Two-time major champion Dustin Johnson and a host of other PGA Tour players are in the field for the first LIV Golf Invitational Series event, while Phil Mickelson was not included on the list of players released on Tuesday.

After being away from competitive golf since March due to a blood clot in her left arm, Nelly Korda opened up on Tuesday about the timeline and rehabilitation of her surgery as she prepares to return in the U.S. Women's Open at Pine Needles Lodge & Club.

Bryson DeChambeau said he is excited to make his return this week at the Memorial and that he can "finally enjoy golf again" after dealing with a wrist injury for the past seven months.

Jack Nicklaus says that he met with the organizers of the LIV Golf Invitational Series, but he has "zero interest" in being the face of the Saudi-backed league and his allegiance remains with the PGA Tour.

 

The post The Road to Olympic Club–U.S. Open Local Qualifying Re-Cap appeared first on Northern California Golf Association.

IS IT TIME TO GET EXCITED ABOUT COBRA DRIVERS AGAIN?

There was a time in the not-so-distant past that COBRA was arguably the most exciting brand in the driver game. From the AMP and BIO Cell line to the famous (infamous?) original LTD, nothing else on the tee box looked quite like a COBRA driver. In recent years, however, it seems like that feeling has faded. While Cobra has continued to perform well in testing, the Speedzone and RADSpeed lineups just didn’t create the same spark for consumers.

Now, though, COBRA is reaching into the well to try and bring back those warm and fuzzy feelings. The Cobra LTDx driver carries the same name (minus the spaceport) plus all the technology the past 5 years have added. So is it time to get excited about COBRA drivers again? Let’s review the Cobra LTDx MAX driver and find out.

COBRA LTDX MAX DRIVER REVIEW

The LTD in LTDx stands for “longest total distance”, so COBRA is drawing a line in the sand that their driver will be, well, the longest driver of 2022 in total distance. The MAX is positioned as the most forgiving in the LTDx lineup. With the 10-gram weight in the back position, COBRA puts the MOI number at 5,400 and while that’s not challenging the USGA limit, it’s on the higher end of the market and, perhaps more importantly, it’s where COBRA feels its take on a MAX driver can strike the right balance between exceptional forgiveness and exceptional ball speed.

On the technology front, the LTDx MAX brings together all of the advancements COBRA has marketed over the past half-decade. That includes a new generation of the CNC-milled “infinity face” as well as H.O.T. (highly optimized topology) variable face thickness. While the F9 had three thickness zones, the LTDx lineup has 15 discreet thickness zones. COBRA designed the additional zones to help produce high ball speed all across the face.

A week after winning a college title as a freshman, Zhang has an NIL deal with adidas. It's the company's first endorsement with a college athlete. Zhang is the world's top-ranked women's amateur golfer and will play in the U.S. Women's Open this week.

Michelle Wie West will lead a new women's partnership initiative with golf equipment company LA Golf, aiming for equitable and fair support on and off the golf course for LPGA players.

There is a lot of cool gear in the golf equipment world that doesn’t always fit neatly into Most Wanted Tests or Buyer’s Guides. You still want to know how it performs. In our We Tried It series, we put gear to the test and let you know if it works as advertised.

What We Tried

adidas Tour360 22 BOA—the BOA (not for suckers) version of adidas’ 2022 flagship golf shoe.

Your Tour360 22 BOA Tester

Tony Covey. A chubby-footed BOA enthusiast who believes laces are for suckers and is super excited to finally get his hands or, I suppose, feet, on a pair of adidas golf shoes. It’s been a while.

adidas Tour360 22 Shoe Review

The adidas Tour360 22 was tested as part of our 2022 Buyer’s Guide. It was a strong performer (as we’ve come to expect from adidas) but the unusual spike design caused some confusion.

Adam Woodward reports on a wild finish to the men’s individual title chase that ended in a four-man playoff won by Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent. The true freshman joins a small group to have won the title in their first year, including Ben Crenshaw and Phil Mickelson.

The final eight teams are set, with Tuesday featuring 36-holes of matches concluding with Wednesday’s final. It was a remarkable show by top ranked teams backing up their season-long efforts to reach the elite eight. Woodward previews the bracket and morning matches.

The teams and TV Times:

Vanderbilt's Gordon Sargent curled in a short birdie putt on the first hole of a four-man playoff on Monday to become the ninth freshman to win the NCAA individual title.

Team Europe captain Henrik Stenson named Italy's Edoardo Molinari as his second vice-captain on Monday for the 2023 Ryder Cup that will be played at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome.

OUR JOB IS YOUR GAME

Today, we highlight the results for our 2022 Most Wanted Player’s Distance Irons test!

Player’s distance irons are a blend of craftsmanship and aesthetics combined with subtle, creative waves of technology. All of which melds together to help you game a beautiful and performance-packed iron.

Let’s take a look at the best player’s distance irons of 2022.

MOST WANTED SCORING

We have reformulated our 2022 Most Wanted results to a 100-point scoring system. This new system better identifies golf clubs to potentially help you shoot lower scores.