The First Look: Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance

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Kevin Tway broke in a split set of Mizuno JPX 919 Forged (3-4) and JPX 919 Tour (5-9) irons at the Safeway Open and found the winner’s circle for the first time in his PGA TOUR career. Tway received the new set during the Dell Technologies Championship but chose to take the irons home and get them dialed-in before putting them in the bag. The 30-year-old ranked 23rd in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-green with the irons, which are comprised of two different materials. The JPX 919 Forged is made from a Boron-infused 1025E carbon steel that allowed designers to improve durability and significantly thin out the face to a COR of .810 — an improvement of .10 when compared to its predecessor. During testing, most players saw an increase of 1 mph ball speed. With JPX 919 Tour, Mizuno’s HD grain flow forging process was used on the 1025E (Elite) carbon steel, which compacts more grain structure in the hitting area to improve feel. Tway’s irons played a role in his five consecutive birdies (including the three-hole playoff), but it was his Mizuno T7/Titleist Vokey Design SM7 wedges and TaylorMade Spider Tour Red that led the way. Tway recorded a career-best scrambling performance on TOUR at Silverado, salvaging par 80 percent (16 of 20) of the time over 72 holes. He made six of his 10 putts from 10-15 feet, including six of eight in the final three rounds. Here’s a look at Tway’s entire equipment setup. Driver: TaylorMade M2 ’17 (Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70TX shaft), 9.5 degrees 3-wood: TaylorMade M2 ’17 (Mitsubishi Chemical W Series 80X shaft), 15 degrees Irons: Mizuno MP-H5 (2-iron; UST Mamiya Recoil Prototype shaft), Mizuno JPX919 Forged (3-4; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X7 shafts), Mizuno JPX919 Tour (5-9; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X7 shafts) Wedges: Mizuno T7 (47 degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft) Titleist Vokey Design SM7 (54-08M degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft), Titleist Vokey Design SM7 (60-10S degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shaft) Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour Red PGA TOUR SUPERSTORE: Buy equipment here.  

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If you’re a veteran of PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live and you live in the United States, then this might be your first experience watching windows open in between rounds. As Rob and Glass have shared for months, results may vary depending on your lifestyle. Rob has witnessed Top 20 bets unlock at 2 and 3 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday and Saturday nights. Glass also has been up early enough in Eastern Time on a Sunday to modify his Top 20. While it’s not unprecedented, it’s also not reliable, and even if it were, the window is short-lived and at a time of day when the majority of Americans are not holding or staring at glowing rectangles. Set aside that roll of the dice for the Genesis Scottish Open. The Renaissance Club is five hours ahead of Eastern Time and eight hours clear of Pacific Time. It begins on Thursday at 7:15 a.m. local time. That’s 2:15 a.m. at Casa de Glass and 11:15 p.m. on Wednesday at Rob’s desert abode. Wind it back even further, that’s 10:15 p.m. on Wednesday in most of Alaska, and 8:15 p.m. in Hawaii. How convenient. So, include additional peeks at the interface in your evening plans. No promises, of course, but it might make that difference you’ve wanted – and needed – all along. 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 … Lucas Herbert (+6000) The Aussie has something brewing at The Renaissance Club as he’s cashed T4 the last two editions. Golf on the water doesn’t bother him as he won in Bermuda last fall and picked up an Irish Open last July. Toss in he was T9 in his Irish Open defense last week and I’ll gladly start here. With the lumber in the field, I’ll be able to have a backup selection waiting and at decent value as the weekend progresses if I’ve screwed this up. Rob … Aaron Rai (+6600) One of the three winners of this tournament at The Renaissance Club – the last two of whom are in the field (Min Woo Lee, 2021, +10000), the Englishman obviously knows what it takes to get the job done. He’s also properly prepared with a T9 over in Ireland last week. He’s rapidly reacclimated to his home circuit. TOP 10 Rob … Joohyung (Tom) Kim (+2000) Let’s gamble! After swinging and missing on the “Top USA Player” curveball for the John Deere Classic, I’m elated to have this bet back. I’m also going to trust – I know, silly me – that, unlike last week’s experience, the window for this familiar target will reopen after every round. (That’s written with anecdotal experience contributing. If you’re new here, for the record, there are no guarantees that any bets will unlock, much less when. That’s the gamble.) The Tank Engine is making his first start as a 20 something. He’s 61st in the Official World Golf Ranking, immediately ahead of the likes of last week’s winner, Adrian Meronk (64th) and last year’s Scottish Open champion, Min Woo Lee (69th). My thinking here is simple and selfish. He’s a force abroad and he’s not going to be shut out of picking off a top 10 on the PGA TOUR on which he’s connected for top 25s in two of his last three starts, including a 23rd-place finish just before his birthday at the U.S. Open. Glass … Victor Perez (+850) I’m not sure how or when the window is going to be opened/closed this week, so I’m heading in a more conservative direction with the Frenchman. He’s never missed in three tries here, so he’s familiar enough. He ran off a streak of five from six before the U.S. Open, which included a win, T3 and T8 plus nothing worse than T33. No transatlantic travel this week or last should help. TOP 20 Glass … Jorge Campillo (+900) The Spaniard rolls in with solo seventh last week in Ireland backing up his T15 in Munich the week prior. Of his last five starts, four have gone for T21 or better, so we’re not breaking any new recent ground here. Based on my weeklongs here, obviously my preference is for guys who play or who have played on this side of the pond and who have been in some form. If my angles are poor, my sleep schedule will follow! If it’s usually 6am on weekends, I’m hoping the time change is more around midnight ET this time around! Rob … Joohyung Kim (+900) You and me both, partner, although ya gotta try out my West Coast time zone one of these seasons. It’s brilliant. As for my philosophy here, obviously if I like Kim for a top 10, this is a no-brainer. Hoping that this unlocks during awake hours always is a nailbiter, but the time travel should benefit those of us in the U.S. If it does unlock, then we should be able to apply the process to next week’s Open Championship as well. ROUND 1 LEADER Glass … IS RORY McILROY PLAYING??? I can’t believe I overthought that two weeks ago in Canada. It will not happen again! Since he’s out – HE’S NOT PLAYING, OK??? – I’m going to ride Scottie Scheffler at +2500. En route to a T12 in his first visit last year, the tall Texan posted 63 in Round 2. When he’s in the mood, he has no problem going low. A fast start is needed and no better time to do it starting at 8:05 in the morning. I’ll be rolling out of bed when the second wave is teeing off so I’ll have time for adjustments. Rob … Jon Rahm (+2500) Here’s where living in Arizona costs me; well, other than the unrelenting heat in the rare moments when I refamiliarize myself with the outdoors. By the time I’m alert and wired in on Thursday morning, there’s a decent chance that this bet will be locked for the day. So, my range of focus is the entire field. Who knows, maybe that’s exactly what I need to turn my luck. As it turns out, and as it often does, the morning wave will have the better of the wind. In these climes and at this latitude, that’s a big deal, so I’ll take one of Scheffler’s playing partners on the 10th tee. Rahm placed seventh in his debut at The Renaissance Club last year. He opened with 66 and carded no higher than 69 in the third round. 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.

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