Iacas/Phil - yes, I am familiar with what JJ wrote, and what you've both referred to. So what I thought was interesting/eye-opening in that article was this:
"When you swing out-to-in with the face open, the ball doesn’t start left it starts a little bit right and goes more right’, said Jacobs."
Historical revisionism? Maybe. I'm not really in a position to judge - and Phil, if you worked alongside him, I guess you are.
I do think it's probably fair to say that JJ didn't really account for gear effect spin. It seems to me that off-centre impacts could cause at least as much if not more confusion in trying to interpret ballflight as the whole "ball starts on the club path" idea.
