The First Look: Barracuda Championship

Given the speed that Bryson DeChambeau hits a golf ball, it’s difficult to find the perfect driver for him. His average of 190.7 mph was the second-highest ball speed on TOUR last season, which means any slightly off-center strike can result in bigger trouble for him than it does for the average TOUR player, who averages 20 mph less (170.4 mph) than DeChambeau. That’s why DeChambeau has been working closely with Cobra over the last year to help create a driver that will provide more forgiveness and accuracy. The new, multi-material Cobra King LTDx drivers are the result of those efforts (click here for more on Cobra’s LTDx drivers here). “A lot of (the design improvements) were from last year’s input,” DeChambeau told GolfWRX on Monday at the Farmers Insurance Open. “There were obviously some moments that were tough, and some great moments, as well. I would say we’ve worked really hard on making a driver that works very well for me and for consumers that have some speed. And also, because we understand the upper end of speed, the lower end is going to be helped out quite a bit because we understand the parameters. Once you understand both sides of the coin, you can fit really well in between.” To DeChambeau’s point, the Cobra LTDx lineup has three different options to suit a wide range of golfers. There’s a low-spin Cobra King LTDx LS model, a standard Cobra King LTDx version, and a Cobra King LTDx Max that’s made for draw spin. While DeChambeau debuted a LTDx LS prototype at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui, he showed up at Torrey Pines with the more-forgiving LTDx standard version with just 5 degrees of loft. From a design perspective, each model in the King Cobra LTDx driver family is made with PWR-COR technology that consists of internal and external weighting that moves center of gravity (CG) to positions that enhance performance. They also have new face designs that feature 15 pockets of different thicknesses to help increase ball speeds on off-center hits. Additionally, the crown and sole feature lightweight carbon composite material, which work in conjunction with a titanium body that helps lower CG and increase forgiveness. “(I’m swinging) a lot freer,” DeChambeau said. “The ball’s not going to go in places that I’m not expecting. That’s just what happens with speed, in general, with any product out there. This is where (Cobra is) the first ones to really take the dive and go, ‘OK, let’s try and understand this and make it playable for guys with speed like this.’” In a recent Cobra media event alongside World Long Drive champion Kyle Berkshire, DeChambeau used an LTDx prototype to hit his all-time high of 221 mph of ball speed. Of course, that type of speed can’t be expected week-to-week on the PGA TOUR, but DeChambeau is hopeful the new driver will help him produce more speed consistently. “(Hitting 221 mph) was pretty awesome,” he said. “Obviously, on the course it’s a totally different state of being, but eventually, over time, it’s just allowing me to be over 190 mph consistently and I’m excited to continue to keep trying to hit it farther and farther. I’m not afraid of it, and I love trying to push barriers like always. “I think that’s the point of this whole process is that we’re not done. We still have better iterations to make. They know that, we know that. But this a huge improvement and step forward in a direction that’s allowing me to perform at speed for the first time ever, for anybody I think. It’s going to be a continuous process. It’s not absolutely perfect, but we’re definitely working in a manner that makes sense and is helping me out quite a bit.” As the ultimate tinkerer, DeChambeau told GolfWRX on Monday that he’s using lead tape to add weight to the toe of his driver. He may add some more weight internally to the upper portion of the crown before the tournament begins, as well. At speeds of 190-plus mph, every single gram matters, especially if you want to keep it in the fairway.

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ORLANDO - A Sunday surge to victory at Arnie’s place … it just makes sense. For the second year running – this time from Italian Francesco Molinari – a stunning 8-under 64 final round has turned up a champion at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. It is like Palmer himself, who was known for his aggressive charges up the leaderboard, has a hand in it from the great beyond. Molinari started the final round five shots behind the leader, but his bogey-free Sunday shot him to 12 under and a two-shot win. It was punctuated by a stunning 43-foot, nine-inch birdie putt on the final hole – the scene of so much drama over the years. The Italian now has three PGA TOUR wins in his last 12 TOUR starts and rocketed from 151st to 20th in the FedExCup and to seventh in the world rankings. “I tried to be aggressive from the start and it was nice to see quite a lot of putts dropping … especially for my standards,â€� Molinari said. “I think it’s been the best putting round ever in my career. And it’s nice to do it, obviously in those circumstances, at Arnie’s place. “And I don’t know, there must be something going on with that line (on 18), because it seems that a lot of guys winning the tournament make that putt.â€� A year ago it was Rory McIlroy shooting 8 under on Sunday to win. He had a chance to go back-to-back having started just one off the lead but faded to a T6 finish. Overnight leader Matt Fitzpatrick (71) finished two back. Molinari said it was certainly fitting for the event to be won in a way Arnold would likely have been satisfied with. “It’s always a pleasure for us to come back here to his place, it was obviously even better when he was around, but even now you can feel his presence and, yeah, hopefully he saw Rory last year and he saw me this year and he’s proud of what we did out there,â€� Molinari said. “Coming from Italy, we weren’t exposed to that much golf, but obviously Arnie was such a global icon and this tournament was one that we watched, my brother and myself, at home many times. “Watching Tiger making that putt on 18 … So it’s still a bit unreal to think that I’ve done kind of the same today.â€� Molinari now lays claim to being one of the most clutch players in world golf. He joins Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Gary Woodland with the most final rounds (four) of 64 or better on the PGA TOUR since the start of the 2016-17 season. “I know that I can shoot low scores pretty much on every golf course … I’m not scared to say that, or I’m not shy of confidence in that way,â€� Molinari added. “It’s never easy, but I think what makes the difference is my mental approach is a lot better than what it was three, four years ago and I practice at home to do this sort of stuff in tournaments.â€� The next step is a drive up I-95 to Ponte Vedra Beach to take his place at THE PLAYERS Championship. He will look to become the first Italian to win the iconic event. “THE PLAYERS next week is one of those weeks that you circle in the calendar at the beginning of the year,â€� Molinari said. “I had quite a long off season, but I was hoping to hit form around THE PLAYERS and things have gone even better than I thought.â€� No player has ever won the week before THE PLAYERS and triumphed at TPC Sawgrass. But don’t rule out Molinari breaking that trend.

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How it works: Each week, our experts from PGATOUR.COM will make their selections in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. Each lineup consists of four starters and two bench players that can be rotated after each round. Adding to the challenge is that every golfer can be used only three times per each of four Segments. Aside from the experts below, Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton breaks down the field at this year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in this week’s edition of the Power Rankings. For more fantasy, check out Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers and Reshuffle. THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN OUR EXPERTS? The PGA TOUR Experts league is once again open to the public. You can play our free fantasy game and see how you measure up against our experts below. Joining the league is simple. Just click here to sign up or log in. Once you create a team, click the “LEAGUES” tab. Then click on “FEATURED,” and then on the PGA TOUR Experts league that populates. SEASON SEGMENT

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