Seeing double at 2020 U.S. Women’s Open

Despite having a reputation as a tinkerer, Dustin Johnson said he doesn’t change equipment all that much, stating in his pre-PGA Championship press conference, “I really don’t like to change clubs ever, but when one’s not working … I have to find something else.” This is, in a couple of senses, true. The centerpieces of his golf bag have been cemented for years (P730 DJ Proto irons, for example) and when he does make a change he often rapidly reverses course. Johnson is often spotted with multiple flatsticks on the putting green early in tournament weeks, but in recent years, he’s almost always stuck with his TaylorMade Spider Limited Itsy Bitsy once competition began. In fact, after putting a TaylorMade TP Bandon 1 Prototype in play two tournaments ago, he has returned to the Spider this week. At the other end of the bag, Johnson has bounced between TaylorMade SIM2 and SIM heads this season but he has always showed up to the first tee with a Fujikura Speeder 661 Evolution 2.0 Tour X Flex shaft in his driver (with one exception, the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January). In fact, the reigning FedExCup champion has played the Speeder 661 for the better part of five years — all the way back to the days of the TaylorMade M1. So it was big news in the equipment world, and shafts in particular, when Johnson was spotted with an LA Golf Prototype in a SIM2 Max head ahead of the competition at Kiawah Island. If LA Golf sounds familiar, that is because it’s the company that makes the shafts for all 14 of Bryson DeChambeau’s clubs, including his putter. Of course, given Johnson’s propensity for pre-tournament testing, it remained to be seen whether he’d put the combo in play at the PGA Championship. But when Johnson stepped inside the ropes shortly after 2 p.m. for his first-round tee time Thursday, he uncorked a 295-yard drive with the aforementioned TaylorMade SIM2 Max head with an LA Golf Proto shaft. Johnson shot 76 in the first round but gained +0.8 strokes off the tee. The shaft was back in the bag for the second round but that will be the only action it sees this week. Johnson will likely miss the cut after shooting 74 on Friday. He gained another +0.9 strokes off the tee in the second round but struggled with his iron play. According to TaylorMade’s Keith Sbarbaro, Global Vice President, Tour Operations & Sports Marketing at TaylorMade, the shaft is “a stiffer tip version with a lower balance point to help promote more of a fade,” which is DJ’s preferred ball flight. Adding further intrigue to the story, similar to the prototyping process DeChambeau and LA Golf have engaged in for the development of his wood, iron, and putter shafts, Johnson and LA Golf have been collaborating on the shaft design. Reed Dickens, LA Golf’s CEO had this to say about Johnson’s prototype: “We custom designed a low torque shaft for Dustin for lower trajectory and have been iterating with him for a few months. We’re excited that the No. 1 player in golf trusts LA Golf enough to put our product in play for the first time at a major championship.” After appearing almost unbeatable last fall – he tore through the FedExCup Playoffs before winning the Masters – Johnson has struggled in the spring and may be searching for answers. He is 26th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee after ranking in the top five of that statistic from 2014-19. Johnson entered this week gaining 0.44 strokes off the tee per round, which would be his worst performance in that statistic since 2013. He hasn’t had a top-10 on TOUR since The Genesis Invitational in February. He has just one top-25 in six starts since and withdrew from last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson with knee pain. Whether Johnson makes a return to his beloved Speeder remains to be seen, but for now, one of the longest-tenured shafts in pro golf has been bumped from its position.

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The Teddy Bear Trap? The launch of the Florida Swing is supposed to coincide with gusts of wind that separate the mettle from the meek, but The Honda Classic is forecast to be contested under tame conditions for once. Whether Camilo Villegas’ tournament record of 13-under 267 at PGA National’s Champion Course – a stock par 70 – is in jeopardy remains to be seen, but it’s a reasonable target. For more on how PGA National usually plays, what’s new on the course this year and much more, scroll past the ranking. Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Zach Johnson, Emiliano Grillo, Charl Schwartzel, Jason Dufner and Puerto Rico Open champion Martin Trainer will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. Every course requires a level of shotmaking in the context of the strike itself and/or its timing during the competition. Then there’s PGA National. It presents nothing but pressure essentially throughout the entire walk of 7,125 yards. Its scoring average last year landed at 72.303, highest in relation to par of all non-majors in the last two completed seasons. It also was a seven-year high for the course. Furthermore, PGA National has been the most difficult par 70 among all non-majors in four of the last six seasons. As noted at the top, that’s because the wind is usually howling. When Villegas prevailed in 2010, breezes were sustained at 10-20 mph throughout. In fact, he’s an outlier. His margin of victory of five strokes equaled the tournament record first established by Jack Nicklaus at Inverrary in 1977. That convenient truth brings us back to PGA National, a track with Nicklaus’ paws all over it. It includes renovation and enlargement of all 18 greens. The putting surfaces are still TifEagle bermuda, but it’s new grass in advance of this week’s edition. Meanwhile, greens on average now measure approximately 7,000 square feet, an increase of more than 25 percent. In theory, bigger targets assist in battling the wind, but with relatively calm conditions expected, hole locations and green speeds will have to play greater roles in defending the course. Undulating greens are prepped to touch 12 feet on the Stimpmeter, but they may not hit that mark until the weekend since midweek rain and storms will soften all turf. Daytime highs around 80 degrees will accompany humid air. The Bear Trap, as it’s dubbed officially, consists of the par-3 15th hole, the par-4 16th and the par-3 17th, the last of which is now only 175 yards, down 15 yards since last year thanks to an updated and adjusted tee box. Of 204 par 3s played during the 2017-18 season, No. 17 was the hardest at +0.533 strokes to par; No. 15 slotted third-hardest at +0.391. And with No. 16 ranking T36 among 551 par 4s, all three holes finished inside the top-50 hardest holes on TOUR all season. None had cracked that bubble since both par 3s in 2011. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Champions One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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