Jin Young Ko wins at Evian for 2nd major title of season

AUSTIN, Texas — With the aim to get new TaylorMade putters in the hands of the top PGA TOUR players for the Masters, TaylorMade’s Director of Global Tours Chris Trott says he’s been eyeing the 2019 World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play in Austin, Texas, to intrigue players with new designs. Trott says he’s been working for at least eight weeks going back-and-forth on new custom putters with Kia Ma and team, and some of the PGA TOUR players in question. “It takes me a few weeks, hence why it’s been a long process that started weeks and weeks ago,â€� Trott said. “I knew this week is where I was aiming, and I had to make it possible to get to here.â€� PGATOUR.com spotted new custom designs for many PGA TOUR players – some already using older versions of TaylorMade putters, and some using putters from other companies – including Jason Day, Justin Rose, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Hideki Matsuyama and Brooks Koepka. Photos of the custom putters are below, with brief explanations thanks to Trott himself. Hideki Matsuyama and Brooks Koepka Most recently, Matsuyama – who changes putters often — played a custom TaylorMade putter with an aluminum insert, while Brooks Koepka has been using the same custom Scotty Cameron T10 Select Newport putter for quite some time. Trott says the TP putters made this week for Matsuayma and Koepka were made “in the same batchâ€� as Tiger Woods’ custom TP Juno putter from 2018, although Matsuyama’s and Koepka’s putters have less face height and were made using a different mold. Matsuyama prefers a louder “clickâ€� at impact than the aluminum face of the previous TaylorMade putter he was using, so Trott built these custom TP putters with steel inserts that have plates behind them for a louder noise. While the custom Juno putters have “perfectâ€� swing weights, the custom Mullen mallets are a bit heavy, according to Trott. He says, “I don’t have time to get more of them milled up and machined. I’m just going with it. So we’ll figure it out.â€� Koepka, on the other hand, had not seen his custom TP Juno putter as of Monday morning at the Match Play. We’ll update this story with more information as it becomes available. Bryson DeChambeau Dechambeau has been using a SIK armlock prototype putter for quite some time, but Trott is going to take a shot at getting a TaylorMade Spider prototype into his bag. Trott says that the custom putter made for Dechambeau is “a complete shot in the dark.â€� Trott continues, “He hasn’t seen it, he hasn’t asked for it. I’m just waiting for the right time to get in there.â€� The putter is made with added loft and is equipped with an Armlock-style SuperStroke Flatso 17 grip. Jon Rahm and Jason Day Rahm and Day are each using the older TaylorMade Tour Red Spider putters. These new custom putters are Spider Tour prototypes that are made all-copper, without the white line down the center as with the retail Spider X versions. They have “five-millâ€� inserts, rather than “three-millâ€� inserts, according to Trott. Justin Rose Rose has been using a custom Axis1 putter equipped with a Lamkin Flat Cat grip. Recently, however, someone from Rose’s camp got in touch with Trott via Instagram requesting a custom TaylorMade Spider. Trott made at least two putters for Rose, including one that has a backstryke-style hosel. It’s also equipped with Rose’s gamer grip. Dustin Johnson “And then there are obviously about 165 Dustin Johnson putters,â€� Trott said. “And there’s another 125 underneath the truck in a box. I mean, if he doesn’t change putters now … so we’ll see.â€� Trott was exaggerating … kind of. Johnson changes putters often, and tests about 5+ putters weekly during practice rounds. The most notable is a Tour-prototype, sans white line, like the putters made for Day and Rahm. The face insert of Johnson’s is silver, rather than black, however.

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GREENSBORO, N.C. – In the fading light of early Sunday evening, Charles (Doc) Cunningham sat on his folding, metal carry chair and watched a man in knee pads carve letters into a sandcastle: Winner: J.T. Poston. James Tyree – Cunningham’s grandson. Someone handed Cunningham a carbonated beverage, and he took a sip and handed it back. At 85, he still regularly shoots his age or lower, and has done it so many times he no longer keeps track. The first time he did it, he was 67 and shot 66.  “I remember growing up, he just hit it – similar game to myself,â€� Poston said after shooting 62 to win the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club, his first PGA TOUR win. “Nothing flashy off the tee, but he kept it in front of him and his short game was unbelievable. That was kind of how I learned to play golf was watching him at a competitive level, learning from him.â€� Poston, 26, clearly learned well. He eagled the par-5 fifth hole, sprinkled in six birdies, and did not make a bogey for the fourth straight day. He becomes the first player to go bogey-free for 72 holes and win an individual TOUR event since Lee Trevino in 1974. Poston also becomes the fifth native North Carolinian to win the event; he’s from Hickory, a town of 40,000 about two hours away. RELATED: What’s in J.T. Poston’s bag? | FedExCup standings | Leaderboard Webb Simpson, another North Carolinian who was bidding to win the Wyndham for the second time (2011), birdied the 18th hole to shoot 65 and finish second, a shot back.  “Congrats to J.T., he played phenomenally today,â€� Simpson said. “Happy for him. He’s a young player, such a nice kid, so I’m happy for him.â€� Simpson wasn’t the only one; this was, to put it mildly, a popular victory. Poston’s mother, Cheryl, and father, Ty, were here. His brother, Bailey. His coach, John McNeely, who gave him a lesson on his takeaway just days before the tournament started that proved to be hugely helpful. Cousins. Friends.  Also over the moon were fellow players Patton Kizzire, who waited behind the green for Poston to roll in the testy 4-footer for par on 18, and Denny McCarthy, who didn’t quite get back in time.    “I’m in the middle of a laundry cycle at the hotel,â€� McCarthy said with a laugh. “And I just left my clothes in the wash right now. I wouldn’t miss this. He’s been a great friend to me the last couple years and he deserves this so much. He’s always shot me a text when I have success, or when I’m down.â€� Keith Mitchell, who won The Honda Classic earlier this season and lives with Poston as roomies at a house in St. Simons Island, Georgia, was trying to steady his breathing in front of the TV at home. Poston was there waiting for Mitchell when he won The Honda, and Mitchell so badly wanted to return the favor he said he tried to rent a plane to get to Greensboro in time to watch the back nine. Alas, he was told the weather was too poor. “We tried everything we could,â€� Mitchell texted. Poston attended Western Carolina in tiny Cullowhee, about three and a half hours away, and his mother reported seeing copious Catamounts purple at Sedgefield.  “It’s amazing how many people were out here pulling for him,â€� said McNeely, his coach. No one, though, had quite as personal a stake as Poston’s grandfather. Cunningham, who played in two U.S. Senior Amateurs and two British Senior Amateurs, used to drive Poston and his friends to junior tournaments, and before that he cut down a persimmon 5-wood, pried off the sole, and took the weight out to create the kid’s first club. Poston was 3. “I can remember as a kid following him to the range, and taking that 5-wood and just hitting balls for hours and loving every minute of it,â€� said Poston, who moved to 27th in the FedExCup and qualified for the Masters Tournament and Sentry Tournament of Champions, among other elite events. “I mean, our relationship, a lot of it has revolved around golf. … I learned from him, just from watching him and how he carried himself, when I was a kid.â€� Cunningham has had some health problems and been unable to attend many tournaments, but he walked the front nine Sunday before going in for some lunch. He came back out and did six holes of the back nine. He said Poston was 12 or 13 when he beat his grandfather for the first time. “I think he shot 76 and I shot 77,â€� Cunningham said. “It wasn’t an easy course. I’ve still got that scorecard.â€� The sand castle will not last. The rains will come, even if they mercifully held off for 72 holes, and his name will dissolve into slurry. But it will be on a plaque on the Wall of Champions behind the ninth green. That will endure, and so will the memory of winning in front of the man who started it all, the man he calls Pa Doc. “For him to be here,â€� Poston said, “that’s something that I will never, never forget.â€�

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