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Tour Tech Rundown: Good guys win

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One hundred years after Eddie Lowery steered Francis Ouimet to a USGA Open title at The Country Club, Alex Fitzpatrick steered his older brother, Matt, to a USGA Amateur title at the same golf course. Matt went on to win a U.S. Open at The Country Club in 2022, one-upping Ouimet. As for Alex, he went on to Wake Forest University, then turned professional. This week …well, let’s hold on to that thought for a moment.

The world’s tours bustled this week, roaming from India to Arizona, with stops in Texas, Georgia, and California along the way. With major championships looming in the coming months, there is an increased sense of urgency among the competitors. Gone are the cobwebs and rust of the northern winter; returned are the subtleties and nuance that define the professional game. We’re champing at the thought of what the next few months hold for us, both in our games and on the tours. Let’s open the gate and let the horses run, in this week’s Tour Tech Rundown.

PGA Tour @ Houston Open: Sometimes, the good guys win

Gary Woodland shared his battles with PTSD and post-operative trauma with the world last week. This week, he played an incredibly satisfying 72 holes of golf at Memorial Park golf course in Houston. Woodland posted 21-under par, five shots clear of runner-up Nicolai Hojgaard, and won for the first time since his 2019 US Open victory.

Hojgaard and Woodland had one degree of separation on Sunday morning. In this case, that degree was a golf stroke. The lead doubled after one, when Hojgaard made a bogey. Woodland preserved his poise throughout the front nine, and his birdies at 7-8, combined with a pair of Hojgaard bogeys, increased his lead to five shots. Over the inward half, Woodland played steady, unassuming golf. He came home in plus-one figures, offering a glimmer of hope to his pursuer. Each time that Hojgaard made a birdie, a bogey was close behind, and he was unable to close the gap. The win was Woodland’s first in seven years, and his fifth in seventeen years on tour.

See Woodland’s winning WITB here.

LPGA @ Ford Championship: Hyo-joo wins in consecutive starts

Hyo-joo Kim has wins in consecutive events on the LPGA circuit. Last week, her theme was bend, don’t break. It was a bit of rinse and repeat, with a twist. Kim posted 61-69-61-69 for a serving of symetry. She dueled with Nelly Korda over each of the 18 final holes. She bent once more, but for a second consecutive week, did not break.

Kim was one back of Lydia Ko’s sizzling 60 after day one. Ko hovered around 69 each of the next three days, ultimately placing fourth. Taking up the challenge was world-number-two Nelly Korda, who had a 63 of her own on Thursday, then followed with three rounds in the mid-60s. On Sunday, Korda had a pair of eagles and a slew of birdies, and nearly tracked Kim down.

Kim’s one mistake on day four led to a double bogey. Around the same time, playing companion Korda reached four-under on the day through seven. Around the turn, Kim remained composed and added a pair of birdies, while Korda slipped on a pair of bogeys. The home stretch offered excitement, as Korda finished eagle-birdie to move within two of the top spot. The win was Kim’s ninth overall on the LPGA tour.

Kim’s Gear Bag

  • Driver: Yonex EZone GT
  • 3 Metal: Yonex EZone GT
  • 5 Metal: Yonex EZone GT
  • Hybrid: Yonex EZone GT
  • Irons 4-5: Yonex EZone CB 701
  • Irons 6-9: Yonex EZone CB 501
  • Wedges 56, 60 degree: Vokey Design SM8
  • Putter: Odyssey O-Works Tour R-Ball S
  • Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

DP World Tour @ Hero Indian Open: Fitzy Finishes First

We’re not masters of subtlety, so you probably guessed that Alex Fitzpatrick, now 27 years of age, won for the first time at the top professional level. Fitzpatrick was the beneficiary of some wayward play by third-round leader Eugenio Chacarra, and used his brand of level, steady golf to close the deal. Fitzpatrick had danced with the lead in prior events, but had yet to find the elixir that produces winners. On Sunday at Gurugram, he sipped from the flask.

Both Chacarra and Fitzpatrick played like golfers in search of a rare victory. Bogeys were splattered across their scorecards. Chacarra entered the back nine with the lead, but bogeys at fifteen through seventeen dropped him back to seven-under par. Alex Fitzpatrick had struggles of his own, but runs of three birdies in five holes on the front, followed by five birdies in seven holes on the back, allowed him the comfort of making double at the last. Fitzpatrick finished on nine-under par for the week, two shots clear of runner-up Eugenio Chacarra.

Alex’s Gear Bag

  • Driver: Ping G440 LST
  • 3 Metal: TaylorMade Qi4D
  • 5 Metal: TaylorMade Qi35
  • Irons 4-9: Titleist T100
  • Wedges 46, 50, 56, 60 degree: Vokey Design
  • Putter: Odyssey Ai-ONE #7
  • Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Korn Ferry Tour @ Club Car Championship: Lamb slams the door

On Sunday morning, a handrul of golfers had a chance to post four rounds in the 60s. By day’s end, only one of them succeeded, and he turned out to be the winner. The Notre Dame alumnus and PGA Tour Americas graduate posted 68 on Sunday to ease past third round co-leaders John Pak and Blades Brown.

Through eight holes on day the last, Pak appeared poised to claim an initial KFT event for 2026. He had gathered three birdies and had moved to minus-nineteen for the week. Pak hit an oil slick on the next four holes, posting bogey on three of them. Former co-leader Blades Brown also stumbled over the first nine, then again on the inward half. He would ultimately shoot even on the day, and collect a solo third finish.

All day long, Davis Lamb never lost his form. Lamb began the day one in arrears, but played a rock-solid 18 holes on Sunday. Fourteen pars and four birdies, including a powerful statement at the last, brought him to 19-deep, and a two-shot margin of victory. Lamb’s first big pro victory moved him inside the top five in the season-long, KFT points race.

Lamb’s Gear Bag

  • Driver: Titleist GT2
  • 3 Metal: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke
  • 5 Metal: Titleist TS12
  • Iron 4: Titleist T150
  • Irons 5-9: Titleist T100
  • Wedges 50, 54, 60 degree: Vokey Design SM10
  • Putter: Scotty Cameron Tour Select Newport
  • Ball: Titleist Pro V1

PGA Tour Champions @ Hoag Classic: Albatross builds nest for Cink

It is extremely rare to view an albatross at a a golf tournament. Despite the remarkable talent of professional golfers, the hole-out for two on a par five is as rare as things come. On Saturday, Stewart Cink holed from the 18th fairway for a walk-off, double-eagle. He turned a one-shot deficit into a two-stroke advantage in an instant.

On Sunday, Cink held steady as Steven Alker and Freddie Jacobson made initial runs, followed later by Ernie Els and Zach Johnson. He turned in minus-two 33, before adding another 33 on the inward half. Cink’s sole stumble over the final round came at the par-four twelfth hole, where he went from tee to rough, to sand, to the putting surface. His putt for par was the only one missed on the day. Cink traveled home with three birdies over his final five holes, to secure a second victory in two months.

In the battle for second spot, both Zach Johnson and Ernie Els finished on 15-under par, four shots back of the champion. For Johnson, it was his third top-three finish since turning 50 this winter. Johnson currently sits in second position on the Schwab Cup points list, behind only Stewart Cink.

Cink’s Gear Bag

  • Driver: PING G440 MAX
  • 3 Metal: PING G440 MAX
  • 5 Metal: TaylorMade Qi35
  • Irons 4-UW: Titleist T100
  • Wedges 56 degree: PING Glide
  • Wedges 60 degree: Vokey Design
  • Putter: PING Vault Ketsch 2.0
  • Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

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Dual drivers, Ping Eye2 revival, custom alignments: Ben Silverman’s bag has it all

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I admit that, like many, when I’m not traveling week-to-week on tour, I spend far too much time in the GolfWRX forums – even though it is my job. 

So when I stumbled on Ben Silverman’s eclectic setup at the John Deere Classic this week, hosted annually at TPC Deere Run, I knew more was needed to understand what was happening.

The first thing that caught the eye was the existence of two different driver headcovers. While this is normal early in the week on the PGA Tour, with many players testing out different setups ahead of that Thursday morning or afternoon tee time, Silverman’s bag was different in that the two drivers, plus the rest of the clubs, totaled to the maximum 14 that can go into play. With that, only one thing could be the answer – a dual driver setup. 

We’ve seen it before, most notably when Phil Mickelson won the Masters in 2006. With Mickelson, it was all about shot shapes, one setup for a draw, with the other helping him hit a fade.

In Silverman’s case, his secondary driver is all about one thing: finding the fairway.

“At the time, it was back in 2019, throughout that season I was struggling to find a 3-wood that I liked and traditionally, I’d either have one that felt great off the tee, but then that one wouldn’t perform well off the ground that I wanted or vice versa,” Silvermand told GolfWRX. “I’d get one great off the ground and then it would be too spinny off the tee … So I decided, you know what? I’m going with a second club off the tee that I’m never going to miss and when I need to gear down from driver, this one, I’m still going to rely on the distance and hit its center face every time.

“So that’s why I went with the big size driver head and it’s built 3-wood length with about 12 degrees of loft, so it spins a lot kind of in the 3000s, and I can control it, kind of curve it all over the place and it’s mainly an off the tee club.”

Silverman’s “Thriver” is a Ping G410, set at around 12 degrees with a cut-down Accra TourZ RPG 400 Series 472 M5+ shaft, and he feels that he can get it out solidly to the 270-yard mark.

“I also liked that head tended to be a spinner for me, and I wanted the extra spin in that setup, so it worked out perfectly,” Silverman said on the older driver head choice.

Diving deeper into Silverman’s bag, his 5-wood draws some attention, with the inclusion of a lighter-than-usual Fujikura Ventus Red 6X shaft, but bent lower than 18 degrees to bridge the gap between the two drivers.

Progressing to the bottom of the bag, Silverman’s wedges are both literally and figuratively eye-catching. Both his S159 56- and 60-degree wedges are in Ping’s E grind, a design based on their iconic Ping Eye 2 shaping, with the sharp high-toe and increased offset.

“When they showed me the grind, I got so much extra spin on chip shots around the green with it and so I started out with the lob wedge and then eventually did it with the 56 degree as well just to have a similar look when I’m chipping with either one around the green,” Silverman said on the grind choice. “And it just created a lot more spin for me on shots around the green.

“I’d naturally open it to get rid of the offset look when I’d set it down on the ground, but then it would just look like I had so much face to work with, especially in deep lies in the rough and stuff like that. And if I catch it high toe going through a lot of rough, there’s tons of face up there with this setup. So it works really nice.”

Finally, Silverman’s bag includes a custom Bettinardi, with all kinds of bells and whistles. Covered in lead tape, the face includes custom Hex milling and F.I.T. face design. It doesn’t stop there. The flatstick also features a custom alignment aid, built specifically for Silverman’s needs.

“I’m a very abstract visual putter,” Silverman said. “I like to see curves and see lines on the greens and I don’t put with a line on my ball… I literally kind of use my eyes, triangulate the two dots on top, the one in the back, and I see kind of a triangular sight line as I look down and then I just see the curve and the path of the putt from there.”

Check out Silverman’s full WITB gallery here.

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Justin Rose’s return to an Axis1 putter has WRXers watching closely

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In our forums, GolfWRX members are discussing Justin Rose’s move back into an Axis1 putter, with the conversation centering on the equipment change, the early putting numbers and the familiar WRX debate over whether a premium putter can be worth the price.

Member @Barracuda started the thread after seeing that Rose had moved into the new Axis1 model. The discussion did include some sticker-shock talk, but the more useful part of the thread was the positive equipment conversation around face stability, fit and whether a putter that works should ever leave the bag.

A few GolfWRXers weighed in:

  • @pga43 (our tour photographer) posted the first-round putting numbers, noting +2.372 strokes gained putting and 118 feet of putts made.
  • @hammergolf said he honestly did not know why Rose ever took the Axis1 out of the bag and later made the point that players will spend heavily on a driver but hesitate to spend on a putter and fitting that could have a bigger scoring impact.
  • @dmeeksDC said Axis1 putters can offer unreal face stability for players who push or pull putts and liked the look of the newer, more compact model.
  • @Barracuda called Axis1 putters the real deal, while still noting that the price is high.

Entire thread: Rose back to Axis1 putter

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J.T. Poston’s custom Cameron putter at the John Deere Classic – GolfWRXers discuss

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In our forums, check out in-hand photos of JT Poston’s custom Scotty Cameron putter, taken at the practice rounds ahead of the John Deere Classic. Additionally, view comments from other forum members on details like the face insert and join the conversation on this great-looking putter.

This topic is hosted in GolfWRX’s “Tour and Pre-Release Equipment” forum, where users dive into all things professional gear. There are threads on what clubs pros are playing, new items from OEMs, and one-of-a-kind putters made exclusively for the guys on tour. Check out the whole forum here.

Poston is gaming a Phantom 9.2A prototype from Scottie Cameron, which is a new flatstick after he won at the Memorial Tournament in June with a TaylorMade Spider Tour X Torched. Check out photos of Poston’s Scotty below.

Entire Thread: “JT Poston’s custom Cameron putter (2026 John Deere Classic)”

If you aren’t already a member, join the GolfWRX forums today

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