Justin Rose has vaulted into the lead as he plays the back nine. Can he grab the advantage heading into the weekend?
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Abraham Ancer of Mexico learned the hard way that a game that got him to the PGA Tour was good enough to win. A Labor Day finish on the TPC Boston will be his biggest test. Ancer opened with three straight birdies, had a birdie chance on all but one hole and shot a 6-under 65 that gave him a one-shot lead going into the final round of the Dell Technologies Championship that could change his career.
PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Ever since Nike left the hard goods industry, Patrick Reed — a former Nike staffer and current equipment free agent — has been no stranger to testing and using different equipment from different companies all throughout his bag. Over the last couple weeks, however, Reed made two especially eye-popping changes. First, he switched into a Srixon Z-Star golf ball for the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard after testing it during practice sessions at the event. For his next three rounds, however, Reed switched back into a Titleist Pro V1 golf ball – actually, it’s a Pro V1 left dot prototype — that he started using at the 2018 World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship and used to win the 2018 Masters. Then, on Tuesday just ahead of THE PLAYERS Championship, Reed switched from a mixed set of Callaway MB-1 and Razr X MB irons into a Titleist 718 CB 4-iron and Titleist 718 MB irons (5-PW). As for the shafts, he uses a True Temper Dynamic Gold AMT X100 in his 4-iron, and the standard Tour Issue X100 shafts in the rest of his irons (more on that later). Certainly, these are major switches to make during and directly before big events. To learn more about his process and reasoning for the changes, PGATOUR.COM caught up with Reed on Monday ahead of the Valspar Championship. Why the big iron switch on the week of THE PLAYERS? “I needed a new set because my irons were getting worn out. When I talked to the Titleist guys, I was fortunate enough that they were able to help me out and work with me to get a new fresh set of irons into play. After they built them, I absolutely loved the way they I hit ‘em and how they were performing. From that point on, I felt like I had to get them battle-tested and put them under-the-gun, and I was able to do that last week…I actually got them that week (of THE PLAYERS). I was looking for new irons already because, my Callaways were great, they were just worn out. The grooves were gone. For me, (I just had to) make sure (the Titleist irons) had the right weight and the right swing weight, because they looked the same and felt the same going through the turf (as the Callaway irons). For me, it was just making sure they were fresh. I knew I needed a fresh set leading into this stretch [of tournaments]. When I tested [the new Titleist irons] on the range, they were unbelievable on Tuesday, and Wednesday when I played on the course they were just as well. I felt like… I hit them great on the golf course, I just needed to dial in distances a little bit. “They feel great. I look forward to continue playing with them.â€� Did you apply all that lead tape yourself? Was it strictly for weight purposes, or ball flight characteristics, too? “Well actually (Titleist) did. I just gave them my specs and told them what weight and swing weight that I wanted. I asked them if there’s any way they could do lead tape rather than slugs in the shaft. And they said, ‘Yeah, no problem.’ They’ve done it with plenty of other guys before. So they figured out how much lead tape to put on each club to get it to the correct weight. It’s strictly to get it to swing weight and to make sure the weight was throughout the whole head and not just the heel (shaft slugs tend to put weight more in the heel). So they put lead tape on the back of them, and yeah it had nothing to do with actual flight, just strictly to make sure I was comparing apples to apples rather than different-weighted clubs than what I’ve been playing.â€� Why the True Temper Dynamic Gold AMT X100 in your 4-iron, rather than standard Tour Issue X100s as with the rest of your irons? “I’ve always used an AMT in my 4-iron because it’s always been a little strong. So just to get a little bit more height and a bit more speed.â€� On the one-round switch to Srixon… “It was in play for a round. They make an absolutely amazing golf ball; a lot of these companies do. And it was just one of those things I felt like I didn’t have enough time at home to test, and I felt like going into this stretch I had to have some kind of constant. I couldn’t have everything change. My Pro V1 has been battle tested. I won Augusta with it. I’ve played a lot of great golf with it. So, I decided to stick with that ball to make sure everything else is tight before I try to venture out onto golf balls. I’ve been playing the (Pro V1 left dot) since Mexico last year.â€� Why Titleist Vokey SM5 wedges, and not a newer version? “Honestly, for me I just like the way the weight is, and with how much work Titleist does on the grinding on my wedges, for me it’s just… my 61 (degree)… it’s always been the one I’ve loved. It’s very interesting how superstitious golfers really are. Because once you win with something, it’s hard to change. When I won Augusta I won with a 60 (degree) SM5, so it’s one of those things that every time I move [into a new wedge], I try to get an SM5.â€� Reed says he’s “99-percentâ€� sure the setup he has for this week’s Valspar Championship will be his gamer set for the foreseeable future. With Reed’s propensity for equipment changes, however, who really knows? Click here for more equipment changes at THE PLAYERS. Click here for more equipment photos from THE PLAYERS.
NAPA, Calif. — Justin Lower weathered the wind and birdied the 18th hole Saturday to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the season-opening Fortinet Championship. Lower shot a 3-under 69 to get to 13 under at Silverado Resort & Spa, with his fifth birdie of the round giving him his first career 54-hole lead in his 29th start on the PGA TOUR. He’s looking for his first TOUR victory. Defending champion Max Homa and Danny Willett were a shot back after even-par 72s. Byeong Hun An had a 71 to get to 11 under. While several players who went out early in the day posted low scores in good playing conditions, the course got much harder late in the day when the wind picked up to wreak havoc on the players. Willett took several minutes on the eighth green clearing off blowing leaves just before making a birdie putt that put him briefly in the lead at 13 under. Workers with leaf blowers came out on the next hole to keep the green clean but Willett made a double-bogey 7 after his approach shot flew past the green. There were few birdie chances available with players happy with pars late in the day. That led to a very condensed leaderboard with eight players within three shots of the lead headed into Sunday. An moved into a one-shot lead when he hit a solid tee shot on the par-3 15th came and then made a birdie from about 6 feet to get to 13 under. But he gave it back and more with a double bogey in the par-5 16th when his second shot got caught near the root of a tree. That opened the door for Lower, who put his second shot on the par-5 18th just off the green and then made the short birdie putt. It’s been quite a few weeks for Lower, who appeared to lose his TOUR card after three-putting the final hole of the Wyndham Championship for a bogey when he only needed a par to remain in he top 125. Lower found his way back into the top 125 and is taking advantage of it in the first tournament of the new season. Conditions aren’t expected to be much better in the final round, which has already been altered by an ominous forecast with rain and wind. The leaders will tee off several hours earlier than scheduled with the final round featuring threesomes off split tees. Davis Thompson and Harrison Endycott shot the low rounds of the day with 65s that left Harrison in a four-way tie for fifth place with Paul Haley II, Matt Kuchar and Adam Svensson. Endycott was a stroke behind in a four-way tie for ninth. Endycott the first player out on the course and played as a single in his first career tournament make the cut with a birdie on the the final hole of the second round. He overcame a broken driver early in that round and was happy to have all of his clubs available Saturday. “Definitely helps when you’ve got a driver in the bag after yesterday’s shenanigans with the cracked driver face,” he said. “This golf course is tough hitting 3-wood everywhere. So it was nice to get freed up, played some good golf today.” Haley, who had gone 3,315 days between appearances on the TOUR from the 2013 Wyndham Championship and the start of this tournament, was tied with Thompson in the group at 10 under after a 66.
