Tiger Woods’ caddie Joe LaCava joins Patrick Cantlay at THE NORTHERN TRUST

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – While Hideki Matsuyama is known to use and experiment with a variety of different Scotty Cameron prototype putters week-to-week, the putter he’s using at the 2019 World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational is particularly noteworthy. Recently, Scotty Cameron released a retail line of “Teryllium T22� putters, 22 years after Tiger Woods won the 1997 Masters with a Scotty Cameron TeI3 Newport putter that had a face insert made of Teryllium. The 2019 release of the putters had many of the familiar designs, including a Teryllium face and the domino-like dot pattern in the back cavity. The new T22 putters are milled from 303 stainless steel, they have a matte black finish, they have sole weights for adjustability, and there’s a new inlay that has vibration-dampening characteristics. On Monday, ahead of the 2019 World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Scotty Cameron also unveiled new tour-only prototype models that are built with a very similar look to the T22 retail release, but they have different engravings on the heads. In the photos below, notice the Circle T stampings on the face and sole, the “Tour Only� stamping on the back bumpers and the altered nomenclature of the tour-only putters compared to the retail heads.  According to a Titleist representative, all of the tour-only putters are built at the Scotty Cameron Putter Studio in California, and they’re considered prototypes because of their ability to be modified pre-production. As seen at the 2019 World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, the tour-only Scotty Cameron versions are made in at least a Teryllium Newport (TNP) model and a Teryllium Newport 2 (TNP2) model, each with various sight lines. Matsuyama’s version of the putter, which he had been testing earlier in the week and ultimately put in play on Thursday, is a TNP2 model with a gray sightline. His putter also has two 10-gram weights in the sole. In his opening round of the event, Matsuyama shot a 65 (5-under-par) with 2.581 Strokes Gained: Putting.

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The FedExCup Playoffs continue today with Round 2 of the BMW Championship from Medinah. Here’s how to follow all the action. Round 2 leaderboard Round 2 tee times HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 3-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 12-3 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 12-2 p.m. (GC), 2-6 p.m. (NBC) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 9:45 a.m.-7 p.m. (featured groups). Saturday, 8:15 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes). Sunday, 8:15 a.m.-2 p.m. (featured groups), 2-6 p.m. (featured holes). International subscribers (via GOLF.tv): Thursday-Friday, 11:15 to 22:00 GMT. Saturday-Sunday, 12:30 to 22:00. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com). FEATURED GROUPS Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy (FedExCup Nos. 1, 2 and 3) Friday: 12:54 p.m. Matt Kuchar, Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay (FedExCup Nos. 4, 5 and 6) Friday: 10:48 a.m. Xander Schauffele, Abraham Ancer, Gary Woodland (FedExCup Nos. 7, 8 and 9) Friday: 12:43 p.m. Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson, Justin Rose (FedExCup Nos. 10, 11 and 12) Friday: 10:37 a.m. MUST READS Thomas starts strong, ties course record Kokrak wants to concentrate on scores, not scenarios Rookie of the Year race down to five Tiger still showing rust Furyk flashes old form FedExCup Playoffs primer, new format detailed Insider: New format at East Lake to bring drama Seven things to know about Medinah CALL OF THE DAY

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CROMWELL, Conn. — Rory McIlroy doesn’t consider his performance in Thursday’s opening round of the Travelers Championship much different than the one on display a week ago. The contrast in results, though, were fairly extreme. “A 16-shot difference,â€� McIlroy noted. Indeed, his opening 6-under 64 at TPC River Highlands was a welcomed sight after his 10-over 80 in the opening round of the U.S. Open. World No. 7 McIlroy wasn’t the only top-10 player who wiped away a nightmare result at Shinnecock Hills with a much more fruitful score a week later. No. 5 Jordan Spieth opened the defense of his Travelers title with a 7-under 63 in the afternoon that vaulted him into a share of the lead with morning finisher Zach Johnson. A week ago, Spieth opened with a 78 and, like McIlroy, ultimately missed the cut. Meanwhile, No. 9 Jason Day bounced back from his opening 79 at Shinnecock Hills with a solid 66 that left him in a 14-way tie for ninth. The 63 for Spieth is nothing new for him at TPC River Highlands — it’s the same score he shot in last year’s opening round en route to winning in his first Travelers start. It’s also his lowest score since a year ago, and a much-needed boost in a season of sputtering starts. Spieth’s first-round scoring average this season is 71.79, which ranks him tied for 155th on the PGA TOUR. “The first rounds have been kind of detrimental to me,â€� Spieth said, “so it’s nice to be in the thick of things.â€� Like he did in the playoff against Daniel Berger last year, Spieth holed out from a greenside bunker. This time, it was at the par-5 sixth for eagle, to go along with his six birdies. But more than the fireworks, Thursday’s round saw Spieth play as solid as he’s done all year. He called it his “third-bestâ€� round of the year after his first (66) and fourth (64) rounds at the Masters. Even more to the point, he was pleased with his management of the round. He didn’t try to force the issue on a course than can be very tempting to attack. “This golf course, I played it really smart today. It was probably the smartest round I’ve played this year, really the last couple years,â€� Spieth said. “I just didn’t feel great coming off the range. I’ve been working on some things on the swing, just decided to play toward the center of the greens and let the putter do the work because it’s starting to come around.â€� Indeed, he feels good about his entire game, talking about the need to simply trust the process of getting back to the kind of performances golf fans are used to seeing from Spieth. “My game’s in a good place, scores aren’t reflecting it,â€� Spieth said. “As long as I don’t beat myself up over that and just stick to the process, then — it’s certainly a testing year for me, and it’s a building year. It’s one where I can actually come out stronger. I’ve kind of looked at it that way the last couple months.â€� As for McIlroy, he said missing the cut at Shinnecock Hills allowed him to put in some very productive weekend week, and he carried that over to his practice sessions this week at the Travelers. The result was a bogey-free round for the first 17 holes. The only reason he doesn’t have a share of the lead is a closing bogey in which he failed to find the green with his approach. “I feel like the work that I did over the weekend sort of started to pay off already,â€� said McIlroy, who has a win, two other top-10s and three missed cuts in a rollercoaster last few months. “It was nice to see the shots I was playing right there. Being able to work the ball both ways was something I wasn’t quite as comfortable doing last week. “Obviously, you never want to miss a cut in a major, but it might have been a blessing in disguise for the rest of the year.â€� The blessing in disguise, perhaps, would be simply coming to a course that allows players to flex their scoring muscles.

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