2018 PGA Tour

cshea

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
36,047
306, row 14
Final round of the French Opem is on the golf channel. Good leaderboard (Sergio and Rahm a shot back; JT 3 back) and it is being played at the course the Ryder Cup will be held at this year. JT doing some advanced scouting here.
 

PaulinMyrBch

Don't touch his dog food
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 10, 2003
8,316
MYRTLE BEACH!!!!
I wonder if he'll keep the putter or not. Sort of mixed results.
Mixed results, but the short putts are ones he missed, so I expect him to stick with it to see if he can work that out. I would think if he likes the way its rolling on long putts, its just some minor adjustments to get it right from closer distance. Also, he doesn't love the speed of the greens last week, so that may have been a factor on the short ones.

(From Twitter, info pulled from different accts) Tiger finished the week 7th in strokes gained putting. He was last in putts inside 10 feet, missing 13 putts inside of ten feet this week.
 

FL4WL3SS

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
14,913
Andy Brickley's potty mouth
That's not surprising. If you mess with how the putter releases you tend to trust it more on longer putts. He should be able to lock that in with more practice.

Mallet putters can definitely mess with feel on short putts too. Part of the reason I've never gone with one. Tiger is very much a feel putter. I also believe the putter had an insert, something Tiger has never played with.
 

The Needler

New Member
Dec 7, 2016
1,803
Anyone a little surprised that Tiger didn't decide to play Greenbrier this week? Build off a really good week, get another tournament with the new putter, maybe qualify for Firestone, and still have an off week before the Open? I know these guys are all creatures of habit, but it might have made some sense.
He was very definitive in his post-round interview in the booth on Saturday that he would definitely not add any events, regardless of where he was in the world rankings, etc, and said he would be spending the time with his kids. I imagine he and the ex have a pretty strict custody schedule, and it makes sense that he would not try to mess with that (and potentially draw Elin's ire), especially when they're out of school for the summer.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
Anyone a little surprised that Tiger didn't decide to play Greenbrier this week? Build off a really good week, get another tournament with the new putter, maybe qualify for Firestone, and still have an off week before the Open? I know these guys are all creatures of habit, but it might have made some sense.
Kind of? I mean, I completely agree with your point, but he’s only played it twice before - once when he was in desperate need of rounds - and I’d imagine he was on a private plane to Carnoustie this morning to get acclimated. He can putt there.
 

Freddy Linn

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 14, 2005
9,151
Where it rains. No, seriously.
That's not surprising. If you mess with how the putter releases you tend to trust it more on longer putts. He should be able to lock that in with more practice.

Mallet putters can definitely mess with feel on short putts too. Part of the reason I've never gone with one. Tiger is very much a feel putter. I also believe the putter had an insert, something Tiger has never played with.
Tiger won the ‘97 Masters with an insert on his Scotty Cameron Newport.
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
SoSH Member
Feb 22, 2004
12,959
The Paris of the 80s
Tiger won the ‘97 Masters with an insert on his Scotty Cameron Newport.
Copper alloy insert on that Tel3 putter. The TM insert isn’t metal. I haven’t rolled a Tel3 putter in years but I remember it feeling much more in line with any other metal faced putter at that time than the insert putters of the era (dual force, white hot, isopur, etc.). The TM insert is more in line with typical inserts in terms of feel. You’re right, of course, but I think this new putter insert is a substantial departure for Tiger beyond what he gamed before, including the Tel3.

Still with the Pingman grip though!
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
I know you were probably asking at least half facetiously, but Golf Channel almost always has a ‘What’s In The Bag’ post about a tournament winner. GolfWRX is also a good place to look if you ever want to know what guys are using. It’s a good forum for pro’s equipment because generally they are using it before it hits shelves so it’s like an iPhone leak for new gear.
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
SoSH Member
Feb 22, 2004
12,959
The Paris of the 80s
I know you were probably asking at least half facetiously, but Golf Channel almost always has a ‘What’s In The Bag’ post about a tournament winner. GolfWRX is also a good place to look if you ever want to know what guys are using. It’s a good forum for pro’s equipment because generally they are using it before it hits shelves so it’s like an iPhone leak for new gear.
Check our Duffner’s custom made blades. He’s swinging scalpels out there.
 

The Needler

New Member
Dec 7, 2016
1,803
The National Custom Works set? Yeah those are nuts. I’m curious how he gets around his Titleist contract on that.
He doesn't have a club contract with them anymore.

“Jason Dufner is now a Ball, Shoe, Glove endorser for Titleist/FootJoy,” a Titleist representative told us.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
He doesn't have a club contract with them anymore.

“Jason Dufner is now a Ball, Shoe, Glove endorser for Titleist/FootJoy,” a Titleist representative told us.
Well that explains it. I was a bit confused on it anyway. Either beginning or early in the year he moved to a Mizuno model, then back to Titleist then to these ones, in the middle of Sawgrass. Usually Titleist goes the other way and doesn’t care much about apparel and focuses on the clubs with these guys, so i was curious, but all this stuff is changing as the companies are evolving or splitting off portions, like TM and Adidas.
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
SoSH Member
Feb 22, 2004
12,959
The Paris of the 80s
Well that explains it. I was a bit confused on it anyway. Either beginning or early in the year he moved to a Mizuno model, then back to Titleist then to these ones, in the middle of Sawgrass. Usually Titleist goes the other way and doesn’t care much about apparel and focuses on the clubs with these guys, so i was curious, but all this stuff is changing as the companies are evolving or splitting off portions, like TM and Adidas.
IIRC it depends on the player’s deal. Some have a “X number of clubs” deal that allows some wiggle room (e.g., must have 10 Titleist clubs in bag). He also had a Ping driver during the Open so maybe he’s totally into experimental mode or ready to renegotiate. I’m guessing Don White won’t pay Titleist money though! I don’t know what penalties look like in these deals either. Players switch so often I can’t imagine they’re particularly punitive—probably the money just shuts off until they’re back on the reservation.
 

barbed wire Bob

crippled by fear
SoSH Member
I wonder if he'll keep the putter or not. Sort of mixed results.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mike-buteau/2018/06/30/man-who-designed-tiger-woodss-taylormade-putter-doubts-he-will-stick-with-it-long-term/#43b63b0c1632

Clay Long, a long-time club designer for TaylorMade, told USA Today that he suspects Woods will soon return to his trusty Titleist brand putter despite posting one of his best putting rounds of the season during the second round of the Quicken Loans National.

"If you have a relationship with a putter, a good relationship with a specific putter, and then you’re always prone to pick it back up,’’ Long, 66, told USA Today Sports. “I mean, at some point he’ll pick that (Scotty Cameron) putter back up and go, ‘Boy, this looks good. Wow, man, I didn’t realize how good this looks,’ when he starts putting better or gets a little more confidence."
“Ninety-nine percent of the time, it has nothing to do with the putter itself," Long, TaylorMade's former Director of Putter Product Creation, said. "A lot of times you will switch to a different style putter or a putter with a different sight line to just give you something to look at. And sometimes that kind of straightens out your alignment, or whatever it is that’s wrong with your putting, and sometimes you go back to your old putter once you get confident and your stroke gets where you’re hitting in online.’’
 

PaulinMyrBch

Don't touch his dog food
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 10, 2003
8,316
MYRTLE BEACH!!!!
I read that the other day. The guy who no longer works for TM predicting Tiger won’t keep a TM in the bag because he just wanted something different to look at. “A lot of times...sometimes... or whatever...and sometimes.” What a waste of time.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
Meh, I can see it. I played a Ping Anser and then a Scotty Newport for a long time (from probably age 8 to 29/30) and loved them. At some point I started having trouble keeping it square and my putting went to shit. I switched to a heavier headed mallet, an early model Spider and it helped me square up my stroke. I went back and forth for a bit and then decided the mallet suited my eye better. I had always played a blade putter but the change, gradual as it was, definitely helped my stroke and feel and most of all confidence. I’m not sure what or why changed but I know it did and the mallet helped. I could pick up a blade now and be confident with it, but I don’t like swop swapping putters and i now have a Futura X that I added heavier weights to and I’d be shocked if I ever went back. I can say that changing weight and visuals can make a difference in your brain. Whether he sticks with it or not, I can see it being kind of a reset button for him if he was having confidence issues with his stroke. The game can really be that mental sometimes.

I think anytime he changes clubs it’s interesting to witness, obviously less so now since he isn’t what he was. But the stories about him and his clubs are legendary (especially that Scotty putter); shit he may have been the last guy in your using a steel shafted Driver wasn’t he? I think I noticed him with graphite in his 3 iron last tournament.
 

PaulinMyrBch

Don't touch his dog food
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 10, 2003
8,316
MYRTLE BEACH!!!!
I just think that was a lazy article designed to get clicks on a weekend when people might be searching for stories about Tiger and the new putter. A ton of generalizations with no real specifics as it relates to Tiger. I get the general theory, picking up a putter to get a different look and possibly reverting to the old one, etc. I’d bet Tiger has done that dozens of times over the years playing Isleworth. He’s not switching putters like one of us, he’s doing it after tests and video and he’s dialed in. Could he return to the Scotty? Sure, but its not because that’s what guys do.

Anyway, here’s my putter story. When I was a kid I worked in the pro shop and as a teenager I was probably a 5 handicap. Working in the shop I always had free time and we’d putt in the shop with the new putters for sale. For years it was Ram Zebra's and the old Ray Cooks, but one year we started stocking Ping. So I end up buying a Ping because I had to have a Ping. No other reason. After a few weeks, I’m putting like crap and schedule a putting lesson with the pro. I show up on the practice green with the Ping. This pro has been the only guy I had worked with for years, so he knows everything about my game, equipment, etc. First thing he says is where is your putter? I tell him this is my putter. He says no where is the Bullseye. I say my locker, he tells me to go get it. I come back after hustling to my locker with the Bullseye. He takes my Ping, tells me the lesson is over and walks away. I got the message.

As best as I can remember, other than playing around with something for a few weeks, I’ve used 2 putters in the last 40 years.
 
Last edited:
Anyway, here’s my putter story. When I was a kid I worked in the pro shop and as a teenager I was probably a 5 handicap. Working in the shop I always had free time and we’d putt in the shop with the new putters for sale. For years it was Ram Zebra's and the old Ray Cooks, but one year we started stocking Ping. So I end up buying a Ping because I had to have a Ping. No other reason. After a few weeks, I’m putting like crap and schedule a putting lesson with the pro. I show up on the practice green with the Ping. This pro has been the only guy I had worked with for years, so he knows everything about my game, equipment, etc. First thing he says is where is your putter? I tell him this is my putter. He says no where is the Bullseye. I say my locker, he tells me to go get it. I come back after hustling to my locker with the Bullseye. He takes my Ping, tells me the lesson is over and walks away. I got the message.

As best as I can remember, other than playing around with something for a few weeks, I’ve used 2 putters in the last 40 years.
So awesome, and so true. I wonder how much money would have been kept out of the golf equipment companies' coffers over the years if more pros were like yours?
 

PaulinMyrBch

Don't touch his dog food
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 10, 2003
8,316
MYRTLE BEACH!!!!
So awesome, and so true. I wonder how much money would have been kept out of the golf equipment companies' coffers over the years if more pros were like yours?
I know, back in those days country club pros had a cut of the merchandise and cart fees. So pushing new equipment was huge. He knew me pretty well and that was a valuable lesson. The putter is one club you don't fix if it isn't broken.
 

ezemerson

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 19, 2013
1,541
ive been watching pga tour live now for 2 years....they have to get different commercials.....i have had enough of the World Golf HOF with Gary Player and the WGC one too
 

PaulinMyrBch

Don't touch his dog food
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 10, 2003
8,316
MYRTLE BEACH!!!!
Tiger and Phil are working on a $10 million match. One of those made-for-tv deals, but it could be fun. I guess they were close to having it on 7/3 in Vegas but they just couldn’t pull it off.

http://www.golf.com/knockdown/2018/07/05/tiger-woods-phil-mickelson-10-million-match-play-event
I think they’d have to set it up so there is no chance of a blowout. Some possible presses if you’re 2 down or something to ensure we’ve got drama on 16-18 and a possible playoff. 1 on 1 golf can get boring quick. One guy gets hot and its over.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
This would have been an exciting event about 10 years ago.
Dude, this would be an exciting event ten years from now, let alone ten years ago or currently. If Arnie was still alive, I’d be fixated on the tv to watch him and a decrepit Nicklaus square off, let alone for $10M.

As noted, presses would be fantastic and I assume it won’t be live as you’d have commercial breaks every three minutes.

There’s literally nothing not to get stoked on about this if it happens. PGA fucked up when they got rid of silly season and skins matches and he night time matches; the wraparound schedule took a lot of fun out of it. I’d rather watch Couples and Trevino fight for skins in December’s or Tiger play Sergio under the lights than watch a bunch of scrubs play gimmick courses in Hawaii.