Bob Ford's amazing golf career — including time at Oakmont and Seminole — coming to an end

NEW YORK – Across the U.S., small businesses have been deeply impacted by COVID-19, experiencing a range of challenges and economic hardships. This situation is certainly true for small businesses that rely on PGA TOUR events coming to their cities and towns. Each year, hundreds of small businesses help the PGA TOUR successfully run local events. From tent companies and caterers to local security companies and sign shops, these businesses are essential and often the foundational pillars of a successful tournament, and many of those small businesses rely on the local PGA TOUR stops for a significant boost to their business. To help combat some of the financial challenges of a shortened tour schedule, MetLife, through the PGA TOUR, is committing $1 million of its sponsorship dollars to support those small businesses that either started work in preparation for TOUR events, or were otherwise affected by loss of TOUR business due to COVID-19. In addition, MetLife is teaming up with professional golfer and small business owner, Bubba Watson, to bring awareness of the important role small businesses play not only at sporting events, but also in our communities. “Small businesses have been particularly impacted by COVID-19,� said pro golfer Bubba Watson. “I am thrilled that MetLife is helping these small businesses by providing $1 million dollars from its sponsorship with the TOUR and am honored to wear the ‘Small Biz. Big Drive’ logo on my sleeve to encourage everyone to support small businesses.� MetLife will help dozens of small businesses by distributing its $1 million commitment, through the PGA TOUR, to more than 20 TOUR events. Beginning on June 11, Watson, also a small business owner, will appear in an ad campaign for MetLife that will run on CBS during PGA TOUR programming. Watson will wear a “Small Biz. Big Drive� logo on his sleeve for the remainder of the 2019-20 PGA TOUR Season. “COVID-19 has significantly impacted our spring season sales as our work with the TOUR is a revenue boost and allows us to showcase our designs and work to current and potential clients,� said Mike Cavins, vice president of Iowa-based landscaping experts, Uncommon Ground. “I want to thank MetLife for easing the financial burdens of our family-owned business and for supporting small businesses across the country.� “Small businesses are a vital part of our country’s economy and they have been hit hardest during the pandemic,� notes Jessica Moser, senior vice president, Small & Specialty Business, MetLife. “‘Small Biz, Big Drive’ is an opportunity to help many local businesses impacted by the changes to this year’s PGA TOUR schedule and to continue to raise awareness of the significance of small businesses to our overall economy and recovery.� Since 2013, MetLife has been the “Official Life Insurance Sponsor of the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions.� MetLife added a second category in 2017 as “Official Worksite Benefits Sponsor of the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions.�

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PXG (Parsons Xtreme Golf), founded by billionaire-entrepreneur Bob Parsons, made an immediate mark in the golf industry by offering golf clubs that sold for relatively enormous prices in the domestic golf market. The barrier to entry for becoming a PXG customer, however, is shifting. Parsons has described the company’s products as the “Ferrariâ€� of golf clubs, and its prices have reflected that. PXG’s original 0311 irons sold for $300 per iron, and its 0811 drivers sold for $850. The company’s newest Gen2 0311 irons, released in March 2018, upped the ante even more, selling for $400 apiece. The new Gen2 drivers, however, which released in January 2019, came with a reduced price of $575 each because Parsons said the company was able to reduce manufacturing costs through scaling. Now, PXG is bringing a drastically lower-priced set of irons to retail with its 0211 irons that are priced at $195 per club with steel shafts, and $210 with graphite shafts. PXG recently tested the theory of making more affordable irons available to the public, and it passed. “After we introduced our Gen2 irons and pretty much sold through our Gen1s, we did a test,â€� Parsons told PGATOUR.COM. “What we did was we ordered a new run of our Gen1 irons and didn’t have the R&D that we needed to recover, so we were able to sell those at a lesser price. What we learned was there’s a big demand for that, especially from our brand, and sales of that were very well received.â€� The price difference between the Gen2 0311 irons (at $400 per iron) and the 0211 irons (at $195 per iron) comes from the different constructions, and the cost of making the clubs. PXG’s recently released Gen 0311 irons are triple-forged from 8620 carbon and feature the company’s trademark weight ports around the perimeter. The 0211 irons, on the other hand, are investment cast from 431 stainless steel, and they do not feature PXG’s traditional screw weights. The investment casting process is less expensive than the forging process. The new 0211 irons do, however, feature the company’s new COR2 material – a “proprietary high-speed polymerâ€� – in the space between the HT 1770M faces and the 431 stainless steel bodies. This design allows the faces to be constructed thinner for more ball speed without sacrificing feel, sound and durability. “What we did was we took our Gen2 technology, which we already have the R&D paid for with the Gen2 irons, and we put that in [the 0211 irons] as much as we could,â€� Parsons said. “We used a less expensive manufacturing process, but still, the way we do it, these irons cost us more to make than other companies pay for their forged irons.â€� Parsons also says that because they have the same COR2 technology that was introduced in the Gen2 irons, the new 0211 irons perform better than the forged Gen1 irons that did not have this material. “Our 0211s, when it comes to our Gen1 irons, they outperform them considerably,â€� Parsons said. “They’re longer, they have faster ball speeds, launch higher, got a higher peak height, steeper landing angle and they’re more accurate. So we made these as good as we could.â€� While PXG’s flagship Gen2 0311 family of irons consists of four different head models (0311T, 0311P, 0311 XF and 0311 SGI), the 0211 line has just one head model. The 0211 irons (4-PW, SW, GW, LW) have a progressive makeup where the short irons have less offset and smaller profiles and the long irons have more offset and larger profiles. Also, the Gen2 0311 irons have a slew of shafts available at no upcharge, but the 0211 shaft options are more limited; they come stock with True Tempers Elevate steel shafts, and Mitsubishi’s MMT steel or graphite shafts, with other shafts coming with an additional upcharge. For those who may question the relatively cheaper price tag of the 0211 compared to its previous iron releases, Parsons had this to say: “While these irons are significantly less compared to our 0311s — our forged irons, our flagship products — when you compare them to other investment cast products [they’re] pretty expensive,â€� Parsons said. “$195 for a casted product, that’s pricey. That’s still in that upper price range. But for the performance that you get, the value is totally there.â€� PXG’s new 0211 irons, which come with a chrome finish, will be available everywhere that PXG’s current 0311 Gen2 irons are sold, including its website.

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Garcia continues push at BMW International

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