PGA / LPGA / personal golf

[Omnis]

My US Ryder Cup team:

1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Brooks Koepka
3. Cameron Young
4. Patrick Cantlay
5. Xander Schauffele
6. Rickie Fowler
7. Dustin Johnson
8. Collin Morikawa
9. Sam Burns
10. Max Homa
11. Jordan Spieth
12. Wyndham Clark

Sub Finau or JT for DJ if they don't allow him to go. I've never seen Wyndham Clark play a match so I don't know if he has that dog in him. The US has an embarrassment of riches and it seems like Europe is doomed. Change my mind.

 

[MagpieRacer]

My US Ryder Cup team:

1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Brooks Koepka
3. Cameron Young
4. Patrick Cantlay
5. Xander Schauffele
6. Rickie Fowler
7. Dustin Johnson
8. Collin Morikawa
9. Sam Burns
10. Max Homa
11. Jordan Spieth
12. Wyndham Clark

Sub Finau or JT for DJ if they don't allow him to go. I've never seen Wyndham Clark play a match so I don't know if he has that dog in him. The US has an embarrassment of riches and it seems like Europe is doomed. Change my mind.

Interesting, so you'd take DJ over JT on merit? Not sure I would personally.

My European team:
1. Rory McIlroy
2. Jon Rahm
3. Victor Hovland
4. Matt Fitzpatrick
5. Tyrrell Hatton
6. Tommy Fleetwood
7. Shane Lowry
8. Robert MacIntyre
9. Sepp Straka
10. Justin Rose
11. Adrian Meronk
12. Yannick Paul

US is strong on paper with names but lacks some form. It'll be close but Europe win it this year.

 

[Omnis]

Absolutely. Especially in match play. DJ is still the best out there when he gets going. JT has been a shell of himself since he won the PGA and this LIV stuff happened. He gets behind and hasn't shown that he can pull himself together again. Drinking too much Rose with Homa.

The euro team is basically the OWGR euro region players.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Absolutely. Especially in match play. DJ is still the best out there when he gets going. JT has been a shell of himself since he won the PGA and this LIV stuff happened. He gets behind and hasn't shown that he can pull himself together again. Drinking too much Rose with Homa.

The euro team is basically the OWGR euro region players.

Usually how it falls, with the exception of the Liv guys it's more or less the same for the US team.

Does DJ have the dressing room like JT though? It's a team game after all, and for how bad JT was on day 1 at The Open, he still finished 2 shots clear of DJ with his head out of the game. I think if I was picking DJ it wouldn't be at the expense of Thomas, think I'd be dropping Burns or Homa for DJ.

 

[Omnis]

Yeah, but golf is like that isn't it? Half of the golf world is country club ol' boys club. In contrast, DJ doesn't care and just wanted a couple million to keep his Gretzky princess happy and live that lifestyle lol. He's playing like a retired golfer now, but you'd think he would lock in and play to his true ability for something like the Ryder Cup. Actually, you could say the exact same thing for JT. But Justin is clearly more engaged, so you're probably right to include him over DJ.

One thing I didn't know about Brian Harman was just how many Top 10 finishes he's had over his career. Dude is always so close to winning at so many events. And he plays better when he gets pissed off, so maybe it's a mistake to leave him off the team, too. Like I said, the US has sooo many good golfers. It would be so much easier if the teams were 16 v 16

 

[MagpieRacer]

Got some new irons this week. Really wasn't getting on with the Fly XL package set ones. Got a great deal on Cobra Forged Tec One set, 5-PW. One meaning one length, every club is the same length as a 7 iron, helps with consistent setup and striking. Will take a little bit of getting used to, the pitching wedge in particular feels a bit odd at first. Overall they feel absolutely fantastic after I took them up to the driving range yesterday evening using their GC Quad Foresight bay.

Stronger lofts on them, so there is quite a big gap from my 52 degree Gap wedge and the pitching wedge which is 44 degree, nearly 30 yards cross those 2. Didn't get enough good clean strikes with the 6I but flushed the 5 so that gap looks bigger but realistically will be close to 10-12 yards. I'm ignoring the 3I (utility iron) and driver numbers as I didn't get any good strikes which either. They would normally sit around 180 and 220 respectively. Didn't swing the 3 or 5 woods.

 

[Omnis]

What's going on with the 5 iron? That's a massive gap. You should make sure it's bent to the right loft, maybe go a bit upright. I would look for a Forged Tec approach wedge to match your irons. If you can land it at 100 yards all day, then you can count up by 10 yards for each club in the bag. What's the flight look like on your driving iron? Would probably drop that club and go with 4W + 7W to round out the bag.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Yeah the 6I and driving iron didn't get the best hits for the data, I'd expect to be hitting the 6 into the high 150s average and the driving iron I know I hit 190-200 on the course, use it on a 190 par 3 and it's a bit too much sometimes.

After I get a few rounds under my belt with them I'll head back to the range and redo the numbers and hopefully get a better reading. But I'm definitely going to look for the Forged Tec One wedge to close that gap at the bottom.

 

[Omnis]

Just get a regular Forged Tec gap wedge (49) or any other wedge at 48. You'll need to transition to the length of the rest of your wedges anyway.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Used them on the course for the first time today. Shot 50 for 9 holes, best score for a little while. 3 pars on the card and a poor 9, (double fairway slice, penalty drop, wasn't good). 2 of the pars were the 2 par 3s, using my new irons to tee off and put both tee shots on the greens. Par on the 9th as well after a risky chip shot around a tree.

Shot of the day though was a 6iron out of some heavy rough and long Fescue grass. Hit it just shy of 155 yards, left a little chip to the green but from the lie I had it was a beauty.

 

[Omnis]

When I went golfing a couple weeks ago, I first tried the local city course, but they didn't have any times available. Then this popped up on my Youtube feed:



Most courses close for punching greens. Here, they also close for shooting greens.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Watching Rory and Scottie did make me wonder if they should be using each others putters 😅, looks like Scottie could use a little more weight and forgiveness whilst Rory looks like he'd handle a blade better based in his striking. Just needed one of those birdie putts to drop and Clarks final few holes would have been very different for him.

I posted this after the US Open, and, bizarrely, ahead of the FedEx Cup playoffs which started today. They've done almost exactly what I half jokingly suggested they do.

Scottie Scheffler has sidelined his Scotty Cameron Select blade and is using a TaylorMade Spider prototype mallet putter. Rory has taken out his TaylorMade Spider mallet and is using a Scotty Cameron Phantom 5.5 half mallet. Let's see if they improve.

 

[MagpieRacer]

The first 6 locked in for Team USA are:

Scottie Scheffler
Wyndham Clark
Max Homa
Xander Schauffele
Bryan Harman
Patrick Cantlay

Homa, Clark and Harman will be making their first Ryder Cup appearances, so I'd expect captains picks to lean on some experience.
Schauffele doing enough at the BMW Championship to push Koepka out of the automatic places. Meaning any LIV players will need to be picked by Zach Johnson to go. I fully expect him to pick Koepka, but based on Dechambeaus comments recently about having no communication with Johnson, it seems unlikely that he will get a pick.

My prediction for USA captains picks:
Rickie Fowler
Tony Finau
Collin Morikawa
Sam Burns
Brooks Koepka
Jordan Spieth

 

[Omnis]

Keegan Bradley and Cam Young got robbed. Absolutely disgusting. No way JT should be on the team, but he's only there because his buddies Homa and Spieth are there. Golf is such a frat game lol.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Keegan Bradley and Cam Young got robbed. Absolutely disgusting. No way JT should be on the team, but he's only there because his buddies Homa and Spieth are there. Golf is such a frat game lol.

Disagree. I wouldn't be taking Bradley or Young. JT has been top class in Ryder cups before and his partnership with Spieth is a force to be reckoned with. So whilst I didn't pick him in my picks, I totally get why he's there and he's probably going to be one of USAs top performers.

 

[Omnis]

Honestly, with the way the guys have been playing lately, I can easily see Europe winning 7 of 12 matches. Putting has been killing Morikawa and Scheffler from the coverage I've seen.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Honestly, with the way the guys have been playing lately, I can easily see Europe winning 7 of 12 matches. Putting has been killing Morikawa and Scheffler from the coverage I've seen.

Scheffler was looking better when he switched to the Spider putter, then he went back to his Scotty Cameron and fell away again. Rory's putting hasn't been much better and Fleetwood has had struggles too. I think it's going to be a Europe win but I think it's going to be very close.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Automatic spots for Europe are complete. MacIntyre is in and Fitzpatrick edges out Fleetwood.


My picks from here would be:
Tommy Fleetwood
Adrian Meronk
Sepp Straka
Yannick Paul
Shane Lowry
Ludvig Aberg

 

[Omnis]

Honestly, who else they got?

 

[MagpieRacer]

Outside of my picks, the Hojgaard brothers, Justin Rose, Victor Perez, Adrian Otaegui, Alex Bjork, Marcel Siem. And if Aberg is in the question then in form Alex Fitzpatrick has to be in the conversation as well.

 

[MagpieRacer]

European captains picks are in.

Tommy Fleetwood
Sepp Straka
Justin Rose
Shane Lowry
Nikolai Hojgaard
Ludvig Aberg

Aberg turned pro in June, remarkable rise in his career in a short time. First time a player has appeared in the Ryder Cup before playing in a major.

Slightly surprised at Justin Rose but he brings a huge amount of experience to the team.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Finally finished rebuilding my setup, after taking up golf again in May after over ten years out, I had bought the Cobra Fly XL package. But as we golfers do, it’s all been changed up. Package sets are great for beginners but even after a long time out, it was proving to be a struggle for me. So here’s my setup now.

Driver: Cobra RadSpeed 9 degree, Fujikura Motore X F3 regular shaft.
3 wood: Cobra SpeedZone 14.5 degree, Mitsubishi Tensei AV Series Blue regular shaft.
Hybrid: Cobra SpeedZone 3 hybrid 19 degree, UST Recoil stiff shaft.
Utility: Cobra King Utility 3 iron 21.5 degree, Project X Catalyst 60 regular graphite shaft.
Irons: Cobra King Forged Tec One Length, 5-GW, KBS $-Taper lite steel shafts.
Wedges: Cobra King Black One Length, 56 and 60 degree, Dynamic Gold Wedge flex steel shafts.
Putter: Cleveland Huntington Beach Soft 4, 34”, Lamkin Soft pistol grip.

Everything except the 3 wood have Cobra connect Lamkin Crossline grips with the Arccos tracking sensors. The 3 wood has a Golf Pride tour velvet.

Balls wise I’m currently gaming the Mizuno RB566, but have been using the TaylorMade Tour Response a lot prior to that.

First round with this set (driver was the last addition last week) was at a USGA rated championship course in the east of England called Dunston Hall. It was an absolute beauty with some stunning holes, and a very challenging, but fun, back 9.

 

[Omnis]

Wow, my friend, those are some beautiful grounds. I absolutely LOVE playing bentgrass golf. It's so different from the Bermuda and now dwarf paspalum going in everywhere here in Florida. Nothing digs when you're swinging with the grain-- feels like magic. To be perfectly honest, your club setup is as good as it gets. The last 3 generations of golf equipment have been the last plateau as far as game-improving technology is concerned. They should serve you well for years and years. I still love my Cobra hybrid with the rails... love that ball bearing striking an anvil sound that it makes when you flush one.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Wow, my friend, those are some beautiful grounds. I absolutely LOVE playing bentgrass golf. It's so different from the Bermuda and now dwarf paspalum going in everywhere here in Florida. Nothing digs when you're swinging with the grain-- feels like magic. To be perfectly honest, your club setup is as good as it gets. The last 3 generations of golf equipment have been the last plateau as far as game-improving technology is concerned. They should serve you well for years and years. I still love my Cobra hybrid with the rails... love that ball bearing striking an anvil sound that it makes when you flush one.

Yeah was a stunning course to play, very different from my usual haunt which is very flat and quite open.

Yeah I did a good amount of research before buying various bits and just couldn’t justify/understand spending more than absolutely necessary. The 2021 Forged Tec irons I have, are only slightly different visually but have almost identical tech, and that’s pretty much the same through everything. I mean, the new AeroJet stuff from Cobra, the driver seems to have less technology around the face vs the RadSpeed, SZ and LTDx and the fairways and hybrids don’t have the baffler rails which I think is kind of the USP of Cobra and makes enough difference for me to consider the AeroJets a step back.

Got some cracking deals for everything too which helps, £30 for the 3 wood for example.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Getting dialled in with my new Cobra RadSpeed driver now. Hit a couple bombs today with it. I think the key to getting distance weirdly has been learning to swing it harder. I know that sounds obvious with a golf club but the Fly XL driver didn’t respond to me increasing swing speed, it would just wildly slice or hook, the RadSpeed seems to respond to to me swinging harder at it and my drivers are getting straighter as I purposely chase club head speed.

Same 2 holes below, with the old driver. Similar conditions as well so good indicator of what I’ve gained.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Ryder Cup 2023, Friday morning foursomes have been decided and are ready to tee off nice and early. Some interesting match ups early doors.

 

[Omnis]

Well, the Ryder Cup is here. Team USA stinking it up already. Amazing save by Scheffler on hole 1 though.

edit: God, the rough there is basically St. Augustine grass. Whoever planted that should be shot. Definitely makes for a real no-go zone though.

edit 2: Man, I can't watch the Fowler/Morikawa group. These guys are horrible. Might as well have brought Joe Blow off the muni track. No cojones, these guys. Can't believe Bryson isn't there after his latest LIV performances.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Well, the Ryder Cup is here. Team USA stinking it up already. Amazing save by Scheffler on hole 1 though.

edit: God, the rough there is basically St. Augustine grass. Whoever planted that should be shot. Definitely makes for a real no-go zone though.

edit 2: Man, I can't watch the Fowler/Morikawa group. These guys are horrible. Might as well have brought Joe Blow off the muni track. No cojones, these guys. Can't believe Bryson isn't there after his latest LIV performances.

Regarding the rough, you’re welcome 😁. Host team set up the course and they went aggressive with it for sure. Risky but it’s paying off.

Fleetwood holes his putt on 17, that’s 4 from 4 for Europe. 4-0 after the first session. What an absolutely phenomenal start.

Fourballs are lined up for the afternoon:


All very interesting matches.

 

[Omnis]

These guys look like they don't even care to be there. Shocking display from Team USA on the morning matches. Zach Johnson should resign if Europe sweeps the entire day. Scheffler not being paired with the best putter is shocking. You don't play the last two Dell Match Play finalists in the same foursomes group. That makes ZERO sense.

 

[Omnis]

This is the worst coverage of a Ryder Cup I've ever seen. There is NO hype. Cameras didn't even capture Spieth's hole-out. What is going on in Italy? Sheesh.

edit: Glad I'm not alone...