McIlroy feels capable of winning before break

It's hard to believe it’s been a decade since Anthony Kim's last PGA TOUR victory, at the 2010 Vivint Houston Open. And it goes without saying the fiery Californian's dynamic presence is sorely missed. The talent, the swagger, the energy, and the passion were an inspiration, even to his U.S. teammates during the 2008 Ryder Cup and 2009 Presidents Cup. Kim last appeared on the PGA TOUR eight years ago, at the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship. No one really knows the state of his game these days, nor his plans for the future. All we have are the occasional videos and candid pictures on social media, some of which show him hitting a few balls or grabbing lunch in West Hollywood. Imagine watching Kim in full flight against the Rorys, Rahms, and Koepkas of today's world, or even the new breed of challengers like Wolff and Morikawa. It's safe to say the whole golfing world wants Kim back, but until that day comes, we'll content ourselves with the remembrance of things past—in this case, Kim's gear from that win at the 2010 Vivint Houston Open. Houston was his third win on the PGA TOUR. He was just 24 years old. He finished third in the following week's Masters, his best showing in a major. Kim, who was a head-to-toe Nike athlete (before Nike left the hard goods business), had a one-shot lead going into the 72nd hole. Needing a par to win, he bogeyed the final hole to fall into a playoff against Vaughn Taylor, which Kim won with a par on the first playoff hole. His bag was always pretty locked in, from irons down to wedges. He worked with then-Nike master craftsman Mike Taylor (now of Artisan Golf). Kim was very specific about turf interaction and ensuring that a left miss was all but impossible. The woods are a different story. Kim tried multiple setups during his career, going from a driver, low-lofted hybrid, 2-iron setup all the way to a driver, 3-wood, 5-wood setup. It wasn't until his third full year on TOUR that he finally found a 3-wood he liked. WRX spoke with then-Nike Tour Technician Ben Giunta about Kim's gear. This is what he had to say GolfWRX: Not sure if TrackMan was really a thing back then but what kind of numbers did Kim put up? Giunta: So, this was kind of weird in an era where TrackMan is everywhere but I honestly don't recall using a Trackman with Kim. In those days, we used the big grey Nike talking box and don't remember any of his data. I bet he was a 175-178 mph ball speed guy. GolfWRX: Did Mike Taylor do anything special to his irons, or were they standard Nike blades? Giunta: I'm sure Mike Taylor touched his irons a bit, as he did for every Nike athlete, but he was pretty much a stock blade guy out of the box. His wedges, on the other hand, were MT specials. Fifty-four and 59 degrees every time with some specific toe-heel grinding on the 59. He was an incredible wedge player. GolfWRX: Anything special overall you did for his equipment that stands out? Giunta: He was an incredible ball striker, but when he missed it was left. I felt like we were always messing with woods. Always open, always flat. Kim wasn't much of a tech guy, didn't care much about what the product should do, just wanted it to work. One hundred percent feel. Let’s take a look at what he had in the bag for his win at Houston in 2010. Driver: Nike VR Pro LTD (9.5 degrees @10) Shaft: UST AxivCore Tour Black 79 X 3-wood: TaylorMade Burner TS (13 degrees) Shaft: UST AxivCore Tour Black 89 X 5-wood: Nike Sasquatch Dyno (19 degrees) Shaft: UST AxivCore Tour Black 89 X Irons: Nike VR Pro MB (3-PW) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Wedges: Nike VR Pro "MT Grind" (54, 59 degrees) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Select Circle T Newport 2 Grip: Scotty Cameron Pistol Red Full Cord Grips: Golf Pride BCT 60R Ball: Nike One Platinum

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…

“The Clambake” returns to its full glory in 2022 as it welcomes back amateur players and Monterrey Peninsula Country Club to the three course rotation. RELATED: Five Things to Know: Pebble Beach Golf Links | The First Look Pebble Beach serves as the host course as it has every year since 1947. Last year was the first since 2009 that Monterrey Peninsula Country Club was NOT included in competition. A field of 156 will be cut to the top 60 and ties after 54 holes. All will play each course once and the top 25 Pro-Am teams qualify for the final round at Pebble Beach. Because of the Pro-Am, the setup won’t have slick greens, deep rough or demanding pin positions a la the US Open’s held at Pebble. The last 10 winners have ranked in the Top 10 GIR and the last seven winners have ranked T2 or better in Par-4 Scoring. On the greens, five of the last six winners have ranked in the Top 5 in Birdie or Better Percentage. Official Scorecard Yardages – 2022: Pebble Beach – 6,972 yards, Par 72 Spyglass Hill – 7,041 yards, Par 72 Monterrey Peninsula Country Club – 6,957 yards, Par 71 Let’s find some horses for courses! Horses for Courses Odds sourced on Tuesday, February 1 at 3 p.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. Recent Event Winner Stats *Stats for Strokes-Gained are from Pebble Beach ONLY* Extra Credit (players entered this week only) 2021 Winner Daniel Berger played Pebble Beach 13-under and had FOUR eagles for the week; career event scoring average 68.33. … Local Maverick McNealy (2nd) T7 Fairways, T3 GIR. … Patrick Cantlay (T3) tied Pebble course record (62) in Round 1 and is trending here with T3-T11-T35-T48 in last four visits. … Jordan Spieth (T3) led after 36 and 54 holes. … Nate Lashley (T5) played Pebble 14-under. … Jason Day (T7) joined McNealy as only two players to post all four rounds in the 60s and has now cashed 8 of 9 T11 or BETTER. … Charley Hoffman (T7) T7 GIR. … Russell Knox (T7) co-led the field GIR and has cashed T28 or better in his five paydays. … Cameron Tringale (T7) has cashed in seven of his last eight with 2021 being the best. … Kevin Streelman (T13) picked up his sixth straight T17 or better. 2020 Nick Taylor became second player to go wire-to-wire this century. … Kevin Streelman (2nd) was only player with all four rounds in the 60s. … Jason Day (4th) was T3 GIR. … Daniel Berger (T5) was 3rd in Fairways. … Thru 2021, Matt Jones (T5) has cashed eight of his last nine. … Maverick McNealy (T5) posted only BOGEY FREE round in Round 4 (68). … Charl Schwartzel (T5) hit top five on debut. … Lanto Griffin (T9) opened BOGEY FREE (67) on Spyglass Hill. … Only four rounds in the 60s on Sunday led by Jordan Spieth (T9) and his 67. … Matthew NeSmith (T11) followed up with T26 last year in his first two appearances. 2019 Scott Stallings (3rd) cashed T7 in 2018 and T14 in 2017, his best three. … Jason Day (T4) only seven bogeys. … Si Woo Kim (T4) swished 31 of 35 putts inside 10 feet on PB. … Brian Gay (T7) T8 Fairways, T2 GIR and thru 2021 has cashed in eight straight. … Kevin Streelman (T7) posted 65, co-low round of Sunday. … Lucas Glover (T7) led field in Proximity. … Scott Piercy (T10) is on run of five straight thru 2021 with 2019 being his best. … Michael Thompson (T10) closed with a bogey free 66. Notes: • Pebble Beach has the smallest greens on TOUR. • Only 4 international winners, ever, including ZERO Europeans. • Dustin Johnson is the last player to defend (2009-2010). • The last first-time winner on TOUR was DA Points (2011). • Former winners Jimmy Walker, Ted Potter, Jr., and Brandt Snedeker have all MC in their last three visits. • Snedeker holds the tournament record at 22-under (2015). • Chez Reavie was T2 2018 and T3 at the 2019 US Open here. • Troy Merritt has cashed three straight events for T8-T25-T16. • Cal alum Brandon Harkins has T16 and T28 in two visits and won The Great Abaco Classic last week on the KFT. • Justin Rose cashed T6 and T39 in two visits pre 2018 but was T3 US Open in 2019. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2020-2021 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week.

Click here to read the full article…