There’s a new world #1 following the breathtaking scenes at the Genesis Invitational over the weekend. He’s on a magnificent winning streak, which begs the question, just how far will Jon Rahm go this year?

The PGA Tour took to sunny California this weekend for the Genesis Invitational, and we had the pleasure of playing witness to some phenomenal golf. With a field full of Tour veterans all eyeing up the trophy at the Riviera Country Club, it could have been anyone’s guess who’d be finishing in first place.

The well-deserving win went to Jon Rahm when he narrowly beat Max Homa with a 2-shot lead to finish on 17 under par. Homa had nearly secured himself victory, but birdies for Rahm on holes 14 and 16 in the final round had propelled him into the lead to end the tournament in spectacular style.

The win took Rahm straight to #1 in the official world golf rankings, knocking Scottie Scheffler down to second place. It was Rahm’s 10^th Tour victory following his excellent wins at both the Sentry Tournament of Champions and American Express Desert Classic in January.

He put his winning streak down to his discipline and determination, claiming “right now I’m seeing the dividends of a lot of the hard work over the years, just keep doing the small things and having fun.” Following such glorious golf, plenty of fans are rooting for the 2021 US Open champ with Major season just around the corner.

There was also much speculation around the tournament’s host, Tiger Woods, and how he would play with this being his first competitive event since he took part in the Open last July. Having ended his final round with a 73, he finished the tournament tied-45^th. Still recovering from injuries resulting from his 2021 car crash, Woods has been limiting his Tour appearances to support his health.

Not wanting to over-do it, Woods confirmed in an interview “My goal each and every year from here going forward is to play in all the majors – I am not going to play too much more than that.” While he’s taking it steady nowadays, Tiger still very much looks to be making an appearance at Augusta in April.

From the UEA to Singapore, the DP World Tour continues to give us some spectacular golfing performances, and this weekend Ockie Strydom delivered time and again…

Despite bad weather temporarily disrupting play on the Friday, the Singapore Classic at the Laguna National Golf Resort Club saw players quickly recover from the menacing conditions to hand in some very low scores.

Tom Mkibbin led an early lead shooting 8 under par by the end of the first round. At just 20 years old, the Northern Irishman had captured the fascination of many viewers with fans comparing his emerging talent to that of a young Rory McIlroy. The two Pros are even both members of the Holywood Golf Club in Belfast. Having scored a good 64 on Thursday and 69 on Friday, the up-and-coming star ended the tournament in joint 12^th on Sunday following some fierce competition from Tour veterans.

Notable names that were battling it out for first position over the weekend included previous Oman Open winner Sami Välimäki, and Hero Open champion Grant Forrest. The Pros took good advantage of the course with three golfers finishing joint 3^rd, and six players joint 6^th.

The winner, South African Ockie Strydom, had a good start to the competition but his game heated up with each passing round. Opening with a 71, Strydom then went on to shoot 68, 67, and finished on a tremendous 9 under 63. It must have felt good to score 9 birdies in a round to then go on to win a tournament!

In his post-win interview, the 38-year-old admitted “I’m just speechless at the moment” and that he “can’t wait” for the next events on Tour. He hoped “if I play well enough in the next couple of tournaments, I could get in for the US Open and British Open.” If the well-deserved victory this weekend from Strydom wasn’t impressive enough, he also won the Alfred Dunhill Championship very recently in December 2022.

What was the most birdies you’ve ever scored in a round? Do you remember what course you played when you shot your lowest ever round to date?

Despite a few wobbles on the final hole, Daniel Gavins battled the pressure to come out on top. When it comes to overcoming nerves on the golfing world stage, it doesn’t come closer than this.

The DP World Tour was as gripping as ever this past weekend with plenty of spectacle at the Ras Al Kaimah Championship. Moving further north from the Dubai Hero Cup at the Emirates Golf Club, the championship at Al Hamra was a riveting tournament from start to finish.

Ryo Hisatsune came out swinging on the Thursday, opening with six birdies in a row to set the round 1 lead at 8-under-par. By the end of Round 2, the lead had been extended to 11 under, with Adrian Meronk, David Law, and Rasmas Højgaard all joint leaders. The penultimate day saw some fantastic golf played by the top four players on the leaderboard with only one bogey made by Højgaard, Zander Lombard scored a stellar 9 birdies to push the leading score to 16 under.

The ultimate winner of the tournament played consistently with his putter, sinking phenomenal putts and dominating the greens. Daniel Gavins made 6 birdies on his front 9 of the final round but was starting to wobble on the back 9. All eyes were on him as he teed up on the closing hole.

If you suffer from a slice off the tee, you may have been wincing when watching the final hole as the entire right-hand side is taken up by the lake that surrounds the Al Hamra village. Clearly feeling the pressure, Gavins sailed his first drive into the water. Having reached the fairway with his second drive, he then ambitiously went for the green on his fourth stroke. A commendable effort but the shot fell short and similarly went straight into the drink. Hitting the water twice in one hole is enough for most golfers to let the emotions get to them, but Gavins continued with a respectable stoic determination.

Managing to keep his head at the end, Gavins ended with a spectacular up-and-down finish from his drop in the rough. The ball landed on the short grass and when the leader played his 25-foot double bogey putt, the ball rolled perfectly in, finding the centre of the hole. Gavins ended on 17 under, narrowly securing the win over Björk and Lombard who finished only one shot behind on 16 under. In his post-round interview, Daniel Gavins claimed “when I sunk the putt and then went to the back of the green and saw that I was actually winning still, it was kind of a big shock”.

It’s incredibly nail-biting to watch these Tour players recover from perilous hazards to make a comeback and secure the victory. When you play do you always go for the golden shot, or do you sensibly lay up?

The rain couldn’t hold off this nail-biting finish to the Dubai Desert Classic.

The Dubai Desert Classic started its annual opening round on Thursday at the Emirates course in the UAE, and from the get-go, players were battling it out for the lead. With a mix of PGA and LIV Tour players entered into the tournament, the air was a little testy here and there between certain players.

The recent ‘teegate’ drama between Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed hasn’t gone away with the two world-class players scoring competitively low. At the end of round 2 they were both 8 under par and biting at the heels of the joint leaders on 10 under.

The momentum carried through into Saturday’s penultimate round where Rory McIlroy took control and shot 7 under to break from the crowd and secure him a three-shot lead at 15 under. It was a dramatic revelation when Sunday’s final round was delayed due to flooding. 60mm of rain fell over Dubai over the course of two days, the result of which pushed the final round onto the Monday morning.

With the grounds suitable for resuming play, the quality of play continued as the tournament came to a dramatic end. Henrik Stenson put in a good final round scoring 8 under to finish 12 under. Herbert Lucas was similarly playing well scoring 6 under to finish at 16 under, but all eyes were on Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy as they dueled back and forth for the lead.

Reed finished the tournament at a whopping 18 under par, putting incredible pressure on Rory as he was on the same score with one hole to play. A par would have meant a playoff, a bogey second place, but against the odds McIlroy dominated the par 5 final hole and rolled in a birdie putt to secure him the lead and finish at 19 under par. A truly gripping end to the tournament given the ‘teegate’ spat with Reed. McIlroy put his win down to his own mental fortitude, overcoming all distractions to focus on the round at hand “I had to forget who was up there on the leaderboard. I felt I showed a lot of mental strength.”

Doesn’t seeing these pros pull off birdie after birdie whet your appetite for a game yourself?

The golfing spectacles continue to amaze on the DP World Tour with a dramatic ending to the HSBC Championship.

On Sunday we saw Victor Perez lift the trophy at the Rolex Series HSBC championship with a commendable six-under 66 on the final round, bringing him to a total of -18 at the end of play. Stay with us as we go through all the ins-and-outs of this year’s Tour golf tournament at Yas Links.

With familiar faces like Padraig Harrington and the Molinari brothers, as well up-and-coming stars like Ramus Højgaard and Min Woo Lee, the field was a real mix of talent and experience. The first round saw Luke Donald leading the charge after the first day scoring an opening 8 under 64, giving him a tight one-shot lead.

However, by the end of day 2, two Italians overtook him. Francesco Molinari and Guido Migliozzi were joint first both with 10 under. It only got more tense by the end of the third round with Molinari pushing his lead by three while Shane Lowry and Min Woo Lee played well to join him at thirteen under. It was all to play for on Sunday with a huge fifteen golfers within four shots of the leader.

The tournament momentum continued into the final round as some players excelled while others ran out of steam. Lowry and Migliozzi fell behind by scoring over par on Sunday with +4 and +1. The Finn Sami Välimäki shot a thrilling -10 to finish 12 under alongside six other players. It was an extremely tight competition with some very low scores but Victor Perez played consistently to victory making the winning score a respectable 18 under par.

In top form from start to finish, Perez finished under par on each day, scoring -1, -7, -4, and -6 on each progressing round. His world-class performance included a riveting birdie chip-in on the penultimate hole. When all was said and done, Perez ecstatically claimed “I got off to a good start and I was just focusing on me and trying to do the best I can”.

One of the most admirable traits these Tour pros show is how they can shake off the pressure with so many eyes on them. With the Ryder Cup in September getting ever closer, who’ll make up the final teams?

What's in the Bag?

Driver: PING G430 LST

Fairway wood: PING G430 MAX

Irons: PING I59

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9,  Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks

Putter: PING Sigma 2 ZB

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Ahead of this year’s Ryder Cup team Europe battled it out internally in Abu Dhabi. The UAE was alive with golfing greats from both sides of the English Channel battling it out in Abu Dhabi this past weekend.

As is sometimes the case with these huge matchplay competitions, we see a back-and-forth, but as always, only one team can come out on top. Molinari’s Continental Europe secured a safe victory over Fleetwood’s Great Britain & Ireland with a final outcome of 14.5 to 10.5. Please read on as we recap how the continental players paved the way to the win.

The tournament was a tight game up to the close of play on Saturday. Power & MacIntrye beat Straka & Meronk 4 & 3 on the Friday, while on Saturday morning Molinari & Højgaard beat Shinkwin & Wallace when they were 3 up with 1 to play. Going into the final round, Europe were at a two-point advantage over Britain & Ireland with the scores standing at 8.5 to 6.5.

The Sunday singles matches saw the captains shine as both Molinari & Fleetwood won their respective games against Lowry & Pieters. The final day saw some impressive scores with Hatton, MacIntyre, and Straka all winning their matches by 5-up. But ultimately, 6 European and 4 Britain & Ireland victories were made on Sunday to reach the final standing of 14.5 to 10.5. Molinari praised his team’s success and claimed “It’s a great motivation for me”.

Thinking further down the line, he added “Being in Rome would be absolutely incredible” as the players set their sights on this year’s Ryder Cup. Team Captain Luke Donald has been observing and analysing the performances at the Hero Cup closely as he leads his team to Rome in September, “It’s how they react to the pressure and how they perform when it really matters – whether they win the match or not”.

Which was your favorite moment of this year’s Hero Cup? What are your predictions for the Ryder Cup?

Tour golf kicked off in Hawaii with the Sentry Tournament of Champions, some big names appearing in the field. Collin Morikawa held the lead for the majority of the week, but ultimately Jon Rahm made a stunning comeback, scoring 9 birdies and an eagle on Sunday to secure the trophy, earning him his eighth win on Tour.

Morikawa had played solidly the first three days to give himself a six-shot advantage entering the final round. He even made three front-nine birdies to extend the lead on Sunday. However, the pressure caught up with the 2021 Open Champion on the back-nine as he made three consecutive bogeys on 14, 15, and 16. Morikawa later described the last-round collapse as a frustrating “sadness,” putting the blame on his “bad timing on bad shots”.

Rahm entered the final round seven shots behind Morikawa’s lead, but the tables turned over the course of the last 18 holes. While Morikawa faltered on the back-nine, Rahm made three solid birdies on the front nine, and led a glorious charge on the final 9, scoring five birdies and an eagle to give him a three-shot margin lead, meaning Morikawa had to then score an albatross on the final hole to tie, which he only birdied. Rahm was full of confidence coming off the course stating “I feel like since August I’ve been the best player in the world.”

How are you hoping to get your game in shape this year? There’s no better feeling than being in top form and scoring well hole-after-hole!

What's in the Bag?

Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond

3-wood: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond T HL

5-wood: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond T

Irons: Callaway X Forged UT, Callaway Apex TCB

Wedges: Callaway Jaws Forged

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG Rossie S

Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X

There’s no such thing as a universal golf club that works for everybody, but if the same clubs keep popping up with European & PGA Tour titles time after time, there’s usually a good reason. With fifteen events played across the two tours in 2020, we’ve collated a few of the most notable clubs and their wins at the top level this calendar year.

Drivers

TaylorMade’s new SIM Driver aided two men to their first European Tour victories, with Lucas Herbert claiming the Omega Dubai Desert Classic before Sami Valimaki topped the pile at the Oman Open a few weeks later.

PING G410 Driver in hand, Lee Westwood bounced back from a winless 2019 in emphatic style, winning his first event of 2020 at the Rolex Series Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Promising prospect Viktor Hovland notched his first title (Puerto Rico Open) with the PING G410 LST Driver.

The Callaway Mavrik (Marc Leishman, Farmers Insurance Open) and Titleist TS4 (Adam Scott, Genesis Invitational) drivers are also off the mark on the PGA Tour.

Other Woods

Westwood’s Rolex Series win came with a PING G410 fairway wood & hybrid to match his driver. The same went for TaylorMade’s Herbert & Valimaki as they boasted SIM fairway woods. Across the pond, Nick Taylor wielded a MAX version of that TaylorMade SIM fairway wood; a more affordable edition of the heralded “Shape in Motion” design.

Graeme McDowell’s Saudi International win featured the Callaway Mavrik 3-wood and the same PING G410 hybrid that Westwood had in play. A couple of weeks later, free agent Patrick Reed opted for the Callaway Mavrik (a name befitting of the man?) Sub-Zero 3-wood on his way to the most prestigious title of the year so far: the World Golf Championship Mexico. 

Wedges

There are two clear winners in the wedge game so far this year. Clocking three wins each, the Callaway JAWS Mack Daddy 5 wedges and Titleist Vokey SM8 wedges have dominated their field.

Grace & Leishman (South African & Farmers Insurance Opens respectively) were joined by fellow Callaway JAWS MD5 wedge player Min Woo Lee in the winner’s circle after he won the ISPS Handa Vic Open for his first victory.

The Vokey SM8 wedges came in handy for Aussies Cameron Smith (Sony Open) & Adam Scott (Genesis Inv.), before Sungjae Im upset a high-profile field at the Honda Classic with the new Vokeys in his corner.

Putters

Odyssey’s Stroke Lab putter engineering, unveiled in 2019, proved a genuine game-changer, and Min Woo Lee’s Vic Open win showcased the Odyssey Stroke Lab Black Ten Putter; part of the new Stroke Lab Black & Stroke Lab Triple track ranges for 2020. 

Golf Balls

It won’t surprise you to know that Titleist Pro V1 & Pro V1x golf balls continue to rule the Tour-golf roost, winning the lion’s share of tournaments. However, the new TaylorMade TP5 & TP5x golf balls (currently available at 4 for 3 with FREE personalisation) have emerged with a few early-season titles of their own.

All golf equipment mentioned in this article is available to purchase online now*, with FREE Click & Collect Delivery to your local Foremost Golf club.

*PING golf clubs are only available with custom fitting by an expert Foremost Golf PGA Professional. You can find your local Foremost Golf Pro here: https://www.foremostgolf.com/find-your-nearest-foremost-professional

Written by Joseph Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

Matthias Schwab held a three-stroke lead at the start of Sunday, and he did little wrong as he closed out with a 2-under 70 at Turkey’s The Montgomerie Maxx Royal. The papers will read that Schwab failed to birdie the last, but a run of 12 pars and one birdie to close would usually do the trick. However, birdies from Tyrrell Hatton, Kurt Kitayama, Victor Perez, Benjamin Hebert and an Erik Van Rooyen eagle led to a surreal six-man playoff. That’s rough justice if ever I’ve seen it.

The 558-yard 18^th played host to the good, the bad & the ugly; perfectly typified by Hatton overcooking a chip on the first playoff hole to roll off the other side of the green before holing out for a remarkable must-make birdie. Schwab and Kitayama- the latter chasing the European Tour’s first-ever three-win rookie season- also birdied to make it a three-man playoff.

All three made par the second time around, before Hatton produced a sensational third shot to set up a tap-in birdie seemingly for the win, but the Englishman watched on in utter disbelief as Schwab nailed a clutch putt from the fringe to extend for a FOURTH round. A full moon loomed over Antalaya as the nerves finally got the better of the Austrian, who skewed an agonisingly short par putt wide to hand Hatton his fourth European Tour title and second Rolex Series event.

It’s a victory that’s prestigious and lucrative in equal measure, and Hatton has earned a week off to rest a persistent wrist injury before returning for the season finale in Dubai on the 21^st. But Race to Dubai leader Bernd Wiesberger, along with challengers like Matt Fitzpatrick Wallace & Tommy Fleetwood, will look to get their noses out in front in South Africa this week.

Tyrrell Hatton – What’s in the Bag?

Hatton boasts a PING-heavy bag, but TaylorMade’s latest technologies made the cut as one of two fairway woods, whilst the Titleist wedges and golf balls prove ever-popular on Tour. The Adidas shoes he sports have become a 2019 favourite for Tour Pros & Weekend Golfers alike.

Driver: PING G410 Plus

Fairway Woods: TaylorMade M6, PING G410

Irons: PING i210 (4-PW)

Wedges: PING Glide Forged, Titleist Vokey Design SM7 (Raw)

Putter: PING Vault Oslo

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Golf Shoes: Adidas Tour 360 XT Golf Shoes

Written by Joseph Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

Zozo Championship

Tiger Woods doesn’t do ordinary. The greatest golfer of all time, on his first tournament after knee surgery, won the PGA Tour’s first tournament in Japan to claim a record-equalling 82 PGA Tour victories for himself.

There were question marks over whether the PGA Tour’s debut in Japan would be completed after a typhoon wreaked havoc on Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club. After a combination of weather & darkness  delays, the final round continued on Monday morning (Sunday night in the UK) with home favourite Hideki Matsuyama trailing Tiger by three strokes. The PGA Tour could not have written a better script for the Japanese audience.

Eighty-Three Impending

Listen, it’s going to happen. It just has to. And not just for the sentimental reason; Tiger is too much of a competitor to share the record. Sam Snead’s last victory came in 1965, meaning his record of the most PGA Tour victories has been standing for more than a decade longer than Tiger Woods has been alive. Jack Nicklaus’ Majors record might still be miles away, but surely the PGA Tour record is inevitable. Who knows, maybe this will finally get him some recognition in the world of golf.

Race to Dubai

Next up: Shanghai. The WGC-HSBC Champions boasts a hell of a field, and it’s no mystery as to why the big names have gathered… Money. The WGC event precedes the European Tour’s home stretch of lucrative Rolex Series events in Turkey, South Africa & Dubai.

Bernd Wiesberger, with three wins for the season, currently leads the Race to Dubai. However, the likes of Jon Rahm & Shane Lowry are hot on his heels despite only playing 12 tournaments apiece, as opposed to Wiesberger’s 25, thanks to their clinical golf in the biggest events. This offers a strong indicator for the finale, with Tommy Fleetwood in 2017 the only of the past eight champions to play more than 17 events.

Expect to see somebody kick into another gear as the Tour raise the stakes and, apparently more importantly, the pay checks.

Tiger Woods - What's in the Bag?

Not even TaylorMade would've thought we'd be diving into Tiger's winning golf bag twice in a year, especially not in Augusta & Japan! But here we go...

Driver: TaylorMade M5

3-Wood: TaylorMade M5

5-Wood: TaylorMade M3

Irons: TaylorMade P7TW (3-PW)

Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind 2

Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS

Written by Joseph Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com