News

GolfWRX Morning 9: Tom Watson on the distance debate | Why don’t Canadians win the Canadian Open?

Published

8 years ago

Jul 27, 2018

In case you’ve missed it, or you prefer to read on site rather than in your email, we’re including it here. Check out today’s Morning 9 below.

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By Ben Alberstadt ([email protected])

July 27, 2018

Good Friday morning, golf fans. .

1. Watson: make the ball bigger

Tom Watson, British Open maestro that he is, had some interesting things to say ahead of the Senior Open this week.

Via John Huggan at Golf Digest…”The biggest change in the [professional] game has been the golf ball. You can say players swing faster because they work out and they are stronger. Yeah, that’s an element. But when they changed the golf ball in 2001 it was 29 yards different. Let’s say you hit drives on 14 holes, that’s over 400 extra yards. Add the extra distance you get with the irons and that’s maybe another 100 yards. So the course is 500 yards shorter.”

“And the solution? It is actually one that has been used before. Thirty-five years or so after the world of golf outside the United States switched from the 1.62 inch diameter ball to one 0.06 inches bigger-and so lost maybe 20 yards from drives as a result-Watson and Feherty approve of a repeat.”

“You could have one ball for the pros and let the amateurs play with anything they want,” Watson said. “Or you could play one ball in major amateur championships, as well as the professional tours. Yeah, we could do that. But I like Feherty’s response to it. I was talking to David at the Masters. He said: ‘Just make the ball bigger. That will make up the difference in distance.'”

2. Robert on the rocks

AP Report..“Robert Garrigus made a birdie after a rock saved his ball from water and had a one-stroke lead at 9-under 63 on Thursday when play in the RBC Canadian Open was suspended because of dangerous weather.”

“Hit it right in the middle of the water, and it hit a rock and bounced over the thing,” Garrigus said about the break on the par-5 13th…The American wasn’t as fortunate on Nos. 10 and 17 at rain-softened Glen Abbey.”

“Could have been 59 there if a couple putts didn’t lip out,” Garrigus said.

He made five straight birdies on Nos. 2-6, and birdied four of the last six holes — three of them par 5s.”

3. Why hasn’t a Canadian won the Canadian Open since ’54? Who knows.

Cameron Morfit says the answer to the question is unclear.

“As for Canada, though, it’s complicated. Patrick Oswald Fletcher was the last Canadian to win the Canadian Open in 1954, making him the first from the Great White North to win the tournament since 1914 and, ahem, not exactly opening the floodgates. Yes, Oswald acted alone. (Sorry.) Mike Weir nearly won in ’04, but Canada wept as Singh drained an eight-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole, then beat Weir in a playoff.”

“It’s going to end at some point,” Weir said of the streak when it reached its 60-year anniversary in 2014. “… It would be nice to get the streak over so we don’t have to talk about it.”

“On the plus side, there are 21 Canadians in the field this week. They are led by favorite son Weir and Adam Hadwin, who won the Valspar Championship last year and comes to Glen Abbey at a respectable 61st in the FedExCup. All four Monday qualifiers this week were Canadian.”

4. Reed vs. the camera crew

“I’m not going [hitting the ball] until y’all get the heck out of here,” Patrick Reed told a camera crew during the first round of the European Tour’s Porsche European Open in Germany.

Standing over his ball at Green Eagle’s 10th hole, the Golf Channel’s Instagram post shows Reed’s caddie, Kessler Karain motioning to someone and gesturing.

“You’re rattling change in your pocket. That’s why I’m pointing at you for,” Kerrain says forcefully.

Reed eventually says, “He lost privileges by going like that [rattling it in his pocket] with change],” before sending the crew further away.

See the video here.

5. Tiger in for the Bridgestone

Not like he was ever going to say no if he qualified…

Via Golf Digest…”a computing error was discovered, which bumped the 14-time major winner to No. 50 in the world rankings, thus earning an invite to Firestone.”

“On Thursday, Woods and his team officially committed to the tournament’s final stop in Northeast Ohio, which begins next week.”

“The Firestone confines have been friendly to Woods throughout his career. The 42-year-old has eight wins at the tournament, along with a runner-up finish and a total of 12 top-10 finishes in 15 starts. Alas, next week marks Tiger’s last chance to add to the trophy case from the Akron event, as the championship is moving to Memphis in 2019.”

6. How to totally lose your golf game

Funny stuff from Tony at Hooked on Golf

“No matter how bad you play golf, it can always get worse. You can quote me on that. Here is the special Hooked on Golf Blog top 10 list to help you ruin what little golf game you have left”

Play in a corporate or charity scramble. Please NEVER invite me to these.
Take a lesson.
Practice on mats. You can’t miss a shot. Seriously!
Listen to the advice you got from the hack on the driving range wearing no shirt
Buy the same golf clubs as the latest PGA Tour winner. WITB – What’s in the bag?
Buy golf training aids on ebay. I recommend a $5 golf club stand a.k.a. tomato stand.
Play in a group of bad golfers.
Over-activate your glutes.
Spend all your time practicing golf trick shots and posting them on your social networks, instead of practicing how to play golf.
Play by the rules, if you actually know them.

7. JD: 69

Via Golf Channel…”It was looking a lot like 1995 on Thursday at the Old Course – at least for a few hours.”

“John Daly, who won the ’95 Open Championship at St. Andrews, got off to a brilliant start in Round 1 of The Senior Open. After a bogey at the second, he made birdie at the par-4 third and then made eagle-3 at the par-5 fifth. He continued that run with birdies on Nos. 6 and 7, and then added another at the par-3 11th.”

“Daly was at 5 under par and challenging for the lead. But the inward nine proved more difficult as players turned into a stiff wind. Daly bogeyed the 12th and 15th holes and parred in for a 3-under 69. He finished the day four shots off the lead, held by Kirk Triplett.”

8. Joh yeah

The eternally entertaining Tiffany Joh took a four-shot lead after a stunning opening-round 62 at the Ladies Scottish Open.

She made nine birdies. “I pretty much kept it in play and putted amazing,” Joh told the Ladies European Tour website. “I didn’t feel like I hit it particularly well, but I left it in the right places and had a hot putter.”

9. Club Pro Guy on tour?

Stephen Hennesey at Golf Digest with the news…”One-handed rakes, punch-out club twirls and Mexican drug cartel run-ins appear like they’re coming to the Web.com Tour’s Kansas City event in a few weeks. The tour announced on Wednesday that they have extended a special exemption into next week’s KC Golf Classic’s Monday qualifier to the Club Pro Guy, one of the best follows in golf social media.”

“Any golfer on social media likely follows the Club Pro Guy, a hilarious parody account run anonymously but has accumulated 60,000 followers for his dead-on humor about all things golf. The former Mexican mini-tour star has appeared on the Golf Channel a handful of times, in the pages of Golf Digest and on podcasts like No Laying Up and the Tour Junkies.”

“But every time, he’s managed to keep his identity unknown-with the Golf Channel blurring out his face. If Club Pro Guy does, in fact, take up the Web.com Tour on this offer, he’ll be showing his face in public. And we’re sure folks will share it on social media, knowing the fascination there is among CPG’s fan base.”

News

Most birdies without breaking par – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

10 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

11 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.