Fantasy golf: One & Done, Barracuda Championship

We patrolled the Copperhead Course prior to this week’s Valspar Championship to see what the pros have in their bags for one of the toughest tracks on the PGA TOUR. We spotted no shortage of creative attempts to improve putting, plenty of testing, and a combo set that should be an inspiration to all amateurs. Putting mats are where it’s at Putting mats are quickly picking up steam on TOUR. Players used to use shafts or alignment rods to work on their setup and the path of their stroke. These mats are a simpler way to accomplish the same objective. The mats can be quickly and easily set up and they are lightweight and compact. Let this be a lesson for every golfer out there that even the best golfers in the world work on putting fundamentals week-in and week-out. DJ is sticking with the TaylorMade Brandon 1 Dustin Johnson looks to be sticking with a new TaylorMade Brandon 1 prototype putter built with an LA Golf graphite putter shaft. He initially put this club in play for the final round of the RBC Heritage. “I really like it. It’s got a different shaft in it and a different head, but rolled good, so we’re going to keep it up,” Johnson said after shooting a Sunday 66 at Harbour Town. He gained more than three strokes on the greens that day, shooting his best score since the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January. This is the same prototype putter Tommy Fleetwood put into play a couple of weeks ago too (image below via TaylorMade). Nobody is going to confuse clubs with Patrick Reed One of the great benefits of having your own signature iron set is that no one is going to mistake their bag for yours. That’s certainly the case for Patrick Reed, who has his own signature set of blades from Japanese manufacturer Grindworks. Adam Hadwin like to supersize his combos Adam Hadwin isn’t really known as being a big gearhead in the traditional sense, but his approach to building his combo iron set is something a lot of golfers can learn from. Hadwin’s Callaway iron set consists of three different models, which include the Apex MB (blade), Apex TCB, and an older model Apex UT. This is a perfect example of using the right tools to fine-tune a bag and achieve proper distance gapping. Ian Poulter is testing drivers Titleist staffer Ian Poulter was spotted with two TSi series drivers in the bag on Tuesday of the Valspar Championship, and although we don’t know the exact reason for testing, it could be that he is trying to pick up a bit more distance off the tee by using a longer shaft. Ian currently ranks 27th on TOUR in driving accuracy but is well back in distance and outside the top 200. A few extra yards could go a long way for the Ryder Cup stalward.

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Rory McIlroy, who led after one round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after a 7-under 65 on Thursday, recently put a new 3-iron in his bag at The Genesis Invitational at Riviera, and it’s in his bag at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. McIlroy said it gives him more “flight.” “It’s the (TaylorMade P790) head; I have the blades in everything else,” he said after his round. “It just gives me a bit more flight; I hit it up in the air. I can hit it up in the air, and it’s just easier to hit. “If I flush my blade with my 3-iron, it should go about 245-247 (yards), but if I miss it, it goes the same distance as my 4-iron. Whereas, if I miss this 3-iron it doesn’t go quite as short.” Long-iron play can be especially important at Bay Hill, which has seen more approach shots from 200-plus yards than any course on TOUR since 2016, according to Justin Ray of Twenty First Group. That’s due in large part to the course’s long par-3s and reachable par-5s. Last year’s Bay Hill champion, Bryson DeChambeau, led the PGA TOUR in average proximity from 200-plus yards last season. Like DeChambeau, McIlroy is known for his ability to hit the ball sky high. Entering this week, McIlroy had an average proximity of 43 feet, 6 inches on approaches greater than 200 yards. That would rank him ninth on TOUR if he’d played enough rounds to be included in this season’s statistical rankings. His average proximity from 225-250 yards (38’, 2”) would rank sixth. According to TaylorMade, the P790 has a forged hollow-body construction that uses newly-engineered SpeedFoam Air, which is 69% lighter than its predecessor, inside the head. That helped TaylorMade to create a thinner face for increased ball speeds and move the center of gravity lower for increased forgiveness and higher ball flights. Thirty-one grams of tungsten in the toe creates more stability and forgiveness. The irons are also more forgiving on strikes low on the face because of a Thru-Slot Speed Pocket. McIlroy at first tried a steel shaft in the new 3-iron, like he had in the previous one, but transitioned into a Fujikura Ventus Black shaft, which he also has in his woods. Did he have any challenges in matching it up? “Graphite nowadays is so much stronger than steel,” he said. “I tried a steel shaft before, and the thing just kept going left. It just wasn’t strong enough at the bottom. So then we tried this Ventus, and they’re very tip-stiff anyway. Yeah, it straightened the ball flight out.” Armed with a new club that only exacerbates one of McIlroy’s advantages, he finished T10 at The Genesis Invitational and now is in the lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, which he won in 2018.

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