Updates on Tiger Woods from Thursday at the PGA Championship

It would be easy to assume PGA TOUR players are always using the latest and greatest gear. It makes sense since equipment manufacturers are theoretically updating, elevating, and pushing the limits of technology year-in and year-out. And, of course, the OEMs want their staffers to use the latest equipment lines. However, every now and then, there are clubs that just refuse to go away. Call it superstition, bad habit, nostalgia, or anything in between. Below are five clubs out on TOUR that simply refuse to take a knee and retire. Putters are exempt here (hence the exclusion of Tiger Woods' "Elder Wand" Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS). Kevin Na's Callaway Great Big Bertha Epic Driver Granted, he’s not the only player on this list playing an older driver (defined as something four-plus years old), but Kevin Na's reluctance to switch is still something to notice. It's not necessarily a crime to keep something that works, but with all the progression Callaway has made since 2017, it's hard to fathom that the guy couldn't have picked up an extra 10 yards with a newer driver. Can't blame Na for being loyal — and winning doesn't help the case for a change either. Na's win at the recent Sony Open in Hawaii has given him wins in each of the last four seasons. Specs Driver: Callaway GBB Epic (9 degrees) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD GP 6 TX Tony Finau's and Brooks Koepka's Nike Vapor Pro 3-irons This is the one that still fascinates gearheads. Why do two of the best players in the world continue to stubbornly put this 3-iron back in the bag over and over again? Over the past 4-5 years, it has been benched a couple of times by both Finau and Koepka but like clockwork, both players had it in play last week at The American Express. WRX asked former Nike Tour Technician Ben Giunta for insight. "Players have positive vibes with that model," he said. "It doesn't have a ton of offset. It's consistent. It fits their eyes, and it is really hot." Hard to argue with that reasoning. Specs Brooks Koepka Nike Vapor Fly Pro (3-iron) Shaft: Fujikura Pro 95 Tour Spec X-Flex Tony Finau Nike Vapor Fly Pro (3-iron) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI Hybrid 105 X Fred Couples' Callaway FT-i Squareway 3-wood "I haven't found anything I hit better." That's what Fred Couples told GolfWRX's Johnny Wunder on The Gear Dive Podcast back in 2019. The story of how Couples stuck this in his bag is perhaps one of the most Freddie Couples stories ever. The story goes that Freddie was on the range at the 2008 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic at SilverRock. The Harrison rep at the time was testing shafts with Fred and one of the samples was connected to this square-headed Callaway fairway wood. Remember, it's 2008 and shaft reps usually had test clubs built up to speed the process up. After hitting a few, Fred turned to the guy and said "I love it." The rep said, "Great so what head do want it in?" Fred replied, "Nope, I love the whole thing, thanks." Headcover went on. In the bag it went. Here we are today. Specs Callaway FTI Squareway (15 degrees) Shaft: Harrison Mugen Prototype 75 X (43-inches, D3) Grip: Golf Pride CP2 Wrap 58R "Logo Down" Henrik Stenson's Callaway Legacy Black irons It's typically his old trusty Diablo Octane 3-wood that gets all the attention, but now that the trusty weapon has officially been put to rest, there is another section of Stenson's bag that stands out for its longevity — his irons. Keep in mind that his Callaway Legacy Black irons were never even sold in the United States. They were a Japanese-only offering that caught his eye back in 2013. Stenson has never shied away from forgiveness in his irons. He loved that the clubs had a blade profile at address while still giving him plenty of help down below. As one of the best ball strikers in recent memory, it's comforting to know that even someone like Henrik Stenson will take all the help he can get. Word on the street is that he has gone through 10-plus sets of the irons and the stock is getting thin. Specs Callaway Legacy Black (3-PW) Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 120 X

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Had it not been for the cameraman following him around the building, Davis Love III might have been any other tourist at the World Golf Hall of Fame that day in early May. He wandered through the exhibit rooms, stopping to peer into the glass cases at the trophies and letters and equipment that previous inductees had donated to the Hall. He pulled out his cell phone and took pictures of some of the more interesting items stored for posterity in their lockers, too. Love even took the elevator to the Trophy Tower, the tallest point in St. John’s County, where he had a 360-degree view of the World Golf Village. Of course, that stop was for a TV interview. After all, he couldn’t blend in completely. Love went on the reconnaissance mission, of sorts, because he is about to join the World Golf Hall of Fame along with Ian Woosnam, Lorena Ochoa Reyes, Meg Mallon and the late Henry Longhurst in the Class of 2017. He wanted to get an idea of what kind of memorabilia to include in his own exhibit and locker. The induction ceremony will be held at the Cipriani Wall Street in New York Cup on Sept. 26. It’s a busy week for Love, who will also be serving a second stint as an assistant captain for the U.S. Team during the Presidents Cup at Liberty National in New Jersey. Love said it took three or four days to decide what items he wanted to loan to the World Golf Hall of Fame. Some were at his mother’s house and his agent’s office. Other pieces were on display in the clubhouses at Sea Island Resort in Georgia, where Love hosts the RSM Classic in November. He had plenty at his home, too. All of it brought back memories. That’s why it took so long to assemble the collection of more than 70 items. “I started looking through stuff,â€� Love says with a smile. Among the more interesting finds that he’s donating were photos of his late father, Davis Love Jr., who served in the Army and was stationed in Korea. Among his duties? Teaching the officers to play golf. “He didn’t really elaborate that much,â€� Love says about his dad. “But there were all these pictures of the Army golf team and flying around in helicopters, giving lessons and going out with the generals. “Only my dad could completely get out of doing anything,â€� he adds, chuckling. Among the equipment Love is loaning to the World Golf Hall of Fame is the putter he used to win the 1997 PGA Championship. The Wannamaker Trophy will be on display, too, along with a framed scorecard and a polo shirt he wore that week at Winged Foot. Golf bags from various Presidents Cups and Ryder Cups will be on display, along with money clips from the World Cup, which Love won four times with his good friend Fred Couples. Ditto for the ring he got when his North Carolina team won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and his North & South Amateur trophy. “They were like, ‘Do you have it?’ â€� Love recalls. “I said, do I have it?  It’s the biggest amateur tournament I won.â€� Some of the more interesting items, though, are the books that Love picked. Among them, not surprisingly, are the yellow galley proofs of “Every Shot I Take: Lessons Learned about Golf, Life and a Father’s Love,â€� the book he wrote after his dad died in a plane crash. Love’s fascination with the South’s signature dish – and he cooks it competitively – is showcased in “Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto.â€� Another book he loaned the Hall is “Tenth Legionâ€� by Colonel Tom Kelly. Love reads it every year before turkey season starts. “A classic literature book but it’s about turkey hunting,â€� he said. “It’s very, very dry satirical humor. Very, very good. “Some people will go, what in the heck is that?  But the real turkey hunters will go, he’s a real turkey hunter.â€� And one book, Love says, perhaps only Bryson DeChambeau can love. Or maybe Phil Mickelson, who enjoys talking golf with putting guru, Dave Pelz, a former NASA scientist. It’s “The Golfing Machine: The Star System of G.O.L.F., Geometrically Oriented Linear Force.” “My dad had me read the book and went to a guy who did the machines,â€� Love says. “My dad read the whole book and all he got was stretch your left arm with your right, keep the width and the circle.  “I’m going to read everybody’s stuff, see if they have anything I like.  That’s just a weird thing but it’s something that my dad gave me to read.â€�  The Titleist hat that Love gave the World Golf Hall of Fame has particular significance, too. “(It) is the one I wore at the TOUR Championship when Payne Stewart died,â€� Love says. “What Would Jesus Do? I wanted that in my locker.â€� The 21-time PGA TOUR champ, who included the Sam Snead Trophy he got for winning the 2015 Wyndham Championship at the age of 51, also had quite the collection of letters to loan the Hall. Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and President H.W. Bush are among those who wrote him. “I wanted to make a whole book of letters for people to read,â€� Love says. “Some of that stuff is just so cool. Letters from President Bush and Byron Nelson, ‘Sure are playing well. Hope you come to my tournament.’ Stuff like that.  “Like personal stuff that people don’t see that Byron did or Arnold did. When Arnold passed away people were talking about letters. To have it, the normal letter typed out but write something at the bottom, stuff like that is pretty cool.  “People ought to be able to see that.â€� Golf fans will also be able to see the Bob Jones Award that Love won in 2013, the highest honor the USGA gives to recognize distinguished sportsmanship in golf. Ditto for the little orange GolfCraft Skokie putter Love’s father cut down for him and the persimmon driver that NBA great Michael Jordan broke when the two were in college at Carolina. One thing that didn’t make the cut was the trophy of a horse that Love won for being Reserve National Champion in his division one year as his daughter, Lexie, competed across the country in equestrian events. Another of his favorite items that won’t be on display is a relatively non-descript golf ball that happened to belong to Ryan Moore, who was one of Love’s Captain’s Picks for last year’s Ryder Cup team. Love boldly selected Moore instead of Bubba Watson, who was ranked seventh in the world at the time and later joined the team as one of the captain’s assistants. Love – who had forgotten to retrieve his ball when he made the clinching putt in the 1993 matches – didn’t want the same thing to happen to Moore when he beat Lee Westwood for the U.S. win last year. “I waited until he calmed down and everything and said, ‘You’re going to want this,’â€� Love recalls. “About an hour later he came back and said, ‘I want you to have it’ and gave it to me.  “I told him that meant more to me than anything in the whole Ryder Cup because of the whole situation with him and Bubba and the whole deal.â€�  

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Good thing you have an appetite because we’re treated to a luau at the Sony Open in Hawaii. For starters, 23 of the 33 who competed at last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions made the short trip west to Oahu, including Gary Woodland (2nd), Justin Thomas (3rd), Marc Leishman (T4) and Bryson DeChambeau (7th). You’re going about this game incorrectly if any doesn’t get your call at some point this season. Given the historical trend supporting golfers who opened the calendar year on Maui, I wouldn’t talk you out of any at Waialae Country Club. Seriously. While we need to slow-play the season for positioning entering the FedExCup Playoffs when points are quadrupled, two considerations must be made. First, there are only three tournaments in this season’s Playoffs, so you can shift one of your monsters usually saved to a spot sooner on the schedule. Second, the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club is the only event of the series that doesn’t rotate host sites. Liberty National Golf Club last hosted THE NORTHERN TRUST in 2009 and 2013, while Medinah Country Club hasn’t served as the backdrop for an individual competition since the 2006 PGA Championship. This is why I’m advocating JT this week. For loyal readers, that will come across as a stark departure from my general approach, but he firmly checks both of the boxes guiding all gamers this week. Among his multiple strong showings here, the 2017 Sony champ established the PGA TOUR record for 72 holes at 27-under 253. He also closed strong at Kapalua on Sunday. Furthermore, as strange as it sounds but explained above, we won’t miss him during the Playoffs. And with the majors awarding only 100 more points for a victory than what’s up for grabs at Waialae, his value in this field is even greater. No doubt that part of my decision is reliant on the depth of PGA TOUR membership and worldwide talent to plug a gap later, but I’m vowing to be aggressive to defend my league title. Aside from the other three aforementioned studs, others who opened 2019 at Kapalua and deserve a peek at Waialae include Charles Howell III (T14). He never lets anyone down here, so he’s ideal for front-runners and contenders entering the 10th of 46 tournaments. Matt Kuchar (T19) was a cornerstone here for years and demands a long look. And Scott Piercy (T19) is a terrific play if you want to swing for the fence. Like Piercy, Kevin Kisner is a relative just-off-the-radar option at Waialae who shouldn’t be. That’s what makes him dangerous for gamers who have started slow. Otherwise, you’ll be settling for the stymie at Harbour Town or Colonial. A year ago in this space, the advice was to sit on Jordan Spieth for what would be one opportunity after another, but he didn’t qualify for the Sentry TOC. Now married and making his 2019 debut, you don’t see him going another calendar year without a title, but the advice remains the same. Give him a start or two for him to show us what he has. I know that the Sony Open in Hawaii slots third in Future Possibilities for Zach Johnson, but it’s a distant show from his set-and-forget appearance at the John Deere Classic. But you do you. Two-man gamers naturally get to belly up to the feast for a second helping for which the likes of Adam Hadwin, Danny Lee, Jerry Kelly and Shugo Imahira present intrigue. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2018-19. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Keegan Bradley … Farmers (2); Memorial (5); Travelers (4) Paul Casey … WGC-Mexico (6); Honda (10); Valspar (7; defending); WGC-Match Play (8); Masters (2); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (1); TOUR Championship (3) Bryson DeChambeau … Waste Management (5); Arnold Palmer (3); Heritage (1);  Memorial (2; defending); Travelers (4); John Deere (7) Jason Dufner … Desert Classic (9); Honda (3); PLAYERS (7); Valspar (4); New Orleans (1); Charles Schwab (6); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (2); Wyndham (8); TOUR Championship (10) Emiliano Grillo … Arnold Palmer (2); Charles Schwab (3) Adam Hadwin … Desert Classic (1); Waste Management (4); Genesis (3); Valspar (2); John Deere (5) Brian Harman … Sony (2); Desert Classic (3); Arnold Palmer (7); Charles Schwab (1); Travelers (5); John Deere (4) Russell Henley … Sony (2); Honda (4); Masters (3) Charles Howell III … Sony (3); Desert Classic (4); Farmers (1) Zach Johnson … Sony (3); Waste Management (6); Arnold Palmer (7); Valero (4); Charles Schwab (5); John Deere (1); Open Championship (2); TOUR Championship (8) Si Woo Kim … PLAYERS (3); Heritage (1) Chris Kirk … Sony (4); Valero (3); PLAYERS (5); Charles Schwab (2) Kevin Kisner … Sony (4); Heritage (3); New Orleans (5); Charles Schwab (2); Memorial (6) Russell Knox … Sony (3); Heritage (2) Matt Kuchar … Sony (3); Waste Management (4); PLAYERS (5); Valspar (9); Masters (6); Heritage (2); Charles Schwab (7); Memorial (1); Open Championship (8) Marc Leishman … Farmers (2); Arnold Palmer (1); Byron Nelson (6); Memorial (4); Travelers (3); Open Championship (8) Hideki Matsuyama … Waste Management (1); Genesis (10); Arnold Palmer (11); PLAYERS (9); Masters (4); PGA Championship (13); Memorial (8); U.S. Open (14); Wyndham (7); TOUR Championship (5) Kevin Na … Genesis (2); Valspar (6); Charles Schwab (3); Wyndham (5) Scott Piercy … Sony (3); New Orleans (1; co-defending); Canadian (7; last winner at Hamilton in 2012) Patrick Reed … Pebble Beach (6); Valspar (1); Masters (5; defending); PGA Championship (4); U.S. Open (3); Travelers (7) Adam Scott … Genesis (4); Honda (1); Arnold Palmer (10); PLAYERS (2); Masters (6); Byron Nelson (11); PGA Championship (8); U.S. Open (9); Open Championship (7); TOUR Championship (3) Cameron Smith … Wyndham (3) Jordan Spieth … Sony (12); Pebble Beach (3); Genesis (10); WGC-Mexico (11); Valspar (14); Masters (1); PGA Championship (7); Charles Schwab (5); Memorial (13); U.S. Open (4); Travelers (9); Open Championship (6); TOUR Championship (8) Brandt Snedeker … Farmers (3); Waste Management (8); Pebble Beach (2); Masters (10); Heritage (6); Charles Schwab (7); U.S. Open (5); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1; defending) Justin Thomas … Sony (4); WGC-Mexico (2); Honda (7; defending); PLAYERS (11); PGA Championship (9); Memorial (8); TOUR Championship (3) Jimmy Walker … Sony (5); Farmers (4); Pebble Beach (1); Valero (2); Byron Nelson (6) Bubba Watson … Waste Management (4); Genesis (1; defending); WGC-Match Play (6; defending); Masters (5); Memorial (7); Travelers (2; defending); TOUR Championship (8) Gary Woodland … Sony (1); Farmers (2); Waste Management (3; defending); Memorial (4)

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