Golfing News & Blog Articles

From hunt country to history in the making—discover why the BMW Championship stands out.

The post Why the BMW Championship is a must-watch  appeared first on Golf Blog, Golf Articles | GolfNow.

The Open Championship at Royal Portrush will experiment with the NFL's popular "Spidercam" on the 18th hole.

The post An NFL-favorite TV toy is making its way to the Open Championship appeared first on Golf.

Royal Portrush, in Northern Ireland, is the Open Championship site this week. It might also be home to the best golf bench in the world.

The post Best golf bench in the world? This Royal Portrush perch ranks high appeared first on Golf.

Can your formerly unplayable shot be granted relief after a mid-round rain delay? Rules Guy has the answer.

The post Rules Guy: A mid-round rain delay gave my formerly errant shot a lucky break. Was it valid? appeared first on Golf.

Scotty Cameron is releasing a limited-edition run of Phantom Black putters this summer and the new black color is probably the least interesting thing about them.

Don’t get me wrong. The Tour Black finish is beautiful. I love how the black PVD coating on the stainless-steel components complements the misted black anodized aluminum sections. Black putters have the potential to be really shiny and unsightly in bright sun if the finish is too glossy. These are not.

Scotty Cameron got the black finish right with these Phantoms.

For some, this new finish will be enough to justify a purchase. Those who liked the Phantom heads but not the stock silver finish have probably already entered their credit card security codes.

The black look does make the Phantom Black putters (more?) visually attractive but when you dive a little deeper, you’ll see that what Cameron has done to these Phantom Black heads is far more involved than just painting them black.

Fred Warren was one of the first college coaches to recruit heavily from Europe. And he nearly snagged a young McIlroy.

The British Open returns to Northern Ireland for the first time since 2019, and TaylorMade is marking the occasion with a limited-edition collection that celebrates one of Royal Portrush’s most enduring symbols.

The Steam Line staff bag and headcovers pay homage to the Portrush steam train that has been chugging along the Northern Ireland coast since 1855. Look, I’ve seen my share of tournament-themed gear over the years, and most of it feels like an afterthought. This isn’t that.

All aboard for the oldest major

The British Open is golf’s oldest major championship, and TaylorMade’s Steam Line staff bag looks the part. Black, red, and green with gold accents throughout—it’s a color palette that feels both classic and appropriately distinguished for golf’s most historic championship.

What separates this from the usual major championship cash grab is that TaylorMade actually bothered to tell a story. They didn’t just slap a train graphic on a bag and call it themed. Instead, they wove railway references throughout the design in ways that reward a closer look.

The devil’s in the details

Here’s where things get interesting. Those diagonally placed rivets outlining the TaylorMade logos on both side panels? They’re not random design flourishes. They’re direct tributes to the rivets found on the Portrush train’s engine, and they show up again on the bag’s bottom collar.

COBRA has released a limited edition driver headcover that pays homage to both the upcoming Open Championship and the company’s own heritage, wrapped in an Irish whiskey theme that feels perfectly suited for golf’s return to Royal Portrush.

As if you needed an excuse to mix golf and alcohol.

Whiskey barrel aesthetics meet golf heritage

The premium leather headcover features rich brown tones and gold accents that immediately call to mind a well-aged spirit. The design centers around “AGED 52 YEARS” – a clever nod to COBRA’s founding in 1973, making the company exactly 52 years old as of 2025.

The whiskey barrel aesthetic extends to every detail, from the vintage-style label to the “BOTTLED 17 JULY 2025” notation that coincides with the firstl round of The Open. The “NINETEEN THOUSAND SEVENTY-THREE” reference reinforces the connection to COBRA’s founding year.

Details that tell the championship story

The “NO. 4” reference works on multiple levels – while The Open Championship is the fourth and final major of the golf season, bringing the year’s major championship cycle to its traditional conclusion, it also nods to whiskey tradition where “No. 4” denotes the most intense char level used in barrel preparation. It’s a fitting tribute to what many consider the most prestigious tournament in golf, suggesting both intensity and craftsmanship.

The new Shot Scope Pro L5 rangefinder is what we golf industry analyst types call a “trend bucker.”

What started as a simple how far device (you know, a device that pinpoints the flag and tells you how far) is now trending into new territory. Adaptive slope was a huge leap forward, as it took elevation into account when figuring your how-fars. Now you have rangefinders that sense wind and can even connect to apps and take wind speed and direction, temperature and barometric pressure into account, tell you a “plays like” distance and, yes, recommend a friggin’ club.

You even have rangefinders that, through the magic of a2 + b2 = c2, can triangulate the distance from your ball to the flag without leaving your cart.

But, sometimes, all you want is to channel your inner Johnny Nash so you can see clearly now on a bright (bright, bright) sunshiny day.

That’s where the new Shot Scope Pro L5 comes in. It gives you your how far number very clearly and that’s all it gives you.

This isn’t about someone who just picked up the game or your buddy who shoots 130 once a year at the company outing. These are things golfers still do after many years playing the game. They still make no sense to me and it has nothing to do with being a good or bad golfer. See if you agree.

Aiming somewhere … but not at anything

A lot of golfers claim they’re aiming but they never actually pick a specific target. If you stood behind them and asked, “What exactly are you aiming at?”, most would point vaguely and say something like, “Just trying to keep it in play.”

That’s not a target. That’s a hope.

Golf is challenging enough for our brains to figure out so if you’re keeping things vague and not setting a specific target, you may want to start.

Refusing to get a putter fitting because “It’s too expensive”

The same golfer who just paid $600 for the latest driver refuses to spend a dime to get fitted for the one club they use more than any other. We’ve established that the ball is your most important piece of equipment, thanks to its use on every hole, but the putter is pretty close.

Other than the Masters, the Open Championship is my favorite golf tournament of the year.

It’s unpredictable and chaotic. Weather usually plays an outsized role. There is luck involved—but the skill of staying patient is even more critical.

This week, the tournament returns to Royal Portrush where Shane Lowry won in 2019. It’s easily among the top few courses on the Open rota despite the relative lack of history.

Who is going to win this week? I believe it will be one of these five players.

1. Rory McIlroy

It’s been a rollercoaster year for McIlroy. After winning the Masters in dramatic fashion, he seemed to be a shell of himself and, for some, even started to take on the role of villain. Some of the quotes he gave at the U.S. Open—where he continued a spat with the media—were alarming.

Who will be the Champion Golfer of the Year?

Other than a few obvious picks—Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm—it’s a wide-open contest when it comes to this year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

Scheffler is the strong favorite for good reason. Over his last 10 starts, his worst finish is a tie for eighth. McIlroy has been rounding into form recently, bringing hope that his post-Masters funk is behind him. And Rahm loves the Open Championship, one of the two majors he hasn’t won yet.

It becomes a crapshoot past those three. Bryson DeChambeau has rarely fared well on links golf, Xander Schauffele won The Open last year but hasn’t been himself in 2025, Tommy Fleetwood seems to be allergic to winning.

If it’s just about anyone else on the list, it will be a surprise. Not a ton of experienced players are in good form, leaving ourselves open to the possibility of yet another surprise major winner.

At the Open Championship, the 236-yard 16th at Royal Portrush is an intimidating par-3 with a deep chasm right of the green that punishes the slightest mistake. The key to any difficult hole is knowing how to manage it. Shot Scope shared some data with us from the 2019 Open Championship about the 16th hole and there are a few things you can learn from it for your game.

Big numbers start with the wrong miss

The worst mistake at Calamity Corner isn’t a poor swing; it’s missing in the wrong spot.

The right side of the green drops 40 to 50 feet into thick rough. According to Shot Scope, players fail to get up and down from that area nine out of 10 times. Many make double or worse.

Even if you never have the chance to play Portrush, the message is the same: not all misses are created equal.

When there’s big trouble on one side, plan to miss away from it. For some players, that could even mean missing the green entirely just to stay safe.

The BGT Paradox Tour Putter is a solid choice for golfers wanting to make putting easier. Its Swing Balance Technology helps keep your stroke smooth and on target. In this post, we’ll look at what the Paradox Tour Putter offers, compare it to L.A.B. Golf’s latest putters, and check out their prices. This is for anyone curious about the best putters for 2025 and looking for a straightforward take.

What’s the BGT Paradox Tour Putter About?

The Paradox Tour Putter from Breakthrough Golf Technology (BGT) is designed to keep the putter face square without extra effort. Its Principal Axis Technology lines up the putter’s weight with your stroke’s natural pivot point—roughly around your shoulders. This cuts down on wrist action and helps your putts stay on line.

Key Features

Swing Balance Technology: Weights the putter high in the toe and low in the heel to match your stroke’s flow, making it feel smooth and natural.

On this week's episode of Emergency 9, Subpar co-host Drew Stoltz explains a crafty way to take advantage of your opponent during a match.

The post A clever way to wear down your next match-play opponent appeared first on Golf.

The 2025 Open Championship will be played this week in Northern Ireland at Royal Portrush. Here's who's in the field.

The post 2025 Open Championship field: Here’s who is playing at Royal Portrush appeared first on Golf.

The Open has arrived at Royal Portrush. With players and caddies officially on-site, here’s what’s happening on the ground.

The post 6 early Open observations from Day 1 at Royal Portrush appeared first on Golf.

The early 2025 Open Championship odds have world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy as betting favorites heading into Royal Portrush.

The post 2025 Open Championship odds: Pro seeking first major is among betting favorites appeared first on Golf.

Mizuno is adding to the Mizuno Pro Signature family with the new Pro S-1 irons. Here are four things to know about the new blades.

The post Mizuno Pro S-1 irons | 4 things to know appeared first on Golf.