TaylorMade to Release New Equipment… Again

r7 TP fairway wood and R5 Dual TP driver to be released. What’s next? The r7 TP quad sided chipper?

r7 TP Fairway WoodTaylorMade has announced they will be releasing r7 TP fairway woods to compliment their r7 line of drivers as well as the r5 Dual TP driver. TaylorMade is currently the number one brand of driver and fairway wood on the PGA Tour.

Instead of pushing a single club, it seems TaylorMade has found a new approach to winning the wood market by overwhelming its competitors and customers with one club after another. While TaylorMade makes fantastic equipment of which I play with and dream about playing with, when is enough enough? Within the last couple of months, they have released five clubs with the moveable or fixed weight system; the r7 driver, r7 TP driver, r7 ht driver, r5 dual driver, and the r5 dual fairway wood. Now they suprise us with the r7 TP fairway woods and the r5 dual TP.

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Tiger’s Caddie Drives as Well as Tiger

Stevie Williams, Tiger Woods’ caddie, flipped and rolled his racing car once again. This time he’s uninjured.

Stevie WilliamsTiger Woods can’t seem to keep it in the fairway, and his caddie Stevie Williams can’t seem to keep the wheels on the ground. Williams, who suffered a major injury to his hand back in February while racing his saloon car in New Zealand, has gone and done it again.

The AP is reporting that Williams flipped and roll his limited saloon car four times in a dirt-track race on Saturday. Williams was examined by trackside paramedics and released at the scene, relatively uninjured.

Tiger Woods and Stevie have one of the best relationships on the PGA Tour according to many, and both have commented that their personalities are quite similar. Fortunately for golf fans, Tiger seems to get his thrills “engaging” in somewhat safer activities.

Photo Credit: © Lucy Nicholson/Reuters.

MacGregor MACTEC NVG Driver Review

MacGregor’s new MACTEC NVG driver is one of the most distinctive drivers on the market today. Can this titanium model live up to MacGregor’s storied history?

Mactec NVG BlackMacGregor has been home to some of the greatest names in golf equipment, especially drivers. From the Toney Penna and Tommy Armour drivers to the Tourney and Eye-O-Matic drivers, many of the most-loved and most-played persimmon woods of the last century. Over the past few years, MacGregor has made an aggressive move to infuse more technology into its current drivers.

The new MACTEC NVG is the latest, and boldest, addition to the company’s lineup. Does it live up to the hype – and the history?

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Where Did You Go DL3?

Will Davis Love III ever regain his status as one of the PGA Tour’s best players?

Thrash TalkDavis Love III walked up to the 72nd hole of the 1997 PGA Championship with his first elusive major championship in his grasp. He then made one of the most memorable putts I have ever witnessed. With a rainbow in the background, he rolled his ball into the hole and captured his first ever major championship. Winged Foot Country Club was the course he won it on, and at the time, DL3 was known as the best player in golf without a major. Since that victory, he has won six more tournaments on the PGA Tour, including a dominant win at The Players Championship in 2003. He won a total of five events in 2003, including the Target World Challenge in December of that year.

But what has happened to Davis Love III since his great year in 2003? He actually started 2004 off with a bang, the same way he did the previous year. But after placing in the top-10 in four out of the first five events in 2004, he really went in a “consistency” slump that still continues to this day. Since 1996, Davis has been in the top ten in the world rankings at the end of every year, including his inconsistent year last year.

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LPGA Sex Scandal

Caddie of LPGA Tour player claims he’s the father of her child and threatens legal action.

jackie_gallagher_smith.jpgI’m a little late to the game on the news of LPGA Tour player Jackie Gallagher-Smith seducing her former caddie, but I figure it’s time I show up to the party (fashionably late and to make an entrance, of course) to sound off on this scandal. To be honest, I’m not sure what I really think of this story.

So, for those of you not in the know, here’s the four sentence overview. LPGA Tour player hires a caddie who is 11 years younger to loop. She flirts with him and talks to him about the difficulties she (and her husband) are having trying to conceive a child. The caddie and Tour Player end up having relations and she thus becomes pregnant, and it’s a strong likelyhood the Caddie is the father of the child. The Caddie is emotionally distraught and is now taking legal action against Tour Player.

Now, I’ll dive into a few questions I have about this case.

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Will Danielle Amiee Get Her Big Break at the Michelob Ultra?

Big Break III winner, Danielle Amiee, is scheduled to compete against top LPGA superstars at the Michelob Ultra. Will she be eliminated?

Danielle_Amiee.jpgTrash-talking Danielle Amiee, probably the most outspoken and condescending of the Big Break III contestants, will be up against 49 of the top 50 players on the LPGA tour this week at what is called “the fifth major.” Currently playing golf on the Futures Tour, the 28-year old resident of Newport Beach, California, is no stranger to challenges. Amiee has already competed in both the Australian Open and LPGA Qualifying Finals. Is battling through a grueling nine week reality stint similar to a week-long tournament?

Some folks don’t even think she’ll break 80! The conensus is that there is no consensus: the pundits are split 50/50 on both her ability and her overall demeanor. “Glad she won. What a grinder, although I must say, she’d better get her head on straight before next week!”, and “I can’t stand the witch, but she won the match fair and square. It will now be interesting to see how she does in the LPGA tournaments. Maybe they can pair her with Michelle Wie during one of her invites? One thing for sure, the LPGA players will scratch her eyes out if she tries to pull this gamesmanship stuff on them. She’ll be playing with the big girls now.”

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Easy Peasy for the Big Easy

Ernie Els lambastes the field to win the BMW Asian Open by 13 strokes.

els_bmw_open.jpgErnie Els claimed his third European Tour victory of 2005 and his 21st career European title Monday morning as he shot a final-round 65 to win by 13 strokes over Simon Wakefield and the rest of the field.

Els went wire-to-wire to claim the BMW Asian Open and set the Asian Tour record for largest margin of victory. He also stands in second for the largest margin of victory in a European Tour-sanctioned event, trailing Tiger Woods and his 15-stroke victory at the 2000 U.S. Open. This was Els’ tenth wire-to-wire victory on the European Tour.

Wakefied shot a final-round 73 and didn’t offer much competition to Els, finishing at -13. Thomas Bjorn shot a 72 to stand alone in third place. Wakefield’s second-place finish has all but secured the Englishman his European Tour Card the 2006 season.

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Volume Seven

Bunches of links this week as they include sex appeal on the LPGA tour, golf video art, Kip Henley’s diary and camera etiquette in China.

I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority here, but Chris DiMarco is driving me nucking futs. I used to like him, but since his run at the Masters, I almost can’t watch coverage of him. He reminds me of Phil Mickelson prior to his first major. I think he tries a little too hard, but will tell you that he’s happy with the way he’s playing and that he’s contending. Plus, the media is all over him about possibly being “the best player without a major” – and I hate that.

I don’t know maybe it’s that flippin’ claw grip or Ping commercials he does that drive me crazy?! But, I’m pretty sure it’s just me.

Anyway, here’s this week’s version of Hittin’ the Links.

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Initial Impressions of Adidas Tour Metal

The Adidas Tour Metal – a sexy shoe that causes some rather un-sexy side effects? Our first look…

Adidas Tour MetalI’ve been waiting for some time for the Adidas Tour Metals to arrive. When the UPS guy finally dropped them by on Friday, I headed straight for the course.

The shoes are sexy, and I’m not one to throw that word around lightly. They’re stylish, they’re modern, and they’re dressy all at the same time. The rich mahogany tone (also available in black or white) coordinates well with darker browns.

The shoe, unfortunately, is a bit more style over substance than I care for in a golf shoe. The Tour Metal no padding on the tongue, typical short and thin laces, and blistered my heel by about the tenth hole. The leather is supple, flexible, and waterproof, so I’m going to give the shoes a little more time before passing judgment, but a bit more padding and bigger laces wouldn’t have hurt. Instead, the blisters did.

Expect a full review in the next two weeks.