‘Excited’ Stricker tied for lead at Champions event

The new Titleist U-500 and U-510 utility irons, which were first spotted by PGATOUR.COM at the Memorial Tournament in May and put it play by a slew of TOUR pros including Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott and Jimmy Walker, officially have a retail release date set. Titleist has also revealed information about the new designs ahead of the release. The two new utility irons from Titleist are designed to expand the arsenal of shots at the top end of the iron set with constructions that “produce more distance than a standard iron and less spin than a hybrid,� according to the company. While the U-500 and U-510 have differing designs for different golfers and purposes, they’re each made with forged SUP-10 L-face inserts and have “extreme amounts� of high-density tungsten, according to Titleist. The multi-material constructions are designed for higher launch and faster ball speeds. The U-500, which Titleist calls a “player’s iron,� has a smaller profile, thinner topline, thinner sole, and less offset than the U-510; Titleist says the U-510 has a more hybrid-like performance. The U-500 irons have 98 grams of Tungsten on average, designed to lower the CG (center of gravity) compared to its previous T-MB irons, thus creating “increased launch with trajectory control,� according to the company, and a higher MOI (moment of inertia) for stability. “U-500 is the incredibly versatile utility iron that tour players have been asking us for,� said Marni Ines, Director of Iron Development, Titleist Golf Club R&D, in a press release. “It shares a similar size and shape to our prior generation T-MB iron, but has been completely reimagined to give players specialized long iron performance. It’s faster, launches higher, lands softer, and feels better through impact.� The U-500 irons are available in 17, 20 and 23 degrees of loft. The larger U-510 irons, on the other hand, have 95 grams of tungsten on average, placed for a lower and deeper CG for maximum launch, and high MOI for forgiveness. Due to the higher launch and greater forgiveness of the U-510, Titleist has a made a 16-degree 1-iron available, in addition to 18-, 20- and 22-degree options. “U-510 is the launch king,� Ines said. “The larger shape and wide sole allowed us to place the tungsten weighting so that the CG is lower and further back than any iron we’ve developed – and what that translates into is a lot of launch angle.� The U-500 and U-510 clubs each come stock with Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 90 graphite shafts at +0.25 inches in length, but they will also be available for custom order at no upcharge. They will sell for $250 each, available in shops worldwide starting on August 30.

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HOW THEY QUALIFIED Winner – PGA/U.S. Open Championship Dustin Johnson Winner – The Players Championship Matt Kuchar Winner – The Masters Bubba Watson Winner – British Open Ernie Els Winner – World Golf Championship Event Shane Lowry Winners of the Arnold Palmer Inv. & the Memorial (Last 3 Years) Matt Every David Lingmerth William McGirt Winner – FedEx Cup – Last Five Seasons Brandt Snedeker Tournament Winner in Past Two Seasons Keegan Bradley  Alex Cejka  Greg Chalmers  Kevin Chappell  Tony Finau  Jim Furyk  Cody Gribble  Adam Hadwin James Hahn  J.J. Henry  Jim Herman  Charley Hoffman  J.B. Holmes  Mackenzie Hughes  Billy Hurley III  Smylie Kaufman  Chris Kirk  Danny Lee  Hunter Mahan  Peter Malnati Ben Martin  Graeme McDowell  Troy Merritt  Scott Piercy  D.A. Points  Cameron Smith  Brian Stuard  Hudson Swafford  Vaughn Taylor Nick Taylor Jhonattan Vegas Career Money Exemption Stewart Cink   Geoff Ogilvy  Carl Pettersson Sponsors Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt Mike Weir  Steve Wheatcroft Sponsors Exemptions – Unrestricted Hugo Bernard  Wyndham Clark  Jared du Toit  Matt Hill Sam Horsfield  Austin James  Curtis Luck  Bryn Parry  Garrett Rank  Andres Romero  Ryan Ruffels  Camilo Villegas Life Member Vijay Singh Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedEx Cup Points List Gary Woodland  Roberto Castro Sean O’Hair  Jason Kokrak Ryan Palmer  Harris English  David Hearn Kyle Reifers  Daniel Summerhays  Ricky Barnes  Chad Campbell  Patrick Rodgers  Harold Varner III Johnson Wagner  Scott Brown  Chez Reavie  Bryce Molder  K.J. Choi  Spencer Levin  John Huh  Sung Kang  Jason Bohn  Tyrone Van Aswegen  Derek Fathauer  Blayne Barber Brett Stegmaier  Robert Garrigus  Zac Blair  Cameron Tringale Andrew Loupe  Boo Weekley  Mark Hubbard  Ben Crane  Michael Kim  Anirban Lahiri  Graham DeLaet  Luke List  Shawn Stefani  Seung-Yul Noh Top 125 on Prior Season’s Official Money List thru Wyndham Ken Duke  Retief Goosen  Chad Collins  Morgan Hoffmann Major Medical Extension Nick Watney  Ian Poulter  Brian Gay  Patrick Cantlay  Bob Estes  Ryo Ishikawa  Charlie Beljan Leading Money Winner from Web.com Tour & Web.com Tour Finals Grayson Murray Top Finishers from Web.com Tour Prior Season (reordered) Kelly Kraft  Kevin Tway  Ollie Schniederjans  Whee Kim  Cheng Tsung Pan  J.J. Spaun Dominic Bozzelli  Ryan Blaum Scott Stallings  Trey Mullinax J.T. Poston  Brandon Hagy  Cameron Percy  Seamus Power  Sebastian Munoz  Jonathan Randolph  Rick Lamb  Martin Flores  Rory Sabbatini  Richy Werenski Julian Etulain  Tim Wilkinson  Ryan Brehm  Andres Gonzales  Brian Campbell  Joel Dahmen  Will MacKenzie  Tag Ridings  Gonzalo Fdez-Castano  Mark Anderson  Nicholas Lindheim  Steven Alker  Ryan Armour  Brett Drewitt  Miguel Angel Carballo  Brad Fritsch  Bobby Wyatt

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NORTON, Mass. – For the past three or four nights, nearly two dozen people, give or take a few, have taken refuge from Hurricane Harvey in Chris Stroud’s Texas home. He lives on high ground in Spring, which is about 20 miles north of Houston, among the areas hit hardest by the freakish, furious storm. Friends have fled suburbs to come to Stroud’s house, which he says is “built like a fortressâ€� and mercifully has stayed dry despite being pounded by more than 50 inches of rain. Neighbors without power have come knocking, as well. “The kids have been getting along well,â€� Stroud says. “A couple of guys have been cooking. That’s usually my job. I like to cook a lot. “But I’ve got a big wine cellar and (we’re) trying to ease the pain a little bit.â€� Stroud is doing more than letting his displaced friends camp out at his home, though. He has pledged $10,000 and 10 percent of his winnings this week at the Dell Technologies Championship to the relief effort and hopes others follow suit. Stroud was inspired by Houston Texan defensive end J.J. Watt, who started a fund-raising campaign on youcaring.com earlier this week that has taken off like a rocket. As of Wednesday afternoon, more than $6.7 million had been pledged through the page that Watt set up. “So I saw that yesterday that he was raising money, and I thought, that’s exactly what I’m going to do,â€� says Stroud, who also wants to organize a charity pro-am. “So I called the TOUR and I said, ‘What can I do?’ … And I said, ‘How do I do this? Who do we use?’â€� The TOUR, which has more than 30 members who live in the Houston area, responded with a $250,000 donation to the Red Cross. Fans can also make donations at (add link) as well as at kiosks on site this week at TPC Boston. Still, the stories of sadness and struggle are everywhere – and some hit very close to home. Patrick Reed, who also lives in Spring, says the Weather Channel has replaced the baseball games and other sports he normally watches on TV. He took out his phone Wednesday afternoon beside the putting green at TPC Boston and showed a sportswriter a photo of his back yard at 7 p.m. at night – and another, taken 11 hours later after Harvey started to punish the area. “(We live) 200 yards from Spring Creek and it’s 92 feet below our property line,â€� Reed says. “I got a call from my buddy, frantic, and this (photo) was at 6 p.m. the next morning. The whole thing’s under water. “This is a basketball goal that is 6 feet and the water was already over it,â€� Reed continued, pointing at the picture, which shows the outline of a pool under the muddy water. “It came up so fast, it was scary and I know a lot of people got trapped.â€� Luckily for Reed, the water, which spread across his 4-acre property, stopped just shy of the front door of his house and has steadily receded. His in-laws rode out the storm there, along with his daughter, Windsor Wells, her nanny and the director of his charitable foundation. “They barricaded everything and it got six inches short of the house and it receded,â€� Reed says. “… The worst is done. The sun was out yesterday afternoon. So hopefully, the water just keeps receding. It’s tragic what happened in Houston. For that storm just to sit over us like that and to watch how many people got affected, it’s going to be hard to bounce back but Houston will be able to do it.â€� Jhonattan Vegas has lived in Houston off and on since 2002 when he moved to the United States from Venezuela to follow his dream of playing on the PGA TOUR. His wife and their 17-month-old daughter were in Houston when Harvey hit while Vegas was preparing for the Dell Technologies Championship and playing a Presidents Cup practice round at Liberty National. “(They) haven’t been able to leave the house for five days,â€� Vegas says. “We were lucky enough that around our area nothing flooded but all the rain coming down, all the lightning, a tornado hit not far from my house. So, it’s always tough, sleeping well or doing anything around here when you’re dealing with Mother Nature that way.â€� Stroud says Dawie van der Walt, who was on the PGA TOUR last year and currently plays the Web.com Tour, has 4 feet of water in his Kingwood, Texas home. “His house is completely devastated,â€� Stroud said. “He texted me some pictures yesterday. It’s really sad.â€� Shawn Stefani, who lives in Baytown, which is southeast of Houston, barely beat the worst of Harvey’s fury as he headed to Ohio to play in the Web.com Tour Championship. “On the way up to Dallas, he passed a 200-truck convoy of what they call the Cajun Navy,â€� Stroud says. “I’m sure you’ve heard of this. It’s guys from Louisiana bringing their boats, their jacked-up trucks to help. And he said there was a subdivision probably 500 or 600 homes under four feet of water, and all these trucks were in line to back up their boats and go save people.â€� Stroud has a similar truck that he estimates extends about 4 feet into the air and can drive through 5 feet of water. So his buddies made good use of it, driving around the neighborhood to rescue people and pets. Stroud originally was supposed to make a quick trip home to Texas on Sunday. When he missed the cut at THE NORTHERN TRUST, he considered trying to get a jump on Harvey, which ended up sitting over southeast Texas for five days and dumping several trillion gallons on rain on the area. “I talked to my wife, my family, my friends, and the thing they were concerned about, if I did get back home, how could I get back out.â€� Stroud says. “And it was tough. My heart goes out to all the people there. Obviously I was extremely worried about my family being at home.â€� His wife considered taking the couple’s two daughters and going to their house at a lake about two hours north of Spring. Stroud didn’t know how to advise her from afar, but some of his buddies, one of whom is a retired Navy SEAL, stepped in and helped make the decision to stay. “I think it was Sunday night where it really got scary,â€� Stroud says. “There was lightning, flood, tornado threats. There was a tornado that hit in my neighborhood, north Houston, and just scary. And the power was going in and out. … I couldn’t get to them. I couldn’t call them — and the landline’s down. “So it was scary for me to just sit here. My heart is somewhere else and I’m supposed to be getting prepared for golf. It’s just, you know, it makes you realize what’s most important in your life is your family and friends.â€� One of those friends, former TOUR player Kelly Gibson, has reached out to Stroud several times in the last week. He’s from New Orleans and weathered Hurricane Katrina, even helping to serve food to first responders during the devastating hurricane, and watched as his beloved city resurrected itself. Stroud, who picked up his first TOUR victory last month at the Barracuda Championship, said Gibson’s most recent text was “humongous,â€� estimating that it clocked in at 70 lines. Among other things, he wanted to give Stroud advice on how to compartmentalize. “When you’re on the golf course, focus on the golf and when you’re off the golf course, focus on what you can do to keep your family everything and safe,â€� Stroud recalls Gibson writing. “The things that I did read on the text last night that I haven’t finished was it’s going to take months and years for this rebuild of Houston, and he said, just, you know, just be prepared for that. Be prepared for the process of what it takes to rebuild a city. “It’s really, really sad.â€�

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