Rory Sabbatini now playing for Slovakia

PXG (Parsons Xtreme Golf), founded by billionaire-entrepreneur Bob Parsons, made an immediate mark in the golf industry by offering golf clubs that sold for relatively enormous prices in the domestic golf market. The barrier to entry for becoming a PXG customer, however, is shifting. Parsons has described the company’s products as the “Ferrariâ€� of golf clubs, and its prices have reflected that. PXG’s original 0311 irons sold for $300 per iron, and its 0811 drivers sold for $850. The company’s newest Gen2 0311 irons, released in March 2018, upped the ante even more, selling for $400 apiece. The new Gen2 drivers, however, which released in January 2019, came with a reduced price of $575 each because Parsons said the company was able to reduce manufacturing costs through scaling. Now, PXG is bringing a drastically lower-priced set of irons to retail with its 0211 irons that are priced at $195 per club with steel shafts, and $210 with graphite shafts. PXG recently tested the theory of making more affordable irons available to the public, and it passed. “After we introduced our Gen2 irons and pretty much sold through our Gen1s, we did a test,â€� Parsons told PGATOUR.COM. “What we did was we ordered a new run of our Gen1 irons and didn’t have the R&D that we needed to recover, so we were able to sell those at a lesser price. What we learned was there’s a big demand for that, especially from our brand, and sales of that were very well received.â€� The price difference between the Gen2 0311 irons (at $400 per iron) and the 0211 irons (at $195 per iron) comes from the different constructions, and the cost of making the clubs. PXG’s recently released Gen 0311 irons are triple-forged from 8620 carbon and feature the company’s trademark weight ports around the perimeter. The 0211 irons, on the other hand, are investment cast from 431 stainless steel, and they do not feature PXG’s traditional screw weights. The investment casting process is less expensive than the forging process. The new 0211 irons do, however, feature the company’s new COR2 material – a “proprietary high-speed polymerâ€� – in the space between the HT 1770M faces and the 431 stainless steel bodies. This design allows the faces to be constructed thinner for more ball speed without sacrificing feel, sound and durability. “What we did was we took our Gen2 technology, which we already have the R&D paid for with the Gen2 irons, and we put that in [the 0211 irons] as much as we could,â€� Parsons said. “We used a less expensive manufacturing process, but still, the way we do it, these irons cost us more to make than other companies pay for their forged irons.â€� Parsons also says that because they have the same COR2 technology that was introduced in the Gen2 irons, the new 0211 irons perform better than the forged Gen1 irons that did not have this material. “Our 0211s, when it comes to our Gen1 irons, they outperform them considerably,â€� Parsons said. “They’re longer, they have faster ball speeds, launch higher, got a higher peak height, steeper landing angle and they’re more accurate. So we made these as good as we could.â€� While PXG’s flagship Gen2 0311 family of irons consists of four different head models (0311T, 0311P, 0311 XF and 0311 SGI), the 0211 line has just one head model. The 0211 irons (4-PW, SW, GW, LW) have a progressive makeup where the short irons have less offset and smaller profiles and the long irons have more offset and larger profiles. Also, the Gen2 0311 irons have a slew of shafts available at no upcharge, but the 0211 shaft options are more limited; they come stock with True Tempers Elevate steel shafts, and Mitsubishi’s MMT steel or graphite shafts, with other shafts coming with an additional upcharge. For those who may question the relatively cheaper price tag of the 0211 compared to its previous iron releases, Parsons had this to say: “While these irons are significantly less compared to our 0311s — our forged irons, our flagship products — when you compare them to other investment cast products [they’re] pretty expensive,â€� Parsons said. “$195 for a casted product, that’s pricey. That’s still in that upper price range. But for the performance that you get, the value is totally there.â€� PXG’s new 0211 irons, which come with a chrome finish, will be available everywhere that PXG’s current 0311 Gen2 irons are sold, including its website.

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The FedExCup Playoffs are upon us! The PGA TOUR’s postseason gets underway Thursday at Ridgewood Country, a historic A.W. Tillinghast design in Paramus, New Jersey. This classic course will be the setting for the top players in the FedExCup standings. Players are grouped for the first two rounds based on their FedExCup ranking, so that guarantees some star-studded Featured Groups, including the top trio of Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka. PGA TOUR LIVE’s Thursday and Friday broadcasts will begin at 7:30 a.m. After the Featured Groups, LIVE will transition to Featured Holes coverage of Ridgewood’s par-3 15th and par-5 17th holes. Saturday’s Featured Holes coverage will begin at 1 p.m., while Sunday’s coverage will begin at noon. PGA TOUR LIVE also can be viewed on Twitter and Facebook Watch. Twitter’s broadcast will begin at 7:30 a.m. on both Thursday and Friday and run for approximately an hour. Facebook Watch will offer weekend coverage from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. As in past years, we will be conducting a fan vote on Twitter to select a Featured Group on Friday.  We will announce the group with the most votes on Thursday’s broadcast. Here’s a look at this week’s Featured Groups (Note: FedExCup rankings in parentheses; all times Eastern): THURSDAY Tiger Woods (20), Marc Leishman (22), Tommy Fleetwood (23): The only two-time winner of the FedExCup is back in the Playoffs for the first time in five years. He’ll be joined by one of the stars of the 2017 postseason and an international star making his FedExCup Playoffs debut. Leishman finished sixth in last year’s playoffs after winning the second postseason event, the Dell Technologies Championship. Tee times: 7:54 a.m. off No. 9 tee on Thursday; 12:55 p.m. off No. 1 on Friday. Dustin Johnson (1), Justin Thomas (2), Brooks Koepka (3): The FedExCup leader, reigning FedExCup champ and the only winner of two majors in 2018 are all grouped in this star-studded threesome. Thomas’ strong defense of the FedExCup includes three victories this season. No one has ever gone back-to-back in the FedExCup. Johnson has finished second and fourth in the past two FedExCups, but is looking to hoist the Cup for the first time. He also has three wins this season. Koepka is coming off victories at the U.S. Open and PGA Championship. These three also are the top three in the Official World Golf Ranking. Tee times: 8:05 a.m. off No. 9 tee on Thursday; 1:06 p.m. off No. 1 tee on Friday. FRIDAY Justin Rose (4), Bubba Watson (5), Jason Day (6): This group has combined for seven victories this season. They’ll be jostling for position in the all-important Top 5 in the FedExCup standings; the Top 5 entering the TOUR Championship can clinch the FedExCup with a win at East Lake, regardless of how their closest competitors perform. Watson responded to the worst finish of his FedExCup career with his first three-win season. Rose and Day have two wins apiece. All three are looking to add the FedExCup to resumes that include major championships. Tee times: 1:06 p.m. off No. 1 tee on Thursday; 8:05 a.m. off No. 9 tee on Friday. Here are the options fans can vote on for Friday’s second Featured Group (additional information to come). 7:54 a.m. off 9th: Patrick Reed (10), Phil Mickelson (11), Tony Finau (12) 8:16 a.m. off 9th: Jon Rahm (13), Patrick Cantlay (14), Patton Kizzire (15) 8:16 a.m. off 1st: Brandt Snedeker (30), Austin Cook (31), Brian Harman (32) 8:27 a.m. off 1st: Chesson Hadley (24), Pat Perez (25), Andrew Landry (26)

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Why Open week means so much to Southgate

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