As we edge closer and closer to the Masters, we'll see golf's elite put through the ultimate test in Austin, Texas this week, which concludes with 72 holes in 48 hours over the weekend... if they're lucky (lucky?!).
A Dip in the Pools
Gary Player once said "The more I practice, the luckier I get". He wasn't the first or the last man to say this, but he certainly made it popular on the golf course. Unfortunately, no matter how much you practice, there's not much you can do about the luck of the draw in the WGC Match Play. Admittedly, there's no such thing as an easy group when the field is made up of the top 64 golfers in the world. However, if you told Sergio Garcia that he'd drawn No. 62 of 64, he’d expect something kinder than Shubhanker Sharma. Pair that with last year's PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in Xander Shauffele and I don't fancy his chances. Sorry Sergio. Tommy Fleetwood had a similar case of bad luck, with the lowest-ranked player in his pool being match-play-master Ian Poulter.
Now, I can't go through every group, but there are some notable matchups to keep an eye out for. Justin Thomas will face off with Luke List again; a repeat of the Honda Classic playoff, as well as Patton Kizzire, who sits one behind FedEx Cup leader JT in the current standings. Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed have teamed up 12 times in the past, but will lock horns for the first time this week. Australia's Jason Day faces a rematch of the 2016 final in this tournament against South African Louis Oosthuizen. Day won the previous fixture to move to World No. 1, but he now sits at No. 11- Oosthuizen's ranking during that final.
Texas Table Toppers
Tommy Fleetwood drawing Ian Poulter was unfortunate regardless, but the fact that the two Englishmen will face off on the opening day (highest-ranked vs. lowest-ranked) means that age won't provide the helping hand Fleetwood would've hoped for. That said, if the 27-year-old can win on the opening day then I think he's got a serious chance of silverware. On the topic of Englishmen, Paul Casey should top his group with form on his side, as should Tyrrell Hatton, who finished T3 at the WGC-Mexico Championship. An Englishman to win the tournament would be solid bet this week.
We would all expect Rory McIlroy to steamroll Brian Harman, Jhonattan Vegas & Peter Uihlein, but the rest of the world's top 10 have competitive groups. Kevin Kisner, Adam Hadwin & Bernd Wiesberger will likely push Dustin Johnson to some decent golf, and Jon Rahm is right in saying his is "Certainly not an easy group" (Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Chez Reavie & Keegan Bradley). I also personally prefer Patrick Cantlay over Hideki Matsuyama. Meanwhile, veteran Phil Mickelson faces an uphill battle against Rafa Cabrera Bello, the highest-ranked unseeded/Pool B player in the field (No. 17).
I'm looking at these groups like a kid in a candy shop, wanting to discuss the possibilities of every single one in great depth, but I'm not sure my keyboard can take that sort of wear & tear. Therefore, I'll leave you with this: it should be a great week for the Englishmen. Fleetwood, Casey and Hatton are all big threats at big odds, with Casey given a generous draw and youth favouring Fleetwood & Hatton over a whopping 126 holes.
No Tiger? No trouble. We won't be short of quality golf this week.
Credit: @PGATOUR - Official Twitter account of PGA Tour
Written by Joe Carabini
There were so many stories to come out of the weekend’s Hero World Challenge, but there’s only one place we, as golf enthusiasts, can possibly start…Tiger Woods’ eagerly-awaited return.
The 14-time major champion was playing in his first PGA Tour event since the summer of 2015 and didn’t disappoint. Having undergone two back operations during his time on the sidelines, as well as a failed comeback just a few months ago, it was always going to be intriguing to see how golf’s biggest superstar fared in the Bahamas.
Arguably Tiger picked the perfect tournament to return – he hosts the event each year, was playing amongst friends and was guaranteed to play 72 competitive holes (as long as his back held out, which it did). On the other hand it was an 18-man field made up of the world’s best golfers – Stenson, Spieth, Dustin - so it wasn’t exactly ‘easy competition’.
Nevertheless Tiger caused a media frenzy with the vast majority of Sky’s coverage focused on Tiger during the four days – not surprising really given he was the guy everyone wanted to see. So how did he get on? Well, on the plus side he made 24 birdies over the four days which was the most in the field. Unfortunately for the American, he also carded the most double bogeys out of everyone - six to be exact.
So overall a pretty good week for Tiger, all things considered. But the real shining light was Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama. If you read our weekly round-ups then you’ll be familiar with the 24-year-olds name from recent weeks. He’s been in phenomenal form of late and he carried this on, winning the Hero World Challenge by two shots from Henrik Stenson. That is four wins his last five starts, with his other result being a lousy runner-up finish. Not bad.
2017 is going to be a very interesting year.
What equipment did Matsuyama use?
The World Cup of Golf doesn’t have the same glamour as football or rugby’s equivalent, but it’s certainly a welcome break from the 72-hole individual strokeplay events that we’re accustomed to.
It’s a pairs’ competition whereby two golfers from each nation join forces to represent their country over four days at Kingston Heath GC, Australia. Playing a mixture of alternate shot and fourball betterball golf, winning the World Cup of Golf requires two in-form golfers who seamlessly dovetail throughout the 72 holes.
This is exactly what Søren Kjeldsen and Thorbjørn Olesen managed to do, including a scintillating 60 (12-under-par) in Friday’s fourballs which propelled them to the top of the leaderboard before the weekend’s play. The Danes held a four-shot advantage heading into Sunday and, although this was cut to just a single stroke at one stage, six birdies on their back nine was more than good enough to claim Denmark’s first World Cup of Golf victory.
French duo Victor Dubuisson and Romain Langasque led the chasing pack four strokes back, with China’s Wu Ashun and Li Haotong and America’s Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker also finishing on the same score. How did the English team fare? A T13th finish for the little and large duo of Sullivan and Wood – respectable but not what they were hoping for at the start of the week.
The Turkish Airlines Open was a mere formality with one round left to play as Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen opened up a seven-shot lead thanks to some sublime golf over the first three days.
However it was a slow start to Sunday for the 26-year-old: level-par through 11 holes saw his lead reduced to just the solitary shot as England’s David Horsey found himself six-under after 12 and hot on Olesen’s heels. It’s at times such as these when you find out what a person is made of; and three birdies in the following four holes all but secured the Turkish Airlines Open for the talented Dane – even allowing him to drop a shot on the closing straight.
Having made just three of his last 12 cuts, this triumph was a welcome relief for Thorbjørn Olesen and means it is his third consecutive season with victory on the European Tour.
What equipment did Olesen use?
Driver: TaylorMade M1, Mitsubishi Kuro Kage XT 70 TX
Fairway Woods: TaylorMade M2, Tour AD 8X Black
"Winning today, I feel has got me closer to being able to compete a lot better in the Major tournaments. My next goal is, of course, to win a Major and I'm going to do all that I can to prepare well for that.”
These comments were made by Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama following his victory in last week’s WGC-HSBC Champions event.
The four majors aside, there’s nothing quite like winning a World Golf Championships event. Many see it as a sign that the winner is ready to compete at the highest level, and this is certainly the case for Matsuyama.
The 24-year-old carded 29 birdies over the week to finish seven clear of Henrik Stenson and Daniel Berger on 23-under-par. To put this achievement into perspective, only Tiger Woods has managed to win a WGC event by seven shots or more – something he’s done on four separate occasions. Not bad company to hold for the new world number six.
You may have seen our earlier blog post on Rory’s switch to the TaylorMade M2 driver and metal wood (click here to read) for the event in China; well it certainly didn’t hamper the Northern Irishman as he finished in T4 to move up to second in the World Rankings. In fact, McIlroy’s average driving distance for the week was a measly 300.5 yards – putting him 4th in the field that week.
But even McIlroy was no match for Matsuyama last week, I truly impressive performance that puts him in good stead for the 2017 Majors.
What equipment did Matsuyama use?
What do the world’s top three golfers have in common?
Well apart from the obvious - that they're all professional golfers at the very top of the game - there’s a couple of things:
We’re sure you’re aware that Nike Golf will stop producing hardware and balls from 2017, focusing on apparel and footwear instead. Well this has left all of their contracted players with a tough choice - ‘which clubs do I play next?’
Arguably this biggest Nike Staffer is the mega-talented Northern Irishman (McIlroy) so it was always going to be interesting to see which direction he went in. It hasn't taken him long to decide as in this week’s WGC-HSBC Champions event in China - his first since the Ryder Cup - Rory has put the TaylorMade M2 driver and 3-wood straight into play at the top end of his bag.
Why did McIlroy choose the M2?
Well it probably isn't to do with the dual coloured crown on the head, although it does help significantly with alignment and it's also vitally important that you are confident over the club at address.
The M2 is such an easy club to hit with boosted forgiveness meaning that no matter where you hit the ball on the club face, you know you won't be too far from your Sunday best. This is equally as important for the world’s elite as it is to the average club golfer as even these guys - believe it or not - have bad days where their ball striking isn't 100%.
But the most important factor for many is distance and this will be one of the key reasons why McIlroy opted for TaylorMade’s most trusted. The thin club face is just within legal limits and, together with the redesigned Speed Pocket, produces faster ball speeds and more powerful shots than all previous models. Take a look at McIlroy’s stats this week, we can guarantee you that he won't be sacrificing in distance off the tee.
So back to the first point we made in this blog post about what Day, Johnson and Rory all have in common: they hit it a mile with the TaylorMade M2 range.
Coincidence? Probably not.
Click on this link and learn more about the TaylorMade M2 range - you won't be disappointed.
Click below to watch our overview:
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