Kisner sets a daunting target at PGA Championship

With the 2020-2021 PGA TOUR season starting at the Safeway Open this week, TOUR seeding of products like the TaylorMade TSi2 and TSi3 drivers has begun. Accordingly, equipment junkies are scanning the horizon for upcoming launches at the beginning of 2021. With this in mind, let's take a look at five equipment stories to look forward to. TaylorMade P770 irons TaylorMade has had a huge year with the success of the SIM metal wood line as well as successful TOUR campaigns by Dustin Johnson (three wins, FedExCup winner), Jon Rahm (two wins), and PGA champion Collin Morikawa (two wins including the PGA Championship). With the recent release of the new P Series irons, the momentum will continue, but there is one iron, in particular, that may catch fire across the board—the 2020 P770. The hollow-body players iron is the leaner sibling to the cult classic P790 series, and does a few things that not only make it unique but may push all OEMs to raise the game to match it. Spin is the key factor here, and oddly enough it plays against type in the hollow-body iron category. PXG Gen 3 P, P790, and Cobra Forged Tec are all popular choices for their high-launch, high ball-speed profiles, but how they get to the ultimate number is mitigating lack of spin with the launch and descent angle. Good idea for a lot of players. But what about the players who want the ball speed, forgiveness, and ultimate control? Hello, P770. The P770 spins substantially more than its competitors and still matches those irons in distance. What does that add up to? Basically, it's a unicorn iron that will attract 10 handicappers and a wide range of elite players. When a golf equipment company can mix forgiveness, distance and legitimate control, it's poised to put itself head and shoulders above the rest. Titleist TSi metal woods The new Titleist TSi metal woods make their debut this week at the Safeway Open, and from the look of it, Titleist R&D threw the kitchen sink at this one. The driver category is as competitive as ever, and Titleist seems to have gone in a new direction versus the T Series woods. The technology here is still a secret, but what we do know based on testing with Titleist staff is that the ball speeds have been off the charts. And optically the driver has shown extremely well. Could this be the year Titleist chases down TaylorMade and Callaway for driver domination? We shall see… New Srixon irons If you ask any fitter around North America about the most popular irons, it’s safe to say you'll hear the name Srixon. The Huntington Beach, California, company lacks the overpowering market share of some of the other OEMs, but the quality and performance of Srixon irons has been second to none. The new ZX7 series irons were first teased out at the Charles Schwab Series PGA TOUR Champions event at Ozark National. Loyal staffers Ernie Els and David Toms put them in play immediately. Tech details will come soon, but the ZX7 seems to satisfy the serious Srixon users while turning the heads of those who tend to look from a distance but haven’t engaged yet. The iron market in 2021 will be very competitive with TaylorMade, Mizuno, and of course Srixon all bringing serious players products to the marketplace. Ping G425 metal woods Very little is known about the new Ping G425 metal woods. As is always the case with Ping, the information is controlled with CIA precision. What we do know is that Ping has had tremendous success over the past few years with the G400 and G410 series. Stability is the story here. Ping drivers traditionally are not the hottest on the market, but from a forgiveness and dispersion standpoint, they are at the top of almost every list. Most golfers crave speed but need stability more. It will be interesting to see once again how Ping can take an already A+ product and make it better. They are on a good run, and if the past three or four years are any indication, the G425 will remain a contender once again. Consumer demand vs inventory COVID-19 affected so many things in the world, but in the golf industry it actually had one very positive effect and one not so much. On the one hand golf’s popularity is soaring across the board. It's a sport we can play outside and keep our distance all while sharing some social times with friends. Since we all had ample time to research and admire new products hitting the market, more players turned to online stores to get their golf fix. This scenario has been amazing for OEMs' sales sheets after and during the lockdown, but there is one problem: Distribution channels from overseas are still narrow, which in turn creates a supply bottleneck. In simple terms: The clubs your order today may not actually make it to your bag for weeks — or months, in some cases. Multiple OEMs saw record sales during the pandemic. Retail locations closed but the internet made up for a huge portion of what companies lost from brick and mortar. Older and current product wasn’t the problem as much as new product, especially if that product is in high demand. Eventually this will subside and things will flow as normal, and although it might be frustrating to those waiting for their new clubs, it shows golf is alive and well. That’s all that really matters.

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Attorneys representing the PGA Tour submitted a motion Tuesday asking a federal judge to unseal certain details of contracts that were signed by the tour’s former players who defected to the rival LIV Golf circuit earlier this year.

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In the final round of The Greenbrier Classic, Xander Schauffele sticks his 162-yard tee shot to three feet to birdie 18 and pick up his first PGA TOUR win at The Old White TPC. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Schauffele, 23, in just his 24th TOUR start, becomes the latest from the decorated high school Class of 2011 to enter the winner’s circle. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Much has been made of Schauffele’s tee shot on 18, but the start of his hot streak goes back to his ‘tree shot’ on 18—a shot that almost nobody saw. It was June 5, and Schauffele had lost his drive into the trees on the last hole of regulation at the U.S. Open sectional qualifier at Germantown Country Club in Memphis. He didn’t panic. Instead, he threaded his second shot through the timber and back into the fairway; birdied the hole to get into a 5-for-2 playoff; got through that playoff the next morning; and ultimately finished T5 at the U.S. Open at Erin Hills. “Huge for me mentally,â€� Schauffele, a former San Diego State All-American, said of his U.S. Open performance. With the T5 and his win at The Greenbrier three weeks later, he now has punched his ticket to the next four majors. He also jumped from 94th to 27th in the FedExCup, setting himself up for a deep run through the playoffs. “Being a rookie, my only goal was to just make the playoffs and maintain—just stay on the PGA TOUR,â€� he said. 2. “Everyone that knows me knows I’m a late bloomer,â€� Schauffele said. Wait. What? He was a winner at San Diego State, graduated from the Web.com Tour to the PGA TOUR after one year, and at age 23 won in just his 24th TOUR start. But here’s the thing: Schauffele is part of golf’s high school Class of 2011, a group of baton-twirling overachievers that includes, among others, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger. Oh, and there’s also Jon Rahm, another guy who picked up a win this season before Schauffele, and who won the European Tour’s Irish Open on Sunday. “I always joke with my buddies saying it’s not cool to be 23 and on the PGA TOUR anymore,â€� Schauffele said, “since everyone that’s been 22, 23, 24, they’re all winning. So, I guess kudos to them for kind of pushing me along.â€� 3. Speaking of the Class of 2011, Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz continues to be a winning personality on TOUR, even if he hasn’t yet won. His putting? Brilliant. (For three of the four rounds, anyway.) His decision to turn off his phone and distract himself with 80s movies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Brilliant. His final-round 72 and T3 finish at The Old White TPC? Okay, that was less than brilliant, but after watching him play so well through two rounds at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, and three at The Greenbrier, it was nice to see Munoz get a nice consolation prize, a berth in The Open Championship. Munoz, who moved from 198th to 140th in the FedExCup, admitted he was feeling dejected as he walked off the 18th green until his caddie reminded him he’d earned a trip to Royal Birkdale. “The first major, I would never have thought it was going to be The Open Championship,â€� Munoz said. “So it’s awesome.â€� 4. Want to win on the PGA TOUR? Statistically, your best bet is still to play from behind. Schauffele was three behind Munoz entering the final round, and was the seventh come-from-behind winner at The Greenbrier in the tournament’s seven-year history. (Technically it’s been around for eight years, but flooding ended last year’s tournament before it began.) Only six of 34 first-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win, and 11 of 34 third-round leaders/co-leaders. 5. Phil Mickelson’s first tournament with his brother Tim on the bag was a success. Absent his usual caddie, pal Jim “Bonesâ€� Mackay, who caddied for Mickelson for 25 years, Lefty did more than just make the cut at The Greenbrier. His 6-under 64 Sunday was his best final round since an 8-under 62 at the 2014 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. He moved up 41 places to finish T20, and enjoyed the company of his little brother. For his part, Tim Mickelson, a player-agent for Jon Rahm, kept one eye on the Irish Open, which Rahm won hours before the conclusion of The Greenbrier. “That was a nice plus,â€� Phil Mickelson said of Rahm’s victory. “But [Tim is] just a fun guy to be around. I just love being around him. We had a great first week, and I’m looking forward to spending more time with him.â€� FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Schauffele became the seventh TOUR winner this season to rank inside the top 10 in strokes gained: off the tee (+1.224, 2nd) and strokes gained: putting (+1.433, 6th). He made 102 feet, 6 inches of putts per round at The Old White TPC, which was 23 feet more than his season average. He also made the longest putt by a TOUR winner this season, a 59 foot, 6 inch draino at the 12th hole in round three (see Top 3 Videos below). That was barely longer than the previous record-holder, Billy Horschel, whose 59 foot, 3 inch make at the 14th hole propelled him to victory at the AT&T Byron Nelson. 2. Munoz’s putting drop-off was shocking. He made 396 feet of putts while leading through three rounds—the second most through 54 holes on TOUR this season, behind only Russel Henley at the Shell Houston Open (408 feet). He was 35 of 35 inside six feet, and had jarred a field-leading 14 putts of more than 10 feet. Then he went from the sublime to the ridiculous. Suddenly ice cold Sunday, Munoz made just 32 feet of putts, his longest make measuring three feet, 10 inches. 3. Robert Streb finished second for the second straight Greenbrier Classic, although his last runner-up finish, to Danny Lee, came in 2015. (Flooding canceled last year’s tournament.) Streb will rue his double-bogey at the par-4 13th hole, but after his eighth straight round in the 60s at The Old White TPC, he moves from 137th to 68th in the FedExCup. 4. The Greenbrier sits at an elevation of 2,000 feet, which may not seem like much but was enough to skew the driving distance numbers. Although FedExCup leader Dustin Johnson is tied for first, year-to-date, in that stat (312.1 yards), seemingly everyone blew past that number at The Greenbrier. Winner Schauffele averaged 317.9 yards per poke, which was only 15th best in the field. Streb was at 323.9 (sixth). Tops in the field: Tony Finau, at 338.3 yards per drive. 5. Sunday marked yet another TOUR event won by a player under 25, a list of winners that includes but is not limited to Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Si Woo Kim, Daniel Berger and now Schauffele. That’s a big season for the kids, and a bright future for golf. TOP 3 VIDEOS 1. 2. 3.

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