Dee makes most of sponsor exemption

Louis Oosthuizen was forced to withdraw from the European Tour’s Joburg Open after injuring two fingers on his left hand between two airport luggage trolleys.

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Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland have teamed up this week at the 2022 Zurich Classic in New Orleans. The young superstars combine for only 49 total years of age (Morikawa is 25 years old, and Hovland is 24 years old), but they already have eight PGA TOUR victories between them (Morikawa has five, and Hovland has three). With Morikawa currently ranked No. 2 in the Official World Golf Rankings, and Hovland ranked No. 5, the Morikawa-Hovland duo is sure to be both a fan favorite — and a betting favorite to win the event, too. While neither player has made any major changes to their equipment setups in the last few months, each have recently made one minor tweak: Hovland has changed into a modified Ping G425 LST driver, and Morikawa changed the weight of his TaylorMade TP Collection Juno putter. Ahead of the 2022 Zurich Classic, GolfWRX.com spoke to both players to gain further insight about why they made their respective gear changes. Viktor Hovland Leading up to the Masters, Hovland was using a Ping G425 LST 9-degree driver head, which has a relatively flat lie angle to influence a fade bias. Hovland, however, who already plays a natural cut shot, noticed he was struggling to draw the ball. To help combat the issue, Hovland and Ping Tour rep Kenton Oates experimented with different loft and lie angle settings. The two eventually settled on a setting in his Ping G425 LST 9-degree head that shifted the lie angle upright by 2 degrees. All things being equal, a more upright lie angle will typically help golfers draw the ball, whereas a flat lie angle will influence a fade. According to Hovland, the upright driver setting also matched up better with the lie angles on his Ping i210 irons, helping him achieve more consistency throughout the set. ”We had a hard time drawing the driver, because it was too flat,” Hovland told GolfWRX.com at the 2022 Zurich Classic on Tuesday. “I have pretty low hands at impact, so we figured it’d be easier to make it more upright so I didn’t have to work as hard to draw it. When I do draw it, with that current setting, I tend to draw my irons too much. We just kind of matched it up to the rest of the set.” While many PGA TOUR players would be concerned using an upright driver, since they tend to guard against a left miss, Hovland doesn’t worry as much about missing to the left. “Most of the time when I’m playing well, it’s not going left too much,” Hovland said. Collin Morikawa You may not think five grams is a lot of weight, but for Morikawa, it can make a huge difference in feel on the greens. Typically, Morikawa uses a TaylorMade TP Collection Juno putter with 2.5-gram weights in the heel and toe portions of the sole. When he plays on relatively slower green complexes, however, he says he wants something a bit heavier. Ahead of The 2021 Open Championship, which Morikawa won, he replaced the 2.5-gram weights on his putter with 7.5-gram weights. Ahead of the Zurich Classic, he’s doing something similar by replacing the 2.5-gram weights with 5-gram weights. Although the change only equates to 5 grams of additional overall head weight, it’s significant for Morikawa, who’s going from the lightning fast Augusta National greens to the relatively slower TPC Louisiana surfaces. “I just added a little more weight to the putter,” Morikawa said on Monday at the 2022 Zurich Classic. “For me, it’s what I do on slower greens, like what I did at The Open. Instead of trying to hit it harder, or do something different, it just matches my feel a little better, and helps me work my way from fast greens to slow greens.” For amateur golfers, take this as a lesson to not underestimate the power of just a few grams. Adding or subtracting weight, especially in certain areas, can drastically change both performance and feel. If you’re using a putter that has interchangeable weights, we recommend messing around with different configurations to see what feels best for you, or consult with a professional fitter to get dialed in.

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LOS ANGELES - Willie Mack III has made the best start by a Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption recipient at The Genesis Invitational since a 23-year-old Harold Varner III made a splash in 2014. Mack III produced an eventful but ultimately impressive 1-under 70 on Thursday morning at Riviera Country Club as the iconic course showed some teeth in firm and fast conditions. The Sifford Memorial Exemption has been awarded to a deserving minority golfer each year since 2009 but not since Varner III's opening 69 in 2014 has a recipient started the tournament under par. Mack III joins the now popular TOUR member, and Vincent Johnson (70, 2009), as the only three to start under par. After years of battling away on mini tours Mack III now hopes to surge further ahead on Friday in just his second PGA TOUR start. His journey has been long and eventful. His first start came just last month at the Farmers Insurance Open after he received an 11th hour call up. Mack III shot 74-75 at Torrey Pines to miss the cut after replacing fellow APGA Tour player Kamaiu Johnson on tournament eve after Johnson tested positive for COVID-19. "It was pretty good. I hit the ball pretty good. I left a couple out there, but it’s a good start to the week," Mack III said nonchalantly after his five birdie, four bogey effort. "You have really got to keep the ball below the holes out here. I kind of managed to do that and got in with an under-par score. Getting experience at Torrey helped out a lot. I played good at Torrey; I just was in the rough probably 90 percent of the time." The 32-year-old journeyman will return Friday hoping to continue his good form, particularly on the greens where he made near 100-feet of putts on Thursday. When he signed his card after the morning wave, he sat inside the top 30. Only three Charlie Sifford Memorial exemption recipients have made the 36-hole cut - Joseph Bramlett (2020, T51), Varner in 2014 (T70) and Jeremiah Wooding holds the high-water mark finish with his T42 in 2013. Mack III will try to be the next without placing focus on the feat - besides he has much higher aspirations. "I’m out here trying to win like everybody else. I tee it up just like everybody else, so why not come out here and try to win," he said.

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