"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?

• Driver – Callaway Great Big Bertha (9 degree)
• Fairway wood – TaylorMade RBZ (15 degree)
• Irons – TaylorMade M2 Tour (3-iron); Srixon Z945 (4-PW)
• Wedges – Cleveland RTX 2.0 (52, 56 & 60)
• Putter – Scotty Cameron Newport

Englishman and Under Armour Golf UK ambassador Matthew Fitzpatrick eased to his second European Tour victory in last week’s Nordea Masters. Since turning pro off a handicap of plus four in 2014, the impressive 21-year-old has endured a very promising start to his professional career and now finds himself sitting amongst the elite inside the world’s top 35. Fitzpatrick reeled off 17
birdies in his first three rounds, giving him a comfortable five-shot lead heading into Sunday’ showdown. He never looked back as he waltzed to a three-shot victory to secure his place in this year’s Open Championship. On a course which boasts five par-5s, a good performance tee-to-green was always going to go a long way in determining how high up the leaderboard you finished.

Fitzpatrick certainly got it right this week.

Matthew played the longer holes in 10-under-par without a single dropped shot. The only way this would be possible is by hitting fairways and greens, something which the winner did time-after-time. He actually finished third in ‘Driving Accuracy’ at over 73% of fairways found for the week, and first in ‘Greens in Regulation’ with 85% of greens being hit – that’s 7 out of every 8 greens! Impressive golf.

Here’s what Fitzpatrick had in his golf bag…

• Driver – Callaway Big Bertha Alpha (10.5 degrees)
• Fairway woods – PING G 3-wood & 5-wood (14.5 degrees & 20.5 degrees)
• Irons – PING i25 (3-5 irons); PING S55 (6-9 irons)
• Wedges – PING Tour Gorge (47 degrees); Vokey SM5 (54 & 58 degrees)
• Putter – Yes

The term ‘journeyman’ gets batted around a lot, but that’s exactly what last week’s PGA Tour winner, William McGirt, is. By his own confession he’s been around the block, but the 36-year-old’s career will never be the same again after his sudden-death playoff win at the Memorial Tournament. It was a very steady scorecard for McGirt on Sunday, mixing one birdie with 17 pars to record a one-under-par 71 and tie Jon Curran at the top of the leaderboard. And it was a similar story in the playoff as both Americans went to head-to-head. Pars for both on first playoff hole meant a second was needed. Both Curran and McGirt missed the green at the second time of asking, and once Curran failed to get up-and-down, McGirt was left with a seven-footer for the win. This was McGirt’s maiden Tour victory in his 165th start, upstaging a star-studded field in the process.

Here’s what McGirt used en-route to victory…

• Driver – TaylorMade M2 (8.5 degrees)
• Fairway woods – TaylorMade M2 (13 degrees); TaylorMade M1 (17 degrees)
• Irons – Srixon Z-U45 (2 & 3 irons); Srixon Z-745 (5-PW)
• Wedges – Cleveland 588 RTX 2.0 (54 & 60 degrees)
• Ball – Srixon Z-Star

The European Tour crossed borders last week as the Shenzhen International took place in China. For the second week in a row there was a newbie on the winner’s podium as TaylorMade Soomin Lee claimed his maiden European Tour title, propelling himself into the top 10 of the Race to Dubai standings. 22-year-old Lee has had a brilliant start to his golfing career to date with two top three finishes in his first five outings. Moving on to his sixth event, Lee was tied for the lead with five holes left to play in his final round before play was suspended for the day due to electrical storms. In his situation, given his final-straight meltdown earlier on in the season, Lee would have been forgiven for letting his nerves get the better of him yet again, however this was far from the case. Resuming on Monday morning after yet another weather delay, Lee followed a birdie on 16 with a magical eagle on 17 on his way to a two-shot, wire-to-wire victory.

What equipment did he use?

• Driver – TaylorMade M1 430 (9.5)
• 3-wood – TaylorMade M2 (15)
• Irons – Srixon Z 945

The PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open looked destined for a playoff this week as Patrick Reed birdied the 72nd hole, leaving playing partner Charley Hoffman a 9-foot putt for the win on the par-5 18th. This was far from straight-forward for Hoffman seeing as he had been within touching distance of numerous victories in previous months, only to trip up over the final hurdle on each occasion. However this was his time: a solid stroke and a pure connection saw the ball travel towards the hole, not leaving the centre of the cup the whole way. A Tiger Woods-esque fist pump followed as Hoffman held his nerve to win his fourth PGA Tour title, one ahead of American compatriot Patrick Reed.

What equipment did he use?

• Driver – Titleist 915D4 (9.5)
• 3-wood – Titleist 915F (13.5)
• Hybrid – Titleist 915Hd (17.5)
• Irons – Titleist 716 T-MB (3, 5-9)
• Wedges – Vokey SM5 wedges (46, 50, 56 & 58)
• Putter – Scotty Cameron GoLo 5 prototype
• Ball – Titleist Pro V1

To see the options we have available on our golf shop, head to https://www.foremostgolf.com/. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to give us a call on +44 (0) 800 500 3194.

Jason Day put on a golfing masterclass last Thursday when a nine-under-par 63 tied the course record and set Day on his way to a wire-to-wire victory at The Players Championship. Going into the final round with a four-shot lead, the world number one averted a potential disaster after playing the front nine in two-over-par, coming home with three birdies to regain his overnight cushion and take his sixth victory in his last 16 starts. This win puts Day amongst elite company, making him the fifth man to have won The Players, a Major and a World Golf Championship. Comparisons with Tiger are inevitably starting to rear their heads – which doesn’t come as a surprise – but it’s important to remember that this time last year it was Spieth, and the year before it was Rory. Until someone does it year after year, Tiger will be in a category of his own.

Here’s what Jason had in the bag:

Driver – TaylorMade M1 (10.5 degrees)

Fairway Wood – TaylorMade M2 (17 degrees)

Irons – TaylorMade RSi (2-iron), TaylorMade RSi (4-PW)

Wedges – TaylorMade Tour Preferred EF (47, 52 & 60)

Putter – TaylorMade Ghost Spider Limited Red

Ball – TaylorMade Tour Preferred X

That’s 8 in a row – if you’re counting. Jeunghun Wang made it back-to-back wins at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open after a closing stretch-collapse from Siddikur Rahman paved the way for Wang. Rahman was three ahead with just three holes left to play, but a double on 16 followed by a bogey on 17 turned the tournament on its head, both golfers tied for the lead going down the par-5 18th. A brilliant bunker shot by Wang led to a closing-hole birdie to finish on six-under-par, claiming his second victory in as many weeks and an eighth-straight for Callaway Golf. Wang will be facing far stiffer competition over the coming weeks as the European Tour returns to the UK, but with the bit between his teeth you can’t rule out this 20-year-old on current form.

What equipment did he use?

Driver – Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 816

Fairway Wood – Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 816

Hybrid – Callaway Apex

Irons – Callaway Irons

Wedges – Vokey SM5

Putter – Odyssey White Hot RX