Si Woo Kim holds on for American Express title

Sam Burns, the defending champion at this week’s Valspar Championship, certainly wasn’t hurting for PGA TOUR wins in 2021. Not only did he win the Valspar Championship in May, but he also won the Sanderson Farms Championship in October. During the offseason, however, Burns and his coach Brad Pullin noticed that his mid-range approach play with his wedges could use improvement. Burns, like most golfers, was using a gap wedge that had a “traditional” wedge look and design. As pictured below on the left, his traditional Jaws MD5 50-degree wedge had a low-bounce design, thinner topline, blade-like cavity and a more rounded shape than his Callaway Apex TCB cavity-back irons (on the right). Interestingly, Burns was also using a 46-degree pitching wedge that had a traditional wedge shape, rather than using a pitching wedge (PW) that was part of his iron set. At the 2021 Valspar Championship, Burns won with four traditional Jaws MD5 wedges in the bag: 46, 50, 56 and 60 degrees. Now, at the 2022 Valspar Championship, Burns has just two Jaws MD5 wedges (56 and 60 degrees) in the bag. After thorough equipment testing during the offseason, Burns switched out his 46- and 50-degree Jaws MD5 wedges for two Apex TCB irons (PW and AW) that matched his iron set. “Sam (Burns) called me and said he was struggling from 125-135 yards,” said Dean Teykl, Manager of Tour Operations and Player Performance at Callaway. “So we looked at some options and I told him the gap wedge that goes with the iron set is going to be more forgiving than what he was playing. From a design aspect, it’s more of a cavity back, and it has a little more bounce and a wider sole.” Lofts and shafts being equal, as Burns found out, the Apex TCB irons (PW and AW) provided greater forgiveness on off-center hits, helping to reduce the negative impact of mishits on full shots. Due to the wider sole with more bounce, he also found the Apex TCB gap wedge to provide enhanced turf interaction since it doesn’t dig as easily into the turf. “I think it was just a better transition from the irons into the wedges, and also the A-wedge is just a little bit better through the turf,” Burns told GolfWRX. “I was looking for a little more consistency, and those clubs provide that very well … I think there’s more forgiveness in those for sure than with the other wedges.” Apparently, the switch has worked. In the 2020-21 season, Burns ranked 25th on the PGA TOUR from 100-125 yards (17 feet, 9 inches) and 115th from 125-150 yards (23 feet, 6 inches). Thus far in 2021-22, he ranks ninth (15 feet, 4 inches) from 100-125 yards and 47th (21 feet, 6 inches) from 125-150 yards. “He can (control the flight) with either option, but we noticed his distance control got better,” Tekyl explained. “It’s probably because it’s a little more forgiving. It’s blade versus cavity back, basically.” Generally speaking, due to the increased perimeter weighting of a cavity-back iron versus a traditional wedge, an iron shape will tend to offer more forgiveness on full shots. Although traditional wedge shapes may offer greater versatility on chips and pitches around the green, gap wedges and pitching wedges are mostly used for full shots. So why do most amateur and professional golfers opt for traditional wedges rather than high-lofted irons? “It’s basically habit,” Tekyl said. “I don’t know that there’s a thought process there.” For amateurs who are currently struggling with their wedge play, it could be time to try out a gap wedge that’s part of their iron set, rather than one that has a traditional wedge shape. It has worked so far for Burns, at least.

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Learning after a heartbreaker at last season’s Wyndham Championship, where he was in the mix until a double-bogey on the last hole doomed his chances, C.T. Pan goes birdie, par, par under pressure and in difficult winds to notch his first PGA TOUR win at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Pan shot a final-round 67 to edge FedExCup leader Matt Kuchar (67) and become the tournament’s seventh straight come-from-behind winner. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Pan almost didn’t tee it up. Having played the American Junior Golf Association from 2007 to 2010, Pan was excited to put on the first C.T. Pan Junior Championship, an AJGA event, back home in Houston. One problem: the tournament was scheduled for the same week as the RBC Heritage. In light of Pan’s lackluster results on TOUR of late, his wife and sometime caddie, Michelle, pushed him out the door, saying she’d host the juniors instead. Good decision. “Just listen to your wife and you will have a good life,â€� Pan said with a smile after becoming the sixth international winner on TOUR in the last eight events. As for Michelle, she says she’d done carrying the bag but has already volunteered to caddie for her husband at the Masters Tournament Par 3 Contest next year. 2. Another short hitter tamed Harbour Town. The course rewards precision, but not necessarily length. Pan is only 5 feet, 6 inches tall and ranks 170th in Driving Distance (284.8 yards). In other words, he fits the mold of other RBC Heritage winners like Loren Roberts (1996), Brian Gay (2009), Jim Furyk (2010, ’15) and Graeme McDowell (2013). Dustin Johnson was trying to make like five-time RBC Heritage champion Davis Love III, the most notable long hitter to win here, but after taking a one-stroke lead into the final round he shot a 6-over 77 to finish T28. Xander Schauffele never got much going and finished T63. Pan was studying the final-round pin placements Saturday night, and got to the course four and a half hours before his tee time Sunday. He also plotted out and executed a strict approach to play conservatively over the first four holes (which he played in even par) but go for it on holes 5-13 (4 under). “And that’s how I snuck on the leaderboard,â€� he said. 3. Most notable win for power was Seamus Power. Seamus Power had missed 11 cuts in 15 starts heading into last week, but his 4-under 67 in the final round gave him a T6 finish, his fourth top-10 finish in 69 TOUR starts. “Yeah, a lot,â€� Power said, when asked what he could take away from the good result. “The last four or five tournaments have been much, much better. It’s was a struggle early but starting with THE PLAYERS I started to find some stuff and build it better. “So it’s been encouraging,â€� he added after moving from 189th to 141st in the FedExCup. “A week like this is great. It’s a kick start for me. It’s not where I want to be, but certainly a move in the right direction.â€� 4. Kuchar is building FedExCup lead. In notching his 12th career runner-up finish and second in his last four starts, FedExCup leader Matt Kuchar banked 300 more FedExCup points and is now up to 2,030. Kuchar, a two-time winner this season who has six top-10 finishes in 13 starts, is almost a full 500 points ahead of second-place Xander Schauffele (1,562). “I wish I could tell you,â€� Kuchar said, when asked what has changed this season. “I think I just continue to evolve. The goal as a player every year is to continue to get better. And I feel like the work I’ve done, my instructor, Chris O’Connell, each year we try to get a little bit better. And I think we’ve really done some good work. It’s tiny little things that add up.â€� 5. Lowry almost made like 2015. Shane Lowry was going for his second TOUR victory and first since the 2015 World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, but a final-round 70 wasn’t quite enough (T3). “I personally feel like it almost got away,â€� Lowry said after moving from 203rd to 125th in the FedExCup. “I’m a little bit disappointed. This was my best week in quite a while. So many positives to take from this week. And going forward I’m looking forward to next week.â€� Lowry will play the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Padraig Harrington. FIVE INSIGHTS   1.  Pan won with his short game. After ranking in negative numbers in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (-0.159, 50th in the field), he stabilized at 18th best in SG: Approach-the-Green (+0.872). Then he got really good: He was seventh best in SG: Around-the-Green (+0.928) and fifth in SG: Putting (+1.571). That means he outperformed the field by 2.499 strokes per round from on and around the tiny greens at Harbour Town. And his edge was heightened in the final round, when he was +1.72 in SG: Around-the-Green, the second-best SG: Around-the-Green performance by a winner this season, trailing only Xander Schauffele at Sentry TOC (+1.77) 2. He was flawless from short range. Pan made all 52 putts he hit from inside six feet, one of three players who made the cut who were perfect from that range. Matt Kuchar (second) and Denny McCarthy (T33) were the others. The winner also averaged a very tidy 24.75 putts per round, marking the 15th time a TOUR winner has averaged 24.75 putts per round in a four-round event since 1986. Five of those 15 events have been at the RBC Heritage. 3. There were some big FedExCup movers. Not only did Pan shoot up 87 places, to 26th, in the FedExCup, Shane Lowry (T3) made a jump of 78 spots to 125th, and K.J. Choi (T10) was up 55 spots, to 187th. At 48 years, 11 months and 2 days, Choi would have been the oldest RBC Heritage champion, barely edging 1994 winner Hale Irwin. Choi briefly held a piece of the lead, but could only manage a 1-over 72. 4. Johnson’s 77 was a shocker. The final-round blow-up by world No. 1 and RBC Ambassador Johnson was his worst score since the third round of the 2018 U.S. Open. He was looking to improve on his T16 finish the year before and join 2017 champion Wesley Bryan as the only South Carolinians to win the tournament. Alas, Johnson’s one-stroke lead through 54 holes turned into a T28. 5. The wind sent scores soaring. Johnson wasn’t the only victim of the tricky winds, as defending champion Satoshi Kodaira shot 82 and there were only two bogey-free rounds (J.T. Poston, 66; Brian Stuard, 68) Sunday, the fewest of the week. The course played to a scoring average of 71.170, just slightly over par. WYNDHAM REWARDS The Wyndham Rewards Top 10 is in its first season and adds another layer of excitement to the FedExCup Regular Season. The top 10 players at the end of the FedExCup Regular Season will earn bonus payouts from the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. There were no changes after the RBC Heritage, with Matt Kuchar, a two-time winner this season, strengthening his position at the top with his second runner-up finish in his last four starts. First-time winner C.T. Pan, meanwhile, vaulted from 113th all the way to 26th and looks considerably better as he zeroes in on his stated goal of making the TOUR Championship.

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GolfWRX.com: Do you make any bounce changes to your wedges to prepare for Augusta, in particular? JORDAN SPIETH: I don’t. I don’t change anything for Augusta. I don’t change anything regardless if I’m on soft sand, firm sand, if I’m on bentgrass, or really grainy Bermuda. I’ve learned to pitch on grainy Bermuda, meaning I drive the ball into the ground. I don’t use bounce, so I have very little on my 60-degree. Even out of a bunker, I try to enter the club really close to the ball so it doesn’t make a difference if it’s firm or soft to me. It’s a technique thing. If it’s off, it’s not the bounce of the wedge. GolfWRX.com: With your wedges, you would say you use the leading edge rather than the bounce? JORDAN SPIETH: I drive the ball into the ground. If I need loft, I get it down there and create the loft late into the ball, but I’m never hitting the ground first unless I have to. GolfWRX.com: So you haven’t made any true club changes in a while, except for changing into the SM9s this year? JORDAN SPIETH: I have the SM9’s, and then my 60-degree is a prototype that they make special. The only equipment changes I make are going to a driving iron versus a hybrid, depending on where I’m playing. I assume this year, as Augusta has gotten longer, it’s going to be a hybrid. I’ve played both at Augusta before, but the hybrid’s been better for me just because those par 5’s are sitting right at hybrid length into those greens. GolfWRX.com: I noticed a lot of you use a WedgeWorks proto for your 60-degree. What’s different about that wedge, and is that something you guys fit into at TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) in Oceanside, or where does that wedge come from? JORDAN SPIETH: I have done testing at Oceanside. That’s obviously an easy way to test a bunch of different grinds, looks and lofts, because they have so many out there and it’s a great facility. But we also have access to pretty much all of it week-to-week out here. To be honest, we’re very spoiled in that sense. I changed wedge grinds – I can’t even remember when it was, but it was years and years ago – to the T-grind. That was just because when I opened it up, it looked even cleaner and flush to the ground to me. We have access to Aaron Dill here on TOUR who’s our Vokey rep. He’s so good. He brought me an SM9 60-degree today, and I said, “It looks a little different than mine. Can you get me one of the other ones and I’ll compare and contrast?” He said, “I can weld this one down and make it look like your other one, and also make a backup of one you already have.” It’s normally no issue for us to find something we like. GolfWRX.com: That’s a little bit different than the access the rest of us have… Jordan Spieth: Well, we also wear ‘em out a lot faster. GolfWRX.com That’s because you actually practice! Thanks for the time, Jordan. Play well this week. This week, Jordan Spieth is defending the Valero Texas Open title that he won last year to end a winless drought that was nearing four years. The Valero Texas Open has a unique place in this season’s schedule, as it’s the final test before the Masters. Ahead of Spieth’s Valero title defense, we caught up with the 2015 Masters and FedExCup champ to pick his brain about equipment. Spieth discussed his replacements for a driver that recently cracked, any changes he makes for Augusta National and more. Read below for GolfWRX.com’s gear Q&A with Spieth. GolfWRX: You’ve obviously been making a lot of swing changes and are still working hard on your swing. I’m wondering if you’ve coupled that with any gear changes to adjust, such as lie angle, loft, shafts, etc.? JORDAN SPIETH: I haven’t. I cracked my driver at THE PLAYERS. I’m somebody (with) really low spin, and as drivers continue to be more and more low spin, I’ve messed around with a couple different loft changes and settings. I’m trying to get a (Titleist TSi3) driver head to produce like the one that I had for the last year, which was really, really solid. I’m looking to get enough spin without overspinning. So that’s been the challenge right now. But no, the rest of the bag has felt really good. Launch conditions have felt really nice. I just change wedges this time of year. Get some fresh ones in as we get into the spring, but nothing with any kind of launch or lies.

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