Holmes edges Thomas to win 5th PGA Tour event

In January 2019, Scotty Cameron unveiled a new line of Phantom X putters that consisted of nine different options in total. Based on feedback from TOUR players, Scotty Cameron is adding another option to the list: a Phantom X 12.5 putter. “Every time we introduce a new putter line, I receive requests from TOUR players and dedicated golfers for additional setups and configurations,� Cameron said in a press release. “Phantom X 12.5 is the result of some of those requests.� Like the rest of the Phantom X lineup, the 12.5 mallet uses a unique design and a multi-material construction that combines 303 stainless steel and 6061 aircraft-grade aluminum to create more forgiveness and stability. What’s different, however, is a new low-bend shaft, which has one shaft of offset that’s designed to promote more of an arc in the path of the putting stroke and release of the toe. It also has a single-milled sightline on the crown of the putter to provide a different look at address. To appease the southpaws, the new 12.5 Phantom X putter is also available in a left-handed option. “I added the low-bend shaft for extra toe flow and also designed a new alignment option by milling a single sight line down the center painted black for a very clean look from address,� Cameron said. “It really sets up nicely. Adding this new model also gave me the opportunity to make a left-handed version designed so everyone can take advantage of the performance benefits of the Phantom X 12.5.� The new Phantom X 12.5 putter has an anodized black-misted finish, and the sightline is painted gloss black. The putter will come stock with a stepless steel shaft with a misted finish, and a Pistolero Plus grip. They will sell for $429 apiece, becoming available on Dec. 12 in North America and Feb. 14 worldwide.

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DETROIT – He’d packed on 40 pounds of muscle, and now Bryson DeChambeau kept saying he wanted to be the house, as in the casino, because the house always wins. Or often wins. Or something like that. Still, there was a sliver of doubt. Would outdriving everyone by 30-50 yards a hole inevitably yield trophies? Well, not inevitably, but, you know, would it work? Could it work? It could, and it has. RELATED: Final leaderboard “It’s a little emotional for me,” DeChambeau said after firing a 7-under 65 to beat Matthew Wolff (71) by three at the Rocket Mortgage Classic at sun-splashed Detroit Golf Club. “Because I did do something a little different, I changed my body, I changed my mindset in the game, and was able to accomplish a win while playing a completely different style of golf.” For the fourth week in a row the tournament was played in front of no fans due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but that’s not to say there wasn’t a crowd. A large group of Black Lives Matters demonstrators could be heard marching outside the club gates as the golfers played on. “I love that everybody is voicing their opinion,” DeChambeau said. “And they deserve to do so.” The soundtrack was a stark contrast to the telltale twinkle of the Mr. Softee ice cream truck, which Wolff had credited for his stellar play Saturday. He will try to quickly forget his ghastly front nine in the final round, and almost rendered it moot with an array of fine shots on the back. Wolff birdied 12, 13 and 15 to cut the lead to one, but DeChambeau birdied his last three holes to leave no doubt. “I’ve shown people that there’s another way to do it,” he said. It was his sixth career win and seventh straight top-10 finish. He led the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, and not only led in driving distance, too, but his 350.6-yard average for two measured holes was the highest number by a winner in the ShotLink era. DeChambeau is playing such a different game he had the honor at the 399-yard 13th hole but had to wait for the green to clear – he let playing partner Troy Merritt hit first, instead. “He’s changed the entire way the game is played,” said Kevin Kisner (66, solo third, five back). Wolff is another disrupter with his unorthodox swing, and he was all smiles for the first three rounds, when his 25 birdies and eagles were the most of any player at any tournament this season. But it took him too long to find his game in the final round, by which time DeChambeau could sense the finish line. “Yeah, it was definitely a grind out there,” Wolff said after birdies on four of his last seven holes. “Didn’t start off really well at all, wasn’t hitting it how I was the beginning of the week, and feel like I was really getting some bad breaks as well, which was pretty unfortunate.” Still, it was his first top-10 finish since his maiden TOUR win at the 3M Open a year ago. “Bryson played great,” he said. “Seven under, you know – it’s not like I gave it to him. He definitely earned it. Kudos to him.” Said DeChambeau, “I was kind of in my own world today.” Danny Willett (66), Adam Hadwin (67), Tyrrell Hatton (67) and Ryan Armour (72) tied for fourth, seven back. Wolff’s back-nine surge got more interesting when DeChambeau got in trouble off the tee and pitched out into the hazard at the par-5 14th, leading to bogey. But in the end, there was too much front-nine damage to undue even for the explosive Wolff, and in the winner’s press conference DeChambeau, cradling the round, red Rocket Mortgage trophy, said he planned to work out in the morning. (Of course.) Still, questions remain. With DeChambeau, they always do. How will his new style translate in the majors? Will scarfing down steaks and potatoes and protein shakes, and pumping iron feverishly, hold up over the long haul? Is he still getting better? What happens if and when he dials in his short irons? Will anyone stand a chance? And what about imitators? Will others on TOUR try to mimic the DeChambeau way? “I hope it’s an inspiration to a lot of people that if they set their mind to it, you can accomplish it,” DeChambeau said. “It just takes a lot of hard work, a lot of figuring out things that you may not know and understand yet. But if you keep … working on it, figuring stuff out, eventually you’ll get a little bit better each and every day, and hopefully that leads to something great in the end.”

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GUYANCOURT, France – Team golf is a different animal. Passion lies in every one of the 24 players in this week’s Ryder Cup, yet it comes in different forms. There are the fire guys. The ones whose eyes roll in the back of their head with every birdie and whose fist pumps have the power of a Mike Tyson uppercut. And there are the ice guys. The cool, calm and collected assassins. The ones who can crush you without changing expression. Seemingly immune to nerves. For Europe the powder kegs ready to explode are led by veterans Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia and include Rory McIlroy plus rookies Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. Team USA counters with the likes of Captain America Patrick Reed, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Justin Thomas. On the ice side of things the Euros have current and former FedExCup champions Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, plus Open Champion Francesco Molinari and Alex Noren. The U.S. looks to the likes of Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka here. So when you have such differing styles at each end of the spectrum, what is the best plan of attack when it comes to pairings for the crucial Fourball and Foursomes formats? Should you put two fire guys together and hope they get hot enough to scorch a trail toward a point or is that just opening you up to self-combustion? Are two ice guys too perfect to complement each other – will they just frustrate the passion out of their opponents with clinical precision? Or will the lack of fire bring a lull? Or is the best method a blend of both? A fire guy to lift the ice man and the ice man to calm the fire? “Those are personalities you want. You want to have a bit of everything on your team, and they can fit into every situation that you’re going out in,â€� European Captain Thomas Bjorn says. He’s been weighing up the merits of what balance will work best for him for months given his side particularly has quite a few players at the far ends of each spectrum. “It’s more about how they get on with each other and how their games match,â€� Bjorn counters. “There’s a lot of things that play into it. They all are very different, but some guys that are calm can deal with a guy that’s very fiery on the golf course, but some guys want to have it a little bit different and a similar type. “It’s about talking to them individually and not say, okay, you two do the same thing and then you play well together. That doesn’t always happen. It’s about talking to them individually and figuring out what they actually like to play with.â€� Team USA Captain Jim Furyk – a guy who would fit perfectly into the ice side – says it’s about a balance. “You look back to Luke Donald and Sergio García, the fiery and the stoic, and they made a great pairing together,â€� Furyk says. “I think as a captain, I like to talk to the guys throughout the year, do you like to play with someone who is fiery and pumps you up, or do you want someone who is a little bit quieter? “You try to get an idea of everyone, what makes them tick and what makes them play their best, and you try to pair those type of personalities together.â€� Fresh off his FedExCup victory, Justin Rose opened up on the subject. With a fire man in Poulter, Rose has a 4-1 record in the Foursome and Fourball formats in the Ryder Cup. With the quintessential iceman in Stenson he sports a 4-2 record. So Rose has had success with fire and ice. “I feel I can feed off both. But if anything the fire helps me,â€� Rose admitted. “Henrik has fire deep down though, he keeps it hidden. But the only thing with two of us like that, you can go flat sometimes, I’ve experienced that. So it is good to have options in the team room and we have plenty of those options this week.â€� Furyk is fundamentally against two of the same type together, saying you rarely see two fiery guys or two ice guys do great together. “You might not pair Bernhard Langer with himself because they are just even keel. You pair him with a guy that’s feisty, a Seve, and you kind of get the ham-and-egg effect of things,â€� Furyk said. “If Patrick (Reed) and Sergio (Garcia) were on the same team, there would be a lot of fire, I’ll say that. There would be a lot of passion for one grouping,â€� he added. “You don’t often see that.â€� Yet if practice pairings are anything to go by, Furyk could indeed send out a blazing pair with Woods, Reed, Thomas and Spieth potentially in a pod together. Woods and Reed, or even Woods and Thomas, would certainly bring a new level of intensity, rivaling what Reed and Jordan Spieth have come with in the past. On the European side, with two very fiery rookies in Rahm and Hatton, Bjorn has to decide how best to harness that. “I can play with anybody, but I believe I will play with somebody experienced,â€� Rahm says. “They are not going to put two rookies up on Friday morning. So I will be playing with somebody, either Stenson, Sergio, Rory, Rosey, Poulter, Fran, somebody who knows what’s going on and who can most likely keep me under control on a Friday morning. “I feel like I’m going to have electricity coming out of me, so you can imagine I might tee off with somebody who is a little more calm than me, which is not hard to do. “It’s like two players becoming one, so I think we feed off the best of each other. “It will help me, if I’m playing with somebody like Justin Rose, it will help me calm down a little bit and my emotion will maybe help pump him up a little bit. So I think it benefits both ways.â€� While Rahm admits he might need a calming influence, the European side is very cognizant of not changing a player’s natural demeanor. “There’s no point in trying to be something that you’re not,â€� Molinari says. “I’ll be the same me that I’ve always been, and we’ll see, if I get paired with someone that has a bit more flair, probably there will be a balance.â€� Hatton might be the wildcard in many senses of the word. Known as a hot head on the course when things don’t go his way the Englishman has admitted to needing to monitor his temper. He made a point to say he’s looking to stay more “level-headedâ€� in the heat of battle this week and “not turn into the Hulk.â€� But Bjorn wants the fire to stay. So he’s looking for someone to ride it with him. “I want him to be Tyrrell Hatton in everything that he does, so you’ve got to find somebody that deals with those things very well,â€� Bjorn says. “I’m not here to try and change any of those 12. They are here because of who they are and that’s what they have got to go with. It’s not my job to change Tyrrell. He will go out and play with the passion and heart he has.â€� However each team slices it, it will be fascinating to watch.

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