With the World No. 1 holding a six stroke lead at the start of play, the final round of the World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions in Shanghai was a formality. A damp squib, to be frank.

Brooks Koepka's opening-round 64 took him to an impressive eight-under, but Dustin Johnson stole the show with a 63 on the second day, as seven birdies on the back-nine of a bogey-free Friday put him top of the pile at -13. Koepka and the chasing pack began to slip away, failing to match DJ’s 68 on the penultimate round. That third round included a costly triple bogey for Koepka, whilst Sweden’s Henrik Stenson continued a steady march up the leaderboard; his three-under taking him to -10 for the week to occupy third spot; one stroke behind Koepka. Dustin Johnson sat six strokes clear at -17.

After the final round, Justin Rose confessed that he had been eyeing up the runner-up position, with a scorecard of 67 (-5), 68 (-4) and 72 (PAR) leaving him sharing T4 with Brain Harman at -9 for the tournament heading into the final day. He caught Stenson with birdies on the second and third, before throwing it away with bogey-birdie-bogey-bogey between the sixth and ninth.

Henrik Stenson wasn’t looking over his shoulder, though. Consecutive bogeys on the opening two holes from DJ combined with Stenson’s -2 front-nine to close the gap to three strokes, whilst Koepka was +1. Then, the damp squib came to life.

Justin Rose began totting up the birdies. One, two, three, four…Hang on, what’s Dustin doing? As Rose sinks his fourth birdie of the back-nine on the sixteenth, Dustin Johnson sinks his fifth bogey of the day and falls to -12. Rose and Stenson are now tied for the lead at -13.

Rose sinks yet another birdie on the seventeenth, whilst Stenson slumps to -12 with a bogey. Formality? I think not! The Englishman calmly finishes the job with a closing PAR to overturn an eight stroke deficit on the World No. 1 and claim his first victory of 2017.

The remarkable victory- a record-equalling comeback- puts Rose at third in the FedEx Cup rankings. But, far more importantly, it also launches Rose to third in the Race to Dubai rankings. Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm’s underwhelming performances (T20 and T36 respectively), along with Sergio Garcia’s non-entry, gives Rose a real shot at the European Tour’s main prize, with just three events left to play.

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

Following back-to-back European Tour victories for Tyrell Hatton, the Race to Dubai was seriously heating up as the players prepared for the Andalucia Valderrama Masters. Tommy Fleetwood took the Race to Dubai lead with his Open de France win back in June, and hasn’t threatened to give it up since. But Sergio Garcia saw his chance and took in with great aplomb as he sailed to victory at his home club: Real Club Valderrama. The Spandiard, who won the last edition of the tournament in 2011 (prior to a five-year break) and simply loves playing in his homeland, closed the gap on Fleetwood in the Race to Dubai leaderboard with just four events left to play.

Garcia edged out Dutchman Joost Luiten by a single stroke, whilst England’s Daniel Brooks deservedly took third spot. Garcia was made to dig deep on the final day to go -12 for the tournament, and even reverted to putting with his 3-wood (a “trick” he learned after smashing his putter at the PGA Tour’s Dell Technologies Championship last month) on the ninth hole. It worked a charm and the Masters champion made it a three-win European Tour season for the first time in his career. This feat comes despite only playing 12 European Tour events, compared to Tommy Fleetwood’s 20. Fleetwood was absent for last week’s event, meaning he has some work to do if he is to maintain top spot and claim the European No. 1 title at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next month.

On the topic of English success, Daniel Brooks’ top-three finish proved a critical one as it means he will retain his Tour card. He may have slipped away from the top two, ultimately finishing five strokes off Garcia despite levelling up on the second hole of the final round, but Brooks will be delighted nonetheless.

A big, if unsurprising, win for Garcia not only caps of the greatest season of his career, but also tees up (pun intended) a phenomenal final month of the European Tour season.

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

In the early months of this year, FootJoy released a revolutionary spikeless golf shoe to the UK market. The FootJoy Pro/SL golf shoe sparked a lot of water-cooler talk amongst golf fans as some of the world's best Tour players starting wearing the game-changing shoe on their way to superb performances on Tour. It soon became clear that players like Louis Oosthuizen and Adam Scott were benefitting from FootJoy's latest and greatest golf shoe. Demand for the FootJoy Pro/SL soared in the UK and, soon enough, they were flying off shelves up and down the country. Amateur golfers can now enjoy the lightweight, waterproof ChromoSkin leather construction, the Fine-Tune Foam cushioning and, of course, the TPU moulded outsole for the spikeless grip & stability that has been heralded as a true game-changer.

But it's not just the fancy new technologies that has everybody talking about the Pro/SL. The hybrid of sporty and smart looks create a shoe that not only performs to the highest level, but is also extremely easy on the eye. The blue/white, navy/white and black colours have all proven to be favourites both on and off the golf course. However, the NEW silver/white model delivers perhaps the sleekest, most stylish design yet. It's brand new to the UK golf market, but it's already extremely popular.

Why not check out the FootJoy Pro/SL Men's Golf Shoe right here at Foremost Golf and enjoy the bonus of FREE golf socks and FREE UK delivery?

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

The PGA Tour's 2017 season started with Brendan Steele claiming his second-ever PGA Tour victory at the Safeway Open, before Justin Thomas claimed a second PGA Tour victory himself at the CIMB Classic the following week. If you'd told any golf fan that Steele would remain on one victory for the season, you wouldn't have raised an eyebrow. If you'd told them that Thomas would go on to claim another four victories, a Major, the FedEx Cup, Player of the Year & the Arnold Palmer Award as the season's top-earner, you'd be peeling eyebrows off the ceiling. But, as is the nature of golf, a relatively low-key early-season event in Malaysia kick-started one of the most impressive seasons in modern golf and became the making of a golf superstar.

Despite his successful defence of the CIMB Classic title, it was perhaps not until the Sony Open in Hawaii that we saw JT showcase his greatness for the first time. Coming into the tournament off the back of a win in the SBS Tournament of Champions in the previous week, Thomas claimed consecutive wins in Hawaii. The American shot a new tournament record and became the youngest player ever to shoot a sub-60 round as he struck 59 on his opening round, courtesy of eagles to open and close the round.

Speaking of rising stars, January saw Jon Rahm win his first-ever PGA Tour victory at the Farmers Insurance Open in California. On paper, this holds little significance (Rahm was one of twelve maiden winners in 2017) but I can't be the only one expecting this to be the first of many for the young Spaniard. Jon Rahm finished 2016 as World No. 137 but now sits at World No. 5.

The following month, Dustin Johnson made history en route to becoming the World No. 1. DJ's win at the Genesis Open, the thirteenth of his career, meant he joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as one of only three players to win a tournament in each of his first ten professional season. Fittingly, this win propelled him to top spot in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).

From consistent TOUR victories to elusive Majors, Sergio Garcia famously scalped his maiden Major title with a playoff win over Justin Rose in the Masters at Augusta National. Kim Si-Woo pulled off a gargantuan shock at The PLAYERS Championship in May, coming from behind on the final day, the 21-year-old South Korean was also the youngest player to win the tournament by more than a year and a half. Brooks Koepka made it seven maiden Major winners on the bounce with another surprising victory at the U.S. Open, before Jordan Spieth (who else) put an end to the run with his third career Major in the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Justin Thomas capped off the year's Majors and put himself in the driving seat for Player of the Year with a win at the PGA Championship.

The lucrative $10 million FedEx Cup prize made the final four tournaments- the FedEx Cup playoffs- a tense affair for the world's best. DJ pulled off a playoff win in the opening playoff event- The Northern Trust- with a moment of magic against Jordan Spieth. JT made it five for the year in the Dell Technologies Championship to all-but confirm the Player of the Year and FedEx Cup titles. Marc Leishman finished strongly with a BMW Championship win, but it was Xander Schauffele's TOUR Championship victory to close the season that grabbed headlines. The victory earned him a well-deserved Rookie of the Year title as he climbed from World No. 299 to World No. 32.

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

Justin Thomas is the 2017 PGA Tour Player of the Year. In a year full of surprises, this bucks the trend. Unless you've been living under a rock for the last twelve months, you'll know that Justin Thomas has dominated the PGA Tour. The 24-year-old from Louisville claimed five PGA Tour victories, including his maiden major at the PGA Championship, and picked up the FedEx Cup trophy to cap it all off. What next? How do you build on a season like that? Well, you start by asking the people who have been in that position before; Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. Thomas joined Spieth, Woods and Nicklaus as the only players since 1960 to win five tournaments, including a major, in a single season for the age of 25, and he has already expressed his intention to seek advice from the three men.

Spieth, a close friend of Thomas, managed the feat just two years ago and is still in the prime of his career. He's doing something right, and I'm sure JT wouldn't mind knowing what that something is. Woods, who famously celebrated with Thomas after his PGA Championship victory, certainly knows what to do on the golf course and what not to do off the golf course. Both would be invaluable to a rising star like JT. Finally, there's Jack Nicklaus. Do I really need to tell you about the benefits of his advice to a man looking to re-write the history books? Let's just say, he couldn't ask for a better platform from which to build an immense career in golf.

The sensational season of Justin Thomas began in October 2016, when he edged out Hideki Matsuyama to win the CIMB Classic. JT then recorded consecutive victories in January of 2017 at the SBS Tournament of Champions and then the Sony Open in Hawaii. His climb to World No. 4 was well under way now, as the latter of these victories took him inside the top ten for the first time in his career. A somewhat barren spell saw a winless streak between February and July (despite a T5 in the WGC Mexico Championship and T9 at the U.S. Open) before returning to the top in emphatic style, claiming his first major at the PGA Championship. Having slipped outside the top ten since his last win, this Major Championship win propelled JT from fourteenth to sixth in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). A T6 in his next tournament, The Northern Trust, preceded his final win of 2017 at the Dell Technologies Championship. This FedEx Cup playoff event carried him to World No. 4 and paved the way for a FedEx Cup title worth $10 million. Not bad, Mr Thomas. Not bad.

But what did the PGA Tour's top performer carry in his bag this season?

Justin Thomas - What's in the Bag?

Driver: Titleist 917 D2

Fairway Wood: Titleist 917 F2

Irons: Titleist 716 CB

Wedge: Titleist Vokey SM6

Putter: Scotty Cameron X5 Prototype

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

As the Americans flexed their muscles with a comprehensive 19-11 win over the International team for their seventh consecutive Presidents Cup victory, European golf responded with an awesome display at the British Masters. You may think that it’s too early to be thinking about this tit-for-tat Ryder Cup build up, but I can assure you that golfers from both sides of the pond will have the Ryder Cup firmly on their minds already.

Whilst it may not be surprising to see a winning score as low as -20 on Close House’s Colt Course, Paul Dunne might not have been the man we expected to shoot that winning score. The Irishman claimed his first professional title in sensational style when he capped off a final round 61 by chipping in for birdie on the last. 2018 Ryder Cup vice-captain Robert Karlsson held the overnight lead heading into the final day at -12 before slipping to third despite a four-under on the final day. However, this slip was not a case of Karlsson losing as much as it was Paul Dunne and Rory McIlroy winning. Dunne headed into day four with a one-shot lead over McIlroy, and it appeared all over when Dunne hit three birdies and an eagle in the opening six holes. But three birdies on the bounce for McIlroy forced a Northern Ireland versus Republic of Ireland battle on the back nine. Despite McIlroy’s obvious superiority, Dunne’s four birdies and zero bogeys maintained a three-stroke lead as McIlroy hit five birdies and a bogey for a -7 round and -17 overall.

It was a clean sweep of Europeans in the top ten, with seven Englishmen in the top ten heading into the weekend, including leader Tyrrell Hatton, veterans Lee Westwood & Ian Poulter and emerging talent Lee Slattery. Hatton finished T8, whilst Graeme Storm was the highest English finisher at T4.

Admittedly, America’s young team of superstars looked a frightening force over the course of the week, but seeing the vice-captain pluck a performance like that out of nowhere and witnessing the impact of a home advantage on the British players certainly offers a glimmer of hope for next year’s home Ryder Cup.

Paul Dunne - What's in the Bag?

Driver: Titleist 917 D3

Fairway Wood: Titleist 917 F3

Hybrid: Titleist 816

Irons: Titleist 718 T-MB (3 iron), Titleist 718 CB (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM6

Putter: Scotty Cameron GoLo S2

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com