Rose masters greens, leads by 3; Rory trips late

NAPLES, Fla. — Steve Stricker provided the pep talk and Sean O’Hair delivered the shot to secure victory Sunday in the QBE Shootout. Stricker and O’Hair closed with an 8-under 64 for a two-shot victory over Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry, effectively clinching it when O’Hair made an eagle on the par-5 17th hole at Tiburon Golf Club. In the final round of better ball, Stricker and O’Hair rallied from a two-shot deficit on the front nine, built a two-shot lead through 14 holes and were ahead by one shot heading to the reachable 17th with the green guarded by a huge bunker with a vetted, waist-high wall. “Walking to 17 tee, Steve said, `A 3 would go a long way right now,'” O’Hair said. O’Hair hit 7-iron from 195 yards over the bunker and it bounced onto the green about 12 feet away. McDowell and Lowry both hit into the bunker, with Lowry’s ball against the face of the wall that forced him to play sideways into the bunker. Both players had to settle for par, and O’Hair rolled in his eagle putt for a three-shot lead. “He played great today,” Stricker said. “He hit a great shot on 17. That’s the stuff you need to do to win a tournament, and Sean pulled it off.” McDowell holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole as he and Lowry closed with a 66. Stricker and O’Hair finished at 26-under 190 and each earned $410,000. It was the second time Stricker and O’Hair won the team event hosted by Greg Norman, but the first time as partners. Stricker won in 2009 with Jerry Kelly, and O’Hair won in 2012 with Kenny Perry. Pat Perez and Brian Harman shot 64 to finish third. Lexi Thompson, the only LPGA Tour player in the 12-team field, and Tony Finau closed with a 66 and tied for fourth. O’Hair was playing for only the second time since he had surgery after the BMW Championship in Chicago to clean up cartilage in his right knee. “This is always a great event to finish the year off with, and to pull this off is special,” O’Hair said. “But to do it with Steve is even that much better for me. I’m a golf geek, so he’s a friend of mine, but still it’s kind of hard not to look at him and kind of put him a little bit up on a pedestal.”

Click here to read the full article…

For years, PGA TOUR players have used raw wedges to help maximize spin around the greens for increased control of their wedge shots. Raw wedges, versus those that have a finish or coating applied, reduce the material between the golf ball and the grooves to ensure maximum friction as the ball runs up the face of the wedge. Callaway’s new Jaws Raw wedges – which replace the previous Jaws Mack Daddy 5 (MD5) wedges – have raw faces and extremely sharp grooves to enhance greenside spin. While Callaway is officially launching the Jaws Raw wedges to PGA TOUR players this week at the Travelers Championship, a number of players have already put them into play. Marc Leishman, Xander Schauffele and Kevin Kisner, for example, have each used the wedges in recent weeks. In fact, as Callaway reports, nine Jaws Raw wedges were in play at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. “I love the look,” said Marc Leishman. “I actually used to grind the leading edge of my old wedges to look like this (straighter leading edge). I’ve actually been playing with it since (the Zurich Classic of New Orleans), I took it from the photo shoot.” The relatively quick adoption of these wedges — very, very quick in Leishman’s case — can be attributed to Callaway’s willingness to work with TOUR players when developing the new wedges. Legendary wedge designer Roger Cleveland and the Callaway team used feedback from TOUR players to make a number of changes to the new Jaws Raw wedges compared to the previous Jaws MD5 models. The new Jaws Raw wedges introduce tungsten weighting and progressive hosel lengths to provide the optimal center of gravity for increased feel, trajectory control and forgiveness. The higher-lofted wedges have longer hosels that are balanced by two tungsten weights in the toe section. This configuration helps balance CG from heel-to-toe, but also moves it slightly higher to influence a lower shot with greater spin. The lower lofted wedges, on the other hand, have shorter hosels and less tungsten weighting in the toe sections to help lower CG for higher-flying shots from the fairway. Kevin Kisner, who’s been using the 52-degree Jaws Raw wedge, told GolfWRX.com on Monday that the “grooves are more aggressive, and I find it easier to hit from the fairway on full shots.” The raw-faced wedges have ultra-sharp grooves with a 37-degree wall angle. They also have groove-in-groove technology, which feature micro-milled grooves at a 20-degree angle to promote added spin on both straight-faced and open-faced shots. Golfers will notice that the new Jaws Raw wedges have a straighter leading edge, the toe pad has been muted to reduce glare, and they feature a smooth transition from the hosel section to the heel area that doesn’t show a pronounced “hook.” This feedback comes directly from TOUR players, according to Callaway. With 17 loft-grind combinations in total, the Jaws Raw wedge lineup introduces an all-new “Z” grind. The Z grind – which Callway says is used by Leishman – is a low-bounce option, but there’s significant chamfer, or roundness, on the leading edge to help reduce digging at impact and eliminate chunk shots. Other grinds in the Jaws Raw family include the standard S-grind, the versatile C-grind, the wide-soled W-grind, and the high-bounce X-grind. Available to the public on July 22 for $179.99 in steel, $189.99 in graphite, the Callaway Jaws Raw wedges will be available in either a Raw Face Chrome or un-plated Raw Black Plasma option. Brian Stuard, for example, opts for the Raw Black Plasma option, as pictured below. It’s important to note that the faces of the wedges are raw, which means they will rust over time. The stock shaft options include True Temper Dynamic Gold Spinner 115 grams (steel) and Project X Catalyst 80 grams (graphite), with a stock Lamkin UTx Charcoal grip. Callaway’s Jaws Raw wedges will have up to 13 color options to choose from within the Callaway Customs platform, as well as different medallions, emojis, and stamping options for further personalization.

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…