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The post His Open win made this hybrid famous. But its manufacturer couldn’t capitalize appeared first on Golf.

Rarely does a single club become a defining memento from a major-championship win, but it does happen.

Think Gene Sarazen’s 4-wood from the 1935 Masters, Jack Nicklaus’ jumbo MacGregor putter from the 1986 Masters or Henrik Stenson’s trusty Callaway Diablo Octane Tour 3-wood from his win at the 2014 Open Championship.

Also on that short list: Todd Hamilton’s Royal Troon-conquering Sonartec MD hybrid, which has become synonymous with his Open win from 20 years ago.

The club

Thanks to Hamilton, Sonartec became known for their hybrids, but before their MD was a hit, the brand already was a small fairway wood-focused company with a big following. Their products were first brought to North America by an entrepreneur in 2000; the clubs were under the Sonartec name, with technology licensed from a Japanese company called Royal Collection.

Models from the SS Series, including the SS-03 and the SS-07, were popular on the PGA Tour with many players, including Nick Price. David Duval used a Sonartec fairway wood when he won his lone major at the 2001 Open Championship.

Hamilton’s club was a 17-degree Sonartec MD hybrid bent down in loft to 14 degrees and built to 42.5 inches, just under the standard length of a 3-wood. Hamilton used that club many times during his win, executing his most famous shot in a playoff against Ernie Els.

The shot

On the fourth and final hole of the aggregate score playoff, Hamilton pulled out his Sonartec from well short of the green and lagged a bump and run on the tight, firm turf to just under three feet away.

Even though the final shot was the most memorable, Hamilton had used the club many times off the tee during the week to avoid trouble and found only one bunker in four rounds.

The rise and fall

Like many smaller companies that have enjoyed success on a big stage, Sonartec was not quite ready for the incoming requests made by retailers and golfers following Hamilton’s win.

The company had found a solid niche with better players in need of fairway woods and hybrids, but once the demand surged well past the initial forecasts, production delays followed. Those delays allowed other companies — i.e., TaylorMade with its Rescue models, plus other smaller companies, like Nickent and Adams — to seize on golfers’ new-found love for hybrids.

Even after its 2004 success, Sonartec forecasted a low supply for its MD hybrids into 2005 and immediately had to play catch-up after delays were caused by several issues, including a shortage of graphite shafts and even headcovers. Then, in an attempt to expand its offerings to include a driver, wedges and clubs more appealing to higher handicap golfers, Sonartec eventually dug itself into a financial hole that led the company to seek outside investment.

Although the funding allowed Sonartec to continue to invest in R&D and inventory, the relationship quickly soured over financial terms and existing debt, and with the financial crisis of 2008 compounding issues, Sonartec officially shuttered in March 2008.

Although the company is defunct, its legacy of its hybrids will live on thanks to one fateful week at Royal Troon.

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

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The post Ivor Robson, beloved Open Championship announcer, dead at 83 appeared first on Golf.

One of golf’s most iconic voices has gone quiet.

Ivor Robson, the famed voice of the Open Championship’s first tee box for more than four decades, has died at 83. The R&A announced the news on Tuesday morning, welcoming in a rush of support from golf fans and golfers who have recognized his dulcet tones as the soundtrack of Open Championships past.

Robson leaves behind a legacy as perhaps the greatest first-tee announcer in the sport’s history, his 41-year run at the Open endearing him to golf fans several generations over for his unique inflection and taciturn self-seriousness.

“We are deeply saddened to hear of Ivor’s passing,” Martin Slumbers, the CEO of the R&A, said in a release. “As official starter at the Open for over 40 years, his voice was instantly recognizable and synonymous with the Championship for players and millions of golf fans worldwide.”

Those who knew him best, including players and long-time R&A staffers, remember a man who never missed a second of work — not one — at Opens beginning in 1975 and ending in 2015. In a sign of his dedication to the event and his job, Robson famously did not eat or drink an ounce of sustenance during play, opting instead for a sandwich and a glass of mineral water upon the completion of play each day so as to not be distracted by bathroom breaks. As Rick Reilly wrote in a 1999 Sports Illustrated piece, Robson regularly lost “about a stone,” or roughly 14 pounds, during Open play.

“This is the greatest job in the world, and I give it the ultimate respect,” Robson told SI then.

Robson, a longtime resident of Moffat, Scotland, was maniacal about all aspects of the job — which required he work for roughly 10 hours each tournament day without sitting, taking a break, eating or using the bathroom — but no element was more important than the art of the pronunciation. As a first-tee announcer, Ivor was tasked with presenting each of the Open’s 156 competitors, a job that often meant working with competitors in those critical few minutes before their tee times to ensure he had mastered the proper pronunciation. As golfers more than a generation over can attest, Robson commanded an unwavering presence and impressive precision from the lectern, no matter how difficult the name.

Robson retired from his Open post in 2015, the 144th at St. Andrews also serving as his final championship in front of the microphone.

“To the professionals, it has been great fun being here with you,” he said from the Old Course then. “We have had lots of banter and it has been wonderful. You are a credit to the professional game.”

Asked for his secret to four decades of excellence, Robson answered simply.

“I love this job,” he said. “I absolutely love it.”

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The post How did Brian Harman distract himself during Open Championship week? A sci-fi novel appeared first on Golf.

The post How did Brian Harman distract himself during Open Championship week? A sci-fi novel appeared first on Golf.

Brian Harman didn’t watch much TV during his dominating performance at the Open Championship two weeks ago.

It wasn’t because he was trying to unplug and focus or anything like that. He just couldn’t find anything to watch.

“You going to watch cricket over there? There’s nothing to do,” Harman told GOLF Subpar co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz on this week’s episode. “The sun never goes down and they watch cricket all night.”

Putting those shots fired at cricket aside, Harman told the guys he bided his time during the long English days by reading. His book of choice was the 1965 sci-fi novel “Dune”, by Frank Herbert. If that sounds familiar, the book was the basis of the film series of the same name starring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya. The first part of the series came out in 2021 with the second due out later this fall.

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“I watched it somewhere and I’m like, that’s interesting,” Harman said. “I started reading the books now I’m like, ‘Oh, the sequel is coming out in November. Can’t wait!'”

Sleeping on a huge lead in a major at Royal Liverpool two weeks ago wasn’t a completely new situation for Harman. He led through three rounds at the 2017 U.S. Open before losing to Brooks Koepka. He admittedly didn’t handle it that well, saying he may have only gotten three or four hours of sleep that night.

But with a book to occupy his mind, Harman was far more comfortable with his five-shot weekend lead.

“I did a really good job,” Harman said. “I got a good 9 to 10 hours both Saturday and Sunday and Friday and Saturday night. So I felt really good. I was really comfortable over there.”

For more from Harman, including how he dealt with crowds at the Open and what he thought of a ‘Saturday Night Live’ legend predicting his win, check out the full episode below.

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The post Open Championship stock report: Ryder Cup (up!), TV ratings (down!) from Royal Liverpool appeared first on Golf.

It’s true what they say.

The crowds at the Open Championship are unlike any other in golf. They’re loud, they’re boisterous, and they’re strikingly, perhaps even strangely polite … unless you’re a journeyman American trying to win their event.

After a lifetime’s worth of golf events attended within the borders of the United States, I traveled out to Great Britain for the first time to cover this year’s Open Championship. I’d heard a lot about what to expect from those in attendance — their passion for golf, their rabid knowledge, their utmost respect for the tournament and its traditions. But when Brian Harman began his scorching run down the stretch at Royal Liverpool, I was surprised to find the fans uninhibited.

“You don’t have the stones for this!” Harman recalled being told on Saturday while he played with fan-favorite Tommy Fleetwood.

The jeers I heard from a handful of the others in crowd were even less friendly. But ultimately it didn’t matter. The 36-year-old from Savannah, Ga. took home his first major championship by a stunning six strokes on Sunday in Hoylake, and when it was time for him to win the Claret Jug, the Royal Liverpool faithful came around to celebrate him in kind.

They are where we’ll start this week’s Golfer Index, taking stock of the golf world on the heels of the final major of the year.

Open Championship stock report

The Gallery: Stock UP

Yes, they were chippy. But chippy is fun, and it’s how most of us would be in this environment. It was striking to see how passionate and knowledgeable the folks at Hoylake were. Passion is what separates a sport from a hobby, and in this instance, there was no confusing where golf stood.

The TV Ratings: Stock DOWN

You might not like the suggestion that Brian Harman’s victory was lacking juice, but the numbers do not lie. Harman’s blowout win on Sunday at Royal Liverpool was the least-watched Open Championship since 2015, when the tournament was broadcast on cable (ESPN) and resulted in a Monday finish. That’s not great for the folks at NBC, who pour millions into this tournament each year.

Jon Rahm’s fear factor: Stock UP

Jon Rahm did not win the Open, but he certainly reminded the field why he is a terrifying competitor to go up against. His Saturday 63, the lowest score at Liverpool in Open Championship history, was a reminder that few players in golf possess his raw blend of power and touch. His dominant performance at the 2021 Ryder Cup looms large as the golf world’s attention turns to Rome.

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Max Homa’s major resume: Stock UP

He’d somehow never recorded a top-10 in his major championship career prior to Sunday at Royal Liverpool. Now he heads into the PGA Tour postseason having bolstered his resume sufficiently to find himself on this year’s Ryder Cup team, which would be his first.

Rory McIlroy’s major resume: Stock NEUTRAL

Thirty top-10s in majors, including four wins, is great. But I bet he’d trade all of them if it meant one more victory on the board.

U.S. Ryder Cup clarity: Stock DOWN

Brian Harman could be a freaky-good match play competitor for the U.S. considering his blend of off-the-tee consistency and putting prowess. Still, he was on the outside looking in when last weekend started, and now he is all but entrenched on the U.S. roster. That means close to half of the group of Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau, Sam Burns, Cam Young, and Keegan Bradley will not find themselves on the American side.

Good for Harman; bad for almost everyone else.

Justin Thomas’ roster spot: Stock TEETERING

Justin Thomas earned a lot of ink for his Thursday 82 at the Open. Now he’s down at the 3M Open attempting to prove he’s deserving of a roster spot by virtue of his Ryder Cup experience.

My guess is that his spot is pretty safe as a veteran presence on Zach Johnson’s roster. But if his game doesn’t turn around quickly, things could get very dicey, very fast.

Adrian Meronk’s roster spot: Stock LURKING

A comatose Ryder Cup sleeper for you: Adrian Meronk, the Polish pro who is 48th in the world ranking, and 11th on the European team’s Ryder Cup World Points ranking. He boosted his stock with a T23 finish at the Open, but his real prowess has to do with his course experience. Meronk won the Italian Open at Ryder Cup host Marco Simone earlier this year, and finished second at the same event at Marco Simone in 2021.

He would count as something of a surprise for European team captain Luke Donald, but players with his kind of course savvy have been winning the Europeans Ryder Cups for the better part of the last three decades.

The World Feed: Stock SOARING

The World Feed — an international broadcast staged by the R&A and distributed for international broadcasters, including NBC, to utilize — has earned a cult following in Golf Twitter circles. This weekend, though, I spent many an hour watching it from the media center, and good God it’s wonderful.

It’s golf TV for golf sickos, and a part of me wonders whether the R&A can finagle a way to offer it as a paid streaming service to golf fans worldwide during tournament week. I know I’d happily pay $20 for the privilege.

Nick Faldo: Stock REBOUNDING

Sir Nick arrived out of nowhere for his performance as part of the NBC broadcast crew at the Open, and he sounded rejuvenated in his return to the booth.

There are few players in the game with his depth of knowledge. The key is finding an environment where he’s unafraid to share it. Here’s hoping he finds that soon.

The Food: Stock NEUTRAL

British food gets a lot of flack, but I think it’s actually better than advertised (or at the very least better than their Irish neighbors to the west). The GOLF.com crew went to The Tasting Bar and Kitchen in Hoylake on three separate nights last week. The food was delicious, the menu was varied and innovative, and the service was wonderful.

That said, I’d like to volunteer to my services to the R&A as a go-between for the tournament and its local restaurants each year. I can count on my thumbs the number of restaurants that were open past 10 p.m. last week, a time when hundreds of folks in town for the tournament were still looking for a hot meal.

There’s a lot made of the economic impact that comes with hosting a major championship in a small town. Lost in that conversation is the reality that in order for some places to make money, they have to, ya know, stay open.

Layers: Stock UP

It was Mike Tirico who first chided me last week that my Open Championship attire was lacking considerably.

“Welcome to the Open,” he said with a chuckle. “You’re not properly dressed.”

He was right. By the end of the week I was wearing three and four layers to the golf course each day, including a rotation of a handful of suddenly necessary jackets. This one, from Kjus, is the best rain jacket I’ve ever owned (for golf or otherwise). While this one, from Lululemon, was stretchy and water-repellent and, for a moment on Sunday evening, saved me from hypothermia. It’s probably the best colder-weather golf gear I have in my wardrobe, and I did have to fight off my GOLF.com coworkers to keep it in my return luggage home.

The Beatles: Stock UP

John, Paul, George and Ringo had a strong week on TV broadcasts and, it turns out, this website. You can check out our video on our trip to Allerton Manor, the former Beatles home course, below. You might have grown tired of the discourse during the broadcast — and for that I can’t blame you — but it’s hard to take a trip to Liverpool without appreciating the impact the Fab Four had on the city.

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The post Lessons from Hoylake: A hidden golfing gem, a contentious par-3, the next Brian Harman and more appeared first on Golf.

The post Lessons from Hoylake: A hidden golfing gem, a contentious par-3, the next Brian Harman and more appeared first on Golf.

At the 2023 Open Championship, Brian Harman triumphed for his first major title of his career, but there was lots more to remember beyond the main headlines. Here, our on-site staffers clean out their notebooks in our Lessons from Hoylake.

Add this to your bucket list

By James Colgan

A short drive up the road from Hoylake is a course soaked in golf’s elixir of life. The shame of it all? Hardly anyone on this side of the pond has heard of it.

Wallasey Golf Club is perhaps best known to the golf world for an early 20th century member named Frank Stableford — a.k.a., the guy who invented Stableford scoring. As legend has it, Stableford was hacking his way around Wallasey one day when he figured there ought to be a more enjoyable way to score golf. He got to thinking and, after a moment, realized that assigning point values to hole scores was the perfect solution.

Today it is hard to get more than a handful of footsteps at Wallasey without a reminder of Stableford’s contributions to the game. But if we’re being honest, even that hook undersells Wallasey as a golf destination.

Early in Open week, we arrived to find the course sun-drenched and properly gusty; ideal conditions for a links golf afternoon. The round that followed was nothing shy of biblical.

The course was simply wonderful. A wide variety of funky and quirky holes weaved through a dramatic, seaside dunescape. A twisting routing (and shifting winds) kept the shot variety constantly changing. Walking paths were mowed wide enough for golfers to walk alongside one another, like green freeways. Plaques next to four of the tee boxes revealed Old Tom Morris (yes, that Old Tom Morris) had designed four of the course’s quirkiest greens.

We didn’t finish on account of an event happening on the 18th (a story for another day), but it didn’t quite matter. It was one of the rounds of my year, and a destination I’ll be recommending to golfers traveling to the UK for the Open for years to come.

‘The next Brian Harman’

By Josh Berhow

Throughout his entire 2023 Open Championship triumph, Brian Harman looked surprisingly calm. He showed little emotion until the end. Across the Atlantic, the same can’t be said for everyone.

“They are like your own kids. You are still living and dying with every shot just like I did as a coach,” said Chris Haack, the Georgia men’s golf coach, who was also leading the Bulldogs years ago when Harman and several other Tour pros (like Brendon Todd, Russell Henley and Chris Kirk) were coming through. “Every putt they make I probably fist pump more than they did.”

Haack watched nearly every shot of The Open on Sunday. He had to leave to catch a flight after Harman hit his tee shot on the par-3 17th, but the damage was already done at that point anyway. Harman two-putted for par — he did that a lot last week — and went to the 18th tee with a six-shot lead. Five shots later, he won The Open.

Haack was obviously giddy over Harmon’s victory, but he was also proud of a post-round interview he saw a day or two earlier. Harman was asked about nerves, and he admitted they were of course there — you just have to battle them and overcome them. Haack appreciated the honesty.

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While Haack and Harman don’t talk regularly, they remain close. They see each other at the occasional golf camp and are still comfortable enough to stay in touch. Not long ago, for example, a random and funny moment found Haack and one of his players discussing the size of a moose versus an elk. They were trying to figure out, for no reason in particular, which one was bigger.

“I know,” Haack thought, thinking of avid outdoorsmen he’s coached. “Let’s call Brian. He’ll know.”

When reached on Sunday night to chat about Harman, Haack was now in a rental car. His destination? The same tournament Harman won back in 2003.

“I’m going to the U.S. Junior now,” Haack said, “and I’m going to try and find the next Brian Harman.”

The joyful quirks of Open Championship week

By Dylan Dethier

My week in Wirral began at the Manchester airport, where I and my colleague Josh Berhow waged war against the system for a while in an effort to recover the golf clubs of our other colleague, Darren Riehl, who’d arrived a couple of days earlier.

The clubs were there. We knew they were there from an AirTag in the bag. But it was still nearly impossible to crack through to get to someone who could actually make them accessible. The U.K.’s insistence on separating the baggage claim area from the rest of the world only made this a thornier problem.

If you’re rolling your eyes and saying OK, Dylan, get to the point, then I agree with your instincts. There’s literally nothing more eye-rollable than media people talking about their luggage. But the two-hour acquisition of a bag that’s 30 feet away on the other side of a wall is metonymic for the Open Championship experience.

Part of the joy of the week is seeing seaside U.K. towns positively overrun with golf-mad spectators. My first Open was in Portrush in 2019 on the tip of Northern Ireland; I’m fairly sure there’d never been that many people in that town in its entire history. St. Andrews last year was my next Open; that’s a town with more complete infrastructure and better familiarity with the demands of hosting an Open, but still — it was delightfully overwhelmed. Fans streamed from the course into the streets and took over outside the pubs, soaking in the peak moments of a U.K. golfing summer.

Royal Liverpool is tucked between two towns (two train stops) with West Kirby to the south and Hoylake to its north, and its proximity to Liverpool meant there wasn’t quite the same level of system overload. But it still existed. The pubs were overrun. Fans (and players, and media) flocked to the few spots that would serve you food after 9 p.m. Everyone seems excited to have you in town — but not quite excited enough to keep their kitchen open. Fair play. (And shoutout to local hotspots Tasting Kitchen and Domino’s, each lifesaving and delicious in its own way.) There’s an energy to it that I’ve still not quite felt anywhere else in the golfing world.

It’s some cross between a golf convention and the Quidditch World Cup. There’s a shared joy in the effort it takes to get there and the world you’ve entered once you arrive. And it helps if your luggage makes it, too.

Rewinding our thoughts on “Little Eye”

By Sean Zak

It was already obvious on Monday afternoon before The Open, when the most-packed grandstand at Royal Liverpool was not the 1st, nor the 18th, but rather the stand along the 17th green. Everyone was curious how this devious little par-3 would look, feel, play, you name it.

Jon Rahm splashed bunker shots from the cavernous trap to the right of the green. The first clanked thinly off the flag and off the back of the putting surface. In a few moments, Joe Skovron, Tom Kim’s caddie, paced around the green and clarified his strategy aloud: Don’t go right, don’t go left, don’t be short. Missing on this hole was going to be chaotic.

On paper, the hole named “Little Eye” seemed like a perfect test for the best players in the world. A tiny one-shotter that makes professionals and their bag-carriers uncomfortable. But in a matter of 24 hours, a couple of caddies had already sounded off to the press about its shortcomings. A couple of players followed suit. Media picked up on the angst and poured kerosene on this idea before a single par was made in the tournament.

This isn’t a proper test. This is a horrible hole for the membership. What are they trying to accomplish here? They were all fair opinions, made in the moment. They were reactive, maybe even knee-jerk. But they were also three years too late.

Anyone who really wanted to dislike the newest hole at RLGC should have responded to it in 2020, when it was announced in a press release alongside numerous other changes to this 152-year-old golf course. The entire history of Royal Liverpool is about changes, both big and small, but this one was sneakily made in conjunction with lengthening its neighbor, the 18th hole.

Two tees were added to the 18th, in the northwest corner of the property, with nowhere to put them. Nowhere but on the ground previously owned by what was the 15th green. The goal was obvious: make the 18th longer. Make it a difficult driving hole, forcing players to hit the longest club in their bag and hit it well if they wanted a finishing birdie. But adding length to the 18th was only necessary because of golf’s most modern dilemma. How far the ball travels and how efficiently modern equipment can launch it leads to an unsustainable borrowing exercise. In order to make one hole more difficult, on a fixed amount of land, they had to steal from another hole. Flipping around a par-3 to play uphill at the Irish Sea was an attempt to create excitement, but also the most creative way of maximizing space for the 18th.

So while the 17th was marred in consternation from grumpy caddies and players, the conclusion on the 18th was quietly just fine. The 609-yard par-5 played to an average of 4.978 strokes, or 0.44 strokes higher than 2014. That’s an improvement for the course that was concerned about new scoring records being broken. Great success, right? It’s hard to deem it a total success when immediate reports this week said change would already be coming for the 17th hole.

Whether or not that will become true, it remains fascinating how we talk about golf course architecture built to test the best players in the world and how much we allow those best players to weigh in on the process themselves. We tend to get stuck where we were last week, embroiled in a discussion about course manipulation gone wrong when we should be talking about course manipulation as a last stand.

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The post 10 Open Championship scenes you couldn’t have seen on TV appeared first on Golf.

The post 10 Open Championship scenes you couldn’t have seen on TV appeared first on Golf.

Welcome back to the Monday Finish, where we’re working to get competing smells of wet shoes and fried fish out of our suitcases. That sentence came out far grosser than intended. Whatever. Let’s get to it!

Sights and sounds from England’s towns

In lieu of our typical weekly rundown — and to help with major-season withdrawal — I just wanted to run through a handful of scenes from on site at Royal Liverpool. Below you’ll find 10 of ’em.

1. These little golf-ball crates rule

Part of the charm of the Open is the little intricacies of golf across the pond. One detail I particularly enjoyed was the little crates they transported range balls around in. The below shot is from the setup next to the chipping green. Check ’em out! Like miniature grocery baskets for golf balls. User-friendly, sturdy, kinda sweet.

2. Pot-bunker practice is weird and fun.

The Open isn’t the toughest major championship for players to score. There are plenty of birdies. This week in particular presented relatively flat greens that players ate alive; Datagolf had putting outside 15 feet as the fourth-easiest of any event since 2015. But the pot bunkers? Oh man, those can make you look very stupid.

They can also make pros look clever, though, finding ways to Houdini themselves out of tight corners or steep embankments without blasting themselves with golf balls in the process. All over the place, all week, pros were practicing (and usually pulling off) awkward-but-impressive recovery shots from these little torture caves. Here was Max Homa getting creative:

3. Hoylake would have selectively destroyed you

Some weeks it’s obvious the ways in which a major-championship test would eat amateur golfers alive. Crazy-long rough, crazy-fast greens, crazy slopes you’d never be able to navigate. Royal Liverpool is on a flat piece of property, it has flat greens and they’re not overly fast. But if you’re, say, a 13-handicap reading this, a few things would have still given you fits.

There are those pot bunkers, for one thing. With the special Day 1 rake job courtesy of the R&A, balls were settling at the edges of the traps and requiring some real weirdness to escape. I’m fairly sure you don’t have the same dexterity with an open-faced wedge and, therefore, might have required either a hand wedge or a half-dozen shots for extraction.

There are the white stakes, for another thing. The pros hit over 100 balls out of bounds this week, essentially unheard of at this level. Your foursome might have approached that number on your own over four days, though. Battle a slice? Have fun on No. 3, where the clubhouse lurks left but O.B. is the real threat down the right side, not just on the tee shot but on the approach. Have fun again at No. 18, where the tee shot, the layup and the approach actually give you three different options to block-slice one directly into a two-stroke penalty.

The recoveries aren’t exactly a can of corn, either.

You’d also struggle playing in front of volunteers and fans, of course. But you might struggle worse without them. Why? Because you need spotters! And you need trampled-down lies on your misses off the tee. There’s no joy in spending extra time searching for balls and there’s no joy in chopping out of the heavy stuff. You’d have time for both.

I’m not saying Hoylake is Oakmont. I’m just saying that I haven’t even mentioned the firm greens, the sideways rain, the wind nor your lack of a Tour-level caddie and that it’s no can of corn out there.

4. Pros could hear themselves on TV.

There are benefits to showing the TV broadcast on the course; it allows on-site spectators to get a sense of what’s going on or perhaps to pause for a plate of chips and a whippy and catch up on the action. But there was a strange side-effect: on a couple holes pros could hear the real-time commentary of the shots they were about to hit.

“Yeah, that was strange,” Scottie Scheffler said after one such incident. “I was standing over my shot and they had the TV going full volume over there and it was commentating my shot.”

He said he’d never experienced that particular brand of distraction.

“It was so weird because I heard my name, and that definitely put me off for a minute there. That was weird.”

Max Homa felt it on the 18th hole on Day 1.

“You can hear the commentators on the broadcast from the big TV,” he said. “And I was over the ball and one of them said, ‘this is too much club.’ I did an absolutely awful job of not backing off.”

5. The two best shots I saw were…

First the most pivotal: Brian Harman capped off his second-round masterpiece in style. He’d gotten off to a hot start with a par at No. 1 and birdies at 2-3-4-5. But then he’d shifted into a controlled neutral with pars at the next 12 holes before uncorking a 346-yard tee shot down the fairway at 18. That’s when he cemented his spot atop the leaderboard with a perfectly controlled 244-yard approach that settled pin-high inside 15 feet. That was the shot. The eagle putt really made it count, of course. And then the rest was history.

As for the most impressive shot I saw? That was from Rory McIlroy on the par-5 5th hole on Saturday. He’d chosen to hit just 2-iron off the tee and had flared that ever-so-slightly out to the right, leaving himself 260 yards to the hole, which meant it was time for another 2-iron. I happened to be directly behind this one, hence the special appreciation. The ball was above his feet and the pin was on the left side, so I imagined he might hit some sort of high, slinging draw. Instead he hit it flat and low and perfect, sending a tight-draw missile at the center of the green. The shot kept the greenside bunker out of play and was hit with such precision that it settled pin-high 25 feet right of the hole. Those first six-and-a-half holes on Saturday McIlroy looked like he might be the man to beat; he didn’t miss a shot. But Harman wouldn’t be denied.

6. My favorite non-Hoylake moment of the week was…

From Wallasey on Wednesday evening. Because the event is so wall-to-wall it’s tough to sneak out to play any golf of our own, but on Wednesday afternoons the course is quiet, the preview coverage is in the bank and there’s generally time for twilight golf. Here’s a neat photo from a glorious night courtesy of our visual whiz Darren Riehl.

7. Proximity to victory means pain.

I was the only reporter there when Cameron Young came into the media area on Sunday evening; he’d played in the final group alongside Harman but shot two-over 73 and finished T8. He was soggy and frustrated.

“I think there’s some positives to take,” he said, but he also kept it real. “My level of excitement with tied for eighth is absolutely zero.”

8. Proximity to victory means longing.

Jason Day has one major championship; he won the 2015 PGA. Now that he’s recaptured his game he wants another. Sunday’s T2 was easily his best effort in years, but as he stepped to the microphone Brian Harman was on the 18th green finishing things out, and Day was transformed to an alternate reality as he watched Harman hole his final putt.

“What a feeling,” he said.

9. Proximity to victory means hunger.

Adam Scott has one major. He wants another, too. Just how badly?

“It’s incredible. It’s kind of the reason I still work hard at my game, thinking I could have a chance to get that other hand on the jug that I was so close to getting,” he said following his T33 on Sunday. “That’s what I’ll be working at over the next 12 months, to come back and have another crack and be in good form and maybe steal a trophy later on in my career.”

10. Proximity to victory can mean joy, too.

The weather was horrific by the time we left the media center late Sunday night. Temperatures had dropped. Wind had upped. Rain had worsened. Golf would have been comical. It was a fitting end to the major season and a reminder that after all the pomp and circumstance there remains wind and rain and darkness and mud.

But inside the Royal Liverpool clubhouse there was joy, too, not just for the winner but for the man who’d tied for 10th, whose impeccable attitude made him an easy guy to root for all week: Local hero Matthew Jordan.

Thanks for following and reading all week!

If you want more behind-the-scenes stuff I’d recommend popping over to our YouTube channel via the video below. You’ll get a different look at how things played out — even if you’ll have to put up with my mug in order to do so. Cheers, gang.

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HOURS FROM A BUDDIES GOLF TRIP, U.S.A. — Let’s go back to early April. Two days before the start of Masters week. Saturday night. 

And basketball. 

The Final Four of men’s college basketball was being played. First up was San Diego State versus Florida Atlantic, Connecticut versus Miami followed, and the national semis were great, but not so much because of the games — though SDSU and FAU was a buzzer-beating classic. Just look closely at who was there.  

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San Diego State, a five seed. Florida Atlantic, a nine seed. UConn, a four seed. Miami, a five seed. 

Cinderella reigned. Gone were the Goliaths. Our brackets were busted. And we loved it. 

Hooray for the little guy!

So … 

Why the hate for Brian Harman?

You could hear it at Royal Liverpool as he marched toward his convincing Open Championship victory, though at least that was somewhat understandable — with both Tommy Fleetwood and Matthew Jordan (a Liverpool member) in the mix, the Brits were backing their local guys. But peruse the world wide web, and it was there, too. An underdog winner? Please no. Give us Rory. Give us Rahm. Give us an update on Tiger’s health. But bloody hell, don’t give us …

A Cinderella. 

Weird, right? 

Let’s make that observation No. 1, as we look back on the Open week that was. But I’m also a little curious: Why do we love our golf kings and queens so much, or at least compared to other sports? Of course, maybe I just listen to a negative crowd. But if you’re in the mood, reach out at nick.piastowski@golf.com or through a DM on Twitter (or whatever they call it now) @nickpia.  

On to the observations. Let’s try for 49 more. At the end, I’ll explain the dateline above. 

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2. Let’s talk Harman the golfer. He’s a puncher, but not a swinger. Body blows, not uppercuts. But it was unrelenting. Safe drive, safe iron, green. Safe drive, safe iron, green. Safe drive, safe iron, green. Safe drive, safe iron, green. Knockout. He hit into two bunkers all week. In ’06 at Liverpool, Tiger Woods hit into zero. Both won. 

3. To that end, I enjoyed this piece from Golf Digest’s Luke Kerr-Dineen on Harman’s ‘Moneyball’ approach. 

4. Of course, it helps to capitalize on chances. And Harman was an incredible 58 of 59 on putts from inside 10 feet. 

5. To that end, I enjoyed this piece from GOLF’s Nick Dimengo on Harman’s putting secret at Liverpool.   

6. The question is: Was it all just a magical week? Maybe. Did Harman take advantage of a course that played to his strengths? Maybe. Then again, with a steady rain, the ballpark changed on Sunday — it became longer — and Harman still shot under par. 

7. All that said, I’m not suggesting he suddenly becomes world No. 1. But lefties, folks say, do play well at Augusta. 

8. Which actually brings me back to the first observation. Say Harman wins another major. Is he still an underdog then? What would it take for him to ditch that label? Same goes for Wyndham Clark. I mean, each of those dudes have more majors than Rory McIlroy has in the past nine years. (Low blow, I know. More on him in a sec.)  

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9. Let’s talk Harman … the philosopher. This may be my favorite quote of the week. It came Saturday. It made me think some. 

Here is the complete exchange:

“What’s your favorite part of the hard work?”

“Someone once told me one time you should do the things that make you lose track of time, and for me, a lot of times when I’m practicing hitting balls or putting when I’m at home, I lose track of time. That’s how I know that I really enjoy it. For me, it’s just an enjoyable profession that I have.”

10. Let’s take a music break! If you watched any of the coverage this week, you no doubt saw — or heard — the Beatles, as the Fab Four are from Liverpool. And while I didn’t get Sir Paul for this story, I got the next best thing: my father-in-law. 

Ron Ziegler is in the South Dakota Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. With two bands actually. But he was inspired by Beatlemania. Still is. So I asked him for his favorite songs. We’ll sprinkle in his picks as we go. 

Here’s his favorite:

11. Let’s talk Harman … the grass cutter? There was also this lengthy exchange after his victory:

“I’m just wondering if as a treat and with your passion for hunting over the past few days, whether there will be a hunting trip to celebrate, whether you’ll go out. Or seeing as you’ve won quite a lot of money today, is there money for a new rifle?” 

“I’m a bowhunter; no new rifles. I had a nice week a couple weeks ago and I bought a new tractor for my hunting place, so I’ll get home and I’ll be on the tractor mowing grass in the next few weeks, so I’m excited about that. 

“So that’s going to be the reward; you’re going ride your tractor?” 

“Yeah. Just put my phone away and go get on the tractor. 

“Could you tell us a little bit more about your tractor, please?”

“I haven’t seen it yet. It’s on order. It’s a 105-horse Kubota tractor and it’s going to be a pretty one.”

“What color?”

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“Orange.”

“How many acres will you mow?”

“Let’s see, we’ve got about 25 acres of food plots that need — and, gosh, I don’t know how many miles of roads, but I’d call it probably 40 acres total that needs to get mowed. 

“I’ve never known an Open champion to celebrate by mowing grass on a tractor …”

“I’ve got a lot of layers, man. I’m like an onion.”

“How much was the tractor? How much did it cost you?” 

“Oh, gosh. I don’t know. Probably — I haven’t told my wife how much I spent on it yet.” 

12. Let’s talk Harman … the hunter. He’s an outdoorsman. There was also this lengthy exchange after his victory:

“Which would you rather do, hunt for a long time the most rare animal that you could possibly come across and kill it, or win that thing [the Open]?” 

“No, I’m not hunting any rare animals. I would say I love to hunt. We do it, but I couldn’t go hunting every day. I could play golf every day. To win what I consider is the greatest prize in golf, it’s as good as it gets.”

“Did you say just now that you didn’t use a rifle?”

“No, I use a bow and arrow.”

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“All the time?”

“Yes.”

“From what distance are you most deadly?”

“You wouldn’t want to be standing in front of me. I’m good out to about 80 yards, but I don’t take a shot past 40.”

“That explains your short game.”

“Yeah, good pair of hands.”

13. Let’s talk Harman … the chip-on-the-shoulder holder. I wrote about that briefly here. Maybe he doesn’t want you to believe in him. 

14. GOLF’s Josh Berhow dug a little bit deeper on the thought here, with his wonderfully written final-round story. 

15. GOLF’s Alan Bastable, meanwhile, dug a little deeper on one of Harman’s sponsor’s, MegaCorp, which sounds like something straight out of a Marvel movie. 

16. Then there was the waggle, and I wrote about that here, with some contributions from CBS’ Colt Knost and Harman’s swing coach, Justin Parsons. We’ll add this thought, from Ian Poulter: 

17. One more on Harman. In two months, he’ll likely be on the U.S. Ryder Cup team; he’s currently third in the selection standings, and the top six on Aug. 20 are automatic picks to the 12-man team. And I enjoyed this thought, from the witty Eddie Pepperell:

18. Let’s stick with the Ryder Cup. Here are the top 12 in the U.S. standings as of Monday: 

1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Clark
3. Harman
4. Brooks Koepka
5. Xander Schauffele
6. Patrick Cantlay
7. Max Homa
8. Cameron Young
9. Jordan Spieth
10. Keegan Bradley
11. Collin Morikawa
12. Rickie Fowler 

Is that the team? Here are a few notable players on the outside looking in: Sam Burns, Justin Thomas, Tony Finau, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Talor Gooch. 

19. What about the Euros? Here are the automatic picks, as of Monday:

European points:
1. McIlroy
2. Jon Rahm
3. Robert MacIntyre 

World points:
3. Viktor Hovland
4. Tyrrell Hatton
5. Fleetwood
(Rahm and McIlroy are 1 and 2 here.) 

Who else is in? Matt Fizpatrick, Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka should be. Then who? Maybe Justin Rose? Maybe Yannik Paul? Maybe Adrian Meronk? Maybe Victor Perez? Maybe Padraig Harrington? (That would be a helluva story.) 

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Maybe Ludvig Aberg and one or both of the Hojgaard twins. That’s explosive. 

Maybe Sergio Garcia. That’s explosive, too. 

20. Speaking of LIV, there was less discussion on it this year, when compared to last year’s Open. Patrick Reed talked about it some. There was talk that Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, would be at Liverpool, but he wasn’t seen. Martin Slumbers, the R&A CEO, sounded like the Open wouldn’t be opposed to taking PIF money. 

21. What will the talk sound like next year?

22. Clark, notably, said he’d play majors for free. 

“It wouldn’t make a difference. I mean, obviously this is our living, and I think the money in our sport is a bonus personally. Some people make it more than others, and I think we’ve all seen that in this last year or two. 

“But at the end of the day, to have someone like Tiger Woods continue to try to play and try to win majors I think shows where his mind is at, that he cares more about maybe the record books or going down in history or winning majors and he loves to compete.

“I’m not comparing myself to Tiger, but I love competition, and wherever the best players are I want to be and I want to play and I want to compete. So yeah, I would be here if I had to pay to play. But if I could play in a major championship, I want to be there.” 

23. GOLF’s Dylan Dethier wrote an excellent piece here on golf amidst the PGA Tour-PIF deal here. 

24. Let’s take a music break! Here’s my father-in-law’s second-favorite Beatles song: 

25. Let’s talk McIlroy. GOLF’s James Colgan masterfully summed up his week here.

26. One of the topics in Colgan’s story was McIlroy’s media silence, with the thought presumably being that he would focus on his golf. But you should hope that this doesn’t become a trend. (Bryson DeChambeau, remember, employed this strategy two years ago, though his move came amidst the ‘Brooksie’ battle.) The hows and whys of golfers and their games are a big part of the story. 

27. But good reporters can get good info elsewhere. Someone wise once told me you get thoughtful insight from those around the subject — and that you get little from press conferences. 

28. Sorry, got sidetracked there. McIlroy seems a little lost, too. Does he shake things up more, beyond avoiding press conferences? Remember, he won just a week earlier. Then again, pro golf these days centers on the majors, and most pro teams in other sports don’t go nine years without a championship without some changes.  

29. I enjoyed this from Emiliano Grillo, who discussed what it’s like to play with McIlroy, minutes after doing so on Sunday. 

“It was fun,” he said. “I mean, obviously when you are there on the final round, you’re just trying to do your thing and everybody is saying Rory, Rory. Like I’m going to go to bed today and, you know, instead of counting sheep, I’ll be saying Rory.”

30. Let’s talk Tom Kim. A tie for second on one leg. Golf is easy. 

31. Let’s talk Justin Thomas. Golf is hard. 

“There’s nobody that shot 82 that hit some of the quality shots that I did yesterday,” he said Friday, one day after shooting, yes, 82. “It doesn’t make sense. I’ll hit shots like a No. 1 player in the world, and then I’ll make a 9 on my last hole of the tournament. I don’t know if it’s a focus thing or I’m just putting too much pressure on myself or what it is, but when I figure it out, I’ll be better for it.”

32. Let’s talk Rahm. Golf is hard — 74 on Thursday. Golf is easy — 63 on Saturday. What a sport. 

33. Let’s talk Scheffler. Golf is hard — he ranked 149th in Strokes Gained: Putting. Golf is easy — he ranked fifth in both SG: Off the Tee and SG: Approach. What a sport. 

34. Let’s talk Matthew Jordan. What a week. GOLF’s Sean Zak wonderfully wrote about the week of the Liverpool lad here. 

35. Let’s take a music break! Here’s my father-in-law’s third-favorite Beatles song: 

36. Let’s talk Shubhankar Sharma, who finished tied for eighth. This says a lot:

37. Let’s talk Phil Mickelson. This was notable. He was ninth for the week in Strokes Gained: Approach — and 117th in SG: Total; 137th in SG: Off the Tee; 134th in SG: Around the Green; and 156th in SG: Putting. 

38. My second-favorite quote of the week? It appears Harrington is a big ‘clicks’ guy. When he was asked on Sunday what advice he would give to Harman, he started off with this:

“I did put psychological tips on my YouTube, Instagram, and nobody had any interest. They were the least-watched things when I did it during Covid. No traction whatsoever. Not interested. All those pearls of wisdom.”

39. Michael Kim made me think on this one: 

40. The par-3 17th was hard, perhaps unfairly so. But, for the most part, good swings turned into good shots. It made for good theater, didn’t it? We all watched Harman’s tee shot there on Sunday, right? 

“I think 17th was good fun,” Laurie Canter said Sunday. 

41. The internal out of bounds was hard to manage, perhaps unfairly so. But you shouldn’t be able to hit it all over the yard. It made for good theater, didn’t it? We all watched Harman’s tee shot on 18 on Sunday, right?  

“It’s fine,” Koepka said of the internal O.B. ahead of the tournament. “Just don’t hit it over there you won’t have a problem, right?”

42. The pot bunkers were hard, perhaps unfairly so. But you should be punished for hitting the ball in the sand. It made for good theater, didn’t it? 

43. Another Liverpool hazard? The large TV screens on the course. This was good:  

44. Another Liverpool hazard? From above. This was good: 

45. Let’s take a music break! Here’s my father-in-law’s fourth-favorite Beatles song: 

46. With the Open bringing an end to the men’s majors season, here’s one ranking of this year’s quartet:

1. PGA Championship: I loved Oak Hill.  

2. Open Championship: I loved the demand to hit every shot in the bag. 

3. Masters: I loved the battle between Rahm and Koepka.

4. U.S. Open: I love L.A. Too easy. But the Clark story was great. 

47. Of course, there’s another major this week: the Evian Championship, where Brooke Henderson looks to defend. And there’s one two weeks after that: the Women’s Open, where Ashleigh Buhai looks to defend. 

48. At the men’s Open, this man was everything:

49. Our gang also went down to the beach, too, as you can see here:

50. And with that, I’m heading on vacation. Me and some old friends are going to Wisconsin, where I’m originally from, and we’re playing some rounds at the Golf Courses of Lawsonia, and we’re grilling meats and we’re drinking golf sodas. 

So consider this then the gentle nudge to get out yourself. It’s summer. It’s golf season. Memories are to be had. Birdies, too. 

Cheers! 

Editor’s note: I also compiled observations from the Masters and the PGA Championship. If you’re interested in the Masters story, please go here. 

If you’re interested in the PGA Championship story, please go here. 

If you’re interested in the U.S. Open story, please go here. 

The post Brian Harman hate, Rory, Beatles: 50 Open Championship observations  appeared first on Golf.

The post He designed the Open’s controversial 17th hole. Here’s how he thought it played appeared first on Golf.

The post He designed the Open’s controversial 17th hole. Here’s how he thought it played appeared first on Golf.

He was nervous Thursday morning, and no wonder. The early goings of a major. Time to see his work put to the test.

Making his way across the grounds of Royal Liverpool, the architect Martin Ebert grabbed a seat in the grandstands beside the par-3 17th, keen to watch the world’s best play a hole that he’d designed.

“There was a tremendous amount of excitement among the spectators, and a long queue just to get into the grandstands,” Ebert told GOLF.com. “I was feeling quite a bit of that excitement myself.”

In the run-up the 2023 Open Championship, no portion of the host venue inspired more headlines — or drew more scrutiny — than the 136-yard (give or take, depending on the pin) penultimate hole. Formerly the 15th in Royal Liverpool’s Open routing, the hole had been reversed and shortened so that it now faced estuary views and played to a small infinity green with runoffs and trouble all around. Though the change was meant to inject pint-sized drama down the stretch (a lofted club under pressure into a world of peril), it was also part of a larger championship plan that made room to lengthen two closing par-5s.

During practice rounds last week, the 17th, predictably, polarized opinions. Brooks Koepka said he loved it. Jon Rahm proclaimed it fair, with an asterisk, “because if it’s unfair, it’s unfair for everybody.”

As the competition got underway on Thursday, in relatively benign conditions, Ebert said he began to worry. In the first two groups, every player hit the green. Ho-hum. No drama. 

“I started to think that maybe all the hype would come to nothing,” Ebert said. 

Then came Lucas Herbert, the co-leader at the time, with a miss left to a right pin, which led to a poor chip, bunkers woes and a triple-bogey. Soon after, Ryan Fox had trouble, too. And Ebert felt the Open had what everyone was after. He watched 14 groups that morning, and saw what he described as a healthy mix of punishments and payoffs. 

“There was plenty of excitement,” Ebert said. “I thought (the hole) had provided an appropriate test.”

Over the next three days, Ebert followed the action as most fans did: on TV. He thought the 17th — which played as the 8th-hardest hole for the week with a 3.121 scoring average — stood up well, producing a grab bag of results. A good example was the play on Friday, when Travis Smyth of Australia made an ace and defending Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick made a triple-bogey after taking four whacks in the sand. In the wake of that misfortune, Fitzpatrick suggested that the hole should be scrapped. His caddie, Billy Foster, shared that opinion. This was the same Fitzpatrick who would birdie the 17th twice before the Open was over. It was also the same Foster who, prior to the tournament, had called the 17th a “monstrosity” and warned that this year’s Open could be remembered “for a calamity that happened.” 

Melodramatic? Maybe. But understandable. In 2003, Foster was on the bag of then-leader Thomas Bjorn when Bjorn took three shots from a bunker on the par-3 16th hole at Royal St. George’s, making a triple bogey that cost him the claret jug. Loopers, like golfers, aren’t immune to PTSD.

As for Ebert, tuning in from elsewhere in England, he took the feedback, good and bad, with equanimity. That’s just how it goes. You can’t please all the people all the time, especially not when you build a hole at an historic championship venue that’s meant to call attention to itself.

“I know there was some criticism of the idea of intentionally adding drama,” Ebert said. “But the hole was also part of an overall set of proposals meant to benefit the championship.”

It served that purpose, Ebert said, even as it “rewarded good shots and punished poor ones.”

From his perspective, it’s not as if the 17th played out of whack.

Statistics appear to bear him out. For the week, the 17th yielded close to the same number of birdies (65) and bogies (72).

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Those were the numbers as of Sunday evening.

On Monday morning, though, Ebert woke to this headline in The Telegraph: “Royal Liverpool to radically overhaul controversial 17th hole after the Open due to complaints.”

That was news to Ebert. He wasn’t aware of any changes in the works. Royal Liverpool said it wasn’t, either.

“There are no plans to modify the 17th,” a club representative told GOLF.com by phone.

Which doesn’t mean there isn’t more to the story. According to a source familiar with the inner-workings at Royal Liverpool, the 17th has sparked complaints from club members since it opened, some of whom feel the hole is too severe for year-round play. The source told GOLF.com that club members now joke that when high-handicappers play the course, they march directly from the 16th green to 18th tee, marking a “6” on their scorecards for the 17th without bothering to play the hole.

Member play is different than major-championship play, of course. And changes to major venues are never made lightly. According to the Royal Liverpool insider, it would not be surprising if the club decided to soften the 17th by, say, raising the tee or mellowing some of its contours or hazards. But such modifications would not be in response to what transpired at the Open. 

A “monstrosity”? Not at all. Not by the numbers. And not in the view of the man who designed it.

“From what I could tell, it was big hit among spectators,” Ebert said. “It generated a lot of excitement in the grandstands, and the views were fantastic. From the standpoint of golf being an entertainment industry, I think it fulfilled its obligations.”

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The post Brandel Chamblee says Rory McIlroy is past his physical prime appeared first on Golf.

The post Brandel Chamblee says Rory McIlroy is past his physical prime appeared first on Golf.

After yet another good finish in a major championship without a win, golf pundits everywhere are wondering: Will Rory McIlroy ever claim a fifth major championship?

There’s no doubt that McIlroy has the talent and the game to do it — and yet, here we are, nine years and counting since his last major triumph, despite the fact that McIlroy has posted 20 top 10s in the majors since his win at the 2014 PGA Championship.

What to make of McIlroy’s many near-misses was a hot topic on Golf Channel’s “Live From the Open Championship” in the aftermath of Brian Harman’s six-stroke victory and McIlroy’s T6 finish at Royal Liverpool on Sunday evening. Jaime Diaz kicked off the discussion by suggesting that McIlroy’s success early in his career made him a bit nonchalant about improving some areas of his game.

“I’m not saying he coasted,” Diaz said. “I just don’t think he was fully aware that other players were getting better and there were things that he could have improved to improve his scoring besides his tremendous driving of the ball.”

Diaz then cited McIlroy’s occasionally erratic iron play and short game as potential culprits for his failure to win another major.

“I just think of his game more as suited kind of week-to-week PGA Tour golf than major championship golf because those nuances that perhaps he didn’t develop to the fullest extent for a super-great player cost him on major championship weekends,” he said.

Then, Brandel Chamblee weighed in.

“It’s almost like he’s trying to win his first major all over again,” Chamblee said. “Except now, he’s not in his physical prime, and he’s got the weight of the world on his back.”

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Chamblee then compared every major-less year to another brick in a building wall, making it that much harder for McIlroy to break through.

When “Live From” co-panelist Brad Faxon pushed back on the notion that McIlroy, 34, is past his physical prime, Chamblee elaborated his point.

“You reach your physical prime at about 26, 27, 28,” Chamblee said. “Now I know you think he’s ripped, and he is ripped, all right? But you reach your physical prime 26, 27.”

Chamblee then cited soccer players who are dismissed from teams at that age, because statistics show that the players are past their physical prime in terms of mental and optical acuity, nerves and speed.

“I realize he’s rippin’ it and he looks like a Greek god,” Chamblee continued. “But I’m talkin’ about, at 34, he doesn’t have as much runway in front of him as he did when he won his last major championship.”

Faxon countered with evidence of McIlroy’s athletic prowess, citing McIlroy’s impressive Peloton stats and the fact that McIlroy told him he believes he can continue competing until he’s 50, which seemed unfathomable to him when he first turned pro.

“That 32-year-old age is kind of a prime of a golfer’s career,” Faxon countered. Indeed, Phil Mickelson famously won all six of his majors after age 34.

One attribute of McIlroy’s that the whole panel could agree on was his ability to grind.

“As much as we talk about it, we talk about so much about, Rory and not winning a major, can you imagine what goes on in his head and now he’s gotta wait ’til April next year?” Faxon asked.

Another thing we can all agree on? The 2024 Masters can’t get here soon enough.

To watch the entire “Live From” discussion on McIlroy, click here.

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The post 1 piece of gear connects Brian Harman and Jack Nicklaus | Wall-to-Wall appeared first on Golf.

The post 1 piece of gear connects Brian Harman and Jack Nicklaus | Wall-to-Wall appeared first on Golf.

Welcome to Wall-to-Wall Equipment, the Monday morning gear wrap-up in which GOLF equipment editor Jonathan Wall takes you through the latest trends, rumors and breaking news.

Sizable putters

One has 18 major titles. The other won his first on Sunday at Royal Liverpool. On paper, comparing Brian Harman’s resume to Jack Nicklaus’ historic accomplishments feels like a massive stretch. But hear us out. The two are actually connected by something other than major titles — a club that made Nicklaus nearly unbeatable on golf’s biggest stage. Harman, too.

We’re, of course, talking about the putter.

In Nicklaus’ case, the oversized MacGregor Response ZT (Zero Twist) 615 he used to win the 1986 Masters — a putter that helped establish the USGA’s width limit due to its abnormally large size.

Before mallets elbowed their way into the marketplace, putters like Nicklaus’ Response ZT were a rare sight. The putter looked like a traditional blade, but the extensive profile allowed it to impact the ball with little to no twisting at impact. With a higher Moment of Inertia, returning the face to square on a consistent basis was noticeably easier to accomplish with the Response ZT.

The putter just so happened to be the brainchild of club designer Clay Long, who played a major role in the development of many Nicklaus creations during his heyday. By now you’re probably wondering why we’re discussing Nicklaus’ equipment when Harman won the Open Championship on Sunday.

Here’s the connection: Not only did Long create the putter Nicklaus used to win his final major in 1986, but he also developed the 35.5-inch TaylorMade Spider OS CB (G3 swingweight) Harman used to win his first major.

Following a recent trend of older putter models having a resurgence on Tour, Long introduced the oversized Spider OS CB mallet in 2016, believing the larger profile that helped Nicklaus find his stroke could have similar benefits for the modern-day consumer.

Thus, the OS CB (Counterbalanced) was born. What’s interesting about Harman’s specific putter is that it was 0.3 inches larger than the OS head, making it roughly 13 percent larger than the standard model. While the putter offered plenty of performance benefits — reduced head twisting and a generous MOI — the OS CB saw little to no action on the PGA Tour, outside of Harman.

The putter has been part of his setup in some capacity since 2016 when it was introduced, but even the newly minted Open champion admitted the wand hasn’t always behaved. In fact, he revealed during the tournament that he considered “going to the bullpen and pulling out something different” during the middle of the season.

“It’s been a good putter, but she’s been misbehaving a lot this year,” he said. “Last few weeks I found a little something on the greens that I felt like gave me a little better roll. I had one really nice day of putting at the US Open, and then the following weeks I putted really nice.”

The threat of a trip to the “timeout closet” got the club back on track as Harman cruised to victory while gaining more than 11 shots on the field with just the putter. An oversized profile might not be for everyone, but as Harman proved time and time again at Royal Liverpool, the only thing that really matters is the level of trust you have in the putter on Sunday afternoon.

The replacements

The rain kept Royal Liverpool from playing firm and fast during the tournament week, but it didn’t stop several big names from replacing high-lofted fairway woods with long irons. Jordan Spieth added a Titleist T150 Prototype 3-iron (Graphite Design Tour AD DI-105 Hybrid X shaft) and Collin Morikawa opted for a TaylorMade P790 Prototype 3-iron. Forgiving long irons like the Titleist T200 also saw action during the Open Championship.

“Lots of tee shots call for certain distances,” said Titleist Tour rep J.J. Van Wezenbeeck. “You need to be able to shape and flight it.”

While some players will continue on with their new long irons, expect to see many return to high-lofted fairway woods in preparation for the playoffs.

Seeing red

If one TaylorMade Spider doesn’t behave, go back to the one that made you a world-beater. For Jason Day, that meant dusting off Spider Red Itsy Bitsy (paint chips and all) for the Open Championship. The putter change didn’t lead to a Claret Jug, but it did help the Aussie finish in a tie for second with Sepp Straka, Jon Rahm and Tom Kim at 7-under.

Day ranked 13th in the field in SG: Putting (plus-4.48) with the red Spider he helped popularize in 2016. The putter was so popular, in fact, TaylorMade initially struggled to keep up with demand on Tour when it was first released. With Day leading the charge, Spider Red quickly became the hottest putter in the professional ranks during the 2015-16 season.

Quick-hitters: Max Homa and Justin Thomas added 60-degree Vokey A-Grind lob wedges to allow the club to slide under the ball easily. … Mizuno’s latest woods and wedges made their Tour debut at the Open Championship. … Phil Mickelson switched to a Ping G430 LST driver and G430 Max 3-wood. … Hideki Matsuyama’s latest Scotty Cameron putter is a sight to behold.

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