Jimenez shines on record-breaking 707th European Tour start

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – If Tiger Woods breaks through to finally win at Riviera Country Club, he might owe a small part of it to Phil Mickelson. For decades on the PGA TOUR, Woods and Mickelson have driven each other to great heights. Call it a rivalry or don’t – but the fact is Woods loves to beat his fellow Californian and Mickelson wants nothing more than to beat Woods. And having Mickelson win last week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am might be the extra boost Woods needs at the venue he made his PGA TOUR debut as a 16-year-old but has yet to tame. Woods hosts the Genesis Open these days, but it is Mickelson who has two titles here. In fact, Woods was part of an announcement Wednesday that will see the event become elevated in status from next season on, becoming his own invitational much like the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and Jack Nicklaus’ the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Despite seven top-20 results, three of them top 10s, Woods has never won at Riviera Country Club. He’d love to rectify that before his place in the field becomes less competitive and more ceremonial. “It is certainly a love-hate relationship (with Riviera),â€� Woods said. “I love playing this golf course. I always have, I enjoyed playing up here when I was young with my dad. For some reason I’ve only played well here one time in the tournament. “It’s just one of those courses that you have to hit the golf ball well. There’s no faking it around this golf course, especially if the greens are up to speed like they are right now. It puts such a premium on putting the golf ball in play and hitting the ball high. “You’ve got to hit the ball high into any of these greens and really control your spin and put the ball in the right spots because getting up and down here, as we’ve all seen, kikuyu grass is not easy to do. It’s sticky, catches a lot, and now with it wet, some of the bump and runs are actually skipping so that makes an added little challenge.â€� Woods feels up to that challenge. And Mickelson’s win last week lights the fire again. “It has always pushed me,â€� Woods admitted of Phil’s success. “Each win by the other person always motivated the other. “My entire career, Phil will probably attest to this, we’ve always looked at the board to figure out where one another’s at. So we’ve always had that type of enjoyment of competing against one another. “And to see what he did last year in Mexico at 47 years old gave me confidence that I could somehow do it last year, and I was able to finally end my season with a win.â€� Woods has 80 PGA TOUR wins in his glittering career, just two short of Sam Snead’s record. In that context Mickelson’s 44 wins can sometimes lose some luster… but it shouldn’t. Consider the fact Mickelson won his events inside the time of Tiger’s dominance and sits ninth on the all-time win list (He had nine wins before Woods won his first, having started on TOUR four years earlier). The now 48-year-old’s win last week moves him just one behind Walter Hagen (45) with just Billy Casper (51), Byron Nelson (52), Arnold Palmer (62), Ben Hogan (64), Jack Nicklaus (73), Woods (80) and Snead (82) above him. As the youth brigade continues to excite the PGA TOUR, these old guys are proof you don’t have to fade away post 40. Woods proved he still has what it takes when winning the TOUR Championship last year. “It just shows how incredible they are. In their 40s and they’re still winning, and you’ve got a bunch of 20-year-olds out here that are now winning events. It just shows their golf games have stood the test of time,â€� five-time winner Bryson DeChambeau says. “Because of that, I have an incredible amount of respect for both of them, a level that I can’t even express through words.â€� After his second title inside 12 months, Mickelson revealed the reasons why he believed he was able to capture success again. While generally always competitive, the veteran had failed to win after his 2013 Open Championship triumph until February last year. Most figured his time might be up, but Mickelson rededicated himself to hard work in specific areas. “Historically guys when they get in their 40s two things decline, their putting and their swing speed,â€� Mickelson said after his win. “My putting has increased in the last three years and the best it’s been in my 25-, 28-year career, and my swing speed is as fast as it’s ever been.â€� Mickelson ranked ninth in Strokes Gained: Putting in the 2015-16 season and was 13th last season. Two years ago, he ranked 91st in clubhead speed at 114.24 mph. Last year, he was 54th in 116.49. He arrives at Riviera ranked 17th at 120.92. “For him to… trust me, I recognize this, it’s not easy to pick up clubhead speed, which he has done, as he’s gotten older. That’s been extraordinary. That’s what’s allowed him to stay out here with some of these longer guys, he’s been able to hit the ball further,â€� Woods marveled. Mickelson said it was the benefit of nine months of hard work with biometric swing studies and time in the gym. Woods is a marvel himself, coming back from back fusion surgery to average 120.24 mph swing speed last season (ranked 17th). If he can also remain healthy then we can all be optimistic of highlight reels being filled for some time to come. And while the pair is certainly on the back nine of their careers, here’s hoping we can get a few old-fashioned duels before it’s over. There’s no better time to start than this week.

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For years, PGA TOUR players have used raw wedges to help maximize spin around the greens for increased control of their wedge shots. Raw wedges, versus those that have a finish or coating applied, reduce the material between the golf ball and the grooves to ensure maximum friction as the ball runs up the face of the wedge. Callaway’s new Jaws Raw wedges – which replace the previous Jaws Mack Daddy 5 (MD5) wedges – have raw faces and extremely sharp grooves to enhance greenside spin. While Callaway is officially launching the Jaws Raw wedges to PGA TOUR players this week at the Travelers Championship, a number of players have already put them into play. Marc Leishman, Xander Schauffele and Kevin Kisner, for example, have each used the wedges in recent weeks. In fact, as Callaway reports, nine Jaws Raw wedges were in play at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. “I love the look,” said Marc Leishman. “I actually used to grind the leading edge of my old wedges to look like this (straighter leading edge). I’ve actually been playing with it since (the Zurich Classic of New Orleans), I took it from the photo shoot.” The relatively quick adoption of these wedges — very, very quick in Leishman’s case — can be attributed to Callaway’s willingness to work with TOUR players when developing the new wedges. Legendary wedge designer Roger Cleveland and the Callaway team used feedback from TOUR players to make a number of changes to the new Jaws Raw wedges compared to the previous Jaws MD5 models. The new Jaws Raw wedges introduce tungsten weighting and progressive hosel lengths to provide the optimal center of gravity for increased feel, trajectory control and forgiveness. The higher-lofted wedges have longer hosels that are balanced by two tungsten weights in the toe section. This configuration helps balance CG from heel-to-toe, but also moves it slightly higher to influence a lower shot with greater spin. The lower lofted wedges, on the other hand, have shorter hosels and less tungsten weighting in the toe sections to help lower CG for higher-flying shots from the fairway. Kevin Kisner, who’s been using the 52-degree Jaws Raw wedge, told GolfWRX.com on Monday that the “grooves are more aggressive, and I find it easier to hit from the fairway on full shots.” The raw-faced wedges have ultra-sharp grooves with a 37-degree wall angle. They also have groove-in-groove technology, which feature micro-milled grooves at a 20-degree angle to promote added spin on both straight-faced and open-faced shots. Golfers will notice that the new Jaws Raw wedges have a straighter leading edge, the toe pad has been muted to reduce glare, and they feature a smooth transition from the hosel section to the heel area that doesn’t show a pronounced “hook.” This feedback comes directly from TOUR players, according to Callaway. With 17 loft-grind combinations in total, the Jaws Raw wedge lineup introduces an all-new “Z” grind. The Z grind – which Callway says is used by Leishman – is a low-bounce option, but there’s significant chamfer, or roundness, on the leading edge to help reduce digging at impact and eliminate chunk shots. Other grinds in the Jaws Raw family include the standard S-grind, the versatile C-grind, the wide-soled W-grind, and the high-bounce X-grind. Available to the public on July 22 for $179.99 in steel, $189.99 in graphite, the Callaway Jaws Raw wedges will be available in either a Raw Face Chrome or un-plated Raw Black Plasma option. Brian Stuard, for example, opts for the Raw Black Plasma option, as pictured below. It’s important to note that the faces of the wedges are raw, which means they will rust over time. The stock shaft options include True Temper Dynamic Gold Spinner 115 grams (steel) and Project X Catalyst 80 grams (graphite), with a stock Lamkin UTx Charcoal grip. Callaway’s Jaws Raw wedges will have up to 13 color options to choose from within the Callaway Customs platform, as well as different medallions, emojis, and stamping options for further personalization.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Denny McCarthy, who came into this week having missed six of his last eight cuts, aced the 165-yard third hole en route to a second-round 69 and a 6-under total through the first two rounds of THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass. It was McCarthy's first hole-in-one on TOUR. "I just had a really good number today to that pin," he said after sprinkling in two birdies and one bogey Friday morning to tie Brian Harman (71) and Bryson DeChambeau (69) for the early clubhouse lead. "It was a perfect 8-iron for me, and just stepped up there and executed the shot. "Got a little lucky to go in," he added. Although he'd made two aces in practice rounds, this marked his first in a tournament. McCarthy has some positive mojo in the Jacksonville area. He won the 2018 Korn Ferry Tour Championship at nearby Atlantic Beach Country Club, securing his PGA TOUR card. "Definitely some good vibes here in Jacksonville," he said. "Actually, I talked about it yesterday, one of my buddies Ben Coles played there yesterday and brought back some good memories for me. Living in Florida the last five, six years, I just am comfortable when I get on Florida grass, even though this is overseed. I had a good week last week. Didn’t quite get the result I wanted, but it was nice after kind of a poor West Coast for me." McCarthy closed with a 76 for a T26 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard last weekend. While not the result he'd hoped for, he said it still gave him some momentum on Bermudagrass. "Yeah, I love this place," he said of TPC Sawgrass. "I think it suits my game well. You don’t need to be long. I hit a lot of 3-woods and 5-woods off the tee today. I think it’s just unique. I’m someone who, I don’t see many stock shots, I like to curve it off tees a little bit, and when I need to use my imagination, I think that works to my benefit."

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