And still we talk of Mickelson | Putting truths | Prez on the PGA Tour

By Top Golf Gears On Jul 7, 2018

Good morning, Top Golf Gears members. As most of you are signed up for our newsletters, you likely already know that I’ve been sending this little Morning 9 roundup of nine items of note.

In case you’ve missed it, or you prefer to read on site rather than in your email, we’re including it here. Check out today’s Morning 9 below.

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Happy Fourth of July, golf fans. The patriotic wedges below (made for Wesley Bryan) are a collaboration between Callaway’s maestro Anthony Taranto and Wayne Byrne.

And still we talk of Mickelson | Putting truths | Prez on the PGA Tour

1. Harrington on Mickelson’s U.S. Open “madness”

The U.S. Open is growing distant in the rearview and still we (and not just the media) are talking about Phil Mickelson’s antics.

“It would have been simpler for him just to come out and say, it got to me and I made a crazy error of judgment.”

“You don’t want to defend the indefensible, basically, is what he went about doing.”

“It would have been simpler for Phil to just have put up his hands and say, look, the place got to me, moment of madness, I’m getting old. Whatever.”

“I wouldn’t advocate it being allowed to happen again, and if necessary, there needs to be a rule change.

“If they are happy that you can consciously make a stroke on a moving ball, that should be changed.”

2. Pelz’ putting truths

Giving the long-time short game guru the bump to the No. 2 position today because, heck, who doesn’t need help in the putting department? And a good round on the greens is worth more than golf news, right?

A few of his 10 truths…

Aim is critical….You can’t dominate with your putter if you don’t know how to aim it correctly, or how much break to play. Nail these fundamentals first.

Keep your stroke “on-line” through the impact zone…If you hook or cut-spin your putts, your chance of success goes down. If your putts roll off the face in the same direction your putter is heading immediately after impact, that’s good. If your putter moves one way and the ball another, you’ve got problems

Face angle > path…And not insignificantly – it’s six times more important. Even if your path is good, unduly opening or closing the face at impact spells doom.

3. 2018-2019 Tour schedule taking shape

Per Golfweek’s Brentley Romine…“The PGA Tour is expected to release its 2018-19 schedule in the next few weeks. But on Tuesday, that anticipated schedule continued to take shape.

The RBC Canadian Open released its date for next season. The event will be played June 6-9 at Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Ontario, meaning the tournament will fall the week before the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and follow the Memorial Tournament.”

It will continue to hold that spot on the schedule until at least 2023.

“The PGA Tour, RBC and Golf Canada have collaborated to ensure this new date is the right fit for players and fans of the RBC Canadian Open,” said Andy Pazder, the PGA Tour’s chief tournaments and competitions officer. “As title sponsor of both the RBC Canadian Open and the RBC Heritage, RBC has been a tremendous partner of the PGA Tour, and we’re thrilled to have this opportunity to move one of golf’s most important and historic tournaments to a new date for the event starting in 2019.”

4. Retief Goosen among Open qualifiers

The USGA wouldn’t give the Goose a U.S. Open exemption. Now, he’s gone out and earned himself an Open Championship spot…”Goosen, who won the U.S. Open in both 2001 and 2004, made the trip to England for a 36-hole qualifier Tuesday, where rounds of 71-72 at Prince’s earned him the third and final qualifying spot by a single shot. There were also qualifiers held simultaneously at St. Annes Old Links, Notts Hollinwell and The Renaissance Club, with three qualifying spots available at each venue.” (Golf Channel)

Here are the rest…

Prince’s

1. Tom Lewis (-4)

2. Haraldur Magnus (-2)

3. Retief Goosen (-1)

Notts Hollinwell

1. Ashton Turner (-6)

2. Oliver Wilson (-3)

3. Rhys Enoch (-2)

St. Annes Old Links

1. James Robinson (-12)

2. Marcus Armitage (-10)

3. Jack Senior (-10)

Renaissance Club

1. Sam Locke (a) (-7)

2. Grant Forrest (-6)

3. Thomas Curtis (-5)

5. These are the numbers you are looking for…

Golfweek’s David Dusek examines the numbers you should be targeting off the tee.

He writes…’”I think everybody thinks that there is one optimal launch and one optimal spin rate,” said Nick Sherburne, Club Champions’ co-founder and master fitter. “They don’t understand that different speeds require different launches and spins.”

“While a few other variables can come into play, such as attack angle, most golfers who swing slowly need to launch the ball higher and generate more spin. That combination keeps the ball in the air longer, increasing carry and overall distance. On the other side of the spectrum, fast-swinging golfers would rob themselves of distance if they over-spin the ball and hit it too high, so their ideal launch angle is slightly lower.”

6. Trump on Tour

When the President comes to a PGA Tour stop, it’s a noteworthy occasion. Donald Trump spoke at the Salute to Service event at The Greenbrier.

“These are PGA players. These are unbelievably talented people. They’re talented in their mind and in their body,” Trump said. “Their muscles are strong but their mind has to be stronger. It’s tough. And these are tough people.”

7. Frequent critic, Brandel Chamblee likes Woods’ chances in final 2 majors (relatively speaking)

On the same Golf Channel podcast in which he outlined his plans to prepare for Senior Open Championship qualifying, Brandel said he likes where TW’s game is at ahead of the final two majors of the year.

“Tiger has shown an inability to be versatile with his tee shots and an inability to finish off rounds, but I think everyone expects him to get over that. It’s almost like he’s putting the pieces of the puzzle back together again as much mentally as he is physically or technically.”

“This was some of the best he’s driven the golf ball, at D.C., all year. So if he shows up at Carnoustie and drives it even a little bit better, well, then you look at the PGA Championship and you think, well, there are only just a few people that can beat him when he’s playing his best golf. I’m convinced of that. The world rankings in no way right now tell you who he is as a player. He’s far better than those world rankings.”

8. Another Woods take

This time, it’s PGA Master Professional Dennis Clark sounding off on Woods’ comeback.

“This might be the first time that golf is anything resembling difficult for Tiger Woods. And clearly, it is the very first time he cannot beat the competition almost at will. If that seems unusual to us, one can only imagine what it must be like to Woods. At the ripe golfing age of 42, the greatest winner the sport has ever known no longer wins. At times, he does not even seem competitive.”

“The real questions to be answered about his comeback is this: How long can Tiger accept not winning, not dominating? How much inner drive does he still have to get back to the top? Or near it. How long can he actually tolerate golf being a struggle? Can he accept being a middle of the pack PGA Tour pro? Does he have the level of self-belief he once had, or has all this new adversity diminished it to an “also ran”level? We don’t know, and he doesn’t know because this situation is new to everyone.”

9. Octopus pants, redux

Billy Horschel teamed up with sponsor Ralph Lauren/RLX to create a collection of golf duds. Fortunately, a variant of the octopus pants Horschel wore at Merion in 2013 are in the collection.

“This was the perfect time to bring the octopus pants back,” Horschel told Golfweek. “I wanted to do something that represented me. This was a perfect opportunity, because the octopus pants are really what skyrocketed me into the golf fashion world.”