With one round to play at the Fortinet Championship, Sahith Theegala said: “I feel like I’m just scrambling my butt off a little bit.” It was more of the same on Sunday en route the 25-year-old’s first career PGA Tour win. Holding on to a five-shot lead at one point at Silverado Resort’s North Course, Theegala kept the momentum going with a big up-and-down from 36 yards for par on the par-4 13th hole. He followed it with a huge right-to-left sweeper from 20 feet for a birdie on 14 that left little doubt who was going to win in California.

Although Theegala never let up on Sunday — he made seven birdies while posting a closing four-under 68 for a two-shot win — there was no denying his short game and work with the putter kept things from going awry during the week. He got up and down 14 of 18 times with his Ping Glide wedges to rank third for the week in scrambling.

Although Theegala uses the Glide 4.0 for his 50- and 54-degree wedges, he sticks with the older Glide 2.0 TS (thin sole) for the lob wedge. “I’ve always preferred less bounce and a thinner sole on the lob wedge,” he told Golf Digest in 2021. “It’s pretty much the only club I use around the greens, even on a long pitch. I’ll just turn it in and hit a hook spinner. I don’t mess with the grinds. I love the way it sits on the ground. I feel like I can really get under the ball.”

He also was good at getting the ball in the hole, too. After ranking 118th in strokes gained/putting last year, he finished second in that category this week, picking up more than nine shots on the field. Theegala’s putter is a Ping TR 1966 Anser 2 model at 37 inches in length and 3 degrees of loft.

Also of note: Theegala switched irons this week to Ping’s Blueprint S model with True Temper Project X shafts.

Theegala averaged 302.8 yards off the tee with his Ping G430 LST driver, which is the low-spin version in the G430 line. “I’ve always fought spin a little with my driver,” Theegala said. “In fact, it was the worst club in my bag until the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of high school. Then I got fitted with the right head, shaft, length and it was game-changing. I’ve always hit down on the driver, so spin has been an issue, but LST is a low-spin driver so things are really good now.”

Even better with PGA Tour win No. 1 under his belt.

What Sahith Theegala had in the bag at the 2023 Fortinet Championship
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: Ping G430 LST (Project X HZRDUS TX), 10.5 degrees
5-wood: Ping G430 Max, 18 degrees
Irons (3): Ping i210; (4-PW): Ping Blueprint S
Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 (50, 54 degrees); Ping Glide 2.0 (58 degrees)
Putter: Ping TR 1966 Anser 2

The post What’s In My Bag: The clubs Sahith Theegala used to win the 2023 Fortinet Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

You can say a lot of things were the difference between Wyndham Clark winning the US Open and Rory McIlroy not, but perhaps the most glaring difference was Clark’s short-game sorcery from seemingly impossible positions — and McIlroy’s inability to get up-and-down after a rules-related break on the par-5 14th.

After a tee shot at the short par-4 sixth found the barranca fronting the green, Clark hit a nifty pitch from the junk to make birdie and take a two-shot lead on McIlroy and four over Rickie Fowler. Clark then dumped his approach on the eighth into the barranca again and after leaving it in there on the first attempt, made an amazing bogey save to minimise the damage.

There was more to follow. A wonder up-and-down for par at the par-3 ninth was followed by a sick pitch shot from long left on par-3 11th for yet another big par save to stay a shot ahead of McIlroy. One more clutch up and down at 17 capped the magic show. Not bad for a guy who had a previous best major finish of T-75.

Clark’s wedges are Titleist’s Vokey SM9 model with a 46-degree pitching wedge and 52- and 56-degree gap and sand wedges. His 60-degree lob wedge is a Vokey SM9 WedgeWorks model with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts.

Clark then put the hammer down on the par-5 14th. Leading by two after McIlroy’s misstep, Clark unleashed a mammoth, high cutting 3-wood from 279 yards that thread the needle and found the green, leading to a two-putt birdie and a three-shot cushion.

His 3-wood is a 16.5-degree TaylorMade Stealth 2 with a Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 80 TX shaft.

Of course, to win a US Open you need to putt well. Much was made during the week of Clark using a replica of Rickie Fowler’s Odyssey Jailbird Versa with a mid-length shaft and 17-inch SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 3.0 grip. For those not familiar with the story, Clark addressed it in his Saturday press conference.

“We were playing at Medalist where he belongs in Florida, and I hadn’t been putting good, and this was right before Bay Hill,” said Clark. “I played with Rickie, and he just made every single putt. Afterwards we were practising a little bit and I hit a couple and I was like, oh, gosh, this is really nice.

“So I texted the Odyssey guy, and I said, hey, can you make me Rickie’s putter? And he’s like, well what specs? I said, the exact same. So I literally had the exact same putter. … He changed the grip and cut it an inch, so I was like, all right, I got to change the grip and cut it an inch.”

Fowler’s putter model or not, Clark putted like Rickie in finishing fourth in strokes gained/putting, picking up nearly two shots on the field.

Clark’s work on the green can be attributed to more than just his putter, however. His ball marker might have offered an inspirational assist as well, give what he told Golf Digest in 2019.

“A good friend of mine made this ball marker for me and gave it to me as a gift,” he said. “It’s pretty awesome. My mom passed away on August 2, 2013 and she always told me to play big. He made me a ball marker that says to play big and has a bible verse on it. It’s always a reminder of her when I’m playing. It gives me some perspective when things aren’t going well and also when I am playing well. It lets me know she’s looking down on me.”

Looking down on him holding the US Open trophy up high.

What Wyndham Clark had in the bag at the 2023 US Open
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: Titleist TSi3 (Accra TZ Six ST 60 M5) 9 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2, 16.5 degrees
Irons (3): Titleist T200; (4-9): Titleist 620 CB; (PW): Titleist Vokey SM9
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9 (52, 56 degrees); Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks (60 degrees)
Putter: Odyssey O-Works Jailbird Mini

The post What’s in my bag? A closer look at the clubs Wyndham Clark used for his magical up-and-downs at LACC appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

On the first playoff hole Thomas used his Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks 60-degree wedge to stuff an approach close enough to roll in a birdie to saw off Zalatoris’ birdie on the par-5 13th. Then on the second hole, JT unleashed a bomb with his 15-degrees Titleist TS3 3-wood that carried 288 yards and landed just in front of the green on the short, par-4 17th before bounding onto the green, leading to another birdie that thrust him into the lead. A final hole par sealed the win.

Although not in the limelight until late on the final nine, Thomas got back in it with a one-two punch at the 11th and 12th holes, knocking the ball in from 64 feet at 11 and following it up with a 18-footer for birdie on the following him. A solid up-and-down birdie at the short par-4 17th put him in just enough position when Pereira faltered.

Thomas’ putting was key to his game all week. Thomas switched to a new Scotty Cameron by Titleist Phantom X 5 Knuckle Neck prototype mallet just this week. Thomas had the putter at his Florida home and practiced with it during his time off. Although it is similar in shape to the putter he put in the bag at last year’s Open Championship in appearance, there are differences.

Chief among them are the neck and sound. “With the sound, he felt the new one was a bit hollow,” said Titleist’s PGA Tour putter rep Drew Page. “In order to make the sound similar to what he was playing we added an aluminium plate across the back cavity. This adjustment made it similar to what he was used to hearing and accomplished what he was seeking.”

The neck configuration also is new. “The neck in the new putter helps with his face closure and provides stability,” said Page. “He went away from the smaller slant neck and feels like he is seeing his start lines better, which in turn, gives him more confidence.”

Apparently so as Thomas was second in strokes gained/putting at Southern Hills, gaining 6.323 strokes on the field.

Thomas’ iron play also was on target as he ranked second in the field greens in regulation at 69.44 per cent with his 621.JT custom muscle-back blade irons with Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet cord grips. Thomas first put the irons in play at the CJ Cup in October but has been partial to muscle-backs for some time. Titleist PGA Tour rep JJ Van Wezenbeeck explained why to Golf Digest last year.

“These guys are playing green speeds, green firmness and pin positions that golfers who play on the weekend don’t face,” says Van Wezenbeeck. “For a player like Justin Thomas to use the slopes and contours of the green when they have 7-iron or less into the hole, he’s really having to shape the golf ball into that spot and using a muscle-back blade iron really helps him do that while helping him control his vertical flight as well.”

Or enough control to win his second major championship.

What Justin Thomas had in the bag at the 2022 PGA Championship
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: Titleist TSi3 (Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 60), 10 degrees
3-wood: Titleist TS3, 15 degrees
5-wood: Titleist 915Fd, 18 degrees
Irons (4): Titleist T100; (5-9): Titleist 621.JT prototype; (PW): Titleist Vokey SM9
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9 (52, 56 degrees); Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks (60 degrees)
Putter: Scotty Cameron by Titleist X 5 tour prototype

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The post PGA Championship 2022: The clubs Justin Thomas used to win at Southern Hills 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.