Golf world reacts to PGA Tour-LIV unification

Corey Conners initially switched into a Ping G400 LST driver at the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills. The club has served him well. He’s ranked in the top 20 of Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in each of the past five seasons, qualifying for three TOUR Championships, winning on the PGA TOUR and playing in the Presidents Cup in that span. Now, for the first time in five years, Conners is making a driver switch. He’s using Ping’s new G430 LST driver at this week’s Hero World Challenge. Five years is certainly a long time to use a particular driver model, especially since new technologies hit the market every year. Conners, however, hasn’t had much reason to upgrade. He’s one of the TOUR’s top drivers, after all. The Ping G400 LST driver – which was first released to the public in July 2017 – was also in the bag for his 2019 Valero Texas Open victory. Conners told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday that he’s been through roughly 10 different G400 LST driver heads throughout his five years playing the model, but he finally found something better. Although he said that his former G400 LST gamer is “maybe even a touch faster” than the new Ping G430 LST driver, he found that the new G430 technology significantly increased consistency on off-center strikes. Conners already was known as a straight driver. He ranked 20th in Driving Accuracy last season, but he could further increase that advantage thanks to the new driver. At this year’s Presidents Cup, Conners revealed his secrets to success off the tee. “I think just having good rhythm has always been sort of a hallmark of my game and something that I focus on every week. … That allows me to hit the ball solidly, and usually it results in it going where I am looking,” he said. “I … just take some practice swings, try and feel the body moving in sync, (take) a few practice swings … with my right foot kind of behind me a little bit, feeling the body moving, club staying in front of the body, and that helps with my rhythm, as well.” Now he’ll be applying those principles with a new club in the bag.

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HONOLULU – Nearly four years removed from storming home to win a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games, Matt Kuchar still carries the spoils around everywhere he goes. In a sock. Kuchar, who defends his Sony Open in Hawaii title this week, revealed the bronze medal he won on the back of a final round 63 in Rio is with him, in his backpack, wherever he travels. To stop scratches he keeps it in an old sock. RELATED: Why Todd might be the prohibitive favorite at Waialae | TOUR players rally to Australian bushfire relief cause | Power Rankings But it comes out of its cocoon often, particularly through the many airport security screenings the nine-time PGA TOUR winner frequents. “It hadn’t found a home anywhere other than my backpack. It’s easy to travel with … and just been fun to show off,â€� Kuchar said. “In airport screenings I always take it out. They see this big metal blob and always take it out so I always bring it out and it’s in a sock and even though I’ve put the sock out open in a bin, the screener always grabs a hold of it, pulls it out, and (their) eyes kind of bug out. “It’s a similar reaction over and over again. Just kind of bug out. Is this real? What’s it for? They start showing it off to their friends. (And I’m like) Hey, I got to catch a flight now,â€� he laughed. With 2020 being an Olympic year Kuchar would love to return and represent the USA once more. But each nation gets just two slots for the golf competition, with the exception of players inside the top 15 in the world. A country can have up to four if all of those players are inside the top 15. The U.S. is the only nation who currently has four players inside the top 15. Kuchar is currently 24th in the world with 12 other Americans ahead of him on the list. The qualification period for Japan ends on June 22. If things ended now the U.S. representatives would be Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Cantlay. Next up ahead of Kuchar would be Tiger Woods, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Gary Woodland, Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau and Rickie Fowler. But the difficulty won’t stop Kuchar chasing a place in the team. “I’m hugely proud to have been part of an Olympics, to be able to call myself an Olympian,â€� Kuchar said. “And I’m hugely proud to be a medalist at an Olympics. It’s definitely a goal of mine to be part of the Olympics in 2020 in Japan. I’m still amazed at the scale, the scope of just what the Olympics means to people, how big the Olympics is. “It’s a tough one to be a part of Team USA. You think of the chance of qualifying. It’s a hard team to be a part of. (But) It’s a big goal of mine. I would be disappointed if I didn’t make it, but I understand how challenging it is at the same time.â€� In 2016, Kuchar started the final round four shots out of third place in Rio. While he was unable to reel in eventual gold medalist Justin Rose or silver medal winner Henrik Stenson, Kuchar still felt like a winner given his achievement. “That was an incredible run. It felt Olympian. Looking back it ranks hugely high just to be able to finish so strong,â€� he added. “To be able to go ahead and know exactly the situation and come through and have a great round was amazing. To think there is that big cut off between third and fourth. It’s either you medal or you don’t. Medaling is winning in essence, and that was certainly one of my great final rounds.â€� Kuchar also spoke glowingly of the experience away from competition. While he didn’t stay in the athletes village due to the fact he brought his wife with him, they did get to other events as spectators. And did he connect with any other athletes? “I did become friends with Jack Sock actually. He’s the tennis player. We saw their bronze medal match. He played with Steve Johnson, and Daniel Berger’s dad was the coach,â€� Kuchar said. “We sat in the players box with Jay Berger and they won bronze. They came over just in huge celebratory fashion and Jack and I traded shirts. I got an Olympic tennis shirt for one of my Olympic golf shirts.â€� Jack. Sock. Naturally.

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ORLANDO – A few weeks ago, Martin Trainer couldn’t have imagined he would be vying for an award with Arnold Palmer’s name on it. Then he won the Puerto Rico Open to become the third rookie with a victory so far this season, after Cameron Champ (Sanderson Farms Championship) and Adam Long (Desert Classic). And on Monday, Trainer, like everyone else, got an e-mail with the news that the PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year award was being renamed the Arnold Palmer Award. “It’s pretty cool to have his name associated with it because he’s such a legend,â€� Trainer said as he took a break from his preparations for this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. “I haven’t seen the trophy. How is it?â€� Answer: Like everything else Palmer, it’s pretty cool. Champ, Long and Trainer are among the 122 players at Bay Hill Club & Lodge gearing up to play one of the biggest tournaments of the season even as they process the Palmer legacy. The swagger. The cool factor. The 62 TOUR wins. And with Palmer’s name on the top-rookie award, he’s even more top-of-mind for those vying for the newly renamed honorific. “He won his final one where I won my first one,â€� Long said of their shared connection to the Desert Classic as he toured the Arnold Palmer Experience, a museum-like activation at Bay Hill. Long and Palmer are also linked by the Arnold Palmer Invitational: Long first attended the API as a fan when he was 11 or 12, and Palmer signed his hat. Aaron Wise, last year’s Rookie of the Year, also toured the Arnold Palmer Experience on Tuesday. So did Robert Gamez, who won the first Rookie of the Year award in 1990 after winning two tournaments, including what was then called the Nestle Invitational at Bay Hill. He checked out Palmer’s trophies and medals, watched some of his most famous shots. “I think it’s going to be a great thing for the award, and for the TOUR,â€� Gamez said. Fellow API competitors Daniel Berger (2015), Keegan Bradley (2011), Ernie Els (1994), Rickie Fowler (2010), Chesson Hadley (2014), Charles Howell III (2001), Marc Leishman (2009), Vijay Singh (1993) and Brandt Snedeker (2007) have also won the Palmer/ROY award. This season’s three rookie winners have all impressed in different ways. Champ, 23, has wowed with his booming drives and leads the list at 19th in the FedExCup. Long, 31, impressed even Phil Mickelson, one of his playing partners in the final round, as he coolly rolled in a 14-foot birdie to win the Desert Classic. He’s 24th in the FedExCup. Then there’s Trainer, 27, who is perhaps the streakiest player of the group. He has six missed cuts in 10 starts this season, but when he’s on, he makes it count. He won twice on the Web.com Tour last season, and his victory in Puerto Rico boosted him to 49th in the FedExCup. “It’s crossed my mind a few times,â€� Trainer said of the prospect of winning the Arnold Palmer Award for top rookie. “I have a chance. It’s going to be stiff competition, obviously, and there’s still a lot of time left. It’s one of those things; you don’t really focus on it, but it exists. It’s a huge honor, obviously. You go down in history, which is kind of cool for a rookie who’s just trying to get established and stay on the PGA TOUR and make a living.â€� Long sounded a similar refrain. The biggest perk of winning, he said, was simply job security. “My schedule was looking a little bleak there for a while,â€� he said. “I wasn’t sure what events I’d play in, but we’re going to have to reevaluate a little bit of the schedule and make some decisions. I have control over that now, which I didn’t have before. “THE PLAYERS is going to be outrageous,â€� Long continued, letting his mind wander ahead one week. “I can’t wait. I mean it’s one of the biggest events of the year. I mean, it’s huge. It’s gonna be—that’s gonna be insane. It’s so cool.â€� The whole world opening up before you? Yes. Very cool. Sort of like Arnold Palmer himself.

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