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GolfWRX Morning 9: Mickelson: I overdid it | Masters of Monday qualifying | JT on TW-Phil PPV

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By Ben Alberstadt ([email protected])

October 9, 2018

Good Tuesday morning, golf fans. Happiest of happy birthdays to my eminently better half.
1. Kings of qualifying
John Feinstein filed an excellent look at some eminent Monday qualifiers and the mindset necessary to succeed at the birdie bonanzas.
  • A few morsels…””You have to approach it almost like match play,” says Reed, who played in 12 events as a rookie in 2012-half of them out of Monday qualifiers. “Every hole is important. You have to try to birdie every hole, be very aggressive. Because there’s almost no score that’s guaranteed to be low enough. If you think being five under after six holes is good enough, you probably aren’t going to make it. You have to come out firing.”
  • “Jason Gore, who has gone from Mondays to being a PGA Tour winner, then back to Mondays, remembers a Monday in New Orleans a few years back in which he shot 64 and went to a nearby barbecue place to celebrate.”
  • “By the time we sat down, I was tied for the last playoff spot,” he says. “I decided to finish my barbecue and go back to the golf course for the playoff, and I made it.”
2. I may have overdone it
Phil Mickelson says his 24 starts this season were too many. And judging by how gassed Lefty was down the stretch, you’d have to agree with him.
  • Golf Channel’s Will Gray…”Mickelson had a resurgent 2018 season at age 48, breaking a five-year victory drought at the WGC-Mexico Championship in March. That win highlighted a hectic season that saw Lefty make 24 official starts, including a return to the Tour Championship, the most since he played 26 events in 2002.”
  • “Mickelson struggled to find his form at the Ryder Cup, but he quickly flew back west to play in the season-opening Safeway Open where he moved into early contention with an opening 65 before fading to a T-17 finish. Mickelson’s start in Napa was his eighth event in the last 10 weeks, dating back to the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, and afterwards he told reporters that he might need to make some edits for 2019.”
  • “I’ve made a bit of a mistake this year that I’m going to learn from as far as playing too many events in a row, and not being able to recover and be as sharp as I want to be when I do play,” Mickelson said. “That’s something I’ll have to work on in the coming months and years.”
3. “0% chance”
Does this matter? Should it? Can we draw wider conclusions? Do you think JT’s remarks are representative of sentiment on Tour?
  • Our Gianni Magliocco writes…”Next month’s pay-per-view event between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson has split opinions, and until now, fellow PGA Tour professionals have not had their say publicly on the match. While participating in a Q&A with fans on social media, Justin Thomas was asked whether or not he’ll be ordering the match between the two golfing legends.
  • JT’s tweet: “Love TW and Phil to death…. but there’s a 0% chance I order that. I’ll be watching football!”
4. ICYMI: The Barn Rat is a PGA Tour member
One of professional golf’s most dynamic and intriguing individuals, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, makes his first start as a PGA Tour member this week at the CIMB Classic.
  • PGATour.com staff report...”The big-hitting Kiradech, who became the first Thai to earn a PGA TOUR card following top-five finishes at two World Golf Championships events earlier this year, will be amongst the Asian contingent eager to register a victory at the US$7 million CIMB Classic, which begins at TPC Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.”
  • “It’s like a dream come true. When I was a kid, my goal has been to be a part of the PGA TOUR. Twenty years later, I hold a Tour card, I can’t explain how it feels but it is such a good moment for me.  To play my first PGA TOUR event, my first full card in Asia, especially in Malaysia, it feels like everything has happened in my golf career,” said Kiradech in a press conference today.
5. The Nike driver that never was
WRX Staff spotted an Instagram post by user @oli_willson, an “ex-Nike Golf employee” according to his Insta bio, shows a Nike “VPR Srike” driver that apparently would have come out in 2017 had Nike not decided to exit the hard goods section of the golf industry.
Picture above (obviously…more here.
6. Champ smashes it
Alex Myers with a quick-hitter on how Cameron Champ, the Web.com Tour’s biggest hitter last year, translated to the big show in his first start.
  • “But while Champ “only” averaged 328.6 yards on those selected shots, he led the way with his average distance of all drives at 317.1. But even those numbers don’t tell the full story of the 23-year-old’s staggering raw power.”
  • “When it comes to average clubhead speed and ball speed, Champ was easily No. 1 at 129.66 mph and 192.67 mph. Fellow bomber Brandon Hagy, who sat out most of last season with a wrist injury, was second at 125.14 and 186.32. And winner Kevin Tway showed he can really move it off the tee as well, finishing seventh and eighth in the two metrics.”
  • “To put these numbers in better perspective, Keith Mitchell led the PGA Tour in average clubhead speed last season at 124.67 and no one else was above 123. Trey Mullinax led the tour in ball speed last season at 182.22, followed by Tony Finau (181.81) and Rory McIlroy (181.57). Simple math tells us that Champ’s Safeway Open average numbers were five and TEN mph faster in those two categories. Remarkable.”
7. The JP Experience is over
A five-year partnership between Titleist and wedge maker JP Harrington – the man some believed would succeed Bob Vokey – has come to an end.
  • Last May, Titleist launched the JP Wedge Experience – a high-end wedge fitting and custom building conducted by Harrington himself. You can see many of the fruits of that labor on the James Patrick Golf Instagram.
  • Little beyond the “Experience,” however, emerged publicly from the five-year partnership. Whether Harrington will join forces with another OEM or return to solo work – likely no longer in his mother’s garage in Minnesota – remains to be seen.
8. Never too early…  
…to place a few Masters futures bets. Golfweek’s Brentley Romine with a look at the latest odds via Westgate Las Vegas Superbook.
  • “Tiger Woods was already the betting favorite to win the 2019 Masters. Now, his odds to win have gotten better.”
  • “Woods went from a 10-to-1 favorite to slip on the green jacket next April at Augusta National to most recently a 9-to-1 favorite, according to the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook.”
  • “The 14-time major winner has won four Masters, most recently in 2005. He won the Tour Championship last month for his first PGA Tour victory since 2013.”
  • “Jordan Spieth is next at 10-1 while Dustin Johnson is 12-1. Rory McIlroy is listed at 14-1 along with Justin Thomas. Defending champion Patrick Reed is 30-1…Bryson DeChambeau’s odds have improve the most since betting opened on Aug. 12, going from 60-1 to 30-1.”
9. And if you really want to look ahead…
2020 Olympics teams(s) projections, courtesy of the mysterious undead purveyor of all things OWGR on Twitter, Nosferatu.

Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

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Most birdies without breaking par – GolfWRXers discuss

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In our forums, one user is wondering how many birdies other players have had in a round while still failing to break par. @Lalan45, unfortunately, asked the question after a unique experience of their own.

They wrote:

“Today I managed 8 birdies but still shot even par, could have been a round to remember! What’s the most birdies you’ve made in a round and still didn’t break par?”

Our members in the forum shared their own experiences with successful rounds that still resulted in a score over par. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

  • kwcsports: “I’ve had 5 a few times, still shot 80+ haha.”
  • jda: “I played a course for the first time, had 8 birdies, 9 doubles and an eagle. The infamous no-par round. I kept the scorecard. Every shot had a creek that I did not know about, or I was within 8-10 feet for a birdie look. To this day, I have no idea if I should be really jacked up or mad about that performance.”
  • jvincent: “I think my record is either 5 or 6. Probably shot 75.”
  • Instron4204: “3 birdies and shot a 92…man I suck!”

Entire Thread: “Most Birdies Without Breaking Par.”

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Best current stock shaft 2026 – GolfWRXers discuss

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In our forums, one user is asking for thoughts on the best stock shafts offered in 2026. Stock shafts are the shafts included with a club when it’s purchased from retailers or OEMs.

@DTorres asked:

The last couple years has seen a lot of updates and additions to no upcharge stock shafts, which do you think is the best offering in 2026?

Im a bit of a shaft nerd and recently during my Members Testing with the Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond I found the updated Project X Denali Frost Black to be a fantastic stock shaft. I absolutely did not mesh well with the original Denali. Just curious what other people think are the current best Stock shaft offerings out with new models and stock Ventus options and LinQ options popping up here and there.

We were given the option for any stock shafts for our members review. I went with the 70g Black Frost 6.5 because it’s a shaft I don’t have, it’s an updated version of the original Denali and hear little about. I typically use a Diamana WB, GD VF or a HOF Raptor. I’m not saying it was neck and neck with any of those but it was a pleasant surprise I’m not accustomed to in stock shaft offerings.

Our members in the forum have been offering up their own thoughts on the best stock shafts available in 2026. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

  • rsballer10: “IMO – MCA Ka’ili White Darkwave, Tensei 1k Black/white, UST Lin-Q White. People are free to spend their money however they see fit, but for me personally the shaft catalogs these days have enough options that I don’t see the value of a $400 upcharge. I have never had a problem finding a no upcharge shaft that fits the bend profile and weight that I need. Whether the paint job is good enough or not is above my pay scale.”
  • bcflyguy1: “Project X Titan Black. I’ve had one in 60TX in my Quantum TD Max for several weeks now. Have to give Titlieist their flowers for finding a way to make it available as a featured option; very shrewd bit of business and one that I suspect will be duplicated by the other companies. TT/PX have a certified banger on their hands with Titan.”
  • CTG77: “Undoubtedly, it’s the Tensei 1K RIP shafts from Titleist. The Tensei line gives about 98% of the performance of a Ventus VeloCore+ shaft at a tiny fraction of the cost if you’re looking for a blue or red profile. The white is not an exact match for Ventus Black, but it’s closer to it than the non-VeloCore+ Ventus shafts that come from Callaway or formerly came from TaylorMade.”

Entire Thread: “Best current stock shaft 2026.”

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GolfWRX’s Father’s Day Gift Guide (2026)

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A reminder from your friends at GolfWRX: Father’s Day is June 21. And as we do every year, we’re rounding up the best gifts for dad.

As we say every year, there’s no better golf-related Father’s Day gift than a round of golf with pops. Be it a country club or your favorite muni, take the time to get together to play 18 if you can.

Let’s get to the gifts.

Ghost Golf Qualifier Diamond Polo

We like the new polos that Ghost is offering, as the fabric and fit are so good. These new Qualifier Collection polos breathe well, are lightweight, stretch with your swing, and of course look great. You can wear them on the course, in the office, or just out at a casual event and they will fit right in.

Buy here.

STR8-Strip Grip Tape Remover

If your dad is an equipment aficionado and tinkers with his clubs, this tool works wonders. Removing grip tape has never been easier, just put a little head on the tape and the STR8-Strip peals it right off the shaft without any damage.

Buy here.

Why Golf: Putting Thing

When it comes to practice, it is good to have a purpose. This “Putting Thing” sure does it. We know from personal experience how challenging it can be and how rewarding it is on the practice green. This also provides some competition for your kiddo to see who will unload the dishwasher or do the next chore around the house.

Buy here.

OluKai Lae‘ahi Men’s Breathable Slip-On Shoes

Riding to and from the course in style and comfort is always a good thing. If you’re in a hurry, it’s a nice feature to slide into your shoes and get to the tee time. For the post-game shoe, at your locker or while putting your clubs away in the car. Nice to slide into a shoe that looks good anywhere. Pair that with meeting the family for dinner, no need to change!

Buy here.

Therabody Theragun Relief

A little wellness goes a long way. Keeping loose is a good way to go when it comes to the weekend game or treatment during the week. If there is a little ache or pain, the Theragun is there to help out. Help loosen up the back for a pre-game warm-up or cool-down. 

Buy here.

World Cup golf apparel

Something for the soccer dads. Embrace the World Cup fever this summer on the course with custom gear to support the nation of your choice.

Buy here.

FootJoy Pro SL spikeless golf shoes

Give the old man a break and save his feet with the Footjoy Pro SL Men’s Spikeless Golf Shoes for some added comfort on the course.

Buy here.

Bushnell Wingman 2 GPS speaker

Combine all the hits as well as some game improvement with the Wingman 2 Golf GPS Speaker by getting audible distance readings from 38,000+ courses worldwide through the Wingman 2 remote or speaker.

Buy here.

Personalized Titleist Pro V1 golf balls

The No. 1 ball in golf is a safe bet, and the Pro V1 fits the largest chunk of the bell curve if you don’t know what ball pops plays. Add personalization for a, well, personal touch!

Buy here.

 

  • GolfWRX may earn a commission for purchases made through links on this page, at no extra cost to you.

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