U.S. Open: Players thrown into the fire early as Winged Foot's opening holes prove punishing

John Daly, winner of the 1991 PGA Championship, is taking a break from the PGA TOUR Champions this week to tee it up at the PGA Championship. The ever-eccentric 56-year-old didn’t disappoint when GolfWRX caught up with him to see what he had in the bag at Southern Hills Country Club. At first glance, it’s difficult to discern what irons Daly has in the bag because there is so much lead tape on the back cavities. For those who may not know, lead tape is a commonly-used substance that pro golfers utilize to manipulate weight on a golf club for a different feel or performance characteristic In Daly’s case, he needed to add lead tape on his TaylorMade P770 iron heads because he’s using SuperStroke S-Tech Club Cord oversized grips with 6 wraps underneath. The grips weigh in at 82 grams apiece, according to his club builder Scott “E.G.” Garrison (an independent master club builder on the PGA TOUR). Since a standard golf grip weighs around 52 grams, Daly’s club heads needed significant weight added to counteract the increased grip weight and reach the desired feel and swing weight. His irons weren’t the only noteworthy clubs in Daly’s bag, though. He also revealed an unreleased PXG “TD” prototype driver that recently hit the United States Golf Association’s Conforming Clubs List. Since the driver hasn’t yet been announced to the public, PXG is yet to comment about the design of the driver, but it’s clear from the photos that Daly’s prototype has three weight ports in the sole and the head measures 9 degrees. As of Tuesday, when GolfWRX photographed his entire setup, Daly was testing two different putters: an Odyssey White Hot OG Double Wide, and an Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K One model. He will likely decide between those two putters come competition time on Thursday. Here’s a closer look at what he has in the bag this week: Driver: PXG TD prototype (9 degrees) Shaft: Project X HZRDUS RDX 60TX 3-wood: PXG 0341 X (15 degrees) Shaft: Project X HZRDUS 80TX Hybrids: TaylorMade SIM2 Rescue (17 and 22 degrees) Shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 95S (17 degrees), KBS Tour Prototype 95S (22 degrees) Irons: TaylorMade P770 (4-PW) Shaft: KBS Tour 120S Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9 (50, 54 and 60 degrees) Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour105 S-Flex (50 and 54 degrees), and KBS Tour 120S (60 degrees) Putters: Odyssey White Hot OG Double Wide or Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K One

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Starting in 2022, the European Tour will be rebranded as the DP World Tour in a deal set to double the total prize money to more than $200 million.

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Coming off four consecutive missed cuts and ranked 113th in Strokes Gained: Putting, Billy Horschel figured it was time for a putter change at THE PLAYERS Championship. The former FedExCup champion switched to a face-balanced PXG Bat Attack mallet that proved to be a difference maker one week later at the AT&T Byron Nelson, where Horschel defeated Jason Day on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. Playing the role of pursuer for most of the final round, Horschel jarred an impressive 59-foot bomb on the 14th that moved him into a tie for the lead at 11 under. Horschel would make a number of key putts over the next few holes, including a two-putt birdie from 46 feet on the 16th, and another from 98 feet on the 17th. For the week, Horschel ranked second in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting, picking up a combined 8.412 eight strokes on the field over 72 holes. Horschel’s 350-gram Bat Attack putter was introduced earlier this year and comes equipped with weighted stainless steel wings that are set exactly one golf ball width apart to assist with alignment. Each putter is constructed with a aircraft-grade aluminum body and soft billet milled 304 stainless steel face. Behind the face is a TPE insert that produces a soft, solid feel at impact for consistency across the entire face. Here’s a look at Horschel’s entire PXG bag setup. Driver: PXG 0811X (Fujikura Atmos Tour Spec Black 6X shaft), 9 degrees 3-wood: PXG 0341X (Project X HZRDUS Black 75X 6.5 shaft), 15 degrees 5-wood: PXG 0341 (Project X HZRDUS Black 75X 6.5 shaft), 18 degrees Irons: PXG 0311T (3, 5-PW; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts) Wedges: PXG 0311T Milled (52-10, 56-10 and 60-07 degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts) Putter: PXG Bat Attack Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

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