Bill Haas became the 16th PGA Tour player to test positive for COVID-19 in advance of this week’s 2020 finale, as announced by the Tour.

PGA TOUR Statement on Bill Haas

As part of the PGA TOUR's pre-tournament screening process this week at The RSM Classic, PGA TOUR member Bill Haas tested positive for COVID-19 and has been withdrawn from the event.
 
“It’s obviously disappointing news to receive, but my focus is now on recovery and ensuring the health and well-being of my family,” said Haas. 

Haas will have the PGA TOUR’s full support throughout his self-isolation under CDC guidelines. 

Meanwhile the union representing broadcast technicians issued high praise for CBS’s efforts to keep their team healthy and safe since the PGA Tour restart, but criticized Comcast’s NBC/Golf Channel unit for not requiring testing of workers at their televised events.

OUR JOB IS YOUR GAME

2020 has been one hell of a year. Not the least of the pandemic’s impact was that it disrupted our Most Wanted Testing.

Don’t despair! The final installment of 2020 Most Wanted Testing is finally here so that’s a little good news.

The 2020 Most Wanted Super Game Improvement Iron- a category that markets to the mid- to higher-handicap golfer.

Within this category, you receive forgiveness, which is a phenomenal selling point to beginners and golfers in the mid to higher handicap range. In general, even the best super game-improvement irons probably won’t blow you away with aesthetics. However, forgiveness, consistency and playability strongly outweigh winning a beauty contest.

Bill Haas, who had received a sponsor exemption into the PGA Tour's RSM Classic this week, has tested positive for the coronavirus and must self-isolate for 10 days.

With a 10 a.m. ET final round start to clear room for the Bills-Cardinals, the 2020 Masters recorded a 3.37 final round rating with an average of 5.58 million viewers. That’s down over four points from the epic 2019’s Masters (7.7/10.8 million average) won by Tiger Woods (which also started and ended earlier than normal, but was played in April).

ShowbuzzDaily.com’s Mitch Metzcalf with all of the numbers, including Saturday’s 3.05 rating. 2019’s Saturday telecast drew a 5.5.

While this is undoubtedly the lowest rated Masters since numbers were tabulated, weekday coverage on ESPN did not see such extreme declines, drawing an average of 2.2 million Thursday and almost 2.8 million Friday.

Friday’s telecast was the top rated cable show.

Two other ratings notes from Michael McCarthy, veteran media reporter:

The Cobra KING Supersport-35 putter is constructed using a HP Metal Jet 3D printer.It features SIK Golf’s descending-loft face.It is available in very limited quantities on Cobra.com on Nov. 20 for $399.

Today Cobra Golf announced their new putter, the Cobra KING Supersport-35. Cobra releasing a putter is newsworthy. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time Cobra released a putter. There have been a few here and there but most of them are putters that come in a boxed set of clubs. I believe they had a non-U.S. release in 2017 but the only Cobra putter that stands out in my memory is the prototype they made for Ian Poulter in 2011.

I feel the Cobra KING Supersport-35 putter will be more memorable, perhaps heralding a new era of Cobra putters pushing the putter design envelope. One thing is certain. The KING Supersport-35 is not just a run-of-the-mill(ed) putter with Cobra engraving. Admittedly, a CNC mill is still involved in the process but the real manufacturing story involves high-tech 3D printing.

Printing the KING Supersport-35

HP’s 3D printing technology allows us to utilize a complex lattice structure to remove weight from the center of the putterhead and push significant amounts of weight to the perimeter. The result is superior MOI levels and massively increased stability and forgiveness. So not only is the 3D production method more consistent but it also allows us to design products in a new and superior way.”

Jose Miraflor, Vice President of Marketing, Cobra Golf

Tremendous news on all fronts as the NCAA Championships eventually move west in 2024 to La Costa for what sounds like an audition as a permanent host site: Gil Hanse has been enlisted to renovate the Champions course in advance of the event.

Once a regular site for the PGA Tour’s Tournament of Champions and later the WGC Match Play, La Costa’s course has lost a few steps even as the resort and spa were upgraded. A rethinking should position it back in the limelight of tournament golf thanks to the facilities and location in golf’s west coast hub.

Well, of course, until all of the manufacturers move to Pinehurst to be closer to the USGA ;).

Anyway, For Immediate Release:

NCAA Selects Omni La Costa Resort & Spa as first “neutral” site to Host Trio of National Championships following Gil Hanse Renovation

Reimagined Champions Course to Host Men’s, Women’s NCAAs in 2024, 2025 and 2026
Carlsbad, Calif. – The NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Golf Committees has selected Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, Southern California’s premier golf and luxury resort destination, as the host site for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 Division I Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships. Play will be conducted on the resort’s famed Champions Course following a planned 2022 renovation by acclaimed golf course architect Gil Hanse.

Wilson Staff Model R Golf Ball – Key Takeaways

Wilson’s Staff Model R is a completely raw/unfinished golf ball.It’s expected to launch lower and spin more than the standard Staff Model ball.Retail price is $49.99 per dozen.

Between off-center cores, concentricity issues and inconsistencies with diameter, weight and compression, MyGolfSpy’s Ball Lab has given you plenty to worry about with your golf balls. With the release of the new Wilson Staff Model R, the company is giving you one more.

Paint.

About the Wilson Staff Model R

The Staff Model R golf ball is an idea that started under Wilson’s experimental labs initiative. The R stands for raw and, much as it does in the wedge space, raw refers to the fact that the ball is completely unfinished. It lacks both paint and a clear-coat protective layer.

For those of you unfamiliar with the golf ball manufacturing process, understand that Wilson’s new approach is unusual, to say the least.

Understandably still saddened by the loss of his partner on Scottish golf course planning, Sean Connery, President Donald Trump faces scrutiny from the Scottish government. “Due accountability” was how First Minister Nicola Sturgeon put it during a lively Parliament session after the Green Party co-leader and frequent Trump critic Patrick Harvie sought an “unexplained wealth order” to determine the source of Turnberry financing.

The Scotish leader said she wouldn’t protect “the soon-to-be former president of the United States” from “due accountability in Scotland” if wrongdoing is found. An investigation, including an unexplained wealth order, would be up to the Crown Office, the independent public prosecution system in Scotland, Sturgeon added. 

Green Party leader Patrick Harvie has contended Trump’s Scottish resorts raise suspicions because neither Turnberry (which lost $26 million in 2016) nor Aberdeen has turned a profit or paid a penny in taxes to Scotland since Trump purchased them. All of the revenue is allegedly absorbed by costs — with many of the expenses flowing back to the president’s Trump Organization.

“We need to protect Scotland’s good name from association with the toxic Trump brand,” Harvie said in Parliament. 

The Green Party press release calling for an investigation.

 

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We’re pitting the winning drivers of the last five years of Most Wanted testing against each other in a head-to-head showdown to find out which driver is really top dog.

1:00 – Equipment we’re looking forward to in 20215:14 – Our Most Requested Test: Winning Drivers Head-to-Head14:02 – Love it/Leave it14:09 – PXG One and Done16:16 – Masters Menu19:08 – Puma Masters Gear23:02 – New Balance LE Dad Shoes

Watch Now

Also available on:

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and all major podcast apps.

 

The post The 5-Year Driver Test | NPG 65 appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

We can’t get enough of New Orleans: The food … the folks … the festivities … And how about the fairways! The local golf scene hustles with a tidy collection of layouts within the city and another collection on the West Bank. Quick tourist tip: The “West Bank” is actually east of New Orleans’ central […]

The post Spotlight: Swing easy, big or small, at New Orleans’ Stonebridge Golf Club appeared first on Golf Blog, Golf Articles | GolfNow Blog.

Srixon ZX Irons – Key Takeaways

The new Srixon ZX lineup replaces the highly successful Z85 series.ZX7 is a one-piece forged cavity back for better players, the ZX5 is a multi-piece iron for distance and forgiveness.The updated ZX utility is more streamlined than the Z85 utility, while still keeping CG low.Srixon’s computer-driven mainframe technology designed variable thickness face for the ZX5 and ZX utility.

There’s a clear and present challenge for the new Srizon ZX irons. When you have a powerhouse iron lineup like the Srixon Z85 series, how do you make it better? Can you realistically improve on one of the best Game Improvement irons, one of the best players irons and one of the best utility irons of the last half-decade?

After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Right?

Srixon’s Z85 line has completed its two-year mission. And while the Z585 copped Most Wanted Game Improvement iron in 2018, and was still a top runner-up in 2020, some were turned off by the looks – specifically, the black poly frame highlighting the back cavity. And even though the Z785 cavity back was also an MGS top performer, many golfers preferred the older Z765 for looks and feel.

Those may be nits to pick, but picking nits is at the heart of Srixon’s iron development.

“We don’t jump around significantly from generation to generation,” says Dustin Brekke, Srixon’s Director of Engineering. “There’s two sides to that. On the one hand, you want the brand-new bell or whistle that’s going to give you big marketing bullets. But at the same time, you just want to tweak what’s really needed. It allows for improving the design for each generation rather than wildly swinging from design to design.”

Penfold Seve Glove – Key Takeaways

Penfold releases special-edition glove set to honor Seve’s first win at Augusta 40 years ago.The two-glove set was co-designed with Seve’s children.Seve was a Penfold staffer in the ’70s and won the ’79 Open Championship with a Penfold ballProceeds will benefit the Seve Ballesteros Foundation, supporting brain cancer research and junior golf in Spain.

Amid all the Masters hullabaloo, you may have missed an interesting announcement from Penfold Golf. The reboot of the classic British golf brand is releasing a special commemorative glove set honoring the late Seve Ballesteros. The new Penfold Seve glove commemorates the 40th anniversary of Seve’s first win at Augusta. According to Penfold, a portion of the proceeds will go to support the Seve Ballesteros Foundation.

“Seve Ballesteros was part of the golden generation of Penfold staffers,” says Penfold co-owner Gavin Perrett. “Seve, Gary Player, Nick Faldo, and others. This is a way of keeping Seve’s legacy intact and celebrating his achievements. How he burst onto the scene was really a defining moment.”

Seve’s connection to Penfold goes back to the early stages of his career. And it was that connection that gave Perrett the idea to partner with the Seve Foundation.

The Penfold Seve Glove – Back to the Beginning

Seve’s very first professional event in the U.K. was the 1975 Penfold PGA Championship. Seve was just 17 years old but didn’t take long for Penfold to see he was their kind of guy.

“Seve’s style, his flair, and his creativity, that’s what Penfold was all about back then,” says Perrett. “So, when he rocked up in ’75, I’m sure he caught the eye of the people who spent the money on Tour staff. The next year he was set up with Penfold gear. And you have that famous image of him on the range at Royal St. George’s with a Penfold staff bag.”