News

Morning 9: Phil ahead by 4 | The most unusual things about Bryson | Harris English resurgent

Published

6 years ago

Aug 26, 2020

1. Phil leads by 4

Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner on what very much looks like a Mickelson march to victory…“Phil Mickelson on Tuesday moved into even better position to win in his PGA Tour Champions debut.”

“Building on his opening 61, Mickelson fired a second-round 64 that gave him a four-shot lead at the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National. Mickelson is at 17 under par, four clear of Rod Pampling and Tim Petrovic, heading into the final round of the 54-hole event in Ridgedale, Missouri.”

“Mickelson’s 125 total through two rounds is the second-lowest in tour history. Only Bruce Fleisher’s 124 at the 2002 RJR Championship was better.”

Full piece.

2. PopStroke set to open

Greg Hardwig, Naples Daily News…”The Fort Myers facility, the first under his partnership and design team, will open to the public on Saturday, Sept. 12, the company announced Tuesday. Doors will open at 10 a.m. For more information, visit the Popstroke website.”

“PopStroke founder Greg Bartoli had previously announced locations were coming to Naples, on Tamiami Trail, and in Sarasota. The Naples site location is still being finalized. PopStroke’s original location is in Port St. Lucie.”

“PopStroke is a golf entertainment venue that features two 18-hole putting courses, designed by Woods and his TGR Design Team. These will be the first since Woods bought a stake in the ownership and agreed to design the courses for PopStroke facilities about a year ago. The facilities also include outdoor dining with a full menu, a variety of craft beer and other alcoholic beverages, ice cream, outdoor games and a kids playground.”

Full piece.

3. Meet the 70

Sean Martin at PGATour.com filed epithets for all the participants in this week’s Wyndham Championship…

1. Dustin Johnson…Has the most wins (5, tied with Rory), top-5s (11) and top-10s (19) in Playoffs history.

2. Justin Thomas…Defending BMW champ is looking to regain his top spot in the standings.

3. Webb Simpson…Enters BMW after a T3 at Wyndham and T6 at THE NORTHERN TRUST.

4. Daniel Berger…Third-place finish in Boston was his 6th top-5 in his past 8 starts.

5. Collin Morikawa…MC at NORTHERN TRUST was just the second of his pro career.

6. Harris English…Was 149th in 2019 FedExCup, but headed to East Lake after runner-up in Boston.

7. Bryson DeChambeau…Was absolutely dominant in 2015 U.S. Amateur victory at Olympia Fields.

8. Sungjae Im…MC at NORTHERN TRUST but only fell three spots in the standings.

Full piece.

4. Simpson out of BMW to rest up for Tour Championship

Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…”Webb Simpson withdrew Tuesday from the BMW Championship to be rested for next week’s Tour Championship, according to his management team.”

“It’s an interesting move for Simpson, who is No. 3 is the FedExCup standings. With the staggered scoring start at East Lake, he was set to be three shots behind heading into the season finale. With triple points available for the BMW, he’s likely to drop even further; seeds Nos. 6-10, for instance, will begin the week six shots behind.”

“Simpson has played four consecutive weeks on Tour, with top-6 finishes in each of his past two appearances. He’s broken par in 10 of his past 11 rounds and currently leads the Tour in scoring average (68.87).”

Full piece.

5. The 11 most unusual things about Bryson

I mean this in absolutely the most respectful way possible: How could you ever pick 11?

Stephen Hennesey at Golf Digest…“1. Bryson developed his first set of single-length irons at 17. He and his long-time coach, Mike Schy, grinded down a bunch of shaft flexes and clubs to build his first set of irons. This year, Cobra, which signed DeChambeau to an endorsement deal after he turned pro following the 2016 Masters, released a consumer product, Cobra King One-Length irons, along with Bryson’s input.”

“And it’s not just the length of each iron shaft. Bryson’s clubs, which are 37½ inches long, the length of a standard 6-iron, are set at 72-degree lie angles that are 10 degrees more upright than standard. To achieve a consistent swingweight, all the heads weigh 278 grams.

2. When golf’s rules changed in 2019 to allow golfers to putt with the flagstick in, DeChambeau was quick to deliver the science behind why he’d do it.

The amazing thing? Months before the rule went into place, DeChambeau was adament about which events’ flagsticks would be more conducive and beneficial to putting with the pin in: “It depends on the COR, the coefficient of restitution of the flagstick,” he told golf.com in October. “In U.S. Opens, I’ll take it out, and every other Tour event, when it’s fiberglass, I’ll leave it in and bounce that ball against the flagstick if I need to.”

Full piece.

6. The resurgence of Harris English

Shane Ryan with a deep dive into Harris’ quietly brilliant 2020 campaign…“One of the most successful 2020 PGA Tour campaigns, and definitely the quietest, belongs to 31-year-old Harris English. With his second-place finish at the Northern Trust last weekend-thanks to Dustin Johnson, it was a distant second-he moved up to sixth in the FedExCup standings, clinched his spot in the Tour Championship, and has a legitimate chance to win the $10 million first-prize bonus in Atlanta. This is a shocking development, to put it mildly, and the fact that he’s done it despite testing positive for the coronavirus in late June turns English’s story from surprising to jaw-dropping. He’s the ultimate dark horse among the current top 10, which becomes abundantly clear when you consider the names:”

“Dustin Johnson. Justin Thomas. Webb Simpson. Daniel Berger. Collin Morikawa. Harris English. Bryson DeChambeau. Sungjae Im. Jon Rahm. Patrick Reed.”

“If you played the game “which one doesn’t belong?”, even a casual golf fan would have a quick answer. It’s not just name recognition, either; English is the only man on that list who hasn’t won in 2020, and despite being older than everyone but Johnson and Simpson, he’s had, by far, the most modest career.”

Full piece.

7. U.S. Open coverage details

Geoff Shackelford with the overview…“With the U.S. Open’s surprise return to NBC there will be ups, downs, perks and a few remote-control headaches that might include multiple phone calls with older relatives. Be ready to explain Peacock.”

“Good news? …The new Peacock app has a free option and if you’re only casually into the U.S. Open, probably not necessary since it’s largely handling field outlier broadcast windows. Maybe.”

“The bad news? If you’re a cord cutter and willing to pay to stay in one place despite Peacock, Golf Channel and NBC Sports existing under the same Comcast umbrella, you’ll be doing some app switching, updating, password entering, yada, yada. But you’ll survive, I promise.”

“Here is the schedule retaining the same 45 U.S. Open hours as last year on Fox. However, with the need to incorporate Peacock, the U.S. Open is losing 90 minutes of cable coverage each weekday round compared to Fox Sports 1. This year’s event-a one-off played in September at Winged Foot-is down four hours of broadcast television coverage Saturday and Sunday compared to Fox’s 10 hours and 8 hours respectively.”

Full piece, schedule notes.

8. Work smarter not harder

Sean Martin at PGATour.com on how players are using data and technology for more efficient improvement…“Players can only practice for so long, though. Daylight presents a natural limit. Some players have parental commitments to schedule around. Then there’s the law of diminishing returns, and the increased risk of injury that comes from excessive work. Swinging a golf club more than 100 mph can be hard on the body.”

“That’s why players turn to data and technology to make their practice time more efficient. Rory McIlroy, the reigning FedExCup champion, is among the players who relies on stats to show him what to work on.”

“For example, a report he received after the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship showed him that his sand shots weren’t up to his standards.”

“I got a stats report after the three weeks that I had at Torrey Pines, at Riviera, and Mexico, and that’s what I based my practice off going into the next few weeks,” McIlroy said at this year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. “My bunker play wasn’t up to the same standards it needed to be. I needed to get better (with putts) from 6 to 12 feet. It’s stuff that you sort of know anyway, but it’s nice when you have that objective data in front of you.”

Full piece.

9. Phil’s WITB from his first PGA Tour start

A fun one here, assembled by our Johnny Wunder as Lefty is perched atop the leaderboard on the Champions Tour.

Driver: TaylorMade Tour Driver (8.5 degrees) with FlexTwist Graphite Shaft X

3 Wood: TaylorMade Tour Spoon (13 degrees) with FlexTwist Graphite Shaft X

Irons: Ping Eye 2 (1) with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100, Yonex Tour Forged (3-10) with Yonex LTB 600 Boron XX flex

Wedges: Yonex (56) with Yonex LTB 600 Boron X flex, Ping Eye2 (60) with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100

Putter: Arnold Palmer “The Original” 34 inches w/ Leather Wrap Grip

Ball: Titleist Tour 384 100 Balata

Full piece.

News

Most birdies without breaking par – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

9 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Will Schube

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.”

News

Best current stock shaft 2026 – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

10 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Will Schube

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.”

News

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

Published

2 days ago

Jun 9, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

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.