Tiger will play first PGA event since shutdown at Memorial

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When Adam Scott showed up to Muirfield Village Golf Club on Monday for the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, he had a set of unique Titleist 681.AS irons in his golf bag. That was no surprise, though, since Scott has been using the custom-made irons since THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT in October. The Titleist 681.AS irons are special because they’re made to match Scott’s exact preferences; he prefers more offset, higher toe sections and longer blade lengths. The 681.AS irons are essentially updated versions of the Titleist Forged 680 irons that Scott has used for the majority of his 14-win PGA TOUR career. The 680s came out in 2003. “When you’re old and stubborn, you like what you like,” the 41-year-old told PGATOUR.COM in October. “I’ve been stuck on the 680s for a long time now. … The (681.AS irons) are as exact a replica as you can get, but with the way they’ve been made, I could argue it’s a more solid head with a more solid strike.” Scott had been using the Titleist 681.AS irons for months. Interestingly, though, Scott had an old Titleist 680 Forged 8-iron in his bag on Monday that had its sole ground flatter to take some of the bounce out. Scott told GolfWRX on Monday that he was merely testing the 8-iron against his 681.AS 8-iron because of that flatter sole. During a Tuesday practice round at the Memorial Tournament, however, he had an entirely new set of blade irons in the bag. Only his logo was stamped on the clubs’ muscle backs. Scott told GolfWRX on Tuesday that he opened a box full of these mysterious irons just minutes before his range session. After passing the eye test, and his initial range tests, Scott put them into his bag for the Tuesday practice round; it would be the first time that Scott had ever hit the irons on a golf course. Now, what exactly are these the Scott-logoed irons? As he revealed to GolfWRX.com on Tuesday, they’re completely custom irons made by Miura Golf, which is a golf equipment company that specializes in Japanese forged irons. After the practice round, GolfWRX caught up with Scott to see how the testing went with his brand new one-of-one irons and to see if he’ll put them in play come Thursday. “It’s hard to say,” Scott told GolfWRX.com after his practice round. “I mean, it’s pretty early days. It’s not easy to just throw in a new set of clubs. But I enjoyed them, I think they’re a great set of clubs. I need some days to feel confident, but I think they’re doing everything they should.” According to Scott, the difference between his 681.AS irons and the Miura irons is the sole (remember, he was testing out a flatter-soled 680 Forged iron on Monday). “Really it’s the sole design that’s the difference,” Scott said. “It’s just a little less bounce. They’re a little flatter and wider on the sole. “My eye for a blade is very different than most of the stock blades that are being made by the companies today. I grew up with offset, which is almost a thing of the past. Even in larger headed irons these days, there’s little offset out here. But I like it, and it’s hard to find. Titleist made me an amazing set of 681.AS irons that had the offset and were pretty much like the clubs I were using (the Titleist 680 Forged). And this set was made with the idea of less bounce than those.” While Scott has a particular eye for blade iron designs, his desire for less bounce wasn’t aesthetic. It was actually based on statistics. “Getting into the nerdy, nerdy stuff like looking into stats on different turf conditions throughout the years, potentially there’s a better balance point with the bottom,” Scott told GolfWRX.com. “I had contacted Miura to see if they could make a set of clubs with my aesthetic looks. I hit one of their other irons, (the MB-101) that had that sole, and I asked if they’d build something with that sole, and they said, ‘Yes.’” Miura’s retail MB-101 blade irons typically have the company’s logo stamped on the rear portion of the irons, but Scott’s custom-designed heads have his personal logo stamped on them. As Scott admits, that added touch might have actually influenced him to give the irons a test run faster than he would have otherwise. “I didn’t even ask really for them to stamp my logo on them, but they sent them, which is very cool,” Scott said. “They probably knew if they stamped (my logo) on them I couldn’t resist. I got them out on the range pretty quick. They went from the box to the range in about 1.5 minutes.” Looks and performance aside, Miura’s irons are made in Japan, as the hosel stampings confirm, so do they feel any different to Scott compared to his Titleist 681.AS irons? “The 681.AS irons use an incredible material,” Scott said. “I know that the material – if it’s not the same material as the Scotty Cameron putters are, then it must be similar, but I always thought it was the same. So that’s a really nice material. The Miuras are renowned for using nice materials. I think they both have a great feel. It’s really the turf interaction that I’m looking for.” Due to the turf conditions at Muirfield Village, Scott implied that the course isn’t necessarily ripe for new irons with a flatter sole, but upcoming tournaments with firmer turf, such as the Open Championship, are on his radar. “Here this week isn’t the best test; it’s so plush and nice,” Scott explained. “It’s more the Bermudagrasses, and then on Open Championship-like tight lies where I’m trying to improve my strike.” So, will we see Scott’s new one-of-one Miura irons in play this week at the Memorial Tournament? Even he isn’t sure just yet. Tuesday was his first day ever using the irons, but if the flatter soles end up improving his turf interaction like he hopes, and with the Open Championship at St. Andrews right around the corner in July, we could see them go into play sooner rather than later. We’ll keep you updated on whether Scott makes the switch, or whether he sticks with the Titleist 681.AS irons.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – There are very few people who can really truly comprehend what Tiger Woods has achieved since having back-fusion surgery. One of those is two-time Super Bowl champion and five-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning. Manning famously returned to the heights of the NFL after sitting out a season following neck-fusion surgery in 2011. Having won his first Super Bowl with the Colts before the injury, he won another with the Denver Broncos after having surgery. RELATED: Watch Tiger exclusively on PGA TOUR LIVE on Thursday morning Getting there was not easy and plenty doubted he could. Woods finally succumbed to back-fusion surgery after multiple previous surgeries failed to fully address the issue. Now Woods has two wins since the surgery (TOUR Championship, Masters). Manning joined Woods for a pro-am appearance at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide on Wednesday, the second straight year they have played together. But this year came after Woods won PGA TOUR title No. 80 at East Lake and No. 81 at Augusta National Golf Club, replicating the amazing comeback success of Manning. “It’s hard to make comparisons. And I don’t think that anybody can speak to it from a physical standpoint, injury-wise. Only you know what it feels like. And I know how hard he worked,� Manning said of Woods, who will try to join Sam Snead with a record 82 PGA TOUR wins this week. “The most impressive thing is how he’s been able to adjust and be adaptive to playing in a new physical state. And that’s what I did. And maybe to use a baseball analogy … I couldn’t throw the 100 mile-an-hour fastball anymore, but you can still work the outside edges of the plate and you can still strike a guy out that way. “And he struck a lot of guys out down there at Augusta a few weeks ago and came home with the win. That to me is the most impressive thing, how adaptive he’s been. As a golf fan, like everybody, I liked watching that Sunday. It’s great having him out here watching him play again.� Woods’ chase for 82 has ramped up lately. While he missed the cut at the PGA Championship, this week he’s at a venue where success has come in buckets. There was a time that Muirfield Village was as much Tiger’s place as it was Jack’s. From 1999-2012, Woods finished no worse than T22 at the beautiful course Jack Nicklaus built near his Ohio roots. Woods won the Memorial Tournament five times and finished inside the top four on three other occasions. Three of his wins came in consecutive years between 1999-2001. So perhaps it would be somewhat fitting for Woods to claim his 82nd and record-tying PGA TOUR win this week. “To get into those numbers it takes longevity and it takes years. I think it’s been 10 years where I’ve won five or more tournaments. You need multiple win seasons like that and be able to do it for decades so that’s something I’m very proud of because it’s not something that happens overnight,� Woods said of his win chase. “To be able to come this close to get to one behind Sam Snead has been pretty amazing. It has been a pretty amazing run during my 20-some odd years out here. Hopefully I have a few more.� Woods was under the weather at Bethpage Black, but insists his health is fine this week. “I lost quite a bit of weight and wasn’t feeling my best, but I was able to put most of it back on,� he said. “I’m feeling a lot better. I just need to play a little bit more now. Hopefully it will be four solid days this week.�

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