Leaderboard: What’s happening at the WGC-Mexico Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – There was much made of the calendar switch from May to March for THE PLAYERS Championship. In the equipment world, many wondered if there was going to be an equipment trend that would follow – different wedge grinds, a different set makeup at the top end of the bag, or possibly more equipment testing given it’s new positioning ahead of The Masters. TOUR reps from several different companies, and players themselves, however, said that March versus May had little-to-no effect on a trend of equipment changes. That being said, a few specific players made changes this week at THE PLAYERS. Here are the highlights of all the noteworthy club changes this week. Mickelson’s Epic Flash Sub Zero one-diamond proto Phil Mickelson went on record proclaiming that he’d use a Callaway Rogue driver at least until The Masters, instead of the Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero prototype he played early in 2019. He did, in fact, switch back into a Callaway Epic Flash driver at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, however. At THE PLAYERS, PGATOUR.COM took photos of his new Epic Flash that has just one diamond lasered onto the hosel, instead of the three-diamond prototype he used previously in 2019. Bryson’s festive headcovers The most noteworthy piece of equipment given the event’s place on the calendar was Bryson DeChambeau’s headcovers, honoring St. Patrick’s Day. The gold colorway of the covers could actually have a dual meaning; signifying the Irish “pot of gold,� and the new PLAYERS trophy is all gold. The headcovers are also imprinted with his initials “BD,� and they have four-leaf clovers stitched into them. DeChambeau also had a St. Patrick’s Day-themed golf bag made by Vessel. Tiger’s fresh wedge Tiger Woods, who’s been known to put fresh wedges in the bag ahead of majors, put a new 60-degree TaylorMade Milled Grind wedge in the bag for THE PLAYERS. There was much speculation on social media that it was a new wedge grind for the week, but his caddie Joe LaCava assured PGATOUR.COM that it was simply a new wedge made with the same specs and grind as his previous 60-degree wedge. Woods’ lob wedge is made with 11 degrees of bounce on the sole. Click here to see Tiger’s full WITB for 2019. Tony Finau makes a big switch Finau has used Accra prototype shafts in his metalwoods for his entire tenure as a Ping staffer, but that changed at THE PLAYERS. He switched into new Mitsubishi Diamana RF-series shafts in his Ping G410 Plus driver and three wood. While he picked up about 5 mph of ball speed, according to a Ping representative, the main reason for the switch was his ability to start the ball more on line with the shafts, yet still allowed for him to hit the fade he prefers. Click here for more information and photos on Finau’s new shafts. Patrick Reed makes a huge iron change Reed, who’s used a mix of Callaway MB-1 prototype irons and Razr X MB irons for years, put a Titleist 718 CB 4-iron and Titleist 718 MB irons (5-PW) in the bag this week due to their look, turf interaction and higher launch. They have loads of lead tape on the bottom portion of their back cavities. The 4-iron is equipped with a True Temper Dynamic Gold AMT X100 shaft, and the 5-PW are equipped with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts. After switching to a Srixon Z-Star for the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Reed switched back to a Titleist Pro V1 for the rest of that event, and he stayed with the Pro V1 at THE PLAYERS. Brandt Snedeker’s golf ball and shaft switch up Snedeker has used a Bridgestone golf ball for quite some time on TOUR, but he switched to a Srixon Z-Star XV golf ball at THE PLAYERS. He also conducted extensive driver testing ahead of the event, testing heads and shafts from various companies. Ultimately, he went with the TaylorMade M5 driver head he’s used throughout 2019, but switched from a Fujikura Speeder shaft to a Fujikura Ventus 6X. Jason Dufner changing it (back) up Dufner, who’s been bouncing around with different flatsticks lately, put his custom-made Scotty Cameron putter back in play that he’s used off-and-on since 2015. This time around, however, it has an LA Golf Shafts Ozik putter shaft in it. Also, while Dufner’s been experimenting with a Cobra driver for weeks (but hasn’t put in play during competition), he switched from his gamer Titleist driver to a Ping G410 Plus driver that’s equipped with a Project X HZRDUS Yellow shaft. Ryan Moore goes to Toulon Moore, who made headlines for not having to putt at all after making a slam-dunk hole-in-one on No. 17 this week, has been switching putters plenty so far in 2019. At THE PLAYERS, Moore put a new Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas putter in play with a Stroke Lab shaft. Champ goes back to iBlades While Champ was one of the numerous Ping staffers to switch into Blueprint irons in 2019, he switched back into the iBlade irons he played in 2018, and when he captured his first PGA TOUR victory. Along with switching heads, he also went back to the KBS Tour C-Taper 130X iron shafts. Champ switched into an LA Golf Shafts prototype driver shaft at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but he returned to a Fujikura Pro Tour Spec shaft at THE PLAYERS that he’s played throughout his professional career. Hideki goes to a TaylorMade driver Hideki Matsuyama is no stranger to making club changes. His staff bag is routinely filled with 20+ clubs during any given practice round day. But while his bag is typically packed with different irons and wedges, Matsuyama switched from a Callaway Epic Flash driver to a TaylorMade M5 driver at THE PLAYERS. He switched heads but not shafts; his new driver remains equipped with a Graphite Design Tour AD-DI shaft. For more equipment photos from THE PLAYERS, check out our full gallery. 

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After making his first official PGA TOUR start in exactly a year and his first cut since the 2015 Wyndham Championship, Tiger Woods shot a final-round 72 at breezy, warm Torrey Pines on Sunday. He finished the week at 3-under, well back. What did we learn? 1 Woods seems to be pain-free. After four back surgeries in less than four years, priority one for Woods, 42, is to stay healthy. That was the case at the Farmers, where he tested his fused back with all sorts of lies. Woods spent so much time in the long grass, Nick Faldo spoke for many when he said before the final round, “He’s pounded the back more than I thought he was going to have to do.� When it was all over, Woods said, “To be able to take cuts like I did, hit out of weird lies, it’s something that I didn’t know that I could do yet because there’s really no rough in Florida right now. It was nice to get out here and do it in competition.� 2 He is fighting wildness with the driver. Woods hit just three of 14 fairways on Friday (71), Saturday (70) and Sunday (72), and some of his misses were off the planet. Although you wouldn’t know it from the stat line, he was better Sunday, when he split the 10th fairway with a 278-yard opening tee shot, bombed a wind-aided drive 358 yards into the short grass at the first hole, and missed a handful of fairways by just a few paces. Still, he hit a grand total of just nine fairways over the last three days and he was last in the field in driving accuracy. “I feel like I played a lot better today,� he said Sunday. “These conditions, they were tough.� 3 He has been working on his short game. Woods averaged 27.5 putts per round. He also got up-and-down seven times in nine chances for the second day in a row Saturday, after which he was asked what might have happened without his A+ short game. “It would have been snowing,� Woods said, alluding to a score in the 80s. By the time he nearly holed his pitch shot from just in front of the sixth green Sunday, setting up a tap-in for par, his chipping problems from 2015 seemed like a distant memory. “Yeah, these weren’t down the middle, on the green, hit the first putt, one-hand the second one,� Woods said. “These were tough, tough scores. I had to fight for each and every one, and that’s very pleasing. I can grind it out with the best of them.� 4 He still has a nose for the competition. Woods flirted with the cut line in the second round but made it to the weekend with a final-hole birdie. He also scratched out a 2-under 70 in the third round when by his own admission, “I didn’t have it.� Third-round playing partner Brandt Snedeker spoke of being impressed with Woods’ “fight and his grind.� When Woods got to 5-under through 12 holes Sunday, and J.B. Holmes bogeyed, Woods was briefly within five of the lead. He later said he thought a 65 might get him into a playoff, given the windy conditions. 5 His golf mind remains sharp. Woods has won the Farmers seven times, and has two other victories at Torrey, the 2008 U.S. Open and 1991 Junior World. His course knowledge and his usually sharp mental game were a potent one-two punch as he proved the adage that golf is a game of good misses. “I was trying to miss the ball on the correct sides,� he said after the third round, “because I knew I didn’t have it. Trying to give myself the correct angles and I did that most of the day.� He could have said the same after the other three rounds, too.     6 He still brings the crowds. Woods drew the biggest galleries all week. What else is new? Some had seen him before, others were just curious. “Have you ever seen a living legend?� one fan asked. Others still used the occasion to dress up, such as the female fan in a fur tiger suit that had to have been a little warm. Asked about the crowds, Woods said, “Yeah, I haven’t had people yelling like that in a while. It’s been pretty quiet at Medalist and back home.�         7 He is still long. Woods took a healthy rip at the ball all week, and often outdrove his younger playing partners, even with a fused back. His 358-yard drive at the first hole Sunday, his 10th of the day, left one fan marveling, “I can’t even see that far.� 8 He will be busy in his off-weeks. Woods will not play in the Waste Management Phoenix Open or the AT&T National Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but is expected to be back in action for the Genesis Open at Riviera, for the first time since 2006, potentially followed by The Honda Classic at PGA National. “I can feel some of the things I’m doing wrong in my swing,� Woods said, “so we’re going to go back to work.� Said Faldo, “I think I’m going to give him another go. You know, this is one year out; an awful lot of rust. I know how I would feel.� 9 He may just need more tournament play. Snedeker, in the early stages of coming back from a rib injury, said he was expecting to contend after shooting a 65 in the Wednesday pro-am. It didn’t happen for him, underlining the difference between practice and tournament rounds. He doesn’t need to tell Woods. The Farmers was just the first step in what will hopefully be a longer journey back for the 79-time PGA TOUR winner. “It’s nice to have two weeks off,� Woods said. “But it’s more important that I got this tournament under my belt where I can feel some of the things I need to work on because, you know, hometown speed versus game speed is two totally different things. As much as we try to simulate it at home, it’s never the same.�

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Rickie Fowler birdied two of his final four holes and overcame a bizarre triple bogey on the 11th hole at TPC Scottsdale to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Sunday. Leading by five, Fowler took a 7 on the par-4 11th after a chip shot skipped across the green and into the water and a second ball rolled into the water on its own. Branden Grace took the lead with consecutive birdies, but hit his tee shot into the water on the drivable par-4 17th for a bogey. Fowler had two-putt birdies on Nos. 15 and 17, then got up-and-down on the 18th for par. He shot 3-over 74 to finish at 17-under 267 for his fifth PGA TOUR victory and second in seven tries with a 54-hole lead. Grace closed with a 69 to finish two shots back. MUST READS: Round 4, Waste Management Phoenix Open Winner’s Bag: Rickie Fowler, 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open Miller’s retirement week includes Cheez Whiz story Champ marks Black History Month with black, white shoes Lyle memorial brings perspective to rowdy 16th hole

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