The post 11 takeaways, after a top teacher spent 1 week inside the ropes with major winner appeared first on Golf.

The post 11 takeaways, after a top teacher spent 1 week inside the ropes with major winner appeared first on Golf.

But how are they good at golf? What does it look like under the hood of their golf bag, so to speak?

That’s what Ryan Mouque wants to share. Mouque, a top teacher based out of Australia, wrote recently over his X social-media account that he spent a week inside the ropes with 2022 Open Championship winner Cam Smith at a LIV Golf event, where he said he saw the pros were, in a word, human. They had demons. They had poor-shot swing tendencies. 

But … 

“They are just better at it than all of us,” Mouque wrote.

He left with 11 takeaways that have gotten them there. You can read Mouque’s X thread by clicking here, or by scrolling below, where we’ll also offer additional thoughts. It’s here where we also recommend following Mouque on X, which you can do here, and Instagram, which you can do here. 

1. ‘Putting stroke length’

“Cam has one of the best putting strokes you could ever ask for,” Mouque wrote. “If you watch the length of his backswing versus his through swing, you’ll notice the backswing is significantly longer and the through swing almost stops just after he has struck the ball.

“What he works on is ‘hitting the putt with the backswing.’ What this means is that to control distance, he changes just the length of the backswing. If he has a long putt, the backswing will increase in order to have enough energy to get the ball to the target without needing to hit the putt hard or have a really fast swing.”

Editor’s note: Good tempo, no matter the distance, is the payoff here.  

2. ‘AimPoint’

“Cam uses AimPoint for his green reading,” Mouque wrote. “For someone like Cam, who can hit his intended start line nine out of 10 times, as long as he feels the correct slope percentage and has the right speed, that ball goes in.

“I’d advise you to learn the basics on AimPoint — it truely can help you. Don’t listen to those who say it takes too long — it doesn’t.”

Editor’s note: There’s a reason this is gaining in popularity (though Jim Nantz is not a fan). There’s no harm in experimenting with it. 

3. ‘Systems’

“Cam has the same system for everything and doesn’t really change it up,” Mouque wrote. “His putting practice is always the same, his range sessions look the same. These players all take pride in doing the same thing over and over again, versus the average golfer who continuously changes what they are working on, how they are working on it, etc.

“Try sticking with the same thing over and over, and do it long enough to excel at it.”

Editor’s note: Don’t tinker just to tinker. 

4. ‘Range vs. course’

“These players are just like everyone else,” Mouque wrote. “They all flush it on the driving range but do hit poor shots on the course from time to time.

“I saw Cam hit shots on the course that he would never hit on the driving range. There are not only technical reasons for this, but also situations and certain environments that bring that technique out.”

Editor’s note: The range can get you only so far. 

5. ‘Intensity’

“I was fortunate enough to be able to walk the course with the Ripper GC team consisting of Cam Smith, Lucas Herbert, Matt Jones and Marc Leishman,” Mouque wrote. “On Tuesday during a practice round, it was very casual, laughing, having a good time while playing some money games.

“The following day was a little more serious. As they got closer to round one, the intensity started to increase, they would play a singles money game versus a team money game, they would make sure every putt had to be made.

“Thursday was pro-am day, where they played nine holes and had their last opportunity to dial in their targets and lines, and get a feel for how the course was playing. There was a more serious feel on Thursday versus Tuesday.”

Editor’s note: It should be interesting to read that there was time to breathe. 

6. ‘Drills and technical work’

“Despite this being a tournament week, they absolutely still work on technique,” Mouque wrote. “They have training aids out there, coaches are taking video of swings, and the players are still working on their feels and movement patterns

“They aren’t ‘thinking of nothing,’ that’s for sure.”

Editor’s note: Make range time productive. 

7. ‘They work hard’

“The narrative for these guys is that because they have been paid, they aren’t working that hard,” Mouque said. “I can assure you, they are working their tails off.

News

“All these guys are where they are because they are good at what they do. That was through years of hard work — that mindset and work ethic don’t just disappear because they get paid money up front like every other sport in the world.

“Brooks shot eight-under on day one and went straight to the range to dial in his ball striking after getting a bite to eat. Cam worked on his game for two hours after round one, as a few things were off in his putting and swing. They are working very hard.”

Editor’s note: This has been a much-discussed topic. Could LIV players relax? They could. But Mouque saw it differently. 

8. ‘Elite distance control’

“At the end of one of Cam’s range sessions, we would all have a go at giving him a number to hit between 80 and 150 yards,” Mouque wrote. “Cam didn’t miss a number by more than 2 meters.

“For example, if I had said, hit it 132 meters (or yards), he would hit it within 2 meters of that number. It was VERY impressive. Some wedge numbers he was given he hit with 0 to 1 meter of the yardage. That’s how good these guys are when there is absolutely no pressure and no environmental factors.”

Editor’s note: Speaking of productive range time, give this game a go. 

9. ‘Environment changes swing’

“Although these players are almost flawless on the range,” Mouque wrote, “they are not immune to hitting poor shots on the golf course, but we must ask ourselves: If they are perfect on the range, is it technique that’s the issue on course, or something else?

“You’ll find every player has a something in their swing that causes poor shots. This is often magnified when faced with certain winds, hazards on a certain side of the course, uncomfortable tee shots that don’t suit their eye, etc.

“Cam gets a hard time about his driving, but you just don’t know what winds and environments mess with their technique. It’s a hard thing to get over. It’s no different to a slicer not liking holes where there is out of bounds down the right. These players feel the same thing. There’s more to hitting bad shots than just a technical issue.”

Editor’s note: Once more, the range can get you only so far. 

10. ‘Warm-up prior to round’

“One thing that was great to see and take note of is every player had some kind of alignment aid on the putting green when warming up,” Mouque said. “This consisted of a putting mirror, tees, string line, chalk line, putting mat, etc.

“Cam would warm-up on the mirror for 10 or so minutes, then hit some short putts inside of 6 to 8 feet, going through his full routine, using AimPoint and making sure the slope was what he thought it was by using a level to check.

Putting

“On the range, he would hit most clubs in the bag with Trackman next to him to ensure shots were all going the distance he would normally carry the ball. You wouldn’t know if he shot eight-under one day or three-over another; the routine all stays the same.”

Editor’s note: Get the most out of your warmup.

11. ‘Know your numbers’

“Cam’s distance control with all clubs is elite,” Mouque wrote. “He knows EXACTLY how far his clubs go, so much so he was hitting some clubs during practice that were going farther than normal, so his caddie took them to the truck to get the lofts checked — and the lofts were, in fact, out a little bit so he had them bent back to what they should be.

“Very rarely do these players hit the ball FARTHER than their typical carry number. When they flush a golf shot, they know exactly how far it goes. If they mishit the shot, obviously it will go a little shorter.

“I understand you might not be that accurate, but you should at least try to work out how far you hit each club to the best of your ability. For you better players, work on hitting the ball within 5 yards of your most flush ball.”

Editor’s note: Good tip. 

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The post TRUE Linkswear Shoes on sale now appeared first on Golf.

The post TRUE Linkswear Shoes on sale now appeared first on Golf.

Known for their comfort on the course, TRUE Linkswear golf shoes are designed for every golfer’s needs, making it easy to find the right shoe for your game. 

Are you the golf junkie of your group? Then check out the True Lux G. Created with durability in mind, these stylish kicks are constructed from a waterproof-coated mesh that’s backed by a two-year warranty. So you know you can count on these shoes when battling the elements. This shoe is also built on mountaineering-grade rubber with a Tour-level tread system to prevent slipping while you swing. The plush Wanderlux midsole delivers comfort all day long, and the durable design makes them easy to clean, so you can keep your shoes looking new for longer.

For the scratch golfer who wants top-of-the-line performance, try the True Lux Hybrid. This shoe is all about stability and comfort. It features a six-millimeter heel drop, which offers a natural, barefoot-like feel and increases your ability to use the ground for power. Crafted with a TPU heel stabilizer and a high-retention, elastic heel lock system, you’ll enjoy an elevated, stable fit with every swing. It also features updates to the signature midsole and insert, along with improvements to the overall construction, making it their most comfortable Tour-performance shoe yet.

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Grab a pair today to experience the comfort, stability and athletic designs that you’ve seen players like Joel Dahmen, Madelene Sagstrom, Chris Kirk and more wearing on tour.

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TRUE linkswear Lux Hybrid

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TRUE linkswear All Day Knit II Golf Shoes

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TRUE linkswear’s most popular model of all time, the TRUE Knit is back and better than ever. Knit II’s lightweight nature, all-day comfort, sock-fit feel and breathable nature make these your go to sneakers for the warmer days on the links or simply everyday life. Increased flexibility, durability and the addition of WANDERLUX super foam midsole make this our best TRUE Knit yet. We promise you’ll still lace these up for your round and not want to take them off the rest of the day. Features TRUEknit Fully Breathable One-Piece Upper (90% Polyester, 10% Spandex) Full Sock Fit Flexible Opening for Slide-In Comfort One-Piece TRUEknit Upper Flexibly Conforms to Most Foot Shapes (D-EE) New Open Cell Footbed for Increased Breathability and Comfort on Warmer Days NEW Wanderlux Midsole for Increased Comfort and Rebound TOUR Tested & Approved Outsole Cushion & Tread Extremely Lightweight – 9.1 oz. (Size 9 M) Cross-Life Tread for Maximum Versatility Transitional Drop (~6 mm) Comfortably Fits up to EE Width Machine Washable

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The post How the TaylorMade P7CB and P770 blend together for combo sets appeared first on Golf.

The post How the TaylorMade P7CB and P770 blend together for combo sets appeared first on Golf.

This past season, Rory McIlroy, a noted blade player throughout his career, was one of the early adopters of the prototype that became the TaylorMade P7CB iron, adding a 4-iron to his bag at the Valero Texas Open. Collin Morikawa also added the proto version of the forged cavity-back iron at the RBC Heritage.

On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped, co-host Kris McCormack explained how he loved testing the P7CB irons on a recent trip to TaylorMade’s Kingdom headquarters in Carlsbad, California, but they might not be perfect for him for the entire set.

Irons

“I’m a low-launch, low-spin player, left miss, and so CB really suits my eye,” McCormack said. “But I’ve always been a little hesitant to put something like that in the bag just because of the forgiveness factor. I’m not the most solid ball striker in the world, but in testing these out at the Kingdom, I was like, ‘You know? I could play these.’

“I had an opportunity to hit them from the wedge all the way up to the 4-iron. 
And while I’m probably still more of a 770 guy in that 4- or 5-iron, 6-iron was surprisingly easy to hit. The 4-iron was OK for me, I’m just not a good enough player to maybe build that full set all the way through.”

That’s when co-host Wadeh Maroun, explained that if McCormack doesn’t feel comfortable enough with the 4- or 5-iron in the P7CB set, he can seamlessly blend in the 4- or 5-iron from the more forgiving P770.

TaylorMade P7CB Custom Irons

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“They’ve been made to blend with each other perfectly,” Maroun said. “The same lot, the same lie, everything exactly the same, right? If you do want to do a blended set, you can go to whatever you want and get it done.”

Maroun himself has a full set of the P770s because, while he prefers the look of a blade iron, closer to the P7CB, he wants something with a little more forgiveness.

TaylorMade P770 Custom Irons

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“Pure” can be a subjective term, unless you’re talking about TaylorMade P770 Irons. An advanced forging process produces pure shaping and soft yet solid feel at impact, with precision-milled grooves optimizing spin control, while Tour-validated contours provide that clean look that appeals to the better player. Tungsten weighting affords low, centered CG and increased MOI, resulting in a combination of forgiveness and workability the best in the world can’t argue with. TUNGSTEN WEIGHTING What does it do? It results in advanced workability and forgiveness for a players iron set. How does it do that? The tungsten back bar in 3 through 7 affords low, centered CG placement and increased MOI. DETAILS Advanced forging process yields pure, simple shaping, precision-milled faces and grooves, and soft, solid feel at impact Precision-milled grooves produce optimal spin and control 1025 carbon steel further enhances feel and durability Tour-validated contours, progressive offsets, and thin toplines inspire confidence in the better player Flatter, medium-cambered soles improve turf interaction from any lie

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“I’m nearly 42 years old,” he added. “You know, what’s going to give me a little bit of love because my swing speed might be slowing down because I’ve got a nine-year-old and a seven-year-old I chase them around.

“So my back gets sore, my knees get sore, my elbows are screwed from being a junior tennis player growing up and so I need something that’s going to help me out a little bit.”

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post How the TaylorMade P7CB and P770 blend together for combo sets appeared first on Golf.

The post 2 drills that led this long drive champ to record-breaking clubhead speed appeared first on Golf.

The post 2 drills that led this long drive champ to record-breaking clubhead speed appeared first on Golf.

Instruction

But generating more clubhead speed isn’t only about biting your lower lip, taking the club back as far as your body allows and swinging as hard as you can. It also takes dedicated training, practice and a structured plan, which allows you to gradually see positive results.

Take it from long-drive competitor and world-record holder Seb Twaddell, who in the excellent Golf Science Lab video below outlines two helpful drills.

(Full video is available on Golf Science Lab’s YouTube channel.)

Try these 2 drills for more clubhead speed

Having more clubhead speed is great, but having controlled clubhead speed is even better. This allows you to remain in good posture and sequencing, which promotes center-face contact for more distance and accuracy.

While there are different methods for generating more speed, Twaddell — who holds the world record for clubhead speed at 169.6 miles per hour — says the following two drills helped take him from a long hitter to one of the longest hitters on the planet.

The baseball drill

Most of you have probably either thrown a baseball or swung a baseball bat before, and Twaddell says a similar motion helped him pick up clubhead speed.

Essentially, you need use lots of linear weight shift from the back foot to the front foot (mimicking a pitcher from his wind-up), which allows you to get the clubhead back for more rotation and more speed.

Instruction

But Twaddell said at first this move was really hard incorporate into his speed training.

“It took a good 40 balls to actually hit the clubface and hit the net, which was like 12 feet in front of us,” he says in the video.

He then demonstrates how the drill works.

“I’d put the club up in front and then kick back [with the lead leg, shifting the weight toward the trail side] and just go from there,” he says. “I was a former pitcher, so my feeling was literally like I was pitching a baseball. I’d go back and then my hips would fall into the [lead] side.”

Single arm swings

There are many moving parts in the swing, but when you’re trying to add clubhead speed, it’s imperative to utilize each part to add force. This is why Twaddell trains using single-arm swings.

“One thing I like with the [lead] arm is, when you get to the top, you feel like you can really turn and get that big lat stretch as well — that alone is a big power outlet,” he says. “You can coil and unwind, just like an elastic band.”

By using some of Twaddell’s tips, you can start incorporating speed drills into your own practice routine. And while you won’t likely experience record-breaking speed, over time you can put this all together to see big gains and longer drives.

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The post Ryder Cup tickets are more expensive than ever. PGA of America explains why appeared first on Golf.

The post Ryder Cup tickets are more expensive than ever. PGA of America explains why appeared first on Golf.

The topic: ticket prices, and how they’re more expensive than ever before. 

As was revealed this week, the prices for Ryder Cup tickets — which are not yet available, and are only accessible via a lottery in November — begin at $255 for early-week practice rounds and extend to a baseline of $749 for competition days. 

Predictably, the response from golf fans across social media and in the press has been harsh. It’s not often we see such a unified label of sticker shock. But it’s not totally surprising. Tickets for the last two Cups — one held outside Rome and the other outside Milwaukee, Wisc. — have largely been in the $200-250 range. 

Hiking prices by a factor of three? Make it make sense! 

News

Well, we’ve tried to do that. And we’re not positive we’ve succeeded, but we spent Tuesday afternoon chatting with the championship director of the Ryder Cup, Bryan Karns, who has worked for the PGA of America for more than a decade. He’s been based in New York for the last two years, prepping for the 2025 Cup, meeting with representatives of New York sports teams, transit systems and entertainment venues. Below are highlights of our conversation, which speak to the pricing approach the PGA of America believes in. More than anything, that last line is important. This is a number the PGA of America believes in. It’s not changing. 

It’s also the price at checkout. The final price. It’s steeper than ever, but patrons won’t be paying a dollar more, and that was important to the PGA. 

“We wanted to be transparent and say, instead of listing a lower price and then someone gets to the checkout and it’s 70% more, it’s $140 in taxes and fees,” Karns said. “That is the checkout price. I guess, in some way we just felt like, why would we do that?”

The $749 price point for weekend sessions will earn (and already has) the most significant reaction. Very few sporting events in the world charge that as a base price. What creates that price is a number of factors both internal and external. Let’s start with the external. 

The PGA of America prices its events differently market to market. When the 2022 PGA Championship was hosted at Southern Hills, in Tulsa, Okla., part of their market research included the price of an Oklahoma City Thunder playoff ticket, or the market for a major college football game involving the Oklahoma Sooners. (That championship also was the site of major pricing outrage on beer.) Karns says the PGA spent a year working on deciding how to price an event in the vicinity of New York City, one of the most expensive and populous cities in the world. From an operating cost perspective, New York City is endlessly more expensive than the countryside of Wisconsin or suburban Minneapolis — “It costs a lot just to breathe the air,” Karns joked — but the PGA is trying to produce a price that fits in among other massive sporting events. They believe they’re a “Tier 1” event that fits alongside the World Series or NBA Finals in the greater sporting landscape.

“We knew that it was going to be critical to get this right and to try to do something that we felt was on par with where we viewed ourselves and where our position was in this world,” Karns said. “But at the same time, understanding there is some nuance to Ryder Cup tickets. It’s a full day event versus three hours. It’s without a seat, but a GA ticket allows you the chance to be on a rope line, [compared] to if I bought the standing room only at Yankee Stadium last night. So we try to factor all those in. And it’s never as simple as saying it’s apples to apples. But we we took a lot of feedback and got to this point where we felt like, look, this is this is what we feel confident in.”

Among the things that social media responders feel most confident in is that even at an inflated price, there will be no shortage of patrons willing to pay it. Market forces are at work! this is Econ 101! That will play out over the next couple months as the PGA’s lottery system randomly selects users in November and asks them for credit card information. Most major golf tournaments do not go beyond 50,000 fans per day, but most tournaments are hosted on an annual basis. They may have reached a supply and demand equilibrium at $749, but it feels to organizers like a unique sale.

“The general price is I think just indicative of A) this market, B) where we position ourselves, where we feel like we are [in the greater sports landscape], and then the demand,” Karns said. “I think when you get into a situation where the demand is so high, you know, you want to do your best to price it so you don’t create this massively inflated secondary market.”

Karns was quick to acknowledge that secondary markets exist for all entertainment industries, and are nearly impossible to avoid. But they are, for better or worse, the strongest evidence of what people are willing to pay. The higher the inflation of a particular market, the more inspiration a governing body would have in moving their prices in that direction. That doesn’t make it right, nor does it make it fan-friendly, but it does serve as a reminder: the Ryder Cup is big business, and is being treated as such. 

As for internal factors, Karns highlighted two. Firstly, the coffers of the PGA. The non-profit organization has not been shy about the fact that the Cup helps it break even on its budgeting on a four-year hosting schedule. (The same rings true for what European Cups mean financially for the DP World Tour.) In other words, the Cup makes a lot of money and helps fund the PGA of America’s mission for the next few years until the next America-based Cup takes place (in 2029, outside Minneapolis). That mission is clear: “To establish and elevate the standards of the profession and to grow interest and participation in the game of golf,” according to the PGA’s own website. The first half of that sentence pertains to the 30,000 members of the PGA — the golf professionals that give lessons, run pro shops, etc. — while the second half pertains to growing interest in the sport at large. To that end, Karns is fully aware of the narrative that expensive tickets feels counter-productive to “growing the game,” but would rather consider that price point part of the top of a funnel.

“If you look at it through the lens of, hey, I’m here to serve 30,000 PGA members across the entire United States, and the programs that they’re wanting to either grow or improve or initiate — this is the task that’s on us — is to make sure that that can happen, because that’s, in my opinion, where the growing game really happens, on the front line with the PGA members.”

The accounting of which profits from the Cup trickle down to the rest of the golf world is complex and not always so obvious, but is entirely up to the PGA. (The golfers competing in the event, notably, do not get paid an appearance fee. They receive $200,000 donations to a charity of their choice.)

The second internal reasoning for a price hike is that the PGA essentially hopes to run the best and biggest event it ever has. That would be an event free of snags, from the transportation out to Farmingdale, N.Y., where patrons park and get on shuttle busses — most of which will take place in the early morning — to the number of bathrooms on site. In other words, as many bathrooms as it takes so lines don’t exist. And a concessions system that runs similarly.

Karns highlighted the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive as a high-water mark when it comes to congestion on the course and around bathrooms and concessions. In response, the PGA has been charging a higher price for tickets to its biggest championships since 2022, inclusive of food and non-alcoholic beverages — just like the upcoming Cup — so spectators can scoop it quickly and get back to the golf. The result, Karns says, is that concession lines have effectively been eliminated.

“They’re not feeling like they they need to load up,” he says. “They grab what they need and we try to get people back to viewing golf.”

Some event enhancements will be noticeable — Karns teased the idea that the Cup is looking to create a fan activation in New York City, something they’ve never done before — and others like infrastructure will blend in to the background. They may not even feel like enhancements at all, but Karns believes it will ultimately make for an event that lives up to what people have paid for.

“We want to make sure when people buy a ticket to the Ryder Cup, they know we’re going to be able to deliver a one-of-a-kind experience,” Karns said. “I mean, it’s sort of like the Disney model in a way, in that you’re going to walk out of here saying, ‘Yeah, that was worth it.’”

In the end, will it be? The evidence is still 11 months away. 

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The post This Tour-proven drill will dramatically improve your putting appeared first on Golf.

The post This Tour-proven drill will dramatically improve your putting appeared first on Golf.

When looking for drills to try, it can be a good idea to look at what the pros are doing — especially when it comes to the greens. While you may not be able to replicate the swing moves they make, you can (with a little practice) roll the ball end over end on the greens like they do.

GOLF Top 100 Teacher Jonathan Yarwood has taught quite a few Tour-level players. And when we went out to visit him at Alpine Country Club last fall, he shared with us one of the drills he used to help his pupils with their putting.

Tour-proven putting drill

A golf hole is only 4.25 inches in diameter, and when you’re not putting well it can look even smaller. However, with the golf ball measuring just 1.68 inches in diameter, there’s plenty of room to roll it into the hole. This drill helps remind us of that.

“It’s a psychological drill to get you to feel like the hole is bigger than it actually is,” Yarwood says.

To begin the drill, set up about 4 feet away from a hole with a few golf balls. Then all you’re going to do is start trying to make some putts — but with a catch. On every putt you want the ball to go into a different part of the hole.

When you roll a ball in the hole, it can go in the cup in five different ways: center with perfect speed, center with dying speed, center hitting the back of the cup, in the right edge, and in the left edge. Your goal on this drill will be to make a putt in all five different ways.

“Basically that’s simulating the five different putts you’re gonna hit,” Yarwood says. “It’s also psychologically allowing you to understand that ball goes in a lot of ways.”

Working on making the ball in those five different ways not only helps you dial in your speed and line on these putts, it also helps remind you that the ball has plenty of room to go in the hole.

“If you do that over a period of time, the hole will feel bigger and bigger and you’ll get more and more confident,” Yarwood says. “That is definitely a Tour-proven drill.”

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The post U.S. beats Internationals for third straight Bridges Cup victory appeared first on Golf.

The post U.S. beats Internationals for third straight Bridges Cup victory appeared first on Golf.

The 12-man American team came out firing in the opening session Monday at Haesley Nine Bridges in South Korea, but the Internationals clawed back in the three-day competition to get within two points to begin Wednesday’s singles session.

But with 12 points up for grabs, it was truly anyone’s game. And early on in Wednesday’s matches, it seemed the International squad was riding that momentum for a potential comeback.

“After nine holes, it really looked as though the Internationals could have had a chance to squeak it,” said Simon Holmes, a golf professional and Bridges Cup commentator on-site this week.

The Internationals — behind a strong opening trio of Matthew McClean, Hugh Foley and Lukas Michel — won tightly contested matches early, but Drew Kittleson finally put red on the board with a 2-and-1 win over Jacob Austin.

The pieces then started falling into place for the Americans.

They took five of the last eight matches — Scott Anderson, Andrew Medley and Drew Stoltz all won their matches 5 and 4 — to remain undefeated in the three playings of the Bridges Cup.

“The Internationals arrived with no real sparkle, and they didn’t perform early, and they were behind so many points that they thought the game was lost,” Holmes said. “But the way they fought back, the intensity of the competition, the amount of stress that was created today for the players and certainly the captains, just goes to show that the Bridges Cup, the combination of 8AM and CJ, and this concept of mid-am team golf is an absolute winner.”

Even after the U.S. clinched the 16 points needed to retain the cup, Joseph Deraney, who was 2 down after nine holes in the anchor match against Angus Carrick, won three holes on the back nine, including the 18th with a long birdie putt, to clinch a 1-up victory and the outright win for the U.S. The singles session ended as a 6-6 split between the two teams.

For full results from the 2024 Bridges Cup, click here. Below are the complete results from the singles session on Day 3.

DAY 3 SINGLES RESULTS:

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The post Stix Golf and Nicklaus Brands to collaborate on affordable, high-performance clubs appeared first on Golf.

The post Stix Golf and Nicklaus Brands to collaborate on affordable, high-performance clubs appeared first on Golf.

Nor has he ever been a range rat.

Growing up in Seattle, he took up golf only after getting cut from his high school baseball team. The first sticks he owned were a hodgepodge second-hand set that his mother bought at a church rummage sale.

“And I played with those same janky clubs for years,” Coyne says.

During college, where he studied graphic and web design, Coyne stopped playing golf altogether, an abstinence he stuck to throughout his 20s, when he got married, had four children and made his mark on a series of successful startups. He was well into his 30s, and living in Chicago, before he dusted off his sticks again. 

Knocking it around with friends and colleagues at the local muni, Coyne reestablished his casual — but joyful — connection to the game. He wasn’t cutthroat about it, but he wanted to get better. He decided it was time for an equipment upgrade, if only he could find clubs that appealed to him.

“I didn’t want a cheap starter set, but I also wasn’t up for spending tons of money buying golf clubs a la carte,” Coyne says. “The market seemed to either cater to beginners or avid golfers, with a huge gap in between.”

Many of his playing partners felt the same.

The entrepreneur in Coyne saw an opportunity: golf clubs aimed at the Goldilocks middle. In late 2019, Stix Golf was born, producing graceful-looking, high-quality clubs, sold directly to consumers at a modest price. Coyne and his co-founders had tapped a sweet spot in the market that was even larger than they imagined.

In the four-plus years since its founding, Stix has established a respected place in the industry with its “less is more” approach, marrying sleek, minimalist designs with maximum engineering prowess: easy on the eyes, easy to hit and easy on the wallet. In 2022, Stix earned an international product-design accolade — the Red Dot Award — and the innovations haven’t ceased. The company’s offerings have expanded to three different series, including a newly launched women’s line.

And now comes another notable reveal: a collaboration with Nicklaus Companies to create a Nicklaus-branded line of clubs by Stix. The two brands announced their partnership this week, emphasizing their complementary goals.

“Stix haș quickly turned heads in the golf industry by making remarkable products that not only meet our high-performance standards but also provide fair pricing, helping to make golf more accessible to more people,” Andy O’Brien, president of Nicklaus Brands, said in a statement. “The loyal Stix customer has a youthful and energetic demographic, for both men and women of varying handicaps. It is important for the Nicklaus legacy to reach this audience and meet the needs of this growing demographic of new golfers entering the game.”

For Stix, meanwhile, the collaboration confers the credibility long enjoyed by the Nicklaus name.

For more on the Stix-Nicklaus partnership, click here.

“For all our success, we are still a new brand,” Coyne said. “You join forces with the revered global brand of Nicklaus, and people realize, Oh, I’d heard of Stix. But I didn’t realize they were this legit.”

The first Nicklaus sets by Stix are now in the design and engineering phase and will debut at the 2025 PGA Show in January. They will be available to the public in April, in time for the spring golf season.

And there is more in to come, as the two brands plan to collaborate on a variety of golf products in the years ahead.

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The post Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston recalls epic drunken escapade with John Daly appeared first on Golf.

The post Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston recalls epic drunken escapade with John Daly appeared first on Golf.

Johnston burst on the scene in 2016, when his first win at the Open de Espana set off a streak of hot play, leading to his first PGA Tour card in 2017. The Englishman quickly ingratiated himself with golf fans thanks to his easy humor and likable personality.

A combination of injuries and poor play dropped Beef from the public’s consciousness for a few years, but 2024 saw him re-enter the top 100 in the Race to Dubai rankings. He earned his best result in a long time at the Omega European Masters in July, where he finished in solo third.

News

On Tuesday, the DP World Tour released a lengthy interview with Johnston on YouTube as part of their “Life on Tour” series with hosts George Harper Jr. and John E. Morgan.

And at the very end of the sit-down, Beef got to the good stuff. When asked if he had any good Daly stories to share, he offered up one for the ages.

The incident took place a few years back at the Turkish Airlines Open, where Beef encountered Daly for the first time. After Sunday’s final round, the two larger-than-life golfers met up for a beer, and it quickly turned into a serious drinking exhibition, as Johnston related in the interview.

“We got a chat in and I was having a beer, and he was like, ‘we’ll get a bucket of these beers.’ And he was obviously straight on whisky,” Johnston shared. “And he was like ‘look, go back to the hotel and come meet me and we’ll carry on.'”

It’s when the two pro golfers met back up later that the adventure started to go off the rails, thanks mostly to the full glasses of whiskey Daly was ordering for them.

“I remember sitting there… and he ordered like two large whiskeys. And he’s got the can of coke on the side. As the waiter put them down, [Daly] went, ‘can we order two more?'”

A shocked Johnston replied, “Mate, they’ve just come!”

Trying to keep up with Daly eventually got the best of Beef.

“Next thing, I’m in my pants, and I’m shaking a tree, and then I’m jumping in the pool, and I’m like, ‘he seems OK! I’m not, he seems OK!'” Beef explained.

“And I wake up and I was like ‘what happened?’ And my missus at the time was like, ‘yea you stripped down to your pants, and you were shaking this bush for some reason, and you kinda jumped in the pool.'”

When Beef asked about what happened to Daly, he was told, unsurprisingly, that he was fine and had just walked back to his hotel at the end of the night.

You can check out Johnston’s full interview with the DP World Tour below.

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The post 2024 Shriners Children’s Open Thursday tee times: Round 1 groupings appeared first on Golf.

The post 2024 Shriners Children’s Open Thursday tee times: Round 1 groupings appeared first on Golf.

Featured tee time for Round 1

Following the Open Championship in July, Rickie Fowler took some much-needed time off from what has been a difficult season. But now he’s taking on the FedEx Fall to try and improve his PGA Tour status for 2025.

News

At the Sanderson Farms Championship, Fowler pulled off his best result of the year, finishing T16 at the Country Club of Jackson. This week, he’s teeing it up again at the Shriners with hopes of continuing his positive momentum.

Fowler tees off for the opening round on Thursday at 10:28 a.m. ET alongside Taylor Pendrith and Nick Taylor.

You can watch Thursday’s first round of the Shriners Children’s Open on Golf Channel starting at 5 p.m. ET, or you can stream the action via NBCSports.com or the NBC Sports App with an active cable subscription. PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ will offer featured group coverage beginning at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday.

You can check out the complete Round 1 tee times for the 2024 Shriners Children’s Open below.

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2024 Shriners Children’s Open tee times for Thursday: Round 1 (ET)

Tee No. 1

9:55 a.m. – Ryan Moore, Robby Shelton, Chan Kim
10:06 a.m. – Callum Tarren, Patrick Fishburn, Hayden Springer
10:17 a.m. – Charley Hoffman, Ben Griffin, Rico Hoey
10:28 a.m. – Austin Eckroat, Gary Woodland, Francesco Molinari
10:39 a.m. – Luke List, Lee Hodges, Taylor Moore
10:50 a.m. – K.H. Lee, Ryan Brehm, Daniel Berger
11:01 a.m. – Davis Riley, Seamus Power, Chad Ramey
11:12 a.m. – Scott Piercy, Eric Cole, Zac Blair
11:23 a.m. – C.T. Pan, David Lipsky, Roger Sloan
11:34 a.m. – Chesson Hadley, Brandon Wu, Will Gordon
11:45 a.m. – Ryan McCormick, Norman Xiong, Dan McCarthy
2:45 a.m. – Joel Dahmen, Greyson Sigg, Vince Whaley
2:56 a.m. – Doug Ghim, Joseph Bramlett, Jacob Bridgeman
3:07 p.m. – Ryan Palmer, Aaron Baddeley, Pierceson Coody
3:18 p.m. – Matt McCarty, Kevin Yu, Tom Kim
3:29 p.m. – Cam Davis, Stephan Jaeger, Tom Hoge
3:40 p.m. – Davis Thompson, Kurt Kitayama, Trey Mullinax
3:51 p.m. – Emiliano Grillo, Kevin Kisner, Adam Schenk
4:02 p.m. – Danny Willett, Beau Hossler, Ben Taylor
4:13 p.m. – Lanto Griffin, Justin Lower, Morgan Hoffmann
4:24 p.m. – Alexander Björk, Tom Whitney, Ian Gilligan (a)
4:35 p.m. – Rafael Campos, Paul Barjon, Caden Fioroni (a)

Tee No. 10

9:55 a.m. – Bud Cauley, Matt NeSmith, Ben Silverman
10:06 a.m. – Michael Kim, Alex Smalley, S.H. Kim
10:17 a.m. – Justin Suh, Ben Kohles, Sami Valimaki
10:28 a.m. – Taylor Pendrith, Nick Taylor, Rickie Fowler
10:39 a.m. – Jhonattan Vegas, J.T. Poston, Harris English
10:50 a.m. – Harry Hall, Camilo Villegas, Webb Simpson
11:01 a.m. – Chris Gotterup, Adam Svensson, Matt Kuchar
11:12 a.m. – Nate Lashley, Troy Merritt, Carson Young
11:23 a.m. – Taylor Montgomery, Matti Schmid, David Skinns
11:34 a.m. – Mark Hubbard, Tyson Alexander, Alejandro Tosti
11;45 a.m. – Trace Crowe, Kevin Dougherty, Erik Matthewson
2:45 a.m. – Keith Mitchell, Henrik Norlander, Chandler Phillips
2:56 a.m. – Tyler Duncan, Kevin Streelman, Sam Ryder
3:07 p.m. – Hayden Buckley, Andrew Novak, Dylan Wu
3:18 p.m. – Nick Hardy, Nico Echavarria, J.J. Spaun
3:29 p.m. – Cameron Champ, Brendon Todd, Andrew Putnam
3:40 p.m. – Patton Kizzire, Erik van Rooyen, Chez Reavie
3:51 p.m. – Peter Malnati, Brice Garnett, Adam Hadwin
4:02 p.m. – Maverick McNealy, Ryan Fox, Carl Yuan
4:13 p.m. – Garrick Higgo, Martin Laird, Sam Stevens
4:24 p.m. – Joe Highsmith, Wilson Furr, Nicolo Galletti
4:35 p.m. – Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Christo Lamprecht, Neal Shipley

The post 2024 Shriners Children’s Open Thursday tee times: Round 1 groupings appeared first on Golf.