Team Belgium take control at the World Cup of Golf

Born in Charlotte and an alumnus of UNC, Davis Love III is a Tar Heel through and through. North Carolina has been the site of on-course success for Love, as well. He’s a three-time winner of the Wyndham Championship, claiming the trophy in three different decades. The 2015 Wyndham Championship, which he won at the age of 51, was the last of his 21 TOUR wins. He also won the Wyndham in 2006 and 1992. Only Sam Snead, who won the event a record-tying eight times, has had more success in this event. Next month, Love also will captain the U.S. Presidents Cup team at Charlotte’s Quail Hollow Club. In preparation for that role, he’s competing for the second consecutive week on TOUR – a luxury afforded him as a life member – to get a closer look at prospective players. “I’m thrilled to be back,” Love III told the press on Tuesday. “(I) won it at Forest Oaks across town, and won here (at Sedgefield Country Club), so it always gives me good vibes when I come back to a place that I played well. … I always do play better when I get to North Carolina for some reason.” In celebration of the 30-year anniversary of Love’s first Wyndham first win, we wanted to look at what’s changed in his equipment setup between now and then. As you can expect, the changes have been drastic. He was still using a persimmon wood when he first won in Greensboro, as well as two classic equipment lines, the Tommy Armour 845 irons and Ping Eye 2 wedges. Love used a 2-iron back then, when he was one of the longest hitters on TOUR, but now a 4-iron is the longest iron in his bag. Love’s 1992 driver was a far technological cry from what he uses now: a weight-adjustable Titleist TSi3, equipped with a graphite Fujikura Ventus Red shaft. He was one of the last players to wield a persimmon driver, using a Cleveland Classic until 1997. “The Cleveland has been in my bag since 1985,” Love III wrote in his 1997 book, “Every Shot I Take.” “It was given to me by a good friend, Bob Spence. I experiment with metal drivers often; I find – for me, and not necessarily for you – they go marginally longer than my wooden driver, but they don’t give me any shape. I find it more difficult to create shape to my drives off the metal face, which is important to me. …I also love the sound my ball makes as it comes off the persimmon insert of my driver. “I’m no technophobe,” he added. “My fairway ‘woods’ have metal heads … but when it comes to my old wooden driver, I guess the only thing I can really say is that I enjoy golf more with it, and I think I play better with it…golf is somehow more pleasing to me when played with a driver made of wood.” Love III changed his tune later in 1997, though, when he switched into a Titleist 975D driver made of titanium instead of wood. Flash forward to this year’s Wyndham Championship, and Love III still has a Titleist driver in his bag. Check out the full specs below from Love III’s win in 1992 versus what he has in the bag this week! DAVIS LOVE III WITB 1992 Driver: Cleveland Classic Oil Hardened RC85 3-wood: TaylorMade Tour Spoon Irons: Tommy Armour 845 (2-PW) Wedges: Ping Eye 2 (SW, LW) Putter: Ping Anser DAVIS LOVE III WITB 2022 Driver: Titleist TSi3 3-wood: Titleist TS3 Utility: Callaway Apex UW Irons: Titleist AP2 718 (4-9 iron) Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9 (46-10F, 50-08F, 56-14F and 60-10K) Putter: Scotty Cameron Masterful Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1 2021

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LOS ANGELES - Joaquin Niemann's last two starts produced confidence-boosting runner-up results, but it is a victory of sorts from off the golf course that has the young Chilean star fired up ahead of The Genesis Invitational. Niemann's quest to help raise over $2.1 million for treatment for his infant cousin Rafita Calderon, who suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, was successful and the youngster was administered his first dose this week back in Chile. The International Presidents Cup star first brought the plight of his young relative to light late last year when pledging $5,000 for every birdie and $10,000 for every eagle in addition to his earnings at The RSM Classic, which totaled $152,450. He also donated his winnings from the Mayakoba Golf Classic ($65,262.85). On Wednesday in Los Angeles, he was all smiles when recounting the latest news as he rejoins the TOUR following a trip home to Chile that came after he was second at both the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the Sony Open in Hawaii in January. "It’s been an amazing last couple days. We got the whole money for the medicine and Rafita's father got to fly here to the States to go get the medicine and then bring it back to Chile," Niemann beamed. "Rafita got the medicine a couple days ago, which was amazing ... and right now he’s doing great. It’s been a couple days where he has been in the hospital waiting for how he reacts ... but they sent me some pictures and he looks stronger, he looks happy." Niemann was also complimentary of all those people who did their part in the fund raising. "It was more amazing to see the whole TOUR and all the people, all the companies, that were supporting me. We raised so much money in such a short period ... and it gave us a lot of faith for Rafita," Niemann added. "It’s really amazing what everybody did in those couple months to raise so much money." Niemann says it is real-life fights like that of Rafita's that enable him to remain positive rather than negative about the two missed chances to claim a second TOUR win in Hawaii. The 22-year-old lost a playoff in Maui to Harris English and was passed by a charging Kevin Na in Honolulu, but Niemann says those disappointments aren't even in the same realm of what was happening back in Chile. His positive nature was a game changer for Rafita's father Felipe, also. "Once we got the news it was a little shocking in the beginning. I didn’t believe it was true, and then a couple days after I called Felipe and Rafita, and it was a really hard moment," Niemann said. "They were crying, I was crying, too. It was tough. But after that I think it was really helpful to be positive. I remember I was calling Felipe and he was like why has this happened ... just being negative. I was trying to push him to be more positive and tell him that I get to help him here in the states, because in Chile, it was really hard to get the $2 million but for me being here, getting more connections, using social media, all this stuff helps. It was beautiful." With his mind feeling free and his body refreshed Niemann has now set his sights on trying to turn the energy into results on the course. He sits eighth in the FedExCup and primed for a great season. "If I’m playing good golf, if I’m playing my best golf, I think I’m one of the best players in the world," he says. "I need to have that confidence in myself, and I know if I’m playing my best golf I can win anywhere."

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