By E Michael Johnson
Although an equipment free agent for several years, it appears Patrick Reed might have found a new home.

If the logo on the front of his cap during a practice round at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapaula, Hawaii is any indication, expect to hear of an agreement sometime this week that Reed has signed on with Scottsdale-based PXG.

The move would mark the second significant long-time free agent going back to an endorsement deal as Brooks Koepka signed with Cleveland/Srixon in November.

Of all the equipment free agents, Reed has used his freedom to play whatever he wanted perhaps more freely than any other player, having used gear from multiple companies, including PXG, over the past few years. Reed, in fact, was not under contract to any company when he won the Masters in 2018. Reed also has used equipment from non-mainstream companies such as wedges from Artisan Golf and irons from Grindworks (in fact, “Grindworks” still adorns the right-hand side of his cap).

The endorsement landscape in golf has shifted in recent years, with fewer companies and dollars available to players, but also one in which players have realized that the purses they are playing for (along with other endorsement opportunities outside equipment) are plentiful enough that playing what they feel most comfortable with more than offsets the gains from an equipment deal. Still, a player of Reed’s status as a major champion (along with being a free agent) likely means not only a lucrative deal, but one with terms his is more than comfortable with.

Although we’ll have to wait for an official announcement as to how many PXG clubs Reed will put in play, photos from Kapalua showed him with a 9-degree 0811X driver. Certainly, there will be more than that to come. Stay tuned.

The post Is Patrick Reed off the equipment free agent market? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Build it and they will come. Dream big when you get here and Dubai can deliver on that futuristic promise too. 

You’ll likely be familiar with those uniquely UAE clichés, if not the reality. Just in case it doesn’t resonate, may we kindly refer you to Alex Riggs, coach to (mostly above) average Joes and Janes everywhere, even NBA superstars. More on that career slam dunk with Steph Curry later.

The 35-year-old Canadian is a case study in turning an unexpected ex-pat life in the UAE into a thriving career built on sound institutional knowledge, an interminable work ethic and a contemporary entrepreneurial spirit.

Riggs has spent the past eight years in Dubai building his coaching credentials, the first three at the then Butch Harmon Academy and since then as a freelancer, lately based out of Trump International Golf Club, Dubai.

A natural ease in front of camera has seen the father-of-two become a regular print and online contributor to Golf Digest Middle East and opened doors to endorsements with PXG, Hublot and Under Armour, brands normally associated with high-profile touring pros rather than driving range instructors.

That’s where Riggs is a bit different to your old-school PGA Professional. While other teachers have dabbled in the digital realm, Riggs has easily transitioned to online tuition to the point where it is now a “huge, huge percentage of my business”. “I’ve got players in literally every country I can think of, at least 50 different countries. They send in videos, I review it, devise a plan they can work on and then report back. It’s working really well.

“I was doing it a bit pre-COVID but now it’s very, very strong. The demand for online coaching has exploded.”

While Riggs is heartened by the uptick in beginners taking lessons in the UAE post the COVID lockdown, he’s found a happy niche with lower handicappers and fledgling professionals. The ability to easily articulate complex theory via video means he is also now being discovered by wider international audiences although his latest big break with NBC Sport’s ‘GolfPass’ came, rather ironically, via an in-person lesson.

“Rory’s agent, Sean O’Flaherty, was in Dubai in November and came to see me for a lesson and one thing led to another. He liked my communication style, the content I’d been doing, and said ‘we need to get you on GolfPass’.”

That wasn’t a huge stretch given McIlroy has a financial stake in GolfPass, a direct-to-consumer membership offering he’s partnered Golf Channel and NBC in creating.

It wasn’t long before Riggs was off to Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando to shoot his “Level Up Golf’ concept, a tee to green instructional series with tips and drills for high, mid and low handicappers. Chances are you’ll have seen snippets on social media, the very mechanism that brought Riggs to Dubai in 2003 not long after he’d married Claudine, herself well known in these pages as a golf fitness advisor.

Riggs will forever be grateful for the “super random” Facebook message he received eight years ago, enquiring if the newlywed couple fancied a change of scenery in Dubai given their seasonal contract in Orlando had been fulfilled.

“Outside of the U.S., Dubai is unquestionably one of the best places in the world to be in terms of opportunities. The demand for golf coaching is very strong.” 

Mentoring players at the highest level means a move to the U.S. is “inevitable at some point.” In the meantime, Riggs is happy to base himself in Dubai and travel the globe working with players, his brand partnerships and creating more creative content. As a digital native, you’ll always be able to find him online @riggsgolf, exactly how Curry, the Golden State Warriors talisman and sometimes Korn Ferry Tour player, discovered the boy made good in Dubai.

“Steph Curry connected with me on Instagram then dropped me a DM. He liked my content and wanted to work together. I spent a bunch of time with him on his game in San Fran on the same trip. I did five States in five weeks including doing some work with PXG in Scottsdale.”

Yes, that quote, Riggs assures us, is as surreal to utter as it is to read.

“It’s ridiculously, crazy how things have taken off. I’m incredibly, incredibly grateful to have been given these opportunities in Dubai. It literally opens up the world, the people you come in contact with, those opportunities rarely happen anywhere else.

“I just want to keep trying to push myself to grow as a coach and get my players better, even faster. I want to keep working with players at the highest level and I know something will happen [on the PGA Tour] if I keep going.”

So stay tuned. Or should that be logged on.

The post Meet the Trump Dubai freelancer whose online influence has led to work with GolfPass. And a NBA superstar appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The raid was the result of the joint efforts of the U.S. Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group and 100 local Shanghai police officers, who raided 10 facilities at the same time operating in the online equipment business. Products included clubs and clubheads, shafts, grips and bags.

“We are thrilled that Chinese police were willing to take serious action against online counterfeits even during the pandemic,” said Kristin Strojan, legal counsel, trademark and brand protection at TaylorMade. “Counterfeiters have been taking advantage of the current situation, and counterfeit listings have become more rampant on the internet. We never stopped watching them even during these challenging times and continue to work with authorities worldwide to target online counterfeit sellers aggressively. This raid action sends a very strong message to the market that the Golf Group has zero-tolerance for counterfeit products and will continue to monitor the marketplace, both online and offline, to maintain the integrity of the game.”

The Shanghai raid involved operators that primarily distribute products to online retailers, all of whom do the majority of their business outside the U.S. During the raid 15 people were detained and later arrested. According to a press release, “The entire network, from the manufacturer of the club heads, shaft and grip suppliers, to owners of assembling workshops, shipping center and online chatting rooms, was rooted out completely.”

According to officials with the Working Group, the counterfeit sales were coming from the Chinese online site Taobao, the world’s largest e-commerce site that is a consumer-to-consumer site much like ebay. The sellers were named “prettyspor” and “buddygolf.” The products, representing the brands Titleist, TaylorMade, PXG, Ping, Callaway, and XXIO, would have shipped directly from China.

According to the Working Group, more than two million golf counterfeits are produced each year. Across all industries, it’s estimated the total value of counterfeit products globally is expected to reach $1.8 trillion by the end of this year.

A general rule of thumb for consumers wary of purchasing a counterfeit piece of golf equipment is to make sure the purchase is from an authorized retailer. The Working Group also cautions against consumers making purchases from online vendors based in China that they are unfamiliar with.

The Working Group is made up of six of the largest golf manufacturers in the world, including Acushnet (the parent of Titleist and FootJoy), Callaway (including Odyssey), SRI (Cleveland, Srixon and XXIO), Ping, PXG and TaylorMade.

The post 120,000 fakes seized in largest golf counterfeit raid ever appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Riggs
The long bunker shot is widely regarded as one of the trickiest in golf but amateurs across the Middle East know an even thornier challenge – the escape from a  desert lie. Chance are you’ll be familiar with the scenario; your ball bounds off into a gnarly lie carved out by mother nature or, worse still, one created by the last unfortunate soul to go off-piste. If you’re lucky, the lie won’t be too bad but almost inevitably, your un-cooperative sphere will nestle down into a rut or one of the deep trail of size 11 footprints that dot most holes in our sandy part of the golfing world. For most amateurs, the resulting escape attempt ends in a frustrating, blur of sand and dropped shots. But this needn’t be the case.

SIZE UP THE SAND
One key for successfully executing a desert sand shot is to first gain an understanding of the texture of the sand. Typically, the desert sand we encounter in the Middle East is extremely soft and powdery, necessitating an approach to the shot slightly different to that of a typical greenside bunker shot. The soft sand means the club will be prone to digging and consequently dramatically reducing clubhead speed just before contact. For this reason, it is very important to concentrate on the following steps:

1. Play one wedge stronger than what you would typically play for the required distance. For example, if it’s a 60-degree distance, play a 56-degree.

2. Open the wedge significantly to increase the effective bounce and prevent the wedge from getting too deep in the sand.

3. Swing with double the power you think you need. This is vitally important because the typical miss is short from desert sand. Don’t be shy with your speed. Blast through it!

Desert sand is not nearly as daunting as some make it out to be. Make sure to take the sand texture into consideration and when it’s soft, as it often is, follow the steps above to shave shots from your score. – with Kent Gray

Alex Riggs is a Canadian born golf coach who specialises in finding simple and effective strategies to lower scores. He is a Brand Ambassador for PXG and Under Armour. For lesson enquiries, contact Alex via riggsgolf@gmail.com or +971 55 497 7913

The post VIDEO: How to escape the Middle East’s often gnarly desert lies appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Mike Stachura
As technology improved in drivers, heads got bigger. More volume meant more technology to help you hit it farther and straighter. But with today’s irons, it’s sort of the opposite. The goal is to fit springlike face technology into a smaller, more attractive package. “The smaller you get, the more difficult it is,” says Paul Wood, Ping’s vice president of engineering. “There’s less room to pack the benefits of a larger shape.” The goal, he says, is simple: “Make an iron that looks like a muscle-back and flies like a game-improvement iron.” The result is a new category of “players distance” irons that have compact shapes and thin faces that produce faster ball speeds. Another benefit of thin faces? They flex in a way that launches shots higher than traditional compact irons, another distance booster. Here are five irons to consider.

TAYLORMADE P790 BLACK (Pictured above clockwise from left)
The matte-black special-edition irons have a sleek new look, but the horsepower is the same as the first version. The thin, L-shape face and hollow body are supported by a foam injection, and tungsten provides stability.

CALLAWAY ROGUE PRO BLACK
It’s got all the technology of the original Rogue Pro, including a thin wraparound cupface for distance and air-infused urethane in its shallow cavity for feel. The new all-black cosmetic stretches from head through shaft.

PING I500
The high-strength steel found in Ping’s game-improvement G700 is used for the i500’s forged face insert. The compact hollow body has the thin topline and minimum offset that better players like.

TOUR EDGE EXOTICS CBX IRON-WOOD
Based on the company’s driving irons, this full set uses an L-shape face insert of high-strength steel that overlaps around the sole for better distance—even on shots hit a groove low. The rounded sole and progressive offset improve turf interaction and confidence at address. RRP: US$900 (six clubs)

PXG 0311P GEN2
The luxury brand’s second generation of irons includes this P model, shaped like the original but with a thinner topline and less offset. A flexible face structure and pliable polymer filling in the hollow body boost distance.

The post These Five Compact Irons Bring The Heat appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By E. Michael Johnson
In team golf, the short game usually plays a huge role in either establishing or keeping momentum and that held true for Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy in winning the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. After riding the momentum provided by Scott Piercy’s opening-hole hole out Saturday, Billy Horschel hit a solid wedge shot on the 10th to tap-in birdie range and then a key pitch shot on the 11th to kick-in territory for another birdie to put them in position to win the title. A solid eight-foot par save putt by Horschel on the 17th helped maintain their one-stroke cushion over Jason Dufner and Pat Perez.

Piercy’s wedges are Titleist Vokey SM6 for his gap and sand wedge and a TVD 63-degree lob wedge. TVD stands for “Tour Van Design,” as many of the shape’s are derived directly from tour player feedback and done on site at tour events. Typically the TVD shape is lower in the heel area with a more rounded toe.

Horschel’s wedges are PXG’s milled 0311T model with his 52- and 57-degree wedges featuring the Sugar Daddy sole. The sole, inspired by Lydia Ko, has a moderate initial bounce angle with a blended sole design. His 61-degree boasts the Zulu sole, which is based on Zach Johnson’s specs. It features a bounce just off the leading edge with plenty of heel and toe relief and is designed to be used off firm, tight turf such as that seen nearly weekly on the PGA Tour. Also of note is that Horschel is using a prototype PXG driver and the company’s new 0311T Gen2 irons

The equipment used by Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Billy Horschel

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: PXG XXF, (Fujikura Speeder 661 Evolution 4), 10.5 degrees
3-wood: PXG 0341X, 15 degrees
5-wood: PXG 0341, 18 degrees
Irons (3, 5-PW): PXG 0311T Gen2
Wedges: PXG 0311T Sugar Daddy (52, 57 degrees); PXG 0311T Zulu Raw (61 degrees)
Putter: PXG Mustang

Scott Piercy
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: Titleist 917D2 (Accra Tour Z), 8.5 degrees
3-wood: Titleist 917F2, 16.5 degrees
Hybrid: Titleist 816H1, 21 degrees
Irons (4): Titleist 716 AP2; (5-9): Titleist 680; (PW): Titleist Vokey SM6
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM6 (53, 57 degrees); Titleist TVD (63 degrees)
Putter: Scotty Cameron T2

The post The clubs Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy used to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

According to the documents, TaylorMade details how PXG is violating seven TaylorMade patents in irons and woods. The 189-page counterclaim not only denies that TaylorMade is infringing any of the PXG patents, but also asks the court to prevent PXG from selling most of its current products, including all the PXG 0311 irons (0311, 0311T, 0311XF, 0311X) and PXG woods, including the 0811 drivers and 0341 fairway woods for violations of patents granted to TaylorMade between 2007 and 2016. 
The two companies have been in a legal tussle since PXG filed suit in September, accusing TaylorMade’s about-to-be-introduced P790 irons of violating eight PXG patents. PXG requested a hearing for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop the sale of the TaylorMade irons, but was denied the request three days after it was made.

PXG subsequently has brought in new lawyers for its case and its original lawyers withdrew in October. The new PXG lawyers include Brian Lacorte, an intellectual property lawyer with the Ballard Spahr firm based in Phoenix.

TaylorMade’s lawyers, from the Washington, D.C.-based intellectual property litigation firm Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein and Fox and the Phoenix-based Beuss, Gilbert, also requested that PXG’s case be dismissed for “failing to plausibly allege” that the P790 irons “practice even a single claim of the asserted patents.”

TaylorMade’s documents also make the case that five of the patents in PXG’s original lawsuit should be declared invalid “for failure to satisfy the conditions of patentability.”

In requesting the original PXG patent infringement case be dismissed, TaylorMade’s lawyers are citing a plausibility standard that requires a plaintiff to produce facts in its initial filing that “nudge their claims across the line from conceivable to plausible” that patents were infringed.

TaylorMade’s lawyers are saying PXG has failed to do just that. In its request for dismissal, TaylorMade’s motion states, “because PXG’s complaint fails to map the features of the P790 irons onto the limitations of even one claim, the complaint should be dismissed.”

TaylorMade’s denial of infringement of the PXG patents is not surprising (and already was originally argued by TaylorMade in winning September’s temporary restraining order hearing. Its decision to countersue PXG for patent infringement, however, suggests it’s not merely defending itself, it’s asking the court to do the same to PXG that PXG was asking the court to do to TaylorMade. Only in this case, TaylorMade isn’t interested in stopping the sale of just one product. It’s going after nearly all of PXG’s inventory.

A PXG spokeswoman declined to comment. A pre-trial scheduling hearing is set for next month.

The post TaylorMade now going after PXG in patent infringement dispute appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Riggs
The bunker shot is one many amateurs find difficult to conceptualise. For most sand escapes, you need to make a swing that has enough speed to hit the ball three to four times further than the flag (compared to the feeling for a shot played from grass). You’re also trying to hit it fat intentionally and finally you want to scoop the shot through impact, all kryptonite to most normal short game thinking.

I tell higher handicappers that their objective from the sand must be to escape first and hit the green second. Only once they’re 99% sure both those objectives will be achieved should they even consider firing at flags.

To get it close you have to judge distance and I’ve developed a simple method for short, medium and long sand shots by controlling the length of my arm swing.

For starters, you need to remember the bunker fundamentals as ever – think a wide stance, more knee bend than normal, hands low, ball position forward in the stance, wrist hinge going back and re-hinge going through. All you need to do then is practice varying the backswing length as I am here at Al Zorah G.C.

Always feel an aggressive acceleration through the ball, even on the short shot. By shortening the backswing, you will limit the resultant club head speed and by lengthening the backswing, you will increase it. The key is to practice the three different length backswings so that you can decide on call which one any given shot demands.

You will also find out the maximum distance for your sand wedge with a splash technique. This is important as shots that are further than that yardage may require a gap wedge or a different style of shot altogether.

Get the fundamentals right and then practice three different length swings. It’s an effective way to have options when you find yourself needing to get up and down from a greenside trap to save par. Good luck with the putt. —with Kent Gray

The post VIDEO: Distance control from bunkers appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By E. Michael Johnson
When Pat Perez signed with PXG earlier this year, some wondered how he fit in with PXG’s tour staff. Company founder and owner Bob Parsons had an answer.

“Pat likes us and has been an ally, a friend,” Parsons told Golf Digest at the time. “It’s like what my dad told me about dating. He said the number one thing to look for in a girlfriend is one who likes you. If she doesn’t, the rest doesn’t matter.

“Pat likes us and we like him and he wasn’t signed with anyone so I told our guys to get him. … Pat’s a local guy. I know him. He’s played very well. I love that he’s outspoken. I couldn’t see a reason not to sign him.”

Related: Pat Perez runs away with his third career PGA Tour victory at the CIMB Classic

Parsons is known for his business acumen so it should come as no surprise that the investment in Perez paid some additional dividends this week as Perez captured the CIMB Classic in Malaysia for his second PGA Tour win in his last 25 starts. Perez cruised to a four-shot victory over Keegan Bradley. Over 72 holes Perez made 27 birdies against just three bogeys.

To produce such numbers the putter needs to be working. Perez wielded a PXG Gunboat mallet at Kuala Lumpur G.C. The Gunboat is an extremely high MOI mallet-style putter with a single-bend shaft that creates a full-shaft of offset and a face-balanced hang angle. The 10 weights in the rear portion of the club can bring the putter anywhere between 360 and 400 grams, while also serving as an alignment aid.

What was in Pat Perez’s bag:
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: TaylorMade M2 2017 (Mitsubishi Tensei Pro White 70 TX), 9.5 degrees
3-wood: PXG 0317, 15 degrees
Hybrid: PXG 0317X, 19 degrees
Irons (3-4): PXG 0311XF; (5-PW): PXG 0311
Wedges: PXG 0311T (52, 60 degrees)
Putter: PXG Gunboat

The post The clubs Pat Perez used to win the CIMB Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Then there was Pat Perez. Practicing a few feet away, he was rocking a pair of black-and-white Jordan golf shoes and attired in a William Murray getup of the same colour scheme. His shoulder-length hair flowed out from under his flat-brimmed PXG hat, and his waistline looked like that of a man whose life and its rough edges has been well lived.

“I don’t like the way my swing looks on film … I think it looks terrible,” Perez said the day before. “There are so many positions I don’t like. I hate the follow-through, I get left, lean, my knees are in. There’s so many things I just don’t like about my game.

“It’s frustrating because I see these guys, perfect builds, they’re tall and they’re skinny and they’ve got all this strength. Then there’s me, who kind of waddles around. I don’t like working out. I like to sit, kind of do nothing.”

Of 46 tournaments played this year, 18 players aged 29 or younger have accounted for 27 wins on tour. At 41, Perez is the oldest player in the field at the tour’s season finale. The only other current player-caddie tenure longer than the one between Perez and looper Mike Hartford—who played on the same high-school team as Perez in San Diego, first caddied for him in the U.S. Public Links when the two were teenagers and used to drive him around town when Perez didn’t have a car—is that of Jim Furyk and Fluff Cowan.

None of this has stopped Perez from finding a rebirth in his game following season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder in the spring of 2016. If anything, it has only inspired him.

“That’s where all this motivation and stuff came from,” said Perez, who, despite 16 years on tour without ever losing his card, qualified for his first Tour Championship this year, then shot a 68 Thursday to sit four strokes off the lead of Kyle Stanley. “It just gave me a whole different look on life and golf in general. It’s easy to say yeah [it’s] because I’ve played well, but I’ve played well because of the fact that it was taken away from me.”

After sitting out eight months and wondering whether he’d even be able to play golf again following the surgery, Perez tied for 33rd in his first start back in Malaysia last fall. Two weeks later in Las Vegas, he tied for seventh. A week later, he shot a third-round 62 in Mexico and on the morning of the final round told his wife Ashley to “wear something nice” because he was going to win. He birdied the first hole, went out in 31 and won by two.

Save for a stretch in the middle of 2017 after the U.S. Open—when he more or less “took a month off” from practicing in part because he was burned out amid a stretch of three missed cuts in four starts (plus a DQ at the Porsche European Open for signing an incorrect scorecar)-—Perez hasn’t slowed down since the victory. On the season, he has four top-10s, which included a third-place finish at the winners-only event in Maui and a runner-up at the Wells Fargo Championship. In the last two FedEx Cup Playoff events, he tied for sixth at TPC Boston and last week finished 12th outside Chicago. He is also up to 33rd in the world.

Not only has Perez’s outlook changed, so has his game.

Following the surgery, coach Drew Steckel had to shorten Perez’s swing by about two feet because the previously long, languid move he put on the ball put too much pressure on the surgically-repaired shoulder. The downside is a loss of distance, putting him in the range of, say, Matt Kuchar, or not particularly long. Perez also started leaning on the experience of two decades in professional golf and has gotten better about missing in the right spots, according to Steckel. Always gifted with good hands, that made the short game even easier — Perez ranks sixth in strokes gained around the green and is sixth in scrambling from the rough.

Though Perez had already won in Mexico, he also got a confidence boost from a shot he hit during the third round of this year’s Masters, where he smoked a 5-iron from 220 yards over water to 10 feet on the par-5 15th. He missed the eagle putt but tied for 18th for his best result in three trips to Augusta National.

“That built a foundation,” Steckel said. “It was a big confidence booster because he had never played well there.”

Thursday at East Lake, Perez made four birdies over his first 10 holes to briefly tie for the lead. A bogey on 11, where he failed to get up and down from right of the par 3, and another on 14, where a wayward tee shot forced him to punch out, dropped him down the lederboard but far from out of it. In Perez’s eyes, he’s just getting going, and he’s enjoying every step of the walk.

“I just appreciate to be out here again,” he said. “Even though I have some bad days, I realize that I wasn’t here last year, I wasn’t playing and I didn’t know what was going to happen when I tried to hit my first shot again ever. I could have been out of the game forever. So it’s carried over to let’s enjoy it, let’s try hard but let’s remember what’s going on.

“I never thought it would take me this long to get here but it did, but it did somehow. But it’s all worked out. Try to beat these young punks. This [Brooks] Koepka, 70 yards by me in the middle of the fairway. That’s the thing that’s amazing about these guys, they’re long but they’re always in the fairway. Good luck.”

The post Pat Perez is antithesis of young successful tour players, but still hanging with them on leader board appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.