Inside look at every one of Tiger Woods’ 82 PGA Tour victories

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Presidents Cup combatants Xander Schauffele and Marc Leishman have seen immediate dividends from the new Callaway Mavrik driver as the company launches its new metalwoods and irons line. We first saw four-time PGA TOUR winner Schauffele with the new driver at the Presidents Cup in December and then again at the Sentry Tournament of Champions to kick off 2020. Schauffele garnered three points for the U.S. Team (3-2) at Royal Melbourne, including a very important Singles take down of International team veteran and on course leader Adam Scott. He then produced an impressive week in Maui, almost defending his title before falling in a playoff to Justin Thomas. “Equipment-wise, I’d say I’ve made the right decisions. I had a lead going into Sunday, which is what my team and I always work on, and the new equipment seems to be sliding in the bag perfectly,â€� Schauffele said in Kapalua. Leishman was part of 11 players in the field at the Sony Open in Hawaii to adopt the new driver that has taken the companies work with artificial intelligence or machine learning to a whole new level. The result was his best Strokes Gained: Off the Tee result over a tournament since June 2017. Leishman gained 1.1 strokes a round off the tee at Waialae Country Club (+4.394 for the week) to rank second in the field. He hit 73percent of his fairways, his highest driving accuracy percentage in a year. “This was the easiest driver fit I’ve ever had,â€� four-time TOUR winning Leishman said of suiting up to go to the Mavrik. “I think the new Mavrik driver will suit me a little better than the Epic Flash and I’m definitely feeling very confident with it. Obviously time will tell if I can keep up the improvement in my stats but the early signs are very good, especially on a tough driving course like Waialae.â€� Having debuted their supercomputer efforts last year with the Epic Flash driver, Callaway has beefed up the capabilities of their machine friend and create a specific face architecture for all three new driver heads in their lineup. The Mavrik, Mavrik Max and Mavrik Sub Zero. The new Flash Face SS20 design is thinner and features a more robust face structure that maximizes peak ball speed out of the center but minimizes the variation of ball speed around the face as well. For the first time Callaway is using FS2S titanium in a club face, an exotic material they say is remarkably strong and a full six grams lighter than traditional materials. The Jailbreak and a T2C Triaxial Carbon Crown technology return. Jailbreak features two internal bars behind the face that connect the sole and crown to promote faster ball speed and the T2C triaxial carbon crown is significantly lighter than a titanium crown, allowing engineers to redistribute additional weight to raise MOI and forgiveness. A.I. was used to optimize the internal structure and position of numerous ribs to create a more satisfying sound and feel. The Mavrik has the new Cyclone Aero shape to promote faster head speed. It is shallower from front to back, with a flatter crown, and a sole design that sweeps upward dramatically in the rear to create a markedly higher trailing edge. This helps decrease drag for increased clubhead speed. The head’s internal and external weighting includes a single, fixed 5g weight positioned at the sole’s back-center, to promote mid-level spin and a moderate draw bias. It has a 460cc head available in 9, 10.5 and 12 degrees. The Mavrik Sub Zero is a slightly smaller 450cc head that brings a combination of low spin and high MOI. The head features two interchangeable screws in the front and back, 14g and 2g, to promote changes to launch angle and spin-rate. It has a neutral ball flight bias and the lie angle is slightly flatter compared to the Standard and Max models. It is available in 9 and 10.5 degrees. The Mavrik Max is a more forgiving face with two interchangeable weights, 14g and 2g, to help change launch and spin. Off center hits can still bring distance while a distinct draw-bias weighting is implemented to help decrease a slice. It is available in 9, 10.5 and 12 degrees. Callaway’s Mavrik drivers retail for $449 and will be available Jan. 23. The new fairway woods also come in Mavrik, Mavrik Sub Zero and Mavrik Max. Callaway incorporated their A.I. designed Flash Face to work specifically with the size, shape and CG location of each head, promoting optimum speed and spin. Using C300 maraging steel the company has achieved high ball speeds that extend well across the face. A.I. also contributed to an enhanced Face Cup, which is engineered to provide speed across the face and Jailbreak Technology promotes more distance at every impact location by utilizing two internal bars that connect the crown and the sole. The standard Mavrik has a large and expansive hitting area for a high launch and a flat trajectory. The Sub Zero model has a tighter leading edge engineered to create more workability. The Max head has a lowered leading edge for better performance on shots that are hit lower on the face. All models feature interchangeable weighting to fine tune shot shape. The weighting system provides golfers with options to optimize launch angles, spin rates, and bias settings. And every club features high performance shaft options from UST, Project X and Aldila, along with premium Golf Pride grips. Callaway’s Mavrik Fairway Woods retail for $299 and will be available Jan. 23. Lastly the new Mavrik hybrids and irons have also been developed with the help of machine learning for the first time. Callaway say they’ve set a new standard for distance and performance with supercomputer help in these areas also. The hybrids come with Face Cup and Jailbreak technology and as with the fairway woods use A.I. to develop a different face design for every loft, promoting an optimal combination of speed, launch angle, and spin rate in each one. The result is easy launch, high flight, long carry and soft landing. The irons also feature a new Flash Face Cup and A.I. inspired separate face architecture for every loft. The differing faces bring a boost in ball speed and increased spin robustness off of every club in the set. Ball speed is further enhanced by the 360 Face Cup that flexes and releases at impact on center and off-center hits. A Tungsten Energy Core (precisely positioned custom tungsten weights in each iron to optimize launch and trajectory) allows Callaway to strengthen the lofts while still maintaining player preferred trajectories, spin rates, and land angles. Over one million urethane microspheres are strategically placed into each clubhead to absorb unwanted vibration while maximizing COR. The long iron faces are designed for launch and speed, while the mid-iron faces are engineered for speed and spin consistency. The short iron faces are optimized for spin and precision to promote pinpoint shot-making. Callaway’s Mavrik Hybrids retail for $249 while the 7-piece Standard and Max irons retail at $799 for steel and $899 for graphite and the 7-piece Pro irons are $899 in steel. All will be available Feb. 6.

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The four-tournament Florida Swing on the PGA TOUR is made up of The Honda Classic this week, the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, THE PLAYERS Championship, and the Valspar Championship. Although it sometimes seems to be, like the earth itself, mostly water – see: this week’s Bear Trap holes (Nos. 15-17) – the Florida Swing is in fact very driveable, like the 12th at TPC Sawgrass. It’s 162 miles from PGA National to Bay Hill, 120 from Bay Hill to TPC Sawgrass, 165 from there to Innisbrook, and 216 back to PGA National for a grand total of just under 700 miles. That’s four tournaments, no TSA agents, if you’re keeping score at home. Caddies sometimes call that taking Air Honda, which is convenient because so many TOUR pros live in Florida. They’re in Jupiter (Keegan Bradley, Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler, among others in the Honda field) and Orlando (Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter) and sprinkled liberally around Jacksonville near TOUR headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach (Cameron Smith, Jonas Blixt, Billy Horschel, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh, among others). “I wish it was a little bit closer,â€� said Gary Woodland, who finished T6 and T2 at Honda in 2011 and 2017, respectively, and lives in Delray Beach. “With no traffic, it’s 30 minutes, but there’s always a little bit of traffic around here. For me now with the family, it’s nice to be home, nice to sleep in my own bed, try to get just a little comfortable for the week.â€� Even better, he added, not many friends and family will follow him this week, allowing him to focus on golf. No matter where you rest your head at night, the Florida Swing means poa annua greens are out, and Bermudagrass is in. “I’ve always felt like this was my good stretch because I grew up on Bermuda greens,â€� said the defending champion at Honda, Keith Mitchell, who birdied the last hole to beat Fowler and Koepka. “I grew up in this part of the country playing golf, so I’m a little more comfortable here.â€� A lot of players are. Singh’s solo sixth at PGA National last year was his only made cut in six starts on TOUR last season. (He turned 57 last week and plays mostly on PGA TOUR Champions.) Who is most comfortable in Florida? Glad you asked. Woodland hasn’t missed a cut in seven Honda starts, while Tiger Woods, no surprise, has the most wins in Florida since 1983, with 16. More recently, 35 players teed it up in all four Florida Swing tournaments last season. Only three – Sung Kang, Jason Kokrak and Anirban Lahiri – made the cut in all four. Kokrak (69.94) had the lowest scoring average. Tommy Fleetwood and Sungjae Im were the only two to record multiple top-five finishes on the Florida Swing last year. Fleetwood is 47 under in the Sunshine State over the last three years. Lucas Glover has the most Florida Swing birdies over that span (151), while Jupiter resident and reigning PLAYERS champion Rory McIlroy has the most FedExCup points (1,338). The Florida Swing is comprised of the 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th events of the TOUR season, which is to say we’re just about to the halfway mark. (For three-hole stretches with catchy nicknames – The Bear Trap at Honda, The Snake Pit at Valspar – we’re just getting started.) Want to read the tea leaves on TOUR? The Florida Swing provides. Tiger Woods won the 2009 Arnold Palmer Invitational on his way to the FedExCup title, his second of two, and Jim Furyk captured the 2010 Valspar en route to the FedExCup that year. Jordan Spieth won the Valspar as part of his 2015 FedExCup-winning season, and of course McIlroy last season won THE PLAYERS, the FedExCup and PGA TOUR Player of the Year. In the FedExCup era, eight of 13 Honda winners have made it to the TOUR Championship. The Florida Swing is important from the get-go, and players know it. “Hopefully it’ll start to turn around here,â€� said world number three Brooks Koepka, who hasn’t found much form since coming back from a knee injury this season and will play the Honda, PLAYERS and Valspar. “I feel good. I’m excited to play.â€� The Florida Swing is also hard. Mitchell’s winning score of 9 under last year was the first single-digit (to par) winning score since Justin Thomas won – wait for it – The Honda Classic in 2018. The other three Florida Swing courses are no picnic, either. Woodland embraces the high degree of difficulty because there can be no mistaking the feedback; players simply can’t fake it around all that water. This is good because with their flaws magnified, they can get their games organized to take on the remainder of the TOUR schedule. “Yeah, it’s a hard golf course, and I think that benefits me,â€� Woodland said of PGA National. “Scores are never going to get too low. Obviously it’s a lot weather-depending, but it’s one of the most mentally demanding golf courses I think we face all year. “There’s a lot of shots,â€� he added, “especially coming down the back nine, that you just have to step up and hit shots. There’s just really no bail-out.â€� You could say that about a lot of the Florida Swing. Time to settle in and see who’s got it and who doesn’t, because there’s no turning back now.

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