Spieth catches fire, snags lead in Phoenix

Cameron Champ isn’t a normal professional golfer, so it makes sense that his club setup is far from average. In 2020-21, Champ ranked No. 3 in driving distance on the PGA TOUR, averaging 317.1 yards per drive. He ranked nearly last in another category, though. Out of 200 players, Champ ranked 199th in launch angle; the TOUR average for launch angle off the tee is 10.52 degrees, whereas Champ averaged just 6.85 degrees on his drives. That means Champ hits the ball quite low, especially for his speed. His shots fly like a low bullet, which is great for windy conditions but not so great for holding greens with irons. As such, Champ makes a few unique adjustments to his equipment setup compared to other TOUR players. You can check out GolfWRX’s deep dive into Champ’s bag here. The most notable difference, for example, is that Champ uses two 4-irons. In previous years, Champ used a combination of Ping iBlade irons (4-PW) and Ping i500 3- and 4-irons. Ping’s iBlade irons are commonly used among better players and TOUR players since they look like blade irons, featuring thin toplines and compact shapes, but they add a touch of forgiveness due to their cavity-back designs. The i500 irons — first released in 2018 — use metalwood-like technology on their faces to help players hit the ball higher and farther. “You watch him hit his 4-iron and his flight doesn’t make sense,” explained Ping Tour rep Kenton Oates, regarding Champ’s ball flight in 2019 and why he uses two 4-irons. “It comes out really low and it kind of stands up, and you’d expect that flight to carry like 215 yards, and it’s going 255 yards. I can’t even comprehend it. “Cameron plays an i500 4-iron (21 degrees) that’s built to 3-iron length. The i500 has metalwood technology in the face, so that metalwood technology is going to allow for some more flex in the face at impact; that means higher ball speeds, higher launch, a little less spin … It’s basically a 4-iron that plays exactly like a 3-iron would play for him. Then he goes into an iBlade 4-iron (21 degrees).” Compared to the iBlade irons, Ping’s i500 models also have a larger profile, thicker toplines, slightly more offset, and offer more forgiveness on off-center hits. That’s due to their multi-material, hollow-bodied construction that had C300 maraging steel faces and 17-4 stainless steel bodies, helping achieve more flex on the face at impact to boost speed and height across the face. For Champ, he used the i500 long irons to take advantage of higher ball flights. He relied on the i500 4-iron to help hold greens on approach shots, and he used the 3-iron as a driving iron replacement since he hit it farther and higher than a normal 3-iron. At the 2022 Farmers Insurance Open, though, Champ showed up with all-new Ping i525 irons to replace his previous i500 3- and 4-irons. Ping hasn’t replaced the i500 irons in its retail lineup since 2018, but with Champ revealing the new i525 designs, that could change sometime in the future. For now, they’re just prototypes. While Ping hasn’t yet commented on the new designs, GolfWRX caught up with Champ ahead of the Farmers Insurance Open to get his initial thoughts on the i525s. “They’re good. They look kind of similar to the previous irons, but they have a little bit more defined look, which I like,” Champ said Tuesday at Torrey Pines. “And they sound better too. I have nothing negative to say about them. For me, they’re pretty much the same (as the i500s). That’s why I put them in. As long as they do what I need them to do, I can care less what it is. “But yeah, they’re good. The sound is one thing. Definitely maybe a little bit softer on the face, which I like. You can feel it easier. But for me, for the ball flight that I want, it comes out perfectly.” Based on Champ’s review of the unreleased and previously unseen Ping i525 irons, they look, sound and feel better than the i500 models released four years ago. Champ also revealed the ridiculous distances that he hits the two new irons. “The 4- is like my 3-iron, and the 3- is basically like my 2-iron, or 1-iron, which is basically like my driving iron,” Champ explained. “But my 4- is my 250-260 shot, depending if it’s on grass or tee. Then the 2-, we bent it strong because it’s a driving iron. Obviously (at Torrey Pines) it’s not going to go that far, but I’ll fly it 265-275 and then it rolls. “I really don’t play a 3-wood. I have it in the bag; this week, I might need it on one hole, but generally I don’t have a 3-wood. I just use (the i525 driving iron).” Although average players can only dream about hitting irons those kinds of distances, they may want to take note of the club choices Champ makes. Most club players could benefit from the more forgiving and higher-launching long irons that Champ uses, since most players could use more height on their shots. Be on the lookout for more details on the new i525 irons as information becomes available from Ping.

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BROOKLINE, Mass. – After a second-round 67 at the U.S. Open, Scottie Scheffler was asked by his wife Meredith to name three emotions he felt that day. “Well, I played golf today,” answered Scheffler, “so I was happy and sad.” That sentiment could also be applied in Saturday’s third round at The Country Club. Scheffler, the FedExCup No. 1 and world No. 1, holed out for eagle on the par-5 eighth hole as part of a front-nine 32. Entering the day two strokes off the lead, he led by two strokes as he reached the par-3 11th. But Scheffler went long on the 141-yard hole, leading to a double bogey that was followed by three consecutive bogeys. He steadied the ship to play the final four holes in 1-under, and after a roller coaster of a windy afternoon outside Boston, he ended the day right where he started, two strokes back of two co-leaders. Scheffler signed for a third-round, 1-over 71; he stands 2-under total, two back of Will Zalatoris and Matt Fitzpatrick. Scheffler has earned four PGA TOUR titles this season, including the Masters, and he’s on the verge of joining historic company. Only 10 players have won five TOUR titles and two majors in a single season (17 times overall). Nine are in the World Golf Hall of Fame; the other is Jordan Spieth. Scheffler, 25, has a chance to enter the club Sunday at Brookline. “Anytime you can win a golf tournament, especially a major, is really special,” said Scheffler, who followed his first TOUR title at the WM Phoenix Open with victories at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and Masters. “For me, I’m not thinking about what I did a month ago. I’m not thinking about what I did two months ago. Right now I’m here at the U.S. Open, and I’m going to try to win the golf tournament tomorrow. If I do, it’s going to be really fun. If I don’t, life will go on. “Hopefully this won’t be my last U.S. Open, but you know, you never know. Can’t take anything for granted in this life.” The short par-3 11th – which wasn’t in the routing for the 2013 U.S. Amateur at Brookline, in which Scheffler reached the quarterfinals – proved vexing for the field Saturday. Scheffler was not immune. His tee shot flew into the rough past the back-left hole location, settling on the hazard line. His second shot caught up in the rough before reaching the green, and he couldn’t get up and down. Three bogeys later, his lead had turned into a multi-shot deficit. But he continued to tell himself that he was still in the golf tournament – knowing how demanding the course was playing. With an up-and-down birdie from 35 yards on the short par-4 17th, and a 15-foot par save at No. 18 after finding a greenside bunker upon approach, he proved himself correct. “I think the U.S. Open is very taxing, mentally and physically,” Scheffler said. “I think that’s all part of what makes this tournament so fun. You’re going to get tested all kinds of different ways. “That’s why I show up here. I think that’s kind of the fun of it. If every golf tournament was like this, it would be in for a long season for all of us. A few times a year, I think it was a ton of fun.” Three emotions: happy, sad, fun.

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The PGA TOUR returns after a few weeks off and travels to the middle of the Pacific Ocean for the Sentry Tournament of Champions located on Maui in the Aloha State of Hawaii. The tournament will take place at the Plantation Course in Kapalua and will be a no-cut event. The course will play as the only Par 73 on the PGA TOUR with just three par 3s, measure just over 7,500 yards and feature grainy, Bermuda greens. The field will consist of only those who qualified by winning last season, which includes members of the winning U.S. Presidents Cup team like Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and defending champion Xander Schauffele, who shot a 62 in the final round last year to beat out Woodland by just a stroke. Those who won last season, but haven’t committed include players like Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka and the Open Champion Shane Lowry. The Plantation course ranked as the sixth easiest course in scoring relative to par last season and routinely plays as one of the easiest every year. Finishing scores at Kapalua have totaled as high as 30 under back in 2016 with the lowest winning score at 22 under over the past four years. The main reason we see scores get this high? Extremely wide and easy to hit fairways as well as accessible par 5s, which are all birdie and eagle opportunities. The course’s main defense is the wind, but it shouldn’t be too much of an issue as we’ve seen guys still go low like Dustin Johnson, who won back in 2018 shooting 24 under in extremely windy conditions. The normal key stats apply here like Par 5 scoring, birdie or better average and Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, but this week we should also be focusing a little more on Bermuda putting and Approaches from 100 to 125 yards. There are six par 4s measuring under 400 yards, which are just as important to score on as the par 5s. Justin Thomas ($11,200) It’ll be tough to fade Thomas this week with how well he’s currently playing and how well he’s played at the Plantation Course over his career. He’s ranks second to only Dustin Johnson in Strokes Gained: Total since 2015 and is one of only three players to qualify for the Sentry Tournament of Champions in four of the past five years. Thomas has the all-around game to win anywhere, gaining an average of 6.3 strokes Tee-to-Green over his past 10 tournaments. Ride the momentum. Patrick Cantlay ($9,800) Cantlay played amazing last season, making 11 straight cuts leading up to the TOUR Championship and gained an average of 2.6 strokes with his irons over his past 10 tournaments. Cantlay ranks 12th in Par 5 scoring average over his past six tournaments and if we look closer at his statistics over his past eight rounds with shot tracker he ranks fifth in approaches from 100 to 125 yards, ninth in birdie or better percentage and first in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. Collin Morikawa ($8,600) If you’re looking for value, Morikawa should be a solid play this week. It’ll be his first start in Kapalua, but what he lacks in experience, he more than makes up with his iron play, ranking second in the field dating back to the last 50 rounds coming into this tournament. It’ll be hard to trust his putting on Bermuda, but he’ll rely on his strong wedge play ranking fourth in Approaches from 100 to 125 yards over his past three tournaments. Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is reidtfowler) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.

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