It’s one week before the Masters, and the PGA Tour heads to Texas for the Vivint Houston Open. Our experts offer their best bets.
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Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland have teamed up this week at the 2022 Zurich Classic in New Orleans. The young superstars combine for only 49 total years of age (Morikawa is 25 years old, and Hovland is 24 years old), but they already have eight PGA TOUR victories between them (Morikawa has five, and Hovland has three). With Morikawa currently ranked No. 2 in the Official World Golf Rankings, and Hovland ranked No. 5, the Morikawa-Hovland duo is sure to be both a fan favorite — and a betting favorite to win the event, too. While neither player has made any major changes to their equipment setups in the last few months, each have recently made one minor tweak: Hovland has changed into a modified Ping G425 LST driver, and Morikawa changed the weight of his TaylorMade TP Collection Juno putter. Ahead of the 2022 Zurich Classic, GolfWRX.com spoke to both players to gain further insight about why they made their respective gear changes. Viktor Hovland Leading up to the Masters, Hovland was using a Ping G425 LST 9-degree driver head, which has a relatively flat lie angle to influence a fade bias. Hovland, however, who already plays a natural cut shot, noticed he was struggling to draw the ball. To help combat the issue, Hovland and Ping Tour rep Kenton Oates experimented with different loft and lie angle settings. The two eventually settled on a setting in his Ping G425 LST 9-degree head that shifted the lie angle upright by 2 degrees. All things being equal, a more upright lie angle will typically help golfers draw the ball, whereas a flat lie angle will influence a fade. According to Hovland, the upright driver setting also matched up better with the lie angles on his Ping i210 irons, helping him achieve more consistency throughout the set. ”We had a hard time drawing the driver, because it was too flat,” Hovland told GolfWRX.com at the 2022 Zurich Classic on Tuesday. “I have pretty low hands at impact, so we figured it’d be easier to make it more upright so I didn’t have to work as hard to draw it. When I do draw it, with that current setting, I tend to draw my irons too much. We just kind of matched it up to the rest of the set.” While many PGA TOUR players would be concerned using an upright driver, since they tend to guard against a left miss, Hovland doesn’t worry as much about missing to the left. “Most of the time when I’m playing well, it’s not going left too much,” Hovland said. Collin Morikawa You may not think five grams is a lot of weight, but for Morikawa, it can make a huge difference in feel on the greens. Typically, Morikawa uses a TaylorMade TP Collection Juno putter with 2.5-gram weights in the heel and toe portions of the sole. When he plays on relatively slower green complexes, however, he says he wants something a bit heavier. Ahead of The 2021 Open Championship, which Morikawa won, he replaced the 2.5-gram weights on his putter with 7.5-gram weights. Ahead of the Zurich Classic, he’s doing something similar by replacing the 2.5-gram weights with 5-gram weights. Although the change only equates to 5 grams of additional overall head weight, it’s significant for Morikawa, who’s going from the lightning fast Augusta National greens to the relatively slower TPC Louisiana surfaces. “I just added a little more weight to the putter,” Morikawa said on Monday at the 2022 Zurich Classic. “For me, it’s what I do on slower greens, like what I did at The Open. Instead of trying to hit it harder, or do something different, it just matches my feel a little better, and helps me work my way from fast greens to slow greens.” For amateur golfers, take this as a lesson to not underestimate the power of just a few grams. Adding or subtracting weight, especially in certain areas, can drastically change both performance and feel. If you’re using a putter that has interchangeable weights, we recommend messing around with different configurations to see what feels best for you, or consult with a professional fitter to get dialed in.
THE OVERVIEW By Cameron Morfit, PGATOUR.COM On or off the course, Kevin Kisner seldom fails to entertain. He’s also very, very good. The former Georgia Bulldog first made news in 2015 when he lost three playoffs in one season, becoming the first to hit that bittersweet trifecta since Horton Smith in 1937. All he’s done since is win twice, rack up more top-10s, and, last fall, make his first Presidents Cup team. At Liberty National, his partner on the U.S. team was none other than Phil Mickelson, who has played in every Presidents Cup. Kisner soaked up every minute. “He probably wants me to be as hyped up as I can be,â€� Kisner said of Mickelson before the matches. “He’s fired up. He’s grabbing me every five minutes and telling me something that I don’t understand, and then we go on.â€� TOP 30 PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2018: We’ll countdown our list with one new player each day in December. Click here for the published players. MORE: Top 30 explanation and schedule As it turned out, Kisner understood fine, going undefeated (2-0-2) while compiling three points in the U.S. Team’s winning effort. He and Mickelson won two of their three matches and halved the other. Kisner was so clutch and such a fine addition, you almost couldn’t fault him for his goofy “Three Amigosâ€� victory dance with Mickelson. None of which was a surprise. (OK, the dance was a surprise.) Kisner contended until the bitter end at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow (T4). He hit one of the clutch shots of the year at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, a 95-foot chip that rattled the stick and dropped for eagle, forcing extra holes as dusk fell. (Jonas Blixt and Cam Smith ultimately beat Kisner and Scott Brown in the two-man team event.) At the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational, Kisner drained a bloodless five-footer on the 72nd hole for a one-stroke victory over Sean O’Hair, Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth. And he nearly made history at the Sony Open in Hawaii, where he missed an eagle putt of just over 10 feet that would have given him a third-round 59. (The 60 bettered his career low on TOUR by three.) “Kisâ€� is fired up, and he’s just getting started. Click here to follow Cameron on Twitter FEDEXCUP Current 2017-18 position: 70th Playoff appearances: 4 TOUR Championship appearances: 3 Best result: 12th (2017) BY THE NUMBERS INSIGHTS FROM OUR INSIDERS TOUR INSIDER by Ben Everill Kisner has shown himself good enough to be part of the elite names on TOUR now and this season is about maintaining, and improving. A winner in the last two seasons, Kizner should now expect nothing less than another trophy in 2018. Don’t be surprised if it comes in Hawaii before the new year is very old. He’s good in every aspect of the game, making up for any perceived lack of distance. And his competitive spirit is not to be underestimated. This guy is a bulldog — a straight-up grinder and fighter. Click here to follow Ben on Twitter FANTASY INSIDER by Rob Bolton If this annual series focuses on fantasy value, you wouldn’t be reading about him for another week. I slotted the 33-year-old from South Carolina 17th in my full-membership fantasy ranking during the sliver of the offseason, so his appearance here represents the first noticeable drop from there to here. That speaks both to the strength remaining in the Top 30 and his underrated value in our world. He’s fresh off a career season (in his prime) in which he established a career low for missed cuts (three) for the fourth consecutive season all the while recording a career-high eight top 10s. While average in distance off the tee, he does everything else from well to outstanding. Fearless. Click here to follow Rob on Twitter EQUIPMENT INSIDER by Jonathan Wall Kisner’s Callaway Great Big Bertha driver has a custom 20-gram slide weight that replaced the two 10-gram weights he used to have in the track. Callaway GBB Epic fairway wood and 58-degree Fourteen Golf wedge were the only new additions to the bag last season. Click here to follow Jonathan on Twitter STYLE INSIDER by Greg Monteforte Kisner’s style can best be described as contemporary takes on classic looks. In 2017, he made the rare mid-season apparel shift and his new Dunning threads fit him to a tee. Here’s hoping we see more of the same from Kiz in 2018. Click here to follow Greg on Twitter
AUSTIN, Texas – For two decades, Tiger Woods has insisted that he never enters an event he doesn’t expect to win. But winning here at Austin Country Club will be a little more taxing than normal. Whichever players advance to Sunday’s final match will have played seven rounds of golf in five days.
