By Dave Shedloski
Welp, someone scratched his seven-year itch on Sunday. And he had to go all the way up to Minnesota to do it.

Michael Thompson, who hadn’t won in seven-plus years and 166 starts, sprinkled in a spectacular bunker shot with a superbly mundane round of golf to calmly win his second PGA Tour title, beating a surging Adam Long by two strokes in the 3M Open. Thompson, who had a share of the lead after 18 and 54 holes, birdied two of his last three holes at TPC Twin Cities to come home in four-under 67 and 19-under 265 to keep Long and a long list of other challengers at bay.

Thompson, 35, looked like a seasoned pro and not one who was enduring a season on the brink. He came into the week ranked 151st in the FedEx Cup standings. He was ranked 218th in the world. In 227 career starts he had registered just 17 top-10s and four top-three finishes, including his victory at the 2013 Honda Classic. All of his primary strokes gained stats were negative except putting. He ranked 180th in driving distance and 131st in greens in regulation, the latter despite being one of the tour’s most accurate off the tee.

If you’re wondering where we’re going with this, well, we’re not quite sure. It’s all rather confounding. But, hey, at least we’re not alone.

Sir Nick Faldo was knitting together a thought on the CBS telecast as Thompson was sauntering up to his perfectly placed drive on the 18th hole that was more inquiry than elucidation.

“When a guy wins like this and he looks like a champion all week you wonder, Where has it been?” Faldo mused. “What’s the tipping point, what’s the fine line in this game where you go from struggle, struggle, struggle to then look this good and this controlled?”

One wonders if Young Tom Morris didn’t one day ask Old Tom something rather similar around 1867. It is one of the eternal questions of golf, isn’t it?

RELATED: The clubs Michael Thompson used to win the 3M Open

Thompson couldn’t really explain it or the fact that he has gone through peaks and valleys but never lost confidence. Which is a pretty good trick in this game. Mentally, the guy has some fortitude. It helps when your wife, Rachel, tells you every day that “you’re good enough, you belong out [there].”

“My wife has been a rock for me,” Thompson said.

And he showed that he had some stones Sunday after an early bogey, his only one of the day and third all week. He hit 10 of 14 fairways and 16 greens in regulation (to finish 60 of 72 in greens hit for the week) and rarely got in trouble. Of his five birdies, none was more important—or impressive—than the one collected from a scant 2½ feet at the short par-4 16th. The shot that set it up was 37-yard blast from the left front bunker, the kind easy to hit fat or thin. Thompson executed it to near perfection.

RELATED: Michael Thompson hits one of golf’s hardest bunker shots when he needed it most

Turns out he’s rather happy playing out of the sand. As a teenager he’d practice bunker shots for hours at 49er Country Club in Tucson. Guess that’s one way to stay out of trouble—by learning how to get out trouble.

“I love bunkers,” Thompson said. “When I got in that bunker, I was nervous, but at the same time I knew the shot that I had to hit, and I relied on a lot of those memories for just being in the bunker for hours and hours on end in high school.”

Stacy Revere No bomber, like recent PGA Tour winners Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, Thompson used strategic play around TPC Twin Cities to secure his victory.

The birdie enabled him to break a tie with Long, and Thompson finished off the win in style with another birdie at 18. His 19 under score was the best of his career in relation to par.

RELATED: Nice guys do finish first and three other Sunday takeaways from the 3M Open

The Georgia resident rose all the way to 39th in the FedEx Cup standings, a lofty perch for a guy who never has finished higher than 66th in his career. He earned a berth in this week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude Championship, the PGA Championship the following week at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco and the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in September.

Long, by the way, also earned a berth in the U.S. Open in the weekly qualifying that runs through the rest of the regular season. The top two finishers not otherwise exempt who finish among the top 10 get in the 120th U.S. Open in September.

Overcome with emotion after the win, Thompson said has been determined to make the U.S. Open field because Winged Foot, in Mamaroneck, N.Y., is the site of his first U.S. Amateur appearance in 2004. “You couldn’t have written a better script for where I’m at right now,” he said.

RELATED: This Michael Thompson post-win interview is a must-watch even if it makes you cry

Clues to how he wrote that script reside in his dedication to fitness during the forced break in the PGA Tour schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic and his work with swing coach Justin Parsons. Even when his results were middling Thompson in January at the Sony Open in Hawaii talked about how encouraged he felt about his game. So maybe a payoff was simply due.

It could just be that old adage about hard work paying off.

Or, heck, it could just be as simple as beating the field by 7.275 strokes on the greens.

Icon Sportswire
Thompson fist bumps his caddie after holing the birdie putt that secured his two-stroke victory.

Whatever, it’s astounding to watch a player flip a switch to not only play well, but to play well enough to win, especially when he doesn’t have much experience with it. The key is doing it every week, or at least more often than every seven years. Thompson talked like he intended to exhibit a bit more consistency.

“This win validates the first win,” he said. “It solidifies, kind of, my presence on the PGA Tour and proves to my peers that I’m a threat every week, and that’s what I want to be.

“Man, I am champing at the bit to go prove myself again.”

Good. Because that’s the thing about golf; you have to prove yourself every week.

The post Michael Thompson’s emotional 3M Open win was worth the seven-year wait appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It was only natural then for Thompson’s emotions to come through loud and clear as he tried to answer Balionis. Here’s the interview in its entirety. Warning: Might want to grab the tissue box before you start:

What it’s all about. ?

An emotional Michael Thompson discusses why winning the @3MOpen means so much. pic.twitter.com/8ulQJBQaiB

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 26, 2020

Come on, we warned you to have those tissues handy!

There was something a little different about Thompson’s victory at TPC Twin Cities. Unlike the golfers who had won the first six events in the PGA Tour restart, Thompson, 35, was not in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Rankings or the FedEx Cup points list. He was not in the field at next week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational or the week after at the PGA Championship. The win also locked up a spot in the U.S. Open in September and the Masters.

“I’m really sad that my wife and kids aren’t here to celebrate this week,” Thompson said early on. “I can’t wait to see them.”

Indeed, it would have be awesome if the family could have run on the 18th green and congratulated Thompson on his accomplishment. That said, we know he’ll get to share that special moment soon. And it’s probably better that they get to do it in private. We really didn’t have enough tissues to see that live.

The post Michael Thompson’s interview after his 3M Open win is a must watch even if it’s guaranteed to make you cry appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
One could argue Michael Thompson—and not Hideki Matsuyama—was the golfer hurt most by the Players Championship being cancelled after one round due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Thompson trailed the Day 1 leader by five shots, but a bogey-free opening 68 at TPC Sawgrass had been the PGA Tour veteran’s best round during a difficult season, and much-needed proof his hard work was finally going to pay off. Instead, it was wiped from the record books.

“From my perspective, I felt like the rug was pulled out from under me, but at the same time, I know why,” Thompson said. “This is an unprecedented thing going on in our world and precautions needed to be taken. For me, I don’t have much to complain about.”

On the contrary, Thompson has plenty to be thankful for these days. While the 2013 Honda Classic winner may have lost some potentially lucrative tee times, he and his wife, Rachel, had something much more important on their schedules the following week. The couple, along with 3-year-old son Joshua, traveled to Topeka, Kan., to witness the induced birth of their adopted baby daughter, Laurel Marie.

“It’s really a joyous time for us,” Thompson said from an Airbnb house in Wichita where his newly formed foursome is hunkering down for the time being. “The birth mom was wonderful. She allowed my wife and I to be in the delivery room, and I even got to cut the umbilical cord.”

Suddenly, making cuts on tour didn’t seem so important.

“Knowing what was going to happen next week was very humbling and made golf less significant than we made it out to be,” Thompson said of the Players cancellation. “And with what’s going on with COVID-19, we kind of knew what road sports were going down with a lot of organisations cancelling events. It turns out it was a good thing with how serious everything has gotten.”

The Thompsons’ story of welcoming life into the world is certainly refreshing during a dark time marked by disturbing death totals and rising coronavirus hospitalisations. But in addition to eagerly awaiting a return to normalcy in the world, the family is awaiting a return to their Sea Island home. Like many things around the country, the adoption process has slowed down during a global pandemic.

After being in Kansas for more than three weeks, Thomson says he expects to be there for about another two weeks while all the paperwork is finalized by various adoption and court staff forced to work from home. He says the same process took only two weeks total when the couple travelled to Kansas in 2016 to adopt their first child.

“I encourage anyone who is on the fence just to take that step,” Thompson said of the adoption process, which this time started for he and his wife last September. “It’s long, and can be stressful, but at the same time it’s so rewarding when you do get that child.”

Then there’s the matter of actually travelling back home.

The plan is to avoid major airports or possibly drive. But it’s a 17-hour trip by car—and that’s before factoring in having a newborn and a toddler in tow. In the meantime, the Thompsons are comfortable in a Wichita house they rented on Airbnb. And it’s easy for Michael to see the silver lining in the PGA Tour’s break as he has some unexpected time off from his job.

“It’s been a blessing actually for me to be here, especially with our second, it’s been really good,” Thompson said. “And not having added stress of having to prepare for tournament golf. I wish I could be playing, but at the same time, I get to be home and doing late-night feedings and changing dirty diapers.”

Thompson has also found a temporary place to practice and a friend-of-a-friend’s nearby home gym to stay in shape during the day. Keeping the momentum he was building will be even more important if the soon-to-be 35-year-old is to keep his PGA Tour card when play resumes with a severely truncated schedule.

Although Thompson has certainly had a unique quarantine existence as far as pro golfers go, the 2012 U.S. Open runner-up isn’t the only PGA Tour player with adopted children. Most notably, Bubba Watson and his wife, Angie, have a pair of their own, including a first, Caleb, who they met just 13 days before Bubba’s first of two Masters victories.

Watson has been open about the couple’s sometimes rocky adoption journey that included three devastating late rejections from birth moms (In the U.S. adoption process, the birth mother chooses the adopting parents) before finally finding success twice. Knowing that was a possible outcome, Thompson says he and Rachel kept their adoptions a secret from family members until everything was official. But after going through years of struggling with fertility issues, they couldn’t be happier with how things have turned out.

“I think we kind of had to go through that in order to solidify or truly know that adoption was the right plan for us. We’re so happy that we did,” Thompson said. “I think the greatest thing about adoption is it’s one of the ultimate signs of love to bring somebody who’s not your own blood into your family and raise them. It’s hard to put it into words. My biggest fear as a father was not bonding with the child, whoever that was. As most parents know, as soon as you hold that baby, in your arms, it’s instant love. And it was the same for me even though my kids are not biologically my own, they’re still my kids. It’s just a really awesome experience.”

And the type of really awesome story we could all use a bit more of right now.

The post How adoption gave Michael Thompson and his family life and love during the lockdown appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
The 3M Open may not have had an epic duel between Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa, or some Jon Rahm fireworks on the back nine, but it did still provide an entertaining Sunday finish. The final few holes at TPC Twin Cities, just like they did during Matthew Wolff’s first career win a year ago, made for quite the tug of war down the stretch.

Here are our four takeaways from Day 4 of the 3M Open.

Nice guys do finish first
First things first, if you haven’t read our Alex Myers’ piece on how adoption gave Michael Thompson and his family life and love during the lockdown, you should do that soon (after reading this, of course). You’ll come out of it wondering why you weren’t pulling for this guy all day long, a reminder that nice guys do finish first, just not as much as we’d all like.

Thompson’s victory on Sunday at TPC Twin Cities is the second of his PGA Tour career, the first coming at the 2013 Honda Classic, when he won in equally boring and effective fashion. That Sunday he grinded out a one-under 69 for a two-stroke victory at PGA National. On Sunday outside Minneapolis, he plodded his way around to a four-under 67, refusing to make a mistake and making every putt he needed to make to close it out. It wasn’t as flashy as a Rahm win or as bold and brash as a Bryson DeChambeau victory, but it didn’t need to be. There are still plenty of ways to get it done on tour.

Unfortunately for Thompson, his family wasn’t around to see win No. 2, which probably had a lot of folks reaching for the tissues on Sunday evening.

“It’s been a long time,” said a teary-eyed Thompson of his time between wins. “I’m just sad my wife and kids aren’t to celebrate this with me. I can’t wait to see them, I don’t know what to say.”

What it’s all about. ?

An emotional Michael Thompson discusses why winning the @3MOpen means so much. pic.twitter.com/8ulQJBQaiB

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 26, 2020

I’m not crying. You’re crying.

Stacy Revere

What a weekend from Adam Long
Great stat, as always, from Justin Ray here:

Players to win since 2010 after making the cut on the number:

2016 Brandt Snedeker – Farmers
2010 Carl Pettersson – Canadian
2010 Rory McIlroy – Quail Hollow

Adam Long made the cut on the number Friday.

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) July 26, 2020

If not for Thompson’s red-hot putter, Long more than likely would have become the fourth player to accomplish this ridiculous feat in the last decade. His seven-under 64 saw him climb 11 spots up the leader board, and he eventually settled for solo second. He now has two runner-ups since his breakthrough victory at the American Express in 2019, plus an eighth-place finish at the Waste Management in 2019. He may be a 31-year-old journeyman, but he’s proving to be far more than a random one-hit-wonder.

He’s also now going to get to play in the U.S. Open. Long’s solo second-place finished was good enough to earn him an automatic exemption to play at Winged Foot in September.

Matthew Stockman

The human ATM went full human ATM
Before we praise Charles Howell III for his 96th—96th !!!— career top-10 finish on the PGA Tour, we first have a bone to pick: How do you leave that eagle putt short on 18 that would have gotten you a share of the clubhouse lead? Chucky Three Sticks, of all people, could have afforded a three-putt had he juiced the eagle putt past the hole like he should have. That thing simply must get to or past the hole, especially when you are closing in on $40 million career on-course earnings. C’mon Chuck, live a little!

Turns out, it wouldn’t have been enough to win the tournament, anyway, so we’ll let it slide. Short eagle effort or not, 96 career top 10s is flat-out incredible. And yet, he’s still nowhere near Tiger Woods’ all-time record of … wait for it … 199. Yeah, that dude is pretty good.

Stacy Revere

Tony, Tony, Tony
Speaking of top-10 machines, that pretty much sums up Tony Finau’s existence right now. It sounds disrespectful, sure, but it’s also true. Big Tone now has 30 top-10 finishes without a victory since the beginning of the 2016-’17 season. That’s 14 clear of the next closest competitor, Tommy Fleetwood, who has 16. What’s most frustrating about Finau is that these are no ordinary top 10s, as he’s often in serious contention. His T-3 on Sunday marks his 15th top-five finish since the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open. That is a LOT of opportunities to not cash in a win on.

For Finau fans, bettors or anyone interesting in rooting for a genuine good guy, Sunday had to be the most unacceptable miss so far. Outside of Matthew Wolff or a hobbled Brooks Koepka, Finau was easily the most-talented player to tee it up at TPC Twin Cities this week. At 16 under through 64 holes, this was Finau’s tournament for the taking, and he played the final eight holes in even par. With his length, Finau should be playing those final three holes in two under at minimum. If he couldn’t get it done this week, when can we ever expect him too?

This all may sound harsh, but for the Finau faithful, it’s all out of love. Happy to be proven wrong, sooner rather than later. I fully expect this paragraph to end up on the Freezing Cold Takes Twitter account when he wins the PGA at Harding Park.

The post Nice guys do finish first and three other takeaways from Day 4 of the 3M Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

.@TigerWoods walking off the 18th green to celebrate his return to glory with his family is an image we’ll never forget.

One year later, he reflects on just how much it all means to him. #MastersRewind pic.twitter.com/9DfmU8k2pL

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 12, 2020

It’s getting dusty in here again! Awesome stuff all around. That being said, let’s hope we don’t have to do this next year.

WE’RE BUYING

Tiger Woods: As mentioned, the Easter Sunday broadcast was pretty special. Based on a quarter-century of rather guarded interviews, it was surprising—and great—to see Tiger get so emotional. Perhaps more surprising, though, is that he became social media’s biggest star last week. First, by posting this photo of him hosting a stay-at-home Masters Champions Dinner featuring food he would have had served at the real thing:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-suPm5jPgA/?utm_source=ig_embed

And then by sharing his homemade Magnolia Lane:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-4rvdvjzmF/?utm_source=ig_embed

Who is Tiger’s gardener? And who is his social media specialist? Both had strong Sundays.

Phil Mickelson’s robe: For his Masters Rewind, Phil donned a white robe instead of the green jacket:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-2a5CjDjNn/?utm_source=ig_embed

Wow, that thing looks comfy. By the way, how nice must it be to re-watch your own Masters win? I’m guessing it’s pretty nice—especially in one of those robes.

Dakota Cunningham: Usually I’m jealous when I hear other people’s hole-in-one stories, but this John Strege story about a young St. Jude’s patient overcoming leukemia is awesome. And the 14-year-old didn’t just get lucky with an ace. He’s a total stick who also calmly sank a putt worth $50,000 in front of Justin Rose last year. Impressive. Speaking of “kids” …

Collin Morikawa: A year ago, Collin was finishing up his senior year at Cal. Now? He’s a PGA Tour winner, he holds the tour’s longest active made-cut streak and he recently received his first Masters invite. Already one of the world’s best iron players, we caught up with Collin on this week’s Golf Digest Podcast to talk about all that and more. Turns out, he has some great taste in TV as well:

This guy is really going places. Well, after the lockdown, that is.

WE’RE SELLING

The “Mock Masters” final leader board: First off, congrats to Patrick Reed for winning our statistical experiment run by Rick Gehman and chronicled by Shane Ryan. No doubt Reed would have enjoyed having Tiger Woods return last year’s favour by slipping the green jacket back on the 2018 winner. But based on the reactions, let’s just say this wasn’t a popular victory. And that a final leader board of Reed winning by three over Corey Conners and Tyrrell Hatton after Tiger, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson all collapsed in the final round? Thanks, but we’ll stick to re-watching 2019.

Cabot St. Lucia’s timing: To be clear, Cabot St. Lucia, which we got a sneak preview of in Derek Duncan’s latest Golf Digest piece, looks like it’s going to be awesome. And why wouldn’t it be? It’s a Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw design that’s set to open in 2021 in a spectacular part of the world.

Jacob Sjoman/Courtesy of Cabot Saint Lucia

That being said, these guys couldn’t have built this thing before I honeymooned in St. Lucia in 2015? Sigh.

This snake: Jimmy Walker, Texas Ranger:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-0ZtNOpG3z/?utm_source=ig_embed

Good lord.

ON TAP

This week would have been the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town, AKA that place with the lighthouse on the 18th hole where C.T. Pan edged Matt Kuchar last year for his first PGA Tour title. OK, so it’s more known for the lighthouse.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Random tournament fact: Luke Donald has five runner-up finishes in this event without a win. Basically, what the U.S. Open is to Phil Mickelson, Hilton Head is to Donald.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Jim Nantz will record an interview with C.T. Pan for the broadcast this week: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds
—Luke Donald would finish runner-up in a “Mock Heritage” simulation: Even odds
—I’m going to have nightmares about that snake: LOCK

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

Let’s share a couple uplifting stories of life during these scary times. First, Michael Thompson and his wife, Rachel, adopted a second child:

Congrats to them. And congrats to the Garcias for welcoming a second child of their own into the world:

Happy Easter to everyone! We’re blessed to have welcomed Enzo Akins Garcia on Friday, April 10, at 6:25 pm. Enzo and Angela are both doing great, and Azalea is very happy to be a big sister! Hope you all have enjoyed Easter (and Masters) Sunday. God bless from our family to yours pic.twitter.com/ipjLtv9SnL

— Sergio Garcia (@TheSergioGarcia) April 13, 2020

So much for Sergio sticking with the Masters-themed baby names. “Firethorn” really would have turned some heads. Oh well.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

This guy did a Tiger King-Tiger Woods mashup. And it’s awesome.

Nothing will replace The Masters this week, but I hope this video will help with the pain.

I saw a Tiger. pic.twitter.com/JHUsDi2pSs

— Drew Franklin (@DrewFranklinKSR) April 9, 2020

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (TRICK-SHOT DIVISION)

Keeping with the kids theme, how about this effort?

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-uy8-allPe/?utm_source=ig_embed

THIS WEEK IN TOUR PRO PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION (AND BOOZING)

With no RBC Heritage to contend at, Luke Donald and his wife, Diane, shared a special lockdown cocktail recipe:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

It’s Fri-Yay, and we are READY for a cocktail! ? Here is my go-to recipe for a skinny spicy (optional) margarita. *Also easily ordered in a bar when the world re-opens and we can go out again??. Here’s what you will need… Fresh lime juice ? White tequila ?? Orange liquor ?(like Grand Mariner, Cointreau, or Triple Sec) can also use fresh orange juice if you want to be very low cal Thinly sliced jalapeño ? Sparkling water ?(can be lemon, lime or even grapefruit flavored) Ice ? Mix together lime juice, tequila, a splash of orange liquor, and a few slices of jalapeño with ice in a cocktail shaker. I’m sorry I don’t have measurements but watch the video ? and really it’s to taste. You may want more lime or more orange liquor than I like. But for this recipe i counted to 4 for the tequila, 2 for the grand mariner, and juiced 2 limes, one for each drink. If you like it sweeter add more orange liquor, spicier add more jalapeño, stronger… and more TEQUILA??! Shake shake shake, pour over ice, garnish with jalapeño slices and top with sparkling water.

A post shared by Diane Donald (@dianedonald) on Apr 10, 2020 at 3:15pm PDT

If I didn’t have a nearly two-decade-long ban on drinking tequila, I’d give that a try.

THIS WEEK IN OTHER TOUR PROS BEING QUARANTINED

This back-and-forth #Quarantunes battle between LPGA pro Tiffany Joh and former player Jeehae Lee might be the best thing on Twitter right now. Here’s a sampling:

#Quarantunes
This only took like 30 takes ?
Let’s go, @tiffjoh ??‍??‍??‍ https://t.co/8d4nCoafNM pic.twitter.com/U3bww4driV

— Jeehae Lee (@jeehaeda) April 11, 2020

K. You again @jeehaeda ? #Quarantunes https://t.co/M9LjXmOEsk pic.twitter.com/FFQaFIiHo7

— Tiffany Joh (@tiffjoh) April 9, 2020

Damn. These girls are good. Are they taking requests?

And Viktor Hovland doesn’t “suck at chipping” anymore:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-7lI1VFmMv/?utm_source=ig_embed

Never mind. Keep working on it, Viktor. You’ve got time.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Doug Sanders, on his dual reputations as a straight hitter and a ladies’ man: “The only times I left the fairway was to get a phone number.”

— Mike O'Malley (@GD_MikeO) April 13, 2020

That might be the greatest quote of all time. RIP Doug Sanders.

THIS AND THAT

European Tour pros have been told to brace for a “radically different” tour when play resumes, including reduced tournament purses. Not good. … The PGA of America and USGA have earmarked millions of dollars to help club pros, course employees and other workers affected by COVID-19 shutdowns. That’s better. … This week’s podcast guest, Collin Morikawa, and a bunch of other tour pros including John Daly, Michelle Wie and Jimmy Walker will compete in a charity poker tournament presented by MGM Resorts. Let’s see if Jimmy is snake-bit at the tables also. Sorry, couldn’t resist. … And finally, even with all the Tiger replays in my house, my daughter still calls him “Lion” for some reason:

We’re making progress… #MastersRewind #Lion pic.twitter.com/TFPredXh8Y

— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) April 12, 2020

I’m failing as a parent.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Who is the best poker player on tour?
Did Joe Exotic really do all his own vocals?
Is Phil allowed to take that robe off of club grounds?

The post Tiger Woods’ quarantine title defense, Phil Mickelson’s Masters robe and an LPGA Twitter battle you have to hear appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Mike Stachura
In the early weeks of the PGA Tour’s new driver testing program for the 2019-’20 season, a handful of players appear to have had drivers tested that have exceeded the speed limit. According to a story from Reuters, five tour pros at last week’s Safeway Open were found to have drivers whose spring-like effect was outside the USGA limit.

The tour’s new protocol uses the pendulum test that measures the Characteristic Time (CT) of driver faces to determine whether they flex too much. The Reuters story named five players it says are “believed” to have drivers that did not pass the test: Corey Conners, Jason Dufner, Mark Hubbard, Robert Streb and Michael Thompson.

The tour’s driver testing program grew from concerns expressed over the last year that driver faces are getting springier through use. The issue drew headlines when the R&A selectively tested drivers at the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in July and several clubs were found to be over the limit, most notably that of Xander Schauffele.

Tyler Dennis, PGA Tour senior vice president and chief of operations, told Golf Digest earlier this year that the testing program is an effort to investigate whether drivers that were conforming at initial use can be worn into a nonconforming state over time.

“We really want this to be about the driver models currently being played on the PGA Tour, not the players,” Dennis said earlier this month. “We have seen evidence of some models that over time are starting to creep over the limit. The only way to understand what’s happening is to test drivers that are actually being played on tour.”

The protocol calls for random player testing to be conducted during non-competition days at unannounced tournaments. Dennis would not specify how many players would be tested at events or how many events would have testing implemented. According to the Reuters story, 30 drivers were tested in Napa.

Dennis did not immediately return a request for comment on the report of drivers failing the CT testing at the Safeway Open. A tour spokesman told Reuters the tour would not be commenting on the testing program or its results.

Under the testing protocol, drivers receive either a green light for those that measure under the CT limit of 239 microseconds, a yellow light when they measure within the CT test’s tolerance zone of 240-257 microseconds and a red light if the measurement is above 257 microseconds. The testing on the PGA Tour is conducted by representatives of the USGA.

Most insiders agree on two things with regard to the CT testing: First, there are extremely few drivers on the tour that would measure green on the CT test. Most are likely to register yellow, at least. Second, the difference in terms of distance is negligible, and that even if every driver on the tour suddenly measured green, there likely would be no effect on the driving distance average on the PGA Tour.

Driving distance on the PGA Tour was down for the 2018-’19 season by 2.2 yards in 2019 versus 2018. Through the early part of the 2019-’20 season, driving distance is 304.4 yards. That would be 10 yards longer than last year through a similar number of events, and almost 11 yards longer than 2017.

After the 2017 season, golf’s ruling bodies expressed concern about driving distance and announced a Distance Insights research project. The project’s initial report is due later this year.

The post Report: Five players have drivers fail PGA Tour’s new testing protocol at Safeway Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.