Adam Scott’s putter switch is paying off at Riviera

ORLANDO, Fla. – Tiger Woods was named the next U.S. Presidents Cup Captain on Tuesday, just two days after his best PGA TOUR finish in nearly five years. The timing raises an obvious question. Has he thought about bringing his clubs to Royal Melbourne? It was the first inquiry he fielded from the media. Woods chuckled before giving a straightforward answer. “Yes, I have.� Next question. Woods’ quick success in this latest comeback at least makes the idea feasible. A lot could change over the next 639 days, but Woods has proven he’s capable of winning when he’s healthy. The 2019 Presidents Cup will be played in Australia on Dec. 12-15. He showed glimpses of his old self at last week’s Valspar Championship, where he finished one shot behind Paul Casey. Woods, 42, will be the youngest Captain in the Presidents Cup’s history and he’s shown that he can keep up with the kids on TOUR, ranking second in clubhead speed this season. The Captain’s role involves much more than making picks and setting lineups. Juggling those myriad duties while properly preparing to play an international competition is no easy task, but the improved infrastructure of the U.S. side could help Woods handle the dual roles. Woods could lean on experienced Captain’s Assistants like Fred Couples, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk and Davis Love III to lighten his load. “There’s a few people who carry enough weight and could focus enough, like Jack (Nicklaus) or Arnold (Palmer). I think Tiger is definitely in that group,� said two-time Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III. “If Davis Love is a playing Captain, guys would worry. If Tiger’s playing, they’re excited that we have him on our side. He’s going to win points and be a leader. “I think it will be the best thing ever for the Presidents Cup.� Like many good ideas, a Woods captaincy was first floated on a group text. This one was between recent U.S. captains. They told Woods that he would be on the short list for the next Presidents Cup captaincy. After some thought, Woods called PGA TOUR Commissioner Monahan to express his interest and asked if it would be possible to also play at Royal Melbourne. Monahan gave the only reasonable answer. “Yes.� Woods has played eight Presidents Cups. He’s holed the clinching putt three times (2009, ’11 and ’13). He has a 24-15-1 record. Only Phil Mickelson has won more matches. He has an affinity for Royal Melbourne, which was designed by the same man, Dr. Alister Mackenzie, who laid out his beloved Augusta National. Woods played the two previous Presidents Cups at Royal Melbourne. He went 2-3 both times, but won his singles match each year. The entire U.S. Team struggled at Royal Melbourne in 1998 as the Internationals scored their lone Presidents Cup victory. Thirteen years later, Woods holed the winning putt there. Woods would likely have to qualify for his own team. A format change for 2019 will make that task tougher, though. The top eight in the U.S. Team standings after the 2019 TOUR Championship will earn spots on the team. That’s two fewer spots than previous years. The number of automatic berths was reduced because of the lengthy interval between the TOUR Championship and Presidents Cup in mid-December. Woods will have four Captain’s Picks. He has the resume to support a selection, but he seemed hesitant to lobby himself for a pick. “I would like to get to a point where I wouldn’t have to make that decision, to where I’m playing well enough where I could make the team on points,� Woods said. A playing Captain is rare, but not unprecedented. Hale Irwin played both roles in 1994. He compiled a 2-1 record in the United States’ 20-12 victory at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Prince William County, Virginia. Irwin beat Robert Allenby, 1 up, in the first singles match of the final day. The inaugural Presidents Cup was announced on April 13, 1994, just five months before the competition. Irwin won the RBC Heritage that same week. He was 48 and it was his first PGA TOUR win in four years. He was named the U.S. Captain a few weeks later. He bumped Jay Haas from the final automatic spot on the team with a 10th-place finish at the last event of the qualifying period, the World Series of Golf at Firestone Country Club. Irwin used his two Captain’s Picks on Haas and Phil Mickelson. It was Mickelson’s first time representing the United States as a professional. He hasn’t missed a Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup since. Arnold Palmer was the last playing captain in Ryder Cup history. Palmer, then 34, led the U.S. to the second-largest winning margin in Ryder Cup history. He went 4-2 in his team’s 23-9 victory at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The qualifying period for the 2019 Presidents Cup began at last year’s BMW Championship. Woods is 44th in the standings for his team. It’s too early to tell if he’ll be wearing two hats in Australia, though.  “That’s a bridge that’s a long way away from now to be crossing, but if it does come to that point, it won’t just be my decision,� Woods said. “It will be a collaborative effort, what is best for the team.� If Woods is playing well, there’s few things that could be better for the U.S. side.

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AVONDALE, La. — Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are a good team even when they’re playing for cash and not just a flag. Cantlay holed a 25-foot eagle putt early and chipped in from 40 feet for birdie late, while Schauffele contributed six birdies of his own, and their three straight birdies to close gave them a 13-under 59 in fourballs Thursday to lead the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. It set a tournament record since the Zurich Classic switched to team play in 2017, and the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup partners were willing to claim a piece of golf’s magic number. “I haven’t done it before. I don’t think Pat has, either. I’ll count it in my book,” Schauffele said. They had a one-shot lead over the team of Matthew NeSmith and Taylor Moore. The group at 61 included Robert Garrigus and Tommy Gainey, and Aaron Rai and David Lipsky. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and Ryan Palmer were five shots behind at 64. The second round moves to foursomes, and while alternate shot is the more difficult of the format, Cantlay and Schauffele have put together a 4-0 mark in their partnerships at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne and he 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. “It’s just the first quarter. We’re only one ahead,” Cantlay said. “But we are going into a format on Friday that we really like — I think Xander and I really like alternate shot. It’s one of our strengths for the week, and we’re really looking forward to it.” Moore was lucky to have much strength at all. He was in the emergency room Wednesday morning from food poisoning, got some fluids and nausea medicine and finally was able to keep some food down Thursday morning. “Just tried to finish every hole,” Moore said. “That was kind of a win within its own right.” Lipsky avoided the hospital, though he was involved in a car accident earlier in the week. Turns out there was a car in front of him that had broken down, and as Lipsky went to change lanes he said the driver behind him slammed on the brakes and hit him. “I’m all right. I think the other two drivers were fine,” Lipsky said. “Yeah, I was a little bit of a hectic beginning to the week.” Cantlay and Schauffele — who have gone on vacations together when they weren’t representing their country in the cups — were extremely effective on the greens. Only three of their 11 sub-par holes were from putts inside 10 feet. “We played really well, made a lot of putts today on a day that was a little tricky with the wind and didn’t birdie a lot of the same holes,” Cantlay said. “When you do that in this format, that’s really the key.” Equally impressive was the father-son duo of Jay and Bill Haas. The 68-year-old father had four of their seven birdies, three of them from the 15-foot range, in their 65.

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A significant change helped Justin Thomas have success in his last start before The Open Championship. Thomas was one of several big names to play the Scottish Open in preparation for this week’s major at Royal St. George’s. He has struggled on the links in his career, but he finished T8 in Scotland for his first top-10 since winning THE PLAYERS Championship in March. A T11 in the 2019 Open Championship is his lone top-50 in four appearances in The Open Championship. At the Scottish Open, he swapped out his Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5.5 putter for a new Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5 Tour prototype featuring what the company calls a “knuckle neck.” The change comes after an inconsistent period on the greens for Thomas, who ranks 107th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season. In fact, Thomas has ranked outside the top 100 in that statistic in each of the past three seasons. The new flatstick came together after a recent trip to the Scotty Cameron Putter Studio in Encinitas, California. It combines a Phantom X 5.5 head, which is a similar head shape to his previous Futura X5 model, with a prototype knuckle neck akin to a Scotty Cameron Newport 2. The knuckle neck is Scotty Cameron’s version of the traditional plumber’s neck design. The knuckle neck is more rounded than the flat plumber’s neck golfers are accustomed to seeing, but it also features one shaft width of offset for ease of alignment. According to Scotty Cameron TOUR rep Drew Page, after adjusting the neck lengths, Thomas was able to find a more consistent stroke pattern with his new gamer. “JT’s had incredible success the last five years with his Futura X5.5 … but he had been thinking lately about experimenting with a slightly different look,” Page said. “We took the Phantom X 5 head shape he loves and gave it a Newport 2-style neck which he’s also used in the past. He tested it at a few different neck lengths and was able to find a setup that was giving him a more consistent stroke pattern with that little bit different visual and the same feel that he’s used to.” Thomas, who used a blade-style putter early in his career, had been using his Phantom X 5.5, which features a high-MOI (moment of inertia, a measure of a club’s resistance to twisting) wingback Phantom X design paired with a welded small slant neck to promote an arced putting stroke more commonly associated with blade designs. The new knuckle-necked Phantom X 5.5 features slightly less toe hang than his previous gamer and worked effectively in Scotland where Thomas putted well on his way to his first top-10 finish in four months. For reference, toe hang is a toe-weighted or toe-balanced putters. A putter with more toe hang is better suited to an arcing stroke, whereas a face-balanced putter works better for a straight-back, straight-through motion.

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