Major season recap: Who was best of the best?

GolfWRX.com: Do you make any bounce changes to your wedges to prepare for Augusta, in particular? JORDAN SPIETH: I don’t. I don’t change anything for Augusta. I don’t change anything regardless if I’m on soft sand, firm sand, if I’m on bentgrass, or really grainy Bermuda. I’ve learned to pitch on grainy Bermuda, meaning I drive the ball into the ground. I don’t use bounce, so I have very little on my 60-degree. Even out of a bunker, I try to enter the club really close to the ball so it doesn’t make a difference if it’s firm or soft to me. It’s a technique thing. If it’s off, it’s not the bounce of the wedge. GolfWRX.com: With your wedges, you would say you use the leading edge rather than the bounce? JORDAN SPIETH: I drive the ball into the ground. If I need loft, I get it down there and create the loft late into the ball, but I’m never hitting the ground first unless I have to. GolfWRX.com: So you haven’t made any true club changes in a while, except for changing into the SM9s this year? JORDAN SPIETH: I have the SM9’s, and then my 60-degree is a prototype that they make special. The only equipment changes I make are going to a driving iron versus a hybrid, depending on where I’m playing. I assume this year, as Augusta has gotten longer, it’s going to be a hybrid. I’ve played both at Augusta before, but the hybrid’s been better for me just because those par 5’s are sitting right at hybrid length into those greens. GolfWRX.com: I noticed a lot of you use a WedgeWorks proto for your 60-degree. What’s different about that wedge, and is that something you guys fit into at TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) in Oceanside, or where does that wedge come from? JORDAN SPIETH: I have done testing at Oceanside. That’s obviously an easy way to test a bunch of different grinds, looks and lofts, because they have so many out there and it’s a great facility. But we also have access to pretty much all of it week-to-week out here. To be honest, we’re very spoiled in that sense. I changed wedge grinds – I can’t even remember when it was, but it was years and years ago – to the T-grind. That was just because when I opened it up, it looked even cleaner and flush to the ground to me. We have access to Aaron Dill here on TOUR who’s our Vokey rep. He’s so good. He brought me an SM9 60-degree today, and I said, “It looks a little different than mine. Can you get me one of the other ones and I’ll compare and contrast?” He said, “I can weld this one down and make it look like your other one, and also make a backup of one you already have.” It’s normally no issue for us to find something we like. GolfWRX.com: That’s a little bit different than the access the rest of us have… Jordan Spieth: Well, we also wear ‘em out a lot faster. GolfWRX.com That’s because you actually practice! Thanks for the time, Jordan. Play well this week. This week, Jordan Spieth is defending the Valero Texas Open title that he won last year to end a winless drought that was nearing four years. The Valero Texas Open has a unique place in this season’s schedule, as it’s the final test before the Masters. Ahead of Spieth’s Valero title defense, we caught up with the 2015 Masters and FedExCup champ to pick his brain about equipment. Spieth discussed his replacements for a driver that recently cracked, any changes he makes for Augusta National and more. Read below for GolfWRX.com’s gear Q&A with Spieth. GolfWRX: You’ve obviously been making a lot of swing changes and are still working hard on your swing. I’m wondering if you’ve coupled that with any gear changes to adjust, such as lie angle, loft, shafts, etc.? JORDAN SPIETH: I haven’t. I cracked my driver at THE PLAYERS. I’m somebody (with) really low spin, and as drivers continue to be more and more low spin, I’ve messed around with a couple different loft changes and settings. I’m trying to get a (Titleist TSi3) driver head to produce like the one that I had for the last year, which was really, really solid. I’m looking to get enough spin without overspinning. So that’s been the challenge right now. But no, the rest of the bag has felt really good. Launch conditions have felt really nice. I just change wedges this time of year. Get some fresh ones in as we get into the spring, but nothing with any kind of launch or lies.

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It’s not like Morgan Hoffmann could just go to the drugstore and get a prescription filled and he’d suddenly feel better. Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy doesn’t work that way. There’s no known cure for the progressive neuromuscular disorder that the PGA TOUR veteran has. For five years, Hoffmann had consulted more than two dozen different doctors in an effort to find out why his right pectoral muscle seemed to be deteriorating. He could tell his swing speed had decreased and he could see the atrophy in his chest when he looked in the mirror. In December of 2016, Hoffmann received the life-altering diagnosis of FSHD, which primarily affects the muscles of the face, chest, shoulders and upper arms. There is no treatment to halt or reverse the progression of the disease that reportedly affects one in 15,000-20,000 adults in the United States. Hoffmann eventually went public a year later, writing a first-person essay in The Players Tribune that touched on not only the diagnosis but also his desire to raise awareness of the disease and continue his long-time mission to promote health and wellness for kids in need. “All the doctors in the U.S. told me there was no cure and pretty much (said) good luck,â€� Hoffmann recalls. “… That’s pretty unfortunate to hear what the doctors had to say, but I don’t believe that.â€� So, Hoffmann, who is playing in this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship, decided to take control of his body and his health. One of the first things he did was go to Nepal for four months to undergo a series of herbal and holistic treatments. Hoffmann actually had been to Nepal before. He and one of his Oklahoma State teammates, Sean Einhaus, whose mother is from Kathmandu, had played 108 holes to raise money to send some computers to a school that his family had built there. Several years later, Hoffmann got to see the technology put to use. This trip was different, though. The actual treatment lasted for 90 days. He’d stretch out on a bed each morning, and therapists would rub herbs and plants mixed with water on him. The mixture would dry and soak into his body, then at night he could finally shower. The next day, they’d do it all again. “I just laid there,â€� Hoffmann remembers. “I kind of like learned the language a little bit. I had a translator and he kind of taught me a bit every day. That was cool.â€� Hoffmann thinks the treatments slowed the progression of the disease. He has also adopted an alkaline diet – eating only fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds – that proponents feel can rid a person’s body of acids that promotes disease and increases inflammation. “I just take it day by day,â€� Hoffmann says. “My muscles aren’t as fast as they used to be, and my energy is pretty good. I think my diet has a lot to do with it.â€� Hoffmann also has established a foundation to raise money to build a health and wellness center, likely in Florida, where people can learn about everything from nutrition to meditation. Two fundraising pro-ams in the span of 14 months have raised a phenomenal total of nearly $2.6 million. “We’re not raising money for research because you don’t know where it goes exactly,â€� Hoffmann says. “… We’re going to just build a health and wellness center and try to educate people on how to eat properly and make sure that they can alkalize their body and get rid of disease that way.â€� As far as golf is concerned, Hoffmann is playing this season on a major medical extension. He has six more events, counting this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship, to earn 232.40 FedExCup points so he can retain his TOUR card. Last week, Hoffmann opened A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier with rounds of 66 and 65 but shot a pair of 71s on the weekend and ended up tied for 31st. He says he has worked on getting his legs more active in his swing, and he’s excited to see some speed coming back. Most importantly, his attitude is positive. He is not stressing out about whether he can fulfill the requirements of his medical extension. He knows there are more important things in life. “I don’t see it as pressure anymore because it’s just golf and it’s something that I love and I’m just trying to have fun,â€� Hoffmann says. “I’m trying to enjoy the process.â€�

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