Emergency 9: Fantasy golf advice from Round 1 of the WGC-Mexico Chammpionship

Tiger Woods had already won twice on the PGA TOUR going into 1997, and he did so again at the season-opening Mercedes Championship in La Costa, California, beating the reigning Player of the Year and Open Championship winner, Tom Lehman, in a playoff to win the event now known as the Sentry Tournament of Champions. There were no more victories leading up to the Masters – at least not official ones. As if to forecast what was about to occur, Woods shot a course-record 59 while playing with TOUR veteran Mark O’Meara at Isleworth on the Friday prior to heading to Augusta. He shot 32–27 from the back tees, which then played to 7,179 yards and a USGA slope rating of 74.4. Basically, that means the course ranked among the toughest in Florida. The next day, they played again, with money on the line: $10 automatic 1-downs, meaning any time a player fell behind by a hole, a new $10 bet started from that point until the end of the nine holes. Starting on the 10th hole, Woods birdied to immediately go 1-up, meaning a new $10 bet was triggered. At the 11th hole, a par-3, Woods had the honors and hit first. “I haven’t even gotten out of my cart, but he hits it and it’s going right at (the flag),” O’Meara recalled. “It one-hops and goes into the hole for a hole in one.” Before even attempting his own tee shot, O’Meara quit. “I put $100 on his cart and said, ‘I’ll see you on the range.’” O’Meara chuckled. “You’re 16-under par for 20 holes. I quit. I’m outta here.” We didn’t know it at the time, but Thursday, April 10, 1997, was the true beginning of what would become the legend known as Tiger Woods. Yes, he’d produced all those amateur exploits. He’d already won three times as a pro. He’d just turned 21 a few months prior. But the opening round of the Masters was also the start of something special. Per tradition, the defending champion, Nick Faldo, was paired with Woods, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion. The six-time major winner Faldo was coming off a victory at Riviera in Los Angeles. Despite having never played in a major championship as a pro, Woods was installed as an 8–1 cofavorite with Faldo and Greg Norman—the tough-luck loser to Faldo a year prior. It was not a smooth start, however, for Tiger. He appeared nervous on the first tee and hit an opening drive to prove it, launching it well wide of the fairway and making bogey. He added three more on the first nine, including the par-5 eighth and again at the ninth to take 40 strokes and stand at 4 over through nine holes. But Woods gathered himself—he said he tried to return to the feelings of a week earlier when shooting 59 at his home course in Florida— and blistered the second nine with four birdies and an eagle. His 6-under-par 30 gave him a round of 70, just three strokes back of first-round leader John Huston (who holed out for an eagle at the 18th, eliciting the Augusta Chronicle headline: “Huston, The Eagle Has Landed”). Faldo shot 75. “He came in with such major attention,” Faldo said. “And he used it in his favor. No player before walked to the first tee with eight policemen around him. Suddenly Tiger decided he needed security. He had a whole different aura. An aura around him where everybody watched him and listened. And everybody wanted a piece of it. Yes, it was amazing. “He went out in 40 and back in 30,” Faldo continued, “and then we didn’t see him for the next 14 years. He left us in the dust. It was a special day.” The azaleas and the dogwoods had no chance. Augusta National was on fire. Paul Azinger played with Woods on Friday, and Woods shot 66 to take the lead. Azinger was just as impressed as Faldo, and says of Woods today, “He’s less afraid of failure than anybody I’ve ever seen.” Even so, a third highly accomplished pro remained unmoved by the emerging phenomenon that was Woods as players looked forward to the weekend. Colin Montgomerie had shot 67 to get into the last group on Saturday. He was three strokes back, but Monty was an accomplished veteran in the midst of winning the European Tour’s Order of Merit (money title) seven straight years (through 1999). He’d contended in majors. “There’s more to it than hitting the ball a long way,” Montgomerie said, anticipating his round with Woods. “And the pressure’s mounting more and more. I’ve got more experience, a lot more experience, in major championships than he has. And hopefully I can prove that.” Nope. The next day, Woods played a near-flawless third round with seven birdies and no bogeys for a 7-under-par 65 while Montgomerie made three front-nine bogeys on his way to a 74. He dropped 12 shots back into a tie for sixth while Woods led the tournament by nine. It was a remarkable display from a 21-year-old playing in his first major as a pro. Woods missed a single fairway and just one green — at the par-4 third, where he saved par with a 10-footer. “I’m probably the reason he did what he did,” Montgomerie said years later. “I played with Tiger on that famous day on the Saturday. I witnessed something very special that day. I thought I would beat him. I was wrong. And everyone else was wrong as well. But I admitted it. “I’d just witnessed something very special,” Montgomerie continued. “I thought I shot a very solid 74 until I lost to him by nine shots. I witnessed something that nobody else had seen.” The Scotsman surprised the writers in Augusta National’s media center early Saturday evening by showing up to talk. Nobody requested him; nobody in their right minds ever thought he would want to talk after the beatdown that had just occurred. But not only did Monty take a seat in front of the scribblers, he also wowed them with his praise of Woods. If there was any doubt about the outcome the next day, with Woods leading Costantino Rocca by nine strokes, Montgomerie did his best to dispel it. “We’re all human beings here,” he said. “But there is no chance humanly possible that Tiger Woods is going to lose this tournament.” Reminded that Norman lost a six-shot lead a year earlier, Montgomerie said, “This is different; this is very different. Faldo’s not lying second, for starts. And Greg Norman’s not Tiger Woods.” Woods put to rest any doubts about squandering the lead with two birdies and two bogeys over the first nine. Rocca never got closer than eight strokes. At that point, all that was left was the 72-hole scoring record, which Woods set by shooting 3 under on the second nine—and converting a tricky par putt at the 18th—to finish 12 strokes ahead of Tom Kite. It was a coronation amid the towering pines. Woods, a man of color, took his place among the game’s greats at an event that did not invite its first Black player until the year he was born. That man, Lee Elder, was at Augusta. He had flown from Florida to Atlanta that morning and was driving—too fast—to Augusta when he saw the red flashing lights in his rearview mirror. As the officer, who Elder noted was also Black, began writing out a ticket, Elder made his case. “I gave him the whole story,” Elder said. “‘There’s history about to be made in your state. Tiger Woods is about to win the Masters. I’m just trying to get there before he tees off.’ “He just kept writing and writing,” Elder continued. “When he got through, he gave me the ticket and said I either had to sign it or follow him to the precinct.” And then there was the final kicker. “He told me, ‘I don’t know who Tiger Woods is, and I don’t like golf,’” Elder said. Few would not know the name Tiger Woods again after this day. Black workers at the club snuck a peek at him on the first tee and stood on the balcony of the old manor clubhouse, cheering him as he putted out on the 18th while his record-setting performance was witnessed, in part, by some 44 million television viewers during the final round. Those who played with him could only wonder. At the time, they weren’t contemplating the social ramifications of his play; they were simply marveling at what was on display. Woods set the tournament scoring mark of 270, 18 under par, and became the youngest player to win the title. His 12-shot victory was the largest in any major championship going back to the 1862 Open at Prestwick. There, Tom Morris Sr. won by 13 shots—in a field that saw just eight players and on a 12-hole layout that was played three times—at a time when Abraham Lincoln was the U.S. president and golf had yet to be established in the United States. Woods later set a new standard when he won the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by 15 strokes. “It’s always a pleasure to speak about him,” Rocca said from his home in Italy years later. “He has done so much for golf. It wasn’t surprising. I had played with him when he was an amateur at the U.S. Open (the year prior at Oakland Hills). I saw the potential he had.” After his victory, Woods greeted Earl and Tida behind the 18th green. The hug with his dad aired a million or more times over the years and played repeatedly for comparison when Woods won the Masters for the fifth time in 2019 and hugged his son, Charlie, behind the same 18th green. Before he could get comfortable in his first green jacket, Woods took a call from President Bill Clinton, and later described it as if it were a chat with one of his buddies. “He just said he was proud of the way I played,” Woods said. “He also said, what meant a lot, the best shot he saw all week was the shot of me hugging my dad.” Phil Mickelson was long gone, having missed the cut. (Mickelson didn’t miss another Masters cut until 2014.) Jim “Bones” Mackay, his then-caddie, watched the Woods coronation on TV. “I couldn’t believe a kid his age could consistently back off shots because of wind changes and be as composed,” Mackay said. “His golf I.Q. was incredible. I remember thinking, look at this guy; he’s backing off shots; he’s waiting on his wind, which is the key to playing well at Augusta, in my opinion. We all knew about the swing and the putting stroke. But at that point, I’m realizing how smart he is on the course and how composed. That kind of blew me away.” All in the game felt the same way. Even though the final round was a foregone conclusion well before Woods even got to the course, it was riveting. Nobody could take their eyes off the proceedings. And it sparked even more interest in Woods and what he would do next. Nobody knew what was coming, but they certainly would be glued to their televisions, as golf ratings soared whenever Woods played. A commitment to a tournament meant sent organizers scrambling to add concession facilities, parking places, grandstands, hospitality options, and security. It was wild. And it virtually never subsided, no matter when and where Woods played.

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Throughout the 2021-22 PGA TOUR season, GolfWRX.com has been hard at work on the Equipment Report, keeping PGATOUR.com readers informed on the latest equipment releases, player staff deals, “What’s in the Bag?” (WITB) changes, custom Tour designs, and the stories behind them all. Last week on the Equipment Report, we released the first part of our top 10 equipment stories of the season, which included five stories: 1) John Daly’s wild WITB, 2) Tiger Woods’ “Tiger Slam” irons go to auction, 3) Tony Finau’s heart-warming golf ball markings, 4) Celebrity golf clubs at Pebble Beach, and 5) Tom Hoge’s custom winning putter. This week, we’re highlighting five more stories to fill out the top 10. Enjoy the look back, and we’ll see you next week at the 2022 Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort & Spa in Napa for more equipment coverage. Tiger Woods makes big equipment changes in 2022 Woods teed it up just three times on TOUR, including the Masters, the PGA Championship and The Open Championship. In every appearance he made, however, Woods made headlines in the equipment world. At the Masters, Woods showed up with essentially the same club setup he used when playing in the 2021 PNC Championship, but he shocked the world with a change to his footwear. For decades, Woods has been the face of Nike Golf shoes, but due to his prior injuries and surgical repair, he wore FootJoys at the Masters instead. He explained the surprising switch-up in a press conference: “I have very limited mobility now,” he said. “Just with the rods and plates and screws that are in my leg, I needed something different, something that allowed me to be more stable. That’s what I’ve gone to. Nike’s been fantastic over the years of providing me with equipment … and … we’ve been working on trying to find something to allow me to do this and swing again. We’re still going to continue doing it, and hopefully we’ll have something soon.” At the PGA, Woods arrived with new irons and wedges in the bag. He started Thursday using two new TaylorMade P770 driving irons (2 and 3), each with True Temper’s new Dynamic Gold MID Tour Issue X100 shafts. The MID shaft was launched in 2022 and is designed for slightly higher spin and launch angles compared to the True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts he uses in his TaylorMade P-7TW irons (4-PW). During rounds two and three at Southern Hills, though, Woods played with just one of the P770 driving irons, opting to put his usual TaylorMade M3 5-wood back in the bag. He was also using two new TaylorMade MG3 Raw wedges (56 and 60 degrees), which were newer models compared to the MG2 wedges he used at the Masters. Then, at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews, Woods made four changes to his bag setup: 1) He changed into a Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X shaft in his TaylorMade Stealth Plus 9-degree driver. 2) He switched into a True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft in his TaylorMade P770 3-iron. 3) He continued using an MG3 Raw 60-degree wedge, but switched back into an MG2 56-degree wedge. 4) He added lead tape to the back cavity of his Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS putter. Check out Woods’ full WITB from the last time we saw him in action at the Open Championship at St. Andrews: Driver: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X 3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Titanium (15 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70T X 5-wood: TaylorMade M3 (19 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3-iron), TaylorMade P-7TW (4-PW) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 Wedges: TaylorMade MG2 (56 degrees), TaylorMade MG3 Raw (60 degrees) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS prototype Ball: 2022 Bridgestone Tour B XS Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord J.R. Smith’s show stopping purple Bettinardi putter After retiring from the NBA, basketball star J.R. Smith enrolled at North Carolina A&T and joined the school’s golf team. In August, Smith played in the BMW Championship Pro-Am, and he dropped jaws with his custom purple Bettinardi Inovai 6.0 putter with star engravings on the face, and a wild hosel construction. “I’ve been fortunate to be in a situation where people want to help me, and help my golf game get better,” Smith said. “So it worked out. One of my boys who took me (to Bettinardi), he had a purple (putter). Then it was like, alright, I gotta outdo him, or we gotta match a little bit. So we both went with the purple.” Speaking with Tom Sopic from Bettinardi’s Hive Team, GolfWRX learned that Smith visited the company’s custom fitting studio in Tinley Park, Illinois to get dialed into his 38-inch putter. “He’s obsessed with the game of golf, and it has become a major passion in his life,” Sopic said. “He hit seven putts in a row on Quintic (a putting analysis system) that had perfect numbers in all categories right after he got his new putter. The iconic Stinger Bees on the sole are a staple within the Bettinardi brand, and a major symbol of The Hive. “His putter is a one-of-one, with a star-engraved 1.5-degree face piece, fitting for the superstar that is J.R. Smith.” Read the full story here Justin Thomas puts (another) 1-of-1 Scotty Cameron putter in play Thomas won the PGA Championship in May with a custom Scotty Cameron T5 prototype with a “knuckle neck,” but he put an all-new Scotty Cameron T5 prototype in play at the BMW Championship last month. Aside from the obvious aesthetic customizations – which include his personal “JT” logo – the new putter was built a half-inch shorter than his previous putter to let his arms hang more naturally. “For me, a tendency I have with my putting is to get a little bit this way (left shoulder up) and open,” Thomas said. “I’ve … been playing a lot of golf with Patrick Cantlay. He obviously has very long arms and his putter is very short. (I was noticing) just how naturally his arms go on the club, and I felt like that wasn’t the case for me … and I think that has something to do with my bad tendencies. “If I can be a little bit more comfortable at setup, then that’s obviously one less factor I have to worry about.” Unbeknownst to the public, the new “JT” putter had been in the works since February. Click the link here to read the full story Solving the mystery behind Adam Scott’s custom irons On Tuesday at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, Adam Scott showed up to Muirfield Village Golf Club with a completely new set of blade irons, which mysteriously had only his logo on the back. “What are those?” we wondered. As it turned out, Scott, an equipment free agent, requested custom-made irons from multiple manufacturers, and Miura sent him these one-of-one blades made specifically for his exacting preferences. The box of new irons from Miura showed up at Muirfield on Monday, and Scott put them into play Thursday. Speaking with GolfWRX prior to the event, he explained what he liked about the irons: “Really it’s the sole design that’s the difference,” Scott said. “It’s just a little less bounce. They’re a little flatter and wider on the sole. My eye for a blade is very different than most of the stock blades that are being made by the companies today. I grew up with offset, which is almost a thing of the past. Even in larger headed irons these days, there’s little offset out here. But I like it, and it’s hard to find. Titleist made me an amazing set of 681.AS irons that had the offset and were pretty much like the clubs I was using (the Titleist 680 Forged). And this set was made with the idea of less bounce than those.” Scott, who played his way into the BMW Championship and then the TOUR Championship, has had them in the bag since the Memorial, and he spoke further on the irons at the 2022 U.S. Open with @GolfWRX on TikTok. Read the full story here Scottie Scheffler signs with TaylorMade, dumps his longtime Nike fairway wood Scheffler had an unbelievably hot start to the year, winning two PGA TOUR events before March (2022 WM Phoenix Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational). At the time, Scheffler was an equipment free agent, so he could play any clubs he wanted. The week of THE PLAYERS Championship, however, Scheffler announced that he signed an equipment deal with TaylorMade. While the timing seemed odd, Scheffler justified the decision by notching two more wins at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and The Masters Tournament. He explained the TaylorMade decision to GolfWRX’s Two Guys Talking Golf podcast following his Masters victory: “I would say first and foremost [the reason] would be the driver,” Scheffler said. “I already used the (TaylorMade P-7TW) irons for a while. I like the irons. But the (TaylorMade Stealth Plus) driver, when we did testing over the winter, I saw some pretty nice gains. It was one of those things, like, I know I’m going to use this driver, I know I’m going to use the irons, so maybe let’s see if we can work something out. Just because having consistency with their brand, obviously I trust what they do. To be part of the family and be part of the team was pretty cool for me, and so we wanted to work something out with them, and we were able to get it done. I’m happy to be part of the team.” Scheffler made a noteworthy fairway wood switch before the Masters, too. Prior to signing with TaylorMade, he’d been using a Nike VR Pro Limited 13-degree fairway wood for years, but he switched into a new TaylorMade Stealth HL 16.5-degree. “One of the things I’ve struggled with was actually hitting 3-woods too far, and also just not seeing all my shots,” Scheffler told GolfWRX. “These guys did something to the (Fujikura Ventus) shaft, honestly I can’t even remember what they did, but it was something with the tipping. They may have tipped it a couple extra inches and moved some weight around the head, and then started with a higher loft and bent it down…and it was a pretty seamless transition. I saw the shots I wanted to see. My mishits were more accurate with the TaylorMade than they were than my Nike.” We spoke to Scheffler in-depth about his equipment, and what it was like to have a green jacket for the first time. Check out that full story here

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