PGA Tour betting tips for the 2022 AT&T Byron Nelson

The first pork shoulder Stewart Cink ever smoked was, well, to put it bluntly, close to inedible. Cink and his wife Lisa annually host several dozen friends at their house on Lake Keowee in upstate South Carolina on July 4. But feeding that large a group is always a challenge – “You can only make spaghetti and chili so many times,â€� Cink says. So his buddy, Chad Parker, who is the general manager at East Lake Golf Club and one of the regular house guests, decided to give Cink a Big Green Egg, which is among the Cadillacs of outdoor cookers. Parker figured that would take care of one night’s meal. “We researched how to do it right, get the charcoal, get the smoke, get the flavoring and protect it and all that, and it was horrendous,â€� Cink recalls. “Like, it was terrible. We completely failed.â€� The failed experiment, though, turned into something of a challenge for Cink, and a decade later he’s cooking ribs, chicken, pork and brisket competitively. “I have this nature of excess,â€� Cink explains. “I didn’t just learn how to have fun playing golf, I became a PGA TOUR player. Skiing, climbing, all of our hobbies, anything I’ve ever picked up, I just can’t stop it.  “I can’t stop at okay or decent or good. I have to take it to a new high. So we went from let’s try to feed 45 people with a pork shoulder that wasn’t very good, so now we’re entering contests and we have a pro team and all that stuff.â€� Cink learned a lot about making barbecue through trial and error, as well as on the internet. He learned the terminology and how to refine his searches to find different flavor profiles and timelines for cooking the meat. And everything – soup to nuts, so to speak — has to be done in a smoker. Cink has three, in fact – the Big Green Egg at his lake house, a Primo in Atlanta and one of those big, black barrel-shaped smokers for competitions. It’s about 13 feet long and he pulls it behind a truck. “A lot of people like to start by boiling ribs or finishing them off in the oven,â€� Cink says. “You can do that.  But to me, barbecue is meant to be cooked over a smoking case of charcoal, and that’s the way it has to be done to me, so that’s the way I do it.â€� Cink is well-aware of the different regional methods of cooking barbecue. North Carolina, for example, is a state divided with a pungent vinegar-based sauce in the east while the Lexington-style favored in the Piedmont and to the west uses ketchup in its sauce. Memphis, Texas and Kansas City also have their distinct flavors. “We use some western style North Carolina stuff,â€� Cink says. “We’re more like Memphis style, I think.  I like a dry rub and I like a sweet sauce but not too much.â€� In 2011, Cink and his wife decided to host a barbecue cook off to benefit their charitable foundation. He describes it as like a county fair without the rides – complete with a stage for the bands and more than 70 different vendors. “We had to set up all the operations for it –- water, power — and it was in the middle of a field,â€� Cink recalls. “… So we learned a lot. “We also learned that it was a lot of work for minimal charity because the second year we also decided to start a golf tournament for our foundation, and it made like seven times the money for about 10 percent of the work.â€� They staged the event again a year later and this time the competition was sanctioned by the PGA TOUR of smoking, the Kansas City Barbecue Society. Cink and his cooking partners, Parker and his swing coach Mike Lipnick, ended up winning. Suffice it to say, they caught the bug. So now, several times a year, the three pack up their tent, hitch the smoker to a truck and head to a competition. They sit under the stars and stoke the fire all night. The KCBS sanctions more than 500 cook offs s a year. One of the people Cink and his friends competed against once told them he was participating in his 37th event of the year.  “I mean, that’s full‑time,â€� Cink says. “If you do it like that you get a rhythm and you learn your timeline and you have very little change, and you really start to perfect it.  We can’t do that.  We’re close, but we can’t do that.  “We still have to build in some wiggle room in case we mess up, so that extra 30 or 40 minutes from the time when your meat is perfect until it gets turned in, it’s only getting worse.  So we’re not quite that consistent. “ But some weeks they are very good – once besting 40 teams to win first place for ribs at the Atlanta barbecue festival. In fact, the three have placed in every competitive category except for pork. Cink isn’t the only TOUR player who competes, either. Davis Love III is also serious about the pursuit and other players are eager to learn the fine art of barbecue after receiving Big Green Eggs as gifts from the Sanderson Farms Championship. The TOUR newbies often come to Cink for advice. He recently gave Kyle Stanley the step-by-step instructions he prepared for the men in the barbecue class he and Parker taught to raise money for charity at East Lake. Cink also hosts a barbecue dinner at his Atlanta home to raise money for his foundation. The going rate is in the neighborhood of $25,000. “We have a good time,â€� Cink says. “We’ve gotten some really good relationships out of it, and it’s fun for us to be able to open up our home. “I like to share my passion of golf ‑‑ I like to cook and I like to see people enjoy what I made and teach them a little something along the way.â€� Cink gets a busman’s holiday of sorts this week when he plays at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis, too. Don’t be surprised if Cink and Love go on a barbecue tour. They’ll get friends like former TOUR pro Mike Hulbert and hit, maybe, four restaurants in one night, ordering a sampler platter at each place. And at least once Cink will make a pilgrimage to the Cozy Corner, a bare-bones joint that has been featured in Bon Appetit, Gourmet and Food and Wine magazines, among others. “You talk about ribs, if you like ribs, dry ribs, Cozy Corner, you can’t beat it,â€� he says. Right down Cink’s alley.

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Bryson DeChambeau will defend his title at next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard after missing multiple starts this year because of injury. “It’s important to Bryson to try and defend at an event that has Arnold Palmer’s name on it, so he’s doing everything in his power to play,” DeChambeau’s agent, Brett Falkoff, said. “He’ll continue to rehab over the next few days and without any setbacks, we’re hopeful he’ll be able to compete next week.” After withdrawing from last week’s The Genesis Invitational, DeChambeau tweeted that he was rehabbing “a hip and hand injury.” He said he was making “positive progress” on the injury. Last year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard was DeChambeau’s eighth PGA TOUR victory. He closed with 12 consecutive pars to shoot a final-round 71 and win by one shot over Lee Westwood. DeChambeau’s last birdie of the final round at Bay Hill came on the par-5 sixth hole, which was the site of his memorable tee shots on the weekend. He hit drives of 370 and 377 yards in each of the last two rounds, cutting the corner on the curving par-5 to leave himself less than 90 yards for his second shot each day. “The thrill of the drive on No. 6 was one of the highlights … of my career,” DeChambeau said earlier this year. “The energy from the fans, the positive support I received from having some fun on that hole was really special to me. “Winning Mr. Palmer’s tournament was such an honor for me as I’ve loved and respected Mr. Palmer for so many years. He was and still is an idol of mine today.”

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Throughout this year, GolfWRX.com has been hard at work on the Equipment Report, keeping PGATOUR.com readers informed on the latest equipment releases, player staff deals, “What’s in the Bag?” (WITB) changes, custom Tour designs, and the stories behind them all. Here are five of the top gear and equipment stories on TOUR in 2022. Tiger Woods makes big equipment changes in 2022 Woods teed it up just three times on TOUR, including the Masters, the PGA Championship and The Open Championship. In every appearance he made, however, Woods made headlines in the equipment world. At the Masters, Woods showed up with essentially the same club setup he used when playing in the 2021 PNC Championship, but he shocked the world with a change to his footwear. For decades, Woods has been the face of Nike Golf shoes, but due to his prior injuries and surgical repair, he wore FootJoys at the Masters instead. He explained the surprising switch-up in a press conference: “I have very limited mobility now,” he said. “Just with the rods and plates and screws that are in my leg, I needed something different, something that allowed me to be more stable. That’s what I’ve gone to. Nike’s been fantastic over the years of providing me with equipment … and … we’ve been working on trying to find something to allow me to do this and swing again. We’re still going to continue doing it, and hopefully we’ll have something soon.” At the PGA, Woods arrived with new irons and wedges in the bag. He started Thursday using two new TaylorMade P770 driving irons (2 and 3), each with True Temper’s new Dynamic Gold MID Tour Issue X100 shafts. The MID shaft was launched in 2022 and is designed for slightly higher spin and launch angles compared to the True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts he uses in his TaylorMade P-7TW irons (4-PW). During rounds two and three at Southern Hills, though, Woods played with just one of the P770 driving irons, opting to put his usual TaylorMade M3 5-wood back in the bag. He was also using two new TaylorMade MG3 Raw wedges (56 and 60 degrees), which were newer models compared to the MG2 wedges he used at the Masters. Then, at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews, Woods made four changes to his bag setup: 1) He changed into a Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X shaft in his TaylorMade Stealth Plus 9-degree driver. 2) He switched into a True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft in his TaylorMade P770 3-iron. 3) He continued using an MG3 Raw 60-degree wedge, but switched back into an MG2 56-degree wedge. 4) He added lead tape to the back cavity of his Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS putter. Check out Woods’ full WITB from the last time we saw him in action at the Open Championship at St. Andrews: Driver: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X 3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Titanium (15 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70T X 5-wood: TaylorMade M3 (19 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3-iron), TaylorMade P-7TW (4-PW) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 Wedges: TaylorMade MG2 (56 degrees), TaylorMade MG3 Raw (60 degrees) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS prototype Ball: 2022 Bridgestone Tour B XS Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord J.R. Smith’s show stopping purple Bettinardi putter After retiring from the NBA, basketball star J.R. Smith enrolled at North Carolina A&T and joined the school’s golf team. In August, Smith played in the BMW Championship Pro-Am, and he dropped jaws with his custom purple Bettinardi Inovai 6.0 putter with star engravings on the face, and a wild hosel construction. “I’ve been fortunate to be in a situation where people want to help me, and help my golf game get better,” Smith said. “So it worked out. One of my boys who took me (to Bettinardi), he had a purple (putter). Then it was like, alright, I gotta outdo him, or we gotta match a little bit. So we both went with the purple.” Speaking with Tom Sopic from Bettinardi’s Hive Team, GolfWRX learned that Smith visited the company’s custom fitting studio in Tinley Park, Illinois to get dialed into his 38-inch putter. “He’s obsessed with the game of golf, and it has become a major passion in his life,” Sopic said. “He hit seven putts in a row on Quintic (a putting analysis system) that had perfect numbers in all categories right after he got his new putter. The iconic Stinger Bees on the sole are a staple within the Bettinardi brand, and a major symbol of The Hive. “His putter is a one-of-one, with a star-engraved 1.5-degree face piece, fitting for the superstar that is J.R. Smith.” Read the full story here Justin Thomas puts (another) 1-of-1 Scotty Cameron putter in play Thomas won the PGA Championship in May with a custom Scotty Cameron T5 prototype with a “knuckle neck,” but he put an all-new Scotty Cameron T5 prototype in play at the BMW Championship last month. Aside from the obvious aesthetic customizations – which include his personal “JT” logo – the new putter was built a half-inch shorter than his previous putter to let his arms hang more naturally. “For me, a tendency I have with my putting is to get a little bit this way (left shoulder up) and open,” Thomas said. “I’ve … been playing a lot of golf with Patrick Cantlay. He obviously has very long arms and his putter is very short. (I was noticing) just how naturally his arms go on the club, and I felt like that wasn’t the case for me … and I think that has something to do with my bad tendencies. “If I can be a little bit more comfortable at setup, then that’s obviously one less factor I have to worry about.” Unbeknownst to the public, the new “JT” putter had been in the works since February. Click the link here to read the full story Solving the mystery behind Adam Scott’s custom irons On Tuesday at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, Adam Scott showed up to Muirfield Village Golf Club with a completely new set of blade irons, which mysteriously had only his logo on the back. “What are those?” we wondered. As it turned out, Scott, an equipment free agent, requested custom-made irons from multiple manufacturers, and Miura sent him these one-of-one blades made specifically for his exacting preferences. The box of new irons from Miura showed up at Muirfield on Monday, and Scott put them into play Thursday. Speaking with GolfWRX prior to the event, he explained what he liked about the irons: “Really it’s the sole design that’s the difference,” Scott said. “It’s just a little less bounce. They’re a little flatter and wider on the sole. My eye for a blade is very different than most of the stock blades that are being made by the companies today. I grew up with offset, which is almost a thing of the past. Even in larger headed irons these days, there’s little offset out here. But I like it, and it’s hard to find. Titleist made me an amazing set of 681.AS irons that had the offset and were pretty much like the clubs I was using (the Titleist 680 Forged). And this set was made with the idea of less bounce than those.” Scott, who played his way into the BMW Championship and then the TOUR Championship, has had them in the bag since the Memorial, and he spoke further on the irons at the 2022 U.S. Open with @GolfWRX on TikTok. Read the full story here Scottie Scheffler signs with TaylorMade, dumps his longtime Nike fairway wood Scheffler had an unbelievably hot start to the year, winning two PGA TOUR events before March (2022 WM Phoenix Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational). At the time, Scheffler was an equipment free agent, so he could play any clubs he wanted. The week of THE PLAYERS Championship, however, Scheffler announced that he signed an equipment deal with TaylorMade. While the timing seemed odd, Scheffler justified the decision by notching two more wins at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and The Masters Tournament. He explained the TaylorMade decision to GolfWRX’s Two Guys Talking Golf podcast following his Masters victory: “I would say first and foremost [the reason] would be the driver,” Scheffler said. “I already used the (TaylorMade P-7TW) irons for a while. I like the irons. But the (TaylorMade Stealth Plus) driver, when we did testing over the winter, I saw some pretty nice gains. It was one of those things, like, I know I’m going to use this driver, I know I’m going to use the irons, so maybe let’s see if we can work something out. Just because having consistency with their brand, obviously I trust what they do. To be part of the family and be part of the team was pretty cool for me, and so we wanted to work something out with them, and we were able to get it done. I’m happy to be part of the team.” Scheffler made a noteworthy fairway wood switch before the Masters, too. Prior to signing with TaylorMade, he’d been using a Nike VR Pro Limited 13-degree fairway wood for years, but he switched into a new TaylorMade Stealth HL 16.5-degree. “One of the things I’ve struggled with was actually hitting 3-woods too far, and also just not seeing all my shots,” Scheffler told GolfWRX. “These guys did something to the (Fujikura Ventus) shaft, honestly I can’t even remember what they did, but it was something with the tipping. They may have tipped it a couple extra inches and moved some weight around the head, and then started with a higher loft and bent it down…and it was a pretty seamless transition. I saw the shots I wanted to see. My mishits were more accurate with the TaylorMade than they were than my Nike.” We spoke to Scheffler in-depth about his equipment, and what it was like to have a green jacket for the first time. Check out that full story here

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