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?

• Driver – Callaway Great Big Bertha (9 degrees)
• Fairway wood – Callaway Big Bertha Fusion (15 degrees)
• Irons – TaylorMade M2 Tour (3-iron); Srixon Z945 (4-PW)
• Wedges – Cleveland Golf 588 RTX 2.0 (52, 56 and 60)
• Putter – Scotty Cameron
• Ball - Srixon Z-Star XV

The Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas pulled together eighteen of the world’s best golfers in the hope of producing some of the world’s best golf. As you well know, there was a special name amongst the field this week. Amongst the world’s best golfers was arguably the world’s greatest ever golfer. Tiger’s back with a brand new back.

Whilst we couldn’t ignore the headline act, there was still a golf tournament to be played. And what a golf tournament it was. Fresh off conquering the European Tour, Tommy Fleetwood wasted no time in upsetting the apple cart on the PGA Tour. The Englishman led the field after an opening round of six-under, ahead of Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar on five-under. Tiger Woods picked up a more-than-respectable three-under on the par 72 Albany golf course, New Providence.

Charley Hoffman’s nine-under 63 stole the show on day two, taking him to twelve-under for the tournament, whilst Brooks Koepka’s six-over 78 condemned him to the worst round of the star-studded tournament. Woods hit an eagle on the ninth on his way to a four-under, leaving him five strokes off leader Charley Hoffman heading into the weekend.

Extremely blustery conditions on Saturday prevented a single player breaking 70, including a collapse from Tiger Woods. Tiger was five-over after ten holes, before saving his blushes with a couple of birdies to finish on 75 for the day and four-under heading into the final round.

Despite five birdies and an eagle on the final day, a double bogey on the tenth and back-to-back bogeys to close saw Tiger finish the tournament on eight-under at T9. Not bad at all.

Fleetwood tied Spieth on -12 for a share of third; narrowly edging out Hideki Matsuyama and Patrick Reed, who finish on -11. Hoffman’s 70-72 weekend would usually have ensured victory, especially given the lack of below-par scores on Saturday. But Rickie Fowler climbed four places on Sunday with a remarkable eleven-under for the day to beat his American counterpart by four strokes. Fowler finished on -18 for the tournament after seven straight birdies to open the final day, before a further four birdies saw him streak into the lead.

A promising return for Tiger, a course-record and tournament-record for Fowler and yet another great result for Tommy Fleetwood. But what was in the winner’s bag?

Rickie Fowler – What’s in the Bag?

Driver: Cobra King F8+

3 Wood: Cobra F8+

5 Wood: Cobra F8+ Baffler

Irons: Cobra King Forged MB (4-PW)

Wedges: Cobra King V-Grind

Putter: Titleist Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS Prototype

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

Last week in the Foremost Golf blog we looked at the rapidly increasing excitement around the European Tour's Race to Dubai. With the first two tournaments of October, England's Tyrrell Hatton snatched back-to-back victories to put the heat on at the top of the Race to Dubai standings. Now, taking notes from his fellow countryman, Justin Rose has emulated Hatton's consecutive wins with victories at the WGC-HSBC Champions and Turkish Airlines Open respectively. Both golfers hadn't won a tournament in 2017 prior to the aforementioned titles. Apparently being an English golfer is a lot like waiting for a London bus. That said, nobody's ever paid me a (not so) small fortune to get on a London bus.

Justin Rose, who overturned an eight-stroke deficit the previous week to win in Shanghai, sat nine strokes behind clubhouse leader Nicolas Colsaerts heading into the weekend, before the Belgian hit two-over on Saturday and slipped to -12. Meanwhile, Rose roared to a -7 for the day to equal Colsaerts at twelve-under for the tournament. Ireland's Shane Lowry and Kiradech Aphibarnrat shared the overnight lead heading into the final round at -14. Another Irish golf legend, Padraig Harrington, shared T2 with Rose and Colsaerts. Rose once again came from behind in steady fashion. As viewers marvelled at Dylan Frittelli's three birdie chip-ins on the front nine, including two genuine moments of magic on the fourth & eighth, Rose continued to march up the leaderboard with consistent birdies.

Six birdies and a bogey left Rose and Colsaerts level on the eighteenth at -17. Rose nailed a birdie putt to force Colsaerts into a pressure putt for a playoff. The Belgian narrowly missed and Rose emerged victorious, making himself just the third player ever, joining Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, to follow up a World Golf Championship success with another title (again, not something I’ve seen a London bus do). Now, with just two tournaments left- the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai- Justin Rose sits just behind Race to Dubai leader Tommy Fleetwood. Fleetwood’s T23 leaves him in need of a big result to maintain his top spot. Behind Rose is Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Ross Fisher and Rafa Cabrera-Bello respectively; making it four Englishmen and three Spaniards in the European Tour’s top seven.

Justin Rose – What’s in the Bag?

Driver: TaylorMade M1

3-wood: TaylorMade M2

5-wood: TaylorMade M1

Irons: TaylorMade P790

Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind

Putter: TaylorMade TP Red Ardmore 2

Golf ball: TaylorMade TP5

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

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

After Justin Thomas picked up the $10 million FedEx Cup prize in Georgia last week, the end-of-season blues are starting to sink in for golf fans across the globe. Like a great Hollywood film (or a rubbish one, for that matter), the PGA Tour climax has been reached and all that's left now is to iron out the details to ensure even the lesser minds in the audience understand what happened. In this case, it's the Americans making sure everyone knows they're the best via this week's Presidents Cup. I have no doubt this will be a smooth resolution for them. However, like any good Hollywood film, there is another enticing plot in the form of the European Tour. This plot is far from over. This week we will see the British Masters present an exciting field of golfers which includes the likes of Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia and reigning champion Alex Noren.

Lee Westwood will host some of the world's finest on the Colt Course of the Close House Golf Club he helped design. The Newcastle golf club presents a course of less than 7,000 yards over 160 acres, but you won't want to miss too many fairways due to punishing roughs. With holes ranging from 157 to 504 yards and a wide variety of different layouts, there will be opportunities for all players to pick up points on the par-71 course.

As I said before, the tournament will feature some big names from the world of golf. Rory McIlroy accepted an invitation to the tournament after failing to qualify for the FedEx Cup's TOUR Championship finale, whilst Sergio Garcia will be looking to emulate Sandy Lyle's 1988 Masters double by adding the British Masters to his Masters victory at Augusta National earlier this year. Understandably, the two powerhouses go into the tournament as favourites. I can see why, but I disagree. Any golf-gamblers will be licking their lips at some of the prices being put up for the rest of the field, with McIlroy & Garcia the only ones priced in single figures. With 2016 champion Alex Noren at 14/1, 2016 runner-up Bernd Wiesberger at 20/1 & 2015 champion Matthew Fitzpatrick at 22/1, I can't help being suspicious of the bookies. I mean, yeah, McIlroy is one of the best golfers of his generation, and, yes, Sergio Garcia already has one Masters title this year, but surely the three best finishers since the tournament's 2015 reinstatement deserve more credit than that.

I have a good feeling about Wiesberger this week. The Austrian took T9 in his last outing- the KLM Open- and, as I mentioned previously, he finished runner-up in this event last year. I could probably fabricate a stronger case for him but, in truth, it’s partly just a hunch. I know how that sounds, but let’s face it, when does golf follow logic? Alex Noren, who edged Wiesberger to last year’s crown, is another man in with a shout. His last appearance was a T6 in the Omega European Masters in week 36, but he does only have a single win to his name for the year (week 21 BMW PGA Championship). A win here would help him recover some of the ground he’s lost in the world rankings this year, having slipped from ninth to fourteenth, so he’s got a fair chance. One more player that I want to single out prior to this tournament is England’s Chris Wood. Despite a winless season (so far) seeing him slip more than forty places in the world rankings and behind fellow Englishmen Ian Poulter and Jordan Smith, Chris Wood is a good price at 40/1. He loves playing at home (his last win came at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last year) and comes into this week off the back of a top-ten at the KLM Open. This is Wood’s chance to boost his rankings and maybe put together a string of decent results on the tail-end of the season.

To wrap up, Wood and Wiesberger are my big tips for the 2017 British Masters. Noren also has the potential for back-to-back wins in this tournament. I won’t rule out Garcia entirely, but he’s not cracking my favourites list for sure. There’s a reason Rory McIlroy is playing in this tournament. It’s an exhibition to him; a practice tournament of sorts (a financially lucrative one, I’m sure). He won’t care about winning until after his scheduled break. There are, of course, plenty of other potential winners I would love to put under the microscope (Haotong Li, Martin Kaymer, etc.) but that’s the shortlist I’ve gone for this week.

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com