Inside the Field: The American Express

One of the oldest tournaments on the PGA TOUR that honors a legend who once won 11 tournaments in a row. A return to Trinity Forest for just the second time … the links looking course that actually is virtually treeless provides a great change of style in this middle period of the season. A local boy looking to burst out of a slump and a football hero continuing his new journey … welcome to the AT&T Byron Nelson. THE FLYOVER As you come towards the finish at Trinity Forest Golf Club you are acutely aware the final hole can be one tough cookie to crack. In fact last season the par-4 18th played over par and was the second hardest hole all week. With that in mind, if you need to make a late birdie, perhaps you need to target the par-3 17th. It is a deceptive hole which forces a player to play smart, away from pins, in order to use the contours of the terrain to get a good look at birdie. It is not as simple as taking dead aim as former U.S. Open winner Geoff Ogilvy describes in the following video. Importantly champion Aaron Wise played the hole in two under over the four rounds. LANDING ZONE One of the early chances to get after Trinity Forest is the drivable 315-yard par-4 5th hole. Players have to decide to either load up and have a go at the green or lay back near a couple of bunkers. Last season the hole ranked 16th in the tournament, playing to a 3.620 average. There were seven eagles. Here’s a look at how the field attacked the hole. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Joe Halvorson: “A cold front will move through the region on Thursday, but the coverage of thunderstorms will be limited as it is forecast to move through during the morning hours. Dry condition are then anticipated Thursday afternoon. This boundary will stall over Central Texas, with the potential for scattered showers and a few storms to drift back north on Friday. An upper level disturbance will bring likely chances for rain and a scattered coverage of embedded T-storms Friday night and Saturday. Rain will be heavy at times Friday night and Saturday, with 0.50- 0.75â€� forecast. Isolated showers and thunderstorms may linger early Sunday before dry conditions return. Thunderstorms are not expected to be severe Thursday through Sunday.â€� For the latest weather news from Dallas, Texas, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK Last year it was really firm, really fast, you really had to kind of position your ball around the course … and this week looks like it’s going to be a little wetter and softer. This year might be a lot more driver being sent around the golf course. BY THE NUMBERS 26 – The number of PGA TOUR starts it took for Aaron Wise to win. His three-shot win at Trinity Forest last season was the catalyst towards Rookie of the Year honors. He was the second youngest to ever win the tournament (21 years, 10 months, 29 days) behind Tiger Woods (21 years, 4 months, 18 days). 2,288 – FedExCup points won by Jordan Spieth in Texas since 2010. He is third on the list in that timeframe in the Lonestar state behind Matt Kuchar (2,534) and Charley Hoffman (2,387). 7 – Seven of the 12 AT&T Byron Nelson champions in the FedExCup era (2007+) have gone on to make the TOUR Championship, including six of the last nine. All 12 have made it to the BMW Championship. 1,916 – Number of birdies at Trinity Forest last year. Only one course on the PGA TOUR last season yielded more birdies than Trinity Forest Golf Club (Glen Abbey GC). SCATTERSHOTS Can’t miss – Last season the field found the fairway off the tee 79.50 percent of the time at Trinity Forest, marking the easiest fairways to hit on the PGA TOUR. Most players enjoyed success getting the ball on to the greens as well with the putting surfaces being the second easiest to hit on the PGA TOUR last season at 76.82 percent. But it was on the greens where the course tried to fight back. The field made 85.61 percent of putts from inside 10 feet, marking the lowest Putting Percentage from this range of any non-major course. Unhappy home – In his career Jordan Spieth has finished inside the top 10 in 35.19 percent of his starts on the PGA TOUR (57 of 162). However, the AT&T Byron Nelson is one of three TOUR events where Spieth has made multiple starts without recoding a top-10 finish (WGC-Mexico Championship & Farmers Insurance Open). In his eight previous starts at this event his best result is T16 in 2010. Romo hoping for members bounce – Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and current NFL on CBS analyst Tony Romo accepted his third sponsor exemption on TOUR, following invites at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship over the last two seasons. While he missed the cut in both previous starts Romo is a member at Trinity Forest and as such hopeful of a better performance.

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Whether it was pre-planned or not, Jason Day provided equipment enthusiasts with an early peek at TaylorMade’s yet-to-be-released P760 irons on Wednesday. Working with Tomo Bystedt, TaylorMade’s senior director, metalwoods product creation, Day went live on his Instagram account from the practice range and showed off what is soon to be the newest iron offering from the equipment manufacturer. What remains to be seen is how P760 slots into the current lineup. While Day offered looks at the 9-iron from multiple angles, Bystedt pulled the curtain back on the design, confirming that the transitional set will feature some of the best design aspects from the popular P770 and P750 models — in addition to technology from P790. Due to the number of players on TOUR who are currently playing blended sets, TaylorMade appears set to debut an iron with similar traits. Bystedt confirmed the two-piece long and mid irons (4-7) in the set will have a similar look to P770 and will include the same low-density Speed Foam found in the cavity of P790. The foam provides support to the face and dampening properties for improved sound. The 8-iron through pitching wedge will be a forged construction and likely won’t include Speed Foam. Instead, a premium will likely be placed on feel and workability with the scoring clubs. With P760 in the fold, TaylorMade’s iron lineup would include five different offerings. Due to the design aspects that were taken from P750 and P770 — and the fact that Day was testing the unreleased model — we could see TaylorMade replace one or both models with P760 to simplify the offerings. With Day testing the iron, it’s possible TaylorMade could provide full details in the coming weeks.

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