Golfing News & Blog Articles

Former British Open champion Shane Lowry said on Tuesday he has no qualms about playing next month in Saudi Arabia, which has come under international scrutiny for its human rights record, and that he is just trying to make a living.

Tom Watson, who won the Masters in 1977 and 1981 as highlights to his 15 top-10 finishes at Augusta National, will join Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player as honorary starters for this year's event.

The PGA TOUR season is underway and, despite lingering supply chain issues, the golf industry is fully operational—or at least as operational as it can be given the persistent lack of steel shafts, grips and heads.

With that in mind, we asked the MyGolfSpy staff to predict what’s to come this year on Tour and in the golf equipment world.

Starting With Most Wanted …

MyGolfSpy’s resident putter guy, Dave Wolfe, predicts Odyssey will take home Most Wanted honors in at least one of our two putter categories. He’s not exactly backing a long shot: Odyssey has habitually finished near or at top of the podium.Tony Covey predicts a COBRA 3D-printed putter will be a surprise top finisher.On the driver side, it’s fair to say the TaylorMade Stealth is a heavy favorite though we’d never discount the chances of Callaway’s Rogue ST series. The staff is also bullish on the new COBRA line (which technically doesn’t exist yet). That’s what’s called hedging your bets.

On the PGA TOUR …

Rick Young predicts Adam Scott (currently a free agent) will sign a new deal which will have him playing something other than Titleist clubs for basically the first time ever. If you’re willing to buy into that, Covey believes PING is the most likely to add Scott to its roster.Young is confident Tiger will win a PGA TOUR event this season. Chris Nickel says it won’t be The Masters where he thinks Tiger will play but miss the cut.Speaking of Tiger, Nickel believes Tiger will drop his Newport putter in favor of a TaylorMade mallet.John Barba says Xander Schauffele will win the U.S. Open. He also believes Rickie Fowler will win something, though he concedes it might be a Korn Ferry event.Bennett Green predicts John Rahm will fall from the No. 1 spot but doesn’t know who’ll take over.In the Battle of the Bros, Nickel is betting Bryson DeChambeau will finish the year with more wins and a higher FedEx ranking than Brooks Koepka.Covey agrees and thinks Bryson will win The Masters while Koepka will have a down year.Phillip Bishop thinks either Jordan Spieth or Rory McIlroy will complete the career Grand Slam this season. The head is with Jordan; the heart with Rory.Nickel is all but certain that the conflation of “growing my wallet” with “growing the game” will continue as the PGL gains momentum and the PGA TOUR either capitulates or loses in court.As the USGA continues to embrace bifurcation by another name, we expect to see changes that will allow for a local rule to mandate the use of reduced-distance golf balls.Moving into the longshot category, Nickel predicts the PGA TOUR will loosen restrictions and allow players and caddies to wear shorts any time they want.

Moving on to the Equipment Companies …

Covey believes Titleist will eventually bring the Pro V1 Left Dot to retail. Likely limited (like Pro V1x Left Dash was originally) but available, nonetheless. He concedes it may not happen until 2023.Acknowledging the growth of NFTs and crypto-currency, Young predicts golf’s major equipment manufacturers will embrace both—offering up their own NFTs and processing BitCoin payments on their websites.Barba predicts Callaway will hit $3.5 billion in sales and both he and Young believe it will acquire yet another brand. Covey wonders if that will further shift the company’s center of gravity away from the golf equipment space.Young believes Stealth will prove to be a milestone in TaylorMade history. It’s an easy lock for the No. 1 position in the retail market; the only question is by how much.Nickel thinks the company will eclipse a 50-percent share of the metalwood/carbonwood market. Covey believes that may be unrealistic given supply chain issues but the impact of Stealth could force competitors into early discounts—something that seemed unfathomable just a few weeks ago.Young also thinks the Stealth branding will drive new irons sales beyond that of P-790 while Covey believes that, with Callaway Apex in Year Two of its cycle, the 1-2 punch of Stealth and P-Series will carry TaylorMade to No. 1 in the iron market as well.The summary here is that the staff believes the pieces and timing are right for TaylorMade to have an absolute monster of a year.While it won’t challenge for a leadership position in the market, Covey is confident COBRA is going to do something it hasn’t done in recent memory: excite golfers with an iron offering.Young believes 2022 will see a CEO or president of a major OEM step down while Barba thinks a large brick-and-mortar store will close its doors. The latter might be a stretch given how hot golf is at the moment but, then again, they could run out of product to sell.The staff also expects we’ll see a major brand be sold off or merged with another.Dave Wolfe expects more brands will follow the PXG model and offer something akin to loyalty discounts for full-bag purchases.It won’t be until later in the year but Covey is confident that we’ll see the third straight lineup of Titleist drivers that doesn’t suck.The personal launch monitor market will continue to expand.If you’re looking for emerging brands, Canadians support their own so it’s no surprise Young predicts you’ll hear more from Blacksmith Putters this year.As the game moves indoors and to other condensed formats, Young says you should expect to hear more from LinksDAO, Puttery and the Tiger Woods-backed Popstroke.

The early portion of the season continues to be quiet for golfer Bryson DeChambeau, who withdrew from the Sony Open on Monday after competing in just one official event over the past three months.

The short game is the area of the game that requires the most use of fine motor skills, which is why some players can struggle. Because precision is required (touch, contact, face control, etc.), a player’s mental state is a huge factor.

If you don’t have confidence, focus and commitment to your short game shots, you won’t be able to access your best physical skills, no matter how good they are.

Understanding How Fear Affects Short Game Confidence

Players who are struggling with short game confidence feel more pressure and fear around it, so the first step to getting better is understanding how this affects the execution of a short game shot.
I hear all the time how a player has a “great short game in practice”, but on the course it disappears. The reason: fear.

Fear makes you focus more on what could go wrong, rather than the outcome you desire. Focusing on the possible negative outcomes such as poor contact (hitting thin or fat shots), what the reaction will be from your playing partners, not making a fluid swing and throwing away strokes takes focus and energy away from what is most important. This fear can also cause physical changes as heart rate and muscle tension rises.

These changes in mental and physical state mean that the intention for the shot is lost, the mind and body are not relaxed, and the messages being sent to the muscles are unclear. Let’s take a look at how you can reduce fear and build short game confidence.

Srixon Z-STAR Diamond Golf Ball – Key Takeaways

Srixon brings Brooks Koepka’s prototype ball to market.Firmer than Z-STAR, higher-spinning than Z-STAR XV102 compression$44.99 per dozen, available Jan. 21

You’ve seen the new Srixon Z-STAR Diamond golf ball in action. At least, you did if you watched the 12-hole grudge match between Brooks and Bryson over Thanksgiving. New Srixon staffer Koepka dormied the match following a killer iron from the rough that hopped and stopped four feet from the hole.

If you’re Srixon, you put that shot in every Z-STAR Diamond commercial. And maybe the tee shot from on the par-3 ninth hole as well.

Because that’s exactly what the new Srixon Z-STAR Diamond was designed to do. And, most likely, exactly for whom it was designed.

“This ball was a major driver in joining Srixon,” says Koepka in a press release. “It’s been a seamless transition.”

Srixon Z-STAR Diamond – A Hybrid Ball

We already have the Pro V1 Left Dash and Left Dot as well as the Chrome Soft X LS, so why not a Z-STAR Diamond?

Cameron Smith finished at 34-under 258, a tournament record by three shots. Ernie Els won at 31 under in 2003, and that had been the PGA Tour record for shots under par.

Jon Rahm matched the low score of his career, tied the course record at Kapalua, Hawaii, and played his last 12 holes in 11-under par for a 61 Saturday, tying Cameron Smith at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Cameron Smith "had to hit the reset button" Friday at the Sentry Tournament of Champions after opening with two straight bogeys. He made a sensational recovery, capped by four straight birdies at the end for a 9-under 64 and a three-shot lead.

The U.S. Golf Association announced the U.S. Women's Open purse will nearly double this year to $10 million, by far the richest in women's golf.

 

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