Titleist’s new CNCPT CP-01 and CP-02 irons: ‘Leashes off’ and a huge price tag

Tony Finau heard Bill Patterson before he ever saw him. “And it’s something that I don’t want to ever hopefully hear again,â€� Finau recalls, his voice suddenly turning solemn. “An older gentleman yelling for his life. That’s what it sounded like.â€� Patterson was crumpled under a golf cart, screaming as he was dragged across the range at TPC Scottsdale. Finau, who was the last player on the range after the Wednesday pro-am at the 2018 Waste Management Phoenix Open, had just finished hitting balls when he heard the frantic cries for help. “You could see the skid marks all the way, and he was underneath the cart the whole time,â€� Finau says. Finau, his uncle and his coach, Boyd Summerhays, sprinted toward Patterson and lifted the golf cart off him. A nearby police officer radioed for help, and the EMTs arrived within minutes. Patterson was taken to a trauma center and later moved to the Barrow Neurological Center for more specialized care. The diagnosis? Well, Patterson had two broken vertebrae, 12 broken ribs, two shoulder lacerations and significant cuts on his arm. Doctors ended up breaking two more ribs in order to do the spinal fusion surgery where two 12-inch titanium rods with 16 screws were inserted in his back. Patterson, who was in what is called a neck-to-waist “turtleâ€� body cast for two months – “It was a joy the day I got rid of that thing, I’ll tell you,â€� he says — didn’t find out it was Finau who helped lift the golf cart off his battered body until weeks later when he was in rehab. Now, he describes himself as the pro’s No. 1 fan. The accident happened as Patterson, who has worked part-time at TPC Scottsdale for 13 years and was overseeing the driving range during the tournament, collected the last of the remaining magnetic A-frame boards used to identify the pros. He put two in his golf cart and had just picked up a third as he walked around the front of the vehicle to get in the driver’s side. “The third A-frame must have hit the golf cart,â€� Patterson recalls. “And one of those A-frames fell on the gas pedal and I was directly in front of it, so it ran me over and then pulled me underneath and then drug me about 50 feet. “I was awake through the entire thing, but I wasn’t sure what had just happened. All I know as I’m looking up, I see what I think is the undercarriage of a golf cart and I’m screaming. “I’m just so lucky and so fortunate that it didn’t land one of the wheels on my throat or on my head.â€� And that Finau and company were there. “That was a blessing,â€� Finau says. “… I finished, and we were just for some odd reasons, just talking in the back of the range for five, 10 minutes. “If we would’ve left right away when I was done with my range session, I think a lot of further damage could have been done, but I was happy just to kind of be there and, and be able to rush over to him and take that cart off in.â€� In the weeks after the accident, Finau quietly checked with TOUR officials and TPC staff to see how Patterson was doing. Patterson, in turn, tried to get in touch with the PGA TOUR veteran to say thank you, as well, but the email address he was given didn’t work. Patterson, who had gone back to as a starter at TPC Scottsdale last November, finally had an opportunity to talk with Finau earlier this year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Patterson was back at his usual spot on the driving range. Finau had chipped and putted and was making his way over to hit some balls. “Once I found out he was there, I was on my way over to see him and he was getting ready to walk over to the long range,â€� Patterson recalls. “We shook and embraced. And I said, Tony, I can’t tell you how much, it means to me for what you did for me. “And he says, well, I’m just so glad to see you and see that everything has been the way it turned out for you as compared to the way it could’ve been.â€� After months of rehabilitation for his back and his shoulder, Patterson was able to start playing golf again. The first time he teed it up, he shot 42 on the front nine of the Champions Course at TPC Scottsdale. “I shot light’s out. I couldn’t believe it,â€� Patterson recalls with a broad smile. “I was so methodical cause I was so afraid to bend or twist or pull and I shot a great nine hole round the golf and I was just thrilled. I had no pain. “So, I think there was a lot to be said for that slow and deliberate. Don’t try to kill the ball as they say.â€� Now that he’s able to play 18 holes again, Patterson admits some of his “old habitsâ€� have crept back into his game. But he’s happy just to be able to be playing again and beyond grateful to the TOUR pro who helped make it possible.

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One guy is from the heart of Texas, the other the Basque country of northern Spain. But my, how they clicked. Ryan Palmer and Jon Rahm, each having found himself without a partner heading into the 2019 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, high-fived, hugged and ate Skittles on the way to a three-stroke victory over Tommy Fleetwood/Sergio Garcia. “It never felt odd to me,� Palmer said on a conference call with reporters Tuesday, when told that they’d been described in one news account as a Felix-and-Oscar odd couple. There are all sorts of origin stories for the teams at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Some share a last name (brothers Brooks/Chase Koepka, T22 last year). Others have the same first name (Alex Prugh/Alex Cejka, T13 last year). They share a sponsor, agent, nationality (India’s Shubhankar Sharma/Anirban Lahiri, T22 last year), or all of the above. Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown, who lost in a playoff in 2017, the first year the Zurich Classic was a team event, are friends from Aiken, South Carolina. Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt, who beat them, teamed up because Smith’s caddie was living with Blixt in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. (Then-23-year-old Smith even later moved to the area himself.) South Georgia hunting buddies Patton Kizzire, who is 6 feet, 5 inches, and Brian Harman, who measures just 5 feet 7 inches, really do look like an odd couple. And while they missed the cut at the Zurich last year, they won the unofficial 2018 QBE Shootout in Naples, Florida. Then there’s Palmer (the Texan) and Rahm (the Spaniard currently ranked world No. 2), who were set to defend their title this year until the coronavirus pandemic had other plans. With Rahm’s caddie, Adam Hayes, giving them Skittles for birdies at TPC Louisiana, they made nine best-ball birdies for a third-round 64, Rahm accounting for eight of them. Palmer, who helped them avert disaster when both hit into the water on 17, then made several clutch putts in the final round as they brought it home with an alternate-shot 69. They slipped on the customary white winners’ belts with 6-inch rhodium-plated buckle designed by Malcolm DeMille and featuring New Orleans symbols like musical notes, the fleur-de-lis, and gators. That this even had a chance to happen was a quirk of fate, God’s wink, kismet, and maybe some good old New Orleans juju. Palmer’s usual Zurich partner, Jordan Spieth, had decided to take the week off, and Rahm’s partner, Wesley Bryan, was inactive due to shoulder surgery. “When Wesley told me he was having shoulder surgery a few months before the event, I was in no-man’s land,� Rahm said last year. “I’m really happy I said yes (to Palmer).� Said Palmer on Tuesday, “It was an easy text and he jumped right on it.� Easy because their caddies, Hayes and Palmer’s friend and bag man James Edmondson, are friends. Easy because Rahm had played in Palmer’s charity event, and they’d gotten to know each other. And, yes, easy because Rahm was already one of the best players in the world. Their age difference? Not a big deal. “I spent two years playing with Jordan,� Palmer said, “I’m real good friends with him and he’s the same age as Jon. I thought, ‘What a great opportunity to partner up with a great player.’ � Palmer misses being in New Orleans this week. He misses the food, and hanging out with his friends there, including Sean Payton, head coach of the Saints. They’re pro-am partners, and Payton has brought Palmer into the team’s NFL Draft room to peer behind the curtain. As for New Orleans, he added, he and Rahm have kept in touch, two solid ball-strikers who fade the ball off the tee and play the occasional practice round together. So, no, they’re not as odd a couple as you might think, but there was one odd part. It happened long after they won, and, needing to eat before getting on planes to fly to their respective homes, the Zurich Classic’s newest power couple walked into a Popeyes for some fried chicken. Said Palmer, laughing at the memory, “We were still wearing those belts.�

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JACKSON, Miss. – ‘Opportunity’ is a word used often at the Sanderson Farms Championship. The second event of the PGA TOUR season provides new players fresh off the Korn Ferry Tour the chance to gain experience, get a head-start in the FedExCup race and even earn that maiden victory and all the trappings that accompany it. The PGA TOUR’s newest members aren’t the only ones who can change the trajectory of their career during this time of year, though. Veteran players, the ones with majors and FedExCups on their resume, also appear on the tee sheets of these early events. Many are trying to recapture that winning feeling or at least gain some confidence before the calendar changes to a new year. Zach Johnson falls into that latter category. He’s competing in the Sanderson Farms Championship after a season that he simply describes as ‘frustrating.’ He hasn’t had a top-10 in this calendar year and missed the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time since they started in 2007. At 43 years old, the former Drake Bulldog still desires to be competitive on the PGA TOUR. And so he is battling the heat in Mississippi in search of the game that he still believes is in him. “I’m trying to treat each week as a phenomenal opportunity to get better,â€� Johnson said. “I’m trying to improve, rather than getting caught up in results or assessing aspects of my game.â€� The results were good Thursday. Johnson, who’s playing this event for the first time since 2005, shot 5-under 67 on Thursday. He is three shots behind leader Tom Hoge. “I just kind of plodded myself around and gave myself good opportunities. I had some I left out there, but certainly capitalized on a few as well,â€� Johnson said. “There was just nothing silly about it. I made one decent putt. For the most part, I kept the golf course in front of me, picked it apart when I could, and hit solid shots.â€� Johnson, who missed the cut in last week’s A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, made just one bogey Thursday. He hit half the fairway, but missed just five greens. The Georgia resident has had success throughout his career on Bermudagrass, and he found the old-school Country Club of Jackson to his liking. He gained nearly 1.5 strokes on the greens Thursday, holing a 30-footer on the fourth hole and making all 17 of his attempts from inside 10 feet. The statistics show that that club hurt him the most in 2019. He ranked 117th in Strokes Gained: Putting (-0.09). It was his first season that Johnson, who perennially ranked in the top 10 of that statistic, lost strokes on the greens. “The frustrating part from the summer on is the fact that I think I’ve been working really hard and I just haven’t seen the progress yet,â€� Johnson said. “But I think it’s coming. I’m confident it’s coming. I know what I’m doing, ball striking, short game, and on the putting green. It’s going to surface. Just a matter of when, not if.â€�

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