Shibuno fight to keep U.S. Women’s Open lead

Titleist’s new high-end CNCPT CP-01 and CNCPT CP-02 irons were born without limits. When building the CNCPT irons, Titleist’s Research and Development team was allowed to use any materials and processes, with no regards for a budget. “CNCPT is the result of our R&D team having the leashes taken off,â€� Kelley Moser Jr., Titleist’s Brand Manager of CNCPT Clubs told PGATOUR.COM. “ ‘Hey, you guys go find whatever you can find that’s really cool — new materials, new processes, whatever it takes — to give our customers a product worth the price tag that they’ll be paying for.’ â€� In recent years, it seems the floodgates have opened for high-priced irons on the domestic retail market. It’s no longer uncommon for a single iron to sell for more than $400. Titleist, however, says some of its competitors had a product that didn’t match the price points. “We sat back and watched some of what our competitors have done with the price point, and the product themselves [were] not what we thought was worth that price point,â€� Moser said. “But they sold a lot of it. So we said ‘Alright, if we could go ahead and build anything we wanted, what would we do?’â€� Titleist’s new CNCPT irons are the result of that no-holds-barred process. Most notably, the hollow bodied irons use a face insert – Titleist is calling it a “Super Metal L-Face insertâ€� — that’s made from a mysterious, high-strength material that’s “never been used before in golf,â€� according to Moser. “It’s the highest strength material that we’ve ever tested,â€� Moser said. “It allows us to make the thinnest unsupported face in golf. I can’t say what the name of the material is at this point; we don’t have exclusive rights to it. It’s very expensive, very rare, and you have to buy a lot of it at one point in time so it’s an expensive endeavor, but it’s worth it when you watch the ball flight.â€� The thin inserts, unlike most face inserts throughout the industry, have uniform thickness from heel-to-toe and top-to-bottom, rather than a variable thickness. As Moser explains, this helps to reduce hot spots, or in other words, areas of the face that produce higher ball speeds than others. In general, having a very thin, high-strength face helps to raise ball speeds, but it also reduces unwanted weight from the face area to be utilized in other, more effective areas. Titleist used this discretionary weight to add Tungsten – a high-density material — to the clubs’ perimeters. In fact, Titleist reports that Tungsten makes up “nearly 50 percentâ€� of the total head weights in the lower lofted irons. This design means more forgiveness for golfers because the perimeter-weighted head leads to higher MOI (moment of inertia, a measure of energy transfer), and with the positioning of Tungsten low-and-rearward, the irons are designed for higher launch, as well. The CNCPT irons come in two different head models: the CP-01 and the CP-02. The CP-02 head shape is for players who enjoy the look and sound of a traditional blade, but with higher performance than the traditionally unforgiving blade constructions. “This would be a product for guys who maybe used to play blades – we’ve all played blades at one point or another,â€� Moser explains. “But since the advent of cavity back, high-MOI, all the Tungsten you use now, you sacrifice a lot by using traditional blade. Most people know, ‘I want to use a blade but I know I shouldn’t.’ So they’ve graduated and moved onto maybe AP2 or AP3 or something along those lines. But they still would really like to have a blade in their bag. So we can do that. With all the Tungsten and how dense the tungsten is, we can cram a lot of weight in the perimeter of this golf club, and still use that super thin metal face to get the speed that they want. So what you have here is an MB look, with AP2 workability, but an AP3 speed. So it’s a homerun for us. We’ve had a lot of fun showing consumers this product because it’s so vastly different from anything we’ve ever made in the past.â€� The CP-01, on the other hand, is more of a performance-first design with a slightly larger profile, more offset and a thicker topline; it’s made for maximum performance. “The performance of [the CP-01] is unparalleled,â€� Moser said. “There’s nothing in the market that’s going to come off the face faster with the ball flight characteristics that you want to see, than this.â€� Both of the head models are made with hollow-bodied constructions. There have been other high-end irons on the market from various companies that use material between the face and the body for durability, or sound/feel benefits, but Titleist decided to keep the irons hollow. “When you put something to support a thin face, you’re essentially taking away the benefit of a thin face,â€� Moser said. “So we wanted to make sure as thin as we can go, we wanted to keep it unsupported from the inside. That was a big component for us.â€� As for the price tag, Titleist will sell the CNCPT CP-01 and CP-02 irons for $500 per head. Moser explains the price point: “We’re going to sell them for $500 per club, which, in our opinion there’s a market there at that price point. But we didn’t want it to be a marketing story. We wanted it to be about product and performance first. So you’re not going to hear us talking about it a lot. We’re not going to be on TV. We’re not going to be in your face marketing in a traditional sense. This is going to be more word-of-mouth, underground. We’re going to find the right people first. We’re going to fit them, we’re going to get them excited about the equipment, and we’re going to let them tell their friends and we’re going to let it grow organically that way, because we want all the money to go into the product and the research to develop products like this, rather than talking about the products.” Titleist has a special concierge to setup fitting for the CNCPT irons.

Click here to read the full article…

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – Rickie Fowler calls his last five weeks “somewhat of an off-season.â€� It’s fitting, then, that Fowler will begin his 2017-’18 season with somewhat of a working vacation at this week’s OHL Classic at Mayakoba, where he is the highest-ranked player in the field (10) and perhaps the most anticipated first-timer in the event’s 11-year run. “I mean, I’m excited to be down here,â€� said Fowler, who with his girlfriend, Allison Stokke, got to the Riviera Maya on Saturday for some pre-tournament fun in the sun. “I want to play well and I feel like I definitely can play well. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t feel I could win. But I’m also enjoying the relaxation and getting some time in the gym and we’ll definitely be ready to go and really get the season going in January.â€� On TOUR, the off-season is where you find it, and while Fowler has been busy since he beat Emiliano Grillo 6 and 4 in the Presidents Cup on Oct. 1, he hasn’t been playing golf. Fowler served as Grand Marshal at alma mater Oklahoma State’s homecoming; went to Stokke’s homecoming at Cal-Berkeley; did a wine-tasting tour in the fire-ravaged Napa Valley; shot TV spots for Farmers Insurance in Los Angeles; swung through Scottsdale, Arizona; and squeezed in five rounds of golf. Oh, and he also sent his coach, Butch Harmon, video of his swing last week. (Harmon said it looked good if slightly laid off the top, according to Fowler.) It seemed almost rude to interrupt the relaxed Riviera Maya vibe and ask how Fowler might play this week. “I like the golf course,â€� he said of the 7,000-yard, par-71 El Camaleon Golf Club. “It’s a fun layout. I enjoy playing in windy conditions; I know it can get fairly windy down here.â€� Another thing he noticed in his first trip around the course Wednesday: It’s not very forgiving off the tee. “You have to hit the ball pretty straight to stay out of the native area, whatever you want to call it,â€� Fowler said. “Stay out of it.â€� In the big picture, Fowler, 28, is doing very well, with room for improvement. In 32 major starts he has seven top-five finishes, none of them wins. He led the U.S. Open at Erin Hills after shooting a 7-under 65 in the first round, but faded to a T5 finish. (He has never broken par in the final round in nine U.S. Open appearances.) He picked up his fourth career win at The Honda Classic, but had nine other top-10s. In one sense, Fowler says, last season was “arguably the best I’ve played.â€� That’s one way of looking at it. He also admits he had “maybe not as many wins as I would have liked.â€� Meanwhile, he keeps hanging around to congratulate his friends when they win. Jordan Spieth at the Open Championship. Justin Thomas at the PGA Championship, where Fowler again finished T5. Spieth has said that when Fowler himself wins, a whole world of friends will be waiting for him behind the 18th green. That’s not just karma; it speaks to Fowler’s likability.    If form holds, his major W is coming, perhaps with fate providing a nudge. Fowler won THE PLAYERS Championship in 2015 after a poll in Sports Illustrated tagged him as overrated. And while his critics once said he was too nice, pointing to all those halved matches in the tense, mano-a-mano theater of the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, he went a sporty 3-0-1 at the recent Presidents Cup at Liberty National. He seems likely to figure out the majors, too. “It’s a fine line,â€� Fowler said Wednesday. “You know well enough, seeing guys and where they finish and how they play and understanding how much one putt or one shot can do, whether it’s coming down the stretch or even that one putt early in the week.â€� Patrick Reed, who is also making his first OHL start and also in search of his first major, echoed Fowler’s sentiments. “Nowadays the PGA TOUR is so deep, top to bottom,â€� Reed said. Whatever happens at lush, leafy El Camaleon this week, Fowler will spend some time at home in Jupiter, Fla., before starts at the Hero World Challenge, Nov. 30-Dec. 3, and the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Jan. 4-7. For those scoring at home, that’s the Riviera Maya to the Bahamas to Maui. “Not a bad little swing,â€� Fowler said. You can bet he’ll make the most of it.

Click here to read the full article…

The Grateful Dead didn’t release an album about 2020, but the band from the Bay Area might as well have. Indeed, it’s been a long, strange trip. The four majors are the cornerstones on the golf calendar, but the pandemic has whittled the 2019-20 PGA TOUR season to one, this week’s PGA Championship. It’s the 102nd edition. Coincidentally, it’s the major to which you already associate a radical adjustment in recent memory. Long the anchor of the majors through 2018, it moved to May in 2019 as part of wholesale changes that repositioned THE PLAYERS Championship to its old spot in March and a shift of the FedExCup Playoffs up a month and into August. Consideration for the quadrennial Olympics over time also factored. RELATED: The First Look | Inside the Field Then 2020 was dropped on the world. Despite what that numerical value could suggest, there’s been nothing perfect about the vision for the near future. Yet, it keeps truckin’ on with this much as clear: the PGA of America is poised to present the tournament at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. TPC Harding Park last hosted the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play in 2015. Forty in this week’s field competed that week. Before that and a trio of Charles Schwab Cup Championships, the Presidents Cup was contested in 2009. Before that, the then-WGC-American Express Championship in 2005. And before that, TPC Harding Park was a parking lot for the 1998 U.S. Open at The Olympic Club across Lake Merced. Seriously. That also was the last year that the PGA Championship was held on the West Coast (Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington). Each of the 156 entrants is slotted below. Thirty are first-time participants. The traditional component of the Power Rankings slots 20. Brief explanations for each category beneath it are provided. Scroll past all of them for details of the host course, what should be required to prevail and more. POWER RANKINGS: PGA CHAMPIONSHIP WILD CARD Collin Morikawa … Nothing like making your PGA Championship debut within a short drive of your college stomping grounds the year after graduation; oh, and as a two-time PGA TOUR winner with only one missed cut in 26 starts as a professional and slotted sixth in the FedExCup in your first full season. The former Cal-Berkeley standout has the game and he has the comportment. All he’s missing is the experience. It’s just that that hasn’t mattered. CHALLENGERS Each of the 24 slotted here demand attention, but all fall short of cracking the Power Rankings. It’s through no indictment of any, but each lacks a punch that those above present right now. Ranked in order of Rob’s confidence (* – former champion; ^ – debutant; 2015 WGC-Match Play finish) Charl Schwartzel (T9) *Tiger Woods Abraham Ancer Tony Finau Ryan Palmer (T52) Chez Reavie *Phil Mickelson Ian Poulter (T34) ^Viktor Hovland Adam Scott (T52) Billy Horschel (T17) Shane Lowry (T34) Matt Kuchar (T34) Jordan Spieth (T17) Sergio Garcia (T34) Patrick Reed (T17) Kevin Kisner Harris English (T17) Louis Oosthuizen (T5) ^Matthew Wolff Kevin Streelman Justin Rose (T17) Henrik Stenson (T34) *Martin Kaymer (T34) SLEEPERS The customary definition for this weekly category is tossed aside for a week in favor of full relativity to the field. Always an eclectic bunch, this grouping of 16 doesn’t disappoint. It’s loaded with youth, upstarts, dandy course fits and a 2020 Ryder Cup captain. Ranked in order of Rob’s confidence (^ – debutant; 2015 WGC-Match Play finish) Max Homa Mackenzie Hughes Corey Conners Joost Luiten (T17) Adam Hadwin Brendan Steele Adam Long ^Doc Redman Lucas Herbert Joaquin Niemann Cameron Champ J.T. Poston Dylan Frittelli Steve Stricker Mike Lorenzo-Vera Ryo Ishikawa QUESTION MARKS Seventy-five in the field of 156 are segregated into the two subcategories below. Placement is relative fit, form and other variables. ARROW UP Ranked in order of Rob’s confidence (* – former champion; ^ – debutant; 2015 WGC-Match Play finish) Richy Werenski Marc Leishman (T9) Tom Lewis ^Matthias Schwab Erik van Rooyen Michael Thompson Joel Dahmen Lucas Glover Danny Willett (3rd) ^Talor Gooch ^Scottie Scheffler ^Mark Hubbard *Keegan Bradley (T52) Troy Merritt Cameron Tringale Luke List ^Chan Kim Emiliano Grillo ^Lanto Griffin Si Woo Kim ^Christiaan Bezuidenhout ^Sepp Straka Kurt Kitayama ^Robert MacIntyre ^Joohyung Kim Shaun Norris Zach Johnson (T17) ^Benjamin Hebert Matt Jones (T34) ^Marcus Kinhult Russell Henley (T34) ^Tyler Duncan ^Xinjun Zhang ARROW DOWN Ranked in order of Rob’s confidence (* – former champion; ^ – debutant; 2015 WGC-Match Play finish) Byeong Hun An Jim Furyk (4th) Paul Casey (T5) Graeme McDowell (T52) Rafa Cabrera Bello Brian Harman Brandt Snedeker (T52) ^Denny McCarthy Bernd Wiesberger (T34) Jason Kokrak Bubba Watson (T17) ^Carlos Ortiz Scott Piercy Nick Taylor Sungjae Im Bud Cauley Brian Stuard Cameron Smith ^Sebastián Muñoz Keith Mitchell *Jimmy Walker (T52) Sung Kang ^Victor Perez Vaughn Taylor Hao Tong Li Andrew Landry Harold Varner III ^Wyndham Clark Jorge Campillo ^Tom Hoge Rory Sabbatini Jazz Janewattananond C.T. Pan Danny Lee *Jason Dufner *Davis Love III Andrew Putnam *Rich Beem ^Nate Lashley Jim Herman *Shaun Micheel ^Ken Tanigawa PGA PROFESSIONALS On June 29, the rescheduled PGA Professional National Championship (for July 19-22) was canceled. So, the 20 exemptions in the PGA Championship reserved for the top finishers in that annual competition were awarded to the top 20 in the 2019 PGA Professional Player of the Year standings. Among the notables, former PGA TOUR member and 60-year-old Jeff Hart is making his debut. Jeff “J.R.” Roth is making his first appearance since his fifth 16 years ago. He made his debut in 1988. The 62-year-old has won a record-tying 17 Michigan majors. Ranked in order of Rob’s confidence (% – former PGA TOUR member; # of prior appearances in parentheses) Ryan Vermeer (3) %Jason Caron (1) %Bob Sowards (10) Rob Labritz (6) Ben Cook (1) Shawn Warren (1) Danny Balin (6) Justin Bertsch (1) David Muttitt (4) John O’Leary (2) Alex Beach (2) Michael Auterson (0) Zach J. Johnson (1) Marty Jertson (4) Judd Gibb (0) Rod Perry (6) Rich Berberian, Jr. (4) Alex Knoll (0) %Jeff Hart (0) Jeff Roth (5) NOTE: John Daly, Branden Grace, Padraig Harrington, J.B. Holmes, Charles Howell III, Francesco Molinari, Ryan Moore, Eddie Pepperell, Thomas Pieters, Vijay Singh, Paul Waring, Lee Westwood and Y.E. Yang qualified but will not compete. Unlike the guided walks for the Presidents Cup and the Match Play, the traditional routing of TPC Harding Park will be used for the PGA Championship. It’ll also play to a par of 70 with two par fives for the first time since the 2005 WGC was contested. It was a par 71 for all events in the interim. Despite the reduction of par since its last time on center stage, TPC Harding Park is 107 yards longer. It now tips at 7,234 yards. The par-4 seventh and 16th holes are drivable – although that phrase never has been more relative on some seemingly non-drivable par 4s – and the par-4 ninth and 12th holes are converted par 5s. Lake Merced comes into view on the 13th green over which The Olympic Club can be seen. Most recently, that’s where Webb Simpson captured victory at the U.S. Open in 2012. From the 14th tee all the way to the house, water helps frame TPC Harding Park on the left. In part because of the beauty along the perimeter of the property, the inward side features the most interesting holes. Among them are the scorable par-5 10th and the 171-yard 17th, the shortest par 3 on the course. Without spectators on site, the variety of distinctive tall trees enhance the visceral experience, not that pinched fairways framed by rough as high as four inches and reasonably sized elevated greens won’t require most of the attention. Bentgrass greens are naturally groomed to be slick. That’ll be more evident later in every round with sunshine overhead. Because TPC Harding Park is situated within a mile of the Pacific Ocean, a morning marine layer always is a possibility. Sunny and dry conditions are forecast throughout the tournament. The not-so-insignificant invisible challenge will be prevailing winds out of the southwest. Trousers will be flapping at times – joggers, not so much – while daytime highs in the mid-60s will help govern distance off the tee and on approach. The winner of the Wanamaker Trophy likely will have contended for the lead in fairways hit, scrambling and bogey avoidance. Because of the penalty for missing fairways, greens-in-regulation percentages will take a hit, so he may need to slot inside only the top 20 or so. Once determined, the champion will earn 600 FedExCup points, a five-year PGA TOUR membership exemption, a lifetime exemption into the PGA Championship, five-year exemptions into the other three majors and THE PLAYERS Championship, and $2.7 million of the $15-million prize fund, a record in the history of professional golf. It’d be disingenuous to think that Jordan Spieth doesn’t care about those spoils, but his brass ring is the last leg of the career grand slam. This will be his fourth attempt. His pursuit will be followed by Phil Mickelson at the U.S. Open and Rory McIlroy at the Masters, both of whom are missing those pieces to their own career grand slams. If you’re interested in the greatest performers in the history of the PGA Championship, please read the all-time Power Rankings that published during the tournament’s originally scheduled week in May. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

Click here to read the full article…