Thomas holds on to win BMW Championship

Kiawah Island is the longest course in major championship history so it should be no surprise that a new driver has been key to Phil Mickelson’s success halfway through the PGA Championship. Mickelson, 50, held the lead after Friday’s morning wave thanks to rounds of 70-69. He ranked first in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, in the top 10 of Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and averaged 298 yards off the tee. This is the first week that Mickelson is using a custom Epic Speed head that effectively has 5 degrees of loft. The shaft is 47.9 inches, pushing up against the USGA limit of 48 inches. “It’s like working with a long-drive competitor at that point,” said Gerritt Pon, Callaway’s senior club performance analyst. “He’s not using it for accuracy. He’s using it for distance. Interestingly enough, he’s the type of player who does not necessarily lose accuracy with the longer shaft. Some lose a tremendous amount, some actually gain a little bit, but he’s the type of player who doesn’t lose accuracy. But he gains speed. “To swing the longer shaft, he’s trying to hit up on the ball a little more than with a normal shaft. He’s creating a lot of loft at impact to launch it high, so the main things that had to be accomplished was making the driver low-spin and fast.” Mickelson’s new Epic Speed, which was built especially for him, features Callaway’s aerodynamic Cyclone head shape. A second screw was added to the front of the head to lower the center of gravity. “With faster swing speeds, you see more benefit from the aerodynamically-designed head,” Pon said. “He has a driver that is fast, easy for him to draw, mitigates the left miss (for a left-hander) more than some of our other models that are popular on TOUR, and is very low spin.” Mickelson tested an 8.5-degree model of the Epic Speed that was lofted down to 6.5 degrees but that head created too much spin. He wants his draws to spin under 2,000 rpms and his fades to spin under 2,400, Pon said. If Mickelson were right-handed, the increased number of offerings available may have made it easier to find a match for him. Making a head that fit Mickelson meant designing a new head in CAD and then working with the foundries to have it produced. That is typically an eight-week process, Pon said. “We started with a baseline of the Epic Speed, which was a long time in the making, and then modified it with Phil in mind,” Pon said. “This particular model of the Speed is pretty new. Even though it looks like the same Epic Speed, it’s a customized version for a left-hander who’s trying to swing a long shaft with low loft and low spin. “So basically Phil Mickelson.”

Click here to read the full article…

Round 2 of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard begins today. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action from Bay Hill. Round 2 leaderboard Round 2 tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday, 2:30 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel). Sunday, 2:30 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Groups and Featured Holes).  Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGA). FEATURED GROUPS Sungjae Im, Marc Leishman, Rickie Fowler Friday: 7:54 a.m. ET (No. 10 tee) Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari Friday: 12:44 p.m. ET (No. 1 tee) Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed Friday: 8:06 a.m. ET (No. 10 tee) Adam Scott, Jason Day, Brooks Koepka Friday: 12:56 p.m. ET (No. 1 tee) MUST READS Every delivers again at Bay Hill, leads McIlroy by one shot McIlroy in familiar position at Bay Hill Rose changes almost every club in his bag at Bay Hill Cut prediction: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard First alternate Lee gets tee time after car accident Molinari withdraws from Bay Hill with back injury Arnie & Tiger: Memorable moments through the years Insider: Hard putts look easy on Sunday at Bay Hill’s 18th hole Matthew’s Palmer-like gesture earns Bay Hill invite Sungjae Im’s special connection to Palmer Style Insider: Fowler, Puma honor Palmer CALL OF THE DAY

Click here to read the full article…

The TaylorMade Driving Relief skins game takes place on Sunday, May 17 from Seminole Golf Club. It will feature Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Michael Wolff in a team competition. The event will benefit COVID-19 relief efforts. HOW TO FOLLOW â—� Sunday, May 17. Live coverage will air from 2-6 p.m. ET â—� Television Broadcast: NBC, GOLF Channel, NBCSN, Sky Sports and other PGA TOUR global media partners â—� Digital: Streaming of the entire event available via PGA TOUR LIVE (NBC Sports Gold and Amazon Prime Video), GOLFPASS, GolfChannel.com and GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR. Pre-match coverage as well as the first two holes of the event also will stream on Twitter. MUST READS McIlroy, Johnson, Fowler, Wolff headline TaylorMade Driving Relief marking return of televised golf to benefit COVID-19 relief efforts Live golf is finally on the horizon Seminole Golf Club is ready for its close-up

Click here to read the full article…