Bomb & Gouge: Buying A Short Game
Posted by Reuben Rock on February 27, 2009 under Best Golf Putters, Latest Updates, Putter Reviews, golf putter reviews | 
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Is the return of the chipper welcome news — or moral outrage?
Pressel, Creamer one back after two rounds in Thailand
Posted by Reuben Rock on under PGA Tour News | Be the First to Comment
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Sim, Carballo share midway lead at Moonah Classic
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FINGAL, Australia — Michael Sim birdied four of his final five holes Friday to grab a share of the 36-hole lead at the Moonah Classic, the second stop on the 2009 Nationwide Tour schedule. Sim’s late flurry finished off a 5-under 67 and put him at 8-under 136, which was later matched by Argentina’s Miguel Carballo, the last man off the course.
Match Play Scoring
Posted by Reuben Rock on under Best Golf Putters, Latest Updates, Putter Reviews, golf putter reviews, golf putters | Be the First to Comment
How do you keep score in match play? What do the different scores mean? Find out with this primer on match play scoring.
What’s In My Bag?
Posted by Reuben Rock on February 26, 2009 under Best Golf Putters, Latest Updates, Putter Reviews, golf putter reviews | Be the First to Comment
See what Stephen Ames carries in his golf bag.
Stewart Cink’s New Putter and Unique Wedge
Posted by Reuben Rock on under Best Golf Putters, Latest Updates, Putter Reviews, golf putter reviews | Read the First Comment
MARANA, Ariz. – Stewart Cink was the runner-up last year at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. He defeated Angel Cabrera, Colin Montgomerie, Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Justin Leonard before losing, 8 and 7, in the 36-hole final to Tiger Woods.
Twelve months later, Cink is hoping a new club will help him earn the title here.
"I’ve got a brand-new putter," he told me with a grin. "I’ve been using that Never Compromise putter for about six years, but now I’m going with a putter from Yes! Golf. I really like their ideas, and the guys who work for them, so I’m experimenting."
The putter Cink is using is a Lizzie, and like his Never Compromise, it’s a belly putter. The Yes! Lizzie is a mallet forged from 303 stainless steel that is available in four different hosel styles. Cink has gone with a toe-down balanced model with half a shaft’s width of offset. (For a better look, click on the top photo.)
But the most interesting club in Cink’s bag is his Nike Victory Red 54°sand wedge.
"Because I’m so tall, I am trying to get my clubs a little bit longer," he said. "They’re standard length, but I’m trying, and my first little toe in the water is that wedge, which is a little bit longer."
It’s just 1/4-inch longer, but that slight difference increases the swing weight of the club, making it feel heavier. To offset that added swing weight, two small holes have been bored into the back of the head. (Click on the bottom photo for a closer look.) Reducing the overall weight of the club cancels the extra swing weight to match Cink preference.
Five share lead on tough opening day at Moonah
Posted by Reuben Rock on under PGA Tour News | Be the First to Comment
FINGAL, Australia — For most of the opening round of the Moonah Classic, the question wasn’t who would lead at the end of the day but how many would share the top spot. When the wind finally settled on the Moonah Links course, five players were knotted at the top after the initial 18 of the tournament, the second on the 2009 Nationwide Tour schedule.
Five share lead on tough opening day at Moonah
Posted by Reuben Rock on under PGA Tour News | Be the First to Comment
FINGAL, Australia — For most of the opening round of the Moonah Classic, the question wasn’t who would lead at the end of the day but how many would share the top spot. When the wind finally settled on the Moonah Links course, five players were knotted at the top after the initial 18 of the tournament, the second on the 2009 Nationwide Tour schedule.
Adam Scott playing a new driver and putter
Posted by Reuben Rock on February 25, 2009 under Best Golf Putters, Latest Updates, Putter Reviews, golf putter reviews | Be the First to Comment
MARANA, Ariz. — Adam Scott has made two subtle adjustments to his set makeup that he hopes will give him an edge this week at the WGC-Accenture Match Play.
The 28-year-old Australian has decided to switch from Titleist’s 909D2 driver to the company’s 909D3 (9.5°). According to Scott, the reason for the change has to do with spin and control.
“I’m using the new Pro V1 (2009),” he told me outside the locker room Monday at the Ritz-Carlton Course at Dove Mountain. “I’m just finding with the D2 that I’m turning it over a little too easily.”
Scott told me that the 909D2, like the driver he used for most of 2008, Titleist’s 905R, has a slight draw bias. With the previous version of the Pro V1 ball, it wasn’t a problem. But the new Pro V1 spins a little more off the tee for Scott. “With a little bit softer golf ball, a little bit spinnier golf ball, I should say, it’s easier to turn it over.”
That means Scott was drawing the ball too much and too often with the D2 driver. With the D3, Scott started producing the ball flight he wants to see more easily. (To learn more about the 909 driver series, click here.)
The other change for Scott is his putter. He has recently switched from a Newport-style blade putter to a mallet.
“When I was a kid, I putted with a mallet until I was about 17,” he said. “I was just sitting at home this winter and I took a mallet back down to the putting green and really liked it. I decided that I had to call Scotty [Cameron] and have him make me something like it. He whipped one up in about a week!”
The putter is based on a design that Cameron made from a collector’s convention. On his Web site, he calls the design a Tour SSS Coupe. It features a double bend shaft and is designed to be swung on an arc like a blade putter. Along the crown there are eight white lines and one red line to help Scott take dead aim at his target. Click on the photo for a better look.
“I mean, the alignment aid is probably the biggest thing,” Scott says. “It’s so easy to line up. It’s like it just swings itself, which is a nice feeling. I don’t have to do anything with the shoulders and hands.”
At the only PGA Tour event where Scott has used the putter, the Sony Open, he finished tied for second and averaged only 27 putts per round.
On the road with Joseph Sykora: Moonah Classic
Posted by Reuben Rock on under PGA Tour News | Be the First to Comment
Editor’s note: Joseph Sykora is a rookie on the Nationwide Tour this year. This will be Sykora’s first trip to Australia and New Zealand to participate in the three co-sanctioned events with the PGA Tour of Australasia. He will be blogging about his experiences traveling and playing Down Under for the next three weeks.