Casey shares early lead in title defense at Valspar Championship

HUMBLE, Texas — Ian Poulter won for the first time in six years on TOUR and booked his place in the Masters field with a sudden-death playoff victory over Beau Hossler on Sunday at the Houston Open.  Down one on the last hole of regulation, Poulter stuck his approach to 19 feet and drained the putt to force extra holes. The Odyssey #7 putter he used to make the putt was recently called out of retirement at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play following a lengthy run in Poulter’s bag that included a memorable performance on the final day of the 2012 Ryder Cup.  “It’s not going anywhere anytime soon,” Poulter said about the putter after the win.  Poulter ranked 19th in strokes gained: putting for the week with the flat stick and said earlier in the week that going back to the putter gave him no excuses due to the success he’d had with it in the past.  “When you’re tinkering, messing, trying, when you grab something that you know has done wonderful things, you have to take the onus then because you know it’s not the putter, it’s generally the person holding it,” Poulter said. “So I could go out, not blame anyone else and really try and find some good mojo, some good memories, some good feelings like I’ve had with that and take on the course because my game’s in shape and I just need to hole a few putts and it’s happening.” Here’s a look at Poulter’s entire equipment setup: Driver: Titleist 917D2 (Mitsubishi Tensei Orange CK 60TX shaft), 9.5 degrees 3-wood: Titleist 917F2 (Matrix Ozik TP7HDe 7X shaft), 16.5 degrees Hybrid: Titleist 816 H2 (Aldila Tour Green ATX85H TX shaft), 21 degrees Irons: Titleist 716 T-MB (4-iron; Project X LZ 130 7.0shaft), Titleist 718 AP2 (5-PW; Project X LZ 130 7.0 shafts) Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM7 (52.12F, 56.14F and 60.04L degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts) Putter: Odyssey #7  Ball: Titleist Pro V1x PGA TOUR SUPERSTORE: Buy equipment here

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – The PGA TOUR today announced nominees for the 2021-22 PGA TOUR Season Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Award) and Rookie of the Year (Arnold Palmer Award), as finalized by the PGA TOUR Player Directors and members of the Player Advisory Council (PAC). The nominees for the Jack Nicklaus Award as the 2022 PGA TOUR Player of the Year are (alphabetically) Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Smith. The nominees for the 2022 Arnold Palmer Award as the PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year are Tom Kim, Sahith Theegala and Cameron Young. The Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards are determined by a member vote, with PGA TOUR members who played in at least 15 official FedExCup events during the 2021-22 season eligible to vote. The voting will close on Friday, Sept. 9, at 5 p.m. ET. The winners will be announced at a later date. Player of the Year nominees (alphabetical) Rory McIlroy, 33 Holywood, Northern Ireland • Entered 16 events with victories (3) at THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT, RBC Canadian Open and TOUR Championship • 2022 FedExCup Champion; First player to win the FedExCup three times (others: 2016, 2019) • Led the PGA TOUR in Scoring Average (68.670), the lowest on TOUR since Tiger Woods in 2009 (68.670) • Recorded a total of 10 top-10s and made 14 cuts Scottie Scheffler, 26 Dallas, Texas • Entered 25 events with victories (4) at the WM Phoenix Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play and Masters Tournament • Finished No. 2 in the FedExCup • Finished fourth in Scoring Average (69.293) • Recorded a total of 11 top-10s and made 21 cuts Cameron Smith, 29 Brisbane, Australia • Entered 18 events with victories (3) at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, THE PLAYERS Championship and The Open Championship • Finished No. 20 in the FedExCup • Finished second in Scoring Average (69.203) • Recorded a total of seven top-10s and made 15 cuts Rookie of the Year nominees (alphabetical) Tom Kim, 20 Seoul, South Korea • Entered 11 events with a victory at the Wyndham Championship and additional top-10s at the Genesis Scottish Open (3rd) and Rocket Mortgage Classic (7th) • Finished No. 35 in the FedExCup • Recorded a total of six top-25s and made 10 cuts • Joined the PGA TOUR as a Special Temporary Member after The Open Championship Sahith Theegala, 24 Chino Hills, California • Entered 32 events with five top-10s, highlighted by a T2 at the Travelers Championship and T3 at the WM Phoenix Open • Qualified for the TOUR Championship and finished No. 28 in the FedExCup • Recorded a total of 11 top-25s and made 26 cuts Cameron Young, 25 Scarborough, New York • Entered 25 events with seven top-10s, including five runner-up finishes • Finished second at the Sanderson Farms Championship, The Genesis Invitational, Wells Fargo Championship, The Open Championship and Rocket Mortgage Classic • Qualified for the TOUR Championship and finished No. 19 in the FedExCup • Recorded a total of 12 top-25s and made 18 cuts

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Most golfers can only dream of creating the speed and distance that PGA TOUR player Callum Tarren does. For the 2021-22 PGA TOUR season, Tarren ranked 15th in driving distance, hitting it 312.4 yards on average. He was also ranked 12th in Club Head Speed, averaging 121.56 mph per drive. At those speeds, any loss of stability can have negative effects on balance and ball flight. Catching up with Tarren at the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open, GolfWRX learned that he uses a unique trick to keep his right foot from slipping out from under him. While most golfers have the same style of spikes throughout the soles of their golf shoes – whether it’s metal spikes or soft spikes – Tarren uses a combination of both in his FootJoy Premiere Series Tarlow shoes. “In the right shoe, I have metal spikes in the front five [spike slots], and then soft spikes in everything else,” Tarren told GolfWRX. “Just because, when this shoe came out, I was getting a little right foot slip. And then I went to see Dr. Greg Rose at TPI (Titleist Performance Institute), and he said a guy my speed should be wearing metal spikes. “He said to try metal in the front five,” Tarren continued, “and ever since then I’ve had no slips. Obviously with ground pressures and ground forces, it helps me stay stable through the ball.” It comes as no surprise that Tarren opts for a black colorway in his golf shoes, either, since he’s known in the equipment world for using custom black Titleist irons and wedges. According to GolfWRX.com, Tarren uses a combination set of Titleist T100 (3-iron), Titleist 620 CB (4-iron) and Titleist 620 MB (5-9) irons, all with a black PVD finish. He also uses Titleist SM9 Jet Black wedges (46, 52, 56 and 60 degrees).

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