The favorites, the long shots and those without a hope at the U.S. Open

In the final round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama birdies the last three holes for a sizzling 61 and a dominant five-stroke victory over runner-up Zach Johnson. Meanwhile, Chris Stroud racks up 20 points in the final round to cop his first PGA TOUR win at the Stableford-scoring Barracuda Championship. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Matsuyama, 25, ties the course record at Firestone South for his third win this season; and Stroud, 35, collects his first TOUR win in 290 starts. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Matsuyama is on the way to becoming Japan’s first truly global star. Nine countries were represented in the top 12 on the Bridgestone leaderboard, but Matsuyama’s clubs spoke loudest and Japan was on top. After starting the day three shots back, he made eagle at the par-5 second hole and kept going from there, hitting the afterburners to assure his third win this season and fifth overall in the 100th TOUR start of his career. He extended his lead as the Japanese player with the most wins on TOUR, a record he already held over Shigeki Maruyama (three). 2. The FedExCup may require math, but Matsuyama knows all too well that it requires something else, too: at least one more trophy. “In order to win the FedExCup, you have to win one of the playoff tournaments,â€� said Matsuyama, who moved from third to first in the FedExCup points standings with the victory in Ohio. “And hopefully I can do that and keep the momentum going.â€� It would be tough to have any more momentum than he currently has; his 61 marked the best final-round performance by a winner in the history of the WGCs—by three shots. 3. Although there have now been 25 wins (in 39 events) by a player in his 20s on TOUR this season, Rory McIlroy, 28, has accounted for none of them. Still, McIlroy, who tied for fifth, did not sound terribly despondent after notching his sixth top-10 this season. “I thought I saw some improvements in my game from when I got here on Wednesday,â€� he said. “Thought my wedge play got a little bit better as the week went on. Putted pretty well, even when I missed putts out there, they were scaring the hole, so that was good. Drove the ball well.â€� Yeah, you could say that. McIlroy hit 52 of 56 tee shots over 300 yards and led the field in driving distance (343.9). The reigning FedExCup champion moved up 10 spots in the standings to 43rd; is playing one of his favorite courses in Quail Hollow at the PGA Championship this week; and knows there’s still plenty of time to find his A game as he breaks in a new caddie. 4. Chris Stroud’s father was right. Stroud got a call from Dad saying the Barracuda’s Stableford format—two points for birdies; minus one for bogeys—might reward him for all the birdies he’d been making. It did. Stroud, who returned to his counter-balanced long putter, racked up 20 points in a wild final round that included nine birdies, an eagle and three bogeys. He not only got that elusive first win after prevailing in a three-man playoff, he earned a spot in this week’s PGA and, more importantly, collected 300 FedExCup points to move up to 76th in the standings. “Huge,â€� Stroud said of his big move. “I think coming into this week I was sitting at 142. And we’re all nervous coming in, because we know getting the top 125 is huge.â€� 5. Rookie Richy Werenski, 25, was disappointed after failing to secure his TOUR card for next season. Still, he was encouraged to make it all the way into a sudden-death playoff despite not having his best stuff. What’s more, he moved to 122nd in the FedExCup, so at least he’s inside the cutoff line with just two weeks remaining before the first playoff event, THE NORTHERN TRUST at Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, N.Y., Aug. 24-27. “Lately I feel like I’m playing pretty good,â€� said Werenski, a Massachusetts native who went to Georgia Tech. “It’s only a matter of time I’m back in this position.â€� FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Matsuyama ranked first in strokes gained: tee-to-green in the final round, with a career-best 6.582. It was also the best final-round performance by a winner on TOUR this season, besting Kevin Chappell at the Valero Texas Open (6.355), Jason Dufner at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide (5.659), and Jon Rahm at the Farmers Insurance Open (5.168). 2. While he was dominant from tee to green, Matsuyama also made massive strides in his putting. Year to date, he is just 167th in Strokes Gained: Putting (-.306) and 194th in putts made from outside 10 feet (46/375, 12.27%). At the Bridgestone, though, he ranked a much-improved 15th in SG: Putting (.759) and T16 in putting from over 10 feet (9/42, 21.43%). 3. With his runner-up finish, Zach Johnson moved up from 40th to 28th on the U.S. Presidents Cup points list. That’s still a far cry from the top 10, but he’s got the putter rolling again. He was first in SG: Putting (2.258) and third in putting from outside 10 feet (13/46, 28.26 %) at Firestone. 4. Charley Hoffman (third place, six back), who fired a final-round 66 at Firestone, has broken par in 22 of his last 24 rounds dating to the first round of the U.S. Open. He was third in sg: putting (1.617) at the Bridgestone, and moved from 12th to 11th in the FedExCup. He is one of just three players to get at least as far as the BMW Championship for all 10 years of the playoffs. 5. Thomas Pieters (71, solo fourth, eight back) notched his fourth top-five finish in 16 starts this season. As a Special Temporary Member, he is eligible for unlimited sponsor exemptions the rest of the season as he tries to earn his TOUR card for 2017-’18. He was T3 in greens in regulation (72.22%) and fourth in proximity to the hole (26’ 11’’) at the Bridgestone. TOP 3 VIDEOS 1. Charley Hoffman is on TOUR to win and he let us know on Sunday. 2. David Hearn hit a gem of a tee shot in Sunday’s final round of the Barracuda Championship. 3. Poetry in motion.

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Since the PGA TOUR’s 2018-19 season wrapped up, we wanted to celebrate by recapping the top equipment stories of the season. There was controversy, surprise switches, big-time players making big sponsor changes, and of course, Tiger Woods was in the spotlight for his equipment. The stories below are listed in no particular order, but they all had a significant impact and intrigue in their own right. Enjoy the look into the past season of equipment, and we look forward to seeing you back on the Equipment Report once the Fall season begins in just a few short weeks. Thanks for a great season! Spieth switches irons before The Open Jordan Spieth has used Titleist AP2 model irons throughout his professional career, but that changed right before the 2019 Open Championship. Instead of using AP2 irons, Spieth put Titleist’s new T100 irons in play at Royal Portrush Golf Club. While it may have seemed like odd timing to put new irons in play the week of a major, Spieth actually had a hand in the creation of the T100 irons. See what Spieth’s role was in the design of the irons, and what made him switch.  Rickie Fowler changes up his golf ball Fowler shocked the equipment world when he announced that he was signing a golf ball deal with TaylorMade, instead of staying with the Titleist Pro V1 line of golf balls that he had been using since even before he turned professional. As part of the announcement, Fowler spoke with PGATOUR.COM to explain what made him switch, and which TaylorMade golf ball he’d be using going forward. Get the full Q&A with Fowler here. Xander fails CT test at The Open, and J.T. speaks out Before competing in the 2019 Open Championship, Schauffele’s driver was deemed illegal after random testing conducted by the R&A. Schauffele responded publically, calling the testing “unfair.� Fellow competitor Justin Thomas later spoke out on the matter, giving his opinion on who should be to blame and how to tackle the issue going forward. Check out the full stories regarding each player below: Xander’s comments  Thomas’ comments  Justin Rose signs with Honma While Rose had been a TaylorMade staffer throughout his long career, rumors began swirling at the end of 2018 that he’d be making a sponsor switch. While most speculated that he would eventually sign with Honma, Rose put the rumors to rest with an official announcement on New Years Day. On the same day, Rose also unveiled the “Rose Proto� Honma irons that he continues to use currently. Here’s more on the equipment deal and the prototype irons. Molinari wins in first event as a Callaway staffer After going on a tear in 2018 as an equipment free agent, there was major speculation whether Molinari would sign a deal, and if he did, which company he would go with. Molinari made the announcement that he signed with Callaway at the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he sat down with PGATOUR.COM to explain why. Funny enough, Molinari went onto win that very same week. In the interview with PGATOUR.COM, Molinari also explained how his extremely rare prototype irons came about, and just how rare they are. Check out the full Q&A here. The young guns sign equipment deals Matthew Wolff, Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa came onto the PGA TOUR with some of the highest expectations from rookie golfers in recent years. With golfers such as Brooks Koepka having success as an equipment free agent, equipment fans wondered whether the new young guys would follow his lead. As it turned out, each of them signed deals. PGATOUR.COM went in-depth about each their equipment setups in the stories below: Wolff in-depth Morikawa Hovland Ping club designer makes the cut at the PGA using equipment he designed There was no one at the 2019 PGA Championship who knew his equipment better than Marty Jertson. That’s because Jertson, who competed and made the cut at Bethpgae Black, worked as a Senior Design Engineer at Ping in recent years. Jertson currently works as the President of Fitting and Performance at Ping, and following his PGA Championship performance, he spoke in-depth with PGATOUR.COM on a number of topics, ranging from the difficulty of Bethpage to designing equipment. Don’t miss the full interview here. The Great One’s red putter Hall-of-fame hockey player Wayne Gretzky competed this year in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am alongside Dustin Johnson, who’s engaged to Wayne’s daughter Paulina. Wayne was spotted using an all-red Scotty Cameron putter during the event, and PGATOUR.COM caught up with “The Great One� to get the full story behind the putter (it’s worth the read). Aaron Rodgers uses “That’s what she said� wedge NFL superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers has quite the sense of humor, and he expresses it on his TaylorMade wedges. PGATOUR.COM caught up with Rodgers at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am to get the story behind his hilarious wedge stampings, which includes a tribute to The Office. Gary Woodland’s butter knife The days of players using long irons made with a blade construction are waning, but fresh off his 2019 U.S. Open win, Gary Woodland used a Wilson Staff blade 2-iron that could send chills down the spine of nearly any golfer. As you’ll see in the story, PGATOUR.COM took photos of what the 2-iron looks like from address. Look at your risk. Tiger Woods switches to P-7TW irons (and so does Fleetwood), and Woods later reveals more info After using TaylorMade TW-Phase 1 prototype irons for much of 2018, equipment fans were eager to see if there would be a new iron for 2019. Speculation picked up when Tommy Fleetwood was spotted using “P-7TW� irons at the Abu Dhabi HSBC. Surely the “TW� wasn’t a coincidence. Woods did in fact switch into P-7TW Milled irons, but they looked a bit different than Fleetwood’s version. Later in the year, PGATOUR.COM spoke with Woods in-depth about his equipment, where Woods revealed more telling information about those very irons. Here’s the full Q&A with Woods. Tony Romo uses hand-me-down clubs from Tiger and Spieth Romo sent the equipment world into a frenzy when he was spotted by PGATOUR.COM using golf clubs at the 2019 Pebble Beach Pro-Am that were once used by Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods. We also got the scoop on exactly how those clubs ended up in his bag. Here’s the full story on Romo’s hand-me-down clubs.

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We are down to two tournaments remaining in what is the last fall portion of the wraparound era. As the message in your Inbox on the PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live page states, the Cadence Bank Houston Open and The RSM Classic present two more opportunities to capture a piece of the weekly $5,000 prize fund. As always, Glass and Rob share their picks and argue for each below. Back in early play in Texas is R1 Leader, so they have it covered. Also, a Top 5 weeklong bet has supplanted the more familiar Top 20. Because odds are longer for the premium finish, it’s more likely that it will have a hand in determining who watches his or her bank account for the direct deposit on Monday. Register for PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live here and monitor Rob’s and Glass’ progress as Influencers. For a broader explanation of the format and FAQs, click here. TOURNAMENT TO WIN Glass … Adam Long (+10000) Hoo, baby! Nothing better than a live long shot who is also a Horse For Course. Long crashed and burned last week as a HFC in Mexico (MC; -2), so I’m expecting a nice bounce-back performance this week. Psst, if you’re not a fan of Will Gordon below, Long has opened 66 and 68 in his previous two visits here… Rob … Sahith Theegala (+4000) Welp, I nailed the opening odds for last week’s winner, +4000, but you may have noticed that Brendon Todd didn’t win. Russell Henley did. Bless my heart. A wise man once said that this is gambling after all. The paradigm in Houston favors a surprise – we haven’t had a first-time winner yet this season – but it’s still not worth reaching to the fringe for our purposes here. So, I’m doing both. Like any golfer, Theegala can be quantified, but he goes about his business in such a real-time and really timely fashion to succeed, so the belief here is entirely in the guy and his guts. We know that he’s going to get his at some point and won’t be 40-to-1 again soon after he does. He’s No. 13 in my Power Rankings. TOP 5 Glass … Matthew NeSmith (+1000) His last three starts on TOUR are T9-T2-T9, so at +900 I’m absolutely down to clown. Big ball-striker loves bermuda and opened here 66-67 last year before fading. Third time is SURELY a charm! Rob … Sam Burns (+320) I’ll call you SURELY anytime I want. The fact is, I love Glass’ selection here, but I’m concerned if or when this bet will unlock. A top-five finish is hard, and it requires some luck, so I’m keeping it simple and I’m still elated to get this kickback if it hits. TOP 10 Glass … Adam Schenk (+700) Had a nice peg here last week with David Lipsky (+1000), so I’m hoping to make it back-to-back longer shots. Schenk is 34-under in his last three starts, so form is not my worry. Cashed T29 here last year with 64 in Round 2. Speaking of early rounds, he’s opened 69, 65 and 63 in those last three events, plus goes off early from hole No. 1 on Thursday. Rob … Mackenzie Hughes (+540) The Canuck is No. 9 in my Power Rankings, so this is a no-brainer, but that’s not the only reason. If this bet refuses to become available while I’m paying attention, just like the Top 20 bet often does in the same space, then I’m thrilled to be getting this value if it’s a set-and-forget experience. R1 LEADER Rob … Sahith Theegala (+4000) Thursday’s weather should yield balanced scoring throughout the day, but I still want my charge going off the front. Both nines are par 35s, but it’s unfair to compare scoring because of how the routing plants an additional par 3 and par 5 on the outward side. Still, and strictly in relation to par, Nos. 10-18 are tougher overall, so let’s lean into the best greens on the easiest half of holes before his turn. Lo and behold, my outright goes off No. 1 in the third threesome. Glass … Will Gordon (+8000) I’ve pointed out two others above who you could slot in if you’re afraid of this big number. Gordon tees off on the front side, the easier of the two, and does so at 8:08 a.m. local time, so I’m not stuck. In five events this year, from earliest to last week, he’s rattled off 70, 66, 65, 68 and 62. I’m not going to overthink it at this value. And if I’m wrong, I’ll use the rules to my advantage and go back for more! NOTE: While Glass and Rob typically stick with their selections as detailed in Pick ‘Em Preview, they are allowed the right to make changes at any time. Responsible sports betting starts with a game plan. Set a budget. Keep it social. Play with friends. Learn the game and know the odds. Play with trusted, licensed operators. CLICK HERE to learn more at HaveAGamePlan.org.

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