Casey defies wind, rain for 1-shot lead in European Open

This was a season unlike any other on the PGA TOUR. We've made it to the final week, however. It all comes down to this week at Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club, where the FedExCup champion will be crowned Monday. Before this campaign comes to a close, let's take a look at the biggest equipment storylines from the 2019-20 season. There were a number of stories that kept all the gearheads on their toes and fully engaged, even through the period without TOUR action. That’s the beauty of this game. All the action doesn’t always take place on the course, and in many cases, it's the mere tools of the trade that give us our fix. With the TOUR Championship this week, here are our top equipment stories from the PGA TOUR this season: 1. TaylorMade SIM was (and remains) all the rage January is “launch season” in the equipment industry. Manufacturers show the masses what they have in store for metalwoods, and from a 35,000-foot view, this was one of, if not the, strongest offerings the market has ever seen. Every year, there are one or two big sticks that typically shine above the rest. In 2017, it was Ping's G400. The next year brought the Cobra F9 and the return of Cobra Golf. In 2019, it was a slugfest between TaylorMade’s M5 and Ping’s G410. There was one undeniable “best,” “longest,” “most popular,” and master of any other superlatives in 2020, however: the TaylorMade SIM. SIM came with some trepidation early on. The technology and odd shape looked a little awkward. It has been the SIM show ever since TaylorMade staffers started putting it in their bag at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, however. Performance-wise, it checked off every single box. Stable. Fast. Forgiving. And good-looking. Extreme TOUR validation and the wins helped, as well. Beyond Tiger, DJ, Rory, Rahm all putting it in play immediately, it was the free agents and staffers of competing brands having it in play that really nailed it home. Tommy Fleetwood, Patrick Reed, Paul Casey, Brooks Koepka, Billy Horschel, Justin Rose, Ryan Palmer, and Sergio Garcia are the big free agents who have had SIM in the bag. All but one still has it in play even today. That’s nuts. SIM has won half of the 14 events played since the season resumed, and three of the top five in the FedExCup standings all have it in play. Why has it been so successful? Performance for one, but kudos to TaylorMade for strong marketing, TOUR messaging with the help of #tourtrucktuesday and Chris Trott and also an iconic staff that all put it in play straight away. 2. Vokey Wedges dominate … again It’s hard to say whether or not Titleist saw this coming when they hired respected clubmaker Bob Vokey back in 1997. At that time, Cleveland and Ping more or less owned the wedge counts on TOUR, and the gap between them and the rest of the pack was quite large. The progression to dominance is actually quite interesting. In 1998, Vokey accounted for 16% of wedges used on TOUR, ranking third overall. It was second on TOUR from 1999-2003, with slightly more than a quarter (27%) of players using them. Since then, Vokey wedges have enjoyed 17 consecutive years as the No. 1 wedge on TOUR. Vokey surpassed a significant milestone in 2020. It was the first season that more than half the TOUR played its wedges. There are a lot of factors that have contributed to Vokey's success. Look, feel and performance are all the necessities of a great club, but trust and simplicity could be the biggest factors. The players on all major tours not only trust the club, but more so, they trust Vokey and the man he passes the torch to, Aaron Dill. The "listen first, talk second" approach these guys take when getting a player dialed is essential. Taking that info and building it into a simple-yet-high-performing wedge design without reinventing the wheel is a recipe for success. If you track the progress of any player who turns to free agency, Vokey wedges are in the bag almost immediately. Remember that SIM list of free agents? All of those players have at least one if not all Vokey wedges in play. This week, at the TOUR Championship, there are more than 35 Vokey wedges in play, which represents just over 30% of all wedges in play. They are No. 1 by a rather large margin this week. 3. Bryson DeChambeau’s crazy setup No one took greater advantage of the shutdown than Bryson DeChambeau. His massive muscle gains and 15 mph increase in ball speed was, and continue to be, a hot topic on TOUR. However, like anything, if one variable changes, many things need to shift to accommodate. Bryson’s equipment is no exception. If you look at his specs below, you will see not only a setup with extremely low lofts, but also a set that is befitting a player known for his unique approach. He has two 3-woods (one for long-range and one for accuracy), a 5.5-degree driver, and iron lofts that would make Thor nervous. According to Cobra's TOUR manager, Ben Schomin, there is a very serious strategy in play here, and it’s not all about hitting it past everyone. "I would say the biggest change is making lofts stronger across the board and getting those lofts to coincide with spin and carry distances," Schomin said. "Bryson, like all TOUR players, has a set of goals with his bag." DeChambeau has numbers he needs to hit with each club, the window from which he wants to see the ball leave the clubface, controllable spin and descent angles and the proper feel. "It's the combination of them all that makes the right fit for them," Schomin said. "In this case with Bryson, it's all about dialing in spin with each club. When he feels like his spin is dialed, the distances will be dialed." Take a close look at his current setup: Driver: Cobra SpeedZone 7.5°@5.5 w/ LA Golf VD1 Proto 75x tip 1" (45.5", D3) 3-wood (for distance): Cobra SpeedZone Tour [email protected] w/ LA Golf VD3 Proto 85x tip 2" (43, D5) 3-wood (for normal shots): Cobra SpeedZone Tour 14.5@14 w/ LA Golf VD3 Proto 85x tip 1" (41.5, D5) Irons: Cobra King One Length Utility (4, 5), Cobra King Forged Tour One Length w/ LA Golf Texas Rebar Proto Iron lofts 4-iron: 18° 5-iron: 22° 6-iron: 25° 7-iron: 29° 8-iron: 33° 9-iron: 37° Pitching wedge: 42° Wedges: Artisan Custom (47 degrees, 52 degrees and 58 degrees) w/ LA Golf Texas Rebar Proto Grips: JumboMax Bryson Custom (51 gram) Putter: Sik Prototype w/ LA Golf Proto Putter Shaft Ball: Bridgestone Tour B X 4. Free agency shakeups It wasn’t that long ago that TOUR staffs were packed with multiple players. It was the norm for a manufacturer to have a staff of 20-30 players on the PGA TOUR. As you will see in the coming years, that will become an idea of the past, and if the trend continues, players will have more freedom to play what they want. TaylorMade still has its iconic staff of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Matthew Wolff, and 2020 PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa. More players are going the free-agent route, however This year, Manufacturers started to see the value of TOUR validation that they didn't pay for and players embraced the freedom to play what they choose. A few manufacturers and players parted ways right before the season stopped. Most notably were Justin Rose (Honma), Billy Horschel (PXG), and Sergio Garcia (Callaway), with the latter coming late in 2019. It needs to be said that situations like this happen for multiple reasons, and it's no commentary on the performance of the clubs or the ethics of the player. It just happens. Not all clubs work for all players and vice versa. Yes, sometimes they start with the best intentions and investment and don’t work out. Remember Corey Pavin and PRGR? Nick Price and Atrigon? Payne Stewart and Top Flite? Lee Janzen and Hogan? David Toms and TaylorMade? Free agency is likely going to become more common. Players and club companies are learning some valuable lessons. Players trust their skills and that freedom will make them more money in the long run, and companies are seeing the influence that not paying a player and them still playing their driver can have just as much value as a paid advertisement, especially if that free agent is winning (Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood, etc.).

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LEXINGTON, Kent. – Kramer Hickok has been fortunate enough to become friends with Fred Couples, who is involved with some golf courses developed by one of his sponsors. When he goes to Palm Springs in the winter, the Texan often gets to play golf with the former Masters champion.  And whenever Hickok has questions, Couples is more than happy to share some words of wisdom born of nearly than four decades as a pro. With his rookie season on the PGA TOUR winding down and his playing privileges far from locked up for the 2019-20 season, Hickok acknowledges he’s been pressing. And while he hasn’t called his mentor, he knows just what Couples, the ultimate in a stress-free golfer, would tell him. “He would probably say, ‘Go watch some tape of me,’â€� Hickock said with a chuckle. “His motto and the way he handles himself on the golf course is exactly how I think everyone should handle themselves. “It’s just that calm, cool, relaxed, just enjoying everything that there is about the game of golf. It’s a game; we’re out here having fun. It is our job, but don’t let that get you carried away.â€� So, Hickok channeled his inner Couples on Thursday during the first round of the Barbasol Championship. The result was a 65, was his best score since the first round of the AT&T Byron Nelson back in May and left Hickok tied for fourth, just three strokes off the lead. The solid start is important. Kramer came to Keene Trace Golf Club this week ranked No. 155 in the FedExCup. He needs to be inside the top 125 when the Wyndham Championship is over in three weeks to keep his card, or 150th or better to maintain conditional status. This year, the Texas alum admits, has been a struggle. A winner on the Korn Ferry Tour last year and a two-time champ on the MacKenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada, Hickok simply hasn’t played the kind of golf he knows he can. Instead of focusing on birdies, he’s worried about FedExCup points and making cuts. When he missed the cut at the John Deere Classic last Friday, Hickok knew he needed an attitude adjustment. After all, just a few short years ago, he would have given anything to be playing on the PGA TOUR – and he knows there are plenty of people out there who would trade places with him right now. “You’re going to play your best golf when you are — for me at least — when I’m having fun and playing like I would when I was back home with my buddies,â€� Hickok said. “That’s the mindset that I’m trying to take going forward. Good golf takes care of itself. It takes care of all those things. “… All you’ve got to do is worry about each shot and smile and laugh a little bit, enjoy it. I mean, we’re out here playing golf for a living. It’s  been a dream of mine for so long. I kind of lost sight of that, that I’m out here living my dream, so just go have fun with it.â€� And make no mistake, Thursday was fun. Hickok started on the back nine and opened with a pair of birdies, then bounced back from his lone bogey of the day with another to make the turn in 34. Three more birdies on the front and a 23-foot eagle putt at No. 8 added up to 7-under. “It’s not like my game hasn’t been — I’ve been playing good golf, but I didn’t have the score to show for it,â€� Hickok said. “A little bit of that is, you know, … making a bogey and just maybe just not handling it very well, a little bit upset about it. “Today, (it was) just move on. Just be in the moment and have fun with it and enjoy the process. Just don’t worry about anything. Just go hit it.â€� His buddy Couples would have been proud.

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Tiger Woods was destined to win 14 major championships, his father, Earl, predicted after Tiger won the 1995 U.S. Amateur at Newport Country Club. At first it sounded brash, but by the turn of the century, it seemed conservative. And for more than 10 years after Woods won the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, the echoes of Earl at Newport C.C. seemed eerily prescient. Not anymore. When Woods captured the 2019 Masters Tournament, his 15th major, it changed everything, and Earl’s bold forecast was only the beginning. Here are five foregone conclusions we’ve had to blow up and reconsider as Woods prepares for the 101st PGA Championship at Bethpage Black, where he will play alongside “champion golfer of the year� Francesco Molinari and defending PGA champ Brooks Koepka in the first two rounds – the PGA’s traditional grouping of the last three major winners. 1. Jack Nicklaus’ 18 majors are untouchable Not so fast, although even Woods seemed to buy into this one not long ago. He could barely walk. Couldn’t play with his kids. Four knee surgeries were one thing, but he needed a nerve block just to get through the 2017 Champions Dinner at the Masters. He flew to England that night and was told by specialists he needed spinal fusion surgery, which was performed in Texas. His fourth back operation, suffice it to say, was a charm. “I think 18 is a whole lot closer than people think,� Koepka said after finishing in a three-way tie for second, a shot behind Woods, at Augusta National last month. That’s high praise from Koepka, who this week is aiming for his fourth major title in less than two years.  Added Joe LaCava, Woods’ caddie: “You can’t be on 14 and thinking about 18. But now we can start thinking about 16. So, we’re getting closer.�  When Woods tees it up at Bethpage Black on Thursday, he will be coming off a 31-day break. (He skipped his usual start at the Wells Fargo Championship.) But no matter; he’s been down this road before. This will mark the seventh time in his career that he hasn’t competed between majors, and two of those times, at the 1999 PGA and 2008 U.S. Open, he’s come back and won. He won the first two legs of the calendar-year Grand Slam at Augusta National and Bethpage in 2002. And while he was T6 at the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage, the course was a quagmire and he got the wrong side of the draw. He was the only man in his wave to finish in the top eight. For the U.S. Open next month, the golf world heads to Pebble Beach, where Woods won by 15 in 2000. Then, for The Open Championship, it’s off to Royal Portrush, which he hasn’t played. A 16th major looks pretty attainable from here, and as LaCava reminds, you’ve got to take ’em one at a time. 2. Younger players will form a road block You would think so, anyway. With their lower mileage, the young guys can out-practice him. And they’re really good. Just look at what happened at last year’s PGA at Bellerive, where Koepka (66) held off a hard-charging Woods (64) to win by two. And yet Woods looked pretty young himself as he set the St. Louis fans to crazy mode at the PGA last year. Remember that wild birdie from way left of the ninth fairway? Peak Tiger. He still has all the shots, as he demonstrated not just at Bellerive but also at the TOUR Championship and the Masters. What’s more, when things get tight, he may have a mental edge. He beat a suddenly out-of-sorts Rory McIlroy 2 and 1 in the round of 16 at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. And the unflappable Molinari hit the one shot he couldn’t afford at the Masters, finding Rae’s Creek to double bogey the 12th hole.  Many players don’t even bother to hide their awe at being paired with Woods, while even the most talented ones unwittingly become fans. As Tommy Fleetwood tweeted after Woods won the TOUR Championship, in part: “We’ve just witnessed the greatest comeback of all time! What a time to be alive!!!� Xander Schauffele, who along with Koepka and Dustin Johnson tied for second at the Masters, tempered his disappointment with the fact that he’d had a front-row seat to history. Still others sounded the same refrain. “It’s the greatest comeback in all of sports,� said Trevor Immelman. Said Justin Thomas, “Hope I can do something to stop it.� But even Thomas was understandably thrilled when Woods slipped on his fifth green jacket. Those two, plus Rickie Fowler, had engaged in chipping contests as Woods began to make his way back from fusion at home in South Florida. 3. Woods no longer has the fans to carry him across the finish line Um, no. For one thing, that almost literally happened when the gallery ropes came down on the 72nd hole at the TOUR Championship at East Lake. Tiger circa 2000 was something to behold, and we’ll never see such a frenzy again, but with Woods far more human and relatable than ever, he’s still got our attention and then some. The difference now is the deity gap has closed between him and the rest of us – life happens. Today, not only are the cheers different, he’s allowing himself to really hear them. “Believe, Tiger!� a fan shouted as Woods walked off the 15th tee in the final round of the Masters. “Just believe!� In his prime, Woods could lower the temperature in the room just by walking in the door. He was not warm. But this time, he looked at the woman and nodded. About an hour later, the roster of people who tweeted about his victory – Tom Brady to Serena Williams, Barack Obama to Donald Trump – was so long and varied it would be easier to list the athletes, movie stars and politicians who didn’t bother. East Lake was nuts. St. Louis was crazy. Augusta National put the no-running rule to the test. And Bethpage? Well, it is New York. Expect it to be loud.   “I can’t even imagine,� LaCava told the New York Daily News last week as Woods began to prepare at Bethpage. “I think the atmosphere is going to be off the hook after winning the Masters.� 4. He doesn’t drive it and/or putt well enough anymore OK, we probably should have abandoned this one when Woods didn’t hit a fairway on the front nine and yet still fired that final-round 64 at Bellerive last summer. He’s been hitting it much better than that, and said he felt better with the driver than he had in years at Augusta. What’s more, the rough at Bethpage Black is expected to be down considerably from the stuff that framed the fairways at the ’02 and ’09 U.S. Opens. His driving is not a big concern. Nor is his putting, which under new coach Matt Killen has come a long way from his low point at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship earlier this season.       5. It can’t last We’d seen so many breakdowns and WDs that there was an unspoken assumption after Woods returned that he would slip in a bunker, swing too hard, or hurt himself while tying his shoes. In other words, sure, he was back out there on the PGA TOUR, but for how long? It couldn’t last. But why not? Nicklaus was 46 when he won the ’86 Masters, and Sam Snead, whose record 82 TOUR wins Woods would equal with his next victory, won his eighth Greater Greensboro Open at 52. Nolan Ryan pitched his sixth no-hitter at 43, while a handful of other pitchers – perhaps the athletic endeavor that best combines the physical with the mental like golf – have twirled until around 50. Woods missed the Wells Fargo Championship, which was a disappointment, but on the other hand it showed he’s serious about protecting his most valuable asset: his health. In the words of Tommy Fleetwood, what a time to be alive.

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