Thomas Pieters jumps out to early lead at WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

AUGUSTA, Ga. - The rain was falling softly in the semi-darkness as Tiger Woods stood on the practice putting green awaiting his 7:55 a.m. tee time, while legends Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player were on the nearby first tee preparing to hit their ceremonial first tee shots. Woods sensed something flying over his head. He looked up. "There was a drone flying over the putting green," he said after shooting a 4-under 68 in which he didn't make a bogey, his first bogey-free round here since 2008. "Down one today you could hear the drone over there. You don't hear drones here." Yes, CBS has added drones to the coverage. It was, all in all, a new kind of experience in the first round of the pandemic-delayed Masters at Augusta National. No patrons. No flowers. Strange plot twists. RELATED: Leaderboard | Like ‘old' times at Augusta | DeChambeau bounces back from calamity Paul Casey shot a 7-under 65 to take the early lead, although half the field didn't finish. At 5 under through 10 holes, Justin Thomas had the best round going among the late starters. "I’ve got a lot of golf left," said Thomas, whose best finish in four Masters starts was his T12 last year. "Just go home and get some rest. It’s a long day tomorrow." The rain-delayed first round was suspended for darkness with 44 players, roughly half the field, still out on the course at 5:30 p.m. They'll restart at 7:30 a.m., with round two set to begin at 9:35 a.m. Friday, if all goes according to plan. The way things have gone, that's a big if. Indeed, Thursday was an odd one. Bryson DeChambeau, the most talked about player in golf, double-bogeyed the short par-5 13th hole, the most vulnerable hole on the course, and shot 70, the same score as Larry Mize, 62. Woods began his round at the 10th hole at 10:55. He'd never started a Masters on 10, but then there's never been a November Masters, with daylight a precious commodity. Another difference: no blooming azaleas, or much of anything else. It's just too late in the year. The course does, however, have more Bermuda grass in it than normal, causing the ball to react differently. And it was humid Thursday, like East Lake in September, Casey said. Tony Finau, one of his playing partners, spun his approach shot into the bunker at the first hole. "On a good-looking wedge shot," Casey said. Woods said putts just weren't breaking. Casey said the greens were softer than ever. "There was a shot I hit on number two, a 6-iron to that left hand pin that you can’t hit that shot in April," said Casey, who eagled the hole. "It was just left of the flag. It pitched and stopped instantly, and that shot in April would have one hopped over into the patrons, and probably would have walked off with a 5 instead of a 3." A first-time Masters participant this week could return in April only to find a totally transformed, much firmer and faster course. "They are going to have a rude awakening," Casey said with a laugh. Still, he added, there remained something special about just being here, even with the quirks. Woods agreed. "There’s no patrons, no roars," he said. "Yes, as the camera guys would say, ‘Where did the ball end up? Because we just don’t know.' That’s very different. A lot of firsts today. That’s kind of the way this entire year has been. The fact that we’re able to compete for a Masters this year, considering all that’s been going on, it’s a great opportunity for all of us."

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CROMWELL, Conn. – As previously reported by PGATOUR.COM, amateur standout Matthew Wolff announced that he joined Team TaylorMade ahead of his professional debut at the 2019 Travelers Championship. TaylorMade officially confirmed today that the company and Wolff have started a multi-year equipment deal. For more information about the TaylorMade clubs Wolff is using at the Travelers Championship, PGATOUR.COM caught up with the person who knows his equipment best: Ryan Ressa. Ressa, Manager of Product Development at TaylorMade, works with junior and collegiate golfers, helping them with their equipment needs. Wolff and Ressa first started working together around 2013, and Wolff has been playing TaylorMade products ever since, according to Ressa. “He was a really good player, a really solid athlete,â€� Ressa said of Wolff when he was around 14 years old. “A lot of juniors came to the Kingdom (TaylorMade’s fitting center) at that time, but when he came through, that’s when the light clicked on… the guy is just a natural talent. When you see some of the things he does with the golf club and the golf ball, that hasn’t changed since he was 13. Like the sound he creates now, that was the one thing that stood out back then.â€� When it comes to equipment, Ressa says he’s not one to tinker a lot. Back when Wolff was a junior golfer and into his collegiate years at Oklahoma State University, he’d go to the Kingdom once in January to get fit into the new product, and he wouldn’t change much all year after that, except for an occasional loft tweak. “He likes what he likes, but he’s also not hesitant to try or put new stuff in,â€� Ressa said. “He’ll come in January when we have the new product. He’ll hit it and we’ll get him into it and he’ll get comfortable with it over the next couple weeks and then he’ll go with it. He doesn’t tinker much.â€� As for his current equipment, Wolff has made a few recent changes. Ressa takes PGATOUR.COM through his equipment at the Travelers Championship (as of Wednesday’s practice session) below. Driver: TaylorMade M6 (8 degrees) Shaft: Graphite Design AD-TP 7TX Ressa says: “He’s got the M6 8-degree driver in the bag, and we just made that adjustment a couple weeks ago. He had an M5 9-degree that he used that through college. He was probably spinning it a little too much throughout the course of March and April, but we didn’t want to tinker much as he was going down the stretch of the National Championship. Then we went to a different head model last week, and lowered the loft, just to give him something different to try. He loved the feel and the sensation of the weight being in the back of that head. He felt like it gave him a bit more workability, so that’s what he’s been going with the last couple weeks and all indications are that he loves it. It has a little less spin, probably 300 rpm less spin, and he likes the control. He likes to work it both ways, depending on how he’s feeling. The M6 is giving him that flexibility.â€� As for the driver shaft, Ressa says: “He’s probably had this shaft for 3 or 4 years, and honestly the Graphite Design feel is very unique. It’s very smooth through impact, and he always identifies with that. He might test a shaft here or there, but he always comes back to that. The launch fits his eye; it probably takes off a little higher than most guys like, but he likes the higher launch and the window that comes out in. He’s always been comfortable with that, so we haven’t tinkered much with it. We tested some other Graphite Design driver shafts a couple years ago that were maybe a little stronger, but he always came back to that TP. “He’s hanging out at D4 swing weight. His stuff is a little bit shorter, so he plays his driver at 45 inches, which is just a touch shorter than where most of my guys are. He likes the shorter length because his arms seem to hang a bit lower. So that seems to be consistent throughout his bag. He plays his stuff a little shorter all the way through.â€� 3 Wood: TaylorMade M6 (15 degrees) Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke 6.5TX 80 grams Ressa says: “Three wood is a tough club for him because he hits it so far. So he will kind of alternate that one based on the course and based on what he needs that week. He goes between a 15 degree and probably a 16-degree. I would say most of the time he’ll carry a 16-degree — something that doesn’t fly so far, maybe 275-280 yards. When he gets that 15-degree, and he’s feeling it and it’s warm outside, that carries about 285 yards and goes out to 300, which is not super playable for him. I think this week he’s gone back to a lower loft, but traditionally he plays a 16-degree.â€� While Wolff doesn’t tinker much with shafts, he changed this week – at least, as of Wednesday — from a Graphite Design BB shaft to a Project X HZRDUS Smoke. Driving Iron: TaylorMade P760 (2 and 3-iron) Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Tour 130X Wolff has two different long-iron options in the bag this week ahead of the Travelers Championship. With 15 clubs in the bag, it’s likely that he’ll choose just one of these driving iron options. Ressa says: “He’s got a 760 3-iron that’s bent down to 18 degrees, so technically it’s a 2-iron. That’s been a great club for him off the tee at some of these tighter courses throughout the spring. After that, he transitions into the P750’s, 4-PW. He’s played that Nippon 130X shaft for I think 2.5 years now, since we got him into the 750s.â€� Irons: TaylorMade P750 Tour Proto (4-PW) Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Tour 130X Ressa says: “We’ve tested some smaller blade irons, but he always comes back to the 750s. He likes the shape and the forgiveness and the workability of those.â€� Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind (52, 56 and 60 bent to 62 degrees) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 Ressa says: “He’s played Milled Grind wedges since we’ve had those, so a couple years. He goes 52, 56 and 62. He has a 60 that we’ve bent up to 62 for him, and that has little heel and toe relief grind on it. He’s just recently put that 62 degree in, just to have a little more height around the greens as he’s got into these tougher courses like the National Championship, which was pretty difficult, and he kind of anticipates that difficulty as he goes through this summer. That’ll be consistent in his bag.â€� Putter: TaylorMade Spider X Tour Shaft: KBS CT Tour putter shaft Ressa says: “He’s always had kind of a half mallet putter… he felt he didn’t putt great during the Waste Management and that was right around the time we introduced the Spider X. So we got him a few models of that and he put it in play the following week in Hawaii, and he won that tournament going away. He was off and running with that putter. He loves the look and the stability and everything about it, so he’s been in that since probably early February. It’s face-balanced, single bend, 33 inches, 1.5 degrees of loft. Pretty standard. No special insert.â€� Special made for Wolff after he turned pro is this “Wolffieâ€� headcover that features a wolf logo stitched with Oklahoma State University colors. The headcover, which may just be one of the best headcovers on TOUR, was designed by Cameron Bosson and the design team at TaylorMade. Wolff is also currently using a 2019 Titleist Pro V1 golf ball; TaylorMade is giving him an extended period of time to make the switch into TP5x (similar to Jon Rahm in 2016), according to a company representative. Related: Matthew Wolff bringing unique game to PGA TOUR

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Billy Maxwell, who grew up next to a golf course and led a full life of golf as a top amateur and successful touring professional before becoming a golf course owner, has passed away at the age of 92. Born on July 23, 1929, Maxwell was raised in his family’s home off the fourth green at Abilene (Texas) Country Club. The sport became his passion as Maxwell developed into a leading amateur who won the 1951 U.S. Amateur and helped North Texas State College win three straight NCAA Division I Championships (1950-1952). At North Texas, Maxwell teamed with fellow future Texas Golf Hall of Fame members Don January and Joe Conrad all three championship years, which in fact followed the school’s first-ever NCAA title in 1949. In September of their second championship year together, Maxwell advanced to the finals of the U.S. Amateur at Saucon Valley Country Club in Pennsylvania. Before a tournament-record crowd of approximately 7,000, he defeated career amateur Joe Gagliardi, 4 and 3. At age 22, Maxwell became the second-youngest U.S. Amateur champion at the time. Following college, Maxwell served in the U.S. Army before turning professional in 1954. He had a successful PGA TOUR career, winning seven times, including three wins in 1961. His final victory came at the 1962 Dallas Open Invitational, a year in which he finished a career-best 12th place on the money list with nearly $32,000. Although he never won a major championship, Maxwell performed consistently well at the three U.S. majors, finishing with eight top-10s, including ties for fifth at the 1962 Masters and 1963 U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Also in 1963, Maxwell competed in his first and only Ryder Cup at the former Atlanta Athletic Club site, now occupied by East Lake Golf Club. Though a rookie at age 34, he had a sterling performance as the only player to go 4-0-0 to help the U.S. cruise to a 23-9 victory over Great Britain. Maxwell teamed with Bob Goalby to win his first match in foursomes, then teamed with Billy Casper twice to win in four-balls and concluded with a 2-and-1 singles victory over Christy O’Connor. Once Maxwell’s playing began to wind down, he turned his attention to the business side of golf, partnering with fellow Texas touring professional Chris Blocker in 1971 to purchase Hyde Park Golf Club, a public course in Jacksonville, Florida, that was designed by famed Scottish architect Donald Ross and opened in 1925. Once home to the PGA TOUR’s Greater Jacksonville Open and site of LPGA great Mickey Wright’s first professional victory, Hyde Park was where PGA TOUR players such as Dan Sikes, Mark McCumber and Charles Raulerson honed their game as youths. After Blocker died in June 2016, Maxwell’s daughter and husband, Melanie and Tommy Bevill, took ownership of Hyde Park. But Billy remained dedicated to the course he owned for more than four decades until his passing.

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