PXG introduces Gen2 driver, fairway woods and hybrids

Last we saw 18-time PGA TOUR winner Rory McIlroy, more than three weeks ago, he was shooting a dispiriting final-round 75 to finish T8 at the U.S. Open in New York. Bryson DeChambeau, meanwhile, was bludgeoning Winged Foot into submission, his Ruthian approach leading to a six-shot victory over Matthew Wolff. McIlroy, like countless others, could scarcely believe it. "It’s kind of hard to really wrap my head around it," he said. Well, he's had time, and he's hinting at bringing some extra firepower to THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK this week. With some speed work in the gym and a lighter shaft in his driver, he posted on Instagram that he's getting up around 190 mph ball speed and 340 yards of carry. Has he been inspired by DeChambeau? Well, yes, but only to a point. "Yeah, for the last couple weeks I was working on some stuff," McIlroy said from Las Vegas, where eight of the top 10 and 70 of the top 125 from the final 2020 FedExCup standings will take on Shadow Creek. "I think as a golfer, we’re so ingrained to trying to hit the ball where you’re looking, and I think with - I think that’s one of the great things that Bryson’s done. "Bryson, when he speed-trains, he just hits the ball into a net, so he doesn’t really know where it’s going," McIlroy continued. "He’s just trying to move as fast as he can ... and sort of making the target irrelevant for the time being and then you can sort of try to bring it in from there. From what I’ve done and what I’ve been trying - you know, sort of experimenting with the last couple weeks - it’s the fastest I’ve ever moved the club, the fastest my body has ever moved." Distance, he added, has always been an advantage, whether it was the era of Jack Nicklaus; the heyday of Tiger Woods; or today. For most of his career, McIlroy has been at or near the top of the Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee stat. Now he's flirting with making one of his strengths even more of an asset. Still, he added, just because he has been experimenting with extra speed, that doesn't mean he'll always use it. "At least I know that if I need to do it, I can do it," he said. Justin Rose admitted he's still just trying to hit the ball straight again, let alone far, but said he's been taking note as McIlroy and others try to catch up to the TOUR's new distance leader. "I think I’ve seen the trickledown effect of what Bryson’s been doing," Rose said, "and you’re seeing guys like Rory and even Justin Thomas - I’m hearing kind of rumors out on the range, everyone’s trying to crank it up a little bit, get a few more miles an hour." If this all feels a bit jarring, it might be because it seems like just yesterday that McIlroy, 31, was the pacesetter. A four-time major winner, he's young enough to still be in his prime, or just entering it. He won THE PLAYERS Championship and his second FedExCup title just last year, but hasn't found his A game since the TOUR returned in June. His last win was the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions last November. Now along comes DeChambeau, whose relentless innovation still invites criticism even as it succeeds. McIlroy took time out to clarify that he is not one of those critics. "I called what Bryson did brilliant, and I think my comments maybe got taken out of context," he said. "I said he’s taking advantage of everything we have in the game right now. I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I meant he has went to the nth degree of everything we have available to us: science, TrackMan, biomechanics, everything, all the knowledge that we have nowadays that golfers 20 years ago didn’t have access to because there just wasn’t enough knowledge out there." DeChambeau, McIlroy added, has to his credit been willing to go deeper down that rabbit hole than anyone else. "He’s worked his ass off to do that and it’s paying off hugely," McIlroy said. How much will he, Thomas, Rose and others tear apart their own games in search of similar quantum leaps? Time will tell, but clearly the process has begun. "I think it’s the way the game’s going," McIlroy said. "I got sent a really good article last weekend, it was in the Wall Street Journal, just about every single sport becoming faster, longer, stronger, and I don’t think golf’s any different. I’m just trying to keep up with the way it’s going."

Click here to read the full article…

LOS ANGELES - Sam Burns put on a show worthy of Hollywood, but reigning FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson sits poised in a log jam for second place heading to what promises to be a hard and fast weekend at The Genesis Invitational. Burns backed up his opening 64 with a 5-under 66 to set a tournament record 36-hole mark of 12 under at Riviera Country Club. It gave the 24-year-old former college standout a five-shot cushion over his four nearest competitors. Burns is rightfully confident his game can match it with anyone but if there is a player to fear at Riviera world No. 1 Johnson is likely the man. DJ is coming off a European Tour win a few weeks ago, but perhaps more threateningly has an incredible record at Riviera. Johnson won the tournament in 2017 and has nine top-10 finishes from his 13 appearances. And he has proven he can go low at the iconic course which stands to get tougher over the final two rounds. Johnson has more rounds of 66 or better than any player at this event over the last 14 years with 12 - a whopping seven more than the nearest competitors. He now has 211 birdies since 2008 at Riviera and is cumulatively 90-under. It's why DraftKings has Johnson at +250 to win the tournament, only slightly behind Burns at +225, despite the five-shot buffer. "I like my position. I’m five back, but on this golf course there’s only one guy in front of me," Johnson said. "I like where I’m at and I do like this golf course, and hopefully I can drive it a little bit better on the weekend and give myself a few more chances." Johnson leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (+7.267) despite being somewhat uncharacteristically wayward off the tee. He has hit just 10 of 28 fairways to rank 102nd in a 120-man field in driving accuracy. But a text from his coach Claude Harmon pointing out a slight adjustment needed on his takeaway has Johnson even more confident he can surge ahead on moving day. Johnson's biggest bugbear came in the form of par-5 scoring. He has made just one birdie on the three par 5s over the opening two rounds despite the three holes playing as the easiest on the property. It leaves him ranked T94 on those holes. Burns is 5-under on the same holes. "One under is not going to get the job done over the weekend (on those holes). Definitely need to take advantage of the par 5s the next couple days," Johnson said. "But other than that I feel like I’m swinging my irons really well, I’m rolling the putter nicely, so looking forward to the weekend." While Johnson will fight it out for the title, fellow big hitters Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas won't be around for the weekend after a tournament to forget. DeChambeau rebounded from his opening 75 with a 2-under 69 but was still two shots shy of further play while McIlroy (73-76) and Thomas (77-73) were well off the pace.

Click here to read the full article…

DETROIT — Tony Finau shot a 7-under 65 on Saturday to match Taylor Pendrith at 21-under 195 with a round left in the Rocket Mortgage Classic. RELATED: Leaderboard | Inside the Field: Wyndham Championship The 3M Open winner last week in Minnesota, Finau is trying to become the first to win consecutive regular-season tournaments in three years. A stroke ahead entering the round, Pendrith birdied four of the last five holes for a 66. Rookie of the year front-runner Cameron Young (65) was four strokes back. He matched the Detroit Golf Club record with a 63 on Friday. Stephan Jaeger was five shots back after a 65. Patrick Cantlay, the defending FedExCup champion, was six shots behind after a 66. Pendrith was the second-round leader after setting the tournament 36-hole record at 15-under 129. The 31-year-old PGA TOUR rookie from Canada missed nearly four months this year with a broken rib. The duel in Detroit seemed like match play with Pendrith and Finau taking turns pulling and falling into ties and moving ahead. Pendrith opened with 6-foot birdie putt to take a two-shot lead. Finau pulled within a stroke on the next hole, making a 20-foot chip from the greenside rough for birdie. “Stay hot, Tony!” a fan shouted. Pendrith, who had his share of fans back home in Ontario, looked cool and calm as he bumped fists with two young boys as he walked to the third tee. Finau pulled into the lead with a 15-foot putt at No. 3, then Pendrith pulled his 3-foot putt to miss an opportunity to stay ahead. Pendrith’s errant tee shot to the left on the par-5 631-yard fourth hole put him in the No. 6 greenside rough, leaving him behind several towering tees in his path to the green. He he hit a shot 104 yards to the hole, an approach within 16 feet and made the putt to restore his one-stroke lead. Pendrith took a two-stroke lead at No. 6, making a 7-foot putt that curled in the right side. Finau equaled Pendrith at 18 under at the turn after making birdies at Nos. 7 and 8 while Pendrith missed an 8-foot putt and made bogey on the ninth hole. Pendrith ended up behind a tree again at No. 13, forcing him to chip back onto the fairway and leading to a bogey that dropped him him into a second-place tie with Young. Finau took a two-shot cushion with an 8-foot birdie putt at 14. Pendrith, who won twice on PGA TOUR Canada, bounced back from his second bogey with three straight birdies to pull back into a tie with two holes to play. Finau went ahead at 17 with a birdie, and Pendrith tied it again with a birdie on the 54th hole. If Finau can outlast the competition to win Sunday, he will be the first to win two straight regular-season events since Brendon Todd in 2019.

Click here to read the full article…