Fantasy Insider: The American Express

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – If Tiger Woods breaks through to finally win at Riviera Country Club, he might owe a small part of it to Phil Mickelson. For decades on the PGA TOUR, Woods and Mickelson have driven each other to great heights. Call it a rivalry or don’t – but the fact is Woods loves to beat his fellow Californian and Mickelson wants nothing more than to beat Woods. And having Mickelson win last week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am might be the extra boost Woods needs at the venue he made his PGA TOUR debut as a 16-year-old but has yet to tame. Woods hosts the Genesis Open these days, but it is Mickelson who has two titles here. In fact, Woods was part of an announcement Wednesday that will see the event become elevated in status from next season on, becoming his own invitational much like the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and Jack Nicklaus’ the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Despite seven top-20 results, three of them top 10s, Woods has never won at Riviera Country Club. He’d love to rectify that before his place in the field becomes less competitive and more ceremonial. “It is certainly a love-hate relationship (with Riviera),â€� Woods said. “I love playing this golf course. I always have, I enjoyed playing up here when I was young with my dad. For some reason I’ve only played well here one time in the tournament. “It’s just one of those courses that you have to hit the golf ball well. There’s no faking it around this golf course, especially if the greens are up to speed like they are right now. It puts such a premium on putting the golf ball in play and hitting the ball high. “You’ve got to hit the ball high into any of these greens and really control your spin and put the ball in the right spots because getting up and down here, as we’ve all seen, kikuyu grass is not easy to do. It’s sticky, catches a lot, and now with it wet, some of the bump and runs are actually skipping so that makes an added little challenge.â€� Woods feels up to that challenge. And Mickelson’s win last week lights the fire again. “It has always pushed me,â€� Woods admitted of Phil’s success. “Each win by the other person always motivated the other. “My entire career, Phil will probably attest to this, we’ve always looked at the board to figure out where one another’s at. So we’ve always had that type of enjoyment of competing against one another. “And to see what he did last year in Mexico at 47 years old gave me confidence that I could somehow do it last year, and I was able to finally end my season with a win.â€� Woods has 80 PGA TOUR wins in his glittering career, just two short of Sam Snead’s record. In that context Mickelson’s 44 wins can sometimes lose some luster… but it shouldn’t. Consider the fact Mickelson won his events inside the time of Tiger’s dominance and sits ninth on the all-time win list (He had nine wins before Woods won his first, having started on TOUR four years earlier). The now 48-year-old’s win last week moves him just one behind Walter Hagen (45) with just Billy Casper (51), Byron Nelson (52), Arnold Palmer (62), Ben Hogan (64), Jack Nicklaus (73), Woods (80) and Snead (82) above him. As the youth brigade continues to excite the PGA TOUR, these old guys are proof you don’t have to fade away post 40. Woods proved he still has what it takes when winning the TOUR Championship last year. “It just shows how incredible they are. In their 40s and they’re still winning, and you’ve got a bunch of 20-year-olds out here that are now winning events. It just shows their golf games have stood the test of time,â€� five-time winner Bryson DeChambeau says. “Because of that, I have an incredible amount of respect for both of them, a level that I can’t even express through words.â€� After his second title inside 12 months, Mickelson revealed the reasons why he believed he was able to capture success again. While generally always competitive, the veteran had failed to win after his 2013 Open Championship triumph until February last year. Most figured his time might be up, but Mickelson rededicated himself to hard work in specific areas. “Historically guys when they get in their 40s two things decline, their putting and their swing speed,â€� Mickelson said after his win. “My putting has increased in the last three years and the best it’s been in my 25-, 28-year career, and my swing speed is as fast as it’s ever been.â€� Mickelson ranked ninth in Strokes Gained: Putting in the 2015-16 season and was 13th last season. Two years ago, he ranked 91st in clubhead speed at 114.24 mph. Last year, he was 54th in 116.49. He arrives at Riviera ranked 17th at 120.92. “For him to… trust me, I recognize this, it’s not easy to pick up clubhead speed, which he has done, as he’s gotten older. That’s been extraordinary. That’s what’s allowed him to stay out here with some of these longer guys, he’s been able to hit the ball further,â€� Woods marveled. Mickelson said it was the benefit of nine months of hard work with biometric swing studies and time in the gym. Woods is a marvel himself, coming back from back fusion surgery to average 120.24 mph swing speed last season (ranked 17th). If he can also remain healthy then we can all be optimistic of highlight reels being filled for some time to come. And while the pair is certainly on the back nine of their careers, here’s hoping we can get a few old-fashioned duels before it’s over. There’s no better time to start than this week.

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Hideki Matsuyama is never complacent, especially when it comes to equipment. The defending Masters champion is constantly testing and tweaking his gear to find the perfect fit for his game. As a Cleveland/Srixon staffer, Matsuyama works closely with the company’s fitters, builders and designers to refine head shapes, dial in launch parameters, and get the right setup. “Hideki is always looking for a way to be better, even after winning the Masters,” a Srixon representative told GolfWRX. “There is a purpose for the processes, such as finding a solution for a current issue or preparing for an upcoming major tournament. Hideki is not afraid to change his specs, even if they have been successful for him. There is always room for growth.” MORE THE MERRIER Matsuyama’s passion for experimentation is illustrated by the fact that he regularly has 20-plus clubs in his bag during practice days, exceeding the 14 he’s limited to in competition. Aside from making the bag very heavy during practice rounds, the extra clubs and shaft options make it easy for Matsuyama to test equipment every week. When GolfWRX took photos of Matsuyama’s clubs at this year’s Farmers Insurance Open, he had 20 clubs in his bag, including extra wedges and shafts. SWITCH IT UP Matsuyama also had two different Srixon ZX7 drivers in the bag at the Farmers. If you look closely near the hosel of the driver pictured on the left below, you can see that it has different labeling than the other version; this likely means the driver has different loft or internal weighting for slightly different launch and spin than the driver pictured on the right. Matsuyama isn’t afraid to make changes, even if a club helped him win a major. He’s using a Srixon ZX7 driver this week after winning last year’s Masters with a ZX5. The ZX5 may create a bit more ball speed, but the ZX7 is slightly more forgiving and thus provides more accuracy, according to Srixon. A NOTCH ABOVE Matsuyama is one of the top iron players on TOUR. His average ranking in Strokes Gained: Approach over his eight seasons is 6.6. One interesting characteristic of his Srixon Z-Forged irons are the small notches on the heel and toe sections of the sole. Back in 2021, Srixon told GolfWRX that Matsuyama is a strong believer in the benefits of these notches. “Hideki is one of the leaders in developing the toe and heel notches,” Srixon said. “He strongly believes the toe and heel notch creates a more consistent, smooth turf interaction. Hideki has always had these notches in his irons, and he was a huge part of bringing the notches back in the ZX line.” EYE TEST Matsuyama also is very particular about offset, which is the space between the leading edge on the face of the iron and the hosel. More offset gives players more time to square the club because the clubface is behind the hosel. The clubs for your everyday player have more offset than those used by TOUR players. “With regards to offset, Hideki prefers some offset over zero offset in his irons,” Srixon told GolfWRX. “He has the most specific eye, and he loves to tinker and test all products. The key areas for Hideki when it comes to irons are the general hosel shape and taper consistency, the blend between the face flat and hosel, and most importantly the smooth transitions from the hosel into the leading edge – there needs to be offset as he wants the transition to be smooth and almost straight.” GRIND TIME When it comes to his wedges, Matsuyama is especially discerning about the sole grinds and how they match up with specific course conditions. “Hideki doesn’t change his 52-degree sole often, but he is constantly tinkering with his 56 and 60,” Srixon told GolfWRX. “All three soles have a subtle C-grind shape. The 56- and 60-degree have an aggressive heel relief. Hideki also utilizes a similar subtle leading-edge grind to the one that is in his irons. Hideki will vary the width and bounce angles of the three (soles) depending on the conditions and shots that he is looking to hit. These three tiers as well as the sole radius (the sole curvature from heel to toe) allow us to manipulate the sole design to achieve the turf interaction and versatility that he may be asking for without changing the address shape. In the 56 and 60, Hideki plays a very straight leading edge with little-to-no offset. He plays his 60 and 56 weaker to help remove the offset and maintain a very straight, smooth transition from the hosel to leading-edge.” ON THE GREEN Matsuyama is also constantly testing new Scotty Cameron putters, mostly opting for a Newport-style blade head made of GSS (German Stainless Steel) material, with a single line on the black flange, a red-and-black color scheme, and a smooth milled face. While the particulars of Matsuyama’s gear setup are always changing, and he keeps plenty different options around during practice days, below is Matsuyama’s expected WITB setup come competition time on Thursday at the Masters. Driver: Srixon ZX7 (9 degrees) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 8TX 3-wood: TaylorMade SIM2 (15 degrees) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 9TX 5-wood: Cobra RadSpeed (17.5 degrees) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 10TX Irons: Srixon Z-Forged (4-9 iron) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Wedges: Cleveland RTX 4 Forged (52, 56 and 60 degrees) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Putter: Scotty Cameron GSS prototype Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV

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The PGA Tour’s Dylan Frittelli says it was hard not to feel like an outcast Thursday but said playing despite a positive coronavirus test was still fun.

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