Tiger Woods and son Charlie tied for lead at PNC Championship

The ProV1 and the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open have become synonymous. The original ProV1 prototypes were introduced to TOUR players at the 2000 Shriners. Forty-seven players put the ball in play that week, including winner Billy Andrade. It was a week that revolutionized golf. Now Titleist is introducing its latest ProV1 prototypes this week at TPC Summerlin. The introduction of these latest prototypes follows a two-year development process. Making new products available for TOUR players to use in competition, otherwise known as TOUR seeding, is the final stage of research and development before a product is released to the public. It's a very exciting—yet stressful—time for the TOUR truck's support teams. A good portion of the TOUR staff was sent samples to try in early-to-mid September, but this is the first week they'll be testing the new balls in tournament conditions. Team Titleist also is in the process of seeding the new TSi metal woods. That may sound overwhelming, but it makes a ton of sense to get players testing new woods and balls at the same time. The performance of each is dependent on the other, so to dial both in at the same time saves a ton of steps. Thus far, the buzz around the new ball has been very positive. A few notes: • Cameron Tringale shot 59 with the new Pro V1x while testing at home. • Cam Smith started his Monday practice round with three consecutive birdies and added one more to that total to start his Tuesday round. • Greg Chalmers, playing the new Pro V1x, said: “I played nine holes with the new Pro V1x today, and if it performs in tournament conditions like today then you guys have officially built the perfect golf ball. Long, great flight, and better feel on all shots but particularly around the greens. Stays on the face longer and feels so good. Spins way more on chipping. Can I switch to that ball this week?" • Jimmy Walker, playing the new Pro V1, said: “It's as fast as the [Pro V1] Left Dash X off the driver and feels very soft around the greens. I still have more testing to do but so far so good.” • Rory Sabbatini, the only player in this week's field who also played the original ProV1 at the 2000 Shriners, switched from the yellow Pro V1 ’19 straight into the new Pro V1x this week. No word yet from the folks in Fairhaven as to when the latest iteration of the Pro V1 and Pro V1x will come to retail, but with seeding underway this week, it's safe to say we'll be hearing more on that front soon.

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Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello sank a birdie putt on the first playoff hole to seal a dramatic victory over compatriot Adri Arnaus and win his first tournament in over four years at the Spanish Open on Sunday.

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Michael Thompson … Look no further than the 34-year-old for evidence of how Golf Club of Houston rewards all styles of attack. In 2017, he finished a personal-best T12 by ranking second in Strokes Gained: Putting. He converted all 62 attempts inside 10 feet in leading the field in one-putt percentage. The following year, he paced the field in greens in regulation, missing only nine all week. A classically strong up-and-down game landed him second in scrambling; the aggregate effort planted him T14 on the leaderboard. While he placed T23 two weeks ago at Silverado, his fit is as a horse in Houston. Doc Redman … While other 21-year-olds have taken the PGA TOUR by storm, especially with a flawlessness with the putter that defies conventional wisdom given the challenge of reading greens on this stage, he’s taken the conventional on-ramp to the learning curve as a ball-striker. Currently 22nd in total driving, 25th in greens hit, T14 in proximity to the hole and 37th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, that strength is rewarded in Houston. And he’s already 3-for-4 on the season with one top 25 and 12 (of 14) rounds under par. Zach Sucher … Six months ago, if you’d have asked him if he foresaw even as high as conditional status on the PGA TOUR this season, he likely would have been pleased with it. Now that he has it, he’s put it to good use in the tournaments into which he’s gained entry. With a T24 at Greenbrier and a T18 in Mississippi, he’s 44th in the FedExCup, but Golf Club of Houston presents perhaps his best fit as a tee-to-green talent. Xinjun Zhang … After riding two wins and another three podium finishes on the Korn Ferry Tour to the top spot in earnings during the regular season, he made no noise during the Finals and surrendered his lead to tumble into the reshuffle in his return to the PGA TOUR. No matter now, though. After a slow start, he went T7-T16 at Safeway and the Shriners to climb to 21st in the FedExCup standings. He arrived in Houston with an active streak of eight red numbers and he ranks T41 in greens in regulation and 25th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. Peter Uihlein … Didn’t get the job done during the Korn Ferry Tour Finals where he settled for 35th of those chasing the last 25 cards, but he’s opened the PGA TOUR season by going 3-for-3 with one top 25 on conditional status. Golf Club of Houston can benefit his average approach game, but he’ll need to bring his A-game off the tee to have a puncher’s chance. His skill set is suited for tracks that reward touch around an on greens, but he rose to finish T23 here in 2017 thanks in part to ranking T9 in greens in regulation and T2 in par-5 scoring. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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