Johnson reminds why he’s No. 1 at THE PLAYERS Championship

Jon Rahm's switch to Callaway received most of the early-week equipment buzz at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, but two of the game's biggest names also have new gear in play. Both Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas are using new drivers this week at Kapalua. They're paired together Thursday in the day's final group, which will tee off at 5:30 p.m. Eastern. Johnson, the reigning FedExCup champion, has put TaylorMade's new SIM2 driver (10.5 degrees) in the bag this week. The club will have his trusted Fujikura Speeder 661 X shaft. Johnson also is adding the SIM2 HL 3-wood (16.5 degrees) with a Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X shaft. Johnson found higher ball speeds with the new driver, but most noticeably more forgiveness across the face. "I’m going to play the new SIM2 this week. ... I really like it," Johnson told reporters about the SIM2 driver. "I think it looks great, it’s got a great feel. ... I’m always looking for more distance and more consistency. But the one I’m playing right now seems to be working pretty well." While we don't have any technical details on the new SIM2, it hit the USGA's conforming list last week and seeding (the process of putting the club in TOUR players' hands) began this week. TaylorMade looks to have upgraded the original SIM design by moving more weight to the perimeter of the club, including a heavy rear weight for a higher momentum of inertia (and greater forgiveness) and higher launch. Additionally, the weight track of SIM has been replaced by a new structure. It was also announced Thursday that Johnson, who has used TaylorMade equipment since turning pro, has signed a long-term extension with the company. Thomas has a new driver after recently changing balls, as well. He started using the new ProV1x late last year to add height to his iron shots. He put the ball in play at the Mayakoba Golf Classic presented by UNIFIN, where he finished T12. "I was trying to get a little bit more height on the ball, trying to be able to hold greens a little bit better when they get firm or with long irons," said Thomas, who led the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach last season. Thomas was a little later to the party in terms of getting into the new Titleist TSi3 driver but seems to have found a combo that works. The biggest issue for Thomas at the tail end of last year was spin off the lower-launching TSi3 head. After some testing with Titleist Tour Rep JJ VanWezenbeeck, they settled on the higher-launching Fujikura Ventus Red 6 X. This combo not only increased ball speed by 4 mph (175 to 179 mph) but also kept launch the same and only dropped spin down 200 RPM (2,300 to 2,100). Previous combos found spin dropping sub-2,000, which was a non-starter for Thomas. He is using a 9-degree head in the driver. "The big improvement for Justin with TSi is the increase in ball speed," VanWezenbeeck said. "His ball speeds were up at least a couple miles per hour versus his TS3, and with the new shaft we were able to dial in his launch and spin and get him that ball flight that he loves to see and gives him the most confidence." The difference in the TSi3 versus Thomas' TS3 can be done by honing in on the "i" in the new club's name. GolfWRX's Ryan Barath says, "Engineers spent a huge amount of time figuring out a way to make the drivers more stable higher and lower on the face ... to create smaller launch windows and greater spin robustness, (which) creates more consistent numbers and smaller standard deviation from optimal conditions. "… According to Titleist, the TSi2 has an improved high/low inertia of 13%, while the TSi3 comes in at 10%. In the world of engineering, single percent advancements are considered a big step so for Titleist to hit double digits on both products should be considered a big leap."

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With back-to-back weeks of invitational fields in the rear-view mirror, the PGA TOUR heads to Southampton, Bermuda and Port Royal Golf Course for the second edition of the Bermuda Championship. Brendon Todd buried his demons in this event last year as he closed with 62 to win by four. His first victory on TOUR since 2014 officially cured him of “the Yips”. The proof was winning the following week at Mayakoba and then taking fourth at RSM the week after. Todd will lead the field of 132 as they will attack 6,828 yards (Par-71) of breezy, coastal golf designed by Robert Trent Jones. The top 65 and ties will play the weekend. With only one hole over 517 yards on the card and the Bermuda/Zoysia rough sitting at only two inches, it is not a mystery why 30 players were double digits under-par last year. RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks The major defense of any coastal track is Mother Nature and the wind will blow this week. I’d expect the TifEagle greens, which at 6,000 square feet on average are hardly enormous, to run quietly this week as the wind is forecast to blow. Only 19 acres of fairway suggest very tight landing areas and 88 bunkers will provide deterrence off the tee and into the greens. Water will be in play on five of the holes. Last year, the inaugural event was played opposite the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai. This season, it is a stand-alone event with the winner earning $720,000 of the $4 million prize pool PLUS earning a trip to the Sentry Tournament of Champions, the 2021 Masters and THE PLAYERS Championship, just to name a few. As always, there is PLENTY to play for each week on TOUR and most of these guys will be rested and ready to go. Only Todd and K.H. Lee played in the invitational events over the last two weeks. The PGA Grand Slam of Golf was held on this track from 2009 thru 2014. The only participant from that run of events in the field this week is Stewart Cink. Recent Winner Recent Winners & Notables Inaugural Event 2019: Brendon Todd (-24) Shot a career-best 62 (co-low round of the week) to win by four. … Played in the final pairing with 54-hole leader Harry Higgs (2nd). … First-ever official event in Bermuda. … Led the field in Par-3 scoring and T1 Par-4 scoring. … Top five Fairways, GIR, Scrambling, Birdie-or-Better Percentage and Bogey Avoidance. … 27 birdies led the field. … Zero 3-putts. … 51st in Driving Distance. … Posted 63 in Round 2. … MC in four of the five events leading in but was T28 the week before in Houston. Notables: Higgs (not entered) was bogey free thru 36 holes and led the field in scrambling (22 of 23) for his best career finish. … Brian Gay (T3) posted his last top 10 on TOUR here with all four rounds in the 60s and was T4 Birdies (24). … Hank Lebioda also joined the podium as he closed with 63 and was top five in Putting Average. … Aaron Wise (T3) circled 20 birdies and two eagles and was T3 GIR. … Fabian Gomez (7th) co-led the field in GIR and made led the field with FOUR eagles. … Ryan Armour (T8) was third in birdies (25). … David Hearn (T8) was second in Fairways. … Wes Roach (T8) opened with 63 and was second in Putting Average. … Cut was 2-under (140). … 22 bogey-free rounds. … Only more eagles made at TPC Summerlin, TPC Boston and Muirfield Village Golf Club. Other Top Finishes: T11 Bo Hoag (posted two rounds of 64) T11 Russell Knox (opened with 64, T1 GIR) T11 Josh Teater (15-under last 54 holes) T15 Kramer Hickok (2nd, Scrambling) T15 Denny McCarthy (T9, Putting) T18 Rafael Campos T18 Scott Stallings T24 Beau Hossler (2nd birdies, 26) T24 Rob Oppenheim (opened with 64) T24 D.J. Trahan (T7, Fairways) Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2019-2020 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. Players in BOLD below deserve deeper inspection. Ball-Striking 4 Doc Redman 6 Jhonattan Vegas 9 Harold Varner III 10 Emiliano Grillo 11 Josh Teater 11 Chesson Hadley 15 Adam Schenk 15 Will Gordon 17 Henrik Norlander 20 Aaron Wise 26 Kyle Stanley 26 D.J. Trahan 29 Seamus Power 30 Doug Ghim Greens in Regulation 2 Kyle Stanley 3 Aaron Wise 4 Will Gordon 7 Josh Teater 7 Emiliano Grillo 12 Doc Redman 13 Henrik Norlander 15 Harold Varner III 16 Pat Perez 19 Jhonattan Vegas 20 Chesson Hadley 21 Nick Watney 23 Russell Knox 24 Chris Baker 25 Joseph Bramlett 26 Bo Hoag 27 Brice Garnett 28 Cameron Tringale 30 Cameron Percy Bogey Avoidance 6 Brice Garnett 9 Cameron Tringale 11 Russell Knox 13 Tim Wilkinson 14 Ben Martin 20 Adam Schenk 22 Pat Perez 23 Brendon Todd 27 Mark Anderson 27 Scott Stallings 29 Harold Varner III 30 Cameron Percy

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