Lingmerth maintains lead at Quicken Loans

ATLANTA, Ga. — Tuesday morning produced a curious scene on the practice range at East Lake Golf Club, as Bridgestone Golf’s Adam Rehberg stood a couple feet away from Bryson DeChambeau — a spray bottle full of water in his hand.  After each shot, Rehberg would bend over and spray DeChambeau’s golf ball with water; other times he’d spray not only the ball but club face and turf as well. To the casual observer, it might have looked like Rehberg had taken over duties as DeChambeau’s official club and golf ball washer. But when it comes to DeChambeau — arguably the most analytical player on TOUR — there’s a method to his unique practice routines.  On this particular day, DeChambeau was working with Bridgestone to understand how water — be it dew or light rain — affected spin rate on various wedge shots. During the 45-minute session, DeChambeau, who grew up soaking his golf balls in Epsom salt to determine the center of gravity, went through three different scenarios: dry club face and wet golf ball; wet club face and golf ball; as well as wet club face, golf ball and turf. “He’s looking to eliminate as many variables as possible,” Rehberg said. “In this case, he wanted to know how much water would affect not only spin rate and any potential hydroplaning but ball flight as well. “He and his caddie already are constantly taking into account adrenaline, wind, humidity and things of that nature. This is just another part of the equation that he was interested in. If there’s a loss in spin for a particular scenario, he can adapt for a flyer shot ” What DeChambeau learned from the session was that the difference in spin rate between a wet ball scenario and one where the club face and ball are damp was minimal. He’s also in the process of learning more about how turf types and wetness affect spin rate as well. It’s gotten to the point that Bridgestone has started ordering different turfs for DeChambeau to test on during his down time. To say he’s involved in the ball creation and design process would be a severe understatement. DeChambeau has a direct line to Bridgestone’s R&D department and stays in constant contact with them during the season. For example: The following day after winning the Dell Technologies Championship, the four-time TOUR winner was on the phone with R&D to discuss how the ball performed on the course that week. He’s also already gone through one full round of prototype testing on a golf ball that won’t see the light of day on retail shelves until 2020. “He’s R&D gold,” Rehberg said. “He’s feeding us info from shots he’s hitting under tournament conditions and trying to find a way to improve our ball. His information is invaluable, and the fact that he’s so hands-on only helps during the prototyping process.”

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South Florida native T.J. Vogel was the medalist in Monday’s qualifier for The Honda Classic. Vogel, who was born in Pembroke Pines, shot 64 at Mayacoo Lakes Country Club to qualify for his second event of the season. Andrew Novak and PGA TOUR rookie Nate Lashley shot 65 to earn their starts in The Honda, while Jhared Hack grabbed the final spot in a playoff. Vogel and Novak both qualified for this season’s The RSM Classic, as well. Both missed the cut. Vogel, 27, finished 10th on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit last year. As an amateur, he won the 2012 U.S. Amateur Public Links and attended American Heritage High School in Plantation, about an hour from PGA National. Lashley, 35, is 166th in this season’s FedExCup standings, making the cut in three of nine starts. He earned his first PGA TOUR card by finishing 11th on the Web.com Tour’s Regular Season money list in 2017, winning the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship. He won three times on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica in 2016 to win the money list. Novak, 22, turned pro last year out of Wofford College. He started his career on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada, making the cut in five of 11 starts. He shot 71-73 in his PGA TOUR debut at The RSM Classic. Last year, Hack finished 18th on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada’s Order of Merit. He had two third-place finishes in 12 starts. Hack, 28, has made one of four cuts on the Web.com Tour this year. The Florida native won the 2007 Western Amateur as a 17-year-old. Hack beat Ben Polland and Web.com Tour player Adam Svensson in a playoff Tuesday morning. Svensson is No. 2 on the Web.com Tour money list after winning The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club. He was the medalist in the 2015 Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament at PGA National.  

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