A look back at Tiger Woods’ winning bag at the 2007 TOUR Championship

There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned Texas showdown and some of the PGA TOUR’s best stars are lining up to take their shot at glory at TPC San Antonio for this week’s Valero Texas Open. Trying to imagine some of our modern stars as characters in the old west … you’d have to say Jimmy Walker would probably hold his own as a sheriff or lawman … he already looks pretty decent in a pair of cowboy boots. What about Billy Horschel? He strikes us as someone who would be up for a scrap … and someone you’d want in your corner in a shootout. And Jhonny Vegas? He could be one scary hombre. Then there is Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler who provide some serious star power to the event this week … but as far as old west characters … we reckon they’d more likely be the clever card sharps than the sharp shooters … finding the most efficient ways towards a goal without getting their hands too dirty. Here’s a look at some of the Featured Groups (FedExCup ranking in parenthesis). HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1-3:30 p.m. (GC), 3:30-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. (featured groups). Saturday-Sunday, 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (featured groups), 3:30-6 p.m. (featured holes). Fans can watch via Twitter window from 8:30 a.m. ET to approx. 9:30 a.m. Thurs/Fri and 10:30 a.m. ET to approx. 11:45a.m. ET Sat/Sun There will be a fan vote on Twitter Thursday to determine second Friday Featured Group. International subscribers (via GOLF.tv): Thursday-Friday, 12:30 to 23:00 GMT. Saturday-Sunday, 15:00 to 22:00. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com). Billy Horschel (53) – Former FedExCup champion who boasts top four finishes at TPC San Antonio in the past and was T11 last year. Hasn’t missed a cut in eight months. Jordan Spieth (177) – Former FedExCup champion with 11 PGA TOUR wins including multiple majors returns to TPC San Antonio for the first time since he was runner up in 2015. Was 10th the year prior. Jhonattan Vegas (54) – Third at THE PLAYERS recently. Last nine rounds have been par or better. Round 1 tee time: 1:40 p.m. ET Round 2 tee time: 8:50 a.m. ET J.B. Holmes (18) – Winner at the Genesis Open in February, Holmes has three top 15s at TPC San Antonio. Adam Long (28) – Winner at the Desert Classic Long is continuing his push for Rookie of the Year honors. Graeme McDowell (42) – Fresh off his fourth PGA TOUR win at the Corales PuntaCana Resort and Club Championship. Round 1 tee time: 1:50 p.m. ET Round 2 tee time: 9:00 a.m. ET Rickie Fowler (10) – The Waste Management Phoenix Open winner earlier this season stumps up for his first time playing at TPC San Antonio. Andrew Landry (166) – The defending champion at TPC San Antonio looking for some positive vibes to kick start his FedExCup challenge this season. Jimmy Walker (180) – Winner in 2015 and four other top-16 results at TPC San Antonio including fourth place last season. Just the place Walker needs to reinvigorate his season. Round 1 tee time: 8:50 a.m. ET, Round 2 tee time: 1:40 p.m. ET Tony Finau (26) – Was T3 in 2017, his last start at TPC San Antonio. Has top 25s in his last three stroke play starts. Jim Furyk (21) – The veteran and former FedExCup champion has found a purple patch of form and will be looking to add to his two previous top-10s at TPC San Antonio. Matt Kuchar (1) – The FedExCup leader smarting from his championship loss to Kevin Kisner at WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play. Two-time winner this season and has yet to miss a cut in seven starts at TPC San Antonio where he was T4 in 2014. Round 1 tee time: 9:00 a.m. ET Round 2 tee time: 1:50 p.m. ET

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It’s a safe assumption that every club in the bag is working when you shoot 34 under and break an all-time scoring record on the PGA TOUR, as Cam Smith did at last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions. That said, in addition to the new Vokey SM9 wedges Smith put in play for his 65-64-64-65 romp at Kapalua, his putter may be the most interesting portion of the bag. Smith putts with a Scotty Cameron 009M prototype. Generally, the 009M is a traditional Anser-style putter most similar to the retail Newport line. The “009” is a reference to San Diego’s zip code, where Cameron’s studio is located, while the ‘M’ stands for ‘masterful.’ Smith said he put the slant-neck Scotty in play at last year’s Sony Open in Hawaii, pointing out that the club is celebrating its birthday this week at Waialae Country Club. He’ll certainly want to buy it a gift. The Australian was 10th in Strokes Gained: Putting last season and is fourth in the young 2021-22 campaign. He led the field in that statistic last week at Kapalua, as well. Smith said he prefers a slant neck and, when considering a new putter last year, told Cameron and company he wanted the neck design in whatever club he would test. “There’s lots of cool stamps in the back there as well,” Smith said. “I’ve always loved the dot on top. I’ve never been a line guy. I feel like I can just feel the putter a little bit better. I don’t get so obsessed with the line. I feel like I’m able to just hit a good putt, and a good putt out of the middle means more chances of going in.” You can see the stamps and the sight dot below. And while there are elements of the design Smith can point to that suit his preferences, there’s a certain je ne sais quoi quality as well. “I just really like this one. I don’t know why,” Smith said. “It just feels great in the hands. I feel like I’m able to hit really good lag putts with it, which is a big thing out here. We leave ourselves some pretty nasty putts sometimes. I feel like I’m able to get the ball rolling real good. And like I said, the biggest thing for me is the strike. So I just feel like I hit lots of good putts with it out of the middle, and it feels so good.” Scotty Cameron TOUR rep Drew Page said Smith had been in a mallet-style Teryllium T22 Fastback model. The pair collaborated on a blade design after Smith, a self-identified “blade guy” said he wanted a similar slant neck on a blade-style putter. “He liked the neck. We put it on a 009 head. We gave it to him here, (at the) 2021 Sony Open, and he has put it in play and used it ever since,” Page said. “It gave him the look and offset that he wanted and gave him back the feel that he wanted with the blade. I think he just wanted to go back to his roots and have a little bit more playability within his stroke with a blade.” If putting is a game of comfort and confidence, clearly Smith has both. We can also add “cool” to that list, as Cam’s Cameron is one of the coolest looking on TOUR.

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Round 3 of the U.S. Open from Torrey Pines takes place Saturday. Richard Bland shot a 4-under 67 in the second round to join Russell Henley at the top of the leaderboard. Louis Oosthuizen and Matthew Wolff sit just a shot behind, with Bubba Watson and Jon Rahm enjoying success at Torrey Pines once again and both are a couple shots off the lead. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau starts the weekend even par with other big names such as Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW (All times Pacific) Television: Saturday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (NBC). Radio: Saturday, 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Sunday, 3 p.m.-8 p.m. (SiriusXM 92) For more live streaming information, click here for the official USGA Viewing Schedule. NOTE: The USGA, who owns and operates the U.S. Open, controls all digital streaming and broadcast rights to this event. For more information on how to watch this week, please visit the U.S. Open’s website. PGA TOUR LIVE coverage will resume on Thursday, June 24 at the Travelers Championship. MUST READS Richard Bland, Russell Henley share lead at U.S. Open Jon Rahm, Bubba Watson look to mirror Farmers Insurance Open success at U.S. OpenRichard Bland: Five things to know DeChambeau and this history of ‘bomb and gouge’ Nine things about Torrey Pines An open letter to Phil Mickelson The (astonishingly) long story on Wilco Nienaber Schauffele discusses watching Tiger’s win in person in 2008 Recalling Payne Stewart’s U.S. Open win 30 years ago

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