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Holmes leads The Open after first round 66

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – J.B. Holmes won the Genesis Open in mid-February. Since then? A dozen starts. Seven missed cuts. One WD. Failed to get out of group play at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. A couple of finishes outside the top-60. Other than his previous start, a T-21 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic three weeks ago, it’s been, well, not pretty. Related: Leaderboard | Tough day for Tiger | Rory struggles in opening-round 79 “I played great that one tournament, had a win,â€� Holmes said of his victory at Riviera, the fifth PGA TOUR of his career. “You take that away, it’s probably actually been one of my worst years I’ve played.â€� So naturally, he has the first-round lead at The Open Championship, shooting a 5-under 66 at Royal Portrush on Thursday to lead Irishman Shane Lowry by a stroke. It’s Holmes’ first lead in any round of a major since the 2008 PGA Championship, which he led through 36 holes at Oakland Hills. Such as the vagaries of golf. A player can find something, a spark after months of struggling, and turn it into an opportunity of a lifetime. “I’ve really struggled with my swing kind of after I won,â€� said Holmes, who opened with a bogey, bounced back with a birdie and remained bogey-free for the rest of his round. “At Detroit I had been working on it and it clicked in there and I started hitting it better. “I’ve been practicing the last couple of weeks. I’ve been playing great. So actually felt great coming in. Like I said, my results didn’t show that. But I felt very confident coming in. I was hitting it great. Putted well. “I wasn’t really surprised — I mean, I played well.â€� He may have been one of the few not surprised at Royal Portrush. In 32 starts in majors (not counting two WDs), he’s finished in the top 10 just twice. Both came in 2016 – a T-4 at the Masters, followed later that summer by his best major result, a solo third at The Open. That came on the weekend that Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson eventually turned the tournament into a two-man duel, so it’s doubtful anybody remembers Holmes’ play that week at Royal Troon. But it was a confidence booster, showing that Holmes could fare well on links courses. “That was a great week for me,â€� he said. “And it teaches me I can come out and play. There were two guys that got really hot that week. Besides that, I pretty much had beat the field. So that’s definitely a boost. “I learned a lot playing in that event. And you try to take that to the next one.â€� It took him three years later, but through 18 holes at least, he’s got the field beat. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that it’s at Royal Portrush. While many in the field are getting their first look at the Dunluce course, Holmes actually played a round here during a collegiate trip with his University of Kentucky teammates. They also played another famous course in Northern Ireland, Royal County Down. Alas, there wasn’t much knowledge from that trip to Portrush that he was able to utilize on Thursday. “I don’t remember a whole lot,â€� Holmes said. “I had a couple of caddies over here. … At the time most of the caddies we had weren’t used to somebody hitting 315 or 320, so I got some bad lines. I think I was playing here I hit five or six shots exactly where they told me to and I lost the ball. “The score wasn’t all that great.â€� That changed Thursday. This time, the score was pretty great.

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3rd Round Six-Shooter - Group A - S. Straka / S.W. Kim / S. Lowry / A. Bhatia / K. Mitchell / T. Finau
Type: 3rd Round Six-Shooter - Status: OPEN
Sepp Straka+335
Shane Lowry+335
Keith Mitchell+450
Si Woo Kim+450
Akshay Bathia+500
Tony Finau+550
3rd Round Six-Shooter - Group B - R. McIIroy / P. Cantlay / J. Thomas / X. Schauffele / C. Morikawa / V. Hovland
Type: 3rd Round Six-Shooter - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy+240
Justin Thomas+400
Collin Morikawa+450
Patrick Cantlay+475
Xander Schauffele+475
Viktor Hovland+700
3rd Round Six-Shooter - Group C - S. Jaeger / H. English / T. Detry / G. Woodland / M. Homa / R. Fowler
Type: 3rd Round Six-Shooter - Status: OPEN
Stephan Jaeger+375
Harris English+400
Max Homa+400
Thomas Detry+400
Gary Woodland+475
Rickie Fowler+500
3rd Round Scores - Shane Lowry
Type: 3rd Round Scores - Status: OPEN
Over 68.5+105
Under 68.5-135
3rd Round Scores - Rory McIIroy
Type: 3rd Round Scores - Status: OPEN
Over 67.5+115
Under 67.5-150
3rd Round Scores - Sepp Straka
Type: 3rd Round Scores - Status: OPEN
Over 68.5-110
Under 68.5-120
3rd Round Scores - Collin Morikawa
Type: 3rd Round Scores - Status: OPEN
Over 67.5-130
Under 67.5+100
3rd Round Scores - Justin Thomas
Type: 3rd Round Scores - Status: OPEN
Over 68.5+120
Under 68.5-155
3rd Round Scores - Patrick Cantlay
Type: 3rd Round Scores - Status: OPEN
Over 68.5+115
Under 68.5-150
3rd Round Scores - Akshay Bhatia
Type: 3rd Round Scores - Status: OPEN
Over 68.5-125
Under 68.5-105
3rd Round Scores - Si Woo Kim
Type: 3rd Round Scores - Status: OPEN
Over 68.5-120
Under 68.5-110
3rd Round Scores - Xander Schauffele
Type: 3rd Round Scores - Status: OPEN
Over 68.5+120
Under 68.5-155
3rd Round Scores - Max Homa
Type: 3rd Round Scores - Status: OPEN
Over 69.5+100
Under 69.5-130
Shane Lowry
Type: Shane Lowry - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish-200
Top 10 Finish-500
Top 20 Finish-2000
Keith Mitchell
Type: Keith Mitchell - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish-225
Top 10 Finish-600
Top 20 Finish-2500
Rory McIlroy
Type: Rory McIlroy - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish-150
Top 10 Finish-350
Top 20 Finish-1000
Sepp Straka
Type: Sepp Straka - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish-125
Top 10 Finish-350
Top 20 Finish-1000
Collin Morikawa
Type: Collin Morikawa - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+150
Top 10 Finish-175
Top 20 Finish-500
Justin Thomas
Type: Justin Thomas - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+180
Top 10 Finish-150
Top 20 Finish-500
Patrick Cantlay
Type: Patrick Cantlay - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+180
Top 10 Finish-150
Top 20 Finish-400
Si Woo Kim
Type: Si Woo Kim - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+350
Top 10 Finish+120
Top 20 Finish-250
Akshay Bhatia
Type: Akshay Bhatia - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+350
Top 10 Finish+130
Top 20 Finish-200
Xander Schauffele
Type: Xander Schauffele - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+600
Top 10 Finish+220
Top 20 Finish-150
Sungjae Im
Type: Sungjae Im - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+700
Top 10 Finish+200
Top 20 Finish-125
3rd Round 2-Balls - W. Clark / L. Glover
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Lucas Glover+125
Wyndham Clark-115
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - C. Kirk / W. Zalatoris
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Chris Kirk+120
Will Zalatoris-110
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - M. Pavon / T. Hoge
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Matthieu Pavon+145
Tom Hoge-130
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - S. Theegala / M. Greyserman
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Max Greyserman+110
Sahith Theegala+100
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - R. Gerard / A. Hadwin
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Adam Hadwin+125
Ryan Gerard-115
Tie+750
Mizuho Americas Open
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Nelly Korda+260
Jeeno Thitikul+400
Andrea Lee+1100
Somi Lee+1100
Celine Boutier+1200
Stephanie Kyriacou+1600
Carlota Ciganda+1800
Lydia Ko+2000
Minjee Lee+2500
Yealimi Noh+2500
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3rd Round 2-Balls - B. Harman / A. Eckroat
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Austin Eckroat+125
Brian Harman-115
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - B. Campbell / P. Rodgers
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Brian Campbell+135
Patrick Rodgers-125
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - R. Henley / V. Hovland
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Russell Henley+105
Viktor Hovland+105
Tie+750
3rd Round Match-Ups - X. Schauffele vs V. Hovland
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Xander Schauffele-135
Viktor Hovland+115
3rd Round 2-Balls - B. Hun An / C. Davis
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Byeong Hun An-125
Cam Davis+135
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - C. Conners / A. Scott
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Adam Scott+150
Corey Conners-135
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - J. Bridgeman / J. Highsmith
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Jacob Bridgeman-120
Joe Highsmith+130
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - N. Dunlap / G. Higgo
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Garrick Higgo-120
Nick Dunlap+130
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - M. Fitzpatrick / C. Bezuidenhout
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Christiaan Bezuidenhout+120
Matt Fitzpatrick-110
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - M. Thorbjornsen / J. Spieth
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Jordan Spieth-145
Michael Thorbjornsen+160
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - J.J. Spaun / A. Novak
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Andrew Novak+105
J J Spaun+105
Tie+750
3rd Round Match-Ups - A. Novak vs M. McNealy
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Maverick McNealy-116
Andrew Novak-105
3rd Round 2-Balls - D. Thompson / A. Rai
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Aaron Rai+105
Davis Thompson+105
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - N. Norgaard / S. Valimaki
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Sami Valimaki+100
Niklas Norgaard+110
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - D. Berger / R. MacIntyre
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Daniel Berger-105
Robert MacIntyre+115
Tie+750
3rd Round Match-Ups - D. Berger vs T. Fleetwood
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Daniel Berger-110
Tommy Fleetwood-110
3rd Round 2-Balls - H. Buckley / T. Phillips
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Hayden Buckley+100
Trent Phillips+110
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - L. Aberg / H. Matsuyama
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Hideki Matsuyama+120
Ludvig Aberg-110
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - E. Grillo / C. Young
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Emiliano Grillo+100
Carson Young+110
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - M.W. Lee / M. McNealy
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Maverick McNealy+110
Min Woo Lee+100
Tie+750
3rd Round Match-Ups - M.W. Lee vs K. Bradley
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Min Woo Lee-115
Keegan Bradley-105
3rd Round 2-Balls - C. Hadley / T. Olesen
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Thorbjorn Olesen-160
Chesson Hadley+180
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - C. Young / E. Cole
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Cameron Young+120
Eric Cole-110
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - R. Fox / T. Widing
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Ryan Fox-130
Tim Widing+140
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - R. Hojgaard / B. Griffin
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Ben Griffin+100
Rasmus Hojgaard+110
Tie+750
3rd Round Match-Ups - B. Griffin vs S. Jaeger
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Stephan Jaeger-115
Ben Griffin-105
3rd Round 2-Balls - X. Schauffele / T. Pendrith
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Taylor Pendrith+150
Xander Schauffele-135
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - K. Yu / A. Putnam
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Kevin Yu-125
Andrew Putnam+135
Tie+750
3rd Round Match-Ups - D. McCarthy vs T. Pendrith
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Denny McCarthy-110
Taylor Pendrith-110
3rd Round 2-Balls - B. Silverman / P. Kizzire
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Ben Silverman+100
Patton Kizzire+110
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - K. Bradley / T. Fleetwood
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Keegan Bradley+130
Tommy Fleetwood-120
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - D. Shore / N. Xiong
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Norman Xiong-120
Davis Shore+130
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - N. Taylor / E. Van Rooyen
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Nick Taylor-105
Erik Van Rooyen+115
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - N. Watney / W. Chandler
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Will Chandler-105
Nick Watney+115
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - S. Burns / J.T. Poston
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
J.T. Poston+115
Sam Burns-105
Tie+750
3rd Round Match-Ups - S. Burns vs S. Im
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Sungjae Im-115
Sam Burns-105
3rd Round Match-Ups - S. Stevens vs J.T. Poston
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
J.T. Poston-115
Sam Stevens-105
3rd Round 2-Balls - H. Higgs / D. Walker
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Danny Walker-125
Harry Higgs+140
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - S. Im / A. Noren
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Alex Noren+145
Sungjae Im-130
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - M. Hughes / C. Del Solar
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Mackenzie Hughes-185
Cristobal Del Solar+210
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - S. Stevens / D. McCarthy
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Denny McCarthy+100
Sam Stevens+110
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - T. Finau / H. English
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Harris English+110
Tony Finau+100
Tie+750
3rd Round Match-Ups - A. Bhatia vs T. Finau
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Tony Finau-115
Akshay Bhatia-105
3rd Round 2-Balls - R. Fowler / G. Woodland
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Gary Woodland+100
Rickie Fowler+110
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - Y. Noh / K. Gillman
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Yealimi Noh-160
Kristen Gillman+180
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - T. Detry / S. Jaeger
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Stephan Jaeger-105
Thomas Detry+115
Tie+750
3rd Round Match-Ups - M. Homa / T. Detry
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Max Homa-110
Thomas Detry-110
3rd Round 2-Balls - J. Thitikul / H. Naveed
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Jeeno Thitikul-250
Hira Naveed+280
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - P. Cantlay / M. Homa
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Max Homa+170
Patrick Cantlay-155
Tie+750
3rd Round Match-Ups - P. Cantlay vs J. Thomas
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Justin Thomas-115
Patrick Cantlay-105
3rd Round 2-Balls - C. Boutier / J. Lopez
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Celine Boutier-180
Julia Lopez Ramirez+200
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - A. Bhatia / S.W. Kim
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Akshay Bhatia+115
Si Woo Kim-105
Tie+750
3rd Round Match-Ups - S.W. Kim vs K. Mitchell
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Si Woo Kim-115
Keith Mitchell-105
3rd Round 2-Balls - C. Cinganda / J. Bae
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Carlota Ciganda-145
Jenny Bae+160
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - R. McIIroy / C. Morikawa
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Collin Morikawa+140
Rory McIlroy-125
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - A. Lee / S. Kyriacou
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Andrea Lee+105
Stephanie Kyriacou+105
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - S. Straka / J. Thomas
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Justin Thomas-130
Sepp Straka+145
Tie+750
3rd Round Match-Ups - S. Lowry vs S. Straka
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Shane Lowry-115
Sepp Straka-105
3rd Round 2-Balls - K. Mitchell / S. Lowry
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Keith Mitchell+130
Shane Lowry-120
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - N. Korda / S. Lee
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Nelly Korda-155
Somi Lee+170
Tie+750
Major Specials 2025
Type: To Win A Major 2025 - Status: OPEN
Scottie Scheffler+160
Bryson DeChambeau+350
Xander Schauffele+350
Ludvig Aberg+400
Collin Morikawa+450
Jon Rahm+450
Justin Thomas+550
Brooks Koepka+700
Viktor Hovland+700
Hideki Matsuyama+800
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PGA Championship 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy+450
Scottie Scheffler+450
Bryson DeChambeau+1100
Ludvig Aberg+1800
Justin Thomas+2000
Xander Schauffele+2000
Collin Morikawa+2200
Jon Rahm+2200
Joaquin Niemann+3500
Brooks Koepka+4000
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US Open 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy+500
Scottie Scheffler+500
Bryson DeChambeau+1200
Xander Schauffele+1200
Jon Rahm+1400
Ludvig Aberg+1400
Collin Morikawa+1600
Brooks Koepka+1800
Justin Thomas+2000
Viktor Hovland+2000
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The Open 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy+500
Scottie Scheffler+550
Xander Schauffele+1100
Ludvig Aberg+1400
Collin Morikawa+1600
Jon Rahm+1600
Bryson DeChambeau+2000
Shane Lowry+2500
Tommy Fleetwood+2500
Tyrrell Hatton+2500
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Ryder Cup 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
USA-150
Europe+140
Tie+1200

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Inside My Swing: Billy HorschelInside My Swing: Billy Horschel

In the last 15 months, Billy Horschel has won a World Golf Championship, one of the top tournaments in Europe and Jack Nicklaus’ event. Before that, he was best known for winning a FedExCup with one of the hottest of streaks. But Horschel’s game has reached even higher levels since the start of 2021, thanks to sustained consistency instead of a couple incredible weeks. It started last March with a win in the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. Then he became the first American since Arnold Palmer to win the BMW PGA Championship, the flagship event on the DP World (formerly European) Tour. Horschel’s win Sunday in the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday vaulted him to a career-high 11th in the world ranking. With five top-10s this season, including a pair of runners-up to go along with his win, Horschel is 10th in the FedExCup. He’s missed just one cut in 15 starts and finished in the top 25 in nearly two-thirds of his starts. “It shows what we’re doing at home and what we’re doing on a weekly basis, we’re doing the right things,” he said Sunday after winning by four shots. Part of that preparation back in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, is work with the same swing coach he’s employed for 14 years, Todd Anderson, the Director of Instruction at the PGA TOUR’s Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass. In this edition of Inside My Swing, Horschel and Anderson will give a closer look at the swing of the seven-time TOUR winner and show what they’ve worked on during more than a decade as a teacher-student combination. “It’s not changing every day,” Horschel said. “It’s finding out what works, sticking with it and making tweaks here and there.” IN ALIGNMENT Some players overlook their setup because it’s the only static position in the golf swing. Not Horschel, who treats it with the utmost importance. “It’s probably 85 to 90% of my swing,” he said. “If I don’t feel correct in my setup, I’m not going to make a good swing.” Like many players, Horschel uses alignment sticks during his practice sessions. He lays one at his toes to ensure his body is properly aligned. But he also places one in front of his ball, pointing at his target (pictured above). This helps him visualize the line he wants his ball to travel on after impact and helps him get his clubface square to that target. “To be able to see where a straight line is from the clubface to the target is super important,” Horschel said. “I always align the clubface first and then align my body to that.” Horschel combats a tendency to get too “open” at address, which can occur when he’s also standing too far from the ball. He likes to feel that his arms are hanging straight down from his shoulders at address. To keep his body from pointing too far left of his target, Horschel will exaggerate the opposite of his flaw. He’ll set up to the ball with his right foot dropped back in a “closed” position, then place his right hand on the club while keeping his right shoulder back. “I’ll put my left hand on the club, … and then just try to deliver the right hand and the arm to the club without my right shoulder moving closer (to the ball),” Horschel said. “The bad times are when the right arm feels like it’s on top of the left arm. Then I feel like my right arm is really dominant.” When Horschel feels that he has his upper body properly aligned, he’ll then move his right foot into its proper position to achieve the correct setup. TAKEAWAY Horschel has been on TOUR more than a decade, but it’s never too late to make a change. Last year, he made a fade his predominant shot shape, hitting a shot that moves from left-to-right instead of the draw that was his stock shot for most of his career. In the past, Horschel fought a tendency to get the club too far “around” him. This can lead to inconsistency because it requires more face rotation to square the clubface. Switching to a fade has lessened the costly left misses that Horschel would occasionally fight. He ranks 10th in driving accuracy this season and 28th in greens in regulation. An improper setup would set Horschel’s swing off kilter from the start. When his shoulders were aimed too far left at address, his left side would be overactive at the start of the swing to “get back to square,” Horschel said. This led to him rolling his arms and the clubface, and the clubhead getting too far behind his hands. Anderson said Horschel wants his left side to be “more of a follower than a leader.” Adds Horschel: “When I get in that good setup with the right arm just below the left, that allows me to feel like my first move is my right shoulder turning back behind me and the club staying out in front of me. From there, I can just complete the backswing.” After a proper takeaway, Anderson said Horschel simply “folds” the club up to get it to the top of the swing. His hands are now higher at the top of the swing than they were when he was hitting a draw and the club no longer gets “laid off,” i.e. pointing left of the target, at the top. PUMP IT UP Horschel uses the “pump drill” to rehearse his transition from the backswing to the downswing. After completing his backswing, Horschel does this drill by bringing his hands down to chest-high and then “pumping” the club between these two positions two or three times, swinging through the ball on the final one. When Horschel would get laid off at the top of his backswing, he felt like he’d start his downswing by “pulling” the club down in an attempt to get the club in front of his hands. His downswing would get too narrow and his upper body opened up too soon. The “pump drill” helps him maintain width in his downswing and keeps his upper body from turning too early in the downswing. The “pump” comes from the movement of the right arm as it extends and then bends back up to the top of the swing. The shoulders stay relatively still during this drill. “It feels like I’m throwing or tossing the club,” Horschel said. “The left arm is staying quiet and the right arm is extending.” After completing the drill, Horschel simply feels like he can turn through impact. Horschel said this drill helps him have a shallow angle of attack, something he sees in many of the best iron players, like Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and, especially, Tiger Woods. “Tiger had a very wide release,” Anderson said, referring especially to those years from 1999-2002 when he won seven of 11 majors in one stretch. “He didn’t get real narrow with his arms. His arms stayed wide, the club kind of moved away as he came down.” CROSS HANDED Horschel is particular about his alignment on the putting greens, as well. So much so that he doesn’t make practice strokes. It’s a unique approach that pays off, as Horschel ranks 11th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season. “It takes him a little bit to get his hands on the club the way he wants, so once he does, he just slides in and hits it,” Anderson says. Horschel returned to the left-hand low grip about three years ago. Players who use that grip have to fight the tendency to get “closed” at address, the opposite of Horschel’s tendency in the full swing. But like his pre-shot routine for full shots, Horschel lets his arms hang freely to get the feel for proper alignment. He’ll also address the ball by putting his right foot in position first (pictured above) to keep him from getting too closed, the opposite of what he does on his full swing. He switched to the left-hand low putting grip, also known as cross-handed, in part because he hates to pull putts. That’s also why he stands very close to the ball when he is putting and has a forward press, where the grip is ahead of the putterhead at address. “He gets his hands high at address with his left arm hanging down under his left shoulder so that the putter sits a little bit on the toe,” Anderson says. “From there he pushes the putter back with his left hand/shoulder and then drives it through with his right arm. He wants to feel very little arm or face rotation during the stroke. It’s very straight back, straight through. His left side keeps the putter in line and the right side delivers the hit.” He also uses a chalk line (pictured) on the green to ensure he’s starting the ball on line, the same reason he places two tees little more than a ball-width apart on his target line. An off-line putt will strike one of the tees.

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Players without equipment contracts are having unprecedented success this seasonPlayers without equipment contracts are having unprecedented success this season

It was the summer of 2016, specifically the Wednesday evening of Travelers Championship week. Brooks Koepka – who at that point had one PGA TOUR win but had not yet started collecting major hardware — was settling in for a sponsor function with fellow Nike Golf equipment staffers Paul Casey and Kevin Chappell when the phone rang. His agent was calling with news that not only would alter the clubs in Koepka’s bag but send shockwaves through the golf world. Nike was exiting the hard-goods industry.  “I don’t think anyone saw it coming,” Koepka recalled. “At that point, I had been with Nike less than a year when I took that call.” When Nike officially made the decision to pull the plug on creating golf clubs and balls, it was unclear how drastically the news would alter the equipment landscape on the PGA TOUR. With the Swoosh narrowing its focus to apparel and shuttering an equipment arm that was established in 1998 — when the company released its first golf ball line — players were forced to come to terms with the idea of playing without a club contract.  At the outset of 2016, Nike had inked 14 new players to equipment contracts, including Koepka and fellow bomber Tony Finau. Of course, it also had existing contracts for several other pros, including two of golf’s biggest names: Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. After its abrupt equipment departure, Nike wanted to minimize any negative impact on player performance, so the company allowed its staff pros with equipment and apparel deals to play out the rest of their agreements with gear from other manufacturers. When the calendar flipped to 2017, most Nike staffers were still considered equipment free agents, save for Patrick Rodgers, Russell Henley and J.J. Spaun, who came to terms on staff deals with Callaway, Titleist and Srixon, respectively.  In the coming months, others would soon follow by signing equipment deals. Woods was the first significant domino to fall when he announced at the Farmers Insurance Open that he inked a 13-club deal with TaylorMade, in addition to his ball agreement with Bridgestone.  Woods initially considered remaining a free agent, but during extensive testing sessions, he found a fit in TaylorMade.  “I was going the free agent route,” Woods told PGATOUR.COM in December. “I did, and then looked at my house — it was a warehouse. A lot of manufacturers were sending me stuff. Tell me how this looks, tell me how that looks. Let me narrow it down here. And then I didn’t have to go anywhere, I could just test right here on my simulator, so I tested on my simulator, tried to see what it would feel like. Ooh, that felt not so good. That felt pretty good. TaylorMade’s were feeling consistently good across the board. So I thought, I’ve got to take this stuff outside and see what it does. And I did it, and I was just blown away how stable the club was and how far I was able to hit it.â€� Rory McIlroy joined Woods at TaylorMade four months later with a multi-year, 14-club and ball deal that surprised many in the equipment world, given that the four-time major winner employed a Callaway-heavy setup for a portion of his free agency. Aside from Tony Finau’s 11-club staff deal with PING in January of 2018, the rest of Nike’s now-defunct equipment staff has refrained from signing elsewhere. Now those free agents – as well as others who have decided to play without equipment deals – have been thriving inside the ropes. Consider the four major winners in 2018 – Patrick Reed at the Masters, Francesco Molinari at the Open Championship, and Koepka at the U.S. Open and PGA Championship. None are under contract. Also consider that five of the current top 15 players in the Official World Golf Ranking don’t carry an equipment staff deal. Last year, three players won on TOUR without equipment staff deals. This season, that number is 10. It’s a trend that has some believing free agency could be a viable route in the future.  Kevin Chappell was one of those 2017 free-agent winners. After 180 starts on the PGA TOUR, he broke through at the Valero Texas Open, and eventually landed a spot on the winning U.S. Presidents Cup team.  “For me personally, I’m still playing under what was my original Nike contract,” Chappell said. “There was no financial reason to go sign an equipment deal. I can test what I want when I want, and play what I want when I want. I still play my Nike irons, but only because I haven’t found anything that’s better than that.” Earlier this season, Jason Dufner and Kevin Na parted ways with Titleist — both still hold ball, shoe and glove deals with the equipment manufacturer — and wound up adding new gear to the bag, including a bespoke set of National Custom Works irons for Dufner, the 2013 PGA Championship winner. Na inserted a Callaway GBB Epic driver at THE PLAYERS Championship and won A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier a few months later. It was his second career win – and first in seven years. Of course, Koepka’s rise speaks for itself. He entered last week’s FedExCup Playoffs ranked third in points. His fellow free-agent major winners were also ranked inside the top 10. “You can play what you want and that’s the beauty of it,” Koepka said. “You don’t have ties to one particular company, so if something isn’t working, you can look elsewhere. You just play what works for you. With the success some guys have had this season, I think maybe you’ll see more guys [go the free agent route] in the future.” GETTING CREATIVE Whether more players go the route of free agency in the future remains to be seen, but for those who’ve made the leap, many have found success by keeping the process as simple as possible and not making wholesale club changes when things go sideways.  During the midst of his newfound equipment freedom, McIlroy lamented having to sift through equipment from nearly every manufacturer on the planet that was sent to not only his home address but also his parents’ house. The phrase “paralysis by analysis” comes to mind when envisioning McIlroy testing an avalanche of gear. While many recreational golfers dream of being surrounded by endless gear, there’s also a potential drawback to having the freedom to put anything in the bag.  Yes, you can play any club you want, and change clubs anytime you want. But if you start blaming the clubs too much for poor performances and switch too often … well, that’s a recipe for disaster. Chappell calls it a “double-edged sword. I can go into an equipment truck and ask them to build me something any week I’m on TOUR. I’m no longer obligated to test a particular club. You learn quickly to trust what’s in the bag and not tinker when things are going right. There’s no reason to press and I think that’s what a lot of guys, myself included, like about the freedom.” And then there’s the issue a few former Nike staffers have faced trying to locate backups of Swoosh clubs that have been discontinued. When Nike announced it was ceasing club production, former Nike master craftsman Mike Taylor, and the rest of the team at Nike’s The Oven R&D facility in Fort Worth, Texas, worked for the next six months creating multiple backup sets — irons and wedges in particular — to ensure players were in a good spot if they chose to continue playing their current setup.  “We were cranking it out trying to get everyone set up,” said Taylor, who now runs Artisan Golf out of the old Oven facility and continues to grind all of Woods’ irons and wedges. “It didn’t feel like we stopped during that time. No one had any idea how long it would take a guy to transition into new equipment, so we made sure they had enough so they didn’t feel like we were dumping them on the street.” Even with an assist from Taylor and the rest of the team in Texas, some players have started to run out of their Nike backup stock and facing the possibility of playing something different, or looking for a replacement when their clubs are no longer usable.  When Chappell’s Nike Vapor Pro short irons began to wear out, he made a call to Taylor, whom he figured might have an extra set. Alas, Taylor didn’t have a fresh set of blank heads laying around. So he got creative. “We dug deep,” Taylor recalled. “I said, ‘Hey man, I’ve got some, but they have this knucklehead guy named MT stamped on them.'” For the moment, Chappell is using one of Taylor’s personal sets. “They work and that’s all that matters,” Chappell said.  Tommy Fleetwood found himself in a similar situation in March at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship when he noticed the 7- and 8-iron in his Nike VR Pro Blade set were bent at the hosel from regular use.  “I actually had 12 golf clubs for that week,â€� said Fleetwood, who nevertheless tied for 14th in Mexico City. Lucky for Fleetwood, he had one final backup set waiting at a friend’s house in Orlando, Florida, that he inserted at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Without another backup set at his disposal, Fleetwood admitted he’s been extra careful with the sticks, especially now that all of the work is done by a local club fitter, as Nike no longer employs a tech to work on product each week on TOUR.  “It stops me from breaking any, that’s for sure,” Fleetwood said. “Eventually, I’m going to have find a new set, but I’ve been using these for a long time and they’re still going.” Finding a new backup set led Fleetwood to Paul Casey, who currently has a fresh set of VR Pro Blades sitting at home. Fleetwood initially offered to pay Casey for the irons, but the price wasn’t high enough to get the fellow Englishman to bite.  “They are as rare as rocking horse poo,” Casey told PGATOUR.COM. “And I will not sell them to him. Or put it this way, he hasn’t offered me enough money. … He’s gotta try harder.” Casey’s affinity for the discontinued irons has made Fleetwood consider the idea of playing with a different brand. If anything, it would keep him from holding his breath if one of the heads was damaged and needed to be replaced during competition.  “Honestly, changing might make life easier if something went wrong with a set from another manufacturer,” Fleetwood said. “I could get them fixed and it wouldn’t be a struggle.” Of course, changing gear isn’t a seamless process. It not only requires players to get acclimated to new clubs but working with different tour reps as well — something Molinari didn’t realize was a vital part of the equation until he left Nike equipment after 12 years and began using 13 TaylorMade clubs and a Bettinardi putter.  “It made me realize as well how good of a support I was getting from Nike and from the guys building the clubs,” Molinari said. “In the end, I think there’s a lot of good equipment out there and it depends a lot on the relationship that you have with the guys building the clubs and how much they understand what you need. So the communications between us and the manufacturers, I think it’s really, really important.” BENEFITTING THE BRANDS Equipment free agency has been a boon for a handful of players on TOUR as well as a group of manufacturers who’ve been able to capitalize on players such as Koepka, Reed and Molinari making it to the winner’s circle.  While Bettinardi opted to sign Molinari to a putter deal, a few manufacturers have been receiving free advertising from some of the best players in the world. Koepka continues to play Mizuno’s JPX 900 Tour irons without an agreement, but the equipment manufacturer made a serious push to ink the 28-year-old when his gear deal disappeared.  Selling Koepka on the fact that JPX 900 Tour was created with him in mind, Mizuno was able to get the irons in his bag. They’ve remained a staple ever since. Koepka’s success, coupled with Nike’s exit, turned Mizuno into a popular landing spot for many players without equipment deals. Along with Koepka, Paul Casey won the 2018 Valspar Championship with Mizuno irons in the bag.  During the late 1980s and early ‘90s, Mizuno was arguably the most popular iron on TOUR before TaylorMade and Callaway started increasing their staffs in an effort to become the No. 1 iron.   The recent resurgence hasn’t seen Mizuno move back to the top of the pack, but it has coincided with the brand seeing a significant bump in iron usage with anywhere from 12 to 15 sets in play.  With Koepka and Casey playing the irons without compensation, some have wondered if Mizuno should open the checkbook and sign one (or both) to an iron deal.  According to Chris Voshall, Mizuno Golf’s senior club engineer, the situation isn’t that simple.  “We have so many conversations right now,” Voshall said. “The tricky things is, if we’re not paying them, we can’t say their name, feature them or talk about them. Then there’s the side thing of Mizuno, right or wrong, being pigeonholed as an iron company. So there’s the whole discussion of if you pay somebody to play just your irons, who was going to play them anyway, what are we getting out of that?”  Along with Mizuno, TaylorMade (metalwoods), PING (metalwoods) and Titleist (golf ball and wedges) have been popular options for free agents. Titleist is typically the runaway winner each week in the ball category, but due to players using the ball without compensation or breaking their contract with another manufacturer, they managed to eclipse the 80 percent golf ball usage mark for the first time in a 156-player field, at the John Deere Classic, according to Darrell Survey records dating back to 1996. Boutique brands have enjoyed a bump in exposure as well, especially Taylor’s Artisan Golf, who currently creates custom wedges and putters. Taylor can thank Reed for the free exposure, which came courtesy of his Masters victory with two Artisan wedges in the bag.  “My phone was about to blow up,” Taylor said. “And that was before (Patrick) even slipped on the Green Jacket. We’ve been blessed. Even with the relationships we’ve built with players during our time at Nike, we had no idea what that would mean when Artisan was started. We’re just been grateful that guys like Patrick trusted us to not only try our wedges but put them in play.” FUTURE OF FREE AGENCY The fact remains that a majority of the current crop of equipment free agents are still under contract with Nike Golf, which allows them to treat the bag setup like a puzzle — removing and replacing clubs that don’t fit for something that does, without having to worry about breaking terms of a 13-club deal or the prospect of slotting in new equipment to satisfy a manufacturer.  But what happens when those deals run out? Will Koepka, Molinari, Reed and others look to sign staff deals? It’s a question worth asking as the TOUR continues to see a rise in players opting for equipment free agency.  “I’m honestly surprised [players going the free agent route] didn’t happen sooner,” said Nick Raffaele, who headed up Callaway’s Tour operations until 2015. “What it took was Nike’s exit. It’s simple supply and demand. With Nike no longer in the game and TaylorMade scaling back their Tour staff after the acquisition, there’s really only four major players left in the game: Callaway, Titleist, PING and TaylorMade, to some extent. There are fewer places to go.”  With fewer equipment landing spots, Raffaele, who came up with player valuations and negotiated equipment contracts during his time with Callaway and Top Flite-Strata, thinks the trend could be here to stay. For some, that could mean targeting apparel or headware deals, something Dufner began doing earlier this season when he sported different logos and brands at each TOUR stop.  Raffaele also believes the ever-widening gap in earnings — especially for those in the 30th to 125th range in the FedExCup standings — makes some players realize they can make up money that otherwise would’ve been made via full staff equipment deals with strong play on the course, using a setup comprised of clubs that play to their strengths.  In 1998, when Raffaele first started out on TOUR, the earnings gap between 30th and 125th was nearly $736,000. That gap increased to $1.16 million in 2000 and $1.969 million in 2015. In 2015, there were 42 players on TOUR who made more than $2 million in earnings for the season.  “That gap is one of the reasons why, if I was an agent, I’d encourage corporate deals and not take an equipment deal unless it was over seven-figures,” Raffaele said. Reed, who was with Nike before departing for Callaway midway through the 2013 season, is a perfect example of the success a player can have with a mixed setup. He had six different brands represented in his bag when he won at Augusta National. “I kind of just sat down with my wife and my team, and I was like, hey, well, even though we’re not going to have any kind of security without having a manufacturer, at the same time, if I feel like I have the best 14 clubs in my golf bag for my game as well as the best golf ball, who knows how many shots I could save?â€� Reed explained a few months after his win. “In the long run, I’m going to earn more on the golf course than I am off the golf course from a manufacturer.â€� Of course, the flip side of the equation is the financial security that comes from a staff deal. For some players, the guaranteed money is enough. For others, the chance to go it alone is worth the risk, due in large part to the potential reward that could be on the other side. For those players who opt for free agency, Taylor has one piece of advice. “As fast as some of these club models are changing, if you find something you like along the way, you better stockpile them,” Taylor said. “Learn from the guys who are already in that position. A bunch of them are doing really well, but you need to right tools, and backups for those tools, to make it happen.”

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