Titleist 904F Review

Titleist’s 904F harkens back to the days of the beloved PT with a touch of new technology to deliver arguably the best fairway wood in the game.

Titleist 904 StudioMany touring professionals and better amateurs have long carried a Titleist fairway wood. The Titleist PT (Pro Trajectory) 970 was highly regarded as one of the best fairway woods ever made. In fact, until Tiger Woods recently put the Nike T-60 fairway wood in his bag, he “had been using a modified version of the steel-shafted, small-headed Titleist PT 970 3-wood for several years.”

Titleist attempted to follow up on the success of the PT with the 980F. The 980F held true to Titleist’s heralded design theme – pear-shaped woods that inspire silent confidence at address. Unfortunately, the 980F failed when it came to more than looks and many pros kept the PT in their bag. The 980 – a solid club in its own right – simply could not overcome its predecessor.

Now we have Titleist’s next offering, the 904F fairway woods. The 904F builds on the same traditional look while offering updated technology and a more refined function. This has resulted in superb handling and playability.

If you’re not a fan of long reviews, I’ll let you stop reading now: the Titleist 904F is the best fairway wood Titleist has ever made and is perhaps the best available from any manufacturer. If you haven’t tried a 904F, you’re doing your game – and your scorecard – a disservice.

Tiger Woods: Driving Analysis

An animated graph details Tiger Woods’ driving statistics from 2000 to 2005, as well as the rest of the PGA Tour.

It’s common knowledge that Tiger Woods has gained a lot of distance with his new large-headed Nike driver. Right? I mean, c’mon, we saw him hit some absolutely huge monsters at Doral, didn’t we?

In the face of statistical analysis, well, that’s not necessarily true. Paul Kedrosky has plugged in the numbers, and here you can see Tiger Woods’ driving statistics in 2000 and 2005 (red dot). While his accuracy has dropped considerably, his yardage hasn’t increased substantially. What’s worse, the rest of the PGA Tour (indicated in 2000 by blue dots and in 2005 by green) has dramatically increased with little overall impact to driving accuracy:

Tiger Woods Driving Comparison

Golf Cart Safety

Ever think you could get hurt driving a golf cart? Me either, but here’s a true story of how Paul fractured his foot doing just that.

Golf Cart Safety WarningThis is a Public Service Announcement to prevent injuries while riding in a golf cart. This really happened on a golf course.

(To protect the individual I’m referencing, I have substituted the name to prevent further embarassment to this individual.)

Purdy in Pink at the Byron Nelson Championship

Ted Purdy beats out the former father’s slave Sean O’Hair to win his first PGA Tour event.

Ted Purdy TrophySean O’Hair may have climbed another rung in the ladder of his post-dictator father days, but he stood silently by as the ultimate honor at a PGA Tour event went today to Ted Purdy, who two times finished second in 2004. Purdy’s closing 5-under 65 netted him a one-stroke victory at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship and his first PGA Tour win.

The tournament began with a bit of hype over the “Big Five” playing together for only the third time this season. After Tiger Woods missed his first cut in 143 tournaments (taking Retief Goosen with him), the attention fell squarely on the shoulders of O’Hair, Purdy, and their cast of merry (and winless) cohorts. Only late Sunday charges by Mickelson (67, T14), Ernie Els (66, T10), and Vijay Singh (65, T3) put them in the top 15. Vijay, who needed to finish third alone or better to regain the top spot in the world, instead tied with three others for third, falling just short. His hole-in-one at the 17th on Sunday certainly helped his cause, however.

Annika Sorenstam Claims Tournament Record at Chick-fil-A

The unstoppable Annika Sorenstam wins at the Chick-fil-A after setting an amazing 72-hole Sunday record.

annika_sorenstam_chickfila.jpgFrom the first birdie at the very first hole of her final round, everyone knew it was Annika Sorenstam’s day to win. Sorenstam claimed another four birdies today, but what’s more impressive is that she only made three bogeys the entire week, all during her third round. A final round 5-under par 67, 23-under par for the tournament, separated the Swede from her nearest competitors by an unbelievable ten strokes.

Sorenstam said it best at the 18th, “It feels wonderful. I’m happy the way I’ve played. It’s great to come back here and have fun!”

A Silver Lining for Sean O’Hair

Newcomer Sean O’Hair holds the outright lead at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. He expected to perform this well, just not this early in the season.

Sean O'HairWhile some of the big names faded and the showdown of the “Big Five” hasn’t materialized, some of the PGA Tour’s lesser known stars are shining this weekend at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Sean O’Hair is one of them. In his rookie season, the 324th-ranked O’Hair has had to overcome major hurdles in his quest for success among the world’s best.

His father, Marc O’Hair, once said, “I look at Sean as my son. I look at him as a business also. He likes that.” It was Marc who invested over $2 million in his son’s game having urged his him to drop out of high school to pursue his dream of being a professional golfer. Sean and his father Marc haven’t spoken in two years because of Marc’s family-business attitude.

Instruction by the Dashboard Light

Mac OS X users, we shed some light on a Dashboard Widget can help you score better.

Golf Tips WidgetGolfers who use Macintosh computers, rejoice! There’s a way to make your computer even golfier. The new Mac OS is code-named Tiger (which is pretty golfy all by itself, no?), and it has a cool feature called Dashboard. When you activate Dashboard, a serious of little web-enabled programs called Widgets pops up. There are plenty of Widgets you can install, from eBay auction trackers to local weather reports. Your golf fix is taken care of by the new Golf Tips Widget. It provides a new golf tip each day, courtesy of Golf magazine. If you’re using a Mac with Tiger installed (and if you’re not, you really should be), you can download the Golf Tips Widget here or here.

Tiger Won’t Be On The Prowl This Weekend

Brett Wetterich and Sean O’Hair share the lead in Texas, while Tiger misses his first cut in over seven years.

Brett WetterichIt was a crazy day in Irving, TX, to say the least! Tiger Woods missed his first cut in 142 events, dating all the way back to 1998. He holds the record for most cuts in a row, and it will more than likely stand for quite some time, if not forever. “I just didn’t quite have it,” Woods said. He also had this to say when the media asked him what the worst part of the streak ending was. “I don’t get that opportunity to win the tournament.”

With that being said, Mr. Woods wasn’t the only story at the Byron Nelson Championship on Friday. Two guys who are basically “unknowns” share the lead at one of the top events on tour. That is right, Brett Wetterich and rookie Sean O’Hair sit atop the leaderboard going into the weekend and will play in the final group on Saturday.

MacGregor V-Foil M675 Iron Review

MacGregor has been out of the game for awhile, but with their new MacTec driver and these V-Foil irons, they may have climbed back into the ring.

V-FoilI’ve always thought the strength of my golf game is my putting. But a friend of mine who also was a golf instructor for years tells me that my iron play is definitely my strength. Perhaps that is because my first set of clubs were hand-me-down Browning blades from my dad. I love the the feel and look of great irons, which is why I’ve been using Hogan irons for the last couple of years. I didn’t lose a step when I put the M675 irons by MacGregor in my bag.