Jon Rahm to miss cut at Fortinet Championship

Fabián Gómez couldn’t think straight. In any normal circumstance, the two-time PGA TOUR winner would have been focused on a second consecutive top-25 finish. A first-round 67 at the John Deere Classic had once again propelled him into contention, and another solid week could push him into the conversation for the FedExCup Playoffs. And yet, his mind was elsewhere. Patito. As the Argentine stalked the sixth fairway at TPC Deere Run, a lifetime of memories began flooding back. From their first steps together in Chaco, Argentina, to the moments they shared in elementary school and beyond, everything led Gómez back to one of his closest friends and confidants. Mere hours before starting the second round of the John Deere Classic, Gómez received the heartbreaking news that his friend, Hugo “Patito” Aguirre had died in Argentina. He was the latest victim of COVID-19. The 42-year-old did his best to play through the pain. But when the inevitable eventually arrived, and Gómez just couldn’t bear it anymore, he began to cry on the sixth green. His playing partners, Josh Teater and Cameron Percy, didn’t quite understand what was happening. Gómez decided there was no point in continuing, the pain too great to keep going without any source of comfort around him. He explained the situation to his colleagues and withdrew from the tournament. This week, the Argentine paid tribute to his friend at the Barbasol Championship, where he donated $500 for each birdie he made at Keene Trace Golf Club toward the Aguirre family. The Argentine forged a deep, personal relationship with Aguirre, and—understanding the economic needs his wife, Carina, and their two young daughters now face—knew this was the best way he could provide for his friend. “The idea came that Friday night, and I liked it because I really wanted to play well for him,” Gómez said Friday morning. “I have a double motivation, to not only go out and make birdies but to play to win.” Gómez opened the Barbasol Championship with a 3-under 69, which included four birdies. He struggled on Friday en route to a 2-over 74, but three more birdies still managed to bring his total donation to $3,500 for the week. “(Thursday) wasn’t a very good day with all of the suspensions,” Gómez said prior to Friday’s round, “but the thought was always on making birdies, because I know I’m playing for him and his family.” Gómez and Aguirre were together for most of their lives. They lived just a few blocks away from the famed Chaco Golf Club in Northeast Argentina, an area of high temperatures and sparse economic resources but with ample will to get ahead. In addition to Gómez, Chaco Golf Club has produced PGA TOUR winners in José Cóceres and Emiliano Grillo. The two friends took their first swings on that course, where they began to love the game and learn its secrets by carrying clubs every time they left for school. Aguirre was the first to pursue bigger opportunities, eventually moving to Los Cardales, some 40 miles north of Buenos Aires. He then successfully encouraged Fabián to join him under the lure of the countless golf courses in the area that could help his transition to professional golf. Every Monday, the pair had an almost obligatory appointment together at the nearby La Orquídea Golf Club, where Aguirre had gotten a job as a “Master-Caddie.” As the years went by and Gómez began to make a name for himself among South American professionals, the club became not just Gómez’s home course, but a seemingly second home for he and Patito to make memories together. Gómez hopes to pay Patito back once more at La Orquídea, where he plans to organize a benefit tournament in the future. “I am going to collect different golf prizes in the tournaments that I play from now on,” he said. “I do not think I will be able to travel to it due to the pandemic in my country and all of the flights being canceled, but I plan to send them prizes.” Gómez, of course, was destined for bigger things. A successful PGA TOUR career, which has culminated in more than 200 events across nine seasons, eventually led him to settle in Miami in 2017, far away from his people and his good friend. But every time he had the chance to return to Argentina, he always reserved time for an “asado” (barbecue) with his buddy Patito. Now, after processing the immediate grief of his longtime friend and confidant, Gómez will look for more ways to help erase the burden Aguirre’s family faces. He’ll do it all for his best friend. That alone is of enormous value. He’ll do it for Patito.

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Everyone loves a good golf story, especially when it’s about one of the game’s legends. This weekend, fans can watch as PGA TOUR players share their best stories about 82-time winner Tiger Woods. Tiger Tales presented by Genesis, which will air from 2-3 pm Sunday on CBS, uses video and animation to tell new and illuminating stories about Tiger’s incredible impact on golf. RELATED: TOUR pros’ first time playing with Tiger | Tiger’s top 10 clubs The show’s eight chapters explore the relationships and legacy Tiger has fostered throughout the world of golf in the past two decades. Among the topics covered are Tiger’s relationship with his fellow players, his pursuit of his record-breaking 83rd PGA TOUR victory, the legacy of his TGR Foundation and his long-lasting contributions to the game. You’ll hear Justin Thomas talk about playing home run derby with Woods and his son, Charlie, in their living room, Tiger talk about the first time he beat his father and the time Billy Horschel took a spill trying to impress Tiger in the PGA TOUR fitness trailer. These light-hearted stories hope to shed a new light on the player who has dominated PGA TOUR telecasts for the past two decades.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Most golfers want the absolute maximum amount of spin possible with their wedges for more control. Bryson DeChambeau, however, was searching for the opposite. As most golf fans know by now, DeChambeau uses single-length irons and wedges, which means his wedges are longer than standard; they’re 37.5 inches to be exact (around 35 inches is normal for a wedge). According to DeChambeau, using wedges with longer lengths means he creates so much spin that he actually wants to reduce spin for the control he wants. His solution? “Dullerâ€� wedge grooves. “Because of my longer clubs… I produce too much spin, and so I went to a duller wedge groove,â€� DeChambeau told PGATOUR.COM. Before the 3M Open – where he finished T2 – DeChambeau was honing his golf game in the Bahamas when he grabbed a PXG 0311 wedge from a rental set. He says he wanted to see if there was “any difference in the metalsâ€� between the PXG wedge and his previous Cobra wedges. While he said there’s “more to be understoodâ€� about the PXG 0311 wedges, DeChambeau has used a full set of them (52, 56 and 60 degrees) since putting them in play at the 3M Open. DeChambeau isn’t using the newest versions of PXG wedges, which are fully milled, however. He’s using the original 0311 wedges that were released in 2015. According to PXG Tour rep Matt Rollins, DeChambeau is the only TOUR player with these wedges in the bag. In fact, Rollins had trouble finding the now-outdated wedges on the PXG tour truck. “Well, in a deep dark corner of our drawer, we found them. By accident.â€� Rollins told PGATOUR.com. “We don’t have anymore [on the truck]. I’ve got to get some from the office…â€� While DeChambeau has used some Frankstein-esque wedge concoctions in the past, the PXG wedges are mostly stock, according to Rollins, but are made to be as light as possible in the head due to their longer lengths. He says their swing weights are E0. Rollins agrees with DeChambeau that the grooves are a major factor in determining spin, but he’s not completely sold that’s the reason why DeChambeau has found what he’s looking for in the PXG wedges. “Spin is affected two ways… the groove, and the interaction with the bounce,â€� Rollins explained. “If you don’t have the right bounce, it won’t spin like it should. And for some reason, this bounce just does it for Bryson. The groove is not that much different than our milled one. It’s different, but it’s not crazy. I would argue it’s more the bounce… because think (about it), his club comes in so much differently than everybody else’s.â€� Ben Schomin, Cobra’s TOUR Operations Manager and DeChambeau’s wedge maker at Cobra, agrees with Rollins, saying that the reduction in spin “could have just as much to do with bounceâ€� as it does with the grooves. Schomin also said that the older PXG wedges have provided a bit more predictability in DeChambeau’s spin rates with the wedges; while the spin range was 5,000-12,000 rpm with his previous Cobra wedges, his range with the PXG wedges has tightened to 6,000-10,000 rpm. Cobra is currently building new prototype wedges with V-grooves, which are a less aggressive groove, according to Schomin. DeChambeau was also spotted testing Cobra King MIM wedges ahead of the 2019 FedEx St. Jude Invitational, but Schomin says that even though he liked the 52- and 56-degree wedges during testing, he still needs a 60-degree. “It’s all about the 60-degree wedge for him,â€� Schomin said. Over the next few weeks, we’ll keep an eye out for the new Cobra prototype wedges with duller grooves made for DeChambeau. DeChambeau has also turned back time with his driver. While he’s been using a Cobra King F9 Speedback driver throughout 2019, which was launched in late 2018, DeChambeau has switched into a Cobra King LTD driver first released in 2015. DeChambeau told PGATOUR.com that the switch is due to the bulge-and-roll of the face being more preferential to his inside-out golf swing. “The bulge and roll is a little bit different on [the LTD driver], as well as the design,â€� DeChambeau said. “It fits better for my inside-out path. Drivers are manufactured for ‘zero-zero’ (swing path and angle of attack) when they’re tested on robots, they aren’t tested for inside-out or outside-in swings.â€� Schomin theorizes that the LTD driver is a bit lower spinning, which is why DeChambeau likes the older driver’s performance at the moment. Schomin also says the company is working on a customized bulge and roll for DeChambeau, but that changing bulge-and-roll for a specific swing/miss could bring on other issues if a miss occurs in different places on the face. One thing is for certain: DeChambeau always keeps us on our toes when it comes to his equipment.

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