Stricker makes it into U.S. Open

The TOUR Championship has wrapped, concluding the 2020-2021 PGA TOUR season. Patrick Cantlay hoisted the FedExCup trophy thanks in no small part to a putter switch he made late in the season. We may be slightly biased here at the Equipment Report, but we think it’s the perfect time to look back on some of the most significant PGA TOUR equipment stories of the year — and we had some good ones! Harris’ HoHum In January, Harris English won the Sentry Tournament of Champions with the same putter — a Ping Scottsdale HoHum — he used for his 2013 Mayakoba Golf Classic victory. Unique-looking putter, and a unique equipment tale here as we got the story from Ping TOUR Rep Tony Serrano about what English loves about his HoHum. Hideki’s Scotty switch Eternally in pursuit of the perfect putter, Hideki Matsuyama made a switch two weeks prior to the Masters, putting a 2012 Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Tour Prototype in the bag that was outfitted with a different grip than his Cameron Timeless. Rory returns to old Protos Rory McIlroy made a number of equipment changes in 2021. Most significant among the switches, certainly, was his return to his 2017 TaylorMade Rors Prototype irons prior to winning the Wells Fargo Championship. Phil’s PGA Championship-winning driver En route to his incredible PGA Championship victory, Phil Mickelson wielded a Callaway Epic Speed driver with a 47.9-inch shaft (right up against the USGA limit of 48 inches). We got the inside story of Phil’s build. Morikawa finds a putter that performs Struggling with alignment, Collin Morikawa built himself a custom TaylorMade TP Juno putter using the same MyTP custom putter builder that’s available to the public. While his gamer was ultimately slightly different, it was a wild “they’re just like us” tale. Rahm’s U.S. Open-winning wand Jon Rahm switched to an Odyssey Rossie S the tournament prior to his epic U.S. Open triumph. We got the full story of what happened at the Ely Callaway Performance Center in Carlsbad and why Rahmbo made the move away from the 2-Ball Ten putter he had been using. Rory calls a Cameron into Olympic duty Full-bag TaylorMade staffer captured the full attention of the golf equipment world when he arrived in Tokyo not with his TaylorMade Spider putter but with a Scotty Cameron 009M flatstick. We went in search of the story, and even though Rory has now made a return to the TaylorMade mallet, it was a fun feature to fill out. Phil takes the armlock plunge Always willing to experiment with his equipment, Phil Mickelson tried his hand (and arm) at armlock putting. Additionally, he used a prototype putter that featured an interesting backstory. And while the experiment is over, the story is well worth digging back into. JT takes a teen’s advice A question from a 15-year-old junior golfer prompted Justin Thomas to reconsider benching the Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5.5 with which he won 14 of his 15 PGA TOUR titles. Little changes, big playoff payoff for Cantlay Most recently on the “significant equipment storylines” front, Patrick Cantlay switched to a Scotty Cameron X 5 putter with a sightline (from an alignment aid-free version) and had the best performance in strokes gained: putting history. He then rode the red-hot putter to a FedExCup victory at East Lake. Sometimes the smaller adjustments pay the biggest dividends!

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Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. TPC Southwind, located just outside Memphis, has been the host since 1990 and plays 7,244 yards to a Par-70. No. 1 Again Dustin Johnson sent his message loud and clear to the prospective contenders at the U.S. Open next week that the path to the trophy will have to go through him. Johnson closed up the proceedings as he holed his final shot of the day from 169 yards to post 19-under-par 261 to defeat Andrew Putnam by six shots. Johnson’s winning total is the new tournament record (post-2004 renovation) and his victory moves him to No. 1 in the OWGR. The big-hitting 2016 U.S. Open champ squared only four bogeys and a double this week as led the field in SG: tee to green, driving distance and birdies (21). He was second in SG: approach the green, Proximity, Bogey Avoidance and Putts per GIR. His 18th victory on TOUR since his rookie year of 2008 ties Tiger Woods for the most on TOUR during that timeframe. Johnson picks up his second victory at TPC Southwind and will lower his ridiculously low stroke average here with his record-setting performance. In six trips he’s now posted two wins and four total top-10 paydays. Next season the strength of field will increase as this event will replace Firestone as the last WGC event on the TOUR schedule. I don’t think he’ll care or be bothered next year or next week. He also won’t care that the winner the week prior to the U.S. Open has never claimed the second major. He’s too good to worry about any of that. I hope you saved a start for next week! Know Thy Enemy These were the top-10 selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game presented by SERVPRO.   Tough week for the chalk in a game where playing the chalk is paramount. The only player inside the top 10 was the winner so those who strategically played DJ this week will be handsomely rewarded. PAIN OR GAIN These were the top-10 selected golfers (plus one) in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: I added one more this week because I thought it was interesting where the eventual winner fell. Fantasy gaming is about taking chances and getting lucky and those who backed Johnson for his first win since January get the last laugh. Close Encounters Andrew Putnam (2nd) began the final round all-square but was two-down after one and three-down after three and it was all over but the shouting. Putnam picks up his best paycheck in 44 events on TOUR and his third top-10 accolade of the year. It shouldn’t be lost that his first 54 holes were AWESOME as he was 15-under with exactly ONE dropped shot. His final round 72 had one bogey and one double but it was the 14 pars that did him in. He’s no longer a nice “cuts-made” story. Holmes Honing In J.B. Holmes carried the momentum of his best finish in five months from the Memorial (T11) last week to his biggest payday in five tries in Memphis. His checked in the top five in SG: off the tee (3rd), tee to green (5th) and approach the green (8th). He painted 54 of 72 GIR (T3) and isn’t exactly short of the tee either. T6 Six Pack Arkansas native Austin Cook continues his home-court advantage at TPC Southwind as he collected his third top-25 finish and first top-10 check in three tries. His bogey-free 65 moved him up 33 spots but along with Phil Mickelson, were on my bench in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game presented by SERVPRO. #FireMe. … Retief Goosen, two-time U.S. Open champ, including the last winner at Shinnecock, was NOT given a special exemption for next week by the USGA. I’m not sure if that was used as motivation but his bogey-free 66 vaulted him up 23 places. … Trey Mullinax picked up his second top-10 finish of the year. … Chris Kirk, like Mullinax, hit the top 10 for the first time since the Valero Texas Open. … Brandt Snedeker’s 62 in Round 2 was the reason he’s in the top 10 this week. His three other rounds were played in one-over. #FalsePositive. … Chez Reavie didn’t continue his trend (T27, T12 and T4 his last three appearances) but those who rode his course form were rewarded with T6. It’s his first top-10 appearance since Pebble Beach. #Play72 I suggested yesterday that after 73 in Round 3 Phil Mickelson would be mentally preparing for Shinnecock. He rewarded the gamers who kept the left-hander in the lineup for the final round as he fired the co-low round of the day with 65. Mickelson did have his worst showing in the last six years, T12, but after beginning the day T49 I doubt any of those investors will care! … Sunday Silence There were nine guys who played themselves out of the top 10 in the final round. The most painful, according to the charts above, was obviously the most selected player in both formats. For the second year in a Brooks Koepka row carded 73 (T30) and finished two-over for the weekend. Last year he played the final two rounds in four-over and collected T37. Trend or not a trend? … The Georgia Tech duo of Richy Werenski (T4) and Stewart Cink (T4) combined for three-over-par in the final round but both collected their first top-10 checks of the year. Study Hall The final round scoring average was 71.104 (+1.104), the most difficult of the four rounds. The average for the week was 70.455 (+0.455), the lowest aggregate total in the last four years. The weather and wind never factored the entire week but the move to August next year might change that. … Cook and Goosen had the only two bogey-free rounds on Sunday. There were only 10 total on the week. … Defending champion Daniel Berger’s MC made sure there was no three-peat. … The low round for the week was Snedeker’s 62 in Round 2. … Of the last seven winners, six have finished in the top 20 in SG: off the tee. Johnson was fourth.

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Press releases used to be the traditional route for companies to announce additions to their TOUR staff. Not anymore. Now the news is broken on social media. That's how TaylorMade announced the addition of Tommy Fleetwood, with a humorous video showing TaylorMade's senior tour technician, Wade Liles, stocking the tour van with hair-care products for the flowing locks of the company's newest addition. Fleetwood isn't the only person in the video with ample hair. Liles' long beard, which runs down to his chest, also makes an appearance. Fleetwood, who was signed to Nike Golf's staff until the company exited the hard goods business in 2016, has been playing TaylorMade irons since 2019, first gaming the P7TW model, and more recently the prototype TF Proto irons (below). Nearly all of TaylorMade’s tour staff plays 14 TaylorMade clubs, so it will be interesting to see what Fleetwood settles on in the woods, wedges, and putter department. Fleetwood, who's 17th in the Official World Golf Ranking, is coming off a 10th-place finish in last week's DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. He was winless in 2020, failing to record a victory worldwide for the first time since 2016. He finished 92nd in the FedExCup with one top-10, a third-place finish at The Honda Classic. Fleetwood had advanced to the TOUR Championship in each of the previous two seasons. He will begin 2021 ranked 125th in the standings, with a T19 at the Masters being his best finish in five starts.

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