Tiger Woods Chasing 82, Chapter 9: The Great Comeback Part II

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Joel Dahmen took 68 strokes to complete his first round at the Wyndham Championship. Three of them came from the same spot. It resulted in a triple-bogey on the par-4 14th, Dahmen’s fifth hole of the day. He bounced back with five birdies and no bogeys the remainder of the way, however. Entering this week, there had been just 11 rounds this season in which a player shot 68 or lower with a triple-bogey or worse (Patton Kizzire and Chris Kirk each had two apiece). So, what happened on 14? His caddie, Geno Bonnalie, explained the situation on Twitter, writing, “Ball was sitting … perfectly on top of a tuft of Bermuda. Took a practice swing a foot from the ball, and the ball fell to the bottom. Had to replace it (1 stroke [penalty]). Then went right underneath it the 2nd time and it didn’t move. 3 strokes from the same spot. Golf is hard.” In another tweet, Bonnalie said they were “not certain he caused it to move, but not certain he didn’t either.” Dahmen penalized himself because he could not be certain that his actions did not cause the ball to move. He was penalized one stroke under Rule 9.4, “Ball Lifted or Moved by Player,” which states that a player is penalized one stroke and must replace his ball if he causes it to move. Dahmen, who earned his first PGA TOUR victory at this year’s Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, is 76th in the FedExCup standings. Statistically speaking, Dahmen lost -1.4 strokes around the green on that one hole. This is how ShotLink described the triple-bogey: Shot 1: 316 yards to right fairway, 195 yards to hole Shot 2: 185 yards to right rough, 60 ft. 3 in. to hole Shot 3: Penalty Shot 4: 19 in. to right rough, 58 ft. 10 in. to hole Shot 5: 89 ft. 1 in. to green, 30 ft. 2 in. to hole Shot 6: putt 28 ft. 5 in., 23 in. to hole Shot 7: in the hole

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Although mostly known for its irons in the equipment world, Mizuno has launched two new drivers that have each gotten play on the PGA TOUR prior to this official launch. Mizuno staffers Luke Donald and Keith Mitchell have put the new ST190G and ST190 drivers in the bag, respectively. For Luke Donald, the change into Mizuno’s new, adjustable ST190G was immediate. After more than a 7-month hiatus from the PGA TOUR for health reasons, Donald returned to competition at the 2018 QBE Shootout with the ST190G driver in the bag.  For Mitchell, the change into Mizuno’s ST190 driver was unexpected. “Driving was my best category last year – I walked into testing to do ‘Cookie’ (Mizuno’s PGA TOUR Manager Jeff Cook) a favor, give him some numbers and leave,â€� Mitchell said, according to Mizuno press release. “It turned out to be the easiest change I’ve ever made – on the one club I never thought I would switch. The ST190 was faster, straighter and more forgiving than what I was playing. I’ve used it ever since and haven’t considered taking it out.â€� The ST190 and ST190G drivers are each designed with new Forged SP700 Ti faces that now have lighter “Cortechâ€� structures, which deliver higher ball speeds, according to Mizuno. Mizuno says the faces are 10 percent stronger than 6-4 Titanium faces and are made from fine grains that allow for a more complex geometry; the new heads include re-designed internal ribs behind the face that are said to help with sound qualities. A new carbon-composite crown from Mizuno weighs 12 grams, thus saving 7 grams of weight from its predecessor’s crown. The weight savings allowed Mizuno to reposition weight to increase ball speeds and lower spin rates, according to the company. Additionally, the “Amplified Wave Soleâ€� — featuring ripples in the sole behind the face — has a redesigned structure compared to previous drivers that Mizuno says helps expand the COR (coefficient of restitution) area, thus raising ball speeds across the face. Mizuno’s ST190 driver, which has a fixed 6-gram weight in the rear portion of the sole, is said to favor a “more downward angle of attack,â€� according to a Mizuno press release. The ST190G driver, on the other hand, favors golfers with a “more level angle of attack.â€� The CG-adjustable ST190G has two sliding weight tracks in the sole that house two 7-gram weights; the weights can slide back-to-front to influence spin rates by up to 200 rpm, says Mizuno, and they can be placed into one of the tracks to achieve a draw or fade bias. Put both weight in the toe track for fade bias, or put both weights in the heel track for a draw-bias. The ST190 driver (9.5 and 10.5 degrees) will sell for $400, while the ST190G driver (9 degrees) will sell for $500. Mizuno ST190 and ST190 TS (Tour Spoon) fairway woods The ST190 fairway woods also have carbon composite crown and wave technology in the soles, but instead of SP700 faces, they’re made from HT1770 Maraging steel faces. With the new crowns, Mizuno says it was able to save 4 grams of weight compared to its predecessors, allowing the company to move weight lower in the club head. Mizuno’s ST190 fairway woods have a fixed hosel (15 and 18 degrees), while the ST190 TS model is adjustable between 13-and-17 degrees. The standard fairway woods will sell for $250, and the adjustable version will sell for $300. All of the Mizuno ST190 products will be available in February 2019.

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