Category: Hot Topics

Volume Four Hundred Eighty-Three

DJ wins, JD falls apart, and a preview of the U.S. Women’s Open.

Hittin the Links Dustin Johnson, he formerly of the 800-lb major championship gorilla, appears to be breaking through big time. With his most recent win, this time at Firestone, Johnson now has three WGC wins, and continues to move up the career wins list. Johnson’s 11 PGA Tour wins look more and more impressive by the year as the PGA Tour searches for a dominant star player to fill the Tiger void.

On this week’s Hittin’ the Links, we take a look at DJ’s win, JD’s collapse, and more from this week on the PGA Tour. We also check in with Stacey Lewis, who has some opinions on the Olympics, take a look at the best food at the turn, and learn how to get a tee time at The Old Course.

Let’s get to it!

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What’s New and Notable

New drivers from Titleist, two new lines from Srixon, and more toys coming soon.

Bag DropNew releases on their way from Titleist, Srixon and Odyssey, plus a few items you can take advantage of right now.

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TaylorMade M2 Fairway Wood Review

Building on the success of the M1, Taylormade introduces the M2 line of woods and hybrids.

taylormade_m2_fairwayBuilding on the success of the M1, TaylorMade introduces the M2 line of woods and hybrids that feature all the benefits of the M1, apart from adjustability. Keeping with the same looks and lower price point, the M2 line targets the player looking for distance and forgiveness with a more competitive price tag.

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TaylorMade M2 Irons Review

How high and how far do you want to hit your irons?

TaylorMade M2 IronThe TaylorMade M2 irons promise to do two things that should benefit a whole lot of golfers out there: hit golf balls a long way and with a high trajectory.

Actually, those two are closely related for most players. Since the majority of us don’t swing at anywhere near the speed of a pro, getting the ball up in the air so it can travel as far as possible is our best bet to knock it past our buddies. So those two M2 promises are a crucial combination that a lot of players will be looking for.

So how well do they deliver? Read on.

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What the USGA Got Wrong at Oakmont

The USGA has an important job in the U.S. Open of doling out penalties, at Oakmont this year I explain why they did a pretty awful job

Thrash TalkDustin Johnson is no rookie when it comes to penalties assessed in the final round of a major. Who can forget his famous bunker episode at the PGA Championship a few years ago? At that time, he merely missed out on a playoff, but the rule was clear and even he himself admitted he’d made a mistake. There is no question he grounded his club and no question he was in a bunker. It was really hard to tell it was a bunker – I know I had no idea – but many people did and it is his job to notice such things.

Fast forward to this year’s U.S. Open. He was Dustin again in a rules quandary. Did he in some way cause the ball to move during his practice stroke on the fourth green? This is the question that everyone is interested in answering. Now that the dust has settled a little on this issue we are starting to see that some mistakes were made and many – far more than I thought – professional golfers are not clear on the rules.

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Harry Taylor Design Wedges Review

Harry Taylor is probably a name you are not familiar with, but he has been in the golf industry designing clubs for years. Now he has decided to enter the market with a line of precision milled wedges.

XR16In many ways, picking a wedge can be extremely similar to picking a putter. While the designs don’t vary quite as much (there are no mallet wedges), still there is a great deal of personalization and customization that is available to golfers today.

When I look into golfers’ bags at their wedges, I very often see one of two scenarios. One is what I would describe as a pot luck of wedges. One wedge won at a tournament, one they bought when they lost one on vacation, really, no rhyme or reason to the selection. The second scenario is an off-the-rack set of two to three wedges made by a brand name club manufacture which may or may not (usually not) have been fit for them.

The reality is wedge fitting is important. Because of the customization, mainly the bounce and flange design differences, one wedge might be better for you based on your swing over the one you’d otherwise be tempted to pick off the rack. A great deal of craftsmanship goes into a wedge. Golfers should pay more attention.

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Post Mortem on the Dan Plan

Sadly, the Dan Plan is over. I analyze what happened and what we can learn from one man’s adventure.

Thrash TalkAs a child I can remember wanting to be a professional baseball player. My mom told me that being a professional athlete was hard. Really hard. She told me to imagine filling a football stadium full of kids my age, and then selecting the one kid who was going to be a professional baseball player. The rest of us… we were going to be doing something else.

Dear mom was merely helping me set proper expectations. I know it is unpopular now to tell your kids that they can’t achieve their dreams. I see other parents telling their children that they can do anything they put their mind to. I get it. We are supposed to be supportive. Trophies for everyone!

You can read on the TST forum around once month some young kid will come on saying he wants to be a professional golfer. Most people say “follow your dreams,” some will say “good luck,” and one or two members will say something similar to what my mom said. A few years ago someone recommended to one of these hopeful people that they read The Talent Code. So I did. The author suggests that greatness isn’t born, but rather expertise is earned through hard work. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

So when I first heard about the The Dan Plan, I was immediately attracted to the idea. One of the main tenants of The Talent Code is the ten thousand hour theory. Dan was going to test it. Perfect.

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Volume Four Hundred Seventy-Eight

Jason Day, ladies and gentlemen. Jason. Day.

Hittin the LinksJason Day outlasted the best field in golf to take home the crystal at the Players Championship, shooting a Sunday 71 to cap off a dominant week. Day opened with 63-66, and didn’t take his foot off the pedal, even as the conditions worsened over the weekend. The win at TPC Sawgrass is Day’s seventh in his last 17 tournaments.

We also take a look at Rory’s continued (relative) struggles, get an update on Olympic golf, and sneak a peek into the continued awkwardness of Tiger’s post-Thanksgiving life.

Let’s hit the links.

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Callaway Apex Hybrid Review

Can a hybrid be workable and forgiving? The Callaway Apex aims its sights high.

Callaway Apex HybridCallaway trumpets the Apex Hybrid as the first hybrid for the Apex and Apex Pro player, meaning folks that use the company’s top line of irons (XR Pro players probably would count, too). However, that line ranges from “game improvement” with the Apex CF 16 to the “you-better-be-darn-good” Apex Muscleback, that’s a fairly wide range, and a tall order to fit that span of abilities with a single club.

Such a club would need to be reasonably easy to hit straight, and yet still be workable. It should get the ball airborne easily and let the player to control the trajectory when needed.

Does the Callaway Apex Hybrid deliver? Let’s find out.

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