casey ranks seventh in birdies or better gained and fifth in bogeys avoidance. Viktor Hovland (+1100, $9,900) is playing well, ranking second in Strokes Gained: Total over the previous two dozen rounds, but he’s projected to be the highest-rostered golfers in this range as of press time. Cameron Smith (+2800 to Win, $8,900 on DraftKings) The Australian has a knack for performing well in similar events, with Top 5s at the 2014 and 2017 CIMB Classic, a top 10 at the WGC-Mexico in 2019 and an 11th-place finish at the most recent WGC-Workday Championship at Concession. The 28th-ranked player in the world has three top 10s in 2021, which includes this year’s Masters Tournament. A winner at the 2021 Zurich Classic with fellow teammate (then and now) Marc Leishman (+3500, $8,500), Smith could be in line for a solid finish, especially since he ranks seventh in approach and fourth in birdies or better gained over his previous 24 rounds. Refer a friend and get $20 DK Dollars! Head to the DraftKings Playbook Promo page for more details! Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: INTL GOLF $700K Gold Golfer [$200K to 1st] Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL). Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ/WV/PA/MI), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (NH/CO), 1-800-BETS OFF(IA), 1-888-532-3500 (VA) or call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN). 21+ (18+ NH). CO/IL/IN/IA/NH/NJ/PA/TN/VA/WV/MI only. Eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for full terms and conditions.

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Throughout this year, GolfWRX.com has been hard at work on the Equipment Report, keeping PGATOUR.com readers informed on the latest equipment releases, player staff deals, “What’s in the Bag?” (WITB) changes, custom Tour designs, and the stories behind them all. Here are five of the top gear and equipment stories on TOUR in 2022. Tiger Woods makes big equipment changes in 2022 Woods teed it up just three times on TOUR, including the Masters, the PGA Championship and The Open Championship. In every appearance he made, however, Woods made headlines in the equipment world. At the Masters, Woods showed up with essentially the same club setup he used when playing in the 2021 PNC Championship, but he shocked the world with a change to his footwear. For decades, Woods has been the face of Nike Golf shoes, but due to his prior injuries and surgical repair, he wore FootJoys at the Masters instead. He explained the surprising switch-up in a press conference: “I have very limited mobility now,” he said. “Just with the rods and plates and screws that are in my leg, I needed something different, something that allowed me to be more stable. That’s what I’ve gone to. Nike’s been fantastic over the years of providing me with equipment … and … we’ve been working on trying to find something to allow me to do this and swing again. We’re still going to continue doing it, and hopefully we’ll have something soon.” At the PGA, Woods arrived with new irons and wedges in the bag. He started Thursday using two new TaylorMade P770 driving irons (2 and 3), each with True Temper’s new Dynamic Gold MID Tour Issue X100 shafts. The MID shaft was launched in 2022 and is designed for slightly higher spin and launch angles compared to the True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts he uses in his TaylorMade P-7TW irons (4-PW). During rounds two and three at Southern Hills, though, Woods played with just one of the P770 driving irons, opting to put his usual TaylorMade M3 5-wood back in the bag. He was also using two new TaylorMade MG3 Raw wedges (56 and 60 degrees), which were newer models compared to the MG2 wedges he used at the Masters. Then, at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews, Woods made four changes to his bag setup: 1) He changed into a Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X shaft in his TaylorMade Stealth Plus 9-degree driver. 2) He switched into a True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft in his TaylorMade P770 3-iron. 3) He continued using an MG3 Raw 60-degree wedge, but switched back into an MG2 56-degree wedge. 4) He added lead tape to the back cavity of his Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS putter. Check out Woods’ full WITB from the last time we saw him in action at the Open Championship at St. Andrews: Driver: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X 3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Titanium (15 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70T X 5-wood: TaylorMade M3 (19 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3-iron), TaylorMade P-7TW (4-PW) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 Wedges: TaylorMade MG2 (56 degrees), TaylorMade MG3 Raw (60 degrees) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS prototype Ball: 2022 Bridgestone Tour B XS Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord J.R. Smith’s show stopping purple Bettinardi putter After retiring from the NBA, basketball star J.R. Smith enrolled at North Carolina A&T and joined the school’s golf team. In August, Smith played in the BMW Championship Pro-Am, and he dropped jaws with his custom purple Bettinardi Inovai 6.0 putter with star engravings on the face, and a wild hosel construction. “I’ve been fortunate to be in a situation where people want to help me, and help my golf game get better,” Smith said. “So it worked out. One of my boys who took me (to Bettinardi), he had a purple (putter). Then it was like, alright, I gotta outdo him, or we gotta match a little bit. So we both went with the purple.” Speaking with Tom Sopic from Bettinardi’s Hive Team, GolfWRX learned that Smith visited the company’s custom fitting studio in Tinley Park, Illinois to get dialed into his 38-inch putter. “He’s obsessed with the game of golf, and it has become a major passion in his life,” Sopic said. “He hit seven putts in a row on Quintic (a putting analysis system) that had perfect numbers in all categories right after he got his new putter. The iconic Stinger Bees on the sole are a staple within the Bettinardi brand, and a major symbol of The Hive. “His putter is a one-of-one, with a star-engraved 1.5-degree face piece, fitting for the superstar that is J.R. Smith.” Read the full story here Justin Thomas puts (another) 1-of-1 Scotty Cameron putter in play Thomas won the PGA Championship in May with a custom Scotty Cameron T5 prototype with a “knuckle neck,” but he put an all-new Scotty Cameron T5 prototype in play at the BMW Championship last month. Aside from the obvious aesthetic customizations – which include his personal “JT” logo – the new putter was built a half-inch shorter than his previous putter to let his arms hang more naturally. “For me, a tendency I have with my putting is to get a little bit this way (left shoulder up) and open,” Thomas said. “I’ve … been playing a lot of golf with Patrick Cantlay. He obviously has very long arms and his putter is very short. (I was noticing) just how naturally his arms go on the club, and I felt like that wasn’t the case for me … and I think that has something to do with my bad tendencies. “If I can be a little bit more comfortable at setup, then that’s obviously one less factor I have to worry about.” Unbeknownst to the public, the new “JT” putter had been in the works since February. Click the link here to read the full story Solving the mystery behind Adam Scott’s custom irons On Tuesday at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, Adam Scott showed up to Muirfield Village Golf Club with a completely new set of blade irons, which mysteriously had only his logo on the back. “What are those?” we wondered. As it turned out, Scott, an equipment free agent, requested custom-made irons from multiple manufacturers, and Miura sent him these one-of-one blades made specifically for his exacting preferences. The box of new irons from Miura showed up at Muirfield on Monday, and Scott put them into play Thursday. Speaking with GolfWRX prior to the event, he explained what he liked about the irons: “Really it’s the sole design that’s the difference,” Scott said. “It’s just a little less bounce. They’re a little flatter and wider on the sole. My eye for a blade is very different than most of the stock blades that are being made by the companies today. I grew up with offset, which is almost a thing of the past. Even in larger headed irons these days, there’s little offset out here. But I like it, and it’s hard to find. Titleist made me an amazing set of 681.AS irons that had the offset and were pretty much like the clubs I was using (the Titleist 680 Forged). And this set was made with the idea of less bounce than those.” Scott, who played his way into the BMW Championship and then the TOUR Championship, has had them in the bag since the Memorial, and he spoke further on the irons at the 2022 U.S. Open with @GolfWRX on TikTok. Read the full story here Scottie Scheffler signs with TaylorMade, dumps his longtime Nike fairway wood Scheffler had an unbelievably hot start to the year, winning two PGA TOUR events before March (2022 WM Phoenix Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational). At the time, Scheffler was an equipment free agent, so he could play any clubs he wanted. The week of THE PLAYERS Championship, however, Scheffler announced that he signed an equipment deal with TaylorMade. While the timing seemed odd, Scheffler justified the decision by notching two more wins at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and The Masters Tournament. He explained the TaylorMade decision to GolfWRX’s Two Guys Talking Golf podcast following his Masters victory: “I would say first and foremost [the reason] would be the driver,” Scheffler said. “I already used the (TaylorMade P-7TW) irons for a while. I like the irons. But the (TaylorMade Stealth Plus) driver, when we did testing over the winter, I saw some pretty nice gains. It was one of those things, like, I know I’m going to use this driver, I know I’m going to use the irons, so maybe let’s see if we can work something out. Just because having consistency with their brand, obviously I trust what they do. To be part of the family and be part of the team was pretty cool for me, and so we wanted to work something out with them, and we were able to get it done. I’m happy to be part of the team.” Scheffler made a noteworthy fairway wood switch before the Masters, too. Prior to signing with TaylorMade, he’d been using a Nike VR Pro Limited 13-degree fairway wood for years, but he switched into a new TaylorMade Stealth HL 16.5-degree. “One of the things I’ve struggled with was actually hitting 3-woods too far, and also just not seeing all my shots,” Scheffler told GolfWRX. “These guys did something to the (Fujikura Ventus) shaft, honestly I can’t even remember what they did, but it was something with the tipping. They may have tipped it a couple extra inches and moved some weight around the head, and then started with a higher loft and bent it down…and it was a pretty seamless transition. I saw the shots I wanted to see. My mishits were more accurate with the TaylorMade than they were than my Nike.” We spoke to Scheffler in-depth about his equipment, and what it was like to have a green jacket for the first time. Check out that full story here

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HAMILTON, Ontario – Graeme McDowell has played Royal Portrush upwards of 500 times in his life. He wants to add a few more rounds to that total. McDowell has yet to qualify for this year’s Open Championship in Northern Ireland and with it returning to Portrush for the first time since 1951, McDowell, who grew up there, would love the chance to be in that field. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.   But he said he’s been wrestling for months with “the Portrush dilemmaâ€� and has accepted his fate. “I’m thinking of putting a statement out on Twitter and saying I appreciate everyone’s concern,â€� McDowell said with a smile. “But I’m pretty much come to terms with the fact that if I play well between now and Portrush I will play. “If I don’t play well between now and Portrush I won’t and I’ll deserve not to play. I’m OK with that.â€� McDowell has a chance to earn an exemption into the event if he finishes as one of the top-3 finishers this week (inside the top 10) who haven’t yet earned a spot since the RBC Canadian Open is one of four TOUR events that are part of The Open Qualifying Series. The other events include the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, Rocket Mortgage Classic, and John Deere Classic. McDowell was in contention earlier this year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after the first day, but fell back with an over-par score on Friday. This week, however, he backed up his opening 5-under 65 at Hamilton Golf and Country Club with a 3-under 67 Friday to sit just three shots back of the midday lead. He found the winner’s circle for the first time since 2015 at this year’s Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, but that victory did not earn him a spot in The Open. Although Corales Golf Club could not be more different than Hamilton, through two rounds, McDowell has made the Canadian parkland layout feel like it’s the Punta Cana paradise. He said the speed of the greens is similar, for one. They’re “slow-ishâ€� he said, but that’s mostly a product of how much slope there is to them. “You can’t get them too quick because they would be really silly. They’re at a pace where we’re a little unused to it. But the slope on those greens, when you get an uphill putt, you have to hit it uncomfortably hard. I think growing up on slow-ish greens, I adapt well. The Dominican, when I won there, they were very slow. They are a nice what I call ‘make’ pace,â€� he said. McDowell said in the last two days, he’s also driven the ball the best he has since his win in the Dominican Republic. He’s had a consistent run on the PGA TOUR the last year or so – he’s missed just one cut all season – and he credits his putting for that. He’s in the top-10 in Strokes Gained: Putting this season. But while his steadiness has been rewarded with a solid standing in the FedExCup standings and his first win in nearly four years, there’s still that one tournament that’s not yet locked in on his schedule. McDowell’s best result at The Open Championship is a T-5 in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, and he knows there has never been a special exemption awarded to a player into The Open Championship. But this week he said he’s got his mind on the Canadian Open, and will let the chips fall where they may. “I could be (at Portrush) and miss a cut and think, ‘well, what was all the fuss about?’ I would rather play well this weekend and let Portrush take care of itself,â€� he said. McDowell has a bit of a Canadian connection – beyond just being part of Team RBC – as the best man at his wedding was Tristan Mullally, who is now the head coach of Golf Canada’s National Team. Mullally, a longtime friend, said McDowell knows the process leads to the end goal, so he wasn’t surprised to hear McDowell say he’s shifted his mindset slightly. “That’s what any good athlete would say and think,â€� said Mullally. “The reality is, he was a part of having that Open there and he knows the history and the last time it was there more than anybody. He feels like its something he had to be a part of, not just wants to be a part of, but had to be a part of.â€� McDowell knows if he makes The Open Championship field there will be a lot of hometown pressure. His record at the Irish Open, an event on the European Tour, is “pretty awful,â€� he said, because of the extra focus. “The fans and spectators want you to do well, and you feel that little bit of extra weight on your shoulders. It’s not something I’ve dealt with well with over the years. It could be a mixture of pressure and maybe the Guinness tastes too good in Ireland,â€� said McDowell with a smile. Still, before he has to deal with hometown pressure, he has to get into the event first.

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